atariksi Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Sorry for derailing the thread (as far as I know and was told Daryl Still who used to work at atari uk has a proto 5200) back to the thread, I read somewhere that tramiel tried to ressurect the 5200 briefly just to clear out all the unsold inventory...is this true Also that the xegs was known as something else (aparrently the butt end of the XL/XLf family) Don't know about that-- but they did try to suppress A7800 for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) To answer the original posts question....not really unless you want to play the XEGS cart exclusives (i.e that were either converted from ST/7800 or old a8 disc games) and some of those are hard to come by or weren't released ones that come into the latter catagory are midimaze, commando (though a hack is now available), airball, tower toppler and thunderfox (the cassete version is more plentiful then the cart version,,,and there's no difference) I could have sworn someone on AA mentioned alien brigade for the XEGS....but perhaps i am getting mixed up with commando if you want a commando game and can't be bothered with the hack version, just nab yourself tynesoft's 'who dares win II' (same game type, just slightly different gfx) Edited July 7, 2009 by carmel_andrews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellis Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 back to the thread, I read somewhere that tramiel tried to ressurect the 5200 briefly just to clear out all the unsold inventory...is this true It's true that the 5200 was re-released under Tramiel in order to empty the warehouses. In fact, that's where the small box version of the 5200 came from. We were discussing that in this thread: Show us your 5200 See my comments in post #71 for details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicTom Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 First of all, this is not a "which is better" topic. I'm building a collection of home console arcade ports. I've completed my 5200 collection rather easily with the exception of the home brews. Does it make sense to purchase an XEGS? Are 5200 and XEGS ports similar or are the differences significant enough to warrant purchasing the XEGS? Well, the title says 5200 vs. XEGS. Maybe these types of threads aren't a good idea to start considering the latest 'this vs. that' threads. Allan C'mon guy, I already put on the top of the post it wasn't a "which is better topic." XEGS is better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 XEGS is better What about an 800 since it doesn't have that detached keyboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Don't know about that-- but they did try to suppress A7800 for some reason. No they didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atariksi Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Don't know about that-- but they did try to suppress A7800 for some reason. No they didn't. That's what it states in various articles that they didn't release it when it was done (or released some units) and delayed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 That's what it states in various articles that they didn't release it when it was done (or released some units) and delayed it. There's a misnomer out there that Atari "thought video games were dead" and pulled the 7800 back into the warehouse only to dust it off once Nintendo took off. What actually happened was that there was a contractual problem over who owned the rights to the 7800 and whether or not they transferred over the Jack Tramiel when he bought the company. There was also a discussion over how GCC (who designed the 7800) would be compensated. When he first took over, all projects (including that one) were halted and evaluated while Jack figured out how to ressurect a company that have been losing two million dollars a day. It did have a test run in 1984 and then was pulled back after the takeover. The 2600 sold well the previous year, so they released 7800 mainstream in early 1986, around the time the NES itself went mainstream in the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BydoEmpire Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I got my XEGS after my 5200 and I love it so I would say yes, it's worth getting. There are just so many XEGS games out there that haven't made it to the 5200. Plus for some games the digital controller is nicer. They're both great systems and both worth owning (you could sub an 800xl for the XEGS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divya16 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 That's what it states in various articles that they didn't release it when it was done (or released some units) and delayed it. What actually happened was that there was a contractual problem over who owned the rights to the 7800 and whether or not they transferred over the Jack Tramiel when he bought the company. Given so many people citing various reasons, it's hard to say what "actually" happened unless you were there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Given so many people citing various reasons, it's hard to say what "actually" happened unless you were there. The good news is that Wungfu and Curt have been doing a lot of interviews to get to the bottom of what happened (as opposed to the 'I heard from someone, who heard from someone, who heard from someone, who read on the Internet and then misquoted on a website') for the purposes of two books they are writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divya16 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Given so many people citing various reasons, it's hard to say what "actually" happened unless you were there. The good news is that Wungfu and Curt have been doing a lot of interviews to get to the bottom of what happened (as opposed to the 'I heard from