The Atari 5200 - What's WRONG with It?

[@mrmojorisin8752]

My comments on this video-As someone who’s been selling Atari 2600/5200/7800 consoles online for 25 years, as well as a ton of Colecovisions: the 5200 has been the most electronically sound and reliable of all the consoles. You do need to buy a refurbished controller, yes, but my personal one has been fine for 4 years and counting. The 5200 library is fabulous and eminently collectible, because there are few hyper expensive games. There have been various adapters (for example, through AtariAge) that allow standard controllers to be attached to the 5200. The controllers work great for many games (Defender, Soccer, Missile Command, as noted) and otherwise take some getting used to. Since this KZbinr seems to have purchased his 5200 shortly before making the video, I’d urge him to give the controllers some time. The lengthy complaints about disassembly strike me as silly. My 1982 launch 5200 still works fine and there’s never been a need to disassemble. As a collector, I don’t like the 5200 quite as much as the Colecovision….but I can’t play Space Dungeon, Dreadnaught Factor, Robotron, or others on the CV. Glad I have both systems.

[@thepthepthep]

My 5200 had apparently been in a flood when I bought it, just needed some cleaning and it actually worked perfectly fine. 19 years and a few mods later, I still haven't had to repair or replace anything on it.

[@louisdepaul9356]

Do you still sell 5200's, I loved mine.

[@VdrummerStixx777]

I loved my 5200 back in the day. The controllers where always an issue especially in humidity, believe the glue or something they used stop making the fire buttons work. Real Sports Baseball for the 5200 was an awesome game. Playing Pac Man and pole position was so much better than the 2600 versions.

[@ocpud2999]

I had it too I had kangaroo Pac-Man and jungle hunt and Mario brothers I had a blast with it but had to get spare joysticks they broke easily

[@Swanlord05]

It was an awesome system The controllers were way ahead of its time....they just didn't center

[@almostliterally593]

I actually prefer Pole Poſition on 2600, as far as gameplay goes. Pole Poſition II on 7800 is a better game þan boþ þo.

[@scaramouche8244]

Missile Command was great.

[@JeffSmith03]

This is not a "conspiracy" theory but I seriously believe that even if the original membrane button technology was not intended to fail so quickly, they started to spend all their funding on developing contacts that would be certain to fail in a controlled length of time. Why on earth would a big company intentionally make the product so good people had no need to keep buying again.

[@atarileaf]

I'm an Atari 8 bit computer fan. All the same games for the most part as the 5200 but no poor controls and a massive library that the 5200 can't touch

[@ks-bg5uk]

I am an avid 8bit owner since 84 but also grew up on the 5200. While the 8bit does have a ton of games the 5200 has advantages with analog controls. With modern upgrades to the stock controller or alternative controllers, control is not an issue today. There are exclusive titles using keypads like the new Tron Intellidiscs game or Real Sports Baseball.

[@SoulforSale]

You mean more than 54 games?

[@sandal_thong8631]

When I heard the computers were 8-bit and could have been compatible with the 5200, I thought Atari was really stupid not to make the cartridges interchangeable. But by 1982-3 they were on a suicide pact or something. They owned the console market and destroyed it.

[@tom11zz884]

The way those joysticks broke so frequently was criminal Should have been a class action lawsuit with Atari over that

[@Swanlord05]

We didn't sue people back then u snow flaker

[@8BitNaptime]

@@Swanlord05 ok boomer en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

[@SeanOMatic]

@@8BitNaptime The 5200 was discontinued a DECADE before that McDonald's case, youngster.

[@8BitNaptime]

​@@SeanOMatic Class action suits existed before then. I doubt that "people didn't sue people" as Jim asserted. He's reminiscing about a past that never existed.

[@SeanOMatic]

@@8BitNaptime The sue-happy culture started in the 90s, though.

[@bigfootontherocks]

Try Defender on the Atari 5200. Absolutely one of the best ports of an arcade game. The controller when using defender is amazing, such precision control. left a little turns your around, left a lot starts thrusters. Using the new gold flex circuit and fire buttons makes your dame shots light up the entire screen. One of the most intense games for any 80s console. Try playing games that were designed for the controller not your friggin wimpy PacMan, Kangaroo, Pengo, Pitfall. Games that rock on the Atari 5200,: Defender, Missile Command, Space Dungeon, Joust, Robotron, River Raid, Dreadnaught Factor, Space Invaders and the Tempest home brew with a spinner adapted because yes it's just the X axis on the amazing trackball.

[@greggraham2642]

I second this sentiment. I practically wore out my controllers on Robotron. It was a fantastic game on the 5200.

[@jasonking3182]

It’s amazing to look at controllers before the nes and after.

[@ClamBake7525]

I liked my 5200 back in the '80's, it was the two controller version, the controllers were poorly constructed and thats what hurt it bad, I thought the games were great.

[@jobadirk6371]

Those controllers truly are awful

[@sandal_thong8631]

The first joystick controllers of the VCS/2600 were bad, so they replaced them with better ones a year later (1978). So if the 5200 had sold, they probably would have had better controllers by 4th quarter 1983.

[@ComPavel]

I had one also, and I went through so many controllers! Did end up buying the trakball for missile command. The games and the graphics, though we’re excellent

[@NewsmakersGames]

Stay tuned for part 2!

[@EugenioAngueira]

I didn't get at 5200 until the early 2000's because I really wanted to give the console a chance. I really don't regret getting it but I did get gold-upgraded joysticks and a Wico controller to have a self-centering joystick.

[@kenrutherford1109]

I wanted a 5200 but my mom wouldn't let me have one

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@kenrutherford1109 "You already have an Atari"

[@cxk7127]

I'm a HUGE Atari fan. One of my favorite consoles it the 5200.... once you get past the controller issues (I got mine replaced from Best Electronics) and now find myself playing it every few days. The whole system (the hardware, the environment in which it was born, the time, and the looming video game crash) made it a very unique system.. especially in retrospect. It gets more hate than it should, but it is not without its many many faults. Great video! Looking forward to Part 2!

