The Atari VCS was announced back in March and today Atari has announced that the platform will become available for pre-orders starting from May 30. However, the system will begin to shipped only by 2019. We also get to learn more about the different versions of the system available to buy.

You will be able to buy the VCS exclusively from Indiegogo and two different variants have been revealed so far. There is the Collector’s Edition which features a wood-front panelling and it will be available only for a limited time. Then there is the Onyx Edition which is just black in color. The Onyx Edition will be available as part of Early-bird packages for just $200, but prices will change after this period. There will also be packages that come with a controller joystick, but this will not be the case with every Edition of the system.

As of now, the Atari VCS is expected to begin shipping by Spring of 2019.

As Atari promised, they have taken the wraps off of the AtariBox this week- it is now called the Atari VCS (which stands for Video Computer System), a name that is a blast from the past of Atari’s heyday back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It’s not just the name that harkens back to the era- the design of the console does, too, which is a very clear reference to the Atari 2600. Atari has also indicated that the system will come with a host of retro games, but that it will also have modern mid tier and indie game support. Apparently it will also “transform the way we interact with our TVs” much like the original Atari did, although how it will do that is something that remains to be seen.

On the one hand, I want a new major entrant into the console market to shake things up, so I wish Atari well. On the other, I can’t help but feel that this is a misguided venture…