After years of delay, the new Atari VCS system is now officially available. What do you mean $300 for a nice box with the original low-power Zen embedded CPU and $400 with a controller doesn't sound intriguing to kids these days?

Seriously, the only good thing about this is the looks. Atari touts the VCS as a "state-of-the-art console/PC hybrid" machine, but in reality, the Ryzen R1606G processor it is based on is old and graphically weak by today's standards. For comparison's sake, and we know this is not the PC arena, the Xbox Series S offers a more powerful Zen 2 custom CPU, a more powerful GPU, and very fast storage for the same price.

I did like some of the promo images though. I don't know about you, but my young children love to play pong with my home theater system.

It's not surprising that a company that has tried everything from Fantasy Hotels to selling NFTs would produce an underperforming, overpriced device. But Atari's "vision" of a Linux machine with other games available for download is unlikely to last in the long run.

If you have retro nostalgia like the Atari VCS, I'm a little geeked out to see a gorgeous walnut version, but you're better off building a small retro PC: buy a Raspberry Pi and pick up an imitation VCS case on Etsy. 2012 Engadget's article on how to run Atari 2600 games on the original Raspberry Pi.

Atari, or at least the company that once was, holds a hallowed place in gaming history. This new Atari VCS, sadly, will not add much value to such a legacy.