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Thread: Atari 400?

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    Default Atari 400?

    So I just bought myself an Atari 400 and a few games.
    I'm not real knowledgeable about the Atari 8-bit line, so I'm hoping you guys here can help me get started with collecting and whatnot.
    What are some of the more essential peripherals for this? The best games? I mean, I know I'll need to look into a disk drive at some point as a lot of the games, it looks like, are on 5.25 floppy disks...

    Edit:
    Okay, so I found out that it won't play Atari 2600 carts...however, it seems that the 8-bit computers were very similar to the 5200, at least internally...would it then be possible to play 5200 games on the Atari 400?
    Last edited by 369WIERDO369; 06-21-2012 at 08:51 PM.

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    Cherry (Level 1) jammajup's Avatar
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    Yes the Atari 8-bit computers were quite similar its like they just changed the outer cases every couple of years lol,plenty of good games to choose from and i could mention around 100 here but of course it depends what your into. Arcade conversions like the Pacman Games,Berzerk,Joust,Arkanoid,Dig Dug,Mr Do!, Frogger,etc are pretty good (same for the 5200) but there are others games that stand out to me like Pungo Land,Hard Hat Willy,Elecktra,Encounter,International Karate,Mercenary,Boulder Dash,Behind Jaggi Lines... the list goes on PLUS ontop of that you also have the regular Atari classics you expect to see like River Raid,Atlantis and of course H.E.R.O which is awsome.
    I am not sure how common Atari 8-bit games are to find nowdays but i am sure you are going to have an great time with this system,i was so impressed with an Atari 8-bit tech demo i saw i uploaded a vid of it to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3T38hW9N-U

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 369WIERDO369 View Post
    So I just bought myself an Atari 400 and a few games.
    I'm not real knowledgeable about the Atari 8-bit line, so I'm hoping you guys here can help me get started with collecting and whatnot.
    What are some of the more essential peripherals for this? The best games? I mean, I know I'll need to look into a disk drive at some point as a lot of the games, it looks like, are on 5.25 floppy disks...

    Edit:
    Okay, so I found out that it won't play Atari 2600 carts...however, it seems that the 8-bit computers were very similar to the 5200, at least internally...would it then be possible to play 5200 games on the Atari 400?
    No.
    look here for your questions:
    http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe.html

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    Cherry (Level 1) GamerTheGreek's Avatar
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    I always found Blue Max to be an awesome game. Midnight pinball was good also. ( Both of these can only be played on the XE line as they take more memory 48 k i think ). Then you have your classics as discussed in an earlier post.

    For as collecting, first off welcome aboard. secondly Common titles are around but anything popular seems to hold value more than youd think. Pacman, Asteroids and Missle command do better price wise than the a2600 counterparts. If you look at ebay youll see alot of romox and OSS carts that have higher prices. Some non game related carts have higher prices i guess due to the fact they werent games. Outside of Craigslist and ebay , stick to flea markets and you might find some . Common atari 2600 games are 50 cents to 1.00 common games for the a8 line would probably be 4 to 5 ea. Basic being like combat would be as cheap as 1 or 2.00 a cart.
    Current Collection Stats As Of 12/10/2013 : Cartridges - 206 ( 182 unique titles 24 label variations ) : Cassettes - 21 :

    Currently in the market for :

    + Atari 8 bit game cartridges ( all brands and most titles )
    + Atari 8 Bit Prototype and Demo cartridges
    + Atari 8 bit manuals and boxes

    PM me if you see anything above that you have doubles or interest in getting rid of.

    Check out my
    Atari 8-Bit Museum Site at http://www.a8museum.com
    Atari 8-Bit Museum on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/392317377550512/
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    Great Puma (Level 12) Steve W's Avatar
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    I've been looking for Atari 8-bit games, cartridge or otherwise, for a very long time and they're almost impossible to come across in the wild. You might just have to break down and get yourself a Flash Cart sort of thing that you can load floppy disk images onto and play that way. But you might have some problems with the limited amount of memory in the Atari 400, some later games might not be compatible.

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    Cherry (Level 1) GamerTheGreek's Avatar
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    eBay craiglist and Ebid are the easiest way to find games and CL you might get a good deal.
    Current Collection Stats As Of 12/10/2013 : Cartridges - 206 ( 182 unique titles 24 label variations ) : Cassettes - 21 :

    Currently in the market for :

    + Atari 8 bit game cartridges ( all brands and most titles )
    + Atari 8 Bit Prototype and Demo cartridges
    + Atari 8 bit manuals and boxes

    PM me if you see anything above that you have doubles or interest in getting rid of.

    Check out my
    Atari 8-Bit Museum Site at http://www.a8museum.com
    Atari 8-Bit Museum on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/392317377550512/
    And on Ebay under the handle ThePaperVault

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    Congrats on getting an Atari 400, I love that computer. I think the very first thing that you should consider is a RAM upgrade. Best Electronics had a lot of the official Atari 48k boards for sale some years ago. I'm betting that they still have those, and they're really cheap - I think I paid $30 for mine. They are very easy to install, only requiring a few solder points. If you get a disk drive the memory upgrade is pretty much mandatory.

    I can't type much now since I'm using my phone and it's a pain to type on, but some games I highly recommend are Miner 2049er, The Dreadnought Factor, Boulder Dash, and a bit of an oddity, Caverns Of Kafkha.
    Scream And Fly - High Performance Powerboating Online
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    Default Atari 400?

    Congrats on getting an Atari 400. That was my first computer and still have one and play to this day. The keyboard doesn't bother me but some hate it. Games I would suggest are Star Raiders, the first A8 I ever played back in the day. Also Miner 2049'er a great platformer. Oil's Well, Ms Pacman, Jumpman and Jumpman Jr. Also get a Disk Drive. And many more, enjoy!

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    Quote Originally Posted by thegamezmaster View Post
    Also get a Disk Drive.
    A disk drive on a 400 wouldn't be terribly useful unless you upgrade your 400 to 48K. Even then, I'd recommend getting a SIO2PC or SIO2SD setup as opposed to a disk drive.
    Quote Originally Posted by starsoldier1 View Post
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