The Rise And Fall Of Atari

[roadrunner]

Atari article at grunge.com

THE RISE AND FALL OF ATARI
 

BY JOSEPH A. WILLIAMS  DEC. 22, 2021 2:07 AM EDT

 

https://www.grunge.com/714681/the-rise-and-fall-of-atari/

 

[+jgkspsx]

Some interesting citations in that article…

 

To those who say third party titles ruined the Atari VCS/2600, I say, have you played the official Atari releases? They’re not all shining jewels, I’ll tell ya!

[BIGHMW]

I haven't read the article as I just got home from work but try saying that about some of the new homebrews the fine folks here on the AA Forums have been able to concoct up, games like Dennis @DEBRO's Pac-Man 4K, as well as the 8K version of Pac-Man from @DINTAR816, and even Donkey Kong VCS and @splendidnut's Chaotic Grill! are some masterpieces in that third-party lineup.

Edited April 26, 2022 by BIGHMW
spelling error

[SoundGammon]

I don't blame the games as the downfall, it was due to Atari being sold to "Old Thinkers"! They thought and TREATED the industry of video games as a fad, here today-gone tomorrow. When The Beatles were looking for a record label in America, they went to Decca records and was told by an "old thinker": "Guys with guitars are on the way out!" Three companies that existed in the early 80's were Microsoft, Apple, & Atari. 2 of them had young thinkers! Captain Kirk, in Star Trek III Search For Spock, said it best when he told Scotty: "Young minds, fresh ideas!"

[hwrd]

In one of the interviews on Antic podcast, a fellow from Atari said there was an large overpurchase of stock by retailers and that typically takes time to clear through.  That was the most direct explanation I've ever heard of the crash.

Edited April 26, 2022 by hwrd
left a word out

[CatPix]

The article is simplifying things alots and confused (competition from Nintendo and Colecovision in 1979? Really?) and still repeat that BS that Atari created and crashed the video game industry.

Yes Atari CONTRIBUTED to both, there's no denying it. But no, Atair didn't created it; as the article note it, there was the Channel F, but the Odyssey2 was planned already as well, if anything. And video games were flourishing on the "Three of 77" : Commodore PET, TRS-80 and Apple II.

Same, in 1984 when the crash became know, the Commodore 64 in the US recorded a drastic spike in sales. Yeah, certainly those silly kids going on the C64 to do accounting, not playing, no no no no....

 

Still a decent read for people that never heard of Atari but it could use some rewriting and reviewing. Especially when it spend time describing the relaxed then tense ambiance at Atari but almost nothing of the rich videogaming background.

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by CatPix

[hwrd]

12 minutes ago, CatPix said:

 

Yes Atari CONTRIBUTED to both, there's no denying it. But no, Atair didn't created it;

Ooh!   That looked so much like 'Altair' that I thought I was having a Alzheimer's moment!

?

[CatPix]

Sneaky typos

[Keatah]

Well I got upset that Atari made the 5200. It was just a repackaged 400. And really no way to for a kid to tell ahead of time. After discovering the games being identical to what I had on the 400/800 computer I never really trusted or believed in Atari again. They pulled a fast one on me and caused me to prematurely spend money that I was struggling to save for some Apple peripherals and supplies (blank disks, ink ribbons).

 

After that I never really payed attention to new Atari hardware much. There was a bit of redemption with cool arcade games - but even some of my favs were Namco-licensed anyways. Not enough to draw me back into the fold.

[BIGHMW]

Well @Keatah while the argument that Big Sexy was simply a repackaged 400 may be true (only in some instances), the 5200 had uniqueness that the 400 did not, like the availability of playing 2600 (at that time known as the VCS) games with the soon-to-be-available adapter, as well as that kick-ass accessory that no other system, neither computer nor console had at the time of its release, the Trak-Ball (CX53), plus while many of the titles were ported over from the 400/800 many of them were vastly improved from their 8-bit cousins. 

 

Having both a 5200 (since May 1983, still play her today) and an XEGS (from December 2020 up until this past February) I can tell you that back 40 years ago, there was a dramatic difference in the versions of Centipede, Qix, and Dig Dug, in which those 5200 versions have since been ported (by both Glenn and Homesoft) over to the 400/800/XL/XE series, but try convincing this then 17-year-old (in 1983) to "settle" for a 400 with "inferior" ports of those three when Big Sexy had all the great games which were exclusives at that time to the 5200, including those three.

 

...and while true the XL/XE/XEGS series of computers may be superior to the 5200 there are still some games you can only play on Big Sexy (you already know them), as well as 400+ more titles, in which for most of us (I will be 56 on the 19th) are more than enough and will do me just fine, thanks.  

[Lostdragon]

On 4/26/2022 at 2:57 PM, CatPix said:

The article is simplifying things alots and confused (competition from Nintendo and Colecovision in 1979? Really?) and still repeat that BS that Atari created and crashed the video game industry.

Yes Atari CONTRIBUTED to both, there's no denying it. But no, Atair didn't created it; as the article note it, there was the Channel F, but the Odyssey2 was planned already as well, if anything. And video games were flourishing on the "Three of 77" : Commodore PET, TRS-80 and Apple II.

Same, in 1984 when the crash became know, the Commodore 64 in the US recorded a drastic spike in sales. Yeah, certainly those silly kids going on the C64 to do accounting, not playing, no no no no....

 

Still a decent read for people that never heard of Atari but it could use some rewriting and reviewing. Especially when it spend time describing the relaxed then tense ambiance at Atari but almost nothing of the rich videogaming background.

 

I got as far as seeing some of the publications used as source material for the article and just gave up. 

