Atari 7800 system review by the Videogamecritic

[Jinks]

Yeah 5200 owners/fans hate the 7800 for cutting its life short.

7800 has 2600 sound. 5200 stripped down a8. Both systems were not as cutting edge as they could have been. All about costs.

[Greg2600]

Yeah 5200 owners/fans hate the 7800 for cutting its life short.

7800 has 2600 sound. 5200 stripped down a8. Both systems were not as cutting edge as they could have been. All about costs.

 

I didn't realize that was such a prevailing sentiment? The 5200 may have been axed early back then, but like the CV that was thanks in large part to the crash, as well as Warner's mismanagement of the company. Despite the controller, I enjoy the 5200 and 7800 primarily thanks to the community on AtariAge and elsewhere. There have been so many completed prototypes, homebrews, and (in 5200's case) 8-bit conversions put out there. Unlike other non-Atari systems, most of those are available for FREE!

[Crazy Climber]

This was his overall summary, and I completely agree with it....

Pros and Cons:
+ Backward compatible with Atari 2600 games and controllers
+ Some nice arcade conversions
- Uninspired game library
- Mediocre graphics and sound
- Poorly designed controller

 

[Rhomaios]

This was his overall summary, and I completely agree with it....

Pros and Cons:

+ Backward compatible with Atari 2600 games and controllers

+ Some nice arcade conversions

- Uninspired game library

- Mediocre graphics and sound

- Poorly designed controller

 

 

In other words, nothing new here, folks. Time to move on.

[gilsaluki]

Critics, who gives a Rats -A$$? KISS didn't sell 100M LPs and get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of no-talent critics. Critics probably hate the original PONG machine. Who cares? It is history, and fun.

[Jinks]

Should someone post the avgn review on the 5200 forum? With a dozen or so posts to back up his claims?

Well that what was done here plain and simple. So kiss my ass!

Edited October 28, 2014 by Jinks

[atarian63]

I still play the 7800 actually on a frequent basis and I like the controller. I almost never ever play my NES.

[Lynxpro]

 

Oh was that the reason, the case reuse? Good grief what shortsightedness. Poor 7800, a victim of budgetary buffoonery. It does show though how important it was that a system had the proper development and marketing budget though.

 

Yes, Warner wanted cost reduction with the 7800 compared to the production costs of the 5200. The ProLines were also cheaper to produce that 5200 joysticks [any revision, including the fixed version that never made it to market].

 

Another promise of Atari Inc that Atari Corp didn't honor was bringing out a 7800 adapter - shaped just like the 2600 adapter which was known in-house as the Piggyback Parasite according to Dan Kramer - for 5200 owners. That caused some 5200 owners at the time to feel bitter about the whole situation.

[MAC-42]

I still play the 7800 actually on a frequent basis and I like the controller. I almost never ever play my NES.

Yeah, I prefer playing the 7800 myself. I do play NES, mostly through a kinda nice emulation setup I have, but I prefer the 7800. (My actual NES doesn't get much action anymore, even after referring it to, you know, work.)

 

And if you fit the ProLine's joystick board with momentary contact switches like I did with mine, the thing works like a dream. (Provided you have good working buttons. I've never been able to stick switches on the little auxiliary button boards in a satisfactory way. Low skill only gets you so far.) I wonder what the switch mod in concert with Yukrie's former ball mod would do for the thing.

 

I never had a 5200 when I was a kid--never even knew about it until the late '80s--but I really like it now. As I've said elsewhere, though, I think that the 7800, in the hands of an enterprising coder, can do some very special magic. I mean, look at those huge skulls in Midnight Madness, or some of the things that Bob does today. Given the stuff the VGC had to work with, I guess I can understand where he was coming from. Today, though, it's a different ballgame. New hardware, new software.... I think the 7800 is finally, at this late date, coming into its own.

[Algus]

I've posted on VGC's forums some. He's a chill guy but he's pretty obvious about his likes and dislikes. Take it or leave it, it's just what he thinks and you can disagree with him (easily at times. He doesn't much care for some of the kinds of games I like)

 

But even with a lot of good homebrew coming out, let's face it, the 7800 may be much beloved by Atari enthusiasts but it is unlikely to draw a large audience outside that crowd and IMO VGC's review reflects that by pointing out a number of the 7800's blemishes.

[Lynxpro]

Yeah, I prefer playing the 7800 myself. I do play NES, mostly through a kinda nice emulation setup I have, but I prefer the 7800. (My actual NES doesn't get much action anymore, even after referring it to, you know, work.)

