Atari's Unreleased Videogame Console, The Game Brain.

[Slate]

I have known about the Atari game Brain System for awhile, and have not found much information on it on the internet. I am aware that many people are unaware of it, So i thought that i would post this up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Game_Brain

The Atari game brain was not intended to be a big seller for atari, Unlike what i thought when i first read about it. It was mainly intended for use of cleaning out CPUs of Atari's unsold consoles.

Mods: I searched for a topic like this, but have not found one.

[MASTERWEEDO]

I never knew that, I want one

[cyberfluxor]

Sounds interesting. Let me know if you can find out where the 5 made are hiding. :)

[atomicthumbs]

Is there a picture of one somewhere?

[christhegamer]

Oh, yeah; I remember that one. I think theres' a pic of it in High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2nd edition).

Speaking of unrealeased Atari crap, what's up with that Cosmos handheld? not to derail the topic, or anything; I just did'nt get that whole subject

[Slate]

Got a picture of the system:

http://www.fine-art-works.com/gamebrain.jpg

This pic is probably the best picture of the Game brain you'll ever see on the internet. The picture is of a picture of the system in a book, titled "High Score! the illustrated history of electronic games"

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

This pic is probably the best picture of the Game brain you'll ever see on the internet.
We've got a picture or two of Game Brain at thelogbook.

http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/atari26/control/brain.jpg

http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/thumbs/mus-gbrn.jpg (http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/full/mus-gbrn.jpg)
(You can click on this one for a much higher-resolution version. I'll have to do some digging to see if I can find the original full-res version of the first one too.)


And here's some of that funky Cosmos jive:
http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge03/photo2/cosmos.jpg
http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/thumbs/mus-cos1.jpg (http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/full/mus-cos1.jpg)
http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/thumbs/mus-cos2.jpg (http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/cge05/full/mus-cos2.jpg)

[atomicthumbs]

Okay, that is one GORGEOUS system!!!

Y'know... Why dosen't some company get the distribution rights to old systems and go ape shit?! I know Majesco has before (and Messiah - sort of), but c'mon! Though I don't know how well it would go over.

Probably too expensive not very marketable to the general public (damn you Jakks Pacific and your lovely and reasonably priced TV games).

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, better not mention Messiah or Majesco... LOL

I agree, it's a fancy looking system. Like the rolodex flip-card idea for game instructions/hints, that could be useful (but not for me, my superior brain can remember ALL the button combos, thank you velly much)

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Hey!, i like the machine. Very cool design IMO. Now, i want one!!! :roll:

Matías

[DeputyMoniker]

Got a picture of the system:

Scroll to the bottom of that wiki page & youll find a link to another page. More pix there.

[diskoboy]

A huge "Fuck you" to Ray Kassar for not letting Atari release the Cosmos. I would've bought one in a second..

Jeez, what a dumb ass.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Is it known who has the three existing consoles? I'd imagine the bigwigs over at AtariAge have at least one accounted for.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Gah! :roll:

[jajaja]

At first eyesight it looks like Sega Master System.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I really can't go in for any Kassar-bashing for not releasing Cosmos. As neat as the idea of holographic overlays sounds, that implementation of it doesn't seem like it was going to be much more than throwing a Magnavox Odyssey-style overlay (except it'd be holographic!) on top of a display no more sophisticated than, say, Mattel Electronic Football's grid of LEDs. Maybe a neat tech demo, but I'm not sure how it would've advanced game play in any meaningful way. My gut instinct is that, as technological side-steps in video games go, the Vectrex would still have been more significant than Cosmos if it had been released.

[Slate]

Got a picture of the system:

Scroll to the bottom of that wiki page & youll find a link to another page. More pix there.

Darn, i am so unfamiliar with wikipedia. LOL

[Kid Ice]

I really can't go in for any Kassar-bashing for not releasing Cosmos. As neat as the idea of holographic overlays sounds, that implementation of it doesn't seem like it was going to be much more than throwing a Magnavox Odyssey-style overlay (except it'd be holographic!) on top of a display no more sophisticated than, say, Mattel Electronic Football's grid of LEDs. Maybe a neat tech demo, but I'm not sure how it would've advanced game play in any meaningful way. My gut instinct is that, as technological side-steps in video games go, the Vectrex would still have been more significant than Cosmos if it had been released.

I dunno...looking at it now I'd say it wouldn't have been worthwhile, but it would have had a huge "cool factor". I mean, I became king of the 5th grade for bringing my Football 2 to school, imagine if I had brought in one of those bad boys!

[Ze_ro]

Interesting stuff, but of course these systems were shelved for good reason. Even if you found a Game Brain, it sounds like the 2600 beat it out in pretty much every way, especially in the realm of controllers (if the pictures are any indication). The Cosmos at least had the holograms going for it, but it doesn't sound like they play much of a role in the games themselves.

Although I love the craziness of a system based on holograms, I'd still be more interested in finding a prototype Mirai.

--Zero