Happy 29th Birthday ATARI 5200!

[Deadman]

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!!

[NE146]

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.

[VACRMH]

And here I was, saying how much I liked my birthday being on the ides of March. I'm not so sure now

[Deadman]

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!

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

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.

[TurboGenesis]

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