If the crash were pushed back a year....

[godzillajoe]

What games would we likely have seen based on protos and internal marketing memos?

 

This is sort of a spinoff of my Circus Charlie thread

 

So....

 

Circus Charlie

Mr. Do's Wild Ride

Zoo Keeper

Good Luck Charlie Brown

Turbo

Pink Panther

Swordquest Airworld

Xevious

Elevator Action

Bugs Bunny

Astrochase

 

Would Atari have tried to finish games like Robotron or Tempest that were rumored to have been demoed or in the case of Tempest already have a proto.

[godzillajoe]

So I guess the answer is "every game that was cancelled"

 

Oh well.

 

Blame the insomnia on the over posting

[cvga]

Wasn't there a version of John Madden football planned? I wonder what that would have looked like.

[atari181]

Wasn't there a version of John Madden football planned? I wonder what that would have looked like.

Where did you hear that? Never heard such a thing?

[Tanrunomad]

Well the crash never happened for computer games so just look at computer games during that time.

[+Random Terrain]

Why do humans say "pushed back"? The date is in the future, not warped back to the past. Shouldn't it be "pushed forward"?

[+save2600]

Well the crash never happened for computer games so just look at computer games during that time.

 

2600 Hard Hat Mack, Conan or Sammy Lightfoot!

[godzillajoe]

I assume if something is coming you push it back so it arrives at a later time. Like if you need to be somewhere at 8:00 AM and I stand in front of you and don't let you by, I've now, literally, pushed you "back" to 8:15 or so despite it being later in the future.

[Nukey Shay]

The premise is flawed.

 

You can't move the effect forward (for all parties involved), since public interest (TOWARD all parties involved) was non-sustainable...gradually moving away from the console market toward home computers.

 

So, let's assume that the cost of home computing remained unchanged for an additional year:

 

Lower cost of materials which helped the home computer market produce low-cost systems (as well as development of "third wave" console systems) would not happen for an additional year. So, many of the titles released on those platforms may also have been postponed (or never have happened). Which directly affects the amount of dollars that developers had to work with. Which directly affects the amount of titles that were ultimately developed or produced (even for unrelated platforms).

 

Game libraries may have been quite different. "Third wave" consoles may have never happened at all.

[Torr]

I'd really like to know what would have happened if the SQ : WaterWorld contest had panned out as well as the WHOLE contest.

If all the games were made and all competitions held, with all prizes being naturally given out, SwordQuest might not have the awful name it has today.

It would still be a collection of "virtual lottery tickets", but it would have a much more colorful history then just two crap games, one rarer than rare game that only hardcore collectors want anyway and a failed contest/competition where only 2 of 5 prizes saw circulation and one was melted down not long after...

 

As well, '83 was when Atari games starting getting "good" in that they were really pushing the system at this point, yet it could still be pushed even further as we know.

Imagine if the VCS launched with the kinda titles being released in '83, the system would have been even more mind blowing. And that is even if you take out arcade ports of games that hadn't been made yet. Say Enduro was a launch title instead of Street Racer or Decathlon instead of Video Olympics, you know?

Edited January 19, 2013 by Torr

[8th lutz]

Where did you hear that? Never heard such a thing?

It has been in the Digitpress collector's guide. CBS was planning Madden for Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8 bit computer line, Intellivision, and Colecovision according to the DP Collector's guide.

[8th lutz]

I don't think it would have possible to push the crash a year if you look it from a video game industry standpoint. E.T. was going to be released in 1982 no matter what since that the year E.T was released in the theater. Atari was going to rush E.T because they wanted the game release when the movie was in the theater.

 

The Pac-man issue could have been avoided by making the game 8k. That might have enough for Warner to keep Atari up to 1985. The thing is the Atari 5200 was going to be problem for Atari not matter what due to the sales of the system and how Atari mishandled the launch. Atari was going to mishandle the launch no matter what. The 5200 couldn't have been released later than 1982 anyway because the 2600 was aging.

 

Coleco would have screwed up the colecovision anyway because Coleco wanted more ram for the system after they released it and also wanted bigger rom cartridge size. In 1983 or 1984 asking a game cartridges to be bigger than 32k was out of the question. Coleco would built an add-on anyway for the Colecovision.

 

Mattel would have had problems anyway also by 1983. The problem with Mattel was they were promise hardware that didn't come out and were fined for it until it came out.

 

The 3rd party problem that caused crash was going to happen when it did anyway because Activision won the lawsuit that Atari sued Activision. When Activision won the lawsuit Atari filed, it opened the games up for 3rd parties to develop games on the 2600. The 5200 didn't have a lockout chip prevent any 3rd party to develop games. 3rd Parties would have been going away anyway in 1984. That meant the 3rd party 2600 games wasn't going happen.

 

The 2600 games developed and published by Atari would happened an the games wouldn't be in 2600 prototype form like Elevator Action though like said about if Atari did a better job with Pac-man.

[The Usotsuki]

What if Atari had released the XEGS, in a 5200-styled case, as the 5200?

[solidcorp]

Wasn't there a version of John Madden football planned? I wonder what that would have looked like.

