Atari 7800

[Shrapnoid]

Anyone else collect games for this system? If so, how many do you have and how many more do you need?

[Tatsujin]

1. no
2. zero
3. zero

[DragonmasterDan]

I have around 50 games for it, I'm not going for a set or anything. I simply pick up ones I don't have as I come across them in the wild.

[futureman2000]

I have about 11 games or so, but I'm not really seeking any more. They're pretty hard to find, and I don't really enjoy most of the games anyway- although Food Fight is pretty good.

[Shrapnoid]

I have around 50 games for it, I'm not going for a set or anything. I simply pick up ones I don't have as I come across them in the wild.

Wow! If I remember right there were supposed to be like 54 or so total ever released.

Yeah, Futureman. They are getting hard to find. I think I have a little over 20 or so myself.
Last one I got was Donkey Kong, through ebay. It was sealed and didn't cost much at all.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I have 2 or 3 games.  Mainly have it for the 2600 stuff.  Like so many things, it'd be awesome to collect 7800 stuff, but just don't have the money, time, or room.

[DragonmasterDan]

I have around 50 games for it, I'm not going for a set or anything. I simply pick up ones I don't have as I come across them in the wild.

Wow! If I remember right there were supposed to be like 54 or so total ever released.

Yeah, Futureman. They are getting hard to find. I think I have a little over 20 or so myself.
Last one I got was Donkey Kong, through ebay. It was sealed and didn't cost much at all.

I think there's between 70 and 80.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I only buy games for systems that don't suck.

I bought someone ninja golf for the thing, but that games overrated and stupid.

[futureman2000]

I was looking into getting Ninja Golf, but I got over it for the reasons stated above.

[guyjin]

I have one, and about a dozen games for it. It was a system with a lot of potential that was never taken advantage of, because Jack Tramiel is a cheap ass idiot. Most of the games I have are pretty good.

[RegalSin]

They could have just packaged adapters with newer releases, or even offer adapters with new games. Like make an 2600 game with a 5200 game inside, and when the game was played on a 2600 you could also play that game. Or even hold down a button.

[HercTNT]

Regal, i'm not sure what you mean. Almost all 2600 games were playable on a 7800. 5200 games are another story as they were a different animal all together. If you mean to adapt 7800 games to a 2600, i'm not sure why you would.  The cost of said adapter, if possible, would not be a simple pack in with games you buy.

[RegalSin]

They took the 5200 and turned into a 7800. Instead they should have sold 2600 adapters with the 5200, and various games. Like how the N64 expansion pack was sold with some games.

[VenomMacbeth]

They took the 5200 and turned into a 7800. Instead they should have sold 2600 adapters with the 5200, and various games. Like how the N64 expansion pack was sold with some games.

No, the 7800 was made because the 5200 was just a crap console.  Plus, although I absolutely love the Atari 2600, about 80% of the games for it are pretty bad, so if they'd made it so the 5200 played 2600 games, it would have pretty much killed Atari right then and there.  Unless, of course, you're talking about making it so the 2600 played 5200 games...which also makes no sense.  That's like...backwards backwards compatibility. :/ lol

[SignOfZeta]

In all seriousness, everything that says "Atari" on it that isn't an arcade machine or the Lynx is fucking garbage. No joke. %90 of all games for their systems range from borderline unplayable to totally unplayable. That company has the worst track record ever, basically fucking up everything they touched, squandering away billions of dollars and dozens of lost opportunities. By the 90s they were suing Sega for bullshit patents like "putting a image on a TV" and telling us to buy a Jag because it was made in America.

God Atari sucked.

However....Warlords and Combat. Those two are amazing!

[Bernie]

In all seriousness, everything that says "Atari" on it that isn't an arcade machine or the Lynx is fucking garbage. No joke. %90 of all games for their systems range from borderline unplayable to totally unplayable. That company has the worst track record ever, basically fucking up everything they touched, squandering away billions of dollars and dozens of lost opportunities. By the 90s they were suing Sega for bullshit patents like "putting a image on a TV" and telling us to buy a Jag because it was made in America.

God Atari sucked.

However....Warlords and Combat. Those two are amazing!

You are 100% correct. If it says Atari on it for the most part, I treat is like a bio-hazard sign.  I gavce them the benefit of the doubt with some of their later releases on newer consoles.....ugh..  Why didnt they go out instead of Hudson Soft?

[Arkhan Asylum]

Well, to be fair, the Atari 2600 as balls-ugly as it is, is pretty fun. 

