C64 vs. Atari XEGS

[JB]

Atari XEGS WAS A DAMN GAME SYSTEM, please don't tell me its a computer.

You are, of course, wrong. The XEGS is a repackaged Atari 65XE, marketed as a game system. It can run almost all XL/XE software right out of the box.

 

Yea maybe it is a repackaged Atari 65XE, but how many got the Atari XEGS to run on disk drives / printers / monitors ?

I ran my NES and SNES on a monitor. Guy I got my Genesis from ran it on a monitor(I would've, but the AV cables were a malfunctioning hackjob to start with). Would've run my PS1 on it too, but it was one of those things that doesn't like whatever the hell a PS1 does to the video output that makes it strobe in and out real fast on select televisions.

...

Granted they were NTSC composite video monitors, but that's not the point.

[Joey Kay]

Here's an interesting Usenet Article once posted on the XEGS by Atari's Neil Harris, back when it was new:

 

One way to answer that would be to give you a tour of our warehouse.  If you

could see the number of 8-bit computers and software in inventory, you'd

know we are highly motivated to keep the line going.

 

I always liked reading up on Atari news and info such as that...

 

Anyhow, although Neil didn't directly state this, I highly suspect that this is more evidence that the XEGS was inspired by 8-bit inventory overstock... for god's sake - Atari was still selling OLD Warner branded software right up until the end of the 8-bit line!

 

No doubt this software was sitting in their warehouse since Christmas of 1983 when James Morgan blew the Christmas season for the 8-bit thanks to his indecisiveness.

 

Had that pile of inventory not been sitting there, the XEGS would have likely never seen the light of day.

 

Cheers!

 

Joey

[Joey Kay]

I think Atari's marketing was a bit screwy. They repackaged the XE as a kids toy (pastal buttons and all), made ads with kids in it but the lineup would have been more appealing to older gamers. I still remember that XE ad with the kid excited about playing "FLIGHT SIMULATOR II". I thought "Yeah -- right. Like a ten year old is going to read those two thick manuals  to play such a slow paced game."

 

I respectfully agree and disagree on this one...

 

Neon colours were (bleargh!) the rage in the late '80s, so I don't begrudge the design as being so much childish as trendy.

 

The machine itself was really was being marketed to geeky kids (like myself!). Did you ever notice that (at least in the one and only TV spot I saw for the XEGS around Christmas of 1988) that the kid playing the XEGS had glasses, while the kids with the 2600 and 7800 didn't?

 

I thought it was uber-cool that a video game machine had Flight Simulator II, and could be upgraded to a full-blown 8-bit computer system. For loser kids (like myself) that was a real plus! However, I agree that it is for older gamers... I think 10 or 11 would be the minimum cut-off age for someone wanting this machine.

 

Cheers!

 

Joey

[Joey Kay]

The problem here seems again to be a lack of proper distribution and support. I was lucky enough to live in the same town in which Atari Canada was located, so all of the local department stores were well-stocked with XEGS titles. I certainly did see more XEGS titles than 7800 titles in the late '80s in my area, but then, I wasn't really looking for 7800 stuff at the time.

 

Mon dieu!!!

 

You lived in Markham... did you ever see their offices first hand? I still remember the address off the top of my head:

 

Atari (Canada) Corp.

90 Gough Road

Units 1 and 2

Markham, Ontario

L3R 5V5

 

How sad is that???

 

Cheers!

 

Joey

[DracIsBack]

Yea maybe it is a repackaged Atari 65XE, but how many got the Atari XEGS to run on disk drives / printers / monitors ?

 

I did and lots of others I've met on the Usenet and also at the local user's group back in the day did too.

 

You ever see stores or banks with a Atari XEGS ?

 

Business customers weren't Atari's largest market for computers, period. Not XL, not XE, not ST, not Falcon.

[Bryan]

Yea maybe it is a repackaged Atari 65XE, but how many got the Atari XEGS to run on disk drives / printers / monitors ?

 

I think the main consumer of XEGS systems ended up being A8 computer users and not gamers, so I'm sure plenty of people did use it with peripherals.

 

You ever see stores or banks with a Atari XEGS ? Atari XEGS is like the "red headed step Step daughter", no one loves it and you can destroy it since no one like the XEGS.

 

Banks?

 

-Bry

[Goochman]

Im a 100% Atari guy - If you're looking for cart stuff then the XEGS/what Atari 8bit is a better way to go - The C64 had some nice games published and it was eaiser to produce more colorful games therefore when the Atari 'port' was done the machine capabilities were not used. First we used to get the Apple II 'ports' then the C64 'ports'.

