By 1982, it was finished. Unfortunately, after the 3600 was shown to developers it was canned, since the system was to difficult to program(the only know game to exist for the 3600 was Pac-Man)
Atari was in trouble now. It couldn't just start over and build a
system from scratch again, time was running out. So, they took on hardware from the Atari 400, and created the Atari 5200. The 5200 was one heck of a powerful system, the most powerful at the time. It delivered arcade quality(for early 80's) graphics, and attacked Mattle's 16-direction controller, by giving out a 360° joystick! Mattle and Coleco had reason to be afraid now.
Or did they? Unfortunately, the 5200 never had the time to take off. The Crash of 83', and other problems (such as the joysticks broke easily, many games were remakes
of Atari 2600 games (although they looked a lot better)) killed the 5200. But that wasn't the end of Atari's console systems. At this time, Atari was already working on the
much more powerful Atari 7800.
The 5200 could've had a much better chance, but alas, it didn't.
Still, it's a cool system. Ever get angry at the flimsy joysticks? Well, there are places that will rebuild them so that they self-center! It said that the self-centering joysticks work perfectly on 5200 games, especially for games like Pac-Man, where the previous joysticks made it a headache to play.
Atari 5200 sections
Atari 5200 Specs N' Stats
Cart count=Approx 104(this includes prototype carts)
Joystick Ports= 4 in first versions, 2 in later versions
CPU= 6502C + 3 VLSI's(custom)
RAM= 16k
ROM= 64k(? guesstimate)
CPU Clock= 1.79 mHz
Graphics Clock= 1.79 mHz
Color= 256, 16 on-screen
Resolution= 320x192
Sound= 4 channel
Sprite capabilities: ?
Architecture: 8-bit
Video modes: 17
One thing to remember about the 5200 is that it's a lot like an Atari 400/800 computer. So if you have one of those, then you have the basic idea of the 5200.
For lots more info relevant to the 5200, check out theAtari 5200 FAQ. It is maintained by Keita Iida.
Also, I am looking for a new 5200 with joysticks. The one I have now doesn't work, has no joysticks, and I only have Pole Position for it. Please contact me if you can tell me where to find one for a good price. Thanks! =)
