Why is it that the 2600 looks nothing like the 5200 and 7800

[chairmonkey4406]

It seems like the 5200 and the 7800 kind of have the same look going for them. The flat tilted front with just the cartridge port. Why is it that these look nothing like the 2600? Did Atari want to make their systems look more furistic? Or what? I just dont know.

[Nukey Shay]

Isn't there some kind of time difference between them?

[CPUWIZ]

 

[Nukey Shay]

Hey! It's smaller too! What's up widat?

[chairmonkey4406]

Yeah but I'm talking about the original woodgrain not the Junior.

[CPUWIZ]

Yeah but I'm talking about the original woodgrain not the Junior.

 

See response #1.

[liquid_sky]

maybe because its OLDER? I am really holding back the urge to say things i shouldnt.

[Adrian M]

I am really holding back the urge to say things i shouldnt.

 

Me too...me too...

[chairmonkey4406]

Sorry if I offended anybody with a simple question. I'm just saying that the 5200 and 7800 look somewhat the same and the 2600 looks nothing like them.

[Nukey Shay]

It was required by law. All 70's electronics had to use really boxey shapes, funky colors, or have simulated woodgrain.

[liquid_sky]

and switches rather than buttons

[chairmonkey4406]

It was required by law.  All 70's electronics had to use really boxey shapes, funky colors, or have simulated woodgrain.

Ha! I remember when Senator Longhair passed that law back in '72. How stupid of me not to remember!

[Nukey Shay]

It was nowhere NEAR as brilliant as the 80's law that required all electronics to have an "expansion port"...even if the port was just a hole cut into the case.

 

Consumers really fell for that one.

[CPUWIZ]

It was nowhere NEAR as brilliant as the 80's law that required all electronics to have an "expansion port"...even if the port was just a hole cut into the case.

 

Consumers really fell for that one.

 

[chairmonkey4406]

Or the law that stated that all movies gone video games had to suck (I have to check but I'm almost positive it's still in affect today) and the one that said that all systems with a 5, 2, and at least 2 zeros had to have the worst controllers ever.

[Nukey Shay]

Shh...not so loud

 

Hahahaha :x It's analog!  Analog I tell ya!

 

 

Anyway, I've still got ColecoCalloused thumbs from their doorknob controller.

[Albert]

Atari was really trying to distance the 5200 from the 2600 when they designed it. Calling it the "SuperSystem", everything about the system was bigger than the 2600, from the console itself (it's huge!) to the cartridges, the controllers, power supply and even the switchbox. Much of this was simple over-engineering, which is especially evident with the terrible 5200 controllers.

 

As for the shape of the console itself, though, looks like Atari was trying to give the 5200 a sleek, futuristic look. I like the style of the 5200 (and the 7800 that followed), although it is too large in my opinion.

 

If you look at other game companies, it's very rare for each successive generation to look anything at all like the one that proceeded it. Examples:

 

Sega Master System -> Genesis -> Saturn -> Dreamcast

Nintendo Entertainment System -> SNES -> N64 -> Gamecube

Sony Playstation -> Playstation 2

 

Only the Genesis and Saturn really have any similarities to them, in that they were both black and about the same size. And aside from the similarities of the 5200 and 7800 (and the smaller 2600 Jr. that would follow), Atari also came up with a unique look for each generation of game systems and computers.

 

..Al

[mos6507]

The original 2600 is pretty consistent in style to the original 400/800 home computers, or even moreso, the Atari Video Music console. The 2600 is vaguely reminiscent of home stereo gear at the time, and the 400/800 were meant to look similar to electric typewriters of that era. So the approach was to have these devices fit in with what they thought their closest cousins would be in the livingroom.

 

Atari then hired an industrial designer in the early 80s who was responsible for the shift to the bolder "wedge look" which you see in the 5200, 7800, as well as the redesigned 8-bit line from the 1200XL onward.

[video game addict]

It was nowhere NEAR as brilliant as the 80's law that required all electronics to have an "expansion port"...even if the port was just a hole cut into the case.

 

Consumers really fell for that one.

 

Ain't that the truth! Almost everything after had some sort of unused port. It's funny the ppl develop these systems with such expandability, and then never fully tap into them. Well at least the CV was used! And the TI, had some uses as well.

 

Now they take hardware out of the system and sell with a port, then make you buy the rest of the hardware to fully use the games. N64, PS2, Game Cube...

[Nukey Shay]

Haha...even salesmen had problems with that.

 

"What's this?"

"The expansion port...it allows you to plug in new hardware to make your system better."

"Do you sell anything for it?"

"No, nothing has been released yet.

...

I think that one turns it into a computer."

"Hmm..."

 

That sort of thing wouldn't work if you were selling a car or something.

 

"That space is where your upgradable seats go. But we don't have any."

[Albert]

It was nowhere NEAR as brilliant as the 80's law that required all electronics to have an "expansion port"...even if the port was just a hole cut into the case.

 

Consumers really fell for that one.

 

Ain't that the truth! Almost everything after had some sort of unused port. It's funny the ppl develop these systems with such expandability, and then never fully tap into them. Well at least the CV was used! And the TI, had some uses as well.

 

Now they take hardware out of the system and sell with a port, then make you buy the rest of the hardware to fully use the games. N64, PS2, Game Cube...

 

Well, modern systems also have expansion ports! Look at the Gamecube and PS2, for instance. You can get modem and broadband adapters for them, the Gameboy Player for the Gamecube, and the Hard Drive peripheral is (finally) coming for the PS2. Plus the PS2 has USB ports as another means of connecting controllers and peripherals.

 

I do agree that these expansion ports have rarely been used (or used well) with most systems, but they do prove useful from time to time, so I'm glad to see hardware makers continue to think of future expansion when designing systems. One of the most useful expansion ports was on the Atari 800XL, the Parallel Bus Interface. With this, I was able to connect a kick-ass MIO board to my 8-bit, giving me a 1MB ramdisk / printer buffer, hard drive interface, high-speed serial port, and a printer port, something that wasn't possible on the older 400/800 computers.

 

..Al

[Nukey Shay]

Yup...that's kinda why I was referring to the 80s consoles.

These days technology moves too fast, and they almost have to include a method to surpass the design specs. Consoles are obsolete before they are even released

[Susuwatari]

It was nowhere NEAR as brilliant as the 80's law that required all electronics to have an "expansion port"...even if the port was just a hole cut into the case.

 

Consumers really fell for that one.

 

Ain't that the truth! Almost everything after had some sort of unused port. It's funny the ppl develop these systems with such expandability, and then never fully tap into them. Well at least the CV was used! And the TI, had some uses as well.

[snip]

 

I guess the Sega CD doesn't count as expansion? Or the TurboCD, Booster, and Booster Plus for the TG-16?

[SS]

I guess the Sega CD doesn't count as expansion?  

 

Mine is expanded by a good 1/4 inch by all the dust sitting atop of it!

[Buck]

Cant forget ColecoVision's Atari Expansion Module. Or their Turbo Steering Wheel Expansion. (Wasnt the ADAM intially an expansion before it was sold on it's own?)

 

Back to topic.. 70's vs 80's man.... Bell-Bottoms Vs straight-leg...Woodgrain style vs. Wedge Style.

 

Now that Bell-Bottoms are back, I bet the Woodgrain 4 or 6 switcher would be the style choice again. :wink:

 

As for the 2600, who here really prefers the jr.? (Not I.)

 

Buck