Atari 5200 Guy

You're welcome and I don't want people to think I'm being a total butt. I have favorites just like any other gamer. I'm not afraid to speak my mind or express how I feel. I try to keep things G - PG at least. I'm not here to upset or cause drama at all. It's why I don't like Facebook. This is my online home and I try to avoid all of that garbage because there's enough going on in the real world that we don't need in here. This is a save haven from all that. I want to say 1982. I was in third grade when I got it Christmas morning. And my third grade year was the 1982-83 school year. Did you know 5200 carts fit inside an 8-track case? Well...I got Tempest on my 5200 thanks to it getting completed. Very fun game. I just wish it would have been finished when it mattered. There were others still in prototype form that should have been released on the 5200 but never did. I would have loved to see Activision, Imagic, and even Atari give the 5200 as much attention as they gave the 2600. I didn't get Yar's Revenge on my 5200. I didn't get Warlords on my 5200. I had what was suppose to be the "most advanced system" but didn't get jack compared to what the 2600 got. Supersystem...blah...awesome arcade graphics and sounds combined with very sensitive controls that actually work well when they are cared for properly...but what good are they when the game list is lack luster and begging for more titles? To its defense it did get a few games that are considered exclusive to it...namely Countermeasure and Space Dungeon. So I feel you when you say the 7800 should have got games like Missile Command. At least the 7800 got Asteroids.

Yep. One and only. 😄 Maybe I ought to change my username here to 5200 Guy. I get that a lot LOL. And, yes, to Super Breakout. I have to ask, though, which post?

Donkey Kong JR? What system? The 7800 of course. I find the graphics and sounds more pleasing.

Man, the 7800 was wide open on much needed 3rd party support in accessories and games. It was very much a missed opportunity. I honestly believe the 7800 was only supported until all back stock of the console and its games were gone from Atari's warehouses. I seriously doubt anyone at Atari took it very seriously. It's a, pardon the expression, damn shame that the little console that could have been a NES killer didn't even get a chance to strut its stuff properly. Commando on the 7800 is far better in my opinion than the version that made it to the NES. And I'm hoping on my soapbox so be prepared. Before anyone says the 7800 was not as powerful as the NES needs to do more research on the 7800. And I'm not saying that to be mean. The 7800's MARIA graphics processor alone was very well equipped and capable of producing graphics far more superior to what the NES could have done. Also, the 7800 was not limited to just TIA for sounds...add POKEY to it and you have 6 full channels you could use for sounds. Do the math. 4 Pokey channels combined with 2 TIA channels. Contrary to what most early game mags have said about the 7800 in its basic screen resolution the 7800 can produce 24 colors on the screen at once. I love my 5200 but that little 7800 is very impressive under the hood. So this: ...was a crock of crap Sam fed not only to the Froggo guy but to anyone else who came to Atari to produce games for the 7800. Out of all of the consoles Atari ever produced the 7800 should be considered Atari's hidden gem. It offered everything people expected out of the 5200 but missed from the 2600. I'm sorry but when you own a video game company and think video games are evil you are one dumb...nevermind...I'll keep the rest to myself. Today's Atari is not doing any better than the Tramiels did...except running the name through the mud again. That's just my opinion.

On a side note...I just remembered something...I bought a 2600 Junior with my very first paycheck when I was 16. I got Jr Pac-Man and Midnight Magic but I also picked up a Froggo game called Spideroid. I gave $10 for it. Fun game but I felt like I had played it before. It wasn't until I started collecting the 2600 and its games over the past few years that I discovered I did play that game before...at a friend's house many moons ago...under it's original name...Amidar released on the 2600 by Parker Bros. Still, it was nice to have at the time and I didn't feel $10 was a bad price for a brand new 2600 game in the early 1990s.

Whaaaaa? Froggo made NES controllers? How'd I miss those? I never seen those anywhere I shopped frequently. I bet Nintendo treated you a lot nicer than Atari did from the sounds of it. "Games are Evil?" Blasphemy. They aren't evil. Evil is in the eye of the beholder and how they see the world. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's evil. I never understand that about some people. To each their own I guess. I remember seeing a Computer Chronicles episode where Jack was interviewed about the ST computer and he kept saying how it was better than the PC, and how he was trying to keep the Asian market out of America. If you have the "best" computer why would you send your customers to get a PC? Also, if you are trying to keep Asians stuff out of America then why did you hire them to make your products? Makes absolutely no sense at all. And while I'm at it...if you believe video games are evil then WHY DID YOU BUY A VIDEO GAME/COMPUTER COMPANY?!? Makes no da*m sense. Maybe I should have bought it if it was that easy to get a hold of. Geez...at least it would have been owned by some one who LOVED video games.