[Tatsujin]

Lol zeta. Quite true. Altough i had my fair fun as a kid with the 2600. But not even nostalgics can make the games good again today. The lynx i still have, and it is good fun.

[Arkhan Asylum]

the atari 2600 looks like shit but the arcadey style games are at least playable.  Asteroids looks mental with its rainbow rocks, but its still fun

[Tatsujin]

The who who designed the 5200 is the most retarded person ever walked on this planet.

[Arkhan Asylum]

The who who designed the 5200 is the most retarded person ever walked on this planet.

I didn't know a who designed it. 



No wonder she's so sad.

[Shrapnoid]

The 7800 actually had some pretty good games. Sure, some of them were...um...confusing and seemed pointless but, it did well with it's arcade ports and even a few of the original games that were released for it, once you figured out how to play them.

Believe it or not the 7800 was just an enhanced 2600 so, there's no way that a 5200 adapter would have been available as the 5200 (hardware wise) was the more powerful system.

The systems designated names sort of give it away as well. The 7800 is backward compatible *because* it is based on the 2600 hardware.

Want proof? Look it up.

The 7800 was the console that you heard about once in a great while but, probably didn't see or know of anyone who had one until the NES had already been declared champion of it's class.

[Arkhan Asylum]

the 7800 blows dude. lol

[HercTNT]

if i remember correctly, the 7800 is just a 2600 with slightly better video chip.  Even the sound chip and the speed of the system were the same. even so i'm with shrap on this one. i loved my 7800 and my 2600. most the games may have been crap, but the few that were not were great. then again, thats all i had growing up so its my personal fond memory.

[DragonmasterDan]

if i remember correctly, the 7800 is just a 2600 with slightly better video chip.  Even the sound chip and the speed of the system were the same. even so i'm with shrap on this one. i loved my 7800 and my 2600. most the games may have been crap, but the few that were not were great. then again, thats all i had growing up so its my personal fond memory. 

The main processor called SALLY is faster than the one in the 2600 and is a bit different, though it is backwards compatible. The 7800 also has a different video chip (known as Maria). It used the CPU for sound in the same way the 2600 did unless a game had a sound chip on the cartridge.

[HercTNT]

Thanks for the clarification. its a shame that atari did not try to do more with the 7800.  it would not have mattered though, as other members have pointed out, the 7800's controller was pretty craptacular.

[DragonmasterDan]

Thanks for the clarification. its a shame that atari did not try to do more with the 7800.  it would not have mattered though, as other members have pointed out, the 7800's controller was pretty craptacular.

The European pad was decent.

As far as the Atari 7800 system itself, The 7800 was less powerful than it could have been because Atari put an emphasis on making it backwards compatible after seeing what a mess the 5200 caused and the need for an extra attachment to play 2600 games.

[Shrapnoid]

Yeah... They *should* have done a lot more with it after all of the time they spent pumping up in their little fan magazine.

I even read in some vg history book that Nintendo wanted Atari to market the NES in America and who ever was in charge of Atari at the time took them up on it because he knew that if it bombed, he could still launch the 7800 but, Coleco had a hissy fit over Donkey Kong licenses and their ADAM computer that caused a 3-way argument that ended badly so, the big N decided to market the NES themselves.

However, since the author of the same book said that Rockman/Megaman ate hotdogs and fries to recover his energy who knows what really happened?

[HercTNT]

Well, it kinda makes sense. After all, anything nicknamed "Sally" could not be all that great. Guess that explains the atari jaguar as well, calling the two main chips "tom and jerry".

[SignOfZeta]

...what?

[HercTNT]

It was a lame attempt at being funny. Other companies usually code name their prototypes with really cool names like "Project reality" or "Xenon". I just figured that maybe atari was not setting the bar high enough with "sally" and "tom and jerry". I guess you had to be their...........you know.....in my own little world......

[SignOfZeta]

There is a chip in the PC Engine called "7UP".

[HercTNT]

Thats pretty funny, i did not know that. Do you know why they picked that name? Just curious.

[Tatsujin]

read all in HERE -> https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8423.0

[HercTNT]

Nice read, thanks for the heads up.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yeah... They *should* have done a lot more with it after all of the time they spent pumping up in their little fan magazine.

I even read in some vg history book that Nintendo wanted Atari to market the NES in America and who ever was in charge of Atari at the time took them up on it because he knew that if it bombed, he could still launch the 7800 but, Coleco had a hissy fit over Donkey Kong licenses and their ADAM computer that caused a 3-way argument that ended badly so, the big N decided to market the NES themselves.

However, since the author of the same book said that Rockman/Megaman ate hotdogs and fries to recover his energy who knows what really happened?