[@markwood3440]

I had one too ,I loved it but didn't love the controls though.

[@xxxyyy6076]

I never understood why Atari made the 5200 rather than making a game system fully compatible with the 8 bit line. They eventually made one during the Tramiel era, but if they had released something like the XE game system instead of the 5200, it would have had more games.

[@ChadQuick270W]

I got an Atari 5200 for Christmas 1982. I actually liked the system and the games, but the controllers were just horrible. The four port model had a unique RF box which was cool (just my opinion). I remember taking some of my Christmas money and buying a Wico controller which made the games playable. For me the major Achilles Heel was definitely the standard 5200 controllers. Great channel and I’m enjoying the videos a lot 👍

[@JetSetWealthStyle-1973]

Me too I still have mine and its the 4 port version...my question is where did he get this clean / new looking console shown in the opening? lol

[@rictor]

I have a modernized 5200 that connects to a HDTV via RCA cables with a modernized custom made controller that works very well. It is still a blast to play. I love the home brew games that have been made for it. One of these days Galaga will finally be made.

[@Swanlord05]

Make a video show us the system

[@JustMe99999]

The 2600 home brew version of Galaga is almost arcade perfect... definitely do-able on the 5200.

[@visionop8]

My father bought this console back when I was a baby. He told me that he was under the impression he would be able to use Atari 8-bit computer games on it as well as 5200 games. In the end, he only used it for Galaxian and Super Breakout. When I finally got old enough to hold a controller around 87-88, I just found the damned thing unwieldy. Centipede was pretty good in graphics and control as was Super Breakout, but when I tried to play Vanguard, Countermeasure, Pac Man, Mario Bros. and Qix, I wanted to pull my hair out. Not to mention that I was already actuating the start and pause buttons with a flat head screwdriver because the rubber buttons fell out of the controller, yes, my parents trusted a 7 year old with a screwdriver lol. I have very fond memories of being little and watching my parents play Atari 5200 video games on friday nights, but that's really all it holds for me. Still, it's fun to learn about this platform from the crazy interesting days when no one even knew that this form of entertainment was actually here to stay.

[@damatar]

As a kid, I drooled over the 5200. I had a friend who had one, who would cruelly trot it out on the weekend, play one game, then say his dad (who was huge) wouldn't let any of his friends play it, then put it away. Never got one of my own. :/

[@Bren39]

That's pretty cruel. I hope you're well recovered from that trauma. A friend of mine did that to me with an air rifle.. Except he got to shoot and I just trotted along.

[@Goldnfoxx]

ROFL. I had a friend like that, too, except it was his ColecoVision. He'd invite me over to play the thing (on his giant-ass rear-projection TV, no less), let me play one game of Donkey Kong and one game of Donkey Kong, Jr., and that was it. After that, it was, "Welp, that's all my dad'll let us play, I guess. Time to go back out and ride bikes. And attempt to steal your Legend of the Lone Ranger actions figures, for some damn reason..."

[@wmelliott3802]

That was definitely not a real friend. Sad some kids are dickheads.

[@tobycanrun]

He put it away quickly because it was about malfunction

[@nickpalance3622]

Best console I owned! It exceeded my expectations. I had so much fun with it as a 10-11 year old. No regrets. But I did pick it up for only $149 at K-Mart (which opened locally earlier that year in 1983). I tolerated the joystick. Got the Wico one eventually. Got the Trak Ball. That thing was soooo nice. I loved the looks of the console. I loved the graphics and sound. And that comment in the video about the quality. Spot on! The 2600 had a lot garbage being produced that last year or two. And some of it from Atari themselves! Let’s take a look. All of you who actually liked the Intellivision controller , raise your hand. And those who “preferred” it (didn’t say liked it) over the 5200 raise your hand. I know there are some out there. I’m simply not one. Liked the 520 joystick more. And same goes for the Colecovision controller. The Coleco got cheap and my dad got one without my asking. It’s nice. But I liked my 5200 more. This proves nothing because this is all purely subjective. Can’t generalize. People will try. But whatever. Playing Pac-Man with the Analog stick wasn’t much worse than it would be on an Apple II or an IBM PC which had analog sticks. Only theirs centered. But while Coleco was 8-way, that stubby little thing was not the best either. Win some. Loose some. Small library. But could I afford to get every title? No! What actually mattered is many/most titles I wanted to play were from the big publishers and they were available. With Colecovision coming in 2nd. And Intellivision far behind. IMHO

[@SoulforSale]

By that last year or two do you mean 91-92?

[@nickpalance3622]

@@SoulforSale it’s been over a year since I wrote that so I’m going to have to say no. I remember the “2600 jr” (as I’ve seen it called nowadays) being advertised in the later 80s (tv commercials singing “the fun is back oh yes-er-ie it’s the 2600 from Atari” or something like that.. and “under 50 bucks? 50 bucks!”). But while I read about the 7800 with great interest in video game magazines in 1984 (I’d read copies of Electronic Games at the news stand, I only ever had $ for a handful of issues to buy in my youth) that system was stillborn until about 1986. I did get a 7800. But I didn’t get many games. It was .. “meh”. And I had moved on to an Atari 800XL. The games on floppy disk (ah, my trusty 1050 disk drive) were sooooo beyond what I could get in a home console. Like a 64K 5200. And then I got a modem (XM301, later an SX212) and I read postings about “Jay Miner” and his work at Atari and then Amiga. Then I got hands on time with an Amiga and in late 1988 I had a used Amiga 1000. There was no looking back at the 2600. By that time I probably figured it was dead again. I certainly don’t remember seeing any 2600 titles for sale. Just the XEGS - which I was aware of since I (still) had my 800XL and 130XE. Too bad Atari didn’t do that several years earlier. Would’ve been a game changer I think. The concept of Coleco Adam and Intellivision “keyboard component” but one that actually works and works well. Very insidious way to get a real computer into homes. Kids start off popping in ROM carts then you get a floppy disk drive for more sophisticated games. Then you do your book reports on the system. I think I had games in mind like ET. I know everyone brings that up but I did have it and didn’t play it much. I did, however, like Raiders Of The Lost Ark (also by Howard Scott Warshaw) but I didn’t have it though my friend down the street did (where we played it, and Yars Revenge). Raiders wasn’t the usual kind of game.. more like an adventure game you’d come to expect in later years. No side quests but still story based and not completely linear. I owned Adventure and loved that too. Those duck-dragons still scare me decades later. I could think of some more games but there were so many that it should be easy to find some stinkers based on anyone’s opinions. And I feel lazy right now. It’s only in recent times that I’ve learned that there were some (very) late 2600 games that really pushed the boundaries of what the platform could do. And KZbin has helped me to relive these memories I never had. Although I was dedicating my time to Amiga then, it’s nice to see what its ancestor system could do.

