If Atari were still here today.

[LinkoVitch]

I guess the XBox bumf is just looking at the CPU speed. typical of M$

 

I would recommend the GameCube.. it's rather swish.. Resident Evil on it is beautifully done.

[AtariDude]

It is not about which is more powerful. It is about the games. Great games make a console. That is something that Atari should have learned with the 7800. They just sent out the same old tired games that everyone was bored with already and thus the 7800 never got a stronghold.

 

This is probably why the PS2 is currently the best selling model of the 3. The larger selection of games. Also the compatiability with the earlier PS helped out although I hate the fact that you can't save PS games with the PS2 due to the different memory cards that it uses. Games like the Tomb Raider series are practically useless on a PS2.

[King Atari]

PS2 had a years head start, though. If they were all released at the same time, who knows how things would be going.

 

At least GameCube is more popular than X-Box. I HATE Microsoft. I've gotten a little more respect for Sony, ever since I've gotten into some of the games on the original Playstation, but I'm still a Nintendo guy.

[MegaManFan]

We'd be playing Super Duper Trooper Pac-Man, Galaga '02, Asteroids Advanced, and Retro-Pong (same ol' Pong with fancy new packaging). I hate to say it as an Atari fan, but it's painfully obvious that any time they had a hit, they just kept milking it up from 2600 to 5200 to 7800 - it boggles the mind to think you can play versions of the same game on three different systems. Some of these ports were damn good, some were okay, but regardless of the fact once the Great Crash of the 80's happened Atari had some of the worst third party support in existance. The 7800 has approx. 60 games total, right? And almost half are Atari's own products. They finally made a concerted effort with the Lynx; which ironically wasn't even their own product but a system they bought and released with their own brand name. Unfortunately they blew it in marketing and sunk their last great chance to be a viable gaming company. It's amazing how many second, third, fourth chances that Atari had to get back in the game, and how they singlehandedly blew them all. For that reason, I hate to say it, but it's better that Atari's not here today in the console market. I'd rather have the nostalgia of the old systems than the ineptitude of new ones.

[LiquidPenguin]

It's easy to blame Nintendo for killing Atari, but when you look back, Nintendo actually saved Atari.

 

I don't think anything could've saved Atari at that point. The critical mistake by that time was when Kassar blew his lid when he saw the Coleco version of Donkey Kong. If only Kassar signed the Nintendo deal, Atari would've had an iron strong grip on the NES. But then again, if Kassar signed the deal, would Tramiel have taken control of Atari? And if so, considering his horrendous business practices, would the NES and Atari survived even then?

[Lumpbucket]

This is probably why the PS2 is currently the best selling model of the 3. The larger selection of games. Also the compatiability with the earlier PS helped out although I hate the fact that you can't save PS games with the PS2 due to the different memory cards that it uses. Games like the Tomb Raider series are practically useless on a PS2.

 

It didn't occur to you to try sticking a PS1 memory card in? It works fine, I have my Star Trek: Invasion games saved from when I was playing it on my sisters PS2.

[AtariDude]

I have a PS 1 memory card. It refuses to acknowledge that it is there. I remember reading somewhere that the PS2 will not work right as far as saving games because it uses a different scheme.

[LiquidPenguin]

Can't imagine why. The hardware for the PS1 is in there (it's the controller for the ... controllers).

 

But I do know that some people claim their PS2 can't recognize PS1 memory cards. Is it a Sony or third party product?

 

Might want to try reformating the memory card and if that doesn't work. Go and call Sony up and see if they'll do a repair on it.

[moycon]

I have 2 PS1 mem cards... They both work fine in the PS2.

 

Do you maybe have 3rd party mem cards AtariDude?? If so, that might be your problem.

[Stella'sGhost]

The thing is XBOX is very impressive, designed for the hard core gamer, with hard core specs.

 

The PS2 is powerfull, designed for both the hard core gamer and just about any one into video games.

 

Gamecube is not as powerfull but its also cheaper, everymans video game system, but its also high quality, typical Nintendo.

 

As usual who cares, in the end its the games that count, I can think of several amazingly great games for GENESIS that are better than many PS2 games, and so far I see great games for all systems... but sony has the most, and Nintendo has a history of making great games... XBOX is too new to see whats going to happen but Im sure some wicked games are coming.

 

Dont forget GameBoy Advance, there are some great games for that system, and its only 32 bit!!

