Atari 5200 Guy

In 1997 or '98, I was visiting family in Buffalo. I saw a Jaguar on sale for a very low price -- $40, maybe -- at Kay-Bee Toys. The only reason I'd walked to the mall (a place in which I won't even set foot these days) was to look at records. One of their stores still had 33s. Well, also, I was antsy and wanted a walk!
 
I saw the Kay-Bee and stopped in to see if they were selling any cheap 2600 games, as they had a few years prior. I saw the Jaguar and realized that I didn't know a thing about it. The most recent platforms I owned were an Atari 2600, a Commodore 64 and a C128. I was still gratefully fixated on those old pals, I programmed quite a bit, and I even wrote essays / articles about "old" games. I did the latter for my own amusement. I thought that nobody else on Earth would understand why I could find pleasure in playing '70s and '80s games, much less writing about them. I didn't know that any classic-game newsletters existed, and I hadn't been online yet, at least beyond CompuServe.
 
I didn't think "modern" games would be much fun. These were the days of Myst and mere interactive movies (in essence), sold on that latest over-hyped fad, the multimedia CD-ROM. But seeing the Atari logo, and feeling glad that there still was an Atari, I was drawn to the table full of Jaguars and cartridges near the entrance. "Wow, that's cheap," I said to myself. "But I wouldn't be able to fit it into my suitcase."
 
Then I saw the Tempest 2000 box.
 
Like anyone else in his right mind who had played the arcade game in the early '80s, I had wanted a home version of Tempest for years. I examined the back of the box and saw that the graphics had grown advanced enough to make the potential vector-to-raster problems practically moot. I then noticed that the cartridge included a conversion of the original Tempest, which was being called Classic Tempest.
 
At that point, I had to force myself to put down the cartridge box and walk away very quickly. (I'm pretty good about not spending cash unnecessarily.) However, as you can imagine, I couldn't stop thinking about it afterward.
 
I got back to my grandmother's place, went down to the bedroom-like basement where I was staying, and tried to read. But of course, I kept thinking, I would be able to play Tempest at home...I would never run out of quarters...it's a very inexpensive console...the games are only ten bucks apiece...isn't it high time I treated myself to my first new system since the C128? Tempest at home...Tempest at home...
 
Then I glanced over at my suitcase. I've always liked to bring just one, so it's usually huge. This one certainly was.
 
Hmm...the console box could fit easily!
 
There was no use in fighting it anymore. I walked back to the mall and bought the Jaguar, along with Tempest 2000 and Iron Soldier. Back in the basement, I opened everything up, read the manuals and basically drooled for three or four days. When I got back to Albuquerque, hooked up the console and started playing, I realized that I had made the right decision. I had no regrets about shelling out most of the spending cash I'd brought on vacation. Playing Jaguar games for the first time was a mind-blowing experience.
 
Consider: I had never played anything more modern than Super Mario Bros. 3 on my bass player's NES. I had never even seen a first-person shoot-'em-up being played. And all in one day, I played Tempest 2000, Iron Soldier and the awesome, highly underrated Cybermorph. (You can mute Skylar's voice, people.)
 
Around that time, I started hanging out again with a buddy from high school named Adam. I hadn't seen him in ten years. When we ran into each other, I learned that he, too, was into old games. It surprised me that anybody was. Over the next few months, in between alerting me to the presence of a few classic-game newsletters (including his own, to which I would eventually contribute quite a lot) and building me an Amiga 2500, he lent me the Jaguar version of Doom.
 
I had never played the game before. The Jag version was my first. I plugged in the cartridge, turned on the console, started the game and...I've never recovered.
 
Every modern game that I've bought since then (I've gotten as recent as the PS2! Movin' on up!) has directly resulted from my obsession with Doom, which led to a love for solo first-person exploration / killing-everything games. These days, I run the source port ZDoom on my PC, choosing from hundreds of maps made by fellow players, and designing some of my own. But every few months, I still play Cybermorph and Iron Soldier all the way through. The buildings in the latter look just as astonishingly cool when they fall to flaming pieces as they did back in the late '90s, when I had reached the grizzly old age of 25 and Atari had captivated me all over again. I will love the Jaguar forever.

One of the last Atari consoles I would obtain by miracle, if not by accident.  It was Christmas 1994.  I was living with my Grandmother to help take care of her and taking Computer Science classes at the local community college.  My Mother lived with her new husband in a town 2 hours away.  I would visit her on weekends.
 
