Atari 7800 - What Did You Think?

[ColecoFan1981]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_7800

What did you think of Atari's 7800 Pro System?

This was originally slated to be released in June 1984, but because of the effects of the video game crash of '83 still being afresh (and also the July 2, 1984 sell-off of Atari by Warner Bros. to the late Jack Tramiel), the system was delayed until 1986 when it was released in response to strong Christmas 1985 season sales of the 2600.

When the 7800 finally did get released, instead of there being all new launch-title games for '86-'87, they decided to release it with all the launch titles intended for the system's original 1984 launch. This is because all the launch titles for the 7800 were programmed in 1983-84, and also explains why you see a 1984 copyright for Atari in the game's ROMs.

The 7800 has backward capability with the 2600 library, although not all 2600 titles will work on the 7800, including Coleco's Time Pilot.

7800 launch titles in 1984 included:
CX7801 - Centipede
CX7802 - 3D Asteroids
CX7803 - Dig Dug
CX7804 - Food Fight
CX7805 - Galaga
CX7806 - Joust
CX7807 - Ms. Pac-Man
CX7808 - Pole Position II (included with 7800 console)
CX7809 - Robotron: 2084
CX7810 - Xevious
CX7811 - Desert Falcon
CX7812 - Millipede (cancelled)
CX7813 - Jr. Pac-Man (cancelled)
CX7814 - Track & Field (cancelled)
CX7815 - Ballblazer
CX7816 - Rescue on Fractalus! (prototype only)
CX7817 - Crystal Castles (cancelled)
CX7818 - Moon Patrol (cancelled)

~Ben

[Velvis]

I had the 2600, a C64, NES, and an Amiga and loved the arcade. So while I wasn't a total game nerd, I enjoyed them. What I always thought was interesting to me was it wasn't until about 1991 that I had ever heard of or seen a 7800. I came a across it in like a weird store of some kind. If I recall they had a bunch of them so it may have been like a store that bought old stock and sold them. The 7800 was completely unknown to me before that day. I ended up buying one in about 98 when I got back into the retro thing. (I figured it played all the 2600 games as well.)

So I must have been busy with cars and girls and completely missed the 7800 the first time around. Either that or it was barely advertised.

I do remember when the 2600 was only $50 though from the TV ads.

[old_skoolin_jim]

I never saw/played one until the late 90s, despite my family having a 2600 pretty much my whole life (born in '83). My friend had one with DK Jr. and Pole Position 2. I think, had it released in 1984, it would have given the NES a run for its money. Unfortunately, being released after the system that was delivering masterpieces like SMB, Metroid, Kid Icarus, (not to mention all the arcade-perfect ports), it was doomed from the start. Too bad, really.

[o.pwuaioc]

The 7800 is an awesome machine, but it really doesn't compare to the NES. Galaga is one of my key tests. Granted that the 7800 comes in second among home ports, but the NES beats it by a mile.

[otoko]

Actually, I liked the system. It would be hooked up with several others if I had the room.

To be honest though. I only picked it up for one reason:

[Badhornet]

I enjoy it!

[AdamAnt316]

I actually owned a 7800 before I ever had a 2600. Got the system, along with a bunch of 2600 and 7800 cartridges, from one of my brother's friends. Included were both the 2600 and 7800 versions of RealSports Baseball, and the differences were striking. The original AC adapter crapped out after the wires frayed and shorted, but I eventually managed to find a replacement, and I've had lots of fun with the system. My favorite games are probably Joust and Dig-Dug, since they're very similar to the arcade versions.
-Adam

[tom]

What Wikipedia failed to mention is that the Atari 7800 was NOT included in the 1984 sale of Atari to Jack Tramiel. The Atari 7800 property belonged to GCC. Hence the short Atari 7800 relase by Atari Inc. was just that, very short. Warner sold Atari Inc. to Jack, and the 7800 rights reverted back to GCC.
It took Jack two years of negotiation with GCC to get the 7800 back and finally release it. Trouble was that Jack had no new games to go with the console, and every developer was getting onto the NES bandwagon. Times changed, people wanted to play platformers, not shoot'em ups anymore.

Nice console, with Maria they did have a hell of a chip, it could move any number of objects of any size in all possible directions on the screen. Robotron 2084 where you have 70 robots running all over your screen...without flicker. Joust, 10 different colours...etc....