Why The Atari 400 Matters, and Why The 400 Mini Needed Star Raiders

The Atari 400 is significant in the history of home computing, and some of that significance comes down to the ground-breaking game, Star Raiders. But that game was not included in the 400 mini. That's like an NES mini without Super Mario Brothers. Here is how to fix the problem (if you own original game, in some form, of course), until Atari/Retro Games can fix it for real.
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[@markmaisy4858]

I had no idea this was how it came to be. My first computer was the Atari 400, Star Raiders was absolutely mind-blowing! When you consider it was made way back in 1979, it really stands the test of time, I'm at a loss too as to why it wasn't included with the 'mini', I know you can add your own games, but the point should be to celebrate the 400 capabilities out of the box.

[@GantryG]

I too had the 400 as my first computer and Star Raiders was the most advanced game around for years and helped inspire me to have a career in IT. 🎉

[@lorensims4846]

Awesome video. I'll keep this one up front for reference. When dealers were demonstrating the capabilities of the Atari 400 and 800 Home Computer Systems, after they talked about word processing, recipe databases, and financial calculations they would pop in Star Raiders to show that it also plays games better than any other home computer of the time. When Ted Nelson wrote his introduction to "The Atari Machine" for Creative Computing, he prominently featured Star Raiders. He was at a conference of educators and he and his buddy started jumping up and down in their seats when they saw Star Raiders in action. When the people around them asked, "What does this have to do with education?" all he could say was, "If you don't already know, I can't tell you." It's the definitive rewrite of the classic Star Trek computer game that I had previously played as a generally text-based game, this version written in RPG-3 on an IBM System 34 minicomputer. The Galactic map is still there, along with the hyper warp to jump from sector to sector and star bases to refuel, but Atari put the space combat aspect into 3D graphics and that was groundbreaking. I recently got back my old Atari 800, used 1200XL and the old used 400 that I bought for $20 in 1985 because I always thought it was cute. My disk drives don't work right and the 1200XL is wonky. The 800 seems mostly OK except its keyboard doesn't work at all. But my little 400 still works as well as the day I bought it. That bulletproof keyboard really isn't as bad as everyone says. The first one of these I ever saw belonged to a guy in a neighboring apartment. He got it in 1980 when the 400/800 computers were still pretty expensive. He did let me try out the keyboard and it really seemed OK, but I waited until the 1200XL came out to get my 800 on closeout with 48K for only $299 along with the cassette drive and a BASIC cartridge. I learned everything I ever needed to know about computer science on that 800. I'm finding the CX joystick on my new 400 Mini to be a damned nuisance. Unmarked buttons are better how? Far too easy to hit by accident. Yeah, I was particularly ticked off to see that it included Star Raider II but NOT Star Raiders! Star Raiders was/is THE premier game for the Atari Home Computer Systems. I'd LOVE to see those Apple and Commodore fanboys who kept deriding our Ataris as "just game machines" try to run Anything like Star Raiders. I'm still irked that the keyboard on The 400 Mini isn't functional;. Not even the function keys??!! I'm so glad I have my Atari 400 and I can still play my cartridge versions of Star Raiders, Missile Command, Defender, Dig Dug, Robotron 2084, Pac Mac, Deluxe Invaders, Qix, Super Breakout (as soon as I can get new paddle controllers), Centipede, Eastern Front 1941, Music Composer, Microsoft Basic II, Assembler Editor... That last one was my favorite "game." Combined with Atari 8K BASIC (I had/have three BASIC cartridges, one for each computer) I could/can do almost anything. And that original CX40 joystick is still my very favorite game controller, though I also still have the Atari Trak Ball Controller which is great for the likes of Centipede and Missile Command, the very first arcade game to have a trackball controller. I found I now have extra CX40s, including two that are basically still new-in-box.

[@steveafulton]

So crazy to think how many of us got computer education on an Atari 8bit computer! This is such a great response, thank you !

[@socrates0603]

Woah, thank you for the education. I had no idea about the connection between the 400 and Star Raiders - good stuff!

[@garybrockie6327]

Complete Agreement here!

[@jackeldogo3952]

I used to go to the local electronics store at the mall, and I used to go over their after school and play Star Raiders on Atari 400 they had on display. That's when I became enamored with the Atari 8-bit. My dad bought a TRaSh-80 which was fun enough and I knew how to program that thing from having them at school (BASIC and Z80). When I finally saved enough money (working at 1980s min wage), I got an 800 with Star Raiders and a few other carts in early 1982...

