Atari 5200 Guy Posted September 9, 2016 Report Share Posted September 9, 2016 I am going to bet that the second test board is for the 2600 as well. It is missing the additional contacts for the additional addresses the 7800 uses. Most likely the board is for testing large games with bank switching abilities and ROM sizes up to 32k. Not sure what the switch would before. The Professor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Professor Posted September 10, 2016 Report Share Posted September 10, 2016 The controller is an Atari 2600 Pro-Line controller. Will any of this be going up for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I agree on the test board after looking at the contacts. For the 2600 pro-line controller the thing I find interesting is all the pictures I can find have have the line series 2000 pro below the Atari and mine does not. As for selling the only thing I might consider is a couple of the Atari 2600 roms. Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegasElite Posted August 22, 2017 Report Share Posted August 22, 2017 (edited) here are a couple of updated pictures of my system X after the cleaning. I did hook it up and everything works on the system. Nice restoration job. That is looking pretty good. I do stress the word "PRETTY!" Edited August 22, 2017 by DegasElite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegasElite Posted August 22, 2017 Report Share Posted August 22, 2017 Other Atari fun stuff I got with the system X. The controller still has the shrink wrap. Ah, yes! The Atari Space Age Joystick! I have only seen it once in a picture from an Atari poster in the 1980s when the A5200 was still on the retail shelves. Classic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegasElite Posted August 22, 2017 Report Share Posted August 22, 2017 I used to work for AMI semiconductor. The produced all the roms for Atari. the first three pictures are engineering roms for the 2600 with the socket test cartridge. The last picture is I believe a test card for the 7800 but not sure. You know, that does look like like a 7800 cartridge ROM board. Maybe, it is a Super Game Cartridge, but I am not so sure. I have seen something like it, but I don't know if it is similar. Maybe… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegasElite Posted August 23, 2017 Report Share Posted August 23, 2017 prototype 7800 controller???? It does certainly look like a prototype 7800 controller. It is similar in design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted August 23, 2017 Report Share Posted August 23, 2017 My congratulations for that uncle and his Atari treasure chamber! I am absolutely fascinated by the 5200, because it is really an exotic piece of hardware in Europe. I had imported a console four years ago and there are no regrets about that. So i am always keen on informations about it. It embodies the Golden Age of Atari in a special matter, that "What could have been..." feeling. I hope you know, what i mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 The naked loaner cart looks like a skull! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Are there any interviews of Regan Cheng? I suppose I should do a YouTube search. I had no idea he also designed the Mindlink. Is there any information regarding the small three rectangle logo to the right side of the text on that system? From my interview with Atari designer Tom Palecki, he mentioned Barry Marshall designed the MindLink, and Tom designed the logo for it: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/tom_palecki/interview_tom_palecki.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 I agree on the test board after looking at the contacts. For the 2600 pro-line controller the thing I find interesting is all the pictures I can find have have the line series 2000 pro below the Atari and mine does not. I've never seen that version either, only this one: http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/vcs_nr_proline_1.png Notice the one in the flyer has a divot on the top of the joystick knob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 (edited) I used to work for AMI semiconductor. The produced all the roms for Atari. the first three pictures are engineering roms for the 2600 with the socket test cartridge. The last picture is I believe a test card for the 7800 but not sure. I've seen that pcb with the switch before. It's for a 2-in-1 cart. The labeled chips are most likely copies, as I see a bunch of Activision games there Edited August 26, 2017 by Scott Stilphen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 (edited) Here it is...from the Jan 83 edition of Electronic Games. Look...it's YOUR prototype right there. Pages 30-31 from that issue feature an ad for the 5200 ("Atari Introduces the 5200 SuperSystem"). Jump down to pages 64-70 to the article about the 5200, but the photo shown is the earlier "Video System X" model. Guess they didn't get any updated photos from Atari to use? To Arnie Katz's credit, he recognizes the immediate problem with the controllers and notes they made a poor substitute for paddles with the pack-in game, saying, "If Atari doesn't intend to produce a paddle, it would be a kindness to electronic gamers to refrain from creating games that require such a command device." In the next paragraph, he goes on to say the system has 64K! But then later says, "With the exception of Galaxian, all titles in the first group of releases are copied from either the computer or VCS catalogs with only the slightest changes." Katz then claims Super Breakout "is certainly one of the best games ever packaged with a videogame system(!?), it isn't exactly fresh and new." Super Breakout was the worst pack-in IMO. Friend of mine got the system as soon as it came out (late 1982) and playing that game with those controllers was such a letdown for a system that had been hyped all year, especially if you'd had already played the Atari computer version, which came out in 1979, and you realized what the next-gen system really was (an Atari 400)! Trying to play a paddle game with a joystick was a huge step backwards. I ended up getting a 5200 sometime in 1983, for Pac-Man more than anything else, but my copy of Super Breakout sat in the box until I sold the system. Edited August 26, 2017 by Scott Stilphen Atari 5200 Guy and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted September 6, 2017 Report Share Posted September 6, 2017 Compared to the Colecovision, bundled with Donkey Kong, Super Breakout was really a strange choice. Maybe they were afraid, they couldn't sell the game as a stand alone title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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