History and review of the Atari 5200
Hardly there is on Geektimes a person who did not hear about the Atari company. Atari VCS (also Atari 2600) was super popular in the early 80s. In our area there were mostly clones of Rembo, although the original Atari 2600 and 2600 Jr are also quite common. I want to talk about the heiress 2600 - Atari 5200, which in the CIS almost never met.
This is probably the largest console of all existing sizes. It really is the most I've ever seen from a game console. For comparison, the Atari 5200 and Sony Playstation 1. Partly, this size is explained by the presence of a storage box for the joysticks under the lid, but it is very inconvenient to push them there.
')
Despite the fact that 5200 (2600 * 2) was offered to replace the 2600, it is completely different architecturally and has no direct compatibility with the 2600. Later, a special adapter was released to enable the launch of games with the Atari 2600 on the 5200 platform.
Architecturally, the Atari 5200 almost completely duplicated the existing 8-bit Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers, which made it easy to transfer games from these computers to it, but since its entry into the market in November 1982, only 69 games were officially released for the Atari 5200 and only 3 of them after the end of sales of the console in 1984.
The Atari 5200 CPU was still the same MOS 6502 , probably the most popular processor of the time, it also stood in the Atari 2600, Nintendo Famicom / NES, Apple II. The Atari 2600 used a specialized Television Interface Adapter chip - TIA . who was responsible for graphics, sound and input devices. The memory there was only 128 bytes, and the maximum size of the flash cartridge was 4 KB. In the Atari 5200, in spite of almost the same processor (the MOS 6507 stood at 2600), the hardware capabilities were much higher. Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller - ANTIC and Graphic Television Interface Adapter - GTIA chips were responsible for the graphics. The graphic subsystem supported 6 text and 8 graphic video modes. The maximum resolution was 320x192 pixels, however, in this mode there were only 2 colors on the screen. In lower resolution modes, up to 16 colors per row of pixels from a 256-color palette were supported. The RAM was 16 KB and the maximum size of the cartridge was 32 KB. The board also had a Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit chip - POKEY , which is responsible for sound and joysticks. In the first version of the console it was possible to connect up to 4 joysticks, in a later modification - only 2. In the upper left corner you can also see an expansion slot, which is covered with an inconspicuous lid on the case. But he was never involved.
The CX-52 joystick also had several innovations: the Reset button was brought to the joystick, this is also the first console in which the Pause button appeared. The joystick itself was analog (inside there are two variable resistance resistors that are rotated by the joystick handle through the levers). The design of the joystick is patented .
The joystick also had a digital keyboard, and the games were bundled with special overlays with signatures which buttons are responsible for what.
The design of the joysticks was very unsuccessful, they often broke.
In addition to the joysticks, the CX-53 trackball could also be connected to the console, a very hardcore and almost unkillable thing.
The size of the ball is slightly smaller than a billiard room. Inside are optocouplers on bearings. Playing it is quite unusual and fun.
When you turn on the console with a cartridge, an animation showing the color palette is shown:
The cartridge itself looks quite simple, 2 ROM chips, nothing superfluous.
Comparing Atari 5200 and Atari 2600 graphics:
Pac man
Pitfall
A number of Homebrew games have also been released on the 5200.
In general, the console was unsuccessful and the Atari 2600, released in 1977, successfully survived it, moreover, in 1986, the updated Atari 2600 Jr was released (slim edition, as it is popular to say now), which was produced until 1992 .
The reasons for the failures are the low reliability of the joysticks, the incompatibility with the Atari 2600, the specific adapter to connect to the TV (there was a special external unit that the antenna was connected to, the power supply and cable from the console, in a later version they refused) Atari somehow motivate the creators of games for this platform.
There are many emulators of this platform, I used to demonstrate MAME .
The live console also works, but the picture through the RF output is below average. Perhaps I will try to add a composite video output to the console.
Advertising Atari 5200 with Jimm Carrey;) Thank you sith for observation.
Thank you for attention!