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Cool. Did you go on to have tech career, or was that just stopping point on the way to something else?

[@knucklebonesproductions]

This is the video I was waiting for! Worked perfectly and got me right into playing one of my fav games of all-time! Thank you!

[@Valkron11]

I still haven't hooked my 400 mini up yet, lol. Haven't had the time yet

[@Trialwolf]

Been getting into the Atari 8-bit computer line recently and have been finding some fun games. The Atari or Commodore computers were not very big in my area growing up so it's nice to discover this computer line for the first time. Actually have two copies of Star Raiders in my collection (one complete) from a trade were the guy gave me a bunch of (alleged) empty boxes but the Star Raiders box still had the game and, thankfully, the manual. Only downside to the boxes they are to big to properly display them on any shelves I have :).

[@steveafulton]

Those weird big boxes!! Marketers must have thought people considered “bigger is better!”

[@XV250]

One of the first games I loaded was Star Raiders - but you cannot play that game competently without a full-size keyboard. All ten of the number keys to set velocity, plus A, S, C, T, F, L, G, etc... If Retro Games had included Star Raiders, they'd then have people complaining that they couldn't play it properly - where is the keyboard, etc.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Sure, and that's the point. You can't play Star Raiders but you should be able to play Star Raiders as it's the killer-app for the Atari 400/800.

[@MistaMaddog247]

You said Star Raiders was meant to played with a keyboard, but The 400 mini has no keyboard. If they had put pushable buttons under the useless keyboard then Star Raiders would have been included instead of that imposter of a sequel. It would still suck for typing but who's the gonna run Atari writer on it anyway?

[@steveafulton]

Yeah, I think there might have been a couple ways to solve it. For instance, have an accessory pack at launch that includes a branded keyboard that unlocks a whole new set of games that require it, make the keys functional, a better set of buttons on the CX-stick, etc.

[@sabertoothretro]

Yeah, it's wild that Star Raiders isn't included on the 400 Mini out of the box. It's like Atari & their partners just don't quite know enough and haven't engaged the right consultants. The exception is Digital Eclipse and Atari50. You'd think they would have leaned into that expertise or Albert for QC on content ahead of release, even if this is a licensed product.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

They certainly should have at least askeld a few questions on Atariage at the very least and if they did, they did not ask the right questions.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

It's like they rushed it out. To us, it had all the potential to be a good product. Some of the issues and oversights could have been fixed if they gave it more time, or, like you said, engaged the new "Atari" people in their employ.

[@musclesmouse]

If it had star raiders, mini would have required a keyboard too

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Your point is a good one and explained in tbe video

[@Soundtrackspecialist]

No mention of François Michel for the ANTIC chip?

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Sorry, it was a quick bit of research. Maybe I could do something about him individually? What should I know?

[@TMS5100]

Turn on the shields!!

[@steveafulton]

Yep! [S]

[@wumpusthehunted2628]

Oddly enough, playing a lot of Star Raiders on warrior (3rd out of 4 difficulty settings) was how I got good enough to complete commander level (max difficulty) at Star Commander class 1 (highest possible "score"). Can't really recommend doing this to all but the most hardcore Atari enthusiasts. It was pretty odd doing it in 1986 as "unfinished business" that I felt needed doing before going beyond my Atari. And even then, I was practicing on a 8bit vs playing 8bit games. Much less of a difference then. But commander level is an intense expirience that rarely happens in modern games, much less 20 minutes of white knuckle play.

[@ecdhe]

According to Nolan Bushnell, the reason why the Atari 400 didn't make it into a console is because of its price. On top of being overbuilt like a tank, when you added Atari's margin (Bushnell argued to sell consoles at cost, something Atari never heeded), you ended up with a product way too expensive to be a video game console.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Good point. We discussed this in a conversation here with Curt Vendel a few years back (the interview is on here i thknk, but i lnow its in the podvast feed) and he mentioned the same thing abd pothesthized that if the PIO was removed from the 400, some of the ports, the keyboard was a separate unit thst plugged into joystick ports 3 and 4 and the shielding wax reduced to 2600 levels they probably could have got it down to intellivision range pricing. But they never tried this that we know of.

[@ecdhe]

@@IntoTheVerticalBlank the 400 was sadly the start of a long string of console failures on Atari's part. Nobody seemed to take a look at production cost (i.e. removing the cast aluminum shield once the FCC rule was relaxed). They only came up with the XL range only once the Commodore 64 started trouncing them.