[@SoulforSale]

@@nickpalance3622 my experience with the Amiga was using it to connect to local BBS to download shareware and freeware. I only owned a few actual games for it so the Amiga mini holds no interest for me although the system itself is quite nostalgic the Atari 2600 had a lot of shovelware in the early to late eighties but it's lifespan was 78-92 and there were quite a few gems released for that platform

[@markwood3440]

I had both systems, and I agree with you ,the intellivision controls sucked. But the graphics were really good on the 5200.

[@seansack609]

Great work guys... quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. I think Atari 's hubris caused the downfall of the 5200. I think they failed to realize that the consumer would tolerate "good enough" in quality and creativity. I also think the high price would have been justified had they included adapters with the unit.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Speech was an add-on that sounded cool, but not many people wanted to buy for other systems, so few games used it. That could have been a cool thing to have with the console or computer.

[@jacobjones9071]

I love the look of the 5200, and I think most of the games are pretty good, it's a shame it has a lot of issues

[@jobadirk6371]

a modern re-release would be nice

[@ASTR0TALKSPHILOSOPHY]

@@jobadirk6371 no one's gonna want an atari 5200 remade

[@stefanweilhartner4415]

@@jobadirk6371 at the end, the 7800 was the successor where they fixed all these issues. sadly, they locked out a lot of 3rd party developers by implementing a kind of checksum/hash algorithm for the rom that - of course - was not public.

[@Sinn0100]

It might be bigger than a Neo Geo AES (it really is) and a close second to the PlayStation 5 in girth but it sure does look neat. Had Atari simply made controllers that worked I believe it could have been a hit and the video games crash might not have been as bad. I still think the arcades were going to burn but they were the one's to really mess things up first.

[@NewsmakersGames]

What video game console would you like us to cover next time?

[@seansack609]

Bally astrocade, sega sg1000, vextrex

[@meneerjansen00]

Every console has been reviewed to death on KZbin the last few years I'm afraid...

[@gagnepi67]

TI-99 4/A

[@ddarko08]

Would love to see you cover the Vectrex!

[@nickpalance3622]

YOUR HEAD A SPLODE Couldn’t resist. Google it if you don’t get the reference.

[@jobadirk6371]

I can't say I have any interest in owning a 5200 myself, still fun to learn about

[@kenrutherford1109]

I never owned the 5200, but I did have the 2600 and my mom made me give it away

[@sandal_thong8631]

I had a chance to buy one at a thrift store with some games, but it was likely broken since people disposed of their broken electronics and electrics to thrift stores thinking they would fix them. I got a C-64 instead, and it didn't work.

[@HerculesMays]

Very good chance the games were still fine though.

[@sara31773]

We had the 5200 and we loved it but with the terrible controllers there was a fair amount of frustration.

[@JoesPhenomenal]

Great video... brings me right back to my childhood. I went from the 2600... straight to the C64... Then Amiga 500. Loved my Amiga.

[@NewsmakersGames]

We've wanted to pick up an Amiga to cover on our other channel for a long time now. Such a good platform

[@JoesPhenomenal]

@@NewsmakersGames I remember Amiga had their own specialty store.... Almost like going to an apple store... Or actually more like an old Century 23.

[@meneerjansen00]

The almighty C64. Nothing could touch it. The Amiga 500 was also great, but it's games appeared (later on) on the Genesis and the SNES so it was less iconic IMHO. And then there was that poor old Amiga 1200. Nobody could win from the PC at that point in time even though the 1200 was better.

[@JoesPhenomenal]

@@meneerjansen00 yeah.. Loved that c64.... Wonder what I did with that thing... Hmm

[@nickpalance3622]

And I’m sure everyone knows the Jay Miner connection between the Atari 8bits/5200 and the Amiga. Right?

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

Nice documentary! I acquired an Atari 5200 recently. An old four port model. Need to send it off for an output modification, and will be getting a more reliable modern controller for it. The Atari 5200 is a great home video game console though admittedly it does have it's share of issues. Nothing which can't be overcome though.

[@KaneRobot]

My first console. Got it as a hand-me-down from an older neighbor kid getting out of video games. This was like 85 so the game market was pretty much dead, but a little kid like me didn't know that. The games were all like 10 bucks so I had plenty of them. When I got an NES like 3 years later the $50 standard price for a game was a pretty big adjustment for my parents I'm sure.

[@MatrixRoland]

I loved the analog joystick. It worked great. The red side buttons were the parts of the controllers that had issues.

[@speculative]

I agree. The joystick was perfect for games like Super Breakout and Qix. I will admit that it took some skill to use it to play games like Pitfall 2 though. (Especially when you have to climb on and off ladders while avoiding the jumping frogs.)

[@NewsmakersGames]

So what do you think? Is the Atari 5200 one of the worst consoles of all time, or is it underappreciated?

[@meneerjansen00]

Probably worse considering the controller.

[@Nummer6]

I love mine! And I had to import it back then since it wasn't released in Germany. No regrets, still use it today. My favorite system (and I own quite a few).

