First experience with a 5200 system

[cryinglion]

What was your first experience with a 5200 system?

 

My first experience was when I purchased the system at the tail-end of it's original existence. At the time, it was right when the video game crash had happened. Toys 'R Us was starting to dump it's inventory for a cheap price. I had purchased a ColecoVision not too long before this. Trying to find Coleco games and hardware began to be tougher. I had the expansion modules and a decent collection of games (mostly purchased from a local video rental store). I had a greater experience with the Atari 2600 and I figured "why not?". So, my first 5200 was a 4-port model. I ended up with around 15 games before I ended up selling it. Flash forward 20 years, and I purchased a 2-port version and rebuilt my collection (and yes, I own two ColecoVision's now).

[Ransom]

Shortly after they were introduced, my parents bought one for me, along with Star Raiders, Galaxian, and Space Invaders. Of course Super Breakout came with it.

 

I'd had a Colecovision for the previous few months but had gotten rid of it in favor of the 5200. I enjoyed both systems, but I had a certain dissatisfaction with both that stemmed from wishing I could make my own games. That's why I returned the 5200 about a month later and got an Atari 400.

 

But while I had the 5200, I enjoyed it. That was my first experience with an analog stick, and it took a bit of getting used to. Of course Star Raiders blew my mind, and I was very happy to learn that it was available for the 400 (and that, along with Pac-man, was the first game I got for the 400).

 

I never had a problem with the sticks not working in that one month of ownership, despite playing the system every evening and for many hours over the weekend. It was only 10 years later, when I picked up a used 5200 at a flea market, that I encountered that problem (but it was easily solved with a bit of tin foil and some glue).

[moycon]

My best friend had a 5200 (My folks wouldn't buy me one no matter how much I begged!)

I remember loving going over to his house and playing the 5200. One of my favorite games he had was Counter Measure. He had a 2600 adapter as well, but he had to take the 5200 to a shop to get modified to get the adapter to work. Years later he gave the 5200 and all his games to me. I still have it and it still has the shops sticker on it on the bottom with the date they had to modify it. Very cool. I don't recall hating the controllers at the time. (They worked) but I do hate them now!

[Taskmaster99]

My first expierience will be in about 3 days when my recently purchased 5200 arrives at my house via UPS. I'll post more thoughts after that.

[tz101]

5200 rocks! Don't believe all the controller hatred. New rubber boots make the controllers self-centering for games like Pac Man and Ms. Wico sticks are better than the originals if they can be found for a decent enough price.

[zylon]

While I enjoy them now, my first 3 experiences were not very good. My first one was a 2port that someone gave me which didn't work, it was then used for parking lot skiing in the snow at work. My second one was a 4port I bought for $20 with 5 games from someone at work. The controllers were good but system died in 20 min. The guy took it back to try and fix it but ended up donating it to the woodchipper. My third one was 4port found in a shed that didn't work but at least I was able to use the games and controllers from the last 2 on my 4th one which worked.

[kamakazi]

My first 5200 experience...you are going to laugh at this one. Christmas 1982...Time: about 4am...and I have to pee. The path from my bedroom to the bathroom was always clear. From my door, turn right, walk between the couch and coffeetable (don't climb on coffeetable), first door to right after that. But not this time.

 

I guess Santa played with the 5200 before leaving, and left the controllers on the couch and the 5200 on the coffeetable. There were no nightlights or outside light. While walking through to go to the bathroom, the controller cords tripped me. Thank GOD for carpet! The 5200 didn't fall or anything, and I wasn't sure what I fell over...until I got back from the bathroom. I turn on a lamp and here is this HUGE black thing with a game sitting in it. I knew what a 2600 was...and that's what I had asked for...I didn't know what this was. Picking the controllers back up and checking the machine, I made a quick look over for any physical damage...none (WHEW!). Then I seen the silver overlay saying "ATARI 5200" and 4 controller ports...I thought, "This is Atari? It doesn't look like the one my friend had." Curious, I turn on the TV, keeping the volume low (we had no cable back then where I lived), made sure the cartridge was inserted (label facing you you dope!) and pressed the Power button.

 

Needless to say, I didn't go back to bed, I really wasn't wanting to open my presents when Mom woke up (Mom insisted, there were more games under the tree!), and I really didn't want to leave to travel 60 miles to be with my Grandparents for the rest of the holiday. I wanted to stay home with my new friend.

