A few months back Atari made the announcement that they would be rejoining the Video Game Hardware arms race, and left with little information after that. This week, Atari has finally pulled back the curtain on the mysterious Ataribox and their intentions with the new console.

The Ataribox will be clocking in somewhere between $249-$299, and will have a crowdfunding campaign this fall on IndieGoGo. After the campaign, they will be shooting for the Spring 2018 window for release. Atari is clearly kicking things into motion fast, and if things go to plan, the console will be on shelves in the next half-year.

On the technical side, the Ataribox is starting to look a lot like a Steam Box. Atari is aiming for an open system, running off of a Linux OS, and the freedom to play anything that runs on Linux. The OS is reportedly customizable, allowing users to easily mod their consoles to their pleasing. Along with a Linux OS, the box will have a customized AMD processor made specifically for the Ataribox.

Atari has clearly been listening to market trends, and is aiming to create a platform with console simplicity, PC flexibility, and plenty of open-sourced customization. It certainly will be interesting to see where the development of this hardware goes as the release window approaches.

For more info, check out the Ataribox website.