[@nickpalance3622]

Personal preferences. Was Duran Duran better than the Clash? 🎼The wolf don’t like it. Rock the reflex. Rock the reflex.🎸🎹

[@nickpalance3622]

The Intellivision tried so hard to show it was better. Especially with sports titles. But the arcade games had better window dressing held back by what I think was an awful disc controller. The knock off games were meh. By the time it’s price came down the 5200 and Colecovision were out. Both with better controllers. I said both. Trade offs is the name of the game. The 5200 felt better in my hand but it didn’t center. The Coleco was classic 8-way control but the stubby little thing cramped your hand after a little bit. Both of these had better graphics and sound over the Intellivision. And yet the 2600 had the library. That’s life.

[@cainishere9921]

The Atari 5200 did not have the consumer appeal that the Atari 2600 had. The kids loved the games but the system was too bulky and fragile..

[@CasperEgas]

That they didn't even bother to release it in Europe says a whole lot. Never played one.

[@Timberwolf0952]

My dad bought me a 5200 when I was five or six and it was my first video game, we didn’t know any better how bad the controller was but I adored the system. Had this weird game called Quest for Quintana Roo or something that I think 3 people on planet earth know about.

[@chazcov08]

Funny how I never heard how bad it was until Millennials and Gen Zers (read: children) started getting into retro games. I got mine in 1982 right when it came out, and every kid on my block wanted to come over and play the games. It wasn't a failure at all in my world.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Sir Nolan Bushnell and Atari, also helped paved the internet by inspiring sir Steve Wozniak to build the Apple 1, coz' he wanted to play games at home and the Apple 1 paved the way for computers and thus servers to be cheap enough to become the internet. God bless, Rev. 21:4

[@jamescorvett]

My parents bought the 5200, over the 2600, when it came out. They paid $330 at Target and all of the games were anywhere from $59.99-$69.99. So we didnt get any games for a long while. It came with Super breakout and Defender i think, but could have been Mario Bro. I thought it was great looked as good as most arcade machines and I played enough of those to buy several 5200s. lol But those controllers did have issues most games came with a card over-lay and if the buttons didnt work it was a problem with some games, like stuck on 1 player. I still own the system today, replaced the controllers plastic circuit boards, bought 4 on fleabay for under $15. And it works great ! I picked up most of the games cheap locally over the years too. The trac-ball is the only thing i never picked up but wished i had. a few play much better with it imo but they're to pricey even used imo.

[@mikelitoris9610]

I never realized “Target” has been around that long

[@ComicBookNostalgia]

What i remember so clearly when i got my 800xl was the 'pirate' atari friends who had collections of 5200 games that would just run as roms on atari 8bit

[@ddarko08]

Ahhhh, those good old days!!

[@cjrizzo]

Excellent video. You overlooked one giant flaw that most people point out - the combination RF/Power Supply. This was a frequently failing part on the system.

[@markwood3440]

Good point, I REMEMBER THAT about that system. It was really good for it's time it was AWESOME. The controls weren't good though.

[@robdiehl239]

My first gaming console as a child was the Atari 5200. It really is a shame how bad the controllers were. If they just didn't fail over time, the non-centering could be overlooked. They were brilliant controllers for games like Super Breakout and Star Wars. WHEN THEY WORKED.

[@richarnold5323]

I really really loved my Atari 5200 system I got new in '83, and still have the main cover of the box it came in ( buried deep in a closet ). Games were generally awesome and actually looked and played like the arcade versions. I didn't hate the controller - it merely required a little more finesse instead of jerking like a madman. I liked that it did not snap to center, and playing Pac-Man required a bit of leaning into the curve, meaning you moved the stick a beat before reaching the turn. Biggest joystick issue was that printed circut sheet behind the buttons - it failed too much, so buttons may not work - a problem when you need to punch failsafe codes in Countermeasures. It was always hard to find replacement controllers - even in the early 80s! GAFFE that you did not mention the trackball controller. I had this and it was awesome for Centipede, Missile Command, & Ballblazer. I still have the game cartridges - maybe a dozen or so.

[@rook1196]

I thought it was the best controller at the time and way better than the 7800s controller.

[@CrayyyCrayyy]

The Atari 5200 was the Best system I have ever owned because I love the Classic Arcade games and on the 5200 the games look almost exactly like the stand up arcade games including the Intermissions on Mrs. Pac-man :)

[@johnathanstevens8436]

Coming from an Atari 2600, VIC-20 and TS1000 I thought the Atari 5200 was great .. the NES wasn't on the scene yet. 5200 was an Atari 400 with different memory addresses.

[@ArthurAllen2]

The 5200 with Trac-Ball was not bad. And the best advantage of the two-port system is that it had a standard RF output and not the one you plug in through the power system that caused sparks. Another "what were they thinking?" feature. Sega was another 3rd party provider, adapting their Star Trek game. For a high school project, I created a digital joystick for the 5200, which only worked okay. I would have been better off creating an adapter for a 2600 stick but that would have meant buying a good 3rd party controller, which was beyond my budget.

[@wiredupretro]

Very cool school project!

[@humanbeing2420]

15:06 You should avoid using these cheesy stock video pieces in your content. They're irritating.

[@elketerbentzadik]

I loved my 5200. It had better graphics and sound. The design was way sexier than the 2600. I even liked the controller but sadly the technology wasn't reliable at all.

[@FilmScoreSpotlight]

I loved my Atari 5200. Yeah the controller took some getting used too, but once you got used to it, it was a great game system! I never had any problems with mine.

[@wilsvgaddiction4456]

No mention of the power adapter plugging into the rf adaper? That's a big sh*t show too.

[@CardiacCat]

I had the 4 port edition of the 5200 and the games were great for the time. The downside was the non-centering controller. I didn't even hate the feel of the controller, but the fact that it would not center made it really bad for games like the Pacman series. Anything that needed 4 way auto centering was awful to play. There was also the rubber boot around the joystick which would tear and leave you with a really bad looking controller.

[@theantithesis1]

I wouldn't call thinking the 2600 wouldn't last long hubris. Maybe presumptuous.

[@farscape1714]

Would of been nice to see some game play .

