Atari 7800 console + XM = the 7800 as it should have been ?

[lucifershalo]

I read that when Tramiel took over Atari, they decided to go "low cost" and put the console on hold and also include the 2600 soundchip....so can we say that the addition of the XM module will make the console as it should have been ?

[+DrVenkman]

You read wrong. The 7800 design was an Atari Inc. (Warner) project. The design was done by GCC, per Warner's requirements. Use of the TIA chip for 2600 compatibility meant that it would also be available for sound. GCC wanted Atari Inc./Warner to use a new GCC-designed sound chip inside each cartridge (which they expected to sell by the tens of thousands to third-party cart makers). That GCC chip ("GUMBY") never happened so games stuck with the on-board TIA sound, aside from Ballblazer and Commando, which used the Atari POKEY chip.

[Trebor]

....so can we say that the addition of the XM module will make the console as it should have been ?

 

It is more like the XM module provides a conglomerate of cartridge based hardware and additions that the 7800 platform should have seen.

The XM doesn't quite equalize the 7800 with as much cartridge hardware depth and scope as its 8-bit contemporaries received; however, it certainly brings the playfield to a more respectable level.