On one cold November day my Grandmother asked me what I would like to have for Christmas.  I really didn't know because I had not thought of anything.  Was there anything I needed for my car?  Nope...couldn't think of anything (I had a '79 Monte Carlo with T-Tops at the time).  I didn't need anything for college.  So, I walked down the hill, three blocks away, from where we lived and paid the old Radio Shack that was once there a visit.  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/1239+N+Main+St,+Harrison,+AR+72601/1122+N+Pine+St,+Harrison,+AR+72601/data=!4m8!4m7!1m2!1m1!1s0x87cef5432296c701:0xb532cb5183553096!1m2!1m1!1s0x87cef543bb562403:0x474f80cf465ad78e!3e0
 
(I'm providing a map so the distance can be seen.)
 
I looked in the store for anything.  Nothing of particular interest.  I asked about any video games and they pointed to the large catalog they had bolted to the counter.  I flipped through it.  Nintendo, Sega, Atari...Atari?!?  I flipped to the Atari section.  I seen the 2600 stuff and some 7800 stuff.  They still had 5200 items as well but no 5200 consoles so I passed on those.  On the next page, in bold lettering, was "Atari Jaguar".  That ad I got in the mail during the summer immediately came to mind.  "Raw 64-bit Power!"..."Do The Math!"  For $225 you could get a console with A/V cables, two controllers, and two games called "Cybermorph" and "Iron Soldier".  I wrote it down and ran, back up the hill (seriously, this hill is murder at any age if you have to even walk up it).  
 
Huffing and puffing I went into the bedroom, shuffled through one of the nightstand drawers beside the bed, and pulled out the ad we held on to.  I immediately showed Granny the ad.  "What's this dear?"  Sometimes I forgot that my Grandmother was legally blind even if after surgery she could see colors and outlines...but was still blind.  I told about the Atari console in the ad.  She goes, "Is that what you want?"  I gave an excited yes and said I wrote it down if you would like to get it when I'm not here.  She handed me her Radio Shack credit card and sent me back down the hill.  She didn't want others to know what she was doing (bless her heart).  She never did.  They would know after I unwrapped it but by then why bother.  Granny spoiled me every chance she got and the rest of family never understood it.  Heck...I never understood it but I didn't complain.
 
So, I placed the order.  Radio Shack called my Grandmother for her approval for me to use the card.  They were family friends but still needed authorization for using cards by people other than whose name was on the card.  Order placed, I went back home and looked through the ad.  "Did they have more games?"  I told her I didn't look and I didn't want her to get any more until we knew for certain just how good the "Atari Jaguar" was going to be.
 
After a while we both sort of forgot about the order.  Her Radio Shack bill didn't come in before the holidays because it was one of those no payments for a few days sales pitch.  We got a call one Saturday.  "We have your order", they said to my Grandmother.  She sent me to retrieve it.  I almost forgot what it was.  When I got home she told me to open it and make sure everything was there.  The system, extra controller, A/V cable, and one game, Iron Soldier, was in the box.  Where was the other game?  The system box didn't say anything about a game inside.  So we opened it.  Cybermorph was there so both games present.
 
"Well, since it's opened you might as well try it out.  Just make sure you can make it look like it wasn't opened later."  Granny said.  I laughed.  Hooked up to her RCA Hi-Fi 27" console TV that swiveled the Jaguar showed its stuff.  Cybermorph came first.  I played around and explored the game a bit.  Eh...not too bad.  That was my first impression.  Then I popped in Iron Soldier.  I wasn't suppose to open that one...opps.  I sat for two or three hours with that game.  Then I had to pack it all back up and place it in the bedroom closet to be wrapped up before Christmas.  You know how hard it was to know that a game machine was in that closet and I couldn't play it until Christmas Eve?  I tried playing the Genesis and SuperNES I had and they just didn't cut it anymore.  There were a few times at night after she went to sleep with her TV on and blaring (an every night thing) where I would drag it out and play for a little bit then put it up.  I know...I was bad.
 
Christmas Eve came and it was time to unwrap the Jaguar.  Finally!  But...I had to save it for last.  First gifts were the usual:  a new sweatsuit, some new pants, socks, and shirts, and a few new movies of Disney favors.  Then came the Jaguar.  I couldn't be happier!  Or so I thought.  Another surprise package came from my Aunt.  In a box usually for clothes was some more games for the system.  They had found a few in Springfield's Battlefield Mall on clearance and grabbed a few.  While there was no Tempest 2000 there was I*War, Syndicate, and Wolfenstein 3D.  I was set for one helluva winter!  
 
