What good are the 65Xe and 130Xe

[Buyatari]

Are there any games that required the use of this much ram. Is there any reason to pick one up if you have an Atari 8bit computer already?

 

I guess I mean games. Any office applications that require the full use of the 130xe really aren't of much use today.

[candle]

many new games are developed for 128k+ ram, so 130xe might still not be enought, as for the demoscene - it certainly wont be enought

buying 130xe for additional ram is not good reason, buying it for future expansion might

you can always expand your xl computer, but whatever your decision will be - stock memory capaciti might just not be enought

 

regards

candle

[MrFish]

Are there any games that required the use of this much ram. Is there any reason to pick one up if you have an Atari 8bit computer already?

 

I guess I mean games. Any office applications that require the full use of the 130xe really aren't of much use today.

What do you mean by "an Atari 8-bit"? A 48k machine?

 

For games, 48k gets a lot, 64k gets most, 128k gets more, 320k gets all. "Bomb Jack" (320k right now) is slated to work on a 65xe. So, that will shrink the already small over-128k list. I'm not sure how much ram "Space Harrier XE" is planned to run on...

 

A lot of the 128k games are only cartridge -> executable conversions. It would depend on how you would like to run some of these games as to whether you need 128k of ram. If you plan on buying cartridges for these, then you don't need it. If you're going the SIO2PC route, then you need it.

[Buyatari]

Are there any games that required the use of this much ram. Is there any reason to pick one up if you have an Atari 8bit computer already?

 

I guess I mean games. Any office applications that require the full use of the 130xe really aren't of much use today.

What do you mean by "an Atari 8-bit"? A 48k machine?

 

For games, 48k gets a lot, 64k gets most, 128k gets more, 320k gets all. "Bomb Jack" (320k right now) is slated to work on a 65xe. So, that will shrink the already small over-128k list. I'm not sure how much ram "Space Harrier XE" is planned to run on...

 

A lot of the 128k games are only cartridge -> executable conversions. It would depend on how you would like to run some of these games as to whether you need 128k of ram. If you plan on buying cartridges for these, then you don't need it. If you're going the SIO2PC route, then you need it.

 

I see so only these days are games being designed with greater amounts of RAM in mind. So back when these systems were released was this extra RAM a waste of money?

 

I had an 130XE when it was released and atleast every game I had was playable on a 48K machine.

[+remowilliams]

So back when these systems were released was this extra RAM a waste of money?

Depends on how you look at it. The biggest use of >64K of RAM back in the day would probably be RAM disks and such. There were some titles that required 64K and a very small amount that used >64K.

[MrFish]

I see so only these days are games being designed with greater amounts of RAM in mind. So back when these systems were released was this extra RAM a waste of money?

 

I had an 130XE when it was released and atleast every game I had was playable on a 48K machine.

I don't think it was a waste. having the extra memory insured that you could run anything that was released, and if you did any development it opened up plenty of options for you.

 

Severely underutilized, yes. But, you can't blame the software makers for wanting to get to the largest audience.

 

As far as the 130xe goes, the available software was almost nil that took advantage of it. I don't know if there was even a single game.

 

It would be interesting to see a list of games that required more than 48k from back in the day.

[Buyatari]

As far as the 130xe goes, the available software was almost nil that took advantage of it. I don't know if there was even a single game.

 

It would be interesting to see a list of games that required more than 48k from back in the day.

 

I guess that is what I am asking/saying.

 

I don't think a single game required the 130xe and I'd also like to see a list of the "more than 48K" titles from back in the day.

[JayoK]

I guess that is what I am asking/saying.

 

I don't think a single game required the 130xe and I'd also like to see a list of the "more than 48K" titles from back in the day.

 

Well I'm not sure of any that required 128Kb but there was a few that used it if available Bop'n'Wrestle and Alternative Reality used the extra RAM. Later games in PD required 128KB such as megablast

[Tezz]

@Buyatari: The commercial games market for the entire Atari 8-bit range by the time the XE's were released really was too small for any company to release a 128k only title. Those extra banks have been used a lot in the later years and memory expansions beyond 128k were common in certain countries.

[Buyatari]

@Buyatari: The commercial games market for the entire Atari 8-bit range by the time the XE's were released really was too small for any company to release a 128k only title. Those extra banks have been used a lot in the later years and memory expansions beyond 128k were common in certain countries.

