Why XEGS when the 7800 already existed?

[Jinks]

This makes me want to play flight simulator... such an amazing game!!

[Maury Markowitz]

IIRC the short answer is: to convert excess stock of XL software, hardware, and components into revenue, with the XEGS in particular essentially amounting to a scheme to get the platform into stores that ordinarily wouldn't have stocked computers.

Fair enough.

 

But posts above lead to a second question: am I correct in thinking the 7800 did not play 8-bit games? I was under the impression the machines were *very* similar, no?

[empsolo]

Fair enough.

 

But posts above lead to a second question: am I correct in thinking the 7800 did not play 8-bit games? I was under the impression the machines were *very* similar, no?

They are both 8-bit machines.

[atarilovesyou]

I actually wouldnt mind an XEGS...just ti get easy entry into the vast Atari computer game line. Thats me thinking today, though.

 

Back then, I learned of the XEGS in a random issue of Atarian that I had..pure nostalgia for the Atari, even in 89, lol. Then oddly enough the Home Shoppimg Network had the system in regular rotation, working on the whole education angle. I knew the scene back then and the real deal was NES (and soon enough, Genesis) was the future. But I still wanted to try one out. I saw a used one sitting in a retroshop for an absurd price...I wish I jumped on those MISB ones on ebay a fee years back...dumb!

 

As for why the XEGS, most sources indicate it was purely a move to sell older stuff sitting in warehouses. Sounds like a strange plan, especially since the NES was already so dominant. Tramiel seemed quite oblivious to that. Any visit to a grade school would have showed them that...but in a way, what else were they to do? I agree they should have just gone with an uber atari game console, if all they wanted was to burn old stock. But their options were limited no matter how they sliced it.

[phoenixdownita]

Aside the actual chips themselves (Sally, Antic, GTIA, Pokey) the rest of the XEGS is "original" as in new case, keyboard (at least the case not sure about the PCB), motherboard with slanted cart connector, pastel buttons, light gun, matching joystick, new line of cart shells (or was this changed already for the 65/130XE?) .... not sure how much inventory they had of those old chips to justify the rest of the investments ....

 

NOTE: wrt the XEGS commercials http://atariage.com/forums/topic/280863-why-xegs-when-the-7800-already-existed/page-2?do=findComment&comment=4076041

can anyone tell me why there's a "7800 fuji logo opening screen" showing (2nd and 3rd video link there)?

With a keyboard connected the XEGS dumps you in BASIC and without you go straight to Missile Command. Were some games on cart using that same "7800 fuji logo opening screen" ?

I can't remember if either FS-II or Bug Hunt (the pack-in games) had that logo on startup but I doubt it.

In the 3rd video linked at second 5 it seems that the "7800 boot sequence" completes and something starts (you can see it for a mere fraction of a sec [maybe 3 frames] and at that only the lower left corner of the screen) ... is that Pole Position 2 for the 7800?

[8th lutz]

Fair enough.

 

But posts above lead to a second question: am I correct in thinking the 7800 did not play 8-bit games? I was under the impression the machines were *very* similar, no?

The Atari 7800 does not play Atari 8 bit computer games at all. The Atari 7800 and the Atari 8 bit computers use a 6502 processor, but their graphic capabilities are different and the 7800 actually has less built in ram than all different Atari 8 bit computers out there.

 

The graphic capabilities are different due to the nature of the chips the 7800 used and Atari's 8 bit computer line used.

Edited August 13, 2018 by 8th lutz

[Airshack]

They are both 8-bit machines.

The 8-bit line and the 5200 are more similar.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[+sixersfan105]

Aside the actual chips themselves (Sally, Antic, GTIA, Pokey) the rest of the XEGS is "original" as in new case, keyboard (at least the case not sure about the PCB), motherboard with slanted cart connector, pastel buttons, light gun, matching joystick, new line of cart shells (or was this changed already for the 65/130XE?) .... not sure how much inventory they had of those old chips to justify the rest of the investments ....

Definitely a new line of cart shells, labels and boxes. The gray/cream colored cartridge shells were also used later/concurrently with some small silver box versions of 11 8-bit games: Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jungle Hunt, Football, Tennis, Moon Patrol, Joust, Final Legacy, Millipede, Pole Position and Donkey Kong Junior.