The Jaguar left an impression that year in such a way that I was glad to have taken a chance on it.  The family members involved to this point in Christmas gifts to me I no longer have.  I don't think they ever knew just how much I appreciated all those Christmases I had with them...and all the other times I spent with them as well and not just around the holidays.  They knew what I enjoyed the most and went out of their way to fill that hobby.  I didn't have to ask and in some ways it felt like that was their way of rewarding me for what I was doing from my Grandmother, who I had been helping take care of since I was 10 years old.  Granny enjoyed the games as much as she could with the colors and sounds...and it would often times place her mind at ease so much that she would go to sleep on me (haha).  
 
They don't make family members like that much any more, and it seems like the holidays are nothing like what they use to be.  Just like my family members the Jaguar will forever hold a place in my memories that will not be forgotten.  I was fortunate enough to have another Jaguar, after decades of being without one, land in my living room and when I seen it I sat there and held the machine for what seemed like a long time admiring the design and immediately shed a few tears when memories of that Christmas Eve started playing back in my mind.  
 
It took me a long time to understand why I have such a heart for these game machines.  They are nothing more than plastic and computer electronics.  They entertain...that's all they do.  But I realized that every machine, mostly Atari machines, I ever had gave a connection to the love of family that loved me more than anything else in the world.  And that's why all my game machines, including the Jaguar, continue to play an important role in my life.
 

One of the last Atari consoles I would obtain by miracle, if not by accident.  It was Christmas 1994.  I was living with my Grandmother to help take care of her and taking Computer Science classes at the local community college.  My Mother lived with her new husband in a town 2 hours away.  I would visit her on weekends.
 
On one cold November day my Grandmother asked me what I would like to have for Christmas.  I really didn't know because I had not thought of anything.  Was there anything I needed for my car?  Nope...couldn't think of anything (I had a '79 Monte Carlo with T-Tops at the time).  I didn't need anything for college.  So, I walked down the hill, three blocks away, from where we lived and paid the old Radio Shack that was once there a visit.  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/1239+N+Main+St,+Harrison,+AR+72601/1122+N+Pine+St,+Harrison,+AR+72601/data=!4m8!4m7!1m2!1m1!1s0x87cef5432296c701:0xb532cb5183553096!1m2!1m1!1s0x87cef543bb562403:0x474f80cf465ad78e!3e0
 
(I'm providing a map so the distance can be seen.)
 
I looked in the store for anything.  Nothing of particular interest.  I asked about any video games and they pointed to the large catalog they had bolted to the counter.  I flipped through it.  Nintendo, Sega, Atari...Atari?!?  I flipped to the Atari section.  I seen the 2600 stuff and some 7800 stuff.  They still had 5200 items as well but no 5200 consoles so I passed on those.  On the next page, in bold lettering, was "Atari Jaguar".  That ad I got in the mail during the summer immediately came to mind.  "Raw 64-bit Power!"..."Do The Math!"  For $225 you could get a console with A/V cables, two controllers, and two games called "Cybermorph" and "Iron Soldier".  I wrote it down and ran, back up the hill (seriously, this hill is murder at any age if you have to even walk up it).  
 
Huffing and puffing I went into the bedroom, shuffled through one of the nightstand drawers beside the bed, and pulled out the ad we held on to.  I immediately showed Granny the ad.  "What's this dear?"  Sometimes I forgot that my Grandmother was legally blind even if after surgery she could see colors and outlines...but was still blind.  I told about the Atari console in the ad.  She goes, "Is that what you want?"  I gave an excited yes and said I wrote it down if you would like to get it when I'm not here.  She handed me her Radio Shack credit card and sent me back down the hill.  She didn't want others to know what she was doing (bless her heart).  She never did.  They would know after I unwrapped it but by then why bother.  Granny spoiled me every chance she got and the rest of family never understood it.  Heck...I never understood it but I didn't complain.
 
So, I placed the order.  Radio Shack called my Grandmother for her approval for me to use the card.  They were family friends but still needed authorization for using cards by people other than whose name was on the card.  Order placed, I went back home and looked through the ad.  "Did they have more games?"  I told her I didn't look and I didn't want her to get any more until we knew for certain just how good the "Atari Jaguar" was going to be.
 
