WISHFUL THINKING: I was wondering - how many if you would've wanted a 5200 "in XEGS clothing"?

[BIGHMW]

Well, it's yet another 5200 vs. XEGS thread but to be fair I have always liked playing my favorite games that HAVE BEEN converted over to Big Sexy due to the form factor of either the stock CX52 analog controller or even the CX24 7800 or the good-old CX40 Flashback/2600 digital stick combined with a separate keypad when utilizing my Redemption 5200 adapter or even the RetroGameBoyz console controller.

 

It's just that the instant and urgent availability of the needed control with the attached keypad is SO MUCH better than having to scrounge around looking for the right key on the huge keyboard on the XEGS when it comes to things like smartbombs/hyperspace (Defender) or the proper thrust/hyperwarp/shields/etc. (Star Raiders) or the right code to abort missile launch (Countermeasure) or the right type of pitch you want to throw to a batter (RealSports Baseball).

 

Also, having TWO sets of fire buttons also has its advantages over the XEGS when it comes to games like Defender (smartbombs) or Countermeasure (tank turret rotation) or Meteorites (hyperspace) or the awesome Keithen Hayenga creation Tempest (Superzapper). There are also many others that I can't recall off the top of my head even after 40 years of being a 5200 owner that also utilize both sets of fire buttons.

 

When it comes to gameplay, the 5200 wins over the XEGS, hands down.

 

But, when it comes to her overall form factor, the XEGS wins hands down when you put her alongside my Sony SLV-N51 VHS VCR in which I have had since 2020, the 5200 just doesn't look right sitting next to her, but, if she was sitting elsewhere, she would be just fine, now I ask all of you, wouldn't you have wanted the 5200 gameplay and control form factor in an XEGS clone??? that would've been awesome.

 

I don't think that a "mini 5200', or even a DIY kit in which one can build himself, such as some of the ones we have all seen in decades past right here on the AA forums will ever materialize but I would give my left nut right about now if I can send in my 5200 to have the components in her rebuilt into a smaller form factor (preferably a plastic black box, perhaps 3-D printed or injection-molded) wither with or without a cartridge port, if one with an SD card slot and the Atarimax Ultimate SD multicart internals could be built, that would be awesome!!!

Edited May 24, 2023 by BIGHMW

[+x=usr(1536)]

4 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

Well, it's yet another 5200 vs. XEGS thread

Oh, good.  It's been so long since the last one that we were becoming concerned.

[jerseystyle]

One of these days I’d like to pick up an XEGS.  I still have my game room fantasy floating around in my head haha.

[BIGHMW]

2 minutes ago, jerseystyle said:

One of these days I’d like to pick up an XEGS.  I still have my game room fantasy floating around in my head haha.

Just as long as I can have 5200 controller capability (twin fire buttons/S/P/R cluster/keypad configuration) as well as the standard 9-pin as an option, as the 15-pin is the 5200 connector, that'll do fine, always nice to have options, but, if I had to have either, or, as long as I can utilize 5200 controllers (maybe with a USB interface) with the option of using my Redemption units for digital play, then an emulator will do me fine if it came down to me having to have one, such as @Stephen has been advocating for years now, at least THOSE, could play BOTH 5200 AND XEGS games in one unit, it would be just a controller compatibility preference after that.

[BIGHMW]

Here's a look at the size difference when put up against my Sony SLV-N51 VCR.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by BIGHMW

[baktra]

How big is the actual motherboard of 5200? Could it just be taken and then fitted in a smaller, 3d-printed case?

[Flyindrew]

I have a 5200 and a 130 XE (which is essentially like owning an XEGS). When playing exact titles available for both systems, I much prefer the 5200 and its joystick. I have an Atarimax cart for the XE filled with 5200 games, but its just not the same. Its a shame there isnt a more devoted homebrew market specifically for the XE's because I think the XE is capable of far greater than generally given credit for.

 

[BIGHMW]

4 minutes ago, Flyindrew said:

I have a 5200 and a 130 XE (which is essentially like owning an XEGS). When playing exact titles available for both systems, I much prefer the 5200 and its joystick. I have an Atarimax cart for the XE filled with 5200 games, but its just not the same. Its a shame there isnt a more devoted homebrew market specifically for the XE's because I think the XE is capable of far greater than generally given credit for.

 

Also, 5200 Super Breakout just plays, looks and sounds better than the A8 version, I don't think I can put up with that lame green playfield with the bland colored bricks and dull sound and fx on the A8 version. Also you know that Tempest will never be ported over to the XEGS (at least not by AA), and there are some games I would've loved to have ported to the 5200 but nobody here on AA will do so, and that's why I am forced to put up with having both.

 

And there are just so many games on the XL/XE/XEGS that are too powerful for the 16K RAM the 5200 has on her. Does anyone have any inside scoop on or are there any friends of the late Curt Vendel that might have an idea on his projects for RAM upgrades for the 5200 so we can get most of those XL/XE/XEGS ports done for us???

[+x=usr(1536)]

21 hours ago, baktra said:

How big is the actual motherboard of 5200? Could it just be taken and then fitted in a smaller, 3d-printed case?

