Ransom Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I recently picked up two 2-port 5200s with power supplies, three controllers, and six games on the cheap. The games are Pac-Man (CIB minus overlays), Space Dungeon (CIB), Centipede (CIB), Wizard of Wor (CIB), Blueprint (CIB), and Defender (cart only). Both consoles work, but one is pretty beat up. The other looks darned good, but I'm going to try to get the scratches out of it to make it look near-new. The other will be my backup unit. Naturally, none of the controllers worked when I got them. But I've been able to get one working very well and another one working pretty well. So today I played my first 5200 games in 15 years or more (I had a system back in '82, and then got one at a flea market in the early '90s but really didn't play it more than a few times because I had so many consoles at the time and didn't have space for them all). I was concerned about how well my middle-aged hands would like the controllers. I have trouble with the Intellivision controllers for some games, and feared these might be worse. But it turns out that they're not a problem for me. They're fine. Even for playing Pac-man. That's what I remembered it being like in '82, the first time around. I also remember reading Electronic Games and seeing their hate for the controllers ("floppo joysticks" was what they called them, if I remember correctly). I couldn't understand it at the time, and I guess I still don't. I know they're not the best thing since sliced bread, but they're fine. The only real beef I have with them is that they're not ergonomically designed. But then, nothing was back then. Certainly they're more comfortable to use than many other controllers from the first decade of home consoles. Do you find the stock 5200 controllers to be at least adequate to your playing needs, or have you found they get in the way of your enjoyment of the games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I find the 5200 controllers pretty comfortable. Much better than the 2600, Colecovision, 7800, or the Intellivision. When I was a kid I used to get pretty bad cramps using the 2600 controllers. When I got the 5200 I could play a lot longer without my hand hurting. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I always have to clean my controller out after each play(after playing 10-14 games in a day I always have to clean it out) A bit annoying but once the fire buttons get cleaned they're alright. My Pause and Reset buttons don't work at all tho My hand hurts everytime I play Centipede, I need to buy one of those Trakball controls. I've always liked the design of the 5200 stock controllers tho,way better then the NES ones. Wish they were just as sturdy . Irony is that they were made in Japan makes me think "did someone at Nintendo Japan sneak into the Atari factory and purposely built the Atari controllers faulty so that Atari would lose their sales and make way for the NES???" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorf Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 My thought is they suck and ruined the machines ability to dominate the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Everytime I die in Mr.Do's Castle it's definitely the controller's fault All this time I thought they were made in China too lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc78_2005 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 i like the 5200 controller. yes they do require some upkeep, b ut i place them high on the list of controlelrs actually and i like to tinker and find and repair them, ,its not that hard. i personally think the proline joystick for the 7800 is terrible! and i am a fan of the 7800. but yeah i think the stock 5200 sticks are just fine imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohoki Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 i like the 5200 controller. yes they do require some upkeep, b ut i place them high on the list of controlelrs actually and i like to tinker and find and repair them, ,its not that hard. i personally think the proline joystick for the 7800 is terrible! and i am a fan of the 7800. but yeah i think the stock 5200 sticks are just fine imo. i never complained about the analogness my only gripe was with the buttons start , top fire ,bottom fire they barely worked after a month of use i guess thats alot of abuse they could have easily had a little circuitboard segments with the 2600 joy disk metal switches and left the keypad a membrane and carbon dot i mainly wish there were more games that used the absolute positioning of the analog stick like with gorf,star wars,misile command,kaboom,superbreakout some games made good use of the analogness like choplifter and pole position a maze game would have been neat like if you were the cursor on missile command or like marble madness or a game of pool where you could kind of controll the draw and release and kind of give it english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 That's what I remembered it being like in '82, the first time around. I also remember reading Electronic Games and seeing their hate for the controllers ("floppo joysticks" was what they called them, if I remember correctly). I couldn't understand it at the time, and I guess I still don't. I know they're not the best thing since sliced bread, but they're fine. The only real beef I have with them is that they're not ergonomically designed. But then, nothing was back then. Certainly they're more comfortable to use than many other controllers from the first decade of home consoles. Do you find the stock 5200 controllers to be at least adequate to your playing needs, or have you found they get in the way of your enjoyment of the games? I never had a problem with the non self centering thing. In fact...it wasn't until I joined Atari Age that I had heard anyone ever complain about it. I had several friends who also had 5200's and not a one of them ever griped either. I couldn't tell you much about gaming mag's reviews, I tended not to read them. They, for the most part hated the 5200 and adored the Colecovision and rarely was anything said nice about the 5200 so it wasn't worth my time. I did however have issue with the fire buttons. They always used to break down and I remember vividly this little mom & pop TV repair shop we'd take them to for fixing. I honestly enjoy the 5200 sticks now. With some innovative info from here at AA, my fire button problem is forever solved (well...at least for a LONG time!