Where did you hear that? Never heard such a thing?

 

The history of Madden Football is pretty interesting...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_NFL#1980s:_Creation

 

Paraphrasing: Trip Hawkins did approach Atari about making his football game idea between 1982 and 1984 but wanted to use his childhood hero Joe Montana. It's not clear whether he was looking to make an arcade or home game. Madden was actually his third choice and wasn't approached until 1984. The first Madden was released on the Apple ][ in 1988, so it would be doubtful that there was any real chance of a 2600 or 5200 version of the property we know as Madden today.

[Sek]

What if Atari had released the XEGS, in a 5200-styled case, as the 5200?

 

This is an interesting question since it would have dealt with both consoles's biggest flaws (at least how I see it).

 

The 5200 would not have had the wonky controllers that plagued its existence, and the XEGS wouldn't have had the weird pastel buttons that made it look like a baby toy compared to the systems it was supposed to be competing against. I think it might have been the elixir Atari needed to stay in the race longer than it did, but it was so poorly managed during that time it's hard to say for sure.

[8th lutz]

What if Atari had released the XEGS, in a 5200-styled case, as the 5200?

It is an interest question.

 

There would have to be one major change for the XEGS if it was the Atari 5200 in 1982. XEGS had 64kb of ram built in. That is way too much for a game console in 1982 because of price of ram. I believe there no computer in 1982 that had 64kb of ram also.

 

If the XEGS had less ram built in since it would have been a 1982 games, it still would be an upgrade compare to the 5200.

 

The attachable keyboard would have been good addition besides the fact it would have been able to play existing Atari 8 bit. The only question would be the controller. The XEGS controller was outdated when it came out based on the fact it was a one button controller, but at least the XEGS as the 5200 would have had a keyboard to make it up. Even 1982, the xEGS controller would have been outdated by being one button controller compare to the Intellivision and the Colecovision.

 

The only question is if the price isn't out of wrack if the amount of the ram the XEGS had would be cut down to 16KB is how Atari would have handle the system. Atari was not exactly a good managed company in 1982 for terms of handling the 5200 launch and the 5200 in general. The 5200 had aging launch titles that already was released the 2600 years before the 5200 came out Space Invaders, and Super Breakout compare to what Colecovision had. Colecovision had younger arcade titles as launch titles such as Donkey Kong. The Atari 7800 even had an outdated title in 1984 being worked on in Asteroids. That meant Atari made bad choices of arcade game should have been ported to game consoles.

 

Atari also didn't think of adding an Atari 2600 game module for the Atari 5200 before the Colecovision and the Intellivision II. The Atari 5200 also had the issue of original titles outside of sports games also. Atari also depended on arcade ports too much 5200 and not original games earlier in its life. The original games Atari released for the 5200 outside of Failsafe was ports games in early its life. Atari was working on non Arcade games later in its life, but when the gave were being programed was the issue.

 

I honestly don't know the Atari XEGS would have fared better as the Atari 5200 based on the fact Atari handled the 5200 poorly based on launch titles and not have good blend on non arcade titles released also. That meant the Atari 7800 might have still been created to be released in 1984.

[The Usotsuki]

I believe there no computer in 1982 that had 64kb of ram also.

C64. I believe by then the IBM PC also had 64K, and some niche systems had 64K.

[8th lutz]

C64. I believe by then the IBM PC also had 64K, and some niche systems had 64K.

The catch is the C64 was $595.00 when it was first released. That was great price for a computer, but not a game console. Playstation 3 was great example in the beginning of its lifetime that the price of the system affected its sales before they picked up at a cheaper price. The Colecovision also was only $200.00 at lunch also.

 

The Atari 5200 originally was $270.00 dollars for a system that had only 16K of ram. I do recognize that the 5200 at launch had 4 controller ports and size of the system was a factor of being $270.00 besides the amount of ram built in. While the XEGS would of been in a 5200 Style case, it still would have even more expensive than the 5200 was. Cost of the 5200 at launch was one of the reasons why Colecovision sold more systems.

 

That meant asking a game console with 64K of ram in 1982 would have been even more expensive than the 5200 was.

Edited January 20, 2013 by 8th lutz

[The Usotsuki]

Then perhaps the system would be to the 400 as the XEGS was to the 65XE?

[+Psionic]

The history of Madden Football is pretty interesting...

 

http://en.wikipedia....1980s:_Creation

 

Paraphrasing: Trip Hawkins did approach Atari about making his football game idea between 1982 and 1984 but wanted to use his childhood hero Joe Montana. It's not clear whether he was looking to make an arcade or home game. Madden was actually his third choice and wasn't approached until 1984.

 

The Madden Football game that was mentioned in this thread was being developed by CBS Electronics, not Electronic Arts. By the time EA approached Madden in '84, CBS had exited the video game industry and basically given up the license in the process.

 

The first Madden was released on the Apple ][ in 1988, so it would be doubtful that there was any real chance of a 2600 or 5200 version of the property we know as Madden today.

 

The game being developed by CBS was very simple and used X's and O's (like the Atari Football coin-op), but if you want to get technical, Tod Frye's Red vs. Blue demo had already shown that it was possible.