So how did you get your first 5200?

[AtariBrian]

Got mine Christmas of 83 and played the hell out of Star Raiders, Star Trek and the Star Wars Arcade game. Now that I'm older, I'm only 8 games short of a full boxed retail collection.(Of course, they are the most expensive ones to get: Bounty Bob, Frogger II, Gorf, HERO, MegaMania, Metorites. Have Quintana Roo and Wizard of Wor, but no boxes for either.)

There is a sealed Meteorites on ebay right now

[onefallinghope]

Got mine about 12 years ago from a coworker who knew that I was in to video games. A two port with about 14 games and all the hookups, manuals and overlays (no boxes).

 

He just brought everything in in a big box and when I came back from a run he said that he brought in a "box of crap" for me.

 

At the time, I was excited but too preoccupied with things in my life to take the time to hook it up, and then I moved.. and a lot of life happened.

 

Within the last few weeks my parents have both become ill and I have moved back "home" to help look after them along with a visiting nurse. Found the "box of crap" 5200 stuff a couple of days ago. I still haven't hooked it up yet after all of these years.. I will soon though; just dont have a television at the moment.

[jalthe1]

I already had a 2600 and nearly every game possible for it when i saw the commercials for the 5200 with it's awesome graphics. Then they ran that Star Wars Arcade Game commercial. That did it for me as i was already collecting Star Wars back then. So i begged and pleaded and finally got a four port 5200. Over a matter of just a few years, i collected every game there was for it. I wore out 2 pairs of controllers as well. I was glad when the rev 9 flex circuits came out. Then i got a Nintendo. It was a totally different experience. I started playing it more and the 5200 less. Eventually my mother talked me into selling my 2600 and 5200 in a yard sale. Some kid bought all my games and the system for under $100. I wasn't too happy that it sold for that little but the kid looked excited to have a system and that many games for it. Years went by and by the time Playstation came out, i was feeling very nostalgic and missing my old systems. So i bought another four port off ebay. It worked but the port where the joystick plugs in has a broken pin so sometimes controller would work and sometimes not. Then i bought a dip switch multicart from Sean Kelly. I would play occasionally as the urge arised but not as much as i did when i was younger. Then about a month ago, my multicart died. I have sent it back to Sean to see if it can be fixed but i am still waiting to hear back from him. Recently, i saw a craigslist ad for an unused two port console that had no controllers or rf switch. I thought to myself...hmmm...unused. So with shipping i paid $73. When i got it, it looked immaculate. No wear whatsoever. The cartridge slot was fresh. No dust, no scratches and the protective film is still on it. So i hooked it up using an RCA to RF adapter. I get a beautiful picture with no static or artifacts at all. But...i get no sound except for some buzzing. I am told that even though it wasn't played, the capacitor goes bad and needs replacing. Unfortunately, i am no good at soldering so i am in need of someone who can repair it. The reply i got here was to check with Best Electronics so i am planning on giving them a call tomorrow. I may even get some of the new gold dot kits to upgrade my controllers, although i wish i had either a Wico stick with y-adapter or Interplay adapter. I have newer versions of nearly all the games for other systems that made the 5200 popular, but for some reason, there is just an enjoyment of playing them on the 5200 that i don't get with other systems.

[+DamonicFury]

So i hooked it up using an RCA to RF adapter. I get a beautiful picture with no static or artifacts at all. But...i get no sound except for some buzzing.

 

Are you sure the problem isn't just the adapter? You might want to try connecting it via the standard coaxial cable connection instead of the RCA connectors just to verify. If you don't have a standard switchbox to test, try one of these from Radio Shack...

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2123169&clickid=prod_cs

[GameGirl420]

The year was 1983.... I was about 5 years old and my older sister 8, and one day while visiting our aunt and uncle's house they had an Atari 5200 4-port. We were already familiar with the 2600 by then cos our mom had one at her house(parents were divorced and my stepbrothers had the 2600), but the first time I saw my aunt and uncle playing Pac-Man on the 5200 it really blew my little mind (especially with those cut scenes,gawd that was so ahead of it's time for '83.I remember thinking they were just like cartoons lol). I remember not wanting to leave their house lol. I ended up crying one day about wanting one and out of the blue my aunt and uncle just gave their brand new 5200 to my sister and I. One of the reasons why the early 80's was such the greatest time for me ever. We used to buy all of our games at JC Penney too. I remember my older sister's favorite game was Galaxian...mine was Q*Bert! Our relatives would come by our place and they'd be jealous we had a 5200. I remember we played it so much the joysticks we had broke and we had to buy new controllers.

