Atari's approach to announcing products

[Lynxpro]

... and certainly not in Compute's Gazette... (C64 mag)

 

Why would computer mags do anything other than briefly mention the 7800 or the XEGS? That was done by EGM [originally Electronic Game Player, and they had a huge write-up about the 7800 finally coming out], GamePro, and Video Games & Computer Entertainment [by the same folks who published ANALOG].

 

And you also had Atari Explorer/The Atarian.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Lynxpro

[Schmudde]

The XE Game System was a last-ditch effort to prop up the XE computer line. Software houses were canceling development for the XE line while blaming it all on piracy. Atari needed new users added to the installation base to convince them to continue development. They also had difficulty with retailers who didn't want to carry the 65XE but they'd carry it if it was repackaged as a game system so they could sell it to parents who wanted a game system for their kids but also offering computer abilities. If I'm not mistaken, Commodore even considered a C64 game system variant for that very same reason after the 8-bit mass market computer craze died in the face of the rebounding console video game industry at the time. It was also really easy to license the rights to already-existing Atari 8-bit video game titles and repackage them as cartridges for the XEGS. Development for Atari 8-bit was also arguably easier than for the 7800 because a lot of the industry programmers already had considerable experience coding for the platform, plus the MARIA was considered difficult to program in comparison. So that's why Atari Corp pushed out the XEGS when one would consider it to be lacking in common sense to launch such a machine while the 7800 was on the market.

 

Great insight.

 

To me, the bottom line is that Atari Corp. was profitable by 1987. The company was hemorrhaging money when Warner unloaded it. You have to be right more often than wrong to turn something around like that.

 

I've never heard that the XEGS was a play to get retail space for the 65/130XE computers. I would love to see the worldwide sales figures for the 65/130/GS XEs. The ST line was undoubtedly Corp's focus at the time. I assumed propping up the 8-bit line was more about supporting the existing user base (a la Apple II in the Mac years) and exploiting Atari's brand in developing foreign markets to move low-cost units worldwide.

 

I never thought the XE line was about shelf space and moving units in the USA/UK/France/West Germany. I know people were still buying Commodore 64/128s and Apple IIs in those countries, but it was crystal clear in the mid-1980s that the 16-bit GUI was the killer app that may stand a chance against the IBM compatible behemoth.

 

I still maintain that pushing the XEGS in the 7800's marketplace incredibly confusing. At least here in the USA.

 

/ü

[DracIsBack]

I've never heard that the XEGS was a play to get retail space for the 65/130XE computers. I would love to see the worldwide sales figures for the 65/130/GS XEs. The ST line was undoubtedly Corp's focus at the time. I assumed propping up the 8-bit line was more about supporting the existing user base (a la Apple II in the Mac years) and exploiting Atari's brand in developing foreign markets to move low-cost units worldwide.

 

As always ... a must read for anyone wanting Atari's insight from back in the day on the XEGS

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.sys.atari.8bit/CHaivDd-Hy4/zNYxPzguppgJ

 

 

 

I still maintain that pushing the XEGS in the 7800's marketplace incredibly confusing. At least here in the USA.

 

Agree on the "confusing" bit. Especially when the same games appeared on two or even all three. Add to that 2600 versions of the game marketed for "Atari 2600 and 7800" when there was also a corresponding "7800 only" release.

 

Dark Chambers, Crossbow, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Mario Bros etc ...

Edited December 4, 2015 by DracIsBack

[Schmudde]

As always ... a must read for anyone wanting Atari's insight from back in the day on the XEGS

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/comp.sys.atari.8bit/CHaivDd-Hy4/zNYxPzguppgJ

 

Thanks for sharing this! Hadn't come across it yet. It's easy to forget how threatened the A8/Commodore64/AppleII crowd was by the ST/Amiga/Mac, even as the decade came to a close.

 

All three companies approached this in various ways. Neil Harris of Atari Corp. makes a pretty good case for the XEGS but I find this claim to be puzzling:

 

We expect stores to do a great business in these. We'll make available the current library of cartridge software, plus we're converting some disk programs into cartridge format for this system. As time goes by, we expect to see dramatic increases in sales for 8-bit software

 

 

Maybe I was just too young when all of this happened, but the 8-bit lines seemed to be looking backwards in 1987. Developers could still make real money by developing for the Commodore 64 and Apple IIs were still very relevant in schools, but major corporate investment into the lines seemed to be a real dead end.

 

Back to the OT, here is a case where Atari announced a product, shipped it, and got some pretty good shelf space for the machine. When I walked into a Toys 'R Us, you would see the 2600, 7800, and XEGS - almost always in that order in every promotion and every toy store. In hindsight, that was sort of odd because the A8 technology was truncated by Atari Inc. in favor of the 7800 tech.

 

/ü

[JagCD]

 

Prioritizing the 8-bit line for sure. In_this_country. Same mistake C= made with the 128 after the Amiga.

 

Hilarious though that the 2600, two years later in 1979, was supposed to be replaced by their A8 architecture. Yet years after the 5200 flopped, Atari thought the A8 repackaged again as a game machine, could still be relevant by the mid to late 80's. Drunken captains of industry… sad or hilarious, take your pick!

 

From what I read, Atari really didn't have a choice. The XEGS was released because Atari had warehouses full of unsold Atari 8 Bit software/cartridges -- the XEGS was an attempt to move all that software to new customers.

[DracIsBack]

 

From what I read, Atari really didn't have a choice. The XEGS was released because Atari had warehouses full of unsold Atari 8 Bit software/cartridges -- the XEGS was an attempt to move all that software to new customers.

 

They were also hoping that the XE would sell millions of units and get publishers making 8bit software again with the new installed base.

Edited December 5, 2015 by DracIsBack

[+save2600]

That's logical (or not coming from a company that chose to bury lots of other unsold gear in the desert), but what I was saying is that they should have pushed or dumped the A8 line more in other countries so they could have concentrated on marketing the cutting edge stuff in North America.

[Lynxpro]

That's logical (or not coming from a company that chose to bury lots of other unsold gear in the desert), but what I was saying is that they should have pushed or dumped the A8 line more in other countries so they could have concentrated on marketing the cutting edge stuff in North America.

 

 

First off, it was Warner owned-and-controlled Atari Inc that dumped returned merchandise - and defective products - into the desert landfill for a tax break, not Atari Corp.

 

The XEGS was profitable until the end; same with the 7800. And Atari Corp did market the 8-bit line in Eastern Europe once the Wall came down. Based upon what we've seen come out of Poland, it appears they were successful there.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Lynxpro

[Kr0tki]

They actually started before the Wall. Starting in 1985 or 1986, the XEs were officially distributed in Poland (by LDW), with Polish manuals and under warranty, and with a service center in Warsaw. Being the only platform with official presence on the market for a few years (Commodore, for example, started official distribution way later, 1991 AFAIK), it became the most popular home computer until C64 overtook it around 1992.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Kr0tki

[Lynxpro]

They actually started before the Wall. Starting in 1985 or 1986, the XEs were officially distributed in Poland (by LDW), with Polish manuals and under warranty, and with a service center in Warsaw. Being the only platform with official presence on the market for a few years (Commodore, for example, started official distribution way later, 1991 AFAIK), it became the most popular home computer until C64 overtook it around 1992.

 

I'm sure one of the reasons why Atari [Corp] really paid attention to Poland was due to Jack Tramiel having been born there.

 

That's disappointing to read the C64 finally overtook A8 after being on the market officially for 1 year. Probably due to the typical [gaming] software publishers supporting the C64 far longer than A8.