 

One thing you have to consider after reading that. One, Mom, eventhough she did have a guy living with us, was my only real parent living. Two, we lived in the country...my friends were miles away instead of minutes away...and I hardly ever had company. Three, Mom's job at the time was demanding more hours from their employees, so I rarely got to see Mom. So, the 5200 was like a friend to me...and always ready for entertainment when I was. We had an old RCA TV that had built in stereo and record player. It was an old console with 4 wooden legs that raised it up just enough for the 5200 to slide under when not being used. Mom and I continued to play that same 5200 until her passing in 1998. I continued to enjoy it after that until my ex took it when we seperated. Mom and I acquired 21 games for the 5200 before it disappeared from local stores all together. And, yep, it still had the same original controllers...we never had problems with them. Mom got me the trakball when it came out, but I think she got it for her since we had Centepede. I also remember going to many flea markets with mom where we would usually find Atari stuff, 2600, 5200 and 7800.

 

To me the 5200 has some sentimental value to it...more than I can for the NES Mom got me on my 13th birthday that she couldn't play. Even with NES famed titles in my home, the 5200 got more playtime than the NES did. I continue looking today outside of ebay to start replacing all the Atari and other consoles I lost when my ex and I split...the 5200 4-port being at the top of the list.

[cryinglion]

My first 5200 experience...you are going to laugh at this one. Christmas 1982...Time: about 4am...and I have to pee. The path from my bedroom to the bathroom was always clear. From my door, turn right, walk between the couch and coffeetable (don't climb on coffeetable), first door to right after that. But not this time....

 

 

Actually, I know what you mean. There was a time when I had no system at all, but a bunch of friends on the street. One friend had an Atari 2600. It was a treat to play it when I could (provided he would let me have a turn). I had begged my dad to get me one for Christmas. When he finally did, this friend of mine ended up getting a ColecoVision. I did end up with over 50 games for the system in the end. But, during this time I would drool over the ColecoVision...of course I would play it when he let me have a turn. I finally ended up getting the ColecoVision as I stated in the beginning of this post. By this time, all my friends had moved away. I was bored, and my only faithful friend at the time was the Coleco (what a nerd!). When games were hard to find (boy what a difference the internet makes), I purchased the Atari 5200 as previously mentioned. So now I had both "Super-Systems"...until the Coleco broke, and I sold the Atari. Didn't care much at the time because I ended up with a Nintendo NES. Flash forward 20 years, and I rebult my collections for both systems and then some.

[kamakazi]

I owe part of who I am today not only to mom, but to that Atari console and Nintendo NES. As nerdy as it may sound...I stayed home while growing up while my classmates, as they got older, were doing things more immature than I was. I remember most of my family saying I'd amount to nothing by playing those "things" like I did. It's true, you couldn't hardly get me away from my 5200 or NES, and I was spending every darn dollar I got on new games. My comeback to this was...at least I wasn't out getting myself into trouble with the law or spending that money on drugs or drinks.

 

By the time my ex and me split...I had well over 15 different consoles. When Atari started to disappear from the market in my area, I started to collect consoles and games. It was the exclusive titles that interested me. NES had Super Mario and Final Fantasy...Sega had Phantasy Star and Sonic...TG-16 had Bonks Adventure...I would occassionally get the same game for all systems if I could, with some playing better on the Sega Master System than the NES. It wasn't until recently that I decided to start recollecting again from nothing...outside of ebay of course. I know I may not be able to find all that I had again, but I do know that all 5 Atari consoles will once again be in my possession. Opps, I mean 4...I forgot, my ex didn't get my Lynx ...I kept that in my car.

[toiletunes]

My first experience was late 1989- I worked at McDonalds and someone donated a 5200 to the breakroom. All I remember is Pacman looking better than 2600 and some older coworker trying to figure out the game:

"so you're supposed to eat those dots and avoid the houses?"

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

My First Console was the 5200 Four Port Version (Made in USA), I Own it since mid 1980's Decade and it is Still in Good Working Condition, the only problem I Had was the way the Power attach to the Console, via the TV Out...

 

due to our Low Voltage on Homes back on those Days, the internal relay kept Switching; so I Solved the Problem with a Bigger Power Source with more Amps...