 

But then one of the saddest times ever was when our Atari 5200 broke in late 1986. The RF Box broke and our uncle thought he could fix the 5200 buy cutting the RF cable and connecting it to the RF box with the raw wiring. Bad mistake!!!! Totally broke the 5200 and I remember we went to Toy R Us to get a new one but then the people their told us Atari stopped supporting the system. I remember feeling sooo disappointed!!!! Not even the the original NES was able to fill that void I felt losing the 5200. As much as I loved NES, it just never compared to the feeling I had playing those classic 5200 games. I'll never forget the first time I "played" Super Mario Bros. LOL. I remember putting on the Super Mario game and thinking "Cool theme song but when will it ever end???"(that's because I was so used to Atari games at that point not having alot of music in their games,and the complexity of the NES music was very new at the time)...It wasn't until 2008 I was able to find one on eBay and play one again.

[Keatah]

There were many-a times that going out to get games from Sears or JCP or Venture (and sometimes Osco) was an event in and of itself. Anyone remember the black metal cabinets with those wide sliding close-to-the-floor drawers that they'd keep seemingly hundreds of games in? Awesome. Anyways, it was an event, like going to opra or even like travel-by-jet in the 60's. Typically we'd plan a couple of days ahead by looking through the catalogs and picking out 5 or 6 games at a time. Back then, for me, it was all about the graphics. They either sucked or they didn't.

[GameGirl420]

Got mine Christmas of 83 and played the hell out of Star Raiders, Star Trek and the Star Wars Arcade game. Now that I'm older, I'm only 8 games short of a full boxed retail collection.(Of course, they are the most expensive ones to get: Bounty Bob, Frogger II, Gorf, HERO, MegaMania, Metorites. Have Quintana Roo and Wizard of Wor, but no boxes for either.)

Actually I recently scored a boxed Gorf along with other boxed games. I had no idea it was that rare. Here's a picture of some of my boxed 5200 games (I have another stack of boxes just as high as this)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also in the same stack(at the bottom) is a boxed Zaxxon which I've mentioned to someone lately and they were surprised I have one boxed.I only paid like $5 for each used. I guess the person that sold them to me had no idea about how rare they are! I'd love a copy of Megamania too. Been looking for a copy of Space Dungeon in the big box.

Edited January 5, 2013 by lushgirl_80

[AtariBrian]

Actually I recently scored a boxed Gorf along with other boxed games. I had no idea it was that rare. Here's a picture of some of my boxed 5200 games (I have another stack of boxes just as high as this)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also in the same stack(at the bottom) is a boxed Zaxxon which I've mentioned to someone lately and they were surprised I have one boxed.I only paid like $5 for each used. I guess the person that sold them to me had no idea about how rare they are! I'd love a copy of Megamania too. Been looking for a copy of Space Dungeon in the big box.

very nice !!

[HammR25]

I got one on eBay because I wanted to play Adventure II.

[boxpressed]

My first experience firing up a 5200 was only about a year and a half ago. I picked up a mixed lot of Atari stuff from eBay that included a 5200. It came with some games and couple of controllers that had been put through the wringer--torn boots, missing parts of the rubber keypad, etc. I couldn't start any of the games because neither keypad was responsive (surprise). Someone on AA helped by telling me which two pins to short using a paper clip! So, the first game I was able to play was Pac-man because none of the fire buttons worked either.

 

Several 5200s have passed through my possession since then, and now it may very well be my favorite console. Some of the games are just so much better than anything on the Colecovision and even 7800: Robotron and Space Dungeon with the original sticks and coupler, Berzerk with a Masterplay/Wico/Comp Pro, and Centipede and Galaxian with the trackball. I really wish that homebrew development for the 5200 were as robust as it is for those other consoles.

[Innovative Leisure]

I got my first 5200 when I was 9 (in 1995). My mother picked up a boxed 4 port from a local Goodwill with games and controllers. It didn't come with the switchbox so it was not known if the system worked. Some months later my family sold it as is, one of the few consoles that didn't wind up in the dumpster.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Innovative Leisure

[0078265317]

Also got mine in t he 80s with packman. Don't remember the year. We gave it away. The second one was off ebay which stopped working. Zylon fixed it. And the switchbox was fixed by somebody else.

