7800 keyboard - Would it have sold?

[Inky]

Let's say that the 7800 was released on time, and all the accessories were released. Would the 7800 keyboard have sold? I have my doubts that it would have, regardless of the video game crash happening or not. Public perception would have been that the 7800 was a games machine, regardless of expandability, and would have hampered sales.

Computers were seen as productive devices that just happened to play games. Consoles were seen as nothing more than game machines.

[+Gemintronic]

Only if Atari pulled a Nintendo and fooled disillusioned retailers into thinking it was an entertainment appliance. Which would mean further divergence from what the 7800 was. Maybe adding video overlay functionality to make it a family friendly video editing box. Or, an early ActionMAX kinda video game system.

[+Atari_Warlord]

I wanted the keyboards for the 2600, so I would have bought it.

[+sixersfan105]

A 7800 with a keyboard sounds a lot like an XE Game System. The two were already quite similar, so adding a keyboard to the 7800 would have pitted the two systems even more directly against each other in the marketplace.

[+SmittyB]

I maintain that if the 7800 had a keyboard and the price of the console and games was kept to a minimum then it could have easily competed with the microcomputers in Europe. Not many wanted a NES in the UK when it was so over priced, released very late, and everybody had access to cheap computer games (of questionable quality).

[bikeguychicago]

Even if the add-on was more powerful than the one that was eventually released for Intellivision, I only see 'ability to convert the machine into a computer' aspect of the 7800 to be nothing more than a niche feature. The 7800 is not compatible with the 8-bit computer line and, even if the peripherals for the 8-bit machines were compatible with the 7800 add-on, it would be an incompatible platform. That said, I doubt there would have been much released for or much of a future for a divergent platform.

Edited January 3, 2019 by bikeguychicago

[+sixersfan105]

I maintain that if the 7800 had a keyboard and the price of the console and games was kept to a minimum then it could have easily competed with the microcomputers in Europe. Not many wanted a NES in the UK when it was so over priced, released very late, and everybody had access to cheap computer games (of questionable quality).

Not many wanted an NES in the UK because, along with the rest of Europe, it was poorly marketed and everyone had an SMS. As we all know, the opposite was the case in the US: the SMS was poorly marketed and the NES reigned supreme.

[+save2600]

Atari should have released the 7800 in 1984 with Pokey, CX78's and a keyboard (as a peripheral or bundled), and scrapped the XEGS entirely. Imagine how the 7800 and its library would have matured, if only it had been allowed to.

[Jinks]

Nope. Why would it? Think they would make 2 games for it maybe?

[Inky]

If the 7800 had been compatible with the 8-Bit computer line,I could see the keyboard taking off.

[+sixersfan105]

If the 7800 had been compatible with the 8-Bit computer line,I could see the keyboard taking off.

You think? The XEGS was a pretty great system, fully compatible with the 8-bit line, had a keyboard, and that never took off. Even had built-in pokey. Graphics aren't quite as good as the 7800 but pretty close.

[Inky]

You think? The XEGS was a pretty great system, fully compatible with the 8-bit line, had a keyboard, and that never took off. Even had built-in pokey. Graphics aren't quite as good as the 7800 but pretty close.

Maybe not took off, but been in a better position to sell the keyboard.

[DracIsBack]

No, though in fairness to Atari, there wasn't clear evidence one way or another at the time as a lot of their competitors trying this (ie. Intellivision keyboard, Famicom keyboard) were either new or in dire trouble as a company. There was certainly pressure from the computer price wars, so I get why they at least wanted to consider it.

[DracIsBack]

I maintain that if the 7800 had a keyboard and the price of the console and games was kept to a minimum then it could have easily competed with the microcomputers in Europe. Not many wanted a NES in the UK when it was so over priced, released very late, and everybody had access to cheap computer games (of questionable quality).

 

Wasn't the 7800 and its library already fairly cheap? I remember seeing NES and 7800 Xevious side by side at K Mart Canada once, one having a $54.95 price and one having a $19.95 price.

[spacecadet]

No, though in fairness to Atari, there wasn't clear evidence one way or another at the time

 

I agree that you probably couldn't have faulted them for trying if the system had really launched on time. But I don't see why it would have had any better success than any other keyboard attachment for a game console.

 

btw, it's interesting to me that console manufacturers never stopped making keyboard attachments for their game consoles. Even the Xbox One is getting an official one now, but I also have official ones for the Dreamcast, PS2 and a few others.

 

The difference is that at some point, console makers stopped using keyboards to pretend their consoles were computers (except maybe in the PS2's case, which had one as part of the Linux version of the system), and started just considering them like any other specialty controller for games. I wonder when that changeover occurred - arguably you could probably say it happened as early as the XEGS, which was never really meant to be a replacement for the 8 bit computer line it was compatible with, but just used the keyboard to be able to play all of that computer line's games.

 

So if Atari had gone in with a 7800 keyboard having the expectation that it's just an add-on controller that lets people play whatever few more complex games require it, and not something that turns the system into a full-fledged computer, then I think it could have been mildly successful given those lowered expectations. Again, though, that's assuming the system itself had launched earlier and was therefore more successful itself.