 

then I Obtained the two Ports Version (Made in Taiwan) that has more "Standard" Connections...

 

Both Works Great!

I Kindly Suggest you to see Pictures of Them on my Album here.

 

Kind Regards.

[SearsRoebuck]

I am a bit younger than y'all, so in the 80s I had never seen one. My dad and my brother had a 2600, but the video game crash happened when I was like 3 and I think they had dumped the 2600 by about 1985.

Fast forward to about 1999. During the NES age, my parents never let me have anything but a game boy, so when I got older I really made up for lost time and starting collecting just about everything. My brother and I had almost every obscure system hooked up to our TV (from the Playdia to Colecovision). One day, I happened to be over a friends place, and he had a TON of old systems/games. 2600, 5200, NES and more. Then out of the blue, he said 'if you want these, you can have them'. So I took this all home, and tried the 5200 (and about 10 games) for the first time. I remember liking the 'title' screen for Pac-Man, and I was blown away by how good the port was. But his controllers were worn out, so I ended up trying to use the trackball controller for alot of games.

[cryinglion]

My First Console was the 5200 Four Port Version (Made in USA), I Own it since mid 1980's Decade and it is Still in Good Working Condition, the only problem I Had was the way the Power attach to the Console, via the TV Out...

 

due to our Low Voltage on Homes back on those Days, the internal relay kept Switching; so I Solved the Problem with a Bigger Power Source with more Amps...

 

then I Obtained the two Ports Version (Made in Taiwan) that has more "Standard" Connections...

 

Both Works Great!

I Kindly Suggest you to see Pictures of Them on my Album here.

 

Kind Regards.

 

Cool pics. My first one also was the four port model. That was the one I ended up selling. I don't understand why Atari didn't take advantage of having the four ports in the first place. I'm not aware of any supporting games (not to say that there isn't). Four player casino games would have been good.

[monzamess]

My first experience was playing Pac-Man on one in a dept store kiosk when they were new. Back then I was lucky to get a 2600 and knew better than to ask for anything more, so I kind of avoided the 5200 display knowing I'd probably never have one.

 

I finally did get one when I restarted collecting in the mid-90s. By then, I had gone through the 8-bit BBS phase of the late 80s/early 90s and I had played most of the 5200 games (including converted "exclusives") on my various Atari computers. So, when I finally got one, it was no big deal. I only had 6 carts for it and it mainly sat in storage until I sold it.

[BydoEmpire]

I never had one back in the day. My 2600 and Inty were great and we never really saw a need to "upgrade." Plus, when the family got a c64 that was where I went for most of my gaming. My first experience with one was around 1991. I bought one at a used game store, but the controllers didn't work so I took it back. Several years later a friend gave me a pile of 5200 carts (and a working Astrocade setup w/ a bunch of carts for that!) but I had no way of playing them. Fast forward to around 2006 or so, I found a 5200 setup at Flea World, and the one included controller worked! I was happy to be able to play those carts I'd had carried around for a decade. I ordered a rebuilt gold-dot controller form Best Electronics, started getting more games, and the rest is history. Now it's one of my favorite classic systems.

[monzamess]

I never had one back in the day. ...

 

Our stories are like the "happy" and "sad" alternate endings to the same movie.

[NoahsMyBro]

I've probably posted this story before, but here goes...

 

During the time of the VCS/Intellivision I was a very, very socially unsuccessful kid - few friends, the target of every bully in the state, etc.... So pretty much every waking minute that wasn't spent suffering through school, Cub Scouts, or Little League was spent either playing videogames, reading about them in magazines, or riding my bike to various videogame stores or arcades.

 

We had a VCS at my house, at my Dad's house, and at my Mom's boyfriend's apartment - I was covered. As soon as the 5200 hit the streets I wanted it. I'd read about it in magazines, played with it in stores, and WANTED it. A chance to play Star Raiders, exactly as it was on the Atari 400? Gimmegimmegimme!

 

But times were tough. My folks were divorced, we had a really crappy Datsun B210 (my environment was otherwise filled with Buicks, Oldsmobile 98s and Cadillacs, so this car was really living hell for my insecure young self), and my Mom often couldn't even get our home air conditioner repaired due to our tight budget. Times were tough, and my spoiled self couldn't appreciate or understand the situation in a mature way.

 

So I whined, begged, pleaded, cajoled, endlessly.

