The
Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the
Atari 5200, is a
video game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a replacement for the famous
Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
. The 5200 was created to compete with the
IntellivisionThe Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
, but wound up more directly competing with the
ColecoVisionThe ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, the ability to play Atari 2600 video games, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
shortly after its release. A number of design flaws had a serious impact on usability, and the system is generally considered to have performed poorly on the market.
The 5200 was heavily based on Atari Inc.'s existing
400/800The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips, giving them the most powerful graphics of any 8 bit computers of their time...
computers and the internal hardware was almost identical.
The
Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the
Atari 5200, is a
video game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a replacement for the famous
Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
. The 5200 was created to compete with the
IntellivisionThe Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
, but wound up more directly competing with the
ColecoVisionThe ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, the ability to play Atari 2600 video games, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
shortly after its release. A number of design flaws had a serious impact on usability, and the system is generally considered to have performed poorly on the market.
The 5200 was heavily based on Atari Inc.'s existing
400/800The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips, giving them the most powerful graphics of any 8 bit computers of their time...
computers and the internal hardware was almost identical. However, a number of issues (aside from the lack of a keyboard) meant that software was not directly compatible between the two systems.
Hardware
The system's Atari 400-based origins made for a powerful, proven design which Atari Inc. could quickly bring to market.
In its prototype stage, the Atari 5200 was originally called the "Atari Video System X - Advanced Video Computer System", and was codenamed "Pam" after a female employee at Atari Inc. It is also rumored that PAM actually stood for "Personal Arcade Machine", as the majority of games for the system ended up being arcade conversions. Actual working
Atari Video System X machines, whose hardware is 100% identical to the Atari 5200 do exist, but they are extremely rare.
The initial 1982 release of the system featured four controller ports, where nearly all other systems of the day had only two ports. The 5200 also featured a revolutionary new controller with an analog
joystickA joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer...
, numeric keypad, two fire buttons on both sides of the controller and game function keys for Start, Pause, and Reset. The 5200 also featured the innovation of the first automatic TV switchbox, allowing it to automatically switch from regular TV viewing to the game system signal when the system was activated. Previous RF adapters required the user to slide a switch on the adapter by hand. This unique
RFRadio frequency is a frequency, or rate of oscillation, of electromagnetic radiation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to the frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves...
box was also where the power supply connected in a unique dual power/television signal setup similar to the
RCA Studio IIThe RCA Studio II is a videogame console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two keypads...
's. A single cable coming out of the 5200 plugged into the switch box and was used for both electricity and the television signal.
The 1983 revision of the Atari 5200 has two controller ports instead of four, and a change back to the more conventional separate power supply and standard non-autoswitching RF switch. It also has changes in the cartridge port address lines to allow for the
Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
adapter released that year. While the adapter was only made to work on the two-port version, modifications can be made to the four-port to make it line-compatible. In fact, towards the end of the four-port model's production run, there were a limited number of consoles produced which included these modifications. These consoles can be identified by an asterisk in their serial number.
Controllers
The controller prototypes used in the electrical development lab used a yoke and gimbal mechanism that came from an RC airplane controller kit. This simple design gave very nice smooth linear control and was highly reliable. The production controllers were quite different and a great disappointment to the electrical and software development teams. The design of the
analog joystickAn analog stick, sometimes called a thumbstick, control stick, or occasionally a c-stick is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a popular variation of a joystick. It consists of some sort of protrusion from the controller, and the input is...
, which used a weak rubber boot rather than springs to provide centering, proved to be ungainly and unreliable. They ultimately alienated consumers and quickly became the
Achilles' heelAn Achilles’ heel is a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength, that can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, metaphorical references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.The strongest and...
of the system due to their combination of an overly complex mechanical design with a very low-cost internal flex circuit system. Another major flaw of the controllers was that the design did not translate into a linear acceleration from the center through the arc of the stick travel. This made control awkward. The controller also had a tendency to lock up. Fixing the lock up required the mechanics to be very loose fitting which gave the controller generally a sloppy feel. The controllers did, however, include a pause button, a novelty at the time that would become standard on almost all future game systems. Various third party replacement joysticks were also released.
Atari Inc. released the Pro-Line
Trak-BallA trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor. Large...
controller for the system, which was almost as large as the 5200 itself.
