why does the atari 5200 get hated on?

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

Combination of those dreaded stock controllers and that annoying switch box that allows power to the system. Cause If that thing gets damaged in any way your picture quality turns to junk after that.

System has some further investment in money and time beyond just buying the console.

 

Had to had to open up the 2 stock controllers to fix mashed buttons

Had to buy a master play clone to properly play the games with good control.

Had to open up the system and calibrate the pot within the system.

And that damn tv switch box,I've had to adjust it many times since it never wants to lay down properly and instead roll over on its side,which causes degrading picture if its not seated perfectly.

 

Put simply.... It ain't all sunshine and rainbows with this system.

But once you get it working properly its allot of fun.

Edited March 10, 2016 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[+grips03]

It is the controllers, size and RF only. Two of the three are easy to fix today and it has some great games.

[+sramirez2008]

I love the 5200 and until a few months ago, I didn't even own one. I now own and 2 port and a 4 port. If you get yourself some refurbished controllers, or spring for a masterplay clone, the controller issue is done away with.

 

The standard library of games is really good (Defender, Robotron, Space Dungeon, Centipede, Missile Command etc.). - Add in a trak-ball controller and you can now play Tempest, Xari Arena and Blowsub, all excellent games in their own right.

 

Lastly, I agree with Retrogamer81081. I also get better reception on my 4 port via the proprietary switchbox, so don't let the switchbox or controllers scare you. Its a great console.

[RangerG]

I loved the 5200 as a kid. My cousin had one and we both thought it was the greatest. I remember him getting it and us marvelling at how much better Pacman was when compared to the 2600. Now, when I got into retrogaming around the year 2000, I realized that people complained about the controllers and considered it somewhat of a flop. However, it is easily my favorite system today.

[0078265317]

I love the 5200 and until a few months ago, I didn't even own one. I now own and 2 port and a 4 port. If you get yourself some refurbished controllers, or spring for a masterplay clone, the controller issue is done away with.

 

The standard library of games is really good (Defender, Robotron, Space Dungeon, Centipede, Missile Command etc.). - Add in a trak-ball controller and you can now play Tempest, Xari Arena and Blowsub, all excellent games in their own right.

 

Lastly, I agree with Retrogamer81081. I also get better reception on my 4 port via the proprietary switchbox, so don't let the switchbox or controllers scare you. Its a great console.

 

My cousin had a 2 port and I had a 4 port. I don't remember there ever being any difference or reception issues.

[+frankodragon]

My guess is many have watched the AVGN episode and assumed by his review/opinion on the console. He did have the version with the power and R/F switch but there is also the console with the separate RF and power adapter. I don't think he mentioned that in his episode.

[high voltage]

jealousy

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

 

 

 

After pre-ordering Pac-Man for the 2600 BITD and the traumatic experience of reading the manual about vitamin wafers and the huge disappointment playing the game for the first time I have never had a hatred for a game like I do for 2600 Pac-Man.

 

I just can't relate to anyone that actually enjoys playing 2600 Pac-Man. I just don't get it and never will.

Man that game was such a turd when it released. My pops bought it for my sister and I the week it released and we were in awe of such total sewage. If the visuals didn't kill your eyes then the games sound did. I still hear that damn munching sound in my head sometimes. I guess if you didn't play Pac-Man religiously in the arcades then maybe the 2600 version could be fun. But my sis and I always spent days playing it near our pizza parlor so we were so damn disappointed with the 2600 port. My dad eventually returned the game the next day. His attitude was he didn't buy a game that we despised, so back it went. I remember my dad telling us both to sit in the car while he went to war with a manager at a K-Mart so we knew there was trouble ahead. He eventually did get his $38.00 back. But in the end he got it and the memory of that awful game is something of legend around these parts. It really was a nasty experience.

Edited March 10, 2016 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[atari2800man]

There is absolutley nothing wrong with the atari 5200.once you get the controllers to replace the broken ones,its a arcade heaven!do you know how easy it is to repair those controllers?pretty easy.jesus,lets go back to my genesis days,my controller buttons would stick at times and be a pain in the ass to fix.im sure theres tons of retro systems that have shitty controllers.

