Atari says their upcoming Atari VCS was inspired by Nintendo 'breaking the mold' with the Switch

The Atari VCS has had a very long and arduous road to release, but it seems the hardware is finally nearing launch. Will the platform, which welcomes modern games and streaming entertainment, find a place in the market? Only time will tell, but Atari is hoping their inspiration will help pave the way to success.

In an interview with Medium, Atari's Chief Operating Officer Michael Arzt discusses why he thinks there's a chance the Atari VCS could be successful. It turns out the gang at Atari was quite inspired by what Nintendo pulled off with the Switch, and they think that runaway hit proves that the market is ready for something like the Atari VCS as well.

Atari’s goal is to reach the mass consumer that may not want to pay a premium for a layer of hardware performance they rarely tap into, and who may be looking for something a bit different from what the dedicated consoles provide. Nintendo has done an amazing job of breaking from the mold by emphasizing portability over processing power, combined with unique games and proprietary IP, and with other new retro-style consoles coming to market alongside us, clearly we were not the only ones that saw an opportunity to do something different.