Isn't there an expansion for the Atari 7800 that lets you play 5200 games on it?

[MissingNo_1231]

I could have sworn that I read about this somewhere, but I went on google just now and couldn't find any info.

I know the 7800 is backwards-compatible with the 2600, and it has an expansion port on the side.

So, is this 5200 on 7800 thing real or what?

[swlovinist]

not that I know of. If you are talking offical release, no. There might be some very talented person out there that could tinker to get such a device to work, but it probably would have to be the guts of a 5200 that plugged into the 7800.

I do know that that 5200 has an expansion now that can play both 2600 and 7800 games.

[MissingNo_1231]

not that I know of. If you are talking offical release, no. There might be some very talented person out there that could tinker to get such a device to work, but it probably would have to be the guts of a 5200 that plugged into the 7800.

I do know that that 5200 has an expansion now that can play both 2600 and 7800 games.

ah, maybe that's what I read about. Thanks.

[Aswald]

No.

Unless some homebrewer has built one somewhere, then there is no such module. In fact, Atari pretty much acted as if the 5200 had never existed once they dropped it in 1984 for the 7800.

[Zap!]

I do know that that 5200 has an expansion now that can play both 2600 and 7800 games.

Play 7800 games? Is there a homebrew one, because the original played only 2600 ones.

[Trebuken]

http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/cx55.html

Atari 2600 expansion.

Yes it would be cool if there is one to play 7800 games. Would only need one console hooked up then...

[rbudrick]

Hmmm, something tells me that the beastly size of the 5200 could be hacked to hold a 7800 also. I'm surprised some leet hacker hasn't done this yet. Especially nice would be the ability to use non-analog controllers on the 5200 games, or at least self-centering ones. I used to put elastics on the X and Y axes to simulate recentering. It worked quite well.

-Rob

[Mitch]

There is also this: http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/7800/7800-20th/7800-CES_DEMO-adapter.jpg

Mitch

[slapdash]

Summary:

1) there was an adaptor for the 5200 to play 2600 games (released)
2) there was an adaptor for the 5200 to play 7800 games (unreleased prototype)
3) the 7800 plays 2600 games

Were there any prototypes of an adaptor for the 7800 to play 5200 games? I didn't even know about #2 there.

[Greg2600]

If there was a 5200 on 7800 adapter, it would have been made by 1984, because the 5200 was essentially discontinued at that time. As the 7800 hardware was much more similar to the 2600, I'm not surprised they were working on a 7800 on 5200 adapter. The 5200 board was huge, and even the canceled 5200 JR. was still really big.

The second issue was that the 5200 used analog control, while the 7800 did not. Not sure how big of a problem that would be? There may also have been some power issues.

[swlovinist]

the 7800 adaptor for the 5200 that I was talking about was released by 8-bit domain. There was a couple of threads about it over on AA

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=136771

[Aswald]

Hmmm, something tells me that the beastly size of the 5200 could be hacked to hold a 7800 also. I'm surprised some leet hacker hasn't done this yet. Especially nice would be the ability to use non-analog controllers on the 5200 games, or at least self-centering ones. I used to put elastics on the X and Y axes to simulate recentering. It worked quite well.

-Rob


Digital 5200 joysticks do exist. They were manufactured back during the 5200's time, and homebrewers have built their own.

Including me:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119395

Scroll down for diagrams. However, the text will explain how the 5200 control scheme works, and how YOU can build your own. Still, check out my post on "Latest 5200 Project." It is more of an advanced design.