Short answer: yep, totally doable.

 

FWIW, everyone talks about how huge the 5200 is.  Yeah, it's big, but most of that bulk comes from two things: the controller storage at the back and the wedge shape.  The perimeter is otherwise pretty close to the PCB:

 

 

And, for external reference, here's a 600XL showing their relative sizes.  Width is pretty much the same:

 

 

Depth (not counting the FujiNet) is a bit over half that of the 5200.  FWIW, my 800XL goes back almost to the controller storage, and the 1200XL covers more or less the whole thing:

 

 

Lastly, here's a height / depth comparison.  The 5200 is definitely taller and deeper, but had it been designed without the relatively steeply-sloped case and controller storage, it really wouldn't have been particularly massive:

 

 

The overall footprint is around that of a 1200XL, but the height and controller storage really make it look gargantuan.  For a (somewhat) more modern comparison, I seem to recall that it's not dissimilar to the PS3.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 5/24/2023 at 11:01 AM, BIGHMW said:

there are some games I would've loved to have ported to the 5200 but nobody here on AA will do so, and that's why I am forced to put up with having both.

FFS, Ray, you're making it sound like someone has a gun to your head.  You've got two systems; count yourself lucky.  There are plenty of other people who would love to have that same 'problem'.

 

If you ever wonder why there's little sympathy for your various predicaments in this regard, it's because when you say things like this it just comes across as entitled whining, not a legitimate complaint.  Nobody owes you (or anyone else, for that matter) ports of games to every system that you own, and you're not gaining support by constantly griping about it like a spoiled child.

[+Stephen]

3 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

so we can get most of those XL/XE/XEGS ports done for us???

Who is "we", and "us"?  That implies plural as in more than one person.  You (singular) are the only one constantly whining about wanting every single one of the multiple thousand computer titles ported to the 5200 for god only knows what reason.

 

On a serious note, it would be asinine to do a RAM upgrade to the 5200.  No existing software would benefit from it, and nobody will magically show up to do the ports.

[MrMaddog]

Um no...because even as an 80's teen I already know I can play XEGS games on my 130XE and not have to buy a separate system, which was already obsolete, to play incompatible carts.

 

But if you still want to play 800 games on your 5200, then get yourself the Atari 800XL adapter:

 

 

See?  You already have one! 😆

[+Stephen]

2 hours ago, MrMaddog said:

Um no...because even as an 80's teen I already know I can play XEGS games on my 130XE and not have to buy a separate system, which was already obsolete, to play incompatible carts.

 

But if you still want to play 800 games on your 5200, then get yourself the Atari 800XL adapter:

 

 

See?  You already have one! 😆

OMFG - I need one of those adapters.  Where can I buy one?  I'll finally be able to use my 5200 again, once I can start playing all the games I have been on the computer for the past 41 years.  It will be amazing to see all this stuff I already can and have.

[BIGHMW]

I'm getting a laugh out of those last two posts, but yes I'm sure there are plenty of Atarians and those here on AA out there who wish that they were in the same predicament that I'm in right now, but FWIW, maybe it IS a good omen to have BOTH systems knowing how superior some games play on the 5200 as opposed to the XL/XE/XEGS in which has far more titles that are too powerful for Big Sexy to handle, so maybe I should consider myself fortunate to have both along with the 7800 and the ColecoVision to go with them, next calendar month I intend to get the 7800 repaired and also get new power supplies for her, the 5200, and ColecoVision, so I don't have to worry about 40-year-old power bricks konking out on me anytime soon. Then also, I will be acquiring the Concerto (7800), AVG Cart (XEGS), and Ultimate SD (ColecoVision) multicarts so that I can FINALLY RELAUNCH THE ATARI REPORT!!! 

[+x=usr(1536)]

4 hours ago, MrMaddog said:

But if you still want to play 800 games on your 5200, then get yourself the Atari 800XL adapter:

Don't tell anyone because it's super-duper-double-dog-top-sekrit, but that's the very first prototype of the 5200 Fujinet.  It also adds SIO support, Rev. C BASIC, a PBI, and bumps the RAM to 64K.  It kinda makes it the XEGS-in-a-5200 that Atari never built.

[Cebus Capucinis]

2 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Don't tell anyone because it's super-duper-double-dog-top-sekrit, but that's the very first prototype of the 5200 Fujinet.  It also adds SIO support, Rev. C BASIC, a PBI, and bumps the RAM to 64K.  It kinda makes it the XEGS-in-a-5200 that Atari never built.

Holy crap, and I'm told it automatically ports all the A8 games to it as well!

[CaptainBreakout]

I had an Atari 800. Sold it to another forum member. UPS thrashed the bananas out of it. Sad story. Moral... Always ship air freight if it's going clear across the US.

 

But anyway... I like the Atari 8 bit and the POKEY chip audio, but I don't like the computer design if I'm going to play a game.  I want to sit back and hold a controller (preferably Bluetooth) on my King Size bed in front of my TCL 56 inch flat screen because I'm in my mid 40's.

 

Dag to the nab it.

 

that's why I sold the Atari 800. Don't want to deal with the computer identity of it. Even tho it has cute little (collectable) carts.

