DegasElite

I think that the A7800 version of Commando outdoes the NES version. It is more like the arcade version than Nintendo's version. Also, the Nintendo version added underground bunkers to it to rescue POWs. I think that if you are going to make a game close to the arcade, stick to the original layout of the original game. Nintendo's version is just a different game. Atari tried to make their conversions like the arcade counterparts. I can see why Crystal Castles for the A2600 is different, though. It was due to the limitations at the time. But, the XEGS version looks more like the original translation. I like arcade conversions that try to reproduce the arcade versions.

Yes...both this and the VCS adapter are basically separate consoles inside a small box with only the power from the 5200 being used to run them. The video was still being generated from the onboard TIA inside the VCS adapter and I'm sure the same for the 7800 prototype as well. This is also why all the current AV mods for the 5200 kill the ability to use these adapters. The AV mods do NOT take into account the video signals from the VCS adapter and so you end up with a blank screen when trying to use one. I wonder how much the VCS adapter was original BITD. Be curious to know the cost of it vs just getting a 2600 you know? Because you still had to plug 2600 sticks to it and it didn't have a B/W - COLOR switch so some games wouldn't have been as playable through the adapter.
 

There's a lot of memories suddenly flashing back.  I loved that thing.  Took it to school with me everyday.  Played it during study hall.  Teacher asked me once why I wasn't studying.  He he.  I replied that I was studying; I was studying how to put those Tetris pieces together.  That machine is on my hunt down list.  Come to think of it I don't know what happened to my old Game Boy.

Typical for Atari to get overlooked for their innovations in favor of other companies. Don't forget that video games began with the NES after all. 

Console5.com has parts for various game systems. If you need to, they can get you parts for the motherboard for the Game Boy. I am sure that they still have parts for the original version. They especially serve the classic gaming community.

Oh. I didn't see that it worked. Sorry. Glad it did. :O)

That is really cool! Thanks, Gianna, for posting this. I never knew that they existed. :O)

They made the 2600 adapter for the 5200, so they were going to do the same for the 7800. I don't think they wanted 5200 owners to feel left out when the system was canceled so soon! 😣

Is the XEGS like a 65XE or like a 130XE in CPU architecture? I have one, but I was curious. I am amazed by it, though. You can use it as a game system and computer at the same time. It certainly is an interesting piece of 1980s video gaming technology.

Did you ever get the resistor replaced? Because, if that is the case, it could have been easily repaired. Anyway, do you still have that particular A5200 system?

Yeah. I would bet that it would. For the system that it was, I thought it was pretty good. I had a CV with over twenty games at one time. I traded it in so I could go strictly Atari in my collection. It never failed me. I also had the A2600 add-on for it. Pretty fun and very expandable. However, I never had an ADAM computer. I think that the ADAM would have been cool if I had Dragon's Lair with it, but I eventually got that game for the Jaguar CD. I was able to beat it before, but I need to practice at it again to do that. Anyway, both versions of the game were good, and the ADAM version blew everything else away at the time. Even though I have never played that version, I have seen screenshots of it. It looked pretty good.

I had never heard that one until I read your post, Gianna. That would have been interesting, to say the least. I don't know how feasible it would be to do it, but it's interesting anyway.

No.  While I was getting the replacement mom's boyfriend at the time seen my Atari and tossed it in the trash on a rainy day no less.  He didn't know I was attempting to repair it.  So, no, its long gone.  But all the controllers were still functioning like new when that happened.  I may have played it everyday but I didn't let it get dirty.  I babied that thing.

I agree.
I remember when the Game Boy Advance SP was the coolest thing. I had the regular Game Boy Advance, it was no where as cool and I remember the screen was not back lit so seeing it was difficult. I bought a Switch around Christmas and I love it. It feels like a more modern DS minus the double screen mixed with the Wii.  I prefer playing it connected to the tv but I love that it is portable also. Not long ago I discovered two Nintendo downloads that include NES and Super NES games. Although it's not the same as playing them on the original consoles, they've been fun and I've discovered some I've never heard of. 

The Video Game Critic has a great new article about the very best console innovations.  Atari makes the list three times.  I think it's very well done.
https://videogamecritic.com/extras/info/gooddesign.htm
 

I had never heard that one until I read your post, Gianna. That would have been interesting, to say the least. I don't know how feasible it would be to do it, but it's interesting anyway.

Yeah. I would bet that it would. For the system that it was, I thought it was pretty good. I had a CV with over twenty games at one time. I traded it in so I could go strictly Atari in my collection. It never failed me. I also had the A2600 add-on for it. Pretty fun and very expandable. However, I never had an ADAM computer. I think that the ADAM would have been cool if I had Dragon's Lair with it, but I eventually got that game for the Jaguar CD. I was able to beat it before, but I need to practice at it again to do that. Anyway, both versions of the game were good, and the ADAM version blew everything else away at the time. Even though I have never played that version, I have seen screenshots of it. It looked pretty good.

