Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 was a video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari. It was created to compete with systems from Coleco and Mattel. It was both technologically superior and more cost efficient than any console available at that time.

The Atari 5200 was, in essence, an Atari 400 computer without a keyboard. This made for a powerful, proven design which Atari could quickly bring to market. The system featured many inovations like a automatic switchbox and 4 controller ports, but the most revolutionary was the a controller with an analog joystick and system function keys (start, pause, reset). Unfortunately, the non-centering joystick design proved to be ungainly and unreliable, alienating many consumers. The Atari 5200 also suffered from it's initial cartridge incompatibility with the Atari 2600 (an adapter was later released).

While the 5200 did garner a strong cult following with its library of high quality games, it faced an uphill battle competing with the ColecoVision's head start and a stuttering economy. But the question of which system was superior became moot when the game market crashed in 1983-84, killing off both systems in their prime.

Specs

• CPU: 6502C @ 1.79 MHz
• Screen Resolution: 320x192 resolution, 16 on-screen colors (out of 256)
• Sound: 4-channel
• RAM: 16K

See Also

• List of Atari 5200 games
• Atari 2600
• Atari 7800
• Atari Lynx
• Atari Panther
• Atari Jaguar
• Atari Jaguar II