New 5200 owner & AtariAge member!

[robbievgb]

I've been a lurker here for a while and I finally decided to take the opportunity to make my first post!

 

Last Weekend I drove about an hour from home to pick up a Atari 5200 I found on OfferUp for $50. It is a 4 port model that came with Gorf, two Wico Command controllers, the Wico Keypad with Y adapter and the 5200 trakball. It also included the infamous two in one power/RF adapter, and the original power adapter that had been spliced to a different power plug for plugging into the wall (yeah gonna have to replace that). Everything needed a good cleaning and has some scratches and scuffs, but nothing too offensive.

 

Low and behold, I got home and hooked everything up and the System works! There's a local used game store near me that has a crap load of loose 5200 games. so I stopped by on the way home and picked up Counter Measure, Pengo, Star Raiders and Popeye. It played every game flawlessly.

 

I think the Wico Command controllers might need some love, the wires on the Wico key pad have been wrapped in electrical tape as they are coming loose, so that needs some work as well. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly I should be using the wico controllers, I get the locking joystick, but I'm not sure I understand the X and Y sliders on the sides.

 

It looked like the guy had all this stuff sitting on his porch (in the middle of the desert) so I was surprised it all worked. I have a copy of Missile Command on the way that I'm looking forward to testing out the Trakball with.

 

I've always been a fan of misfit consoles and finding their redeeming qualities, and this is a real neat system. I'm looking forward to picking up some more games!

[Ballblaɀer]

Holy smokes, that's a fantastic deal. Well done, and welcome to SuperSystem gaming! Star Raiders is a gem, Countermeasure is a neat exclusive, and Pengo and Popeye are both pretty fun.

 

I highly recommend picking up Tempest from the AtariAge store at some point -- it complements the Trak-Ball perfectly and is a great game, very faithful to the arcade original.

 

The sliders on the Wico sticks are for fine tuning the center position of the potentiometers. A game like Missile Command can help with centering (if they even need it), though you may be able to get the job done with Star Raiders, too.

[+sramirez2008]

Excellent deal and congrats on your first post. I'll echo Ballblazer and recommend Tempest. Its plays really well with the track-ball.

 

You may want to consider purchasing an AtariMax Multi-Cart, unless you want to collect actual carts for your console.

 

http://www.atarimax.com/5200sd/documentation/index.html

[TrekMD]

Welcome aboard and I must say you struck gold! That was some deal you got!

[BIGHMW]

You are now officially an Atarian!!! WAY 2 GO, finding that HUGE bargain on the SuperSystem!!! You are in for YEARS of enjoyment, I have owned a 5200 since 1983 (I got it for my 17th birthday May 19th, 1983, my first being a USA-model serial no. 141101, I still have it in my garage, as I retired it), and I just upgraded to a modded non-switchbox 5200 unit with power and audio (dual-channel mono) and composite and S-video jacks on mine, but it seems that no matter what you are gonna be in for a treat every single time you power up your new claim!!! Oh and think of how much $$$ you will save on having the same graphics as the arcade games back from 30+ years ago, as my late mom found out after getting me my unit back in 1983, it turned out to be the right move!!!

 

Oh and, BTW, welcome to AtariAge and the AtariAge forums!!! from all of us to you, happy gaming!!!

 

You can find many many more 5200 cartridges, controllers, and accessories on eBay AND from these companies

 

http://best-electronics-ca.com/

 

http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Atari%205200.html

 

http://www.atarimax.com/freeshippingsale/

 

Ray Jackson

Proud Atarian since 1983

www.BIGHMW.com

[+jeremiahjt]

First thing, good looking cat. Second thing, time to look into Offerup.

[Amityville315]

Welcome aboard!

 

The 5200 is a lot of fun to collect for and has plenty of classic games.

 

Space Dungeon is a must in my opinion. Defender is very good as well and the sounds are very accurate to the arcade original! Qix is also a fun gem to play.

[joystickjedi]

Welcome to the world of looking for a better controller solution.

[maxdrive]

Welcome to Atari I own both a 5200 and 7800 love both of them. Your in for a world of fun

[robbievgb]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

 

I've actually been an Atari fan since I was a kid, as I grew up on my Dad's 2600 before we got our NES. Our parents took us to World of Atari '98 where we got a Jaguar and a Lynx, and I picked up a 7800 in college, so the 5200 was one of the final ones I needed (I'm still on the fence with the XEGS).

 

The TrakBall Controller that came with the system did not work, well at least the ball part that is. When playing Missile Command, the targeting cursor goes all the way to the top left of the screen and won't move no matter how much I scroll. I ended up finding someone else selling a TrakBall controller locally for $30, and my gamble paid off because that one works wonderfully and its also in much better condition! Missile Command and Super Breakout were great with it and so was Galaxian. I am a big Galaxian/Galaga fan and for some reason this version just seems really fun.

 

I'm still working on adjusting the Wico controllers. I've found a few threads already on working with those, but if someone knows of a guide for calibrating them, that would be awesome. As soon as I think I have them right, they always seem to go "off kilter" after a few games. Also it looks like the poor things were on life support, as the Keypad has been re-attached to the DB15 connector with twisted and soldered wires with electrical tape. All the buttons on the keypad work with the exception of the "Start" button being a little spotty, which I'm pretty sure is related to the patched connector. I can post some pics later to show you what I mean. I see that Best Electronics sells a loose controller cable in their parts section, so even though I'd be replacing the original, I think it'd be worth it to have a working start button.

 

I also picked up a proper power supply (even though it's for a two port model) and an original Atari controller, just because I wanted to have at least one first party one and see how bad it really is after hearing all the bad things about it. I plan on getting the Best Electronics refurb kit for the buttons.

 

I plan on eventually doing the s-video mod, and I had no idea the AtariMax sd card cart existed, so I'm sure I'll eventually pick one of those up. I still prefer original games, but since I have no emotional connection to my dad and childhood with the 5200 like I do the 2600, I'd feel more open to the prospect of only having a few physical games.

 

Looking forward to more adventures with my latest Atari.