After a while we both sort of forgot about the order.  Her Radio Shack bill didn't come in before the holidays because it was one of those no payments for a few days sales pitch.  We got a call one Saturday.  "We have your order", they said to my Grandmother.  She sent me to retrieve it.  I almost forgot what it was.  When I got home she told me to open it and make sure everything was there.  The system, extra controller, A/V cable, and one game, Iron Soldier, was in the box.  Where was the other game?  The system box didn't say anything about a game inside.  So we opened it.  Cybermorph was there so both games present.
 
"Well, since it's opened you might as well try it out.  Just make sure you can make it look like it wasn't opened later."  Granny said.  I laughed.  Hooked up to her RCA Hi-Fi 27" console TV that swiveled the Jaguar showed its stuff.  Cybermorph came first.  I played around and explored the game a bit.  Eh...not too bad.  That was my first impression.  Then I popped in Iron Soldier.  I wasn't suppose to open that one...opps.  I sat for two or three hours with that game.  Then I had to pack it all back up and place it in the bedroom closet to be wrapped up before Christmas.  You know how hard it was to know that a game machine was in that closet and I couldn't play it until Christmas Eve?  I tried playing the Genesis and SuperNES I had and they just didn't cut it anymore.  There were a few times at night after she went to sleep with her TV on and blaring (an every night thing) where I would drag it out and play for a little bit then put it up.  I know...I was bad.
 
Christmas Eve came and it was time to unwrap the Jaguar.  Finally!  But...I had to save it for last.  First gifts were the usual:  a new sweatsuit, some new pants, socks, and shirts, and a few new movies of Disney favors.  Then came the Jaguar.  I couldn't be happier!  Or so I thought.  Another surprise package came from my Aunt.  In a box usually for clothes was some more games for the system.  They had found a few in Springfield's Battlefield Mall on clearance and grabbed a few.  While there was no Tempest 2000 there was I*War, Syndicate, and Wolfenstein 3D.  I was set for one helluva winter!  
 
The Jaguar left an impression that year in such a way that I was glad to have taken a chance on it.  The family members involved to this point in Christmas gifts to me I no longer have.  I don't think they ever knew just how much I appreciated all those Christmases I had with them...and all the other times I spent with them as well and not just around the holidays.  They knew what I enjoyed the most and went out of their way to fill that hobby.  I didn't have to ask and in some ways it felt like that was their way of rewarding me for what I was doing from my Grandmother, who I had been helping take care of since I was 10 years old.  Granny enjoyed the games as much as she could with the colors and sounds...and it would often times place her mind at ease so much that she would go to sleep on me (haha).  
 
They don't make family members like that much any more, and it seems like the holidays are nothing like what they use to be.  Just like my family members the Jaguar will forever hold a place in my memories that will not be forgotten.  I was fortunate enough to have another Jaguar, after decades of being without one, land in my living room and when I seen it I sat there and held the machine for what seemed like a long time admiring the design and immediately shed a few tears when memories of that Christmas Eve started playing back in my mind.  
 
It took me a long time to understand why I have such a heart for these game machines.  They are nothing more than plastic and computer electronics.  They entertain...that's all they do.  But I realized that every machine, mostly Atari machines, I ever had gave a connection to the love of family that loved me more than anything else in the world.  And that's why all my game machines, including the Jaguar, continue to play an important role in my life.
 

Ms. Pac-Man
Atari 5200 
Difficulty: Default
High Score: 52,210
January 31, 2016

Pac-Man
Atari 5200 
Difficulty: Default
High Score: 43,610
January 31, 2016

Mario Bros.
Atari 5200 
Difficulty: Default
High Score: 88,200
January 31, 2016

Pac-Man
Atari 5200 
Difficulty: Default
High Score: 43,610
January 31, 2016

Xenophobe
Nintendo Entertainment System 
Difficulty: None
High Score: 999,990 (Highest Score Possible)
January 1st, 2016

Hmm...sounded like a good idea but lack of a prototype to show people that they mean business, and actually know what they are doing, would do a lot for this venture.  We would need to see the specifications they set out when it was called the Retro VGS, at least I would.
 
From a personal point of view:  It's cool that the dyes used to mold Jaguar casings was purchased by someone.  Even if a little retooling was done on them they are still a part of gaming history and deserve to be preserved.  Using them to allow others to have custom Jaguar cases was awesome and I soooo wanted one because a working mainboard is somewhat cheaper than a full working Jaguar, thus a bit easier to obtain.  Now...and I might be stepping on toes with this...but I feel that console design, no matter what, should stay with the Jaguar.  I cringe every time I see those dentist/doctor devices using the Jaguar's shell.  It's a design icon and when I see the design I think of video games and not health.  When I see the design I think of the Jaguar and Jaguar only, not another console with an identical design.  I already have a console with that shell therefore if I was to partake in supporting the Chameleon I would want the design to be custom-made so that it stands out and not have a retooled case that was already used for another system.
 
