5200 Story

[MIKE5200]

I found this Story yesterday and thought i would share it. Forgive me for the long link

 

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/07/...&frame=true

Enjoy

[Brian R.]

I found this Story yesterday and thought i would share it. Forgive me for the long link

 

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/07/...&frame=true

Enjoy

 

Nothing really new there.

[jetset]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

[Shawn]

It was a fun read but Jetset is right, Only the fool blames the tools.

[MIKE5200]

I know it's the same old news but i love the youtube ads

[atari5200dude]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

I agree

[phuzaxeman]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

I agree

 

 

everything is hindsight. you can say all those things because time has passed and the original atari is dead. i have a problem with controller durabilty than actualy design. when you grow up on these controllers, that's all you know. as a kid, you just don't want them to break.

 

try playing space dungeon, super breakout, kaboom, and other games on an intellivision or colecovision controller. anyone that thnks its a whole world better probably grew up on them....

Edited July 19, 2007 by phuzaxeman

[atari5200dude]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

I agree

 

 

everything is hindsight. you can say all those things because time has passed and the original atari is dead. i have a problem with controller durabilty than actualy design. when you grow up on these controllers, that's all you know. as a kid, you just don't want them to break.

 

try playing space dungeon, super breakout, kaboom, and other games on an intellivision or colecovision controller. anyone that thnks its a whole world better probably grew up on them....

 

Nah, Its a real bitch to play superbreakout on a intellivison controller

[doctorclu]

Been playing TRON Deadly Discs (an Intellivision game) on my Dreamcast.

 

I have to say the D Pad is a nice change, just wish the DC had a numerical keypad like the Jaguar, Intellivision, Colecovision, and ... 5200.

 

Ummm... the 5200 is a awesome setup. I think to me it will always be a "Why?". You see, my perfect solution to a 5200 is getting a $15 Atari 400.

 

That aside, it is an interesting system that seemed to come to me since I loved Atari and people were getting rid of stuff. It is interesting... in the wild you are VERY likely to have people had you 2600's, and the next most likely is a 5200. They were riding the tales of Atari fame quite well, and I think many bought them.

 

(I have had my 7800, and several 800's, and a Jaguar nearly pushed at me, but I had to get published in the Dallas Morning News for that to happen)

 

You know, I think I will suggest this for a voting topic.. what are the most likely systems to find in the wild aside from the Atari 2600... rank from one to five.

 

Anyway, to me the 5200 was a awesome system for these reasons all kidding aside...

 

1) black shell.

2) Great graphics

3) A/V lines in the cartridge port. Technically someone could rig an "adaptor" for a X-box 360 and about anything else.

4) The 2600 adaptor!! Backwards capibility! Common people!! This was the first major game system to a major game system. It might have been a little after the fact, but Atari did make a solution. (Not that I have been able to get get either of my two 2600 adaptors to work.. that's beside the point!)

 

The controller did bite. And you know, they really should have made a "computer module" for the 5200, to upgrade the 5200 to a full fledged Atari 800!! If the trackball adaptor was huge, imagine the computer add-=on? LOL! Look out 1200!! You finally have a contender.

 

Make a cartridge that adapts Atari 400/800 cartridges.

 

But yeh, dispite the controller, I think the 5200 was the Super System of the Atari world.

[atari5200dude]

But yeh, dispite the controller, I think the 5200 was the Super System of the Atari world.

 

your cool in my book

[Brian R.]

Been playing TRON Deadly Discs (an Intellivision game) on my Dreamcast.

 

I have to say the D Pad is a nice change, just wish the DC had a numerical keypad like the Jaguar, Intellivision, Colecovision, and ... 5200.

 

Ummm... the 5200 is a awesome setup. I think to me it will always be a "Why?". You see, my perfect solution to a 5200 is getting a $15 Atari 400.

 

That aside, it is an interesting system that seemed to come to me since I loved Atari and people were getting rid of stuff. It is interesting... in the wild you are VERY likely to have people had you 2600's, and the next most likely is a 5200. They were riding the tales of Atari fame quite well, and I think many bought them.