someone, who heard from someone, who heard from someone, who read on the Internet and then misquoted on a website') for the purposes of two books they are writing. So we'll just have to wait for their conclusion to get more insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) So we'll just have to wait for their conclusion to get more insight. Plenty of discussion about it here already. Going to be a good pair of books when they come out! http://www.atariage...._1#entry1994249 Edited July 13, 2010 by DracIsBack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) That's what it states in various articles that they didn't release it when it was done (or released some units) and delayed it. Which makes the various articles wrong. Given so many people citing various reasons, it's hard to say what "actually" happened unless you were there. No, it's not. It's very easy when you take the time to actually interview the people who were there, have a large cache of documents, internal emails, etc., etc. So we'll just have to wait for their conclusion to get more insight. No..... http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/165031-7800-retro-inspection-in-retro-gamer-issue-78/page__fromsearch__1 Edited July 13, 2010 by wgungfu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Who has a PAL 5200? Who has a PAL 5200? As far as I know, nobody.Allan Who has a PAL 5200? As far as I know, nobody.Allan :ponder: I don't know if any of the NTSC games will run correctly on a PAL 5200 but I am guessing not. The 2port revised motherboard has spots for the extra PAL components. If someone wanted to, they could probably figure out what needs to be added and changed to make it function in PAL mode. As far as what NTSC games would work on it, well, considering that Atari didn't even bother to make PAL versions of their 8bit computer cart games and they all seem to work fine in PAL land, it could be quite a few. Allen is right about there only being around two games that 5200 PAL proto carts exist for.Mitch I have a PAL 5200. Sort of. Maybe you could just use this thing hanging over my computer to make one.... Anyone want to try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atariksi Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 That's what it states in various articles that they didn't release it when it was done (or released some units) and delayed it. Which makes the various articles wrong. Given so many people citing various reasons, it's hard to say what "actually" happened unless you were there. No, it's not. It's very easy when you take the time to actually interview the people who were there, have a large cache of documents, internal emails, etc., etc. So we'll just have to wait for their conclusion to get more insight. No..... http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/165031-7800-retro-inspection-in-retro-gamer-issue-78/page__fromsearch__1 I'll look into that thread but those articles are just as valid as discussion here so far as no evidence to prove or refute is being given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I'll look into that thread but those articles are just as valid as discussion here so far as no evidence to prove or refute is being given. Re-read what he wrote: It's very easy when you take the time to actually interview the people who were there, have a large cache of documents, internal emails, etc., etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Yes, everybody should get a XEGS (or preferably, 800XL/130XE). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) I'll look into that thread but those articles are just as valid as discussion here so far as no evidence to prove or refute is being given. Huh? The thread is about the article I recently wrote for Retro Gamer that's in this month's issue. Everything was based off of direct interviews with Mike Katz, Leonard Tramiel, the GCC guys, internal documentation, internal emails, etc., etc. The articles are wrong, period. 1) The GCC contract was with Warner, not directly with Atari Inc. (something GCC leveraged over Atari by their own admission). As such, when the split occured it stayed with Warner. Just as the Amiga contract did. 2) August through May of '85 was spent in negotiations with Warner to decide who owed GCC for the development of MARIA. Jack wanted the console but wanted Warner to foot the bill since it was done under their watch, Warner wanted him to pay to own it. Jack finally paid for the MARIA development that May. Then negotiations for the launch titles payment were done, and the project was ready to start up again by August. Around that time he started courting Mike Katz to come to Atari Corp. and start up the electronic entertainment division. Which included relaunching the 7800 and getting more titles developed for it, as well as launching the 2600 jr (whose project had started up again in August of '84). His courtship concluded that October and he was officially named in November. They immediately launched the Jr. (Katz came up with the $50 price point) and he started licensing deals with the computer software industry for porting titles over to the 7800. It was officially relaunched that January off '86, with the '84 backstock sent out to retailers and selling out that Winter and Spring. It was not "mothballed", and it was not brought back out in response to Nintendo's test marketing in New York that Christmas (which was actually viewed as a failure by retailers and noted at the January '86 CES as such. The Feb test market in LA went better, but they didn't really begin picking up momentum until the national launch that Fall). BTW, in relation to this thread, Katz was against thee XEGS being released. That's something Jack and Sam pushed for. Edited July 13, 2010 by wgungfu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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