A paddle controller and an updated self-centering version of the original controller were also in development, but never made it to market.
The primary controller was ranked the 10th worst video game controller by
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
editor
Craig HarrisCraig Harris is a video game journalist working for IGN as the Executive Editor of the IGN Nintendo Team. He has written numerous reviews and previews of Nintendo DS games. It was recently revealed on IGN's "Game Scoop" podcast that Craig Harris is fast approaching his 1,000th review on the site...
.
Internal differences between the 5200 and the 400/800
Although the Atari 5200's internal design was extensively based on that of the 400/800 home computers, the differences were sufficient that games designed for one would not run directly on the other.
One of the most obvious differences was the 5200's lack of a keyboard. However, there were several others:
- The 400/800's 10 KB operating system was replaced with a simpler 2 KB
The kilobyte is a unit of digital information storage equal to either 1,000 bytes or 1,024 bytes , depending on context....
BIOS, of which 1 KB is the built-in character set.
- A number of important registers, such as those of the GTIA and POKEY
Pokey may refer to:* Pokey the Penguin, a surrealistic online comic strip* Pokey , a character from the Gumby television series...
chips appear at different memory locations.
- The purpose of some registers changed slightly on the 5200.
- The 5200's analog joysticks required different input handling to the traditional digital joystick input on the 400/800. (However, the 5200 reassigned/rewired two of the 400/800's existing analog paddle
A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen...
registers for each bi-directional analog joystick input).
Atari Corp.'s later XE Games System revisited the idea of a console based on the 400/800 hardware. However, as this was essentially just a 65XE computer with a detachable keyboard, it was able to run most of the home computer titles directly.
Market failure
The Atari 5200 suffered from its software incompatibility with the
Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, though an adapter was later released in 1983 allowing it to play all Atari 2600 games, using the more reliable controllers native to that system.
Another problem was the lack of attention that Atari Inc. gave to the console; most of its resources went to the already oversaturated Atari 2600. It faced an uphill battle competing with the ColecoVision's head start and a faltering video game market.
At one point during the 5200's lifespan, Atari Inc. planned on developing a smaller cost-reduced version of the Atari 5200, which would have gotten rid of the controller storage bin. Code-named the "Atari 5100" (a.k.a. "Atari 5200 Jr."), only a few fully-working prototype Atari 5100s were made before the project was canceled.
On May 21, 1984, during a press conference at which the
Atari 7800The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in June 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 was designed to replace Atari Inc.'s unsuccessful Atari 5200 and later to re-establish Atari...
was introduced, company executives revealed that the 5200 had been discontinued. Total sales of the 5200 were reportedly in excess of 1 million units.
Technical specifications
- CPU: Custom MOS 6502C
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
@ 1.79 MHz (not a 65c02).
- Support Hardware: 2 custom VLSI chips
- Maximum Screen Resolution: 320×192 resolution, 16 (out of 256) on-screen colors per scan line. Palette can be changed at every scan line using ANTIC
ANTIC is an early video system chip used in the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers as well as the Atari 5200 in the 1980s.- Features :ANTIC's most notable features are:*14 different graphics/text modes*Display modes can be...
display list interrupts, allowing all 256 colors to be displayed at once.
- Graphics: ANTIC
ANTIC is an early video system chip used in the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers as well as the Atari 5200 in the 1980s.- Features :ANTIC's most notable features are:*14 different graphics/text modes*Display modes can be...
and GTIA
- Sound: 4-channel sound via the POKEY
Pokey may refer to:* Pokey the Penguin, a surrealistic online comic strip* Pokey , a character from the Gumby television series...
chip which also handles keyboard scanning, serial I/O, high resolution interrupt capable timers (single cycle accurate), and random number generation
- RAM: 16 KB
The kilobyte is a unit of digital information storage equal to either 1,000 bytes or 1,024 bytes , depending on context....
- ROM: 32 KB ROM window for standard game cartridges, expandable using bank switching
Bank switching was a technique common in 8-bit microcomputer systems, to increase the amount of addressable RAM and ROM without extending the address bus...
techniques. *2 KB on-board BIOS for system startup and interrupt routing
- Physical Size: 13" x 15" x 4.25"
External links