Original DK on the 2600 is 4K? Looks more like 2K. I think I have it...Yep...I found it. In order for the newbies to Atari I/O understand why I answered like I did, I know Justin will know where I'm coming from, I didn't get a 2600 when I was a kid. I begged and begged for an "Atari" and woke up to one on a Christmas morning but I got the 5200 4-port which remains my all-time favorite game console. That's what I grew up with. THAT's what I use to compare 2600 games against. To me the 5200 ports of the same 2600 games simply stood out and played better. I loved everything about my 5200 then...I still love everything about the 5200 today. I didn't get DK but I remember one school morning when mom had to go to work early and took me to a neighbors house. They were playing DK and I had a hard time not laughing out loud. It looked OK but the colors were all wrong, the game made funny noises and it didn't sound like DK at all. I was very picky then about the video games I got. I'm a LOT more biased now and the 2600 has a very special place in my heart along side the 5200. Because of the 5200 I have managed to find some entertainment value in the 2600 and it's rather large library of games. I've got 2600 games I would not be caught without as an Atari collector...it's simply against the rules LOL. I've got 3 2600 models (2 JRs and 1 4-switch woody) that I use a LOT more than I do my 5200 That's saying something. It use to be that you couldn't get me to even look at a 2600 game...I was content with my 5200 and it's small library of games. As my 2600 library grew so did my interest in it. I've found a lot of impressive games on the 2600 that I wish my 5200 got but never did. So, when I say that both DK and DK JR on the 2600 looked horrible to me it is because of what I grew up with and what I would have expected to see. It doesn't mean I don't like the games on the 2600. DK is actually fun for having only 2 levels and it's not bad. But I'm also not a DK fan at all (unless it's DK Country on the SNES...that one I like). I don't know why but the arcade DK just never kept my interest. I will play it and I do have fun with it but it's one of those games that's like some foods and drinks...it's an acquired taste. I have DK JR on the 7800 and it's good...but again not one I play very often. I'm glad I have them both...very glad to have them...I just don't play 'em as much as others would.

You'll enjoy it. If you love the 2600 you'll fall in love with the 7800. It is a little beast of a hidden gem.

SGT Peppers. 'Nuff said. I like their music but I'm an 80's child. Journey is my band of choice. The Steve Perry Journey not the others. I like them all but Journey was more interesting to me with Steve Perry at vocals.

I have only played DK on the 2600 and found the game rather...unimpressive. I'm not a fan of DK or DK JR at all but I appreciate them and I know how much fun those two games are to others. But the 2600 ports of both games are really something someone would have been desperate for to enjoy. Today, I can appreciate the 2600 ports but they still don't impress me at all. DK I would play more than JR but that's just me. And, I agree with @Justin about Coleco trying to showcase just how poor games could be on the 2600. It makes perfect sense as it opened the door for their ColecoVision system. Honestly what it did was show just how easy it was for anyone with the know how to make something for the 2600 without Atari controlling what played on it. The 2600 was king and those that owned it wanted more games for it. It didn't take long for wannabe developers/publishers to try to cash in with poorly made programs that only looked the part. That is what really caused the crash. It wasn't E.T. or Pac-Man...it was the lack of quality that went into tons of first and third party Atari games that started flooding the markets to the point no one could keep up, the games sucked, and no one wanted them. Those that got them as gifts that didn't like them simply returned them. Some were forewarned and never even opened the boxes and tried the games. Yea...it was that bad. Games like DK and DK JR pretty much warned what was to come. Like E.T. and Pac-Man they aren't 100% bad and there are "games" much worse on the 2600 (Star Fox & Fire Fly anyone?) but they are not 100% accurate either and I think that is what hurts them besides visuals looking like something a first grader drew up.

The Atari 5200 remains my all-time favorite for personal reasons but for this one I had to give props to Sega Dreamcast. That console did a lot for modern gaming and opened the door for online gaming on a game console. Sega also learned from their previous mistakes including launching with their mascot in a new game from day one. Dreamcast had a lot to have to prove thanks to Sega's previous jumping the gun move with Saturn...and it did just that. Dreamcast had a lot to offer then and it still has a lot to give now. The controllers are absolutely comfortable to use with a thumbstick design not used on any other controller. It should never wear out under normal use as nothing is really moving. And the VMUs give added detail and can be game machines by themselves. I love my 5200 very, very much. It is where my gaming adventures started when I was 7 or 8 but I also know now of what negative impact it had on the industry which I did not see then. Dreamcast on the other hand generated a lot of positive impacts on the industry from being the center plot of a South Park episode, creating game genres that continued well into later consoles, and had one of the most memorable start ups ever created. You know you have something when you can't fulfill all pre orders even before pulling the plug. Dreamcast left an impression and was pretty much a culture all its own.

