Atari 7800 Officially 25 This Year (actually In May)

[triverse]

Well, the Atari 7800 turned 25 years old in May of this year.  Anyone have any good stories about it?

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

[E-Day]

The Master System is also 25 this year. Let's talk about that instead

[Kitsune]

The Master System is also 25 this year. Let's talk about that instead

Let's not. ~pttthhbbblllt!~ What for? Besides, once the SMS does turn 25, a thread can be made. So there, you philistine! I mean, um... Both consoles have their rightful place in history, and their rightful threads as well. ^_^

[Phillyman]

Let's not. ~pttthhbbblllt!~ What for? Besides, once the SMS does turn 25, a thread can be made. So there, you philistine! I mean, um... Both consoles have their rightful place in history, and their rightful threads as well. ^_^

Well said, you tell E-Day to stop derailing threads

[E-Day]

Well, someone talk about the 7800 then. I only ever heard about it well after it had died. I don't remember ever seeing it in stores either.

[Kitsune]

Well, someone talk about the 7800 then. I only ever heard about it well after it had died. I don't remember ever seeing it in stores either.

All right. I have one. It still works. And it is about 98% backwards compatible with 2600 carts. Not all of them work, but most of them do.

The 7800 was actually ready to go in 1983, right before the crash, and there are a few of the older magazines (Electronic Games and Videogaming Illustrated I know for certain) that wrote in some detail about the console. It was groundbreaking technology in 1983, but the then owner of Atari, Jack Tramiel erroneously decided to focus on Atari's home computer market instead. I wonder if the crash would have been as bad, or would it have even happened if the 7800 had been released when it was ready? It would have been the next-gen console of it's day, the first one with backwards compatibility.

Happy now, E-day? ^_^

[triverse]

[stepping over e-day's prone body to enter topic after he got slapped by Kitsune there]

I remember having an Atari 7800 shortly after they launched officially (my father was a big Pro American type and didn't want that foreign gaming system in the house-he later recanted after playing Top Gun or some other simulation type game at a local store).  I had Food Fight and a copy of Jr. Pac-Man, that was it for years (games were in extreme short supply where I lived, you either got NES or 2600 games for the most part or got your games at yard sales).  Fond memories.  I remember playing Maze Craze, or at least trying to and being disheartened because it would not work for some reason on my 7800.