From Bushnell to Tramiel: The History of the Atari 8 bit

The history of the Atari 8 bit and a look inside the machines.

[@300BaudStudios]

Nicely done! I have allways liked the Atari 8-bit computer line.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

I really enjoyed your journey in history but I have to point out that Its a common misconception that the C64 had superior sound /video /speed capabilities. The truth is that it depends on the aspects of graphics and sound we choose to examine. i.e. C64 hardware sprite engine was more advanced compared to the A8 's older implementation of missle/player graphics but its faster architecture and cpu clock proved capable at moving colorful software sprites with combined hardware sprites equally fast and smooth. C64 ability on "on screen colors" was superior "out of the box" but not when programmers knew how to use the display list interrupts. Modern games on the A8 are far more colorful and diverse aesthetically from the same repetitive "dirty grey/purple" look of C64's games. I need to point out that I do love how programmers-artists used C64's colors to make attractive backgrounds and sprites from such a small palette.Limitations are not always bad in my opinion and some results are really impressive! (empire strikes back is a resent great example, I just like the use of grey color on sprites something common on C64 games). From the aspect of resolution C64 is a clear winner. Nothing can be done by Atari's original hardware that could increase the pixels on screen in a multi color graphic mode. In the sound department one can easily say that C64 was innovative and ahead of its time by including the SID chip but things started to change when groups of programmers from Eastern Europe started building music tools able to easily manipulate Pokey's frequencies through the extra power of the system's architecture. In mid 2000's the Pokey was able to emulate sawtooth sound waves, bass and even move graphics on the same time. In SFX Pokey was always more convincing and powerful with an extra channel offering a richer, noise-free result. C64's music capabilities are undeniable while the A8 machine manages to deliver pretty similar results with all its weaknesses but it offers a larger diversity in music character and metal. The SID emulation demonstrates those abilities and separates Pokey from the rest of square wave chips. Again I have to acknowledge that C64's bass is in a league of its own rendering it a better solution for a specific type of music and I am lucky to enjoy it. Lastly, on the issues of "speed" it was quickly understood that C64's forte. From its disk drives bus speed to fractal and pseudo 3d games it was obvious that its architecture was not the fastest out there. It was much faster and smoother compared to machines without graphic co processors and hardware scrolling solutions but when compared to Miner's old machine the grunt just wasn't there to surpass Miner's 3years old machine. The main different between those two machines is that, C64 has a well known high standard and quality aesthetic to its graphics and sound (since middle 90's) while the A8 has developed so many different "faces" during these last decades mainly because of new tools and techniques by enthusiasts that allow a huge diversity in what it can be produced by those custom chips.

[@dintyshideaway9505]

Thanks for the comment. The genius of both of these companies was that engineers had to sneak in improvements to sound and video as they were often seen as cost reduction opportunities. I think both platforms, (unconstrained) could have done a lot more.

[@petrok1rp254]

Tramiel killed Atari brand I guess...

[@dintyshideaway9505]

Well there is no doubt that he killed a lot of things, the TI99, small computer stores, and other stuff. But he revived and kept the 8 bit Atari platform going for years. I kind of applaud him for that.