First Atari VCS consoles leave factory bound for long-suffering Indiegogo backers

Atari’s reborn retro-styled VCS PC/console hybrid is finally on the cusp of reaching long-suffering backers on Indiegogo, some of whom placed their pre-orders for the device back in late May of 2018. The VCS 800 was supposed to ship in 2019 but has been hit by several delays since then, the most recent of which was caused by the COVID-10 pandemic.

The initial batch includes the Indiegogo-exclusive Atari VCS 800 Collector’s Edition model which was inspired by and designed as an homage to the original Atari 2600. There will only be 6,000 numbered and authenticated versions of this particular model. Most of the units pictured in the photo below are in the first shipment which is now on the way to Atari’s US distribution center.

The Atari VCS 800 sports a modest AMD R1000 embedded SoC with Radeon Vega 3 graphics. It is good for playing the 100 included retro titles at 4K 60 fps and less demanding Linux-based games as well. Users can also install Windows 10 on the VCS 800 and play PC titles on it as well, or use it as a regular computer. Pre-orders for regular customers with shipping promised before Christmas with prices starting from US$300.