[+SmittyB]

 

Wasn't the 7800 and its library already fairly cheap?

Yes, but it would also have to compete with the rampant piracy at the time.

[Lynxpro]

Let's say that the 7800 was released on time, and all the accessories were released. Would the 7800 keyboard have sold? I have my doubts that it would have, regardless of the video game crash happening or not. Public perception would have been that the 7800 was a games machine, regardless of expandability, and would have hampered sales.

 

Computers were seen as productive devices that just happened to play games. Consoles were seen as nothing more than game machines.

 

 

How well it would've sold would've depended upon the software made available to use it. Both AtariLab modules were made for the 7800 for use with the keyboard. There was a word processor and BASIC. The keyboard plugged into Joystick Port #2 and had its own micro-controller inside the keyboard so it could connect and use Atari 8-bit peripherals that used the SIO port [it had its own chip, not a PIA to control all of that].

 

It should be noted that at the January 1985 CES, Nintendo had a keyboard for their pre-NES/North American Famicom adapted console.

[empsolo]

I wonder. Did NoA ever localize Family Basic for their pre-NES 84/85 launch plans? Or was work never started on it?

 

 

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[BassGuitari]

Atari should have released the 7800 in 1984 with Pokey, CX78's and a keyboard (as a peripheral or bundled), and scrapped the XEGS entirely. Imagine how the 7800 and its library would have matured, if only it had been allowed to.

 

I don't think the CX78 controller existed in 1984. That design and build appears to have been entirely Atari Corp.'s own doing.

 

I think an Atari 7800 keyboard only would have made sense--maybe--if the 7800 also had a disk expansion peripheral analogous the Famicom Disk System. If "it turns into a computer!" is what they were going for, I still think "ST-Lite" would have been the way to go since the XL/XE hardware was already pushing a decade old in 1986. Of course, that would probably be impossible without basically stuffing a 520ST into a big cartridge or something and siphoning the 7800's power and audio-video signals, which no doubt would have been prohibitive for just all kinds of reasons. Alas.

[BydoEmpire]

I'm not aware of any other keyboard add-ons to consoles ever selling well, so I don't see how the 7800's could have. I get why there were lots of attempts, it made sense on paper, but nobody was really able to figure it out. Particularly given the popularity and plummeting prices of 8-bit home computers by the mid-80s. Tons of competition.

Edited January 4, 2019 by BydoEmpire

[+save2600]

 

I don't think the CX78 controller existed in 1984. That design and build appears to have been entirely Atari Corp.'s own doing.

Right, was mostly just saying *should* have... as in, too bad it wasn't. Might have had a slight edge over Nintendo that way by the time they released the NES and their gamepad. Would have made sense that Nintendo would have tweaked their pad so that the buttons (being closer together) better suited the games to follow. Did NOT make sense for Atari to have designed the CX78 the way they did *after* seeing how well Nintendo's worked. Button layout was an evolutionary step backward to be sure, though the stubby joystick was kind of cool on paper for marketing.

[IronWorks]

I see one major problem with a keyboard/computer option and I wonder why Atari did`nt see it either.

That is at some point you would either randomly or by error write to the dma test bits and kill your machine.

[bikeguychicago]

Atari should have released the 7800 in 1984 with Pokey, CX78's and a keyboard (as a peripheral or bundled), and scrapped the XEGS entirely. Imagine how the 7800 and its library would have matured, if only it had been allowed to.

 

The XEGS was solely a Tramiel thing so that was not an Atari, Inc. decision. I agree with the Pokey (or Gumby) being included in the console itself. The added cost for including it to the console initially would have definitely been better in the long run than having to include it (and then charging more per cart) for carts that utilized Pokey sound (as we're all finding out 30+ years later ).

Edited January 5, 2019 by bikeguychicago

[bikeguychicago]

 

I agree that you probably couldn't have faulted them for trying if the system had really launched on time. But I don't see why it would have had any better success than any other keyboard attachment for a game console.

 

btw, it's interesting to me that console manufacturers never stopped making keyboard attachments for their game consoles. Even the Xbox One is getting an official one now, but I also have official ones for the Dreamcast, PS2 and a few others.

 

The DC one was made mostly for 2 purposes: 1) People who wanted the mouse/keyboard experience on a console for games like Quake III and 2) for the web browser

[spacecadet]

The DC one was made mostly for 2 purposes: 1) People who wanted the mouse/keyboard experience on a console for games like Quake III and 2) for the web browser

 

Well, that's pretty much what I said. But it was used in games other than those that used a mouse/keyboard combo - if you want a good shock, take a look at this list of keyboard-compatible games: https://segaretro.org/Dreamcast_Keyboard#List_of_compatible_games

 

In some of those games it was probably used just for entering initials or something, but in others, like Phantasy Star Online where you could use it to chat with other players, it totally transformed the experience.

 

I personally bought mine for Typing of the Dead.