Did the atari 5200 became obsolete after the atari xe or are there some exclusives on each of those systems??

[johannesmutlu]

Since the atari 5200 was based on the atari 800 system while the atari xe is 99% compatible with atari 400 & 800 games, it does makes me wonder, did the atari xe made the atari 5200 became fully obsolete or are their some exclusives on the atari 5200 wich are not on the atari xe and vice versa???

i ask this because eventrough atari decided to not release mariobros for the atari 400 & 800 but they did decided to released mariobros on the 5200 to make it more attractive to buy a 5200,because if atari did released mariobros for the atari 400,then the 5200 might have become pretty much obsolete,  but since an updated version of mariobros did came out for the atari xe, it makes me wonder,does the atari 5200 became fully obsolete or are there some exclusives on the 5200 that didn’t came out on the atari xe or atari 400???

for what i do know is that both the atari 400 and atari xe are not obsolete from each eacher because not each game are compatible with each other,

another question what does makes me wonder, why didn’t atari released the atari xe in 1982 and avoid the 5200 altogether instead?? Because had they do that i guess that then the system would,ve became more successful due it’s backwards compatibility with atari 400 & 800 games, BUT my theory is that those chipsets couldn’t be made smaller back in 1982 as opposed to 1986 and atari may could,ve been sewed by other companies for cheating by turning their home computer into a game console,

also i found it sad that atari didn’t released the atari 5200 jr and instead just hastingly came up with a atari 7800,speaking about the atari 7800 ,has nobody ever wondered why on earth both donkeykong and mariobros on the less powerful atari xe are much better then those average atari 7800 ports of it??? because those 7800 ports feel more like nes versions of it,pretty strange huh isn’t it???

[roots.genoa]

 

[vintage35]

27 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

 

Made me think of the Stephen Hawking intro part of Keep Talking.  

[zzip]

5200 became obsolete because Atari discontinued it in early 84 when they announced the 7800, that was before the new Atari Corp dreamed up XE line or the XEGS.   

[hwrd]

My understanding was the 7800 was a lower cost system to make.

The 5200 was a comparatively expensive machine to make, so that would help profitability.

 

There was supposed to be a 5200 to 7800 adapter for 5200 owners.

That would have been a good gesture to 5200 buyers.

 

from Wikipedia:

"On May 21, 1984, during a press conference at which the Atari 7800 was introduced,

company executives revealed that the 5200 had been discontinued after less than two years on the market.^[5]

Total sales of the 5200 were reportedly in excess of 1 million units,^[1] far short of its predecessor's sales of over 30 million. "

 

That was well in advance of the 1985 XE announcement, and years before the XEGS (specifically games targeted marketing system).

 

The 5200 was obsoleted (discontinued) by it's own financial viability, not the XE's or 7800.

The newer introductions were supposed to be solutions.

[hwrd]

7 minutes ago, zzip said:

5200 became obsolete because Atari discontinued it in early 84 when they announced the 7800, that was before the new Atari Corp dreamed up XE line or the XEGS.   

 

I type slow, and am too wordy.  🤪

[johannesmutlu]

6 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

 

Ahahaha i swear to god this was the best trick you did, not per se on me alone but in general, that was pretty cool how you translated my own text into speech (whether trough google or other text to speech tools) and then upload it on both youtube and here, well i wonder how much votes or dislikes that video will get, it can be considered to be a fiunny joke that way as well,

But still,,, let’s assume that what if the atari 5200 is obsolete, meaning that every game on it is also on the atari 400/800 or atari xegs system, then you don’t need an atari 5200 system at all, the only thing the atari 5200 does have over both the atari 400 and atari xe systems is that it does have analogue directional input but that’s it🤣

[johannesmutlu]

6 hours ago, vintage35 said:

Made me think of the Stephen Hawking intro part of Keep Talking.  

That was actually pretty funny, it’s like feeding somebody with his own shit,

but in all seriousness, if i could convert all my text from this site into speech and then combine a video to it being related to it,maybe trough ai deepfakes,but that would be cool😁

[www.atarimania.com]

God... No wonder the 5200 gets ridiculed...

[space_dungeon]

14 hours ago, johannesmutlu said:

"did the atari xe made the atari 5200 became fully obsolete or are their some exclusives on the atari 5200 wich are not on the atari xe and vice versa???"

 

 

The Atari XE computer did not make the Atari 5200 obsolete. 

 

The Atari 5200 was released in 1982 and discontinued in 1984.

 

The Atari XE line was released in 1985. 