 

There are some excellent titles on the XEGS that play and look better on the Atari - but those are far and few inbetween.

 

For a game system I like the 800XL - smaller footprint

[Lord Helmet]

 

I like the XEGS

[+davidcalgary29]

The problem here seems again to be a lack of proper distribution and support. I was lucky enough to live in the same town in which Atari Canada was located, so all of the local department stores were well-stocked with XEGS titles. I certainly did see more XEGS titles than 7800 titles in the late '80s in my area, but then, I wasn't really looking for 7800 stuff at the time.

 

Mon dieu!!!

 

You lived in Markham... did you ever see their offices first hand? I still remember the address off the top of my head:

 

Atari (Canada) Corp.

90 Gough Road

Units 1 and 2

Markham, Ontario

L3R 5V5

 

How sad is that???

 

Cheers!

 

Joey

 

LOL! I lived in Thornhill-Markham, and I used to visit the head offices of Atari Canada about once every two months, usually to get some help with my buggy 1050. I got a couple of freebie fixes from the folks at Atari Canada; they were pretty good with us locals. They did, in fact, often show off some rare proto or limited relase (e.g. XE MIDIMaze) at the local TAF meetings.

 

Atari Canada had a lot of neat stuff sitting around, but I was too poor at the time to buy anything. Still, I'd visit the site to pick up promotional fliers and price lists of upcoming titles. I threw all of that out in a move in 1995, though. Of course.

[Draikar]

I know Businesses weren't Atari's largest market but they did try like hell in some of there later computers with adds that looked kinda cool. From there adds Atari seem to do what IBM did but easier...?

 

On a side note did many Atari XEGS sell or made ? Seems there are not many on ebay and the few that are don't get a lot of bids. (You got to love the color of the system, so 80's.)

[DracIsBack]

Out of curiosity, how "big" was Atari Canada? I called them but never actually went there

[+davidcalgary29]

Out of curiosity, how "big" was Atari Canada? I called them but never actually went there

 

I'm not sure how many employees they had. Atari Canada's "store" was just a front room attached to the warehouse that people could visit to buy items that weren't readily available in the stores, or simply drop off items for repair. It was really just a red-brick warehouse in the middle of a large industrial park; nothing remarkable at all about it.

 

I know they had a couple of on-staff technicians (most of whom probably saw my 1050 at least once ), and the counter staff, and administration.

 

I've seen pictures of Atari U.K. headquarters, and can say that Atari Canada was much, much smaller than that. The last visit that I made was sometime in '89, when I went to see if they had any of the new XE titles listed in their price guide ("Ninja Golf", "MIDIMaze", "Mean 18"). I was told -- if I'm remembering correctly -- that they were "coming soon".

[DracIsBack]

The last visit that I made was sometime in '89, when I went to see if they had any of the new XE titles listed in their price guide ("Ninja Golf", "MIDIMaze", "Mean 18"). I was told -- if I'm remembering correctly -- that they were "coming soon".  

 

 

Ahh yes -- I placed ordered for titles like that. Atari Canada discontinued the 7800 (after TOWER TOPPLER AND DARK CHAMBERS) and never actually received games listed in their price list. I remember sending a money order for games on the list, getting told that "the titles weren't available" and also being told "we won't partially refund your money so pick something else."

 

I ended up with FIGHT NIGHT. Boy was I pissed!

[kisrael]

Random Thoughts on the Topics:

 

I had an Atari 800XL, but C=64 had such a thriving market for games, both legal and pirated, that I jonsed for the C=64 'til my Uncle finally gave me his (and a big old collection of Compute's Gazette with Disks!) for Christmas as he moved to PCs.

 

I think Atari hurt itself with retailers during the crash, some retailers didn't want anything to do with the company and liqidated their stock.

 

Thinking about all the old Atari 8bits with the same chip and most things in common: man, one thing that ticks me off is how Atari dropped the # of ports for joysticks from 4 down to 2, on their computers and the 5200. Not 'til the N64 did 4 ports built into the system come back, and even now Sony is clueless about it.

 

Finally, Nintendo vs C=64...if you REALLY think the NES was better in graphics or sound, take a look at "Skate or Die" on both systems. On the C=64 it almost looked and sounded like an Amiga game, on the NES it's ugly crap.

[DracIsBack]

Finally, Nintendo vs C=64...if you REALLY think the NES was better in graphics or sound, take a look at "Skate or Die" on both systems.  On the C=64 it almost looked and sounded like an Amiga game, on the NES it's ugly crap.

 

Is that an issue of NES hardware or bad programming? The SNES has better graphics than the Genesis too, but the Genesis version of Pit Fighter looks and sounds better ... why is that?