Plex will be the featured, pre-installed video streaming app when the new retro-themed Atari VCS video game console hits store shelves later this year.
Plex combines free, ad-supported streaming from major content brands (Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Crackle, Lionsgate, MGM, and more) with a popular media server solution that lets users access their own stored digital entertainment assets. A live/linear guide has recently been added, as has a virtual DVR.
Plex hasn’t disclosed how many users it has at this point, but it will have primacy on the upcoming Atari VCS gaming console.
After myriad corporate mergers, sales and rebranding over the last 40 years, the Atari brand is now controlled by France’s Atari SA, which is traded on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The company is targeting a November release for the Atari VCS, a box that combines modern gaming console and PC hardware (notably an AMD Ryzen 1606G processor Zen-core and Radeon Vega graphics) with retro design that nostalgically harkens back to the groundbreaking Atari 2600 console that was released way back in 1977.
Atari SA is targeting a November release date for its console, with a base MSRP of $299. (Paying $399 will bundle two game controllers, one of them a joystick similar to what was used for the 2600.)
"We set out from the start to make the Atari VCS a home entertainment gateway by offering the versatility of a fully-featured mini-multimedia-PC, with a focus on classic and new games, and extensive streaming capabilities," said said Michael Arzt, COO of Atari VCS & Connected Devices. "Plex is the clear market leader when it comes to easily hosting and accessing a diversity of content from movies, to TV to Tidal music and more, which makes them an exciting partner for the Atari VCS at launch and beyond."