 

That sentence....smh. 

[+MrFish]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:29 AM, johannesmutlu said:

atari may could,ve been sewed by other companies for cheating by turning their home computer into a game console,

Actually, it was more the habit in the 80's to employ crocheting and knitting against cheating companies that turned their computers into game consoles. Sewing didn't become so fashionable in this regard until the mid-90's.

 

[www.atarimania.com]

I'll refrain from saying this topic belongs in the sewer.

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, www.atarimania.com said:

I'll refrain from saying this topic belongs in the sewer.

Why have I the feeling it's your first topic from Johannes Mutlu? 😅

[pjedavison]

To actually answer the original question (I'm going to go ahead and assume I'm missing some backstory here, judging by others' reactions, and take it at face value), the only 5200 exclusives I'm aware of are Countermeasure, the 5200's versions of Centipede and Qix (the A8 versions are different), Space Dungeon and Xari Arena. Even then, pretty sure most (if not all) of them have been ported to A8 by this point, so really the only reason to play with a 5200 is a masochistic curiosity as to whether that controller really is as bad as everyone says it is.

[zzip]

4 hours ago, MrFish said:

Actually, it was more the habit in the 80's to employ crocheting and knitting against cheating companies that turned their computers into game console.

And don't forget 'darning'!    If another company wronged you, your lawyers would write them an intimidating letter that said "Darn You!"   

 

Or so I've heard

[www.atarimania.com]

14 minutes ago, pjedavison said:

To actually answer the original question (I'm going to go ahead and assume I'm missing some backstory here, judging by others' reactions, and take it at face value), the only 5200 exclusives I'm aware of are Countermeasure, the 5200's versions of Centipede and Qix (the A8 versions are different), Space Dungeon and Xari Arena. Even then, pretty sure most (if not all) of them have been ported to A8 by this point, so really the only reason to play with a 5200 is a masochistic curiosity as to whether that controller really is as bad as everyone says it is.

Yeah, I wonder who would honestly care about the so-called exclusive games. Either 8-bit users got them back in the day or they were converted recently. They were programmed on the computer line anyway... The Mean Hamster titles are barely type-in quality and, although I feel like prostituting myself for saying this, Video 61's Tempest Xtreem massacres the console version in all possible ways. Tempest on the 5200 may have fine playability but is plain horrible to look at so no thank you...

 

That may be sad but the 5200 is just a bastard child, always was, still is. The only reason third-party publishers supported it is because it was dead easy to convert games from the computers. As long as some 5200 "ambassadors" promote it for what it isn't, it will be laughed at by the mainstream public.

[SuperZapperRecharge]

5 hours ago, www.atarimania.com said:

That may be sad but the 5200 is just a bastard child, always was, still is. The only reason third-party publishers supported it is because it was dead easy to convert games from the computers. As long as some 5200 "ambassadors" promote it for what it isn't, it will be laughed at by the mainstream public.

I would argue after the 5200 release the computer line benifitted because games were developed for the 5200 then it was easy to port them to the computer line. Look at the release dates of cartridges after January of 1983. Most games were released first on the 5200 then the home computers. I like both the 5200 and the computer line.

 

If it wasn't for the 5200 the home computer line would not have as many game cartridges developed for it.

[www.atarimania.com]

No offense but that's quite an absurd statement.

[zzip]

On 3/26/2024 at 9:34 AM, hwrd said:

from Wikipedia:

"On May 21, 1984, during a press conference at which the Atari 7800 was introduced,

company executives revealed that the 5200 had been discontinued after less than two years on the market.^[5]

Total sales of the 5200 were reportedly in excess of 1 million units,^[1] far short of its predecessor's sales of over 30 million. "

That's a weird comparison from Wikipedia,  comparing 2600 lifetime sales to 5200s first year sales.   I wonder what the first year sales of the 2600 were?  It seemed like it only rocketed to popularity after 1980 when Space Invaders came out.   That was after it had been on the market for what, 3 or 4 years already?   It was like Atari didn't understand that games sold consoles,  not the tech or backwards compatibility.    The 7800 wouldn't have solved the game problem since many of it's planned 1984 titles were rehashes of 1982 games.

[+x=usr(1536)]

The important thing is that every 5200 game ever released is ported to the A8 and vice-versa.  Also, all 5200-specific titles should have one-to-one PAL conversions.