Did you ever get the resistor replaced? Because, if that is the case, it could have been easily repaired. Anyway, do you still have that particular A5200 system?

Perhaps. Innovation went out the window with future CEOs of Atari because they cut corners to save money. Only, those things that they cut out really would have made the computers and game systems that much more innovative. Greed in the interim drove these people. It blinded them to the fact that these games would have been better if they were invested in.

Is the XEGS like a 65XE or like a 130XE in CPU architecture? I have one, but I was curious. I am amazed by it, though. You can use it as a game system and computer at the same time. It certainly is an interesting piece of 1980s video gaming technology.

That's true. It has all of the innards of that particular computer.

I think that the A5200 could have been a better design, but a lot of games still play well on there. I like Super Breakout and Space Dungeon, for instance. Especially Space Dungeon, since the right joystick fires when you move it in the firing direction. It's like Robotron: 2084, in that respect. So, some games still play OK on there. Gyruss, however, could play better. The fire button operates too slow on that game. But, I have heard about someone making new controllers for the A5200 that work better. More responsive. I saw it on YouTube once. I don't have the link to that video at this moment, but there are experiments being conducted right now, leading to a better controller. But, Gianna, you're right. Eighteen months is too short a time for any game system. The A2600 lasted almost fifteen years, for crying out loud! :O)

The 5200 is my top favorite game system of all time.  After years of asking Mom for an Atari when I was a kid the 5200 was what I woke up to one Christmas morning.  I spent hours on Super Breakout before Mom woke up (I was an only child so...yea...it was all mine I tell you...MINE!!  Bwaahaaahaha!!)  Oh...excuse me.  Where was I?  I probably spent a good 30 minutes learning the system and controller before I paid attention to the game itself.  I didn't care that it was Super Breakout, it was an Atari.  That's all I cared about.  There was an Atari in my living room ready to be played.  That was in 1982.  I was 8.  That machine became my best friend almost instantly.  
1983 I seen a lot of arcade favorites make into our home but there were some I wanted that I either never found, our area never got, or I simply missed them.  Gyruss being one of them.  Mom loved Centipede...that was her game.  Mine was Pole Position and Vanguard.  Those were my two favorites.  I liked Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and others but had played them soo much at the arcades that by the time I got home I wanted to play something different.  
My 5200 stayed with me for almost 7 years.  I have another one now that is still going strong and still gets played regularly.  The controller is doing everything it can to hang in there but, sadly, has not aged as well as the machine.  My last game for the 5200 was in 1985.  That's when I got Moon Patrol and when I realized Atari stuff disappeared off store shelves practically overnight.
Super Breakout was the only official game to support all four controller ports in a four-player game that I am aware of.  Space Dungeon is exclusive to the 5200 and was not officially released on any other console.  The same for Countermeasure.  The 5200 does have a few exclusives that were fun to play and the system does bring home the arcade experience.  There were some really killer games in the works for the 5200 that appeared complete but were finished at a time when Atari was gearing up for the 7800 release and a change of ownership.  We all know the rest of that story.  
Look up Super Pac-Man on the 5200 sometime on Youtube.  That was one of the prototypes that were completed.  Also look up Millipede and Jr. Pac-Man 5200 prototypes while you are there.  Those were done on the 5200, also. 
Was it a bad system?  Nope.  Not if what I had lasted as long as did.  The controllers were still working well when the system blew a resistor for some reason. 
Are games on the 5200 identical to what the A8 got and vise versa?  Not all of them.  Pac-Man on the 5200 is completely different than the Pac-Man on the 400/800.  The ghost AI is more arcade accurate on the 5200 version and the 5200 version has the intermissions; the 400/800 version ghosts are not arcade accurate and lacks the intermissions completely.  While it would be easier to play the game on the 400/800 using a standard 2600 joystick the 5200 version is the one that is closer to the arcade.  Centipede and Tempest (released later) actually use the sounds directly from the arcades since those arcades also used POKEY for the sounds.  A no brainer.  
RickR already answered but it's basically a stripped down 65XE.  It's probably the only console/computer hybrid that actually worked right.  If only it's technology hadn't aged and Atari supported it better it might have been more successful.  As it is the XEGS is a great little console.  If one is willing to invest in it the XEGS is a great little computer.  And as odd as the cartridge slot is it is easy to get use to. The XEGS is where I first learned Atari BASIC.  I put a lot of hours in learning how to program it. I also put a lot of hours in Racing Destruction Set from EA.  I played that one often.  

Is the XEGS like a 65XE or like a 130XE in CPU architecture? I have one, but I was curious. I am amazed by it, though. You can use it as a game system and computer at the same time. It certainly is an interesting piece of 1980s video gaming technology.

I have known Lance since 1995. He has never steered me wrong. Good guy, that Lance. :O)