 

if the Atari 400/800 was more like a a 2600 or a 7800... Or better yet... An NES... I'd be all over it. But it was caught in a time where it was trying to be a computer that mostly played games, if you wanted to get down and cryptic with it.

 

The 5200 was a level down... It was an Atari 400 that was trying to be a game console... With the worst console and controller aesthetics ever, plus a massively misguided game library. Ugg. No thanks.

 

if the 5200 had come out with a similar console sleekness to the 7800, and a controller like an NES, pokey audio, plus lots of muticarts based on the Atari 800 games, I'd have been ALL IN.

[+x=usr(1536)]

10 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

The 5200 was a level down... It was an Atari 400 that was trying to be a game console...

You may want to check into that, because it's the other way around: the 400 and 800 are derived from the hardware that was originally intended to be the 5200, which was eventually released three years after the computers.

10 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

if the 5200 had come out with a similar console sleekness to the 7800, and a controller like an NES, pokey audio,

Confused a bit by this - are you enumerating must-haves?  The 5200 definitely had a POKEY in it.

10 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

plus lots of muticarts based on the Atari 800 games, I'd have been ALL IN.

Multicarts weren't really a thing during the 5200's lifetime.  For that matter, even the 2600 only had a handful of retail and pirate multicarts floating around.

[Cebus Capucinis]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Confused a bit by this - are you enumerating must-haves?  The 5200 definitely had a POKEY in it.

If it doesn't have it, someone will put a gun to my head and FORCE me to own both. WOE IS ME

[CaptainBreakout]

Heh... Mostly I was ranting. I like odd consoles, I have the CD-i and Channel F... The list goes on... But I just can't justify owning a 5200. That's just me personally.

 

I think I was reminding myself of that. Because there's a part of my collector side that wants to own one "just because".  Me and him fight.

 

Oh yeah, and I know it's got a pokey. I like the pokey! That's a serious plus to the system that my collector side really likes to point to and jump around about.

[+x=usr(1536)]

37 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said:

I have the CD-i

Speaking as the ex-owner of a CD-i from when they were first released...  I'm sorry 

37 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said:

I think I was reminding myself of that. Because there's a part of my collector side that wants to own one "just because".  Me and him fight.

Understood.  I had to give my collector side a serious beatdown several years ago, and it's one that it still won't look me in the eye because of it.

[CaptainBreakout]

14 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Speaking as the ex-owner of a CD-i from when they were first released...  I'm sorry 

 

HAHAHA!  CD-i ... it hurts so bad... give me more!

 

Honestly tho, me and my kids place Christmas Crisis on this thing every year, and that accounts for about 95% of when this thing is powered on.

 

15 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Understood.  I had to give my collector side a serious beatdown several years ago, and it's one that it still won't look me in the eye because of it.

HAHAHAHA!!!  Now I'm curious!  What's the story there?

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

6 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said:

HAHAHAHA!!!  Now I'm curious!  What's the story there?

The short version is an apartment plus three climate-controlled storage units (all in Los Angeles) crammed with arcade games, computers, books, software, etc.

 

The longer version is that if I wanted to play an arcade game, more often than not it meant wheeling one out of the apartment (thank God that place had an elevator; the apartment was on the 3rd floor), taking it over to the storage unit, digging out the one that I wanted, putting the original game into the storage unit, then driving the other one back.  I'd play it maybe a dozen times, then decide that I wanted to play something else and the cycle would repeat.  Had around 80 games at this point; the total of what I owned at one time or another was probably in the low 100s.

 

Every closet in the unit was packed with old computers.  I'd reserved one for clothes and thankfully had dressers to supplement that with, but I'd take anything from anyone at any time.  Need a dozen SGI Indys?  Got 'em.  Kaypro 2?  Working, or parts machines?  Century CVS system PCBs?  You bet.  NeXT cubes and slabs aplenty?  Positively swimming in them.

 

When I realised that I was spending more time having a collection than actually enjoying it was when I decided to just start letting stuff go.  Took a couple or three years, but I was able to substantially whittle it down to just a few items that actually had significance for me.  One crucial part of that was learning to care less about the monetary value I had placed on some things: having the world's nicest Cube Quest cabinet was cool, but ultimately not an accomplishment.  It was just owning stuff when it came down to it, and while I had some good memories of playing that game as a kid, they weren't memories that really shaped the person that I became later in life.

[frogstar_robot]

Just spitballing here but it may be possible to make an interface to connect 5200 controllers to an A8.  A port to the A8 then "only" has to account for the different memory map and means of accessing the controller.  The 5200 titles with proportional control could be brought over with this aspect of their play intact.  In general, 5200 -> A8 seems easier than A8 -> 5200.  There are any number of A8 titles that are never coming to the 5200.  It's basically a reworked Atari 400 stuck with 16K.

 

Of course, this too is pie in the sky that would need a lot of, ahem!, Hard Work.

[jerseystyle]

5 hours ago, frogstar_robot said:

 

 

Of course, this too is pie in the sky that would need a lot of, ahem!, Hard Work.

He answers the call!

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by jerseystyle