Someone published internal documents from Atari about that at one point. Basically Atari was interested in buying the Famicom's US rights from Nintendo, and then simply not releasing it to prevent a potential competitor. Nintendo wanted minimum order requirements as they would actually be producing the hardware and Atari would merely be branding and reselling it, at which point Atari bailed.

While Atari was apparently pissed about Coleco showing Colecovision Donkey Kong on the ADAM. It wasn't the straw that broke the camels back on that deal.

[esteban]

To those who are hatin' on the 2600/5200/7800:

Come on, there were some totally fun times with Atari consoles.

Case in point: 2600+paddle = pure fun of KABOOM!

I know this is a simple game, but it is still fun, even after all these years, and it was insanely addictive. TALK ABOUT ACHIEVING A STATE OF ZEN...this game required you to truly become one-with-yourself in order to achieve high score.

It is a friggin' awesome game, you bastards, and it is not the only under-appreciated gem on these consoles

I'm not arguing that the crap:quality ratio was good, of course.

Stop hatin'!

[Arkhan Asylum]

You mentioned a 2600 game though.  Most 2600 games are fun.  They're all stupidly simple and look like piss, but they are all generally very playable.

You can fire up Defender or Asteroids and be zippin along like an idiot in no time!

your ears and eyes will bleed, but thats ok!

[guyjin]

...said the guy on the forum about a 25 year old console about a 35 year old console.

[esteban]

...said the guy on the forum about a 25 year old console about a 35 year old console.

Hahahahha. Yeah, that's true.

[Shrapnoid]

VCS/2600 did have some great games, 5200 had some okay ones but, I haven't played enough of them to know just how many but, 7800 did pretty well except for a few strange games that were hard to get the feel of like Tower Toppler and Karateka.
I wasn't crazy about Ball Blazer either. Even with instructions, I still can't tell what exactly I'm supposed to do in that game.

[HercTNT]

The crappy controller eventually did me in. Trying to play f-14 tomcat with all of its options was just to much.  My favorite is the starpath supercharger with the 2600 dragon stomper is an excellent game and in my opinion by far the best one made on the 2600.

[ParanoiaDragon]

All I know, is that I want a modded 2600 with either HDMI or maybe VGA, that would be slick!

[guyjin]

VCS/2600 did have some great games, 5200 had some okay ones but, I haven't played enough of them to know just how many but, 7800 did pretty well except for a few strange games that were hard to get the feel of like Tower Toppler and Karateka.
I wasn't crazy about Ball Blazer either. Even with instructions, I still can't tell what exactly I'm supposed to do in that game. 

Imagine you're playing pong. Except you can move the paddle forward and back as well as up and down. And also hold onto the ball. and that you're viewing all this from the paddle's perspective. which is always facing the other paddle. That's Ballblazer.

[DragonmasterDan]

VCS/2600 did have some great games, 5200 had some okay ones but, I haven't played enough of them to know just how many but, 7800 did pretty well except for a few strange games that were hard to get the feel of like Tower Toppler and Karateka.
I wasn't crazy about Ball Blazer either. Even with instructions, I still can't tell what exactly I'm supposed to do in that game. 

Imagine you're playing pong. Except you can move the paddle forward and back as well as up and down. And also hold onto the ball. and that you're viewing all this from the paddle's perspective. which is always facing the other paddle. That's Ballblazer.

I've always thought of it as 3D soccer.

[HercTNT]

I remember that there was a group of guys that made a kit to convert the vcs over to s-video and composite. They disappeared before i could buy the kit. I had a brand new darth vader 2600 in the box at the time, as well as a heavy sixer.  I wound up giving them to my friend because i ran out of room to store all my crap. it was keep the atari, or keep the pce, i could not have both. Obviously i kept the pce.

[ParanoiaDragon]

That would be cool to get a kit like that, I just don't care for the original set up....& now that I think about it, I don't have a 2600 anymore, but I DO have a 7800, & I think that is the same setup as the 2600.

[Tatsujin]

Someone set us up the 5200.

[OldMan]

I remember that there was a group of guys that made a kit to convert the vcs over to s-video and composite.

Ahh, memories. The first mod I ever did was a composite mod on a 2600. No kit, just tap the right pin off the tv output circuit. Of course, there was no sound. But then, I always played with the volume down anyway.
Someone told me later where to tap the sound, but by then the 2600 was packed away gathering dust.

[HercTNT]

Found it

http://longhornengineer.com/atari-av-mods/

seems that they are all sold out. Turns out though, alot of similar kits like this are up on ebay for cheaper.