More than two years and multiple delays after its original announcement, the Atari VCS is finally making its way to people who helped crowdfund the console. In an update over on Medium, Atari says it’s putting the “finishing touches” on the first batch of production VCS units. The company is in the process of sending the consoles to the US, where they’ll be then shipped out to Indiegogo backers “very soon.” It also shared photos from the factory floor to prove manufacturing has been coming along.

Atari

If you backed the VCS, you might still have to wait a while before getting your unit. Almost 12,000 people supported the VCS Indiegogo campaign. In May, when Atari announced it hoped to ship the first production units in mid-June, it said 500 consoles were on their way. A caption of one of the photos Atari shared indicates “thousands” of systems are ready for shipping.

Atari’s repeatedly delayed VCS console is nearly ready two years after its announcement. The team has revealed that the first 500 (or so) Atari VCS production models should leave the factory by mid-June. That will still leave the majority of Atari’s 11,597 crowdfunding backers waiting, but the team “cautiously” expects that production for those will get underway this summer now that the parts are available.

Things are still falling into place. Atari has yet to detail the full software lineup for the VCS even with a game subscription deal locked in. Nonetheless, this is good news for backers worried that multiple delays, changing specs and behind-the-scenes drama might prevent the system from shipping.

DeepMind isn’t the only one with an Atari-savvy AI. A team of Uber AI researchers has developed a set of algorithms, Go-Explore, that reportedly beats any Atari 2600 game with “superhuman” scores, including ones where AI previously had trouble besting its organic rivals. The key is a system that takes care to remember promising states and returns to those states before it sets out exploring.

Go-Explore saw improvement by “orders of magnitude” in some games. It was the first to beat every level in Montezuma’s Revenge, and got a “near-perfect” Pitfall score — both of these are particularly challenging for reinforcement learning systems like this. DeepMind’s Agent57 reached a similar benchmark, according to the team’s Jeff Clune, but through “entirely different methods.” That gives developers a “diversity” of approaches to the same tasks.

According to MIT’s Technology Review, Pitfall and Montezuma’s Revenge require the AI to experiment more than usual in order to figure out how to get a better score. Meanwhile, Solaris and Skiing are difficult for the AI because there aren’t as many indications as success — the AI doesn’t know if it’s making the right moves for long stretches of time. DeepMind built upon its older AI agents so that Agent57 could make better decisions regarding exploration and score exploitation, as well as to optimize the trade-off between short-term and long term performance in games like Skiing.

Technology Review notes that while these results are impressive, AI still has a long way to go. These systems can only figure out one game at a time, which it says is at odds with the skills of humans: “True versatility, which comes so easily to a human infant, is still far beyond AIs’ reach.” That said, AI is already in use across industries. The lessons learned from Agent57 could help improve performance, even if human-level skills aren’t achievable for now.

The title will be available in spring as a free-to-play title with ads, although there will be a one-and-done purchase option to play the game ad-free. You shouldn’t be nickel-and-dimed to death, then. This won’t be the most spectacular way to celebrate Missile Command‘s 40th anniversary (it first hit arcades in July 1980). However, it does show how far gaming has come over four decades. A game that used to require a hulking cabinet and a trackball now fits easily into your pocket, with touch and AR technology that wasn’t even on the radar 40 years ago. And look at it this way: it’ll be a much more affordable trip down memory lane than Atari’s long-delayed VCS console.

The main draw of the Atari hotels will likely be their esports studios. There are no details about what these will include, but each hotel will also have an “Atari gaming playground.” Assuming the esports studios are venues where pros compete, the “playgrounds” could be lounges for guests that are equipped with gaming PCs. The hotels will have a few accoutrements outside of the standard pool and gym — restaurants, bars, bakeries and movie theaters will also be part of each building.

Since this is a licensing deal, Atari likely won’t have any direct hand in the design or features of these hotels, but it does stand to make some money — the company will receive five percent of the hotels’ revenue. Atari has also received an advance of $600,000 for licensing the brand to the developer, which seems paltry for such a large project.

It seems like the most noteworthy accomplishment Atari has had in the recent past is having its logo featured in Blade Runner 2049, so hopefully this admittedly odd strategy works out for the legendary company. The contract states that Atari retains the rights to develop similar properties, so if these hotels are a success, we could see more establishments in the future.

“I was hoping to see the project through to the end and that it wouldn’t come to this, but I have little choice other than to pursue other opportunities,” Wyatt said in a statement.

Despite the departure of the project’s lead architect and his firm, Atari seems confident that it can launch the device. In a statement to Gamasutra, it said:

“It is Atari’s policy not to comment on an isolated matter under dispute, only to say that the Atari VCS project has always been a team effort and its success has never been and will never be dependent on any single individual or partner.

We remain confident in the Atari VCS as the entire team works diligently to bring forth its vision according to plan, and we will continue to communicate accordingly over the coming weeks and months, including hands-on presentations to key media and partners planned for later this fall.”

Atari has also published a Medium post to update fans about the VCS, along with photos of the device’s custom thermal solution, PCB board and case. In it, the company confirmed that it would operate more like a computer than a fully-functional game system, like what The Register said in its piece. The publication compared it to a Steam Machine, since it wouldn’t run its own distinct operating system.

That said, it also assured its crowdfunding backers that the hardware they’ll get “will be 100% finished.” It’s just that the software it’s running will be an early access version. The company said it will ask its backers, who are supposed to receive their consoles earlier than everybody else, for feedback before the device’s retail launch next year.

The service also includes a global leaderboard and social challenges, and it’ll support both the classic joystick and modern controller. And if you like to play on other platforms, the upgraded collection will be available elsewhere if you have a VCS account.

The VCS edition of Antstream Arcade will cost you. Once your 30-day trial is up, it’ll cost you either $10 per month or $96 per year to access the catalog. Yes, that’s yet another gaming subscription to maintain. Look at it this way, though: this will give you plenty of game choices right from the start, even if VCS-optimized titles ultimately prove to be uncommon.

According to Atari, the Classic Joystick is “designed to capture the spirit and functionality” of the CX40, but it now has Bluetooth and USB connectivity. The center stick is fully digital, and its default settings map to the D-pad on contemporary gamepad controllers. It also rotates so you can play games like Pong, Breakout and Night Driver, which were previously better suited for Paddle Controllers. The team also added a rumble feature and swapped the red lights for orange.

The Classic Joystick brings a few changes to the “fire” button, too. For starters, you’ll notice a second trigger button placed on the corner of the unit body. You’ll be able to tap it with a finger, on either the right or left side, and it will work more like a front bumper button on a modern gamepad. Atari made the design decision to be more ergonomic and to spare gamers’ thumbs.

The team introduced fewer changes to the VCS Modern Controller, sticking to the widely-accepted form-factor of controllers on the market. It’s “a solid, reliable performer and it should please VCS owners, or anyone looking for a high quality, stylish Bluetooth/USB controller for PC and mobile gaming,” the company said. As an added perk, like the Classic Joystick, the Modern Controller is fully re-mappable.

Atari VCS says the hardware is almost ready for final production, which would match previous statements that the console will be ready by the end of 2019. That should be a relief for fans, especially those that pre-ordered the device through an Indiegogo campaign one year ago and have patiently waited through delays.