such a shame

[deadmeow]

It is such a shame the way Atari did things in the 80's. The Atari 5200 was axed in 1984? The 7800 was introduced with backwards 2600 compatibility at the same time, but then quickly pulled. Then in 86 or so, the 7800 is shoved back out there, along with the Atari XEGS (closely related to 5200) and they are both given shoddy support.

 

Just imagine if the 8 bit computers had been kept separate from the game system line. An Atari 7800 with a good sound chip would have been a great competitor to Colecovision. And the Atari home computers would still have their own distinct quality identity.

 

At least we can still enjoy them through emulation, and the actual hardware (thank God for ebay!).

[Rybags]

Coleco was dead and buried by the time the 7800 was released. Even if not for the 2 year delay (or whatever it was), it still would have been up against (and probably crushed by) the NES and SMS.

 

But agreed. Probably the 3 biggest points against the 7800:

- late release.

- no POKEY.

- Atari under the Tramiels.

 

Ed: that should be 4 points:

- totally lacklustre games catalog.

Edited February 15, 2007 by Rybags

[highendsystems]

The dedicated ROM based 5200 & 7800's days would seem limited, but were in fact not.

 

Atari was the innovator not the imitator! Meaning that Atari set the standard for cartridge based

software for everyone including nintendo of-course.

 

The XEGS is not related to the 5200 in the way you suggest.

 

Shoddy support towards the end is pretty much the way I would sum it up as you stated.

 

Colecovision had a very slight, but potentially powerful 'window' of opportunity with it's

ADAM, which could actually out-perform the 8-bit Atari in a couple aspects had it's potential been fully explored by software developers. However, the ADAM was not as 'reliable' or 'less-crashy' than the

Atari, Commode64, or S'nApples IIe's, because they didn't have time to fix the bugs....

The ADAM had an astounding 80K of RAM! Though 16K was dedicated to video -- just makes

it a tad more impressive for its time....

 

Uggg, puke, haaaack, pluweee....I've ebay'd since they and PissPal originated, still do it -- but I don't

thank God!....

 

Though a few of us in the community 'tisk' the pastels of the XEGS, I stand firm that it is a very viable

computing platform.

 

In conclusion, Atari products are way more of a 'house-hold' name than Coleco by far. The 8-bit Atari home computer stands firmly aside from gaming consoles, especially by those who know how to use them for purposes other than entertainment, but then again, that's why we enjoy them so much!....

[Goochman]

Ataris biggest issue back then was the infighting between the console and computer divisions. Instead of working towards a goal of upselling the console group got to run roughshod over the computer group.

 

The 5200 is the greatest example of this.............

[supercat]

Ataris biggest issue back then was the infighting between the console and computer divisions. Instead of working towards a goal of upselling the console group got to run roughshod over the computer group.

 

The 5200 is the greatest example of this.............

 

Why exactly was the 5200 engineered to be so deliberately incompatible with the Atari 400 (different memory map, cartridge port, controllers, etc.)? I would think that advertising it as bringing computer-quality games to the masses could have worked well.

[supercat]

- no POKEY.

 

I don't know what Atari's internal costs for the POKEY were, but there would have been a number of other sound possibilities as well. The Yamaha(?) chip used in the TI 99/4a and Colecovision is a bit lacking in the sound-effects department, but I think its abilities would have very nicely complemented the TIA (which was best at the types of sounds the Yamaha couldn't do well).

[PressureCooker2600]

But agreed. Probably the 3 biggest points against the 7800:

- totally lacklustre games catalog.

 

I dont think the games for the 7800 were horrible. Food Fight is one of the best games for any system and it was an exclusive for the 7800. Most of their arcade ports were dead on and very fun like Galaga and Robotron. Plus some unique games like Midnight Mutants, Alien Brigade, and Scrapyard Dog.

[Zonie]

Atari should have released the 400 as a sub$300 premium game console in 1980 with Space Invaders (albiet a better version) or Pac Man packed in, and phased the 2600 out over the next year. (Remember, the 2600 was $259 when it first came out)

 

This weaning of the masses off the 2600 would have stemmed the tide of third party shit games that killed the whole market.

 

This would also have eliminated the need for the 5200.

 

The 800 could have been offered with more memory standard, at a higher price to differentiate it from the 400.

 

Better controllers could have been released, concentrating on ergonomics and better mechanicals, and maybe a second action button, but not needing all the extra stuff like the 5200 had since the 400 already had a keyboard.

 

The XEGS was actually the right thing at the wrong time. Had the 5200 debuted as an XEGS like apparatus, complete with SIO2 port and maybe having the keyboard an add-on option, and 400/800 cart compatibility, it would have succeeded. Sure it would have probably needed an on-board (or separate) numeric keypad to handle extra functions, but the market was clamoring for a game console that could be upgraded (next Christmas maybe?) to a computer. The Bios could have been written to detect the presence/absence of a keyboard and automatically adjust for games like star raiders, which used various keys on the keyboard.

 

My two cents

[ataridano]

On the computer side of things, it seems to me like Atari had an awesom system in 1979 but did little to change it as time went on. I always wondered what a 65816 based system, similar to the Apple IIgs, would have looked like. Making it run 8 bit software might have been tricky with all the custom chips, but it seems like it would have been a good follow on. Or maybe an updated 8 bit similar to the CoCo3? Unfortunatly it's hard to guess what the general public would have bought back then, all of us are clearly more interested in the system than the average person I suppose in many ways the 1400 series was a good answer, too bad it wasn't part of the XE series. Personally, I would have made a 65816 based system (ideally), but instead of BASIC or Self Test or Bug Hunt, I would have included a GEM or GEOS type gui in ROM (if a boot disk was not found) and gone head on with the Mac and Amiga, but at a lower price point. But who knows, maybe I would have gone out of business

[supercat]

This weaning of the masses off the 2600 would have stemmed the tide of third party shit games that killed the whole market.

 

There was a plenty of third-party dreck, but there were also a lot of really good third-party games. Frankly, I'm just as glad that the 2600 got a chance to shine as it did. I think people's failure to migrate toward the 5200 was a result of the unfortunate choices of controller design and pack-in. Super Breakout!? !?!?!? Why not Star Raiders!?

 

Back in the day, I thought the Colecovision seemed like a better system than the 5200. From a technical standpoint it probably isn't really, but there's considerable overlap. Certainly the CV had a better pack-in.

[supercat]

On the computer side of things, it seems to me like Atari had an awesom system in 1979 but did little to change it as time went on.

 

Sounds like the Amiga. How many years did it take for Commodore to get the bus bandwidth over 7.16mbytes/sec?

[ZylonBane]

Most of their arcade ports were dead on and very fun like Galaga and Robotron.

Galaga is not nearly as dead-on as it could have been.

[PressureCooker2600]

Most of their arcade ports were dead on and very fun like Galaga and Robotron.

Galaga is not nearly as dead-on as it could have been.

 

But it was still fun, nonetheless.