Atari VCS Teardown Reveals AMD Ryzen R1606G Embedded Brains And Guts
The Atari VCS is one of those things that has been delayed time and time again, and it has become something of a myth. Atari still has them up on its website for preorder with claims that the new console will ship to consumers sometime this Spring. Ahead of the launch (maybe), Atari has sent some of the modern retro gaming consoles to reviewers and content creators. One such creator, TronicsFix, got his hands on the Atari VCS and promptly tore it down.
When the Atari VCS was announced and shown off, people laughed at it a bit over the aging specs that would likely have to compete against other new consoles. Over time, the console was redesigned and upgraded from the Bulldozer-era part to a modern Ryzen processor, the R1606G embedded APU. This APU is not going to play triple-A titles flawlessly, but it can get some work done. That is paired with 8GB of expandable RAM, making for a capable little machine. People can use it with the default Debian Linux distribution, or you can install Windows. Whatever you prefer, it can be used as a game console, PC, and a game-streaming platform for things like Xbox Game Pass.
Overall, it should be a nice little box to keep by your TV if you do not have an Xbox or PlayStation there already. If you want to preorder one still, you can do so on Atari’s website for $389.99. Anyhow, do you think this console is worth buying to legitimately use, or is it just for the nostalgia trip? Let us know down below what you think.
