Finally! The 5200 is mine! And a ton more!

[King_Salamon]

Hey guys! After over 34 years... it's finally happened! The 5200 is mine! I recently acquired a lot of Atari 5200 goodness and some of it I have no idea what it is... that's where I'll be asking you for some expertise and assistance as I am certain some of these items were from Atariage users over the years!

 

Growing up I had a VCS and over 100 carts for it... loved that system. I then got a Colecovision and my collection grew on that system as well. I had a couple of friends who had an Intellivision and I got to play it but the lack of single player sports games left me not overly interested in the system (I was an only child and the Inty had a lot of multi player titles). It was at this time I read about a 'new' Atari... the 5200 was appearing in magazines and sounded cool! I wanted to see more and searched at stores for this new system. I think I saw it at a store or two but it didn't get the shelf space that the 2600 and Colecovision and Intellivision received.

 

A fateful day happened at school and a kid told me he had Pac-Man for Atari and it was just like the arcade with the black background and different coloured ghosts! I got to go to this kid's house and play it for myself. It was sooo much like the arcade. Much better than my 2600 Pac-Man but after that one day, I would never play on the Atari 5200 again... until a week ago!

 

I purchased an Atari 5200 lot and got to play Pac-Man again and a bunch of games I've never played on the 5200 but always wanted to.

 

In all I got the following goodies:

 

• Complete boxed Atari 5200 system - 4 port system (but the sticks need to be sent in to Best Electronics)
• 5200 Trackball Controller (didn't test this out yet but was assured it works)
• 5200 Trackball controller converted into a self-centering joystick controller
• 5200 Wico stick (no number pad though)
• Atarimax SD Flash cart
• 5200 Redemption
• a couple different y-cables
• Adventure 2 - homebrew with some cool items!
• Sinistar - homebrew
• Rescue on Fractalus - CIB
• Missile Command - CIB
• and a couple other carts that escape my memory
• oh and a VCS adaptor... which doesn't work with my 4 port. (That's ok, I have a 2600 lol)

I will post some pictures as some of the cables seem odd... perhaps someone can identify them and their use/purpose. Just need to set up the system in my office for pictures etc.

 

I purchased a copy of Tempest from the Atariage store this week so I'm set for some fun with that title in the near future. I'm also packing and sending out my 2 stock controllers to Best for replacement. Gonna be some good times ahead!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Hey congrats fellow Canadian! Damn you really dived into the 5200! I never had a 5200 back in the day but a a few years ago I acquired a beautiful condition system from a seller here. Mine is also a 4port but one that was altered to work with the VCS adapter. I ordered a refurbished controller from BEST ELECTRONICS and have even gotten several games and a atarimax USB flashcart and I am very happy over all. There is definitely something cool / fun about obtaining a classic system from back in the day but the fact I never had one makes it even more great and playing several 5200 games I can imagine what I would have felt like if I had one back then. The system and especially the controllers get a lot of flack but there is just something about this massive console lol. Thanks for sharing and keep us updated

Edited December 10, 2016 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[+sramirez2008]

Congrats on acquiring the Big Sexy! BTW, have you tested your VCS adaptor? A lot of the 5200s were modified to work with the adaptor. A quick way to tell is to look at the serial number. If it has an *, it should work with the adaptor.

 

Excellent pickup!

[Umberto]

 

• oh and a VCS adaptor... which doesn't work with my 4 port. (That's ok, I have a 2600 lol)

 

a mod is available at console 5

Edited December 12, 2016 by Umberto

[sn8k]

I want a 5200 so bad. I had a pristine 2 port and had to sell it 7 or 8 years ago because I needed the money. Now that things are different its time I track down a mint 5200 and get me some best electronics 5200 controllers. Tempest and star wars arcade will be the first games I buy.

[Ransom]

Well done! The 5200 has some fantastic games and the trak-ball is the best around. If you get a chance, at least try playing the games that use the analog features of the original controller with that type of controller. I'm talking here about Galaxian, Star Raiders, etc. Some people love it, some hate it...but I think every 5200 enthusiast should give it a try at some point (even if they use one of the digital stick solutions most of the time).