[@stephens4175]

got one of these as a kid in the 80s when they were selling them off cheap but as a gift, had it till 2006, kept it in impeccable shape but after years of being stored and not used , it wouldn't turn on one day, so I got rid of it, but then about 6 months ago I bought another one at a vintage shop and it works perfectly, but with one controller , it came with 8 games, and the controller still works perfectly, but the storage door is broken bad so I'll get another one online, but I do love the games on it and want to get a wico controller for it, and preserve the original.. this system with all its problems has a special place in my heart as a kid that finally got his own system at the age of 12. by the way....loved the informative video.

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

We owned a 5200 and I wanted to love it so much more than I ever did. The obvious issue is that control pad but I always wished it had far more games to actually get people interested.

[@geraldford6409]

5200 was too little too late, for too much money at the time of release. The crash reduced prices to clearance, so we picked one up around that time. The 7800 should have been the 5200, if released within that year with similar pricing. Or just the XEGS, or could have been called the XLGS in 82-83. THat was the problem with Atari- too many similar tech machines that should have been compatible around the mid 80s- 5200, 8 bit 400/800/XL/XE's, 7800, then finally XEGS that should have been the 5200 to begin with. If the 5200 had been with XEGS in 1982, with possibly 2600 compatibility built in or low cost add on, it could have been a hit, assuming it could run and use all 8 bit Atari computer software and hardware peripherals- disc drive, tape drive, printers, modems, etc

[@josephkanowitz6875]

ב''ה, and now we're lucky just to afford food.

[@Hologhoul]

Controller issues sounds inexcusable, but nothing wrong otherwise. A console, along with Colecovision, for which games were staring to approximate their arcade counterparts. Games that are still fun to play - Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Super Cobra, Defender.... I moved from VCS 2600 to home computers, but I'd have been delighted to own a 5200. I can't recall exactly, but I think the home computers were just being marketed well and had strong presence in stores. I don't remember considering the 5200 but I'm sure I would have done had it been readily available and promoted well.

[@jacobjones9071]

The rapid release of, and then cancelation of the 5200 really hurt Atari's later (better) systems like the 7800 and the XEGS

[@nickpalance3622]

I don’t see it that way. The 7800 promo photos looked cool. Usually showing the Sphinx game. Desert Falcon. I was interested in 1984. But then it didn’t come out. As a kid I didn’t know it saw limited release in a test market. Christmas’84 we got an 800XL. Who needs a video came console? Nobody told me that there was a crash going on. But I could see that 64k and a disk drive did a whole lot more. That’s where things were going. Mattel tried to make a decent Keyboard Component and that was a hot mess. We know the Coleco Adam too well (I just picked one in box!). The local Sears had Franklin Ace Apple II clones and the Atari 8bits. It was an easy choice. Peak Atari. Commodore was starting to win the price war but who knew. Lots is power for the price for all. The NES killed the 7800. And its specs. The 2600 TIA chip for sound?!? The games looked only slightly better than the 5200. The 7800 needed to come out in 1983 and with their POKEY chip as standard. But in 1986 it was too little too late. Actually the XEGS was what Mattel and Coleco were trying to do. But Atari didn’t do it until 1987. Too late. No marketing. No retail support. It was all about the NES. In 1982 a d 1983 Atari would have killed it with the XEGS. But too much would have / could have in Sunnyvale, CA. Then Tramiel happened. Oh well.

[@jeffjackson9679]

Don't know if I would consider the 7800 that much better. It had marginally better graphics, but the sound was awful (save a couple games that had a sound chip built in). Kind of a wierd system, had NES level graphics with 2600 sound.

[@ViciousAlienKlown]

I had a 5200 when it first came out and I really liked it. Yeah the controllers were prone to break but the games were cool.

[@tomosman3137]

I had one, I never hated it. The controllers confused me, but I still played it.

[@BallparkEGuides]

I own a 5200 thanks to the largesse of a friend, and in its evaluation I would mostly agree with your point about the controllers. They are difficult to use and extremely fragile, which is baffling considering Atari's reputation at the time the system was released. The games, however, weren't bad at all. They did an excellent job reproducing Pac-Man, Defender, Pole Position and some others, certainly better than the 2600 did. Ballblazer is awesome, I love that game! But yes, the controllers were bad enough to make you yearn for the simplicity and durability of the 2600 joystick...which is saying something. I'm surprised you didn't mention that the system came only with joystick controllers, and it was packaged with Super Breakout, one of the all-time classic paddle games. That game actually wasn't bad, but that was a huge "WTH?" to me. My father was the circulation director for Electronic Games magazine...if you are my age and enjoy these videos I'm sure you remember the magazine. He once took me to NYC to meet Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel, the editors. They were great guys and they clearly had as great a love for these games as anyone. It was a real shock when I asked Arnie about the 5200 and he gave me a thumbs down with a look of disdain on his face. They were well known for being pro-Atari in their reviews and coverage, but that wasn't the case after the 5200. Also, as someone who was addicted to Tempest in the arcade (it's STILL my favorite video game of all time) it always stuck in my mind that Tempest fans fully expected a home version for the 5200 to be available at some point. Atari would hint at it in the media, but 5200 Tempest never did become a reality...at least not until decades later. Just my opinion, but I think that hurt Atari's reputation among consumers too. It's hard not to think that the bean counters were running the show at Atari by this point and were overruling programmers' suggestions (E.T. anyone?), and when you think about how a few programmers broke off to form Activision and that Activision still exists today, it says a lot. Love the videos, great job! Fun walking down memory lane and remembering the times.

[@ratspam7655]

The Atari 400 was originally going to be the game console to replace the VCS and they decided to add a membrane keyboard at the last minute to be able to sell Star Raiders as the killer app.

[@InfiniteLoop]

Good video so far, I’ll probably subscribe but are the cuts to the fake people really necessary? They’re kinda like canned laughter in a tv show.