 

At any rate, getting back to the Atari thing, I think that if they had released the 7800 in 1984 and scrapped the stupid 5200, (and they could have) things may have worked out better for Atari. They should have put all their efforts into the 7800 and its games and accessories but instead they focused on the home computer market, and the 5200 and the 2600jr??? ...meanwhile Coleco Vision had a far superior graphics chip than the 2600 which allowed for 100 sprites and more colors (same chip in the TI computers) the 7800 could have easily competed with it but Atari was still pushing their outdated systems, all the while losing their lead in the home video game market. By the time they realized this Nintendo and Sega had surpassed them and the 7800 was released too late. The 7800 should have saved Atari.....

 

Thats what I think, even though this is all common knowledge now a days.

 

So if the 7800 had worked out and this may had led them down another path, do you guys/gals think Atari would still be here in the console market today?????

[Happy_Dude]

I think MegaManFan was spot on.

If Atari survived we would all be playing the same old crap in a brand new box sold for $99.99.

And it would be crap too. How many people liked pac-man world on Genisis.

Didn't think so.

 

Dont think the exact same game could be repackaged and sold for 3 times its worth just look at CrazyTaxi.

They were selling it on all the new systems as if it were a new game.

I bought it for $10 for the dreamcast.

Give me a break.

 

Atari was the worst offender like Stella'sGhost said it had plenty of oppertunity to be inovative but it was just a money hungery monster who wanted as much money for as little effort as it could get away with. The 5200 should never have been relesed.

 

And thank god Atari died. If it didnt we would all hate Atari.

Just like Microsoft

 

what a rant.

I have to go lie down now

[LinkoVitch]

ok, how about if atari was reclaimed by Nolan Bushnell ? (did I get that name right? )

 

and Tramiel was stranded on a desert island somewhere in the French Nuclear testing ground?

[King Atari]

I don't think anything could've saved Atari at that point. The critical mistake by that time was when Kassar blew his lid when he saw the Coleco version of Donkey Kong. If only Kassar signed the Nintendo deal, Atari would've had an iron strong grip on the NES. But then again, if Kassar signed the deal, would Tramiel have taken control of Atari? And if so, considering his horrendous business practices, would the NES and Atari survived even then?

 

I doubt too many retailers actually trusted Atari enough at that point, and that along with Tramiel's bull sh*t, it wouldn't have turned out well. No, what Atari needed to do was not manufacture E.T. like they did, improve those 5200 controllers, and make some newer, more innovative games. Who wants to spend 3 hours playing Dig Dug on a system that doesn't look as good as the NES in 1986? Not me, I'd want Super Mario Bros., like everyone else.

[AtariDude]

I have 2 PS1 mem cards... They both work fine in the PS2.  

 

Do you maybe have 3rd party mem cards AtariDude?? If so, that might be your problem.

 

That might be the problem. The memory card I have works with the PS but not the PS2. Thanks for the info.

[Paul Slocum]

I believe Atari could have survived if some big changes had been made prior to NES coming out. I think it all started with the 5200 controllers. It seems like that's when Atari stopped listening to the people they needed to listen to enough that it was really hurting them. If they had listened to their programmers and gamers and made better controllers for the 5200, it probably would have been quite a bit more successful and maybe made it through the crash with less damage.

 

But I think the key move would be in 1983 or so, to buy Activision and get the whole Atari company back to where the programmers were king. Then cash in on some of their hugely successful adventure type games and develop the characters like Nintendo did. Something like the current Adventure II project and perhaps Pitfall III probably would have been hugely successful. If they stayed on top of the curve of creating bigger worlds and still staying innovative, they might have been competitive in the Super Mario rush.

 

Since Nintendo has managed to successfully move its old games into the new I tend to think it would have been possible for Atari too. You can actually play Super Mario Bros on your 2600 while Mario Sunshine is one of today's hottest sellers!

 

-Paul

[Witchfynde]

The 5200 should never have been relesed.

 

Why? Sure the controllers were crap, but they had a lot of good arcade conversions, and when the video game crash hit and Atari killed it off, it was reportedly outselling the Colecovision.

[Happy_Dude]

The 5200 should never have been relesed.

 

Why? Sure the controllers were crap, but they had a lot of good arcade conversions, and when the video game crash hit and Atari killed it off, it was reportedly outselling the Colecovision.

O.k maby they should have pushed it a bit more then. Got some more 3rd party developers on board.

But who can say for sure that the world would be a better place had Atari survived

Or that anything could have saved them!

remember,

Its better to burn out than to fade away!

[King Atari]

Its better to burn out than to fade away!

 

That's from Highlander! Hurrah!

 

I'm glad they released the 5200, although it took me actually getting a system to really appreciate it.

[Stella'sGhost]

Why?  Sure the controllers were crap, but they had a lot of good arcade conversions, and when the video game crash hit and Atari killed it off, it was reportedly outselling the Colecovision.

