The 5200 legacy

[Prosystemsearch]

 

Explain.

Its not just a thin-air assumption of mine. I read several posts concerning the 5200 and bank-switching. I know my knowledge is far from complete, but it appears that the 5200 is basically a 400 computer with analog control, no proper keyboard, and similar memory expansion capabilities that are quite limited when compared to the A800.

[kiwilove]

You might be surprised.

 

Sadly, I think the Atari 5200's most enduring popular legacy, ironically and perhaps unconsidered to many, is actually the Atari 2600. Prior to the arrival of the 5200, the 2600 was known as the Video Computer System (a superior and more sophisticated, if somewhat generic name IMO, but I digress) before Atari gave the system a facelift--the Vader!--and a new name to keep in line with the stylish, futuristic aesthetic the 5200 had put forth. Since then, just the name "2600" was (still is?) a cultural phenomenon while the Atari 5200 quickly faded to obscurity.

 

The 2600 held no attraction for me with it's blocky graphics - only a few 2600 titles have avoided this look, that stand up today.

For those who loved the coin-operated arcade games and wanted a decent home version of those early 80s' arcade games - the 2600 simply couldn't deliver. Whereas the era of the 8-bit machines allowed the possibility of this to happen - Donkey Kong being the classic example. Colecovision supposedly had an excellent conversion of this game - but I can't think of any other games for this system, that would be of the same quality? I think this was the downfall of Colecovision - it had no other stellar titles?

 

The 5200 is not identical to the 400/800 hardware - in that it would be the 16K games requiring the minimum amount of work in converting to run on the 5200 - and games requiring more than 16K requiring a great more work in conversion - if they are able to be convertible? With Dropzone now available - it does show what is indeed possible on the 5200 hardware.

 

Harvey

[CPUWIZ]

I read several posts concerning the 5200 and bank-switching.

 

What did you find out?

[Shawn]

I didn't see a 5200 in person until the early 2000's. They had no share of my local gaming scene at all in it's retail span.

[AtariKid81]

The VCS(2600) was the high tide that raised all boats - rather, the entire video game and home computer industry. Everyone and their sister owned a VCS.

The biggest sales years, for the VCS, was 1981 and 1982. No matter how awesome the 5200 games looked, there is no way, the average family was going to buy one anytime soon - why? Because, they just bought a VCS. To most parents, most of whom, grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression, the VCS was a hugh expense and good enough.

Understand though, there was a good-sized, market of people, who were unimpressed with the VCS, and holding-out for a more arcade-like system. Unfortunately, for Atari, Coleco blind-sided Atari(and the 5200) with their amazing Colecovision and its market introduction 4 months prior. From what I've read, Coleco sold up to 6 million consoles from 1982 thru early '85. This number may actually be exaggerated, regardless, they sold a lot of console's and games - business Atari could've used!

Now for this generally false history, that the 5200, being a repackaged Atari 400, somehow bothered people - it didn't! I knew one kid in school who owned an Atari home computer. Most average people, knew little about Atari home computer's, let alone associated video games. My friends and I, were blown-away by games showcased in 5200 commercials.

On to the controller issue. I had a friend, who received a 5200, early on, who told me the controllers were terrible. I really don't believe this was a huge factor contributing to lack of sales. Again, I think it boils down more to everyone owning a VCS - and, once again, for most families, this was good enough.

[+sramirez2008]

I didn't have any consoles during my childhood (my parents did buy me a C64), but had many friends that owned a 2600. I also one...literally...one friend that owned a 5200. We never complained about the sticks, just like we never complained about 2600 Pac-Man. Having said this, we were blown away when we first played 5200 Pac-Man. For me, the 5200 had me at Pac-Man! I'll always remember that day.

[+Cafeman]

Sales, Shmales! You never saw a kid get as excited to play a game as when they saw a new 5200 game! That big black beautiful behemoth and its awesome controllers (while they worked) - with Start, Reset, and most importantly PAUSE right on the controller. We couldn't believe how awesome Berzerk, Pole Position, Pac-man, Robotron, Defender, and Joust were! And the SOUND QUALITY! Wow, I didn't know what a Pokey was, but the 5200 had exciting music and sounds. It was the whole package, but too expensive for most kids at my school to afford.

[DracIsBack]

 

Atari is to be blamed for the late release of the 5200 - and of it's 7800. Even if the 7800 was released when it should have been - it does not have the graphic capabilities to have fared well against the rivals that appeared. Atari did not have the necessary graphics improvements from the 7800 onwards - ie. the ST computers and Jaguar - noticeably it lacked the necessary software support/companies to back it.

 

Harvey

 

Typical 5200 owner 7800 rage. . Even when the conversation doesn't involve the 7800, find a way to drag the 7800 into the discussion to trash it.

Edited April 4, 2017 by DracIsBack

[+davidcalgary29]

 

Typical 5200 owner 7800 rage. . Even when the conversation doesn't involve the 7800, find a way to drag the 7800 into the discussion to trash it.

 

True, and I also don't agree. Plutos, Sirius, and Toki just show that the 7800 was very competitive...it just didn't get a chance to show it. Unlike the A8, which got a second life in the '90s and onward.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, for Atari, Coleco blind-sided Atari(and the 5200) with their amazing Colecovision and its market introduction 4 months prior. From what I've read, Coleco sold up to 6 million consoles from 1982 thru early '85. This number may actually be exaggerated, regardless, they sold a lot of console's and games - business Atari could've used!

 

...and they went bankrupt, too. I think that the winning game plan from '83-'85 was a limited home computer focus. Almost all of the companies with a dual video game/computer focus (Atari, Mattel, Coleco) crashed and burned, but people forget that the concurrent home computer war took out most of the other computer manufacturers as well (TI, etc.), and that had little to do with declining sales alone. Price wars (TI vs. VIC-20), over-saturation, uncompetitive manufacturing (Atari home computers, TI), yes.

[atarian63]

I didn't see a 5200 in person until the early 2000's. They had no share of my local gaming scene at all in it's retail span.

Coleco was like that here, nothing much

[kiwilove]

 

True, and I also don't agree. Plutos, Sirius, and Toki just show that the 7800 was very competitive...it just didn't get a chance to show it. Unlike the A8, which got a second life in the '90s and onward.

 

I don't mind having a go to see what the 7800 is truly capable of? As Plutos and Sirius were worked on - so long ago - and I think more can possibly be done?

But I need to work with a 7800 programmer wanting to work with me - as I only design graphics and animation.

 

Harvey

[DracIsBack]

 

I don't mind having a go to see what the 7800 is truly capable of? As Plutos and Sirius were worked on - so long ago - and I think more can possibly be done?

But I need to work with a 7800 programmer wanting to work with me - as I only design graphics and animation.

 

Harvey

 

Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest is another good one to look at.

 

Even some released games - Tower Toppler, Midnight Mutants, Scrapyard Dog, Alien Brigade, Commando and Basketbrawl show what that system could do graphically.

 

I can kind of get why people didn't think it was a step forward when you see games like Centipede and Ms Pac Man. But reality is that later 7800 games had a different objective.

 

I know based on my experience - every time I showed the 7800 playing games like the above, the response from my friends was "Oh - was this Atari's NES competitor?" It was pretty clear immediately where it fell.

Edited April 6, 2017 by DracIsBack

[5200Fanatic]

Legacy...pain...