 

And if you fit the ProLine's joystick board with momentary contact switches like I did with mine, the thing works like a dream. (Provided you have good working buttons. I've never been able to stick switches on the little auxiliary button boards in a satisfactory way. Low skill only gets you so far.) I wonder what the switch mod in concert with Yukrie's former ball mod would do for the thing.

 

I never had a 5200 when I was a kid--never even knew about it until the late '80s--but I really like it now. As I've said elsewhere, though, I think that the 7800, in the hands of an enterprising coder, can do some very special magic. I mean, look at those huge skulls in Midnight Madness, or some of the things that Bob does today. Given the stuff the VGC had to work with, I guess I can understand where he was coming from. Today, though, it's a different ballgame. New hardware, new software.... I think the 7800 is finally, at this late date, coming into its own.

 

I'd like to see some pics of your ProLine mod!

[MAC-42]

 

I'd like to see some pics of your ProLine mod!

Gotcha covered! I took these pics last year. I also do this with my CX-40s. As I said, I haven't had great results adding these switches to the button boards on the ProLines. I guess I need a different spring for this configuration or something. It's one of those simple things I keep meaning to try out but never get around to.

 

In addition to soldering down the switches, I had do take a Dremel to the little nubs on the white bit at the base of the stick. (What do you call that thing? I also took the Dremel to the little posts on the buttons, but you know...buttons again....) The switches take up a good bit of space inside the body of the joystick, and you need to make some clearance for them and for the stick to be able to press down on them. I don't have precise measurements, just an eyeball job. You'll get the idea from the pics, though I'm pretty sure I had to go back and Dremel those nubs down a little more after taking the pic.

 

You still have some of the same torque issues because of the length of that stick, but it seems to respond much better and I don't feel as much discomfort in my hand and wrist when I use this versus a ProLine with dome contacts. Given how simple a mod this is--simple enough for me to do!--the small investment of time makes a big difference to me.

Edited October 31, 2014 by MAC-42

[Lynxpro]

Gotcha covered! I took these pics last year. I also do this with my CX-40s. As I said, I haven't had great results adding these switches to the button boards on the ProLines. I guess I need a different spring for this configuration or something. It's one of those simple things I keep meaning to try out but never get around to.

 

In addition to soldering down the switches, I had do take a Dremel to the little nubs on the white bit at the base of the stick. (What do you call that thing? I also took the Dremel to the little posts on the buttons, but you know...buttons again....) The switches take up a good bit of space inside the body of the joystick, and you need to make some clearance for them and for the stick to be able to press down on them. I don't have precise measurements, just an eyeball job. You'll get the idea from the pics, though I'm pretty sure I had to go back and Dremel those nubs down a little more after taking the pic.

 

You still have some of the same torque issues because of the length of that stick, but it seems to respond much better and I don't feel as much discomfort in my hand and wrist when I use this versus a ProLine with dome contacts. Given how simple a mod this is--simple enough for me to do!--the small investment of time makes a big difference to me.

Mac, I hope to be brave like you one day to do mods like that.

 

As you mentioned earlier, it would be interesting to see this done along with Yurkie's mod…especially to a Telegames/Best Electronics version of the ProLine with the Rapid Fire switch already built in.

 

Do you mind if your modded ProLine pics from here were added over in the 7800 Facebook group?

[MAC-42]

Mac, I hope to be brave like you one day to do mods like that.

 

As you mentioned earlier, it would be interesting to see this done along with Yurkie's mod…especially to a Telegames/Best Electronics version of the ProLine with the Rapid Fire switch already built in.

 

Do you mind if your modded ProLine pics from here were added over in the 7800 Facebook group?

 

I've kept you waiting for a reply, Lynxpro. My apologies. Had to take the legion out for Halloween et cetera.

 

I'll tell you something, though. This mod was my first. (Look closely at the awful gobs of solder on those switches. I hadn't touched a soldering iron since my high school electronics class! ) I've since cobbled together an adapter for Sega light phaser to make it compatible with the 7800 and dragged a 600XL up to 64k. Of these three mods, this joystick mod was the simplest overall. No worrying about cooking ICs with the soldering iron, no real finicky stuff. You just have to make sure the switches are nicely centered over each position on the joystick PCB. If you want to take a crack a modding, I think this one is a great place to start. Low-risk, high-reward stuff.

 

And yes, do feel free to share this with the Facebook folks. Let them know that I got this idea from this Youtube video. (He does the same thing to a CX-40 in the video, but the process is very similar for the ProLine.)

 

Oh, by the way, does anybody know how long of a shaft Yurkie was using for his mod? Since he's not offering it anymore, I would be willing to take a crack at modifying my own joystick to see how it works in concert with this mod. The more I think about these two mods combined, the more curious about the results I get!