[King Atari]

Aside the actual chips themselves (Sally, Antic, GTIA, Pokey) the rest of the XEGS is "original" as in new case, keyboard (at least the case not sure about the PCB), motherboard with slanted cart connector, pastel buttons, light gun, matching joystick, new line of cart shells (or was this changed already for the 65/130XE?) .... not sure how much inventory they had of those old chips to justify the rest of the investments ....

 

NOTE: wrt the XEGS commercials http://atariage.com/forums/topic/280863-why-xegs-when-the-7800-already-existed/page-2?do=findComment&comment=4076041

can anyone tell me why there's a "7800 fuji logo opening screen" showing (2nd and 3rd video link there)?

With a keyboard connected the XEGS dumps you in BASIC and without you go straight to Missile Command. Were some games on cart using that same "7800 fuji logo opening screen" ?

I can't remember if either FS-II or Bug Hunt (the pack-in games) had that logo on startup but I doubt it.

In the 3rd video linked at second 5 it seems that the "7800 boot sequence" completes and something starts (you can see it for a mere fraction of a sec [maybe 3 frames] and at that only the lower left corner of the screen) ... is that Pole Position 2 for the 7800?

XEGS-7800.png

Don't know what it is, but it wouldn't have been the first time Atari Corp got a little fanciful with their commercials. In one of the Atari 7800 ads (the "more games at half the price" one), they use gameplay from the 5200/8-bit version of Jungle Hunt twice throughout (with a red label 2600 cart in the slot, to boot). Makes me really wish a 7800 port of Jungle Hunt had happened, though.

Edited August 15, 2018 by King Atari

[DracIsBack]

The Atari 7800 does not play Atari 8 bit computer games at all. The Atari 7800 and the Atari 8 bit computers use a 6502 processor, but their graphic capabilities are different and the 7800 actually has less built in ram than all different Atari 8 bit computers out there.

 

Same with the NES and the Sega Master System (IIRC). Part of the reason is that they didn't need it because they didn't need to copy cartridge contents into memory the way the A8/5200 did.

[adam242]

 

Same with the NES and the Sega Master System (IIRC). Part of the reason is that they didn't need it because they didn't need to copy cartridge contents into memory the way the A8/5200 did.

 

Um, no. The A8/5200 do not copy cart ROM into RAM. The 5200 (and A8s with less than 32K) don't even have RAM in the cartridge address space.

[DracIsBack]

 

Um, no. The A8/5200 do not copy cart ROM into RAM. The 5200 (and A8s with less than 32K) don't even have RAM in the cartridge address space.

 

Hmm ... could have sworn I read that there was a specific architectural reason for the 5200 to need more memory than the NES and 7800. I'll have to go back through my records to see where it came from.

[+sixersfan105]

Time for some XEGS homebrews! I'm a big 7800 fan but recently picked up an XEGS and have been thoroughly impressed with the computer/console. Only two homebrews in the entirety of the AA Store for A8s?!

[BassGuitari]

Time for some XEGS homebrews! I'm a big 7800 fan but recently picked up an XEGS and have been thoroughly impressed with the computer/console. Only two homebrews in the entirety of the AA Store for A8s?!

I'm admittedly not very hip to the 400/800/XL/XE scene, but most homebrew for that platform seems to exist as files rather than physical media. Too big for cartridges, I think. If you haven't seen it yet, check out AtariBlast (which IIRC requires RAM measuring in the megabytes, lol).

 

It's too bad the XEGS didn't originally have some extra bell or whistle that developers could have utilized to create truly XEGS-exclusive titles.

[+sixersfan105]

I'm admittedly not very hip to the 400/800/XL/XE scene, but most homebrew for that platform seems to exist as files rather than physical media. Too big for cartridges, I think. If you haven't seen it yet, check out AtariBlast (which IIRC requires RAM measuring in the megabytes, lol).

 

It's too bad the XEGS didn't originally have some extra bell or whistle that developers could have utilized to create truly XEGS-exclusive titles.

That's lame! AtariBlast looks impressive but there's nothing like playing on real hardware. And a rom cart is cheating.