 

Im sorry but the atari 5200 beats the 2600 with its better graphics,sound,gameplay,durability,and games period.Sure the 5200 had a limited game library but that all the games it needed to prove itself with expecially against the intellivision and colecovision.does anybody own any rare games for it?

[Rick Dangerous]

Why do people hate someone who drives by in a Rolls Royce?

 

Because its a big, beautiful, rare, powerful, and luxurious machine. Not everyone can have one, handle one, and the tlc involved in keeping it clean and running on all cylinders.

[0078265317]

It is the controllers, size and RF only. Two of the three are easy to fix today and it has some great games.

 

Size does not matter as long as it works and well.

[0078265317]

Why do people hate someone who drives by in a Rolls Royce?

 

Because its a big, beautiful, rare, powerful, and luxurious machine. Not everyone can have one, handle one, and the tlc involved in keeping it clean and running on all cylinders.

 

Yes but 5200 is a lot cheaper than a rolls royce.

[+sramirez2008]

 

Yes but 5200 is a lot cheaper than a rolls royce.

 

But bigger

[high voltage]

 

 

 

After pre-ordering Pac-Man for the 2600 BITD and the traumatic experience of reading the manual about vitamin wafers and the huge disappointment playing the game for the first time I have never had a hatred for a game like I do for 2600 Pac-Man.

 

I just can't relate to anyone that actually enjoys playing 2600 Pac-Man. I just don't get it and never will.

Again, I never visited arcades. How would I know it was a bad game? It wasn't, played it to death at my friends, this game made me buy a VCS. The stories in the manuals were great fun to read as well.

 

You guys always presume everyone back then was an arcade freak.....

Edited March 11, 2016 by high voltage

[Shaggy the Atarian]

"There is absolutley nothing wrong with the atari 5200."

 

Kind of weird that Atari dropped it as quickly as they could if it was such a perfect system. Even the 'hated' Jaguar had a slightly longer market life (18 months for the 5200 vs. 26 months of the Jaguar, not counting the Telegames/Songbird revivals in 1998-99)

 

I have a hard time hating on any Atari system but the 5200 is the least played console in my collection. My issues with the controllers isn't just about the uncomfortable buttons layout...it's the fact that on some games they work fine, others they don't work at all (this across multiple controllers). At least I can play the only two 5200 games I care about with them - Adventure II and Space Dungeon. Otherwise, there isn't much of a point to go through the hassle when you have an Atari 800XL (particularly with something like the MyIDE ][ cart). That has better hardware, a vastly larger game selection, more peripherals, the controllers are easy to replace and you don't have to fight with them. I do like the console design and I think the controllers deserved props for the Pause and Reset button innovations.

[Nebulon]

"There is absolutley nothing wrong with the atari 5200."

 

Kind of weird that Atari dropped it as quickly as they could if it was such a perfect system. Even the 'hated' Jaguar had a slightly longer market life (18 months for the 5200 vs. 26 months of the Jaguar, not counting the Telegames/Songbird revivals in 1998-99)

 

I have a hard time hating on any Atari system but the 5200 is the least played console in my collection. My issues with the controllers isn't just about the uncomfortable buttons layout...it's the fact that on some games they work fine, others they don't work at all (this across multiple controllers). At least I can play the only two 5200 games I care about with them - Adventure II and Space Dungeon. Otherwise, there isn't much of a point to go through the hassle when you have an Atari 800XL (particularly with something like the MyIDE ][ cart). That has better hardware, a vastly larger game selection, more peripherals, the controllers are easy to replace and you don't have to fight with them. I do like the console design and I think the controllers deserved props for the Pause and Reset button innovations.

I think you've described the two key elements:

 

1) the controllers

 

2) the fact that a person could just get an Atari 400 instead (or may have already owned a 400).

 

Having said that, if Atari had released the 5200 with a decent set of controllers a year before the ColecoVision, they could have cleaned up.

[0078265317]

but 5200 carts don't work on 400 do they? So its not the same thing.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

but 5200 carts don't work on 400 do they? So its not the same thing.

The Atari 400/800 8 bit computer is the same thing internally as the 5200. It has the same identical internal hardware. But obviously the media and cartridges are not compatible with each other. Some minor differences other than the abscense of a keyboard is this.

 

- The 8 bit computer has a 10 KB operating system while the 5200 is 2 KB.