 

So what was the thinking here? Did they expect the market to continue to grow and it did not? Did they abandon this format for the ST line?

[MrFish]

As far as the 130xe goes, the available software was almost nil that took advantage of it. I don't know if there was even a single game.

 

It would be interesting to see a list of games that required more than 48k from back in the day.

 

I guess that is what I am asking/saying.

 

I don't think a single game required the 130xe and I'd also like to see a list of the "more than 48K" titles from back in the day.

 

Here is the list of 64k ONLY CARTS available from Video61. Unfortunately they do not list the memory requirements for their available disk-based games also. Obviously this list is not complete, but at least shows that there are a fair number of games in the 64k only category:

 

1. AIRBALL

2. ARKANOID

3. ACE OF ACES

4. COMMANDO

5. CROSSBOW

6. CHOPLIFTER

7. CONCENTRATION

8. CRIME BUSTERS

9. DAVIDS' MIDNIGHT MAGIC 2

10. DEFLECTOR

11. DAVIDS MIDNIGHT MAGIC

12. DINKY DO

13. DARK CHAMBERS

14. DYNAKILLERS

15. DROP ZONE

16. FOOD FIGHT

17. FIGHT NIGHT

18. GATO

19. GETAWAY

20. HARDBALL

21. INTO THE EAGLES NEST

22. JINX

23. JURASSIC PARK 2

24. JAILBREAK

25. KARATAKA

26. LODE RUNNER

27. MONTANA SOLITAIRE CARD GAME

28. MYJONG

29. MR. ROBOT

30. MONOPOLY

31. MAHJONG

32. MONSTER HUNT 2

33. ONE ON ONE BASKETBALL

34. PREPPIE

35. RICOCHET

36. SHARP SHOOTERS

37. SUMMER GAMES

38. TETRIS II

39. TOWER TOPPLER

40. VIDEO SLOTS

41. XENOPHOBE

42. ZYBEX

[MrFish]

I guess that is what I am asking/saying.

 

I don't think a single game required the 130xe and I'd also like to see a list of the "more than 48K" titles from back in the day.

 

Well I'm not sure of any that required 128Kb but there was a few that used it if available Bop'n'Wrestle...

Oddly enough, this game qualifies as one of the worst games available for the A8's during this time period.

[ApolloBoy]

As far as the 130xe goes, the available software was almost nil that took advantage of it. I don't know if there was even a single game.

 

It would be interesting to see a list of games that required more than 48k from back in the day.

 

I guess that is what I am asking/saying.

 

I don't think a single game required the 130xe and I'd also like to see a list of the "more than 48K" titles from back in the day.

 

Here is the list of 64k ONLY CARTS available from Video61. Unfortunately they do not list the memory requirements for their available disk-based games also. Obviously this list is not complete, but at least shows that there are a fair number of games in the 64k only category:

 

1. AIRBALL

2. ARKANOID

3. ACE OF ACES

4. COMMANDO

5. CROSSBOW

6. CHOPLIFTER

7. CONCENTRATION

8. CRIME BUSTERS

9. DAVIDS' MIDNIGHT MAGIC 2

10. DEFLECTOR

11. DAVIDS MIDNIGHT MAGIC

12. DINKY DO

13. DARK CHAMBERS

14. DYNAKILLERS

15. DROP ZONE

16. FOOD FIGHT

17. FIGHT NIGHT

18. GATO

19. GETAWAY

20. HARDBALL

21. INTO THE EAGLES NEST

22. JINX

23. JURASSIC PARK 2

24. JAILBREAK

25. KARATAKA

26. LODE RUNNER

27. MONTANA SOLITAIRE CARD GAME

28. MYJONG

29. MR. ROBOT

30. MONOPOLY

31. MAHJONG

32. MONSTER HUNT 2

33. ONE ON ONE BASKETBALL

34. PREPPIE

35. RICOCHET

36. SHARP SHOOTERS

37. SUMMER GAMES

38. TETRIS II

39. TOWER TOPPLER

40. VIDEO SLOTS

41. XENOPHOBE

42. ZYBEX

 

That list is a bit inaccurate, as I've tested a few of those (namely Crossbow and Lode Runner) on a 48K 800 and they work fine.