And another question

[Mendon]

Just curious... did sales of the 7800 die rather quickly? Reason I ask is because I was looking at eBay auctions and it seems the vast majority of them have many, many more 2600 games rather than 7800 games. I saw auction after auction that said something like "Complete 7800 System w/15 Games" and when you look at the auction its like 2 or 3 7800 games and the rest 2600.

 

Its almost like people bought the 7800, got a couple games and then went right over to the NES without doing anything else with the 7800.

 

As always, just curious for opinions.

 

Mendon

[DracIsBack]

Or: In 1987, 2600 titles were dirt cheap and everyone seemed to have one sitting around. 7800 owners like me were picking them up for a song back then - just to have them.

[+davidcalgary29]

I simply don't recall seeing many 7800 games for sale in brick-and-mortar stores. I did not have a 7800 when it was first introduced, but recall reading about most of the new releases in "The Atarian" and such. I never saw any of the '89-'90 releases for sale in stores anywhere in Canada.

 

I do remember that most computer stores in Southern Ontario in the late '80s did not stock video games for dedicated consoles, and "Toys 'R Us" and "K Mart" limited their 7800 stock to just the older titles. Perhaps they thought that "Ms. Pac-Man" would be more familiar to buyers than "Alien Brigade", and therefore be a bigger seller.

[bcprs1]

A lot of the problem, especially in the northeast, was that you could not find many 7800 games. I think most stores only carried about 15-20 different of the older titles. It was VERY rare to find anything else.

I can remember going to Washington DC around 1989 and going into a Kay-Bee there. They had tons of the newer 7800 games that I never knew existed. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to buy any of them at the time.

 

Also, i think many people bought the 7800 because it played the 2600 games. If their old 2600 broke, they bought the 7800 instead of a new 2600.

[DracIsBack]

I simply don't recall seeing many 7800 games for sale in brick-and-mortar stores. I did not have a 7800 when it was first introduced, but recall reading about most of the new releases in "The Atarian" and such. I never saw any of the '89-'90 releases for sale in stores anywhere in Canada.

 

I do remember that most computer stores in Southern Ontario in the late '80s did not stock video games for dedicated consoles, and "Toys 'R Us" and "K Mart" limited their 7800 stock to just the older titles. Perhaps they thought that "Ms. Pac-Man" would be more familiar to buyers than "Alien Brigade", and therefore be a bigger seller.

 

Atari Canada wasn't really into selling any consoles including the 7800. I remember calling them asking about games I saw in Atari magazines, on the 7800 box etc and they had no clue.

 

IIRC, they never carried newer games at all. I think they never got beyond DARK CHAMBERS, TOWER TOPPLER or CROSSBOW.

[Classic Pac]

I actually bought my first 7800 through Sears, right from the catalog. The store had a few titles but not many, bought most through same catalog.

It is also when I found out what Rampage 7800 looked like.

[Mendon]

Reading your posts reminds me of my experience in buying a 7800 and maybe thats why so many eBay 7800 auctions have a bigger ratio of 2600 games in them compared to 7800 games.

 

I can't remember how much I paid for my first 7800 ($59.99 seems to be the price I recall but I could be wrong) but I know I got it from Toys R Us, which was the only store I had seen them at. And I also remember that they didn't even have one in the glass display case in the video game section so you could see what the system looked like. They were piled up on an upper shelf (I was lucky to have spotted them) and you had to fetch an employee with a ladder to get one down for you. They didn't have a very good selection of games for it either, if I remember correctly; maybe half a dozen.

 

If the system wasn't available in very many stores and if it was treated the way that Toys R Us treated mine when I bought it, it was no wonder that there weren't many sales. No one could find it or the games.

 

Mendon