Atari 5200 Guy

THIS is what Atari and Atari I/O are all about. THIS is why I enjoy coming here...to see friends accomplish something they never did before. And the excitement in those words...is what video games are all about. Heartfelt fun at the core. Awesome job, @HDN. As long as there are generations after us that can find this same amount of enjoyment out of these games that we are struggling to preserve in real form then Atari games will live on to challenge and excite many generations to come. I really hope someone can say they have an Atari and games over 100 years old that still works. I might not get to live to see that day but ... Maybe I can take my 2600 Jr with me ... Any who I hope who does get these collections we work on can appreciate them as much as we do.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought the idea of starting or investing in/buying a company was to help it grow, be the best that it could be, do things that no one else has done before that might benefit society. Not do everything you can to destroy it or erase it from existence. Knowing what I know now I bet someone like me could have made an agreement with WB to where someone like myself could have owned Atari. What would have been the difference? Simple...I love video games! Atari has always been since it's beginnings a video game company. Yes, they made computers, too, before Jack got his grubby little hands on Atari but video games were the sole reason for those computers being made. Evidence points to those computers being made to replace the 2600 as a game console but instead became the 400/800 computers. Atari was a video game company. It was not what Jack thought it was.

Yep. In May '82.

Great Scott! Seen the Delorean... Yep, had to do it. It is any wonder these theme parks are managing to stay afloat at all. Spending that money on nothing ... Not good. Been to Florida one time to visit Sea World and then Disney. But that was before Epcot was finished.

I'm working on that one now but I'm a bit confused on the scoring. Do the scores to get the patches include refueling or no refueling? Also, I have Space Shuttle instructions and they say 5th dock with satellite (you have 4) and have 4,500 fuel left AFTER landing you get the first badge. But also says if you can get that satellite to dock a 6th time and have 7,500 fuel remaining you get the second badge. It doesn't mention having to land for the 6th capture. I wonder if you had to land. Does anyone know?

Welcome aboard, James! Nice to have a new member.

I got ONE! Put me down for Megamania, please. And send me a patch 😉 Just kidding. I envy you guys that actually got patches from Activision when they were doing them. Curse you, 5200. I got 69,700 pts. Best run I've had on that game yet. Oh yea...I've been trying them ALL! I'm trying some I have never done and I've got a few others out to try to improve my previous score. Yep...all set for Labor Day. And there's Mt. Dew in plenty.

You had to go there? Mom played this tape in the ground so much she had to buy another tape. Still, I have to admit that now, after decades of not hearing it, I can see why Mom listened to him so much. The music is sort of catchy.

I use Stella so no slowdowns and my PC is a beast so ... Yea. Thanks to the donor for that. I use a wired 360 controller on my PC as well. I didn't notice any lag. I blame my mind set on that one. I mean...I was playing on a PC, not a real Atari. Whooptydo. Once I got on the 2600, even with the Europad controller, my mind set changed. I concentrated more on the game. It became more fun being on the actual hardware. I mean...it's an Atari almost as old as me and we are both aging but still able to enjoy a good game together. These old machines are hanging in there far better than most modern systems. That alone is impressive to me. Nothing will ever be the same as the real deal to me. Absolutely nothing. I always smile when I see these Atari machines just sitting there. These are my children ready to play at any given moment. So, yes, Atari stuff will always be special to me. Maybe that is what made the difference. On a side note my oldest nephew and me played Indy 500, Air*Sea, Combat, and Space War together. We had a blast!! We also discovered a few bugs in Indy 500. Still, we had a blast. He's 13 BTW and I'm 46 so...huge generation difference. He wants to do that again.

To appreciate Galaxian on the 5200 you would have to learn the 5200 on a per game basis because every game treats those analog controls differently. The misconception is Galaxian only uses the analog feature as an analog joystick to a point. If you move the joystick left the player moves left, move it right the player moves right, but put the joystick in an almost center state and the player stops. The only difference is the speed of the ship which is determined by how far you move the joystick. It has two speeds: slow and fast. Both come in handy in avoiding enemies and their fire. Visually it is better than the 2600 port but that is about it. I love the game because I grew to like it. It was one of the first games I got Christmas morning with the system...but it is not 100% accurate. The yellow Galaxians are not right, it has glitches if you know where to find them, and the sounds are way off. It is still fun, still uses the same rules, and the 5200 can give a butt whippin' especially on skill level 9. But I don't think it would work well with a paddle-modded controller.

I think I'm going to drag my Activision games out tomorrow and attempt to get "patches" four the games I have where I don't have a scored for. More for personal reasons than anything. I'm not after beating others' scores. I want to see if I can earn them. I never got the chance when you could get those patches and I love a good challenge...a challenge I know only the 2600 could give.

When everyone can come together for a single reason, single purpose, and leave all real life drama behind it makes a huge difference and much better overall experience. It's for our love of things once called "ATARI" that we are here. Maybe not 100% the reason but a huge percentage of that anyway. There's usually always something going on here. If it's not NSG doing a review there's the Squad Challenges, if it's not those then Creeper is "Creepin' It Real" or Justin is posting a bit of history. There's always something going on. And if you are really feeling the urge to challenge someone there's always the 2-Player Battles. Simply PM someone to challenge, agree on a time, system, and game, and off you go. Best two of three games win. What more could anyone want?

I got off emulation, which is what was used to create the videos before, and tried on real hardware. HUGE difference. 34,510! My best yet. Nothing beats the real deal.

Glad to see you here my good friend!! It's not about the score but how you play the game, bud. Win or lose, good or bad, the more friends playing the better.

Thank you to @socrates63 for creating this list for patches. It creates a nice challenge and a reason to play these games.

This is cool. I'd have one but I'd probably keep it sealed. Not sure. I have ways to play SMB so no biggie.

I wouldn't mind reproduction patches. Those were cool and I missed out on them because I had a 5200 😞 Put me down for Enduro. I have a high score on this site where I went for like 10 days. One of my favorite 2600 games! https://forums.atari.io/topic/1909-enduro-atari-2600/ And I got 56 tanks on Robot Tank. https://forums.atari.io/topic/2626-robot-tank-atari-2600/

Wrestler? I was going to say Elizabeth but she didn't wrestle. So...Slam into a Slim Jim I'm going to have to say Macho Man Randy Savage.

I like how BTB has that serious look while she has that "I'm gonna kick your behind" expression.

I have a 1040STe to try it on except for one problem: "Requires 4MB RAM and a Hard Drive. You may get away with 2MB RAM but that is largely untested." I don't have a hard drive so I can't test it. Bummer. A hard drive is something I have been keeping an eye out for.

Went for another few rounds 😄 Got a better score. 18,460 is what I believe I made.

I played a few rounds but only made it to 11,040 points I believe. Tough little game.

I like the hacked version. That looks incredible for the 2600. @Justin and @RickR it would make sense for the box to NOT have a UPC printed on it. It makes sense to let the receiver print their own barcode because every country is going to have a unique barcode. Am I wrong?

I figure Rick's might be a Jack release? Does the cart have the the full sliding cover or is it like the 7800 carts? Pegs on either side with the cart board exposed? Galaxian is my fav of the series so, yea, I'm definitely in! See you guys on the game grid.