 

... sure, its a good system, but it's graphics are not much better than the 2600 and its basically the same as an atari 800 computer, meanwhile Colecovision had better graphics, the only reason the 5200 was selling so well was that it had the name ATARI, but Atari didn't even support their own product. It is evident by the 6 million coleco units sold in just 2 years that people also wanted better graphics, even though we all say that gameplay is more important, back in those days graphics were just as important because this was all new to everyone and we were impressed by higher resolution, better sound and more colors....

 

The 7800 could have competed with Colecovision on that level, and any other system out there. Aracde ports for the 7800 would have been that much better than those on the 5200 without alienating the large 2600 games and fanbase. By the time the 7800 came out the NES was already taking over....

 

* oh, I made a mistake, earlier I posted that coleco had 100 sprites, it actually had 32.... still, more than the 2600 but the 7800 had many more sprites at any rate.

[Happy_Dude]

Its better to burn out than to fade away!

 

That's from Highlander! Hurrah!

 

I'm glad they released the 5200, although it took me actually getting a system to really appreciate it.

 

Its from the song "My,My,Hey,Hey" originaly.

But i was quoting Kurt cobain

 

"There can be only one"

 

And Stella'sGhost thats not my quote

[Stella'sGhost]

And Stella'sGhost thats not my quote  

 

Sorry. No its not. But this one ^ is !!

[Stella'sGhost]

....  Something like the current Adventure II project and perhaps Pitfall III probably would have been hugely successful.  

 

Paul, thats the ticket! It's up to you! You must make Pitfall III, I have forseen it, you have the power, it is your destiny.....

[LinkoVitch]

wouldn't that be Pitfall the Mayan adventure on the Jag though? so surely Pitfall IV, back to the 8 bit?

[King Atari]

Its from the song "My,My,Hey,Hey" originaly.  

But i was quoting Kurt cobain  

 

"There can be only one"

 

Hey, it's all good.

[mos6507]

Atari's destiny was to be a pioneer, looking back now you can see that.  

 

Atari belongs to the distant world of 8 bit technology, but that was such an interesting time and Atari's impact on the future of video games and the home console market  was so huge that it can never really die now can it?...  :wink:  

 

I think Nintendo had as much to do with killing Atari as Atari had to do with killing itself.

 

 

 

 

Certainly from a software standpoint, losing the guys who would go on to form Activision and Imagic were the turningpoint.

 

I think the turningpoint for Atari from a hardware standpoint was when Jay Miner and his team left the company after finishing the Atari 400/800.

 

Atari Inc. should have at least placated the engineers by promising them a keyboardless 400 would be released as a game machine when economies allowed it (which would have been a couple years at least from when the 8-bit was initially released).

 

(Atari Inc. had a point in doing what they did by positioning the 8-bit as a full home computer. It would have been at too high a pricepoint as just a game machine in 1979. They probably should have anticipated that from the get go so they wouldn't have had to scramble, but hindsight is 20/20.)

 

Keeping that engineering team intact was critical in preserving the pipeline of new home machines going.

 

The Amiga would then have been ready to go by 1983 instead of the 7800. Even the original Amiga Lorraine design (320x200 max graphics mode) would have been far more capable than the 7800 in the marketplace. It would have been about 5 years ahead of anything else out there, basically a Genesis-class machine.

 

The problem with Jay's designs is that after the 2600 they were always too expensive to produce as game machines for the first couple years after the hardware was finalized.

 

The Amiga had the same problem as the 400/800 in being shifted from a console over to a home computer platform, and when it eventually debuted it was at a high pricepoint even there.

 

The only way for these machines to get onto the market soon enough was to have a tiered platform with an expandable console on the low end and a big box pc on the high end, which is pretty much what became of the Amiga, although all Amigas save the CDTV and CD32 shipped with keyboars of some sort.

 

With the engineers gone, Atari was left trying to stretch their existing platforms beyond their useful lifespans.

 

This was okay at first with the 2600 due to the explosion of the 3rd party market, but ultimately left Atari vulnerable from next-gen competition.

 

The 10-bit system that was designed to replace the 2600 but which never even launched was the first R&D blunder on Atari's part that showed that they simply did not have the braintrust to come up with a successor. The 5200 was the quickie copout that followed, and the 7800 was too little too late when the 5200 failed.

 

That Atari Inc. couldn't even bring a stripped down 8-bit to market as a console properly without botching the execution shows the depths to which Atari management had sabotaged the company. These things simply wouldn't have happened had management empowered the engineers to make more creative desicisions. Even the engineers who were still at Atari knew that the 5200's controls would kill the unit.