[hwrd]

13 hours ago, zzip said:

That's a weird comparison from Wikipedia,  comparing 2600 lifetime sales to 5200s first year sales.   I wonder what the first year sales of the 2600 were?  It seemed like it only rocketed to popularity after 1980 when Space Invaders came out.   That was after it had been on the market for what, 3 or 4 years already?   It was like Atari didn't understand that games sold consoles,  not the tech or backwards compatibility.    The 7800 wouldn't have solved the game problem since many of it's planned 1984 titles were rehashes of 1982 games.

 

The little  ^[1]  in the quote notes the reference, which was

 

By the looks (there is a paywall; I could not see the full article), the Washington Post article is noting rough estimate of the sales of the 5200 upon the discontinuation announcement.  Discontinuation totals would be roughly lifetime sales, especially given they say "reportedly", not any exact figure.  I am guessing that as of May '85, the 2600 sold 12-15 million?  I honestly don't know.

 

In May '84. the Atari 2600 was closer to the end of its seventh year of sales.

 

[hwrd]

14 hours ago, zzip said:

That was after it had been on the market for what, 3 or 4 years already?

I misinterpreted your sentence, sorry.

 

Yeah, I've always understood that Space Invaders vaulted the 2600 into big success.

[UnRedeemed]

Interpreting the issue as whether the 5200 is currently obsolete, as in no reason left to own/use one, due simply to the existence of the computer models mentioned and overlap of games, the answer is no -- even were every legacy game duplicated among the systems.  Here are only 10 of the reasons (chosen randomly from at least 5,200 excellent ones):

 

10) The 5200’s CX52 is not just the coolest stick controller ever released – it connects you to analog games like a pallid xegs cx40 never could.  Super Breakout for instance was always merely ahh-ight for me with paddles on the 2600.  With the CX52 it becomes a Zen epiphany.  If I suddenly have fun playing what I thought was nothing but a tired old title for pong lovers who hate walls, can I hear the 5200 proclaim its non-obsolescence?  Yes!

 

9) Even if you ported Space Dungeon to those other platforms, you’d still need two sticks snuggled into a sweet coupler to play it right.

 

Homebrews designed specifically for the 5200.  This opens up an entire universe of possibilities, including more innovative games designed around the 5200’s og controllers, including the...

 

7) CX53!

 

6) The sculpture known as the 5200 console is a freaking work of art.  One can spend hours contemplating its magnificence, parked on a shelf like some 1982 Atari Countach.  Hell it’s well known that Lamborghini added a hint of umber to its black paint after the 5200’s release in an adorable effort to emulate the true pinnacle of exotic sensuality.  And that they considered incorporating an actual 5200 into the front portion of the hoods of special edition cars but were unable to secure permission from Atari.  It is easy to see why Atari would not want the image of its flagship cheapened.  The 5200’s angles are confident and athletically balanced without lapsing into either a lazy simplicity or a garish, unnecessary complexity like this sentence might be at risk of doing if it does not end now before alluding to the Italians’ understanding that everything is mere emulation which does not constitute the authentic essence embodied by the 5200.  Oh yeah and it has a literal trunk made to fit something better than golf clubs.  

 

5)  Do not get me started on the robustness, tactile confidence, or wall display qualities of the carts....    

 

4)  The rf signal flowing through a healthy 5200 imbues a richness to the display that makes hdmi jacks wither in despair and eventually fall out.  Good riddance to 4k rubbish.    

 

3)  Obsolete?  Maybe your momma is obsolete.  (Did she never experience a 5200, that she could raise a being capable of posing such a query as yours?)  

 

2)  Did Rosie Ruiz make distance running obsolete?  Did Flintstones vitamins make vegetables obsolete?  Perhaps more to the point, was the work of Elias Garcia Martinez rendered obsolete by Cecilia Gimenez?  

 

1)  The 5200 is the video game console equivalent of a Supreme Being.  

 

For these reasons and many more, I hope the answer is apparent.  For these reasons and many more, there remains something inherently satisfying about having, beholding, caressing, being seduced by – and yes, playing on – a real 5200.  For these reasons and many more, it is absolutely NOT obsolete. 
  
Anyways, I promise to elaborate on all of this in my future book on the 5200, which will be 520.0 pages long, limited to 5,200 hardcover copies, and retail for 52.00. Currently I am well on track to meet the release deadline (which of course is the year 5200).  In the meantime, I am even considering buying a 5200.  Just need to get it cheaply enough and find room for it next to my MiSTers etc.

[CPUWIZ]

6 minutes ago, UnRedeemed said:

 In the meantime, I am even considering buying a 5200.

🤯

[BassGuitari]