The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one of the first consoles with backward compatibility. It shipped with a different model of joystick from the 2600-standard CX40 and Pole Position II as the pack-in game. Most of the announced titles at launch were ports of 1981–83 arcade video games.
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to the Atari 1200XL, Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. These all differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU at 1.79 MHz and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major appeal, and first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB.
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari VCS. It was programmed by Larry Kaplan, and David Crane coded the overlaid sprites. The game was well received and sold over one million cartridges by 1983.
Star Raiders is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released as a cartridge by Atari in March 1980. The game is considered the platform's killer app. It was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST.
Solaris is a space combat game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari Corporation. It was developed by Doug Neubauer, who owns the copyright and the Solaris trademark. The game is a sequel to Neubauer's Atari 8-bit family game Star Raiders from 1979. Both games feature an enemy race known as Zylons, but Star Raiders uses a first-person perspective while Solaris is in third-person.
POKEY, an acronym for Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, is a digital I/O chip designed by Doug Neubauer at Atari, Inc. for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was first released with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 in 1979 and is included in all later models and the Atari 5200 console. POKEY combines functions for reading paddle controllers (potentiometers) and computer keyboards as well as sound generation and a source for pseudorandom numbers. It produces four voices of distinctive square wave audio, either as clear tones or modified with distortion settings. Neubauer also developed the Atari 8-bit killer application Star Raiders which makes use of POKEY features.
Star Castle is a vector graphics multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and white with the colors of the rings and screen provided by a transparent plastic screen overlay.
Robot Tank is a 1983 video game for the Atari 2600 similar in design to Atari's Battlezone arcade game, and more so to its 2600 port. It was written by Alan Miller and published by Activision.
River Raid is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Activision later ported the title to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, and Intellivision consoles, as well as to the Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, MSX, ZX Spectrum, and Atari 8-bit family. Shaw did the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 ports herself.
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is a platform game originally released for the Atari 2600 by Activision in 1984. It is the sequel to Pitfall! (1982). Both games were designed and programmed by David Crane and star jungle explorer Pitfall Harry. Pitfall II adds a much larger world with vertical scrolling, swimmable rivers with deadly eels, music, and balloons for floating between locations.
Blackjack is a video game simulation of blackjack programmed by Bob Whitehead and published by Atari, Inc. for its Video Computer System. The game was one of the nine launch titles available when the Atari 2600 went on sale in September 1977. The objective is identical to the card game: to beat the dealer's card total, without going over 21, to win a bet. One to three players play the computer dealer.
Star Ship is a first-person space combat simulator video game programmed by Bob Whitehead and published by Atari, Inc. for its Video Computer System. The game was one of the nine launch titles offered when the Atari VCS was released on September 11, 1977. Based on the Atari arcade game Starship 1, it was the first space-related game developed for the Atari VCS. The re-branded Sears TeleGames version is titled Outer Space.
Beamrider is a fixed shooter written for the Intellivision by David Rolfe and published by Activision in 1983. The game was ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and MSX.
Frogger II: ThreeeDeep! is a video game released in 1984 by Parker Brothers for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64 and IBM PC. It is a sequel to the 1981 Konami Frogger arcade video game and has similar gameplay.
Jawbreaker is a Pac-Man clone programmed by John Harris for the Atari 8-bit family and published by On-Line Systems. Released in 1981 before an official version of Pac-Man was available, it was widely lauded by reviewers, and became a major seller. The story of its creation and Harris's Atari 8-bit implementation of Frogger form a portion of Steven Levy's 1984 book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.
Carol Shaw is one of the first female game designers and programmers in the video game industry. She is best known for creating the Atari 2600 vertically scrolling shooter River Raid (1982) for Activision. She worked for Atari, Inc. from 1978 to 1980 where she designed multiple games including 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (1978) and Video Checkers (1980), both for the Atari VCS before it was renamed to the 2600. She left game development in 1984 and retired in 1990.
Dandy is a dungeon crawl maze game for the Atari 8-bit family published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983. It is one of the first video games with four-player, simultaneous cooperative play. Players equipped with bows and unlimited arrows fight through a maze containing monsters, monster spawners, keys, locked doors, food, and bombs in search of the exit leading to the next level. If a player dies, they can be revived by finding and shooting a heart. The game includes an editor for making new dungeons.
RealSports Tennis is a tennis simulation video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit family in 1983. It is part of the RealSports series of games.
Carla Meninsky is a former video game designer and programmer active during the early years of the Atari VCS. Along with Carol Shaw, Meninsky was one of three female engineers at Atari, Inc. to develop video game cartridges. She later became an intellectual property lawyer.
Threshold is a space-themed fixed shooter written by Warren Schwader and Ken Williams for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Inspired by Sega's Astro Blaster arcade video game, Threshold introduces many enemy ship types and wave formations as the game progresses. Reviewers found the variety distinguished the game from the many similar shoot 'em ups.