[@Lynxan]

I don't recall what year it was, but I was given one of these in my early years, but there was one problem, it was one of the systems that ran the power down the video cable and back then I didn't know how to plug it in since I wasn't given the box or the power cable.

[@cpm1003]

I'd say the 2600 was one of the worst systems, despite its popularity. The processor spent most of its time just drawing the screen. It was very primitive due to the high cost of ICs when it was designed. I had a 2600 back then, and it's funny how bad the games look now on an emulator, compared to my 40yo memory. But even back then, the 2600 version of Pac-Man was obviously awful.

[@chefjrmz]

I had two of these systems. The first one started having controller issues and the aftermarket ones didn't work either. My father, who worked for Hewlett Packard, couldn't get it fixed either. Toys R US didn't sell original controllers and said you have to oder from Atari. At the time, one would cost almost as much as a new system. So dad did that. I noticed the difference in control ports as well as the different way to wire up the whole thing. Overall though I really liked it. Had the trakball as well which made Centipede so much better. I even could play well with my feet lol. Although it doesn't get many praises, I played Star Raiders a bunch. It had a real difficulty increase, reward for performance, and a definitive mission instead of endless screen loops. It also was the only.real game to need the keypad and overlays. Owning 2 of these back then I found that it was probably the only time I was a significant percentage of a market given how few they sold.

[@paulj0557tonehead]

I loved my 5200 I found with over 20 games at a thrift store back in 1994 for $27! The buttons stopped working, but luck would have it we used pure silver screen printing ink at my industrial screen printing job. So I took a bic pen into the printing room and poured a little of the $2,000 pint pure silver ink (paint, but called ink in screen printing) into the pen cylinder, I put a plug on both ends of the pen cylinder and took it home to brush a little onto my 5200's button contact traces. I used that ink for years to fix button pads on various things. More recently I found a dual pen kit that you use to fix PC board traces with. Looks just like the silver ink. The other pen is a clear coat. Just don't use the clear coat.

[@tron3entertainment]

I had an Atari 2600. Though I had hours of great fun with it, I lamented the money I spent on it when I moved to a home computer. TI-99/4A, which also doubled as my video game entertainment system. Spent tons of money on that as well.

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

Will be including a recommendation, and a link to both of your videos on my channel's video introducing Atari 5200 gaming to the channel Friday.

[@sirdonkey3001]

Greetings, I love your channel, my first console was in 1986 when I was 6 years old, for me it was something magical because only one cousin had it and the rest I saw in all homes the 2600 that I also liked but it was visible overshadowed in graphics and sound by the 5200, it came with Pacman, absolutely everything you say is true, surely my father spent a lot of money because he also bought the following: -cartridges: Centipede, Joust, Dig Dug, Moon Patrol, Galaxian, Countermeasure, Pole Position, Mario Bros, Real Soccer, Real Tennis, Defender. Track Ball Controller, VCS 2600 Adapter (I think you forgot to mention that you also needed to have the 9-pin 2600 controls to play, it was practically better to buy an Atari 2600 by itself).

[@Huntertainment1]

Damn I had one as a little kid in the 80s and loved it. I had no idea there were all these hangups. Thanks for the vid. Good info.

[@skstills4621]

With the shield, you can break off those metal twist spikes and replace them with small screws and nut on top. I Forget if you had to drill on the bottom shield or not? Saw a post long ago someone using screws and I copied them; it can be done and quite easy to keep/open the shield

[@JeffSmith03]

My friend knew I could fix anything electronic so handed me a completely busted Atari 5200. I was into the 800XL and 130XE so I was surprised I never heard of this strange one with unfamiliar controls. What I found included broken PCB so I told him this doesn't seem worth repairing. I wish I knew how the lemons end up costing more in retrospect because of their rarity, and I would have at least kept track of everything. I usually keep all my scrap electronics but somehow that finally disappeared. Now I think about paying bookoo bucks for what I had free in hand back then, even if I have to build my own controller just so I can play that Star Raiders.

[@joseCalderon1976]

I remember playing with the 5200 for hours as a kid. I moved on to the Genesis later on. I'm 46 now. Thanks for the video. I don't play much anymore 😂

[@Trialwolf]

Nice video, if anyone is interested in the 5200 I would honestly recommend The Atari XE as many feel is what the 5200 should have been. The XE is just a consolized 8-bit computer so it is compatible with the XE cartridge line and the 8-bit computer cartridge line. You can also still use accessories like the disk drive, tape drive, and all existing controllers. Another bonus with the XE is since it uses the 9-pin joystick port you can use a Sega Genesis 3-button control pad with the system.

[@jacobjones9071]

I have to say, I do think the XEGS is superior to the 5200 in pretty much every way

[@nickpalance3622]

How about looks 🧐? Early 80s futuristic or late 80s grays and pastels? Hmmmm.....

[@ressljs]

@@nickpalance3622 I think the XEGS is one of the most amazing looking consoles ever produced! It just screams mid/late 80s with that pastel design and weird angles. I think someone who never saw or heard of the XEGS could probably pretty accurately guess when it came out just based on the console's shell.

[@nickpalance3622]

@@ressljs back in 1986 we finally got cable TV and a relatively new movie called “Tough Guys” was playing (I was in 7th-8th grade and this was my first Burt Lancaster and/or Kirk Douglas movie). The early 80s had passed and the mid 80s had this sort of … I don’t know what to say .. but here is a clip of a scene in that movie that comes to mind that screams “1986!!” kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3usc2WfaZenaZI “We don’t carry red, sir. Our colors are peach, lime, cherry, mocha, almond, and avocado.” Never mind that Kirk’s character tries on blue (supposedly at the suggestion of the store employee who had just previously said blue was too “cold”??)