 

But my Mom convinced me that we simply couldn't afford a 5200, it just wasn't going to happen, sorry. I bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

 

Then, the last night of Chanukah (1983 I'm guessing?) there was a very large gift for my brother & I. It certainly looked like it was the right size and shape to be a 5200, but I was sure we weren't getting one.

 

As it turned out, the gift WAS a 5200 - a two port with Super Breakout. I *also* received the VCS adapter, and I think Countermeasure as well. I'd been completely suckered!

 

Over time I accumulated many more (& better) games, including my favorites - Star Raiders & Space Dungeon. I collected another couple of 5200s at garage sales over the years. I always wanted a 4-port with the auto-switchbox though, and finally acquired one back in 2002. ( http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_thread/thread/2ec4095195828c10/ba1fca1a4dd4d8a5?q=atari+5200+schematic+steve+repair+regulator&lnk=ol& ) Over time I nursed the dead 5200 back to health and finally had my 4-port 5200, only about 20 years after it hit retail shelves. Later I added the 8-bit domain AV mod, and use that 5200 regularly to compete in the 5200 HSC.

 

So that's my story. :-)

[kamakazi]

I am a bit younger than y'all, so in the 80s I had never seen one. My dad and my brother had a 2600, but the video game crash happened when I was like 3 and I think they had dumped the 2600 by about 1985.

Fast forward to about 1999. During the NES age, my parents never let me have anything but a game boy, so when I got older I really made up for lost time and starting collecting just about everything. My brother and I had almost every obscure system hooked up to our TV (from the Playdia to Colecovision). One day, I happened to be over a friends place, and he had a TON of old systems/games. 2600, 5200, NES and more. Then out of the blue, he said 'if you want these, you can have them'. So I took this all home, and tried the 5200 (and about 10 games) for the first time. I remember liking the 'title' screen for Pac-Man, and I was blown away by how good the port was. But his controllers were worn out, so I ended up trying to use the trackball controller for alot of games.

 

LOL...I remember just for fun trying to play Kangaroo and Space Invaders with the TrackBall controller. One thing I can say for the trackball, it was a durable product. I forget what other games I tried to play with it, oh yea...Pole Position! Now that was a challenge.

 

Yea, my mom's boyfriend at that time had a Datsun B210 as well with a little honey bee on the sides. It wasn't a bad car, but couldn't climb hills to save its life! Getting back to the 5200, I don't see why Atari didn't release a Warlords or a 4-player adaptation to Combat...that would of been sweet!

Edited February 25, 2010 by kamakazi

[+Cafeman]

The 5200 is my most special system ever. I actually got into home consoles much later than my peers and friends. Kids had the 2600 for 2 or 3 years before I got one. But once I got one (for "graduating" 8th grade), I was hooked. Loved it, although I was a bit disappointed by the flickery quality of many 2600 games, because shortly afterwards the CV and 5200 came out and the ole 2600 was already looking quite dated. So I think around 10th grade I sold my 2600 and games and my dad gave me the rest of the dough to get a 5200. Funny, my 2 closest friends also had 5200's and we traded off games a lot. We all had 2 ports. When the crash hit I picked up like 5 more games at a Hills, like $7 each - I remember thats when I got Vanguard and Ms Pac-man and others. But my first experience with the 5200 -- after the 2600, the 5200 was red-hot gaming! I couldn't believe how awesome Pac-man was, I also greatly enjoyed Q*bert and Qix, and I couldn't believe that Berzerk had speech! Me and my friends and cousins would play hours of 2-player cut-throat Joust and Mario Bros. We seemed to have little problem with the controllers.

 

Actually, I gave my 5200 to my cousins when I graduated HS in '86. When my dad died in June 2000, I was around these cousins for a couple days and they said "hey we have your Atari stuff - do you want it back?". I had forgotten all about it. So I got my original 5200 back, got online and found sites like "Atari Nexus" and Digital Press and learned how to clean the flex pads, and it was good medicine for me as I grieved, playing all my old atari 5200 games again, plus all the ones I started to buy online/flea marts. It was about this time I decided to make a 5200 homebrew game which eventually turned into Koffi.

[NoahsMyBro]

Odd - I can't edit posts in this forum? Is that new?