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 They aren't that bad once you get used to them (5200 controllers). The 7800 proline controllers are far worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I never had a problem with the non self centering thing. In fact...it wasn't until I joined Atari Age that I had heard anyone ever complain about it. I had several friends who also had 5200's and not a one of them ever griped either. Same here - although my parent couldn't handle them (they could play 2600 w/default stick though), I quickly adjusted to the feel, as did all my friends and cousins who played the system. My parents would have had problems with the Intellivision and CV controllers as well though. In fact, a properly callibrated 5200 stick, one with the extra rubber booting to assist the self-centering, is excellent IMO! I feels so great on most 5200 games and my hand never cramps up like it did with the 2600 stick. Some games though aren't well suited for the 5200 stick, or they could have been programmed better. Zaxxon for example can really get tricky if your stick tends to favor left or right, and its a crying shame the programmer forces us to keep squeezing the side firebuttons (there should be an auto-fire option) because that will definitely cramp you hand, especially when the firebuttons start to get unresponsive. Bottom line is this - if you love the 5200's games, you have to find good sticks and learn what you gotta do to keep them working well, and once they do you should be able to enjoy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CV Gus Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Absolutely awful. Almost all of the games on the 5200 were meant for digital controllers. Thanks to mine, I managed 25,000 points on Berzerk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cafeman, please remake Dragonfire for the 5200. I bet the stock analog controller would be lots of fun collecting treasure on the faster levels! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cafeman, please remake Dragonfire for the 5200. I bet the stock analog controller would be lots of fun collecting treasure on the faster levels! :-) Oooh...wouldn't it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Absolutely awful. Almost all of the games on the 5200 were meant for digital controllers. Thanks to mine, I managed 25,000 points on Berzerk. An alternative would be to have both a 5200 and an Atari 8-bit computer. Use the 5200 only for games that were programmed for analog controllers and games that are exclusive to the 5200, and use the 8-bit for everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cafeman, please remake Dragonfire for the 5200. I bet the stock analog controller would be lots of fun collecting treasure on the faster levels! :-) Oooh...wouldn't it though! Never having played Dragonfire, I detect sarcasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cafeman, please remake Dragonfire for the 5200. I bet the stock analog controller would be lots of fun collecting treasure on the faster levels! :-) Oooh...wouldn't it though! Never having played Dragonfire, I detect sarcasm. Not at all. Dragonfire and a version of Smurf Rescue in Gargamels castle are the 2 games I always wished were on the 5200. You have never played Dragonfire? Its lots of fun. You should check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cafeman, please remake Dragonfire for the 5200. I bet the stock analog controller would be lots of fun collecting treasure on the faster levels! :-) Oooh...wouldn't it though! Never having played Dragonfire, I detect sarcasm. Not on my part. It's one of my favorite games of all time, and the thought of using an analog stick or trackball to zip around the treasure rooms is very appealing indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Oh, I thought you guys were joking because Dragonfire needs pinpoint digital control, or something. oops. Is there an A8 version of the game? A quick Google showed me CV and 2600 versions.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 I don't believe it ever came out for a8, unfortunately. I have an Inty version and the 2600 version, and I've played the CV one. But I've never come across an A8 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 (edited) I think the Coleco version is like the version for the TRS-80 Color Computer (coco). The dragon sits in a corner and does not move. He moves his head and shoots fireballs out at different angles. I think anyway. The screenshots looks very similar. *edit* I was wrong I looked harder at the screens and the coleco / coco look different. Does the draon roam back and forth on the coleco version? I find the 2600 and Intellivision versions far more fun. (I own the coco version but not the coleco). I'm gonna say the Intellivision one is the most fun for me. Anyway, I would love to see this game on the 5200. I think the analog controller would be great. And the game is simple enough. Two screens.... Edited March 9, 2009 by Chazbeenhad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hmmm ... looks like a fun project, especially since it never made it A8. It'd be fun to try & blow CV and Intelli versions outta the water. TAKE THAT, PLIMPTON! On the 1st screen, it looks like you just cross a bridge. How does the 2nd screen play? I'm asking because I can't get thru to an real gaming sites or youtube while at work here. Later I can check it out and actually play the 2600 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 The 2nd screen the dragon shoots fireballs at you. You have to collect all the treasure while avoiding the fireballs. When you have all the treasure, an exit will appear. The 1st screen is better on the coco/intellivision/ and im guessing the coleco because the archer on top is not in the 2600 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 In the CV version, the dragon sits in the middle of the screen, shooting fireballs hither and yon. I agree, the Inty and 2600 versions are much better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I just tried the CV version first (I thought it really stunk), then the 2600 version which is far more fun. I remember the game, but I'm surprised how crappy the CV version is. Although it looks nice, its too hard to jump over the lower fireballs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Yes, if a 5200 version can be made, i would have have the looks of the Coleco, the features and play of the intellivision, and the speed of the 2600 version! haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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