Atari VCS Is Finally Ready To Ship To Backers Anytime Now

Crowdfunding has helped many dreams come true but also dashed many hopes. Pretty much like investors, backers took not just the financial but also the emotional risks of supporting projects in the hopes of seeing them come to fruition. For some time, it almost seemed like the Atari VCS would be one of those that remained as footnotes in history but the team behind the console revival is proud to announce that it shouldn't be long before backers finally get their rewards.

Unlike retro consoles like the NES and SNES Classic and a whole host that followed in its wake, the Atari VCS was a more ambitious nod to the brand's golden age console. Full-sized and with powerful modern hardware, this was more a remaster of the Atari 2600 than a mini retro. It even boasted of features gamers of decades past could have only dreamed of, like installing a full-blown Linux operating system on it.

It was a long, two-year journey that was filled with ups and downs. It was definitely dramatic at times, with scandalous news of key architects and designers leaving on less friendly terms. And, of course, there were the delays that didn't even have COVID-19 to blame.

With the latest update, however, backers might have just a few weeks to wait for the Atari VCS to ship, at least for the first batch of consoles. That batch includes the Atari VCS 800 Collector's Edition made to commemorate the original console. Only 6,000 of these were made, numbered, and authenticated.

The Atari VCS Team says that this batch is on its way to the US where they will still have to be sorted before shipping to backers. That at least means that it will finally meet the Q4 2020 delivery target, just in time for the gaming season.