 

(I have had my 7800, and several 800's, and a Jaguar nearly pushed at me, but I had to get published in the Dallas Morning News for that to happen)

 

You know, I think I will suggest this for a voting topic.. what are the most likely systems to find in the wild aside from the Atari 2600... rank from one to five.

 

Anyway, to me the 5200 was a awesome system for these reasons all kidding aside...

 

1) black shell.

2) Great graphics

3) A/V lines in the cartridge port. Technically someone could rig an "adaptor" for a X-box 360 and about anything else.

4) The 2600 adaptor!! Backwards capibility! Common people!! This was the first major game system to a major game system. It might have been a little after the fact, but Atari did make a solution. (Not that I have been able to get get either of my two 2600 adaptors to work.. that's beside the point!)

 

The controller did bite. And you know, they really should have made a "computer module" for the 5200, to upgrade the 5200 to a full fledged Atari 800!! If the trackball adaptor was huge, imagine the computer add-=on? LOL! Look out 1200!! You finally have a contender.

 

Make a cartridge that adapts Atari 400/800 cartridges.

 

But yeh, dispite the controller, I think the 5200 was the Super System of the Atari world.

 

I do have an 800XL (which cost me $5!) and an XEGS. Both are in boxes in my closet. I like 'em, but I don't have the games for them like I do for the 5200. And I just like using the 5200 more - just a "feel" issue.

 

Yet I think the 2600 adaptor was a cheat. The system is not truly backwards compatible, like the 7800 is. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the adaptor, you're basically plugging a whole 2600 into the 5200. I wonder if people who bought it back in the day knew that they were basically buying a second 2600 in the form of the "adaptor."

 

I might be more inclined to give the 7800 the nod for first system with true backward compatibility. Well, to the 2600. Wonder why they never felt the need to make it compatible with the 5200...

[carmel_andrews]

I seem to remember retrogaming radio mentioning a vic 20 version of the 2600 adapter (5200 version) was in the works way back when

 

Surely though the 2600 adapter was 'little more' then an emulator of a 2600 running on a 5200

 

I feel sorry for anyone that bought coleco's 'expansion module 1' and then invested in a columbia house 'arcade' (which is the same deal under a different name

[Brian R.]

I seem to remember retrogaming radio mentioning a vic 20 version of the 2600 adapter (5200 version) was in the works way back when

 

Surely though the 2600 adapter was 'little more' then an emulator of a 2600 running on a 5200

 

I feel sorry for anyone that bought coleco's 'expansion module 1' and then invested in a columbia house 'arcade' (which is the same deal under a different name

 

Don't forget the Gemini. I got one of those clunkers in a box somewhere.

 

Imagine what it would be like if another company started pumping out PS3 or XBox clones.

 

Yeah, the adaptor was more than an emulator. AFAIK, it was a complete 2600. It just passed through the 5200.

[Paranoid]

I'm an ordained lord of the temple of the 5200.

 

Yet, mostly, these days, I play my 5200 games on an 800xl, or even more often, on my Pocket PC.

 

But it isn't the controllers. It was the crash. It was oversaturation, it was a generation growing in different directions... It was gaming just, for whatever reason, stalling for a minute.

 

I did an interview today, and the oddest part was when the tech guy grilled me and we got off on our lack of formal education, and our first PCs... mine, a Vic 20, his was... um, I forgot, I was mostly interested in me... But I told him I had recently bought an Atari 800 and was loving the games, that everything had gotten too complex today... and, I swear, we bonded, for a minute there...

 

Controllers are key... but the 5200 controller is one that as this article rightly points out, has advantages... The limitations of the controller, on the other hand, are generally managable... and, with effort, can turn into advantages. The 5200 controllers really CAN do things that no controller BEFORE could do, and that the little nipple shaped nubbins on modern pads really only emulate.

 

The real achilies heel of the 5200 controller was the flex circuit.