 

- The GTIA and POKEY chips are located in different memory locations.

 

- The analog joysticks of the 5200 appear as pair of paddles to the hardware which required different input unlike the 8 bit computer it's joysticks.

[atari2800man]

Again the only reason why people rather play on the atari 400 or 800 is because you can use atari 2600 controllers with it.its all about the controller preferences bullshit.if you go out or haveva decent job,you can simply buy a rebuilt or gold contact controller and your golden.The atari 400/800 really doesnt have any different games than the 5200.The fact that its huge and durable is awesome.The switchbox on the 4port may spark but theres no god damn fire coming guys.Heck the atari 5200 was way ahead of its time.

 

I love playing my super pacman prototype on it.

[+FujiSkunk]

Care to say it one more time? I think that fella in the back left corner might have missed it still.

[Bill Loguidice]

Again the only reason why people rather play on the atari 400 or 800 is because you can use atari 2600 controllers with it.its all about the controller preferences bullshit.if you go out or haveva decent job,you can simply buy a rebuilt or gold contact controller and your golden.The atari 400/800 really doesnt have any different games than the 5200.The fact that its huge and durable is awesome.The switchbox on the 4port may spark but theres no god damn fire coming guys.Heck the atari 5200 was way ahead of its time.

 

I love playing my super pacman prototype on it.

 

"The only reason"? You also get higher quality video output on all but the 400 and 600XL, access to far more software, and access to more controller options. Sure, like some of us do, you can AV mod your 5200, get plenty of replacement controllers, etc., but is it really worth all the extra effort to all but the most dedicated fan (and you can similarly invest that same money into doing even cooler things on the Atari 8-bit side)? Probably not.

 

I also don't get what you mean by durable? The extra plastic is more durable? As we stated, the controllers are the most unreliable first party controllers in history. That's not exactly "durable."

 

Why exactly was the 5200 ahead of its time? By being the first console to repurpose a computer design? OK, sure. The first to use analog controllers? No, it wasn't. So I'm curious exactly how it was ahead of its time other than the re-purposing of pre-existing computer technology?

 

You know, it's OK to like something while still acknowledging its flaws and why it may not be for everyone. I'm glad I own a 5200 (several, actually), but I'd prioritize a lot of other consoles ahead of it, particularly since I already have an extensive Atari 8-bit collection.

[Bill Loguidice]

Having said that, if Atari had released the 5200 with a decent set of controllers a year before the ColecoVision, they could have cleaned up.

 

It depends how practical that would have been from an economic standpoint. The Atari 8-bit technology base was not exactly cost effective. You also had the issue of cannibalizing Atari 2600 sales. Pissed off parents was a real phenomena when they realized their 2600 investments wouldn't carry over to the 5200. So they would have also had to have prioritized a 2600 adapter (and that wasn't necessarily even a thing until Coleco released theirs, as well as Mattel).

 

Honestly, the way it played out, they probably released the 5200 at the right time. They should have simply went with different controllers, a smaller form factor, and tried to keep the price lower. It also wouldn't have hurt to have a more exciting launch line-up to compete with what was being offered on the ColecoVision side. If they hadn't have messed up the 5200 launch and post launch, they wouldn't have had to have wasted resources on 7800 development. As was seen with the release of the XEGS, they could have ridden that technology into the better part of the 80s and then been able to release a more Genesis-like successor around the same time as Sega. The multiple models and constant diversions didn't help a company like Atari in the slightest.

[0078265317]

Or they could of done it form the beginning. They could of just made the 5200 slot same size as 2600 so it plays both games. From the beginning and therefore no need for an adapter.

[Bill Loguidice]

Or they could of done it form the beginning. They could of just made the 5200 slot same size as 2600 so it plays both games. From the beginning and therefore no need for an adapter.

 

 

Sure, but that would also likely be impractically expensive for an already expensive system. If you're going to do that you may as well just skip the 5200 and go straight to a 7800 type system.

[zylon]

As much as I love the 5200, I admit that it is only because I am handy with repairs and adjustments that I can enjoy it. It was just too complex for the materials used at the time. Issues with the controllers actually pushed sales of the 2600 back upwards instead of replacing it.

For me, it's really just another way to enjoy the same old games I've always loved.