The new (old) Atari console will be up for pre-order from Thursday. Pricing is expected to be around $250-$300 for the Ataribox, which Atari says is closer to a gaming PC than a retro cash-in.

The initial reveal of the Ataribox with the familiar wood-style casing of the 2600 made it look like another in the line of relatively basic emulators of 20th century consoles such as the NES Mini and indeed several Atari ‘homages’ that resembled the iconic joystick.

However, the company later announced that inside the box was a Linux-based PC that could run both emulations and modern games, as well as stream music and video and allow web browsing.

While the device isn’t expected to ship until next spring, Atari has told people who signed up for an email list that they’ll get the first chance to pre-order, getting a discount into the bargain. It’ll be through Indiegogo, which means Atari will have the option of fixed or flexible funding: the former requires it to hit the target to keep the money, with automatic refunds if it missed the target; the latter lets it keep the money (and deliver the console) regardless of how many pre-orders it gets.

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