[@drno-xc1yt]

I'm surprised there was no mention of the horrific RF switch/power cable fiasco on the original 5200 - finding one of those that works properly might be harder than finding working controllers. Also, not long after release, there was a price war between Commodore and Atari which cratered the prices of home computers from both companies. I remember going to the store with my parents to buy an Atari 1200XL when a big box store was selling them for only $99, and even as a kid, I would look at game magazines with 5200 games and notice how the games were effectively identical to the ones I had for the Atari computer. 40 years later, I'd have to say that any of the Atari 8-bit computers are better gaming options than the 5200. The common games are effectively identical, the 8-bit computers have a vast game library, the hardware is effectively indestructible (I still have my 1200 and it still works!), and best of all you can use any joystick that is compatible with the 2600.

[@inranglhood60]

All my 5200 controllers work... Because I had to fix all my 5200 controllers 🤣

[@alkohallick2901]

It was a good system with bad controllers

[@jaytecx5942]

The Getty style inserts of arbitrary people, doesn’t add anything to this otherwise great video.

[@phyrr2]

The 5200 had some great potential and some good games. You HAVE to play "Star Raiders" as that was their project originally meant to be a Star Trek title but relegated to a non-title. The complexity in that game alone is astounding for how limited the hardware was. Of course the most limiting factor was the FRIGGIN' CONTROLLERS! Some commands like firing required hitting the L & R buttons (yes we had those back then console peeps) at the same time. Problem was the controller would get so jank over time you would practically need to place it in a vice just to squeeze the buttons hard enough for it to register you were trying to fire photons.

[@mowowie]

Star Raiders was the reason why i rode my bike 6 miles and emptied my bank account for.

[@mowowie]

I routinely had to take apart the controller and clean the contacts with alcohol. Heating the controllers up with a hair dryer was another trick. The games though were A++

[@CaptainRufus]

Don't forget the power supply and coax switch box. And how it sucks. Thank Sparkle for Glenn the 5200 man porting all the 5200 stuff back to the A8 bits.

[@jeffjackson9679]

What exactly sucks about it? I still have mine with my 5200 that is decades old and it works fine. Are you just going off AVGN old video showing it spark? They tell you in the instructions not to attach those cables before plugging it into your outlet and that wont happen.

[@CaptainRufus]

@@jeffjackson9679 if it does that maybe not release it in such a state. But given how it failed clearly lots of people wanted nothing to do with this poorly engineered joke.

[@BURRITO44]

It’s not right to say that the 5200 is the worst console ever made. I still use it. I would say that the 3DO is the worst. I loved the looks, the sound quality, the graphics. Had a nice game library. Bought this in the 80s for $88 at the WIZ. It has the worst controllers unfortunately. My controllers still work. My console still is In great condition.

[@louistournas120]

The 3DO seems to have the worst game collection. Is that the system with Plumbers don't wear ties game? There is also a kangaroo game that is a tasteless mess.

[@knight20102]

I remember playing a space invaders type game with my brother c.1984 It would constantly freeze. We took it back to the shop got an exchange and the same thing happened again. Mum bought us an acorn electron after that in exchange for the 5200.

[@jbanks979]

If anything, it’s a lesson in how not to handle a console upgrade cycle that every other company has learned from since then. There were just a few tweaks needed to make this not a disaster. Make it 8-bit computer lineup compatible, fix the controller, and give it some way to make it backwards compatible with the 2600. The 7800 does some of this, but also weirdly was worse in many ways- most notably sound- than the 5200

[@mpacino1224]

It may have been bad but my memories of it are amazing. My friend's little brother had one and it's all I wanted to do. It was so colorful after the 2600.

[@benherring4959]

My memories of the 5200 are full of nostalgia and rage. Nostalgia, because it was the first console I ever played as a kid and my dad became quite good at River Raid on it. The space shuttle game also made good use the numbered keypad with an overlay that essentially transformed it into more of a simulator than an arcade system, which I thought was totally cool. But then the rage. Those joysticks!!! Those crappy, non-centering, piece of garbage joysticks!!! Come on Atari! I would go to my friends' houses and love playing the 2600, even though I thought in the back of my head that my system should be twice as good. Right? I mean, as a 10 year old doing the math. Atari could have made this system so much better if they had actually tried.

[@Lurker1979]

Intresting how they kept the aesthetic when they developed the 7800.

[@coppermutant]

If I had owned a 5200 I would have been eager to see original titles and spin-offs of Atari arcade games, not just ports. Asteroids - Base Defense (where there's a starbase somewhere on the screen you need to defend), things like that. Seeing 2600, 5200, 7800, and 8-bit computers all do ports of the same 20 arcade games (not all owned by Atari) - with only some advances in each console - would have made me think twice before buying in, especially I already had some very similar version of these games previously.

[@ajps12]

The 5200 had some great games specially sports games..

[@jobadirk6371]

It's a good game library.... small though

[@DeliRevv]

I was rather fond of my Atari 5200 when I got it for Christmas in 1982. Graphically, it was leaps and bounds beyond the 2600 but my two major complaints were the horrible controllers and the fact that the unit didn’t have as many game titles and the ones that were available were really expensive. That being said, River Raid and Popeye were my fave 5200 games back in the day.

[@blikketty77]

I don't know the details of what you said in regard to the 5200 having a different cartridge slot than the 8 bit computers and the console atari vs computer atari bit. However, the 8 bit computers had a keyboard, not to mention the Start / Select / Option buttons that were occasionally used in games. People would have had a complete meltdown buying a cartridge and then finding out they were completely unable to play it. Manufacturing to retail was a way longer process back then, so even labeling games as 5200 compatible would have been impossible if they made the cartridge slot compatible. Most popular carts that were made for the 8-bit computers pre XE did eventually get made for the 5200 eventually, Atari published or not. The strength of the 8 bits library laid in the tape and disk games that took more than 16k. In a world where instead of spending crazy money on joysticks they could have given the 5200 48k and helped 3rd parties port successful 8-bit disk games to the 5200 via cartridge, the history of consoles might look a lot different. Lots of bad design choices, but easier for us to spot having 20/20 hindsight. It was pretty clear that Atari had no clue what they were doing, assuming people were buying the Intellivision and Colecovision for the awkward joysticks rather than just the superior graphics and sound compared to a 2600.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

Besides the way the controllers were designed, another thing wrong with the 5200: no PAL release for Europe, U.K. Australia and New Zealand, even though Atari did have a factory in Ireland. The NTSC version was also not sold in Canada.