 

Oddly enough, I've got a story about that. Cordless phones are a pain for my family. Finding a good one, with strong signal, good volume, and nice feautres is SUCH a pain in the ass. We've bought literally thousands of dollars of phones in the last 20 years. And, probably a half dozen of them have been worth the price. When we moved recently, it seems the ONLY thing that didn't make it were our decent and servicable (but not remarkable) Toshiba cordless phones. So we went to WalMart, and bought some Phillips Digital Clear Voice gee-whiz phones.

 

Turns out they have a battery life of about half a day and a volume that would leave a guy with 80s gig enduced hearing loss wondering who just called.

 

So, in all my tech shit that I shipped out, I found an old Panasonic handset that I used to love, but that gave up the ghost at some point. My Nephew (a confirmed alcoholic) was living with us at the time, and one day, the phone's keypad just stopped working... and the phone smelled... funky.

 

So, it used to sit out at my workbench in the garage. If I pressed down REAL hard on the answer button, it would answer... other than that, it was useless... you couldn't dial out on it.

 

But, with our current phone situation, I got desperate. I cracked the phone open, and pulled out the rubber keypad membrane, and found... CARBON dots...

 

So I got out some paper, and dragged the carbon dots along the paper... until they started making nice, dark lines...

 

I smelled the phone, and it smelled like... like a drunk nephew might have puked on it at some point.

 

So I got out the Q-tips... and I cleaned the membrane... all the orange-yellow sticky... whatever, that was stuck in the keypad... and cleaned the flex circuit with the alcohol too...

 

And, now it is my favorite phone in the house... it works great.

 

Keep in mind, this is a phone circa 1995-1997. It isn't that old... certainly not as old as a 5200 controller.

 

But the *problems* that plauged it were completely typical for a 5200 controller, and the fix, also, was the same.

 

The 5200 controller didn't suck... it was too damn innovative... and the same problems STILL plauge the underlying technology, and the same fix works across the board. The difference is that consumers have become more accepting about a keypad quiting and a $200 item becoming "disposable" in a short period of time, today. Look at the iPod battery issue, which is STILL a problem.

 

The 5200 controller, as designed, wouldn't bat an eyelash if released today. It was just the TIP of the iceburg *then*. The same technology drives a ton of things in our daily lives today, and we use them, and they fail in the SAME manner, and we never complain. The Nokia phones that were all the rage a few years back had the same kind of carbon dot tech in them, and their keypads failed in the same way, and people just waited and renewed their contracts and got a new phone... motorola flip phone... whatever.... We're used to disposable electronics now... when the 5200 came out, we thought it should last as long as a CRT based TV. It is more about perception than about the reality of the performance of the device. The Coleco mushroom SUCKED, and hurt WAY more in WAY shorter time than the 5200 stick. The Intellivision disc just SUCKS... But all of them work great for games designed around the particular controller. Play Super Mario World with a 2600 joystick, and tell me how much fun it is... But play Pitfall with a d-pad, and tell me how well THAT works.

 

People keep talking about this, and keep blaming the controller, but that is just an easy excuse.

 

... said the guy who can't understand how he got along without his redemption 7800 adapter...

[Henry Lee]

Turns out they have a battery life of about half a day and a volume that would leave a guy with 80s gig enduced hearing loss wondering who just called.

 

 

Hi Paranoid,

You made me laugh for 1 long minute!

 

I love the Atari 5200 controllers,

because they do

chew chew chew in Star Raiders,

Wacko wacko in Pac-Man

and Strike three, yerr' out! in Realsports Baseball!

[Brad2600]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

 

Perhaps the person has never heard of a Redemption 5200 adapter.

 

Instead of whining, I bought one of these years ago.

[Brian R.]

Ya. More whining from someone who sucks at certain videogames and decides to blame the controllers.

 

Perhaps the person has never heard of a Redemption 5200 adapter.

 

Instead of whining, I bought one of these years ago.

 

Or the Wico. Without which, my 5200 would be unplayable, and boxed away.