It is missing a few characters. Snorks, Shirt Tales (my favorite), and I had on VHS an episode of Casper that was done by those two. It had a character named Harry Scary. Artwork was definitely HB style. I loved Speed Buggy.

Welcome to the Lynx club, bro! It is a neat little console with loads of fun games. For a price of course.

I agree with this one. There's lots to do besides do laps around a go-kart track 😉

And we call ourselves Atari fans. How did we all forget that one?

Whoa! I made second? Well gee wiz. That's cool. I didn't think I made it that far.

I want that first image as a poster for my wall! That is AWESOME-sauce. I also like that 7800 controller. It's too bad they didn't add that much detail to them when they released them. I'm having to wait for my PPII to arrive so I can join in.

I never played Trevor McFur but I played Cybermorph days on end. Star Fox I consider a rail shooter because you can't explore anything. You are very limited to what the game wants and expects you to do in order to continue the journey and the game's story. Cybermorph took that and actually created the open-world environment modern games use heavily. Sega and Yu Suzuki proclaimed they had the first open-world game with Shenmue which, I will grant, was impressive and you could interact with most objects but Cybermorph was the first open-world game ever. You could fly indefinitely if you really wanted to. And all you had to do most of the time was hunt down and collect yellow pods. That's it...well and shoot down enemies but you were not limited in where you could go like Star Fox. Star Fox was a great game for the Super NES. It told a story, had impressive graphics and an amazing soundtrack, was very challenging, and was about as close as you could get to having an interactive anime feature but it still limited player's abilities to explore the levels. Cybermorph might not have seem as impressive to most gamers then when it came out but Cybermorph's hidden potential was in the ability to fly anywhere and explore the levels. It was the first of its kind.

Gee...just 10? Well, here goes: Space Invaders E.T. Crystal Castles Enduro Space Shuttle Mountain King Video Chess (sometimes I like the relaxing games) Radar Lock Gravatar Krull Kind of hard to just pick 10 but those are my top favorites.

Yes it is. The games are much improved and there are a few games that are exclusive to the 7800. And it can be used for a back-up should your 2600 ever fail. There's nothing wrong with owning the same game title across multiple systems because while the game may have the same name each one is unique in its own way, making it slightly different than the others. Once you try Ms. Pac-Man on the 7800 you will be amazed. Asteroids simply rocks. It also got games the NES got that are done really well on the 7800 and, in some ways, better than what the NES got. But just for the arcade games alone, yea, it's worth it. Besides...you can't play Food Fight on the 2600 I don't think 😉 So I would recommend for a starter set Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Joust, Centipede, Galaga, and Food Fight. Be on the lookout for Robotron 2084. This game really showcases what the 7800 is capable of. The 7800 never breaks a sweat with everything that's on the screen. Recommend: Europad controllers!! Standard controllers are OK but may feel a bit off balance at times and can cause hand cramps. However, don't let this keep you from investing in the console as it is a great console and one of Atari's better systems. The Europad or even use a Sega Genesis controller really helps with endurance playing.

I got maybe two Atari Age issues in the mail AFTER paying for a subscription. Well, I didn't but I do remember Mom getting a money order, us sitting down together to fill out the subscription card, and then putting them in an envelope and in the mailbox. I only got like 2 maybe 3 mags and that was it. Then again that was during the midst of the 5200 production and right before the crash. I didn't read, nor have knowledge of, any other game magazines until about 1987 when I received a NES for my birthday and then Nintendo Power arrived in my mailbox. After that I found Video Games and Computer Entertainment mag, which didn't seem to last long, Tips & Tricks, EGM, and GamePro. Out of all of those I enjoyed VG&CE the most because it covered both console and computer markets.

I love that game. Have yet to find a physical cart of that one. I ditto what Justin says. Now is the perfect time to jump in and get a real 2600. I know you'll love it!

I just realized my response was missing a word. It was suppose to say that I didn't want to be a copy cat. D'OH!

I liked the 1998 Godzilla some. I liked the story up to the point where they found the nest. I would not have tried to do what they did, instead I would have moved out of New York, period. No way, no how, would I have stayed. Have you guys ever noticed that in the movies almost everything bad that happens happens to New York City? With the exception of TMNT.

I love my 5200 😁 It and my 2600 might have to be pried from my hands when I die. Or bury me with them. I'm sure GOD wouldn't object to a friendly game challenge now and then 😉