I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill. All Atari is providing here is a low end Linux based PC in an attractively retro styled case. Based on current Indigogo pricing i suspect that they are making a small amount on the "collector's edition" and about breaking even on the onyx version. And these are discount prices, not what final retail will be.

The appeal of this system will primarily be 1) it looks cool 2) It is a convenient linux box that you can attach to your tv for games and other media purposes 3) Atari IP 4) Whatever online service Atari provides 5) whatever other games (primarily indie and not big name titles that are on other systems) that end up being developed for the system.

I don't see why they would have a problem delivering on this. As far as Tempest 4K, it doesn't seem like a taxing game in terms of hardware. I suspect that it could run under wine without the user noticing a difference. But I also doubt that porting it to Linux would be a major undertaking either.

If this is all a scam, I don't really see the end game. Are the heads of Atari just going to pocket the presale money and run allowing the company to be sued out of existence? Seems like it would be easier just to build the box. Other than a custom case it isn't anything special in terms of hardware.

Having said all that, I'm always skeptical about giving someone my money up front.