History of video games/Platforms/Atari 5200

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  The Atari 5200 with controller attached.

History

Atari 5200 Joystick schematic.

Launch

Atari 5200 Logotype.

The Atari 5200 was released in the United States of America in the summer of 1982 at a cost of $270.

The console struggled in the market, as regular consumers did not like that the 5200 could not play their old 2600 games they owned. While backwards compatibility as a concept was novel to game systems at the time, a lack of support for old games harmed sales. Complicating matters, poor coordination by Atari lead to 2600 games flooding the market after the Atari 5200 release, which probably harmed the success of the system by not only reducing the incentive to upgrade, but also by releasing major games that would be incompatible with the 5200.

Legacy

Production of the Atari 5200 ceased by May 21st, 1984 as Atari announced the successor system - the Atari 7800. Over one million Atari 5200 consoles were sold.

Technology

The Atari 5200 was based on the Atari 400 computer and used an 8-bit 6502C CPU clocked at 1.79 megahertz. The Atari 5200 has 16 kilobytes of RAM. The Atari 5200 had 2 kilobytes of storage for its BIOS.

By being based off of Atari home computers, game ports from these computers to the 5200 were supposed to be easier. The trade off was a radically different architecture from the prior Atari 2600, potentially resulting in less portability between the two.

Notable games

Wikipedia has a list of Atari 5200 games.

Special Editions

A special version of the 5200 was made for use in hotels.

Gallery

4 Port Console

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  The Atari 5200 features four ports on the front of the console, an improvement of the two port back mounted ports of the Atari 2600.
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  The console has a storage compartment in the back.
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  This compartment is sized to store two standard controllers.
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  The bottom of the Atari 5200 features a cable management system to reduce clutter. The expansion port can also be seen.

Controllers

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  The large trak ball controller.

Other items

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  The 5200 Switchbox, which somewhat uniquely handles AV and power.
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  The Atari 5200 Power Supply, which plugs into the switchbox instead of the console.
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  An Atari 5200 Cartridge. Ends of the cartridges are unlabeled, a common complaint among owners.

Internals

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  The Power and AV cable curves through a notch in the motherboard.
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  The Atari 5200 uses hefty RF shielding.
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  4 controller ports are connected directly to the Motherboard.
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  Metal shielding on the Motherboard is used with the RF shielding to isolate noisy components.
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  An unused expansion port is on the right.
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  A passive heatsink can be seen on the left.
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  Chips on the motherboard are arranged in rectangular banks.