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Thread: Happy 29th Birthday ATARI 5200!

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    Apple (Level 5) Deadman's Avatar
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    Default Happy 29th Birthday ATARI 5200!

    Yes, the console that we all love to hate turns 29 today, 3/15. I know that today the controllers are thought of as the worst ever and the lack of 2600 compatibility is a ridiculous decision, but when it was released the "SuperSystem" looked just plain awesome! At 14 years old, I was still playing my Atari at that point in 1982 and wanted one of these more that I could stand, but the $299 price tag was waaaaaay out of my range.

    I had friends with Intellivisions, but I did not have any friends who bought the 5200 back then. The parents all thought the price tag was too high and in their minds "it's just the same Atari but it looks different." When I finally did get one 15 years later, the "magic" was gone but I still thought it was a great game machine.

    CHEERS ATARI 5200! Tonight we play Robotron!!
    ______________________________________


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    Great Puma (Level 12) NE146's Avatar
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    One of my all time favorite systems.. but it's also bittersweet. I can remember much heartache sitting there looking forlornely at the awesome Joust (a 5200 game I still love to this day) homescreen and trying to press the "start" button as hard as I could with my tiny fingers.. to no avail.

    Do you know how much torture it was to have such an awesome state of the art game at the time, and not being able to play it? Ahh memories. I had to wait for my mom to buy me a new controller to play it again and even then it was shortlived. Still though. Of course when I was much older I knew all about cleaning/fixing the controllers, but by then of course it was 10+ years later.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) VACRMH's Avatar
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    And here I was, saying how much I liked my birthday being on the ides of March. I'm not so sure now
    Quote Originally Posted by Oobgarm
    Hello VACRMH, you have just received 666 Meseta from Oobgarm.
    The following comment was made: HAIL SATAN

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    Apple (Level 5) Deadman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by VACRMH View Post
    And here I was, saying how much I liked my birthday being on the ides of March. I'm not so sure now
    Others sharing your birthday:

    Dee Snider of Twisted Sister
    Bret Michaels of Poison
    Will I. Am of Blackeyed Peas
    Fabio - yes that Fabio
    Eva Longoria
    Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and "Extra"

    Out of all those, gimme Bret and Dee, and the 5200 FTW!
    ______________________________________


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    Pretzel (Level 4) Orion Pimpdaddy's Avatar
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    I remember the system being in print ads at the time, but I don't recall one person ever owning it. It's too bad since it had some nice arcade hits. I bought one about three years ago and I'm looking forward to playing the non-trackball games one day when I get a regular controller that works.

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    Pear (Level 6) TurboGenesis's Avatar
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    I just got my first 5200 about 6 months ago!

    I find it a pleasant console, but ugh - controller reliability is horrible! I have 5 controllers and I was able to get ONE to have working buttons!

    My favorite game - Space Dungeon… its reason enough for me to keep the 5200! I also like Countermeasure - these two games are my most played on the 5200. I have amassed a total of about 20 games in six months time.
    I am still looking to pick up and play: Gremlins and Raid on Fractulis

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    Great Puma (Level 12) Steve W's Avatar
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    I never had a chance to play a 5200 (other than a store kiosk or display) back in the day and I never knew anyone who had one. Although I did hear from others who had to deal with the joystick failure issues. I picked one up around five years ago in a thrift with a dozen pretty good games Scotch-taped to it for all of $7. It still had the plastic covering over the aluminum plate on the front, as well as on both the included joysticks. It turns out that both sticks were the final generation, and therefore worked perfectly well without a problem. Still, barring the joystick button issue, I can see why the machine failed. The analog stick might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but that sort of thing is only suited to certain types of games, and makes playing games like Pac-Man painfully difficult since they were originally designed with digital controllers in mind. And the game lineup wasn't too impressive either. Really, Super Breakout as a pack-in? There were so many games being created on Atari's computers that had real depth that could have been ported over (and possibly would have used the analog controller well) but instead they ported arcade games that were already a staple of the Atari 2600 and most of which were already owned by the kids Atari was hoping to draw in to their newer system.

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    Peach (Level 3)
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    I know that today the controllers are thought of as the worst ever
    Only by people that have never used them, the stock Colecovision controllers, and the 7800 PainLines. I'd take the 5200 controllers any day over those two. Ugh.

    =)

    I love the 5200. Didn't have one back in the day, but I found one at Flea World 4-5 years ago and it's been my most-played classic console since.

    My favorites:
    Berzerk - with voice!
    Moon Patrol - great arcade port
    Missile Command - works great w/ the analog stick
    Pac Man - my favorite home port - looks, sounds and plays perfect!
    Adventure 2 - the best homebrew ever!

    and makes playing games like Pac-Man painfully difficult
    Am I the only one who thinks 5200 Pac Man controls perfectly with the stock sticks? I love that game, I've played it a ton, and I don't think I've EVER missed a turn because of the controllers. IMHO it controls much better than 2600 Pac Man.
    If you can't do it with 8 bits, you don't need to do it!

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    Apple (Level 5) Deadman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BydoEmpire View Post
    Only by people that have never used them, the stock Colecovision controllers, and the 7800 PainLines. I'd take the 5200 controllers any day over those two. Ugh.
    I think I was referencing their innate fragility by that comment. But if we're talking about bad controllers, I thought the Intellivision "circular-pad" thing was terrible then, and I still don't like playing with it now. I can deal with the carpal tunnel brought on by the 7800 and the Colecovision one is tough too, but for me the Intellivision is good for about 20 minutes of playtime then I'm frustrated and done!
    ______________________________________


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