But, in all seriousness, I would pass on it.  The price is too steep and there are other things, gaming devices, I'd rather spend my hard-earned money on like importing me a Famicom, Twin Famicom, NEC PC Engine (either Core or Core II), and some games.  Then there's the Raspberry Pi adventure I'd like to experience as well.  And these, any of these, cost less than kickstarting this project.  I'm sorry...I love video games and I enjoy knowing that someone, or some people, want to do these things but this project has shown nothing solid to back up the project.  
 
Word of advice, guys (Chameleon developers), make the prototype no matter what it takes.  Get it up and running without blowing it or yourselves up in the process.  Get a game running on it...then get a few more games on it.  At best this would be a two or three year project for just a prototype but if you are highly serious about this game console then I would suggest showing the public actual hardware and software in a similar fashion to how Steve Jobs would have just one more thing.  That is my 2 cents worth.  Just saying.

FYI - If you ever see a game I review that you are interested in, you can feel free to ask me if it's available for trade. Some I keep, but several I do not.

I'd like that Darth Vader 2600.  That's nice.

I think the 7800 version is really good too.  5200 version is ok...hindered by the 5200 fire button IMO (8 bit version is identical, but with better controls which make it very good).  2600 version is really really awesome.  Non-landing eggs make it unique.  It's one of those games that's much better than what I expected, given the limitations of the hardware. 

As promised, here is the pic of my recent Goodwill finds!

Good to hear Antara's working. And I see it's boxed too! Nice find!

Boxed with all papers and instructions.

Found this sony trinitron 32" for $25. I had to have it. Too bad I don't have room for it currently so it went straight to storage.
 
My pic is sideways! Oh well...

I'd have bought it for $2.99.

sometimes the corrosion stays put in the battery tray even though at first look it appears really bad. but I've passed by some stuff because of it for sure !!!!
 
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/preps/battery-corrosion-why-they-leak-and-how-to-prevent-it/
 
I haven't tried these yet though , I hadn't looked into the price comparison yet either http://www.energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee

They do if someone drops it off.  They had a beat up gameboy for 2.99, but it was REALLY beat up, bad battery compartment...no thanks.

Your Goodwill sells Gameboy?

Hit my local Goodwill today and actually found some goodies!

It took me a while today. I had to go to a flea market i havent been too in a little while, but thats where i found some 5200 games

But wait, there's more....


There's also a few more Atari titles for me to test and sort out that I'll be posting soon!

Now we know why Jack bought Atari.  It was a conspiracy!  It was his way of slowly destroying Atari while Commodore could live on.  
 
In all honesty, I had a C64 in 2005 that a co-worker literally gave me with a floppy drive and ton of copied floppy disks.  It was cool and all but I didn't like it all that well.  When I ordered an Atari 800 shortly after from V61 (no...it's not an advertisement trick) I was not surprised to feel the Atari 8-bit computer seem more powerful.  It also remains, in my opinion, the most supported and well documented computer for the time because of Atari making it an open system for anyone to develop for.  There are hundreds of books just on programming the Atari.  I truly believe that the APX and Atari computers were one of the best business tactics to ever come about...and something that would be nice to see again in a modern world.

Into The Eagle's Nest was probably not made for the 7800 because of a few things.  After reading programming guides for the 7800 it can appear that the system might not have been able to handle the memory requirements for the game.  Then again it could have been the timing of the 7800 as well.  It came way too late in the game to have much of a shelf-life.  By the time it came out others had moved on to other systems and the 16-bit consoles were just around the corner so why waste time on another 8-bit system?  For the most part, when looking back, the 7800's library was tired and boring when compared to what Nintendo and Sega was publishing even if it was filling in a much needed arcade-style gap.  Just a theory anyway.  
 
Then again, from what I've been told, there are a lot of things that Atari should have done but never did.  That 5200 JR model Atari Museum for example is stunning and I would have bought one.  The crash and management/owners of Atari back then I don't believe realized all the potential in the stuff they were creating.  It's a shame really and talent gone to waste.  So, the 7800 should have received Into The Eagle's Nest but missed it.