Aswald
10-11-2006, 03:01 PM
Pity the poor 7800.
Over the past years, there have been many reasons given for its failure. Among them was "Tramielitis," a fatal condition.
Probably, though, its single biggest problem was the years delay in its release. Even in the area where I used to live, which was much more heavily populated, had a lot more money, and when the economy was stronger, we didn't really see it until 1988. It wasn't just that the NES got a serious jump on it- after all, the ColecoVision's jump of several months proved disastrous to the 5200- but rather, when it was finally released, it acted as if it was still Fall of 1984, which was when it was supposed to be released.
If you look at the games released for the Atari 5200 when it was released in 1982 and not long after, you'll see titles like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Super Breakout, Ms. Pac-Man, Qix, Pole Position, Star Raiders, Missile Command, Vanguard, Dig Dug, Centipede, Robotron: 2084, Joust, Pengo, etc.
O.K., now look at what the 7800 offered. Joust, Position 2, Xevious, Robotron: 2084, Centipede, Hat Trick, Karateka, Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga (not nearly as good as the NES version)...
By now, you see where I'm going with this, don't you?
The games released for the Atari 7800 were hard to beat...when the 5200 was released. When the 5200 was around, those games were recent, and thus were current. But by 1988, they were dated. We may love classic games (I sure do!), but when purchasing a game system, we also want current games, too. If the CV had only offered games from the mid-or-late-1970s, how badly do you think the 5200 would've pounded it in sales?
Add to this that most people inclined to own these games probably already had the 5200 or 2600 versions (Space Invaders and Super Breakout were better on the 2600), and there just wasn't that much reason for most people to get a 7800, especially since several games, such as Xevious, Joust, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. were also available on the NES, not to mention many more games, including Ghosts `N Goblins, Elevator Action, Galaga, Donkey Kong 3, etc. So the NES had the "classic" base pretty well covered, too.
The 7800, overall, could not match what the ColecoVision had to offer by then! And now, in 2006, it's even worse!
To be honest, I still can't figure out what the hell the Tramiels were thinking when they released the 7800. Even the boxes, labels, and booklets were dull and inferior to those of the 2600 and 5200. It seemed as though they themselves never thought the 7800 could make it, but sent it out anyway with almost nothing it needed to match the NES or SMS. Apparently, they were incapable of realizing that those of us that did try to give the 7800 a chance would be so disgusted with what happened, there was no way in this or any other world we'd ever trust them again. I had no faith in the Jaguar whatsoever, and didn't go near it. Clearly, I wasn’t alone.
Over the past years, there have been many reasons given for its failure. Among them was "Tramielitis," a fatal condition.
Probably, though, its single biggest problem was the years delay in its release. Even in the area where I used to live, which was much more heavily populated, had a lot more money, and when the economy was stronger, we didn't really see it until 1988. It wasn't just that the NES got a serious jump on it- after all, the ColecoVision's jump of several months proved disastrous to the 5200- but rather, when it was finally released, it acted as if it was still Fall of 1984, which was when it was supposed to be released.
If you look at the games released for the Atari 5200 when it was released in 1982 and not long after, you'll see titles like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Super Breakout, Ms. Pac-Man, Qix, Pole Position, Star Raiders, Missile Command, Vanguard, Dig Dug, Centipede, Robotron: 2084, Joust, Pengo, etc.
O.K., now look at what the 7800 offered. Joust, Position 2, Xevious, Robotron: 2084, Centipede, Hat Trick, Karateka, Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga (not nearly as good as the NES version)...
By now, you see where I'm going with this, don't you?
The games released for the Atari 7800 were hard to beat...when the 5200 was released. When the 5200 was around, those games were recent, and thus were current. But by 1988, they were dated. We may love classic games (I sure do!), but when purchasing a game system, we also want current games, too. If the CV had only offered games from the mid-or-late-1970s, how badly do you think the 5200 would've pounded it in sales?
Add to this that most people inclined to own these games probably already had the 5200 or 2600 versions (Space Invaders and Super Breakout were better on the 2600), and there just wasn't that much reason for most people to get a 7800, especially since several games, such as Xevious, Joust, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. were also available on the NES, not to mention many more games, including Ghosts `N Goblins, Elevator Action, Galaga, Donkey Kong 3, etc. So the NES had the "classic" base pretty well covered, too.
The 7800, overall, could not match what the ColecoVision had to offer by then! And now, in 2006, it's even worse!
To be honest, I still can't figure out what the hell the Tramiels were thinking when they released the 7800. Even the boxes, labels, and booklets were dull and inferior to those of the 2600 and 5200. It seemed as though they themselves never thought the 7800 could make it, but sent it out anyway with almost nothing it needed to match the NES or SMS. Apparently, they were incapable of realizing that those of us that did try to give the 7800 a chance would be so disgusted with what happened, there was no way in this or any other world we'd ever trust them again. I had no faith in the Jaguar whatsoever, and didn't go near it. Clearly, I wasn’t alone.