An unexpected gaming company is also releasing a console this holiday season: Atari. However, it's not competing to be your next-gen buy but is playing on nostalgia by bringing the classic game of PONG in a small, portable form factor.

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Developed by Unis Technology, the Atari Mini PONG Jr., it measures just 30-centimeters in length and sports an LCD screen. The device features single-player matches against an AI, 2-player local multiplayer, retro arcade sound effects, and physical dials for players to control their respective PONG paddles. The device is powered by a USB cable and adapter; users can optionally install three lithium rechargeable batteries to play on the go.

For additional features of the Atari Mini PONG Jr., see below:

• Lightweight and compact in size
• Perfect for home, office, and on-the-go
• Play with AI or friends
• Ten AI difficulty levels
• Intuitive interface, simple to use controls
• 7.9 Inch LCD Panel
• Lithium Rechargeable battery (3) for portable use
• USB powered

This new console will launch exclusively online this holiday season. Atari mentioned that it will soon announce details on pricing and pre-orders, as well as additional gaming devices. What other devices would you like to see from the company?

SOURCE: GBAtemp Inbox

 

[Viri]

I don't have any nostalgia for Pong at all. But, if it's cheap enough, I might buy one for fun.

 

[BORTZ]

We've done it folks. We have found the bottom of the mini consoles barrel.

 

[Flame]

We've done it folks. We have found the bottom of the mini consoles barrel.

wait to we get E.T. mini

 

[Aew4life]

Oh yeah wait till the total recall nes handheld comes after the post apocalyptic war that the robots win damn robots

 

[slaphappygamer]

Ffs, No 4K UHD!???!? FML!! FTS!!!

 

[Aew4life]

Atari triggering fans since the 70s

 

[duwen]

Sorry but you are wrong.

Definition of a Video game console.

A video game console is an electronic or computer device that outputs a video signal or visual image to display a video game that one or more people can play through some type of game controller. These may be home consoles which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a television or other display device and controlled with a separate game controller, or handheld systems that include their own display unit and controller functions built into the unit and can be played anywhere.

The Mini Pong Jr is most definitely a console.

So... my phone is a console, my tv is a console, my pc is a console, my calculator is a console, my watch is a console...
No, this thing, based on definitions of prior gaming devices, is at best an "electronic tabletop game".

 

[ldeveraux]

This is news now on GBAT?

 

[AmandaRose]

So... my phone is a console, my tv is a console, my pc is a console, my calculator is a console, my watch is a console...
No, this thing, based on definitions of prior gaming devices, is at best an "electronic tabletop game".

None of the things you meantioned are designed to be primarily used for playing video games as you well know. The mini pong is designed as to primarily play a game so it is indeed a console.

 

[Deleted member 42501]

Really quite cool as the control mech itself makes all the difference to the experience and its got good aesthetics. Waiting for the £100 price lol.

 

[ldeveraux]

None of the things you meantioned are designed to be primarily used for playing video games as you well know. The mini pong is designed as to primarily play a game so it is indeed a console.

You're being pedantic, and by being so, are defending this trashy release. Jog on...

 

[Spectremint]

Who is this even for? Atari is just all over the place right now.

 

[ChibiMofo]

We criticize Sega for only including four games in their Game Gear Micro, and now Atari only includes one?




It's too big to be portable, but too small to be a coffee table when not in use

I can't see too many people buying it.

It had better be cheap.

First off, Atari stopped being "Atari" in the mid-90s. This is just a shell company that purchased the name. Atari is very, very dead.

Second, you do realize that Pong was a console in the 1970s and had just the one game, right? You couldn't run ANYTHING else on it. It was literally one game. So all four people who still feel nostalgic for that dreadful little game (and my family purchased a knockoff of it in 1979 by the way) will be satiated by this stupid little device. And for those four people, it won't matter that it only plays that one game.

But hopefully it can be hacked to play... The other couple of games that will be functional with those two controls.

 

[duwen]

None of the things you meantioned are designed to be primarily used for playing video games as you well know. The mini pong is designed as to primarily play a game so it is indeed a console.

ok... so these are consoles...

...and so are these...

...no.
If you want to simplify the definition of every electronic device that has the primary purpose of playing a game being a console then I'm not going to change your mind... but to me it's akin to calling every passenger vehicle with wheels a car.
For the vast majority of us a console is defined by the fact that it can play multiple games, and usually (since the early to mid 80's at least - with the exception of "plug & plays") the games for the console can be officially obtained on media (either cartridge, disk, or digital download) to be inserted/installed on the console.
It may go against your all encompassing definition of what a console is, but this Pong thing is an electronic tabletop game.

 

[AmandaRose]

ok... so these are consoles...

...and so are these...

...no.
If you want to simplify the definition of every electronic device that has the primary purpose of playing a game being a console then I'm not going to change your mind... but to me it's akin to calling every passenger vehicle with wheels a car.
For the vast majority of us a console is defined by the fact that it can play multiple games, and usually (since the early to mid 80's at least - with the exception of "plug & plays") the games for the console can be officially obtained on media (either cartridge, disk, or digital download) to be inserted/installed on the console.
It may go against your all encompassing definition of what a console is, but this Pong thing is an electronic tabletop game.

You know fine well the difference between arcade machines and consoles and yes the single game machines you show above in the grandstand advert are concidered consoles why because electronic tablet tops are concidered as consoles lol.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dedicated_video_game_consoles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_generation_home_video_game_consoles

Oh look somewhere else also confirming this in there list of consoles.

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/20431/Game-Consoles-by-Date/

 

[duwen]

You know fine well the difference between arcade machines and consoles and yes the single game machines you show above in the grandstand advert are concidered consoles why because electronic tablet tops are concidered as consoles lol.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dedicated_video_game_consoles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_generation_home_video_game_consoles

Oh look somewhere else also confirming this in there list of consoles.

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/20431/Game-Consoles-by-Date/

Sorry, but you're not proving your argument.
The first link lists;
Early dedicated home consoles (1972–1984)
followed by;
Early handheld electronic games (1976–present)
then;
Retro style dedicated home consoles and handhelds (2001–present)
...so there's clear distinction between what's considered a home console and handheld/tabletop electronic games.

The second link just backs up what I said about systems after the early to mid 80's (as all the systems listed are from before that era - being first generation games consoles).

And the final link can just be discounted for being amateurish, poorly structured, with a basic lack of facts and info... it has the Sega CDX listed as April 1984!!! It also fails to list the Nuon, Apple Pippin, 3DS, and the Switch, amongst others, but manages to include both the N-Gage and the Laseractive, which by your reckoning aren't consoles they're a phone and a laserdisk player respectively. It also lists the Nvidia Shield, and even describes it as;

The NVIDIA Shield Android TV (originally known as Shield Console) is an Android TV based set-top box aimed at both home entertainment and gaming in the living-room.

...so if that's a console so is my phone, tv, tablet, etc

 

[crea]

Atari is just a zombie at this point, they are not capable of rational thought, let alone design a passable product.

The only use of this thing will be to run other arcanoid type games on it, as the form factor is ok and the control wheel is kind of nice (I own this as add-on for DS though, 3 fun games, but more a gimmick). I bet it will be hacked very fast, looking at the USB port and the fact it's from Atari.

 

[alucardx2]

Nicee

 

[Deleted member 397813]

watch out sony, we got two bars and a square.

 

[rdurbin]

A device that only plays one game is not a console.

Technically it is, there were video games consoles that did not have interchangeable cartridges/CDs. Some had multiple games built-in, some only had one and some with one but multiple variations. The number of games included is not what defines it as a console. Atari Pong console originally came out in mid 70s