 

So much of it needs rewriting and more credible sources used. 

[MrMaddog]

This is what retrogaming journalism has come down to now...

 

Zoomer: "Hey Google, look up some old ass video game system."

 

Phone: "Here's the first paragraph of a Wikipedia article..."

 

Zoomer: "Article's done, yo!"

[Keatah]

@BIGHMW The source of my disappointment was likely from the expectations Atari set. In the mid-70's Pong and Tank consoles were a thing. Then came the "reusable" and "programmable" VCS. We were blown away. Had many good times with it. Every cartridge was a new adventure. Then came the 8-bit computers and the likes of Star Raiders. Yet another significant step up. All in parallel with what was happening in the arcades. And continuing advancements in cartridge games too. Bankswitching, Supercharger, CBS RAM, DPC. But we didn't understand the technical breakthroughs. Just that the games were better and there was different stuff going on in the carts.

 

As a kid I naturally expected the same from the SuperSystem. I was planning on a near perfect duplication of arcade graphics. Maybe even improvements on them. So when I played Defender and Centipede I was like Mmmm..? Then I got a few more cartridges and studied them intensely. Looking for better graphics and sounds. Eventually I learned it was a 400/800 minus the keyboard. Then my love affair with Atari was done and done with - save for picking up some straggling VCS games. And I continued with that system for a while longer. My interest had started to wane.

 

I wasn't big into any specialized controllers. Certainly not like most folks here. Happy with a basic 5-switch joystick. A PointMaster was a step up. And the Apple II 2-button 2-axis controller was pretty sophisticated. So there's that. I never liked the inertial mushy-response of a trakball. On any system or cab.

 

Today my preferred controllers are an X-Arcade, PC scissors keyboard & mouse, and vintage Gravis PC gamepad. A 2-axis CH Products covers flightsims. It's all I find myself needing.

[harmonyFM]

This isn't journalistic writing it's pop history, decent overview for someone who's coming in cold and doesn't have deep prior knowledge of the Atari story. Definitely reads like it was written by a researcher who was given a topic and not a gamer passionate about the history.

[Keatah]

Sometimes that's all that's required.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I think it's disingenuous and an utter shame that this "article" doesn't speak of the amazing underdog rising from the ashes through Chesnais' sheer genius in creating the vaunted, iconic, cultural powerhouse market leader of a console known as the VCS.

 

 

[digdugnate]

And they would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

 

[Keatah]

More like a powerdrill screwing me up the wazoo!

[BIGHMW]

5 hours ago, digdugnate said:

And they would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

 

Good one Shaggy!!!

[zzip]

On 4/26/2022 at 3:15 PM, Keatah said:

Well I got upset that Atari made the 5200. It was just a repackaged 400. And really no way to for a kid to tell ahead of time. After discovering the games being identical to what I had on the 400/800 computer I never really trusted or believed in Atari again.

I thought it was kind of obvious that's what it was.   Every department stores had 5200's on display playing games, and many had 400/800 as well.    I could see the games were very similar.   So I decided I only wanted an XL computer and didn't need a 5200

[SegaSnatcher]

I know people give Nolan Bushnell a lot of crap for stealing Ralph Baer's tennis game idea and not giving him proper credit until many decades later, but I do still feel Pong is the much better game.  Allan and Nolan made the right tweaks to make it a way more playable game.  Simplfying the controls, adding sound and showing the players score really made a world of difference. Ralph Baer's tennis game had too complicated controls at the time for people who had never even touched a video game before.  

If they focused more on the quality of games and released the 5200 earlier with a better controller with must own games at launch they might have avoided the crash.   

 

[Master Phruby]

I knew as a kid I didn't need a 5200 because I already had my 400. It was pretty obvious to me they were the same machine. When my VCS was dieing, I picked up a Colecovision and Expansion Module 1 to keep the games running. Now, I could have fixed that machine. 

[SegaSnatcher]

16 minutes ago, Master Phruby said:

I knew as a kid I didn't need a 5200 because I already had my 400. It was pretty obvious to me they were the same machine. When my VCS was dieing, I picked up a Colecovision and Expansion Module 1 to keep the games running. Now, I could have fixed that machine. 

Yeah, but most 2600 owners didn't purchase an Atari computer, so upgrading to the 5200 would have been a totally new experience for them and it would have been a lot cheaper than an Atari computer.  

I also think people would have gravitated to the 5200 more if it could play their 2600 games natively as well as original 5200 games.  I know there was an adapter to make that happen, but I'm thinking more of a native option like 7800 was. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by SegaSnatcher

[Master Phruby]

It would have been cool if the 400 could play 2600 games too. They didn't even consider that.

[zzip]

15 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Yeah, but most 2600 owners didn't purchase an Atari computer, so upgrading to the 5200 would have been a totally new experience for them and it would have been a lot cheaper than an Atari computer.  

That was true for a few months,  but then the 600XL came out and was around half the price of a 5200.  That's the route my family took and seeing how the 5200 turned out, I'm glad we did.

 

15 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

I also think people would have gravitated to the 5200 more if it could play their 2600 games natively as well as original 5200 games.  I know there was an adapter to make that happen, but I'm thinking more of a native option like 7800 was. 

Backwards compatibility doesn't make or break consoles,  games do.    The 5200's issue was the vast majority of its software library consisted of games on the 2600.  There weren't enough great 5200-only titles to make users feel like they needed to upgrade.   And instead of fixing that situation, Atari decided to kill the 5200 after less than two years and release the 7800.   This only alienated Atari loyalists who sunk a decent amount of money into the 5200.