7800 Pro Gamer

I know the 5200 has it's fans, but I think your on the right track about skipping it and releasing the 7800.  Of course by the time the 7800 came out Atari was a completely different company than it had been. I wish the 7800 could've reached it's full potential.  

Awesome story. I wish I remembered getting my 7800 but according to my mom she got it in 1986 because she knew Atari as a brand. Then a year or two later she got the NES and never looked back. 

If your here at this website and more specifically on this forum and post, then you probably appreciate Atari and their consoles.  One thing I always find interesting is where this appreciation started. Some have fond childhood memories, some had a curiosity about Atari, and for others it was just a gradual evolution of their love for video games. 
The 7800 holds a special place for me and here's why. I don't remember getting the console, I don't remember getting a lot of games, for me the 7800 was always "just there".  The basement was our play room and we had our Legos, tinker toys, ninja turtles and he man's, etc in that area.  But there was also an old console TV and an Atari 7800 hooked to it. 
The NES was upstairs and we were only allowed to play it when dad wasn't home or on the rare occasion that we would play it as a family.  My father worked long and hard, and it was just accepted that when he got home, he wanted to watch TV and relax. That meant no Nintendo. 
So needless to say, the 7800 got a lot of use.  Our favorites were asteroids, donkey Kong, donkey Kong Jr, Mario bros, rampage, space invaders, pitfall, and keystone kapers. We had tons of 2600 games but we all knew the 7800 games were special.  To round out our 7800 games we had centipede, pole position 2, Ms pac man, food fight, and eventually double dragon. 
The late nights in the basement with the only illumination being the glow of the crt; me and my sister playing 2 player Mario bros or maybe rampage are great memories. I have great memories with the NES and other consoles too, but the 7800 was different. It was always our console. 
At some point the console got packed away, the TV was thrown out, and the purpose of the room changed. As all things do, the house and the use of it evolved as we grew older. I ended up pulling the 7800 out somewhere in the mid 2000s and had some fun with it for about a week. It got packed and put away again. 
Then, last year, I got it back out just by chance while looking for something else.  I got a crt and set up a little retro gaming area for myself and the family, and the 7800 is the center piece. The kids love Ms pac man, crossbow (one of the many games I purchased in the last year) and so much more. Mom and dad, my sister and her family, and a few friends have come over and enjoyed playing it with me as well. It's a fantastic memory and a console that means so much more than video games to me. It reminds me of simpler times, of late nights and early mornings. It's a part of my life that continues to bring my family together, and I'll cherish always. 
So how did you find out about the 7800?  I don't expect stories like mine, but I'm interested to know. Thanks for your time everybody. 

I got my first A7800 console on Christmas of 1987. I had Xevious and, of course, Pole Position II. Those were my first games for that console. I was upset because I thought I didn't get it for that year. Sure enough, my Dad hid it on me. Being the 13-year-old I was, I became overjoyed when it was revealed and forgot my anger. I even hugged the box. I think I still have that system to this very day. It still works. I have two A7800s now, and almost all the retail games for the console. I bought one at the Savers thrift store for under $10.00 then. My favorite game as a kid for the A7800 was Food Fight. I can easily score over 8,000,000 points and make it to Level 125. It stays that level after that forever once you get high enough. Fun system. Thanks for letting me share. :O)
NOTE: I had known about the A7800 since about 1984 or 1985. I read about it in a computer magazine I saw lying around.

Thank you @Silver Back! I'm glad I still have it after so many years. Wish I had covered more games back in the day. It's a nice glimpse into my life as a classic gamer when there was no internet and I thought I was the only person on earth doing this.
 
Absolutely! GREAT idea!! 

It's so cool that you kept those.  They were a fun read and I'd be interested in an updated version.
I've writing reviews for my old 7800 games and planned on making a website around them myself although I don't I'll ever actually do it. But if you need contributors I'd be glad to submit bits and pieces 🙂

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I don't think there's any doubt that a boy and his blob and any sequels would've done fantastic by 7800 standards.  The 7800 desperately needed platformers and adventure games as that's what was really selling at the time. 
I grew up with the 7800 and I loved it, but when my friends came over they always seems disappointed that I didn't have any super Mario or MegaMan style games for it. Of course a few adventure games and platformers existed but I didn't have them. 
In short, yes it would've done excellent, but excellent on the 7800 is still probably worse than mediocre on the NES as far as profits go. 

I got these same labels and they are fantastic!  I'm no longer going for a complete Jaguar collection but when I was considering it these also acted like a nice checklist. The quality is fantastic and highly recommended, although I need some new ones for meteroite. 

Waiting to hear back from v61 on this, and I'm in! I might just try ordering by phone today :).

I ordered mine!  I can't wait, it looks fantastic!