[@terrybuckley1556]

I loved mine. Saved up and bought it myself. Loved it. Graphics were great for time. Problems were not enough games, the damn thing was huge( could have done without the controller storage, unless you fold the cord perfectly the controllers didn't fit anyway) and the controllers really did suck. Non-centering, fire buttons quit working and eventually joy sticks broke. Some games came with an overlay for the keypad.

[@motodork]

A friend of mine back in the day had a conversion van with a built in Atari 5200 and I was so jealous.

[@NewsmakersGames]

That's super interesting! Was that something they did themselves?

[@motodork]

@@NewsmakersGames no it came with the 5200 already installed from the dealer.

[@noahmizrahi9834]

My grampa said the only problem he had on his 5200 was the rubber in the joy sticks would tear apart, and the little plastic inserts some times didnt match wat they were supposta do. He still has his sitting in his basement in that big silver box and syrofoam it came in. You can buy a faux atari 5200 with every game it came with and modern controllers for $20 during christmas. Its just a small black box with regular controllars, NO cartiridges game that they ever had is on a chip inside.

[@mongolikechewchew2475]

I loved the game River Raid. I can remember when we were sent upstairs to bed, we could hear my mom & dad playing River Raid & having fun as well as getting mad when crashing. Good times.

[@joshgellis3292]

"Modern" ...for the early 80s. lol. But, it still looks pretty cool AND very "How 80s people thought how futuristic technology would look.😎👍🏻" lol!

[@thepthepthep]

11:15 $269 was just the list price, I don't think they actually retailed anywhere close to that. A lot of the newspaper ads I found from late 1982 had them as low as $200, and the ColecoVision wasn't too far behind in price either (usually $10 cheaper). Even during 1983 they were still pretty close in price. In regards to disassembly, the 5200 really isn't that difficult to take apart and many other Atari consoles used those tabs for their RF shielding so the 5200 isn't unique there. I think the most infuriating console from that era to disassemble is the Intellivision since the shielding is soldered on at multiple points! The constant use of stock footage clips was honestly annoying too

[@thepthepthep]

I'm also surprised you didn't mention the odd switchbox bundled with 4-port models or the fact that Atari initially packaged the 5200 with Super Breakout while the ColecoVision had Donkey Kong included (which was a huge selling point for Coleco)

[@mrmojorisin8752]

The controller concerns are, of course, legitimate. The complaints over brittle plastic, dust, etc. are embarrassingly ridiculous. Next: my launch Colecovision was not significantly less expensive than my launch 5200. Next: in 1982-83, the audience for home video games was fundamentally different, and larger, than the home computer market. Finally, the 5200 was so superior to the 2600, almost all of us put the 2600 in the rear view mirror. Did I need 2600 backwards compatibility to play 2600 Pac-Man on my 5200? If I wanted to play Pitfall, there was a graphically updated 5200 version. The Masterplay Interface allowed me to use the excellent 4-way controllers (like Wico) on my 5200. Today, there are all sorts of solutions that allow gamers to use any controller they want with the 5200. In short, most of these negatives don’t hold up.

[@jbereijo]

I had a 5200,, but after it was massively discounted. Loved it. The controller was better than Colecos.

[@ressljs]

I don't know what happened with controllers at that time. The 2600 had simple but effective joysticks and while I've never played it, I've heard the same said about the Fairchild Channel Z which came out slightly before the 2600. But then the 5200, Intelevision and Coleco all had HORRIBLE controllers.

[@John-bo1sz]

I still have my 5200. I loved that as a kid. A pause button?! Crazy at the time. And moon patrol was my jam,!

[@Brubiedoobee]

I have an early Atari VCS, which has 6 dip switches, unlike yours seen at 4:33, which only has 4.

[@Zickcermacity]

0:33 When the 5200 debuted, just after Colecovision in late 1982, it made that console suddenly look older and clunkier than even my Intellivision!

[@ST2008X]

The console had a small but great library of Arcade Classics, I love my Atari 5200.....Many of the arcade classics on the system can be a played with the 5200 Trackball controller. It’s one of my favourite systems. The games were cheap, the system cost me 15$ minus controller....In the past maybe an Atari 8-bit computer was the better/cheaper option....I would advise people who are interested to look for a good local deal on a system and controller on Craigslist or Kijiji...That is what I did. Buying a system one part at a time could save you money. My 5200 is a two-port model that came without any accessories, no power supply, switch box, controller, games.

[@foxdavani4091]

When I was a kid, we had just returned home from being out of state, and we found that thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of stuff was stolen from our house. Our house was ransacked along with the cars, furniture, and everything. Ironically, the damn Atari was still in the garage. I didn’t even know we had an Atari. May have been mom’s when she was little who knows. I just know that I found it in the garage. it wasn’t stolen.

[@lucifersatoshi]

The 5200 was also the only system at the time that had speech synthesis built in, without the need for additional hardware.

[@xenxander]

My father had the atari 800 computer system and those games were far superior to the 2600 which I had in my bedroom. It's version of missile command was stellar compared, it's version of tones of other games, like Kickstart and the like, just ruled. I also wondered why the two cartridge slots of the 800 computer didn't read the 2600 library, nor the three cartridges we had (most games we had were on the disks mind you) didn't work in my 2600. And that you stated they wouldn't make it compatible with the 5600, a console that we had in our garage but I never took in to play with, because there were three games for it, and no controllers, so what's the point? and that when I tried to use one of the 5200 games in my 2600 it didn't fit.. so .. yeah. all of that just baffled me. Now today console manufacturers don't like backwards compatibility either. The only console that really embraced it was Playstation to PS2 and that's it. No other generation really did that. No Super gameboy doesn't count, that's the entire hardware of the gameboy, plus the OS boot rom, in that one device. It's like the gameboy player for the gamecube. if you don't have the OS disc to play with it, the player itself won't work.