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Atari 5200
Atari 5200 system and controller
Manufacturer Atari Inc.
Type Video game console
Generation Second generation
First available Flag of the United States November 1982
Discontinued 1984
CPU 6502C @ 1. A console manufacturer is a company that manufactures and distributes Video game consoles It is also known as a first-party Video game publisher. Atari Inc was a video game and computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in 1971, becoming the basis for an important entertainment industry in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the United In the history of computer and video games the second generation (sometimes referred to as the early 8 bit era) began in 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit Microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technology in 1975 79 MHz
Media ROM cartridge
Controller input Joystick
Trak-Ball
Predecessor Atari 2600
Successor Atari 7800

The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. The hertz (symbol Hz) is a measure of Frequency, informally defined as the number of events occurring per Second. A ROM cartridge is a removable cartridge that contains ROM devices and commonly Flash memory devices to allow some read-write capability The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977 The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a Video game console released by Atari Corporation in June 1986 Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) as a replacement for the famous Atari 2600. The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977 The 5200 was created to compete with the Mattel Intellivision, but wound up more directly competing with the ColecoVision shortly after its release. The Intellivision is a Video game console released by Mattel in 1979. The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries ' second generation home Video game console and was released in August. A number of design flaws had a serious impact on usability, and the system is generally considered to have performed poorly on the market.

The 5200 was heavily based on Atari Inc. 's existing 400/800 computers and the internal hardware was almost identical. The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit Home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992 However, a number of issues (aside from the lack of a keyboard) meant that software was not directly compatible between the two systems.

Contents

Hardware

The system's Atari 400-based origins made for a powerful, proven design which Atari Inc. could quickly bring to market.

In its prototype stage, the Atari 5200 was originally called the "Atari Video System X - Advanced Video Computer System", and was codenamed "Pam" after a female employee at Atari Inc. It is also rumored that PAM actually stood for "Personal Arcade Machine", as the majority of games for the system ended up being arcade conversions. Actual working Atari Video System X machines, whose hardware is 100% identical to the Atari 5200 do exist, but they are extremely rare. [1]

The initial 1982 release of the system featured four controller ports, where nearly all other systems of the day had only two ports. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The 5200 also featured a revolutionary new controller with an analog joystick, numeric keypad, two fire buttons on both sides of the controller and game function keys for Start, Pause, and Reset. A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling The 5200 also featured the innovation of the first automatic TV switchbox, allowing it to automatically switch from regular TV viewing to the game system signal when the system was activated. Previous RF adapters required the user to slide a switch on the adapter by hand. This unique RF box was also where the power supply connected in a unique dual power/television signal setup similar to the RCA Studio II's. Radio frequency ( RF) is a Frequency or rate of Oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz The RCA Studio II is a Videogame console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. A single cable coming out of the 5200 plugged into the switch box and was used for both electricity and the television signal.

The 1983 revision of the Atari 5200 has two controller ports instead of four, and a change back to the more conventional separate power supply and standard non-autoswitching RF switch. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) It also has changes in the cartridge port address lines to allow for the Atari 2600 adapter released that year. The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977 While the adapter was only made to work on the two-port version, modifications can be made to the four-port to make it line-compatible. Furthermore, towards the end of the four-port production run, there were also an extremely limited number of 2600 adapter-compatible consoles produced. Four-port versions can be identified by an asterisk in the unit's serial number.

Controllers

The design of the analog joystick, which used a weak rubber boot rather than springs to provide centering, proved to be ungainly and unreliable. An analog stick, sometimes called a thumbstick, control stick, or occasionally They ultimately alienated many consumers and quickly became the Achilles' heel of the system due to their combination of an overly complex mechanical design with a very low-cost internal flex circuit system. This article deals with the phrase For other uses see Achilles Heel. The controllers did, however, include a pause button, a novelty at the time that would become standard on almost all future game systems. Various third party replacement joysticks were also released.

Atari Inc. released the Pro-Line Trak-Ball controller for the system, which was almost as large as the 5200 itself. A trackball is a Pointing device consisting of a Ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes&mdashlike an upside-down

A paddle controller[2] and an updated self-centering version of the original controller[3] were also in development, but never made it to market.

Internal differences between the 5200 and the 400/800

Although the Atari 5200's internal design was extensively based on that of the 400/800 home computers, the differences were sufficient that games designed for one would not run directly on the other.

One of the most obvious was the 5200's lack of a keyboard. In Computing, a keyboard is an Input device partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys However, there were several other differences:

Atari Corp. 's later XE Games System revisited the idea of a console based on the 400/800 hardware. The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit Home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992 However, as this was essentially just a 65XE computer with a detachable keyboard, it was able to run most of the home computer titles directly.

Market Failure

The Atari 5200 suffered from its software incompatibility with the Atari 2600, though an adapter was later released in 1983 allowing it to play all Atari 2600 games, using the more reliable controllers native to that system. The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977

Another problem was the lack of attention that Atari Inc. gave to the console; most of its resources went to the already oversaturated Atari 2600. While the 5200 did garner a strong cult following with its library of high-quality games, it faced an uphill battle competing with the ColecoVision's head start and a faltering economy and video game market.

At one point during the 5200's lifespan, Atari Inc. planned on developing a smaller cost-reduced version of the Atari 5200, which would have gotten rid of the controller storage bin. Code-named the "Atari 5100" (a. k. a. "Atari 5200 Jr. "), only a few fully-working prototype Atari 5100s were made before the project was canceled. [5]

Screenshot gallery

Pac-Man
Atari (1982)

Dig Dug
Atari (1983)

Jungle Hunt
Atari (1983)

RealSports Baseball
Atari (1983)

Pitfall II
Activision (1984)

Ballblazer
Atari/Lucasfilm Games (1986)

Rescue on Fractalus!
Atari/Lucasfilm Games (1986)

Technical specifications

Launch titles

See also

References

  1. ^ Video System X
  2. ^ Atari 5200 Paddle Controller Prototypes
  3. ^ Self Centering Joystick Prototypes
  4. ^ a b c d e Transporting Atari computer programs to the Atari 5200, A.N.A.L.O.G. #15 (January 1984), via atarimuseum. Galaxian is a 1979 Fixed shooter Arcade game by Namco and released by Midway Mfg is an arcade Video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978 Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. This is a list of all officially released games for the Atari 5200, organized alphabetically by name The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit Home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992 ANALOG (from A tari N ewsletter A nd L ots O f G ames was the name of a Computer magazine devoted to the com. Article retrieved 2007-04-22. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil.
  5. ^ 5100/5200 Jr.

External Links

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