 

Anyway, if anybody cared to read the 8-year-old Usenet thread I linked to up above, I've just found the follow-up Usenet thread, without which the above just sort of ends abruptly - http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_thread/thread/cb1a63113d838e5f/d3c886c9be428735?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=stephen+jacobs+sci.electronics.repair#.

 

That's all.

 

[Hatta]

My first experience was when I bought a large lot of Atari stuff off of Craigslist about 2 years ago. Got about 6 controllers with it, and not one worked. Still waiting for some spare cash to refurbish a couple, but it's pretty low priority as I have an 8-bit computer to play with. It's sad that it's sitting there all lonely. Maybe next time i have a long weekend I'll try the aluminum foil trick.

[cryinglion]

My first experience was when I bought a large lot of Atari stuff off of Craigslist about 2 years ago. Got about 6 controllers with it, and not one worked. Still waiting for some spare cash to refurbish a couple, but it's pretty low priority as I have an 8-bit computer to play with. It's sad that it's sitting there all lonely. Maybe next time i have a long weekend I'll try the aluminum foil trick.

I did the aluminum for trick. It works for a while, but sometimes the foil moves around. I thought about using a soldering iron and melting some solder onto the surface of the tiny magnet in the rubber button to create a nice metal surface. But the trick would have to be that solder would have to be flat and not come out like a ball. The thing is, I only have two controllers and don't want to risk permanent damage. Now if I had six.....hmm! You could also try the pencil eraser trick and clean off the surface of the flex 9 circuit.

Edited February 27, 2010 by cryinglion

[atariksi]

My first experience was when I bought a large lot of Atari stuff off of Craigslist about 2 years ago. Got about 6 controllers with it, and not one worked. Still waiting for some spare cash to refurbish a couple, but it's pretty low priority as I have an 8-bit computer to play with. It's sad that it's sitting there all lonely. Maybe next time i have a long weekend I'll try the aluminum foil trick.

I did the aluminum for trick. It works for a while, but sometimes the foil moves around. I thought about using a soldering iron and melting some solder onto the surface of the tiny magnet in the rubber button to create a nice metal surface. But the trick would have to be that solder would have to be flat and not come out like a ball. The thing is, I only have two controllers and don't want to risk permanent damage. Now if I had six.....hmm! You could also try the pencil eraser trick and clean off the surface of the flex 9 circuit.

 

What's the aluminum trick as I never tried that one-- gluing some aluminum underneath the buttons? I have controllers where the flex pcb itself is bad so aluminum wouldn't work there. And constant opening and trying to rub pencils has bent some of the pcbs so that traces themselves are hardly touching.

[kamakazi]

My first experience was when I bought a large lot of Atari stuff off of Craigslist about 2 years ago. Got about 6 controllers with it, and not one worked. Still waiting for some spare cash to refurbish a couple, but it's pretty low priority as I have an 8-bit computer to play with. It's sad that it's sitting there all lonely. Maybe next time i have a long weekend I'll try the aluminum foil trick.

I did the aluminum for trick. It works for a while, but sometimes the foil moves around. I thought about using a soldering iron and melting some solder onto the surface of the tiny magnet in the rubber button to create a nice metal surface. But the trick would have to be that solder would have to be flat and not come out like a ball. The thing is, I only have two controllers and don't want to risk permanent damage. Now if I had six.....hmm! You could also try the pencil eraser trick and clean off the surface of the flex 9 circuit.

 

Oh boy...there's an easier way without the worry of short circuiting the whole thing. Just take the controllers apart and with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alchohol, clean the pads. You might want to take a pencil erase to them first. These do get a huge amount of carbon build-up overtime that needs to be removed regularly. You have to remember, these where the first buttons of their kind. It wasn't until the NES came out did these types of buttons become standard.

[Skaarg]

Well my first experience was exciting and then disappointing. I was helping an older person clean out some stuff before they moved. I found an NES with 25 games and an Atari 5200 2-port with 16 games with boxes. Well I hook up the 5200 and the controller doesn't work. =( so all I got to do was watch the pole position demo. =P

 

Fast forward 3 years and I find a craigslist posting for a complete in box 4-port model with 5 boxed games for $50 from the original owner. I instantly grab it and to my surprise the controllers worked. I loved many of the games I played including congo bongo, frogger, centipede, mario bros, q*bert, star wars the arcade game, and vanguard.