[Dauber]

How did I get my first 5200? Well, I went to this video game store in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago called People Play Games, and bought it. (This was last week, btw.)

[0078265317]

Did they have any other controllers and games at chicago?? Or was that the last 5200 you got.

[Dauber]

They had another one in the box. Don't know the price. And yes, they do have other stuff...their 5200 game selection is pretty limited...but they have stuff for pretty much everything. Didn't see any other controllers other than 2600 controllers, really.

[RickR]

I got mine from ebay about a month ago. A 4 port with two joysticks that worked fine after the eraser treatment. I'm up to 25 games, which is a little alarming. I'd love to get my hands on a third party joystick, but those are a little too pricey for me.

[mmervine]

Just picked up my first 5200 yesterday at a semi-local retro game store. 4 porter with 5 games for $50. Spent some time cleaning it up as it was a little dusty...system powered up and looks great. As expected, the controllers need some work, but I can fix or rebuild them.

[acelkin]

Craig's List find-$40 for the system (4 port switch box), roller controller and 12 games many years ago. It was a great buy! This is one system I didn't have back in the day, I was a Colecovision fan boy, already had the 2600 & Intellivision, kind of hard to justify it to my parents that I really needed another system on their dime-lol

[captcapcom]

My first 5200 was purchased from a South Jersey electronics store called "Crazy Eddies". If you do a search for the name, I'm sure you'll turn up some interesting stories about how "Eddies" entire stock was from stolen or hijacked trucks. Basically, my first 5200 was stolen goods. It wasn't the only system I got there either... Plus some of the games I owned originally were bought there too. He didn't get caught until the early 90s I think.

 

Anyway, the console was replaced by a Sega Master System a while later ... I didn't get another 5200 until late 2012 when I learned how to repair the controllers.

[captcapcom]

Sorry double post... Stupid iPad.

Edited February 10, 2013 by captcapcom

[Master Phruby]

Won my first 5200 on ebay yesterday for $76. It's a 2 porter w/ power supply, with two controllers in great condition, a wico command control game pad and 21 games. The machine has a crack in the back left corner but I can live with that. The games included pretty common but are exactly what I would buy.

 

MINER 2249er

MISSLE COMMAND

MS. PACMAN

QIX

PAC MAN (X2)

REALSPORTS FOOTBALL

SPACE INVADERS

POLE POSITION

SUPER BREAKOUT (X2)

MOON PATROL

JOUST

CENTIPEDE

KANGAROO

JUNGLE HUNT

GALAXIAN

VANGAURD

SPACE DUNGEON

BALLBLAZER

 

[+Mitch]

Wow, a Wico keypad! That's almost worth the price of the auction by itself. Now you just need the Wico stick to go with it.

 

Mitch

[mtshark7]

I got mine (4 port) for free this past weekend thanks to my awesome cousin who gave it to me with 4 games, 2 controllers that don't work, and no power supply...so I bought a power supply and rf switch box for $30 and it works...just need working controllers and I'll be all set!

[ClausB]

In late '83 I bought one from a retailer who had just put a pile on the floor for the Christmas season. I was curious how it differed from the 400/800 that I knew and loved. I played the included Pac-Man and was quickly disappointed with the joystick. Being analog, it could have been a big improvement over the standard stick, but they had screwed it up.

 

Next I tore it open, traced the circuit, disassembled the ROMs, and converted the Pac-Man code to work on the 400/800. I thought that what I learned would make a neat magazine article so I wrote it up and sent it to a few rags. ANALOG published it the next year (see: http://www.atariage....0/#entry1580189 ).

 

Being cheap, I returned the 5200 to the retailer, complaining of the joysticks (shame on me for that and shame on me for lying to you in the old post that it was a friend's 5200). Last year I found one dirt cheap (and dirty) on Ebay and fixed it up. I got Star Raiders for it and now I think the analog sticks are better for that game.

 

To set the record straight: The 4-port I dissected earlier in 1983 for the original article did belong to a friend. I bought, opened, and returned a 2-port in late 1983 to see what the differences were. So I did not lie after all. My memory just got old.

[RickR]

I got mine (4 port) for free this past weekend thanks to my awesome cousin who gave it to me with 4 games, 2 controllers that don't work, and no power supply...so I bought a power supply and rf switch box for $30 and it works...just need working controllers and I'll be all set!

 

Try the pencil eraser fix on those controllers. I'll bet they work after that.