Some "Versus" Questions

[Cybearg]

I've never tried an Atari 7800, so I'm curious of how it stacks up to other consoles of the time.

 

How does it compare to the Atari 5200? From videos I've seen, their capabilities look similar. Where's the difference?

 

Also, how does it compare to the NES? Aside from the obviously inferior default sound chip, how does the POKEY compare to the NES's sound chip? What about graphically? From videos, the 7800's games look grittier, with more colors but a lower resolution. In comparison, NES games look slicker and streamlined, with more cartoony colors and a higher pixel density.

 

Where are the actual lines in the sand?

[+Trebor]

I've never tried an Atari 7800, so I'm curious of how it stacks up to other consoles of the time.

 

How does it compare to the Atari 5200? From videos I've seen, their capabilities look similar. Where's the difference?

 

Also, how does it compare to the NES? Aside from the obviously inferior default sound chip, how does the POKEY compare to the NES's sound chip? What about graphically? From videos, the 7800's games look grittier, with more colors but a lower resolution. In comparison, NES games look slicker and streamlined, with more cartoony colors and a higher pixel density.

 

Where are the actual lines in the sand?

Some answers and various viewpoints here.

[Cybearg]

Just finished reading. I guess I thought there would be more pluses and minuses, but it sounds like 7800 was definitely well behind capability-wise compared to the NES/SMS competition.

 

But I guess working on 7800 homebrews, like 2600 homebrewis, is more about nostalgia, brand loyalty, and compromising with less, right?

[Rhomaios]

And Pokey sound is just as good as the NES soundchip as well, and the NES without chips is not that much better than 7800 without chips, if at all. There is an issue of aspect ratio, but it works on some games. Master System for sure is better. But you also have to consider that the 7800 is backwards compatible with the 2600, and the chance to play both libraries is great. The libraries aren't exactly equal, either. NES is a retro-arcade beast, but it doesn't have two player Centipede! And if we only preferred what has better graphics and sound, we'd all be playing the latest FPS or 3D action "QTE" game by now.

[RevEng]

Cybearg, did you skip over the section on sprite processing in the NES comparison?

 

No question SMS is clearly superior to the NES and 7800, though.

[Cybearg]

Cybearg, did you skip over the section on sprite processing in the NES comparison?

But by the sound of it, that advantage only exists with an extremely minimalist background--once you start having nice, detailed tiled backgrounds, that advantage evidently vanishes due to the slower way the 7800 handles tiles, plus the cycles lost by waiting for the MARIA.

[RevEng]

If by "nice detailed tiles" you mean 12 color tiles then yes, they will eat up a lot of your DMA time.

 

Alternatively one could use 160A backgrounds, with some areas using different palettes. Or throw a little more RAM in the DLs and use sprites instead.

 

I'm not saying the 7800 can outshine the NES tilewise. That would be just as incorrect as thinking the NES can outshine the 7800 with sprites.

 

Anyway, if it's not about nostalgia, but best-in-breed, forget about both the NES and 7800 and code for the SMS.

[Rhomaios]

Anyway, if it's not about nostalgia, but best-in-breed, forget about both the NES and 7800 and code for the SMS Dreamcast.

 

FTFY.

[EricBall]

Just finished reading. I guess I thought there would be more pluses and minuses, but it sounds like 7800 was definitely well behind capability-wise compared to the NES/SMS competition.

 

From a pure capabilities perspective the 7800 has definite advantages over the NES & SMS - the number of sprites MARIA can generate (per line and total) is significantly above the NES & SMS. But in practice that raw sprite power is hamstrung by available CPU time. On the 7800 every tile & sprite reduces the amount of CPU available to game processing by a significant amount due to the shared bus & the need to build display lists rather than just updating simple tables.