[candiru]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

[jetset]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

[MIKE5200]

Since were on this topic

 

Tell us about your 5200 story.. How did you get one and how much did you pay and what games did you play to death. I'll tell ya mine later.

[Brian R.]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

 

If backwards compatibility didn't matter back then, then why did Atari rush late in the game to bring out a 2600 "adaptor" for the 5200? The 5200's lack of compatibility with the 2600 is routinely cited as one of its failing points. And then why make the 7800 backwards compatible, not to the 5200, but all the way back to the 2600??? It must've mattered. Coleco cared enough to make a 2600-compatible expansion module for their own system.

 

And trying to say backwards compatibility didn't matter until the PS2 shows a remarkable lack of any sense of history. I'm sure it started long before that recently. If not the 7800, look at the Gameboy.

Edited July 24, 2007 by Brian R.

[ymike673]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

 

If backwards compatibility didn't matter back then, then why did Atari rush late in the game to bring out a 2600 "adaptor" for the 5200? The 5200's lack of compatibility with the 2600 is routinely cited as one of its failing points. And then why make the 7800 backwards compatible, not to the 5200, but all the way back to the 2600??? It must've mattered. Coleco cared enough to make a 2600-compatible expansion module for their own system.

 

And trying to say backwards compatibility didn't matter until the PS2 shows a remarkable lack of any sense of history. I'm sure it started long before that recently. If not the 7800, look at the Gameboy.

 

I think Coleco put out the "Expansion" module so they could get owners of the 2600 to buy their system. Much easier to plug your 2600 cartrides into the module than to constanly plug and unplug the Colecovision and 2600 if you owned both. Atari announced their 2600 adapter soon after the announcement of the 5200 but it was not ready when the 5200 was released. As for me I never was interested in the 2600. I thought the games were primitive compared to the Arcade games. But during the 1982 WS I saw the first commercial for the 5200 and I was "Hooked". The games really looked like the arcade versions. I bought my 5200 the first day it came out and have played it off and on ever since. Recently I bought a 2 Port on Ebay as a "Back up" system.

[Brian R.]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

 

If backwards compatibility didn't matter back then, then why did Atari rush late in the game to bring out a 2600 "adaptor" for the 5200? The 5200's lack of compatibility with the 2600 is routinely cited as one of its failing points. And then why make the 7800 backwards compatible, not to the 5200, but all the way back to the 2600??? It must've mattered. Coleco cared enough to make a 2600-compatible expansion module for their own system.

 

And trying to say backwards compatibility didn't matter until the PS2 shows a remarkable lack of any sense of history. I'm sure it started long before that recently. If not the 7800, look at the Gameboy.

 

I think Coleco put out the "Expansion" module so they could get owners of the 2600 to buy their system. Much easier to plug your 2600 cartrides into the module than to constanly plug and unplug the Colecovision and 2600 if you owned both. Atari announced their 2600 adapter soon after the announcement of the 5200 but it was not ready when the 5200 was released. As for me I never was interested in the 2600. I thought the games were primitive compared to the Arcade games. But during the 1982 WS I saw the first commercial for the 5200 and I was "Hooked". The games really looked like the arcade versions. I bought my 5200 the first day it came out and have played it off and on ever since. Recently I bought a 2 Port on Ebay as a "Back up" system.

 

Well, my first video game system was the 2600, so I feel differently about it. And there must've still been a feeling in the 7800's time that the 2600 was still a force.

 

What did you pay for your backup system?

 

A better "backup" is just to get a new motherboard for $35 and drop it in the case - voila! Brand new 5200.

[ymike673]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

 

If backwards compatibility didn't matter back then, then why did Atari rush late in the game to bring out a 2600 "adaptor" for the 5200? The 5200's lack of compatibility with the 2600 is routinely cited as one of its failing points. And then why make the 7800 backwards compatible, not to the 5200, but all the way back to the 2600??? It must've mattered. Coleco cared enough to make a 2600-compatible expansion module for their own system.