 

Anyway, enjoy!

[+sramirez2008]

I want a 5200 so bad. I had a pristine 2 port and had to sell it 7 or 8 years ago because I needed the money. Now that things are different its time I track down a mint 5200 and get me some best electronics 5200 controllers. Tempest and star wars arcade will be the first games I buy.

 

Space Dungeon (an exclusive) is excellent! If your not familiar with this game, its a twin-stick game (a-la Robotron), so try to find one that includes the controller holder.

[King_Salamon]

Well it's a busy time at work so my time to play is limited right now. I have some time during Christmas break to enjoy the system so I plan on doing so then.

 

I've emailed and made arrangements with Best Electronics to have my 2 stock controllers get the gold upgrades done so that will be cool when I receive them.

 

I have the 5200 Redemption and it seems really cool... it'll make games fun to play with my 2600 stick or a Genesis gamepad. hmm can I use my trackball controller for the numeric pad rather than a stock 5200 controller? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

 

As for the VCS adaptor... I don't need it as I have a great modded 2600 already... be on the lookout in the marketplace for my adaptor forsale... lol.

 

As for using the stock controllers to see how the games played originally (before I go and use modern or different options).... that's a great idea. I have all the games so I intend on trying them out.

 

I have a question for those who have a rom of Jumpman Jr on their flashcarts (or a cart of this Atari 8-bit converted for the 5200),,,, how do you start a game? I couldn't get a game started... I was hoping to enjoy some Jumpman Jr... oh well soon enough.

[Shawn]

Nice score Joe.

[BassGuitari]

Well done! The 5200 has some fantastic games and the trak-ball is the best around. If you get a chance, at least try playing the games that use the analog features of the original controller with that type of controller. I'm talking here about Galaxian, Star Raiders, etc. Some people love it, some hate it...but I think every 5200 enthusiast should give it a try at some point (even if they use one of the digital stick solutions most of the time).

 

Anyway, enjoy!

I agree. The Trak-Ball works excellently for games that utilize the 5200 controller's "analogness."

 

Even the standard 5200 controllers, when they work, are pretty nice IMO. I mean, the fire buttons aren't the greatest, but at least they're placed next to each other (unlike the Coleco and Atari 7800) and don't cramp your hand, and the analog joystick has a sophisticated, luxurious feel. The whole unit feels sturdy in your hand. And they do work really well for the games that were (re)designed for them, and even with many that weren't (Pac-Man, Defender, Berzerk, Space Invaders, etc). Again, IMO. Your mileage may vary.

[zylon]

I'd add Pole Position to the above. The analog makes to the best port of it IMHO.

[high voltage]

What lots of good stuff

[VectorGamer]

 

 

I've emailed and made arrangements with Best Electronics to have my 2 stock controllers get the gold upgrades done so that will be cool when I receive them.

 

 

There's documentation out there on how to do the upgrade yourself. I think I have a 1/2-dozen controllers that I rebuilt myself (and if I can do it - anybody can do it). And there's a guy on eBay named electronics-4-fun that sells all the parts you need to rebuild the controller if you don't want to deal with Best.

[King_Salamon]

 

There's documentation out there on how to do the upgrade yourself. I think I have a 1/2-dozen controllers that I rebuilt myself (and if I can do it - anybody can do it). And there's a guy on eBay named electronics-4-fun that sells all the parts you need to rebuild the controller if you don't want to deal with Best.

 

Now I agree Best is not the easiest to deal with (shipping and waiting for the controllers etc is a pain) but I have had previous dealings with Bradley and it's been good.

 

Now... I made arrangements but I haven't sent anything in yet. It's a busy time of year with the holidays and work but I am now on holidays until the new year and I plan on sending these controllers out. Well... unless you are offering to sell me a refurbished controller?? I don't think you need six. Oh.. and no, I won't be doing the work myself. lol

 

My Atariage order arrived today too! Talk about good timing! I'm going to be setting up the 5200 and trying out Tempest in the next day or two! Should be a lot of fun!!