What to write about the next review? Options:
1. Sinclair QL
2. Sega CD + Sega 32x
3. Silicon Graphics O2
4. KG / AM, do not write anything))
This is probably the largest console of all existing sizes. It really is the most I've ever seen from a game console. For comparison, the Atari 5200 and Sony Playstation 1. Partly, this size is explained by the presence of a storage box for the joysticks under the lid, but it is very inconvenient to push them there.
')
Despite the fact that 5200 (2600 * 2) was offered to replace the 2600, it is completely different architecturally and has no direct compatibility with the 2600. Later, a special adapter was released to enable the launch of games with the Atari 2600 on the 5200 platform.
Architecturally, the Atari 5200 almost completely duplicated the existing 8-bit Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers, which made it easy to transfer games from these computers to it, but since its entry into the market in November 1982, only 69 games were officially released for the Atari 5200 and only 3 of them after the end of sales of the console in 1984.
The Atari 5200 CPU was still the same MOS 6502 , probably the most popular processor of the time, it also stood in the Atari 2600, Nintendo Famicom / NES, Apple II. The Atari 2600 used a specialized Television Interface Adapter chip - TIA . who was responsible for graphics, sound and input devices. The memory there was only 128 bytes, and the maximum size of the flash cartridge was 4 KB. In the Atari 5200, in spite of almost the same processor (the MOS 6507 stood at 2600), the hardware capabilities were much higher. Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller - ANTIC and Graphic Television Interface Adapter - GTIA chips were responsible for the graphics. The graphic subsystem supported 6 text and 8 graphic video modes. The maximum resolution was 320x192 pixels, however, in this mode there were only 2 colors on the screen. In lower resolution modes, up to 16 colors per row of pixels from a 256-color palette were supported. The RAM was 16 KB and the maximum size of the cartridge was 32 KB. The board also had a Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit chip - POKEY , which is responsible for sound and joysticks. In the first version of the console it was possible to connect up to 4 joysticks, in a later modification - only 2. In the upper left corner you can also see an expansion slot, which is covered with an inconspicuous lid on the case. But he was never involved.
The CX-52 joystick also had several innovations: the Reset button was brought to the joystick, this is also the first console in which the Pause button appeared. The joystick itself was analog (inside there are two variable resistance resistors that are rotated by the joystick handle through the levers). The design of the joystick is patented .
The joystick also had a digital keyboard, and the games were bundled with special overlays with signatures which buttons are responsible for what.
The design of the joysticks was very unsuccessful, they often broke.
In addition to the joysticks, the CX-53 trackball could also be connected to the console, a very hardcore and almost unkillable thing.
The size of the ball is slightly smaller than a billiard room. Inside are optocouplers on bearings. Playing it is quite unusual and fun.
When you turn on the console with a cartridge, an animation showing the color palette is shown:
The cartridge itself looks quite simple, 2 ROM chips, nothing superfluous.
Comparing Atari 5200 and Atari 2600 graphics:
Pac man
Pitfall
A number of Homebrew games have also been released on the 5200.
In general, the console was unsuccessful and the Atari 2600, released in 1977, successfully survived it, moreover, in 1986, the updated Atari 2600 Jr was released (slim edition, as it is popular to say now), which was produced until 1992 .
The reasons for the failures are the low reliability of the joysticks, the incompatibility with the Atari 2600, the specific adapter to connect to the TV (there was a special external unit that the antenna was connected to, the power supply and cable from the console, in a later version they refused) Atari somehow motivate the creators of games for this platform.
There are many emulators of this platform, I used to demonstrate MAME .
The live console also works, but the picture through the RF output is below average. Perhaps I will try to add a composite video output to the console.
Advertising Atari 5200 with Jimm Carrey;) Thank you sith for observation.
Thank you for attention!
What to write about the next review? Options:
1. Sinclair QL
2. Sega CD + Sega 32x
3. Silicon Graphics O2
4. KG / AM, do not write anything))
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/373087/
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