 

And trying to say backwards compatibility didn't matter until the PS2 shows a remarkable lack of any sense of history. I'm sure it started long before that recently. If not the 7800, look at the Gameboy.

 

I think Coleco put out the "Expansion" module so they could get owners of the 2600 to buy their system. Much easier to plug your 2600 cartrides into the module than to constanly plug and unplug the Colecovision and 2600 if you owned both. Atari announced their 2600 adapter soon after the announcement of the 5200 but it was not ready when the 5200 was released. As for me I never was interested in the 2600. I thought the games were primitive compared to the Arcade games. But during the 1982 WS I saw the first commercial for the 5200 and I was "Hooked". The games really looked like the arcade versions. I bought my 5200 the first day it came out and have played it off and on ever since. Recently I bought a 2 Port on Ebay as a "Back up" system.

 

Well, my first video game system was the 2600, so I feel differently about it. And there must've still been a feeling in the 7800's time that the 2600 was still a force.

 

What did you pay for your backup system?

 

A better "backup" is just to get a new motherboard for $35 and drop it in the case - voila! Brand new 5200.

 

The min. bid was $9.99 + $12 postage. The seller stated that it had been up in a closet so I bid $10 and won the item. The system works and amazingly one of the two controllers included worked! The AC adapter was also included.

Edited July 24, 2007 by ymike673

[Brian R.]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of the 5200 until well after its commercial lifespan ended so I don't have any personal "back in the day" experiences to go from. Was backwards compatibility REALLY an issue then? Sure there's the 7800, but I didn't think people really started expecting a system to be backwards compatible until after the PS2 came out.

 

No it wasn't really. The big draw with the 5200 was updated arcade games. I remember when the 7800 came out, I didn't give half a crap about backwards compatability, and that was one of the 7800's big advertising points. You're probablly right though, backwards compatability idn't seem to matter until recently. Although it's a MUCH bigger thing now, what with Sony and Mircroft promising it.

 

If backwards compatibility didn't matter back then, then why did Atari rush late in the game to bring out a 2600 "adaptor" for the 5200? The 5200's lack of compatibility with the 2600 is routinely cited as one of its failing points. And then why make the 7800 backwards compatible, not to the 5200, but all the way back to the 2600??? It must've mattered. Coleco cared enough to make a 2600-compatible expansion module for their own system.

 

And trying to say backwards compatibility didn't matter until the PS2 shows a remarkable lack of any sense of history. I'm sure it started long before that recently. If not the 7800, look at the Gameboy.

 

I think Coleco put out the "Expansion" module so they could get owners of the 2600 to buy their system. Much easier to plug your 2600 cartrides into the module than to constanly plug and unplug the Colecovision and 2600 if you owned both. Atari announced their 2600 adapter soon after the announcement of the 5200 but it was not ready when the 5200 was released. As for me I never was interested in the 2600. I thought the games were primitive compared to the Arcade games. But during the 1982 WS I saw the first commercial for the 5200 and I was "Hooked". The games really looked like the arcade versions. I bought my 5200 the first day it came out and have played it off and on ever since. Recently I bought a 2 Port on Ebay as a "Back up" system.

 

Well, my first video game system was the 2600, so I feel differently about it. And there must've still been a feeling in the 7800's time that the 2600 was still a force.

 

What did you pay for your backup system?

 

A better "backup" is just to get a new motherboard for $35 and drop it in the case - voila! Brand new 5200.

 

The min. bid was $9.99 + $12 postage. The seller stated that it had been up in a closet so I bid $10 and won the item. The system works and amazingly one of the two controllers included worked! The AC adapter was also included.

 

Hey, if it works, it's worth it. If it's in decent cosmetic shape, even better. And a controller that works? Amazing. Although I think it's hard to top my tale of finding two controllers in a car wash trash can - and BOTH work! The rubber boots are popped out at the base of the stick, and I can't get 'em back in, but all I need 'em for are their working function and keypad buttons.