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The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively.
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 1981–1983 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. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most of its contemporaries. Video games were a major appeal, and first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app. The "Atari 8-bit family" label was not contemporaneous. Atari, Inc., used the term "Atari 800 [or 400] home computer system", often combining the model names into "Atari 400/800" or "Atari home computers".
The Atari XE Video Game System is an industrial redesign of the Atari 65XE home computer and the final model in the Atari 8-bit family. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1987 and marketed as a home video game console alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega's Master System, and Atari's own Atari 7800. The XEGS is compatible with existing Atari 8-bit family hardware and software. Without keyboard, the system operates as a stand-alone game console. With the keyboard, it boots identically to the Atari XE computers. Atari packaged the XEGS as a basic set consisting of only the console and joystick, and as a deluxe set consisting of the console, keyboard, CX40 joystick, and XG-1 light gun.
In the history of video games, the third generation of video game consoles, commonly referred to as the 8-bit era, began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of two systems: Nintendo's Family Computer and Sega's SG-1000. When the Famicom was not released outside of Japan, it was remodeled and marketed as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This generation marked the end of the video game crash of 1983, and a shift in the dominance of home video game manufacturers from the United States to Japan. Handheld consoles were not a major part of this generation; the Game & Watch line from Nintendo and the Milton Bradley Microvision that were sold at the time are both considered part of the previous generation due to hardware typical of the second generation.
Crystal Castles is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls Bentley Bear who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well. Crystal Castles is one of the first arcade action games with an ending, instead of continuing indefinitely, looping, or ending in a kill screen, and to contain advance warp zones.
The history of video game consoles, both home and handheld, began in the 1970s. The first console that played games on a television set was the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Baer in 1966. Handheld consoles originated from electro-mechanical games that used mechanical controls and light-emitting diodes (LED) as visual indicators. Handheld electronic games had replaced the mechanical controls with electronic and digital components, and with the introduction of Liquid-crystal display (LCD) to create video-like screens with programmable pixels, systems like the Microvision and the Game & Watch became the first handheld video game consoles.
The Atari XG-1 light gun is a video game controller which was released in 1987. As Atari's only light gun, it is unique to the 8-bit family. It is compatible with the Atari XEGS, and with the 7800 and 2600 home video game consoles. It was bundled with the XEGS Deluxe home computer and video game console combination system, and with the light gun game Bug Hunt for the 7800 as model XES2001 for US$34.95. Atari eventually released five light gun games on the 7800 and one on the 2600 (Sentinel).
GATO is a real-time submarine simulator first published in 1984 by Spectrum HoloByte for DOS. It simulates combat operations aboard the Gato-class submarine USS Growler (SS-215) in the Pacific Theater of World War II. GATO was later ported to the Apple IIe, Atari ST, and Macintosh. In 1987, Atari Corporation published a version on cartridge for the Atari 8-bit family, to coincide with the launch of the Atari XEGS.
Atari 8-bit computer peripherals include floppy drives, printers, modems, and video game controllers for Atari's 8-bit computer family, which includes the 400/800, XL, XE, and XEGS.
Fight Night is a boxing video game developed by Sydney Development Corporation and published by Accolade in the United States and by U.S. Gold in the United Kingdom. It was initially released in 1985 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64. The game includes both a single player mode and multiplayer mode. It includes the ability to customize the player's boxer. In total, there are five boxers to beat.
Into the Eagle's Nest is a video game developed by Pandora and published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and ZX Spectrum starting in 1987.
In the video game industry, the market for home video game consoles has frequently been segmented into generations, grouping consoles that are considered to have shared in a competitive marketspace. Since the first home consoles in 1972, there have been nine defined home console generations.
References
- 1 2 Wolf, Mark J. P. (2008). The video game explosion: a history from PONG to PlayStation and beyond. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-313-33868-7.
- ↑ "ClassicGaming.com's Museum: Atari 8 Bit Computers - 1979-1987 (Officially discontinued 1992)". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
- ↑ Herman, Leonard; Horwitz, Jer; Kent, Steve; Miller, Skyler (2012). "The History of Video Games - Video Games Are Back 1985-1988". GameSpot . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2012-11-18. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
- ↑ Mrozek, David (2020). "The Video Game Critic's Atari XE Game System Review". videogamecritic.com. The Video Game Critic. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
- ↑ "Atari 400 - An Atari 2600 on Steroids and More". Nerdly Pleasures. 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ↑ "Initial Games for the XE Game System Ship". Computer Entertainer . Vol. 6, no. 10. January 1988. p. 12.