Atari 5200 arcade coin-op

[RangerG]

I have read the following sentence before in the 5200 FAQ from AtariHQ and wondered if anyone knows anything else about this:

 

Arcade cabinets with 5200 systems inside were sold in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

 

Has anyone seen an example of this? What was the cabinet and controller set-up like? Has anyone done anything like this or their own or did any old magazines advertise or feature any arcade cabinet plans for pre-crash systems like the later Pro-Play (I think that is the name) for the NES?

[RangerG]

bump - still interested in any info.

[PacManPlus]

... talk about patience ...

 

Actually, I'd be curious to see what these looked like as well

Edited December 29, 2006 by PacManPlus

[Paranoid]

It might be worth posting the question in Spanish.

[Crazy Climber]

I did read somewhere that they were released with Sports games in them. I think it was Digital Press or something, I'll try to find some evidence to support this for you

[simbalion]

I'm curious as well. Would like to see what one looked like if such an animal exists.

[Student Driver]

From Atariprotos.com:

 

Barroom Baseball is an interesting prototype in that it was never intended for home use. As the name suggests Barroom Baseball was a special version of Realsports Baseball modified for use in 5200 arcade units. These special 5200's were modified to run off of a coin operated timer and were intended for use in bars and in Latin American countries where such machines were popular. It is unknown if any of these units were actually produced, but according to internal company memos at least one may have been field tested. To date no other specially modified games have been found.

 

"At least one may have been field-tested" suggests that the cabinets probably weren't sold; the text in Barroom Baseball is English, which indicates that if a test took place, it took place in the USA, not in Mexico or a Latin American country.

[Clint Thompson]

5200 would have made a very cool inexpensive arcade at the time..... makes sense and a good idea. Would be cool to see more info on this if it exists.

[Crazy Climber]

From Atariprotos.com:

 

Barroom Baseball is an interesting prototype in that it was never intended for home use. As the name suggests Barroom Baseball was a special version of Realsports Baseball modified for use in 5200 arcade units. These special 5200's were modified to run off of a coin operated timer and were intended for use in bars and in Latin American countries where such machines were popular. It is unknown if any of these units were actually produced, but according to internal company memos at least one may have been field tested. To date no other specially modified games have been found.

 

"At least one may have been field-tested" suggests that the cabinets probably weren't sold; the text in Barroom Baseball is English, which indicates that if a test took place, it took place in the USA, not in Mexico or a Latin American country.

I think this is what I read also

[Crazy Climber]

OK, I found this in my "Digital Press Collectors Guide"

 

Bar Room Baseball - Prototype

 

 

This version of Realsports baseball has been modified to use in an arcade cabinet. The inclusion of a timer limited gameplay to 3 minutes per credit. Arcade cabinets w/ 5200 systems in them were popular in Mexico and other Latin countries. It's hard to say what would have been more fun in a bar - playing this game or watching Matt Reichert fall asleep.

 

 

I wouldn't call this info proof but the seem to imply that it does exsist? Not sure though, they have been wrong before

[Shaggy the Atarian]

There's a PDF of the bartop project at Atarimuseum.com

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/ahs_archives/ar.../5200bartop.pdf

 

I thought I once stumbled upon a picture of one once but I may be confusing that with the hotel unit...

[RangerG]

Thanks for all the information. Maybe someday we'll see a picture of one. I know they used Atari computers in cabinets (Bristles/Flip-Flop) and the 5200 would be a good choice also. Has anyone ever done a homemade 5200 in a cabinet?

 

Take care!

 

P.S. I just read Shaggy's post (that pdf file is really interesting).

Edited January 2, 2007 by RangerG