How the Atari VCS offers "something different" to the PS5 vs Xbox Series X console war

The idea of launching a new console at this point probably feels like the kind of thing you'd be better off forgetting about completely.

With both the PS5 and Xbox Series X now out, albeit in a very limited sense, any new contenders really have a lot to deal with.

Despite that, that's exactly what's happening with Atari VCS.

Despite this, it doesn't look as though Michael Arzt, the COO of Atari VCS, is worried.

Forget about the console wars

In an interview with T3, Arzt said that "the Atari VCS provides consumers who may be weary of the iterative nature of the console wars."

That's a fairly bold thing to say, especially as to do something truly unique you'd have to be considered genuinely new.

Arzt believes the console to be above this competition because "the Atari VS was designed for the living room, merging the benefits of a console, a streaming box, and a multimedia PC."

Now, modern-day consoles already have a lot of these functions anyway thanks to browsers and apps. In fact, the days of marketing a console as just being for games are long gone.

READ MORE: Xbox Series X restock date and availability tracker

More than just a console

Arzt goes on to explain that the Atari VCS has a lot of PC functionality, and could well be viewed as a mini PC.

"From office work, to email, to online shopping to PC gaming and much more. There has been a lot of interest in the VCS as a PC, in part because it provides so much incremental value compared to other mini-PCs in our price range."

It'll be interesting to see how well it stacks up to PCs which are becoming increasingly more powerful, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

READ MORE: PS5 restock date and availability tracker: When will more PlayStation 5 consoles be available?