Atari 7800

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The Atari 7800 is a video game console released by Atari in 1986 (a test market occurred in June 1984). The 7800 was designed to replace the unsuccessful Atari 5200, and re-establish Atari's market supremacy against Intellivision and Colecovision. With this system, Atari addressed all the shortcomings of the Atari 5200: it had simple digital joysticks; it was almost fully backwards compatible with the Atari 2600; and it was affordable (it was originally priced at $140 USD).

Contents

1 Summary
2 Aftermath
3 Technical specifications
4 System revisions
5 External links
6 See also

Summary

The 7800 was the first game system from Atari which was designed by an outside company (by the General Computer Corporation, future consoles designed outside the company were the Atari Lynx and the Atari Jaguar). The system was designed to be upgraded to a fully-fledged home computer — a keyboard was developed, and the keyboard had an expansion port (which was the SIO port from Atari's 8-bit computer line) for the addition of peripherals like disk drives and printers (this should not be taken to imply that this computer expansion would have allowed the 7800 to run programs designed for Atari's computers, as the two architectures were entirely different). GCC had also designed a 'high score cartridge,' a battery-backed RAM cart designed for storing game scores. Atari manufactured none of these accessories, and after the initial production run they also eliminated the expansion port. In 1987, the Atari XEGS was released and it came with a light gun, called the XG-1. The XG-1 was fully compatible with the 7800 and the 2600, and Atari released four games on the 7800 that utilized this peripheral.

The 7800 was test-marketed in southern California in June 1984. One month later, Warner Communications sold Atari to Jack Tramiel, who did not want to build a video game console. He pulled the plug on all projects related to video games and decided to focus on Atari's existing computer line in order to begin development of the new 16-bit computer line (which appeared as the Atari ST). The 7800 was re-introduced in winter 1986 after the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System proved that the video game market was still viable. Unfortunately, by the time the 7800 made it to market, the NES had 90% of the market cornered and the rival Sega Master System had most of what was left.

The 7800's technical superiority is still debated today. According to a 2003 interview with Leonard Tramiel, the Atari 7800 was essentially "a 2600 with some things put into hardware that were done in software on the 2600". [link] The general thesis is the 7800's architecture is essentially just an Atari 2600 with a slightly better CPU, more system RAM, and an advanced graphics chip (MARIA). While the system could handle far more moving objects on screen (up to 100) than any of its competitors, its audio capabilities were limited due to lack of board space. The designers allowed games (notably ports from the Atari 400/800 computer line) to include a POKEY audio chip in the cartridge. Only two games, Ballblazer and Commando used the POKEY chip. The 7800 was also more difficult to program than other systems available at the time, though this was tempered by the fact that many game programmers at the time were already well versed in the 2600.

Aftermath

The 7800 faced the severe software drought that would become the mark of all Atari consoles sold after the video game crash. Relatively few titles were released by Atari, many of them unpolished and lacking in features, or even games that already were in previous Atari systems. And there was virtually no effort by Atari to recruit third party developers, aside from a few titles from Absolute, Activision, and Froggo. On January 1, 1992, Atari Corporation formally announced abandonment of the Atari 7800, in addition to the Atari 2600 and the Atari 8-bit computer line, including the Atari XE Game System.

Technical specifications

CPU: Custom 6502C
* Speed: 1.79 MHz, drops to 1.19 MHz when the TIA or RIOT chips are accessed
* (note: This is Atari's custom 6502 known as SALLY which can be halted to allow other devices to control the bus)
RAM: 4 KB (2 6116 2Kx8 RAM ICs)
ROM: built in 4K BIOS ROM, 48K Cartridge ROM space without bankswitching
Graphics: MARIA custom graphics controller
* 160x224 resolution with 256 colors, 320x216 resolution (with fewer colors)
* Direct Memory Access (DMA)
* Graphics clock: 7.16 MHz
I/O: Joystick and console switch IO handled byte 6532 RIOT and TIA
Ports: 2 joystick ports, 1 cartridge port, 1 expansion connector, power in, RF output
Sound: TIA (STELLA) video and sound chip, same as the 2600. Only the sound is used in 7800 games. Both video and sound is used in 2600 games.
* Optional POKEY sound chip on cartridge for improved sounds.

System revisions

Prototypes:

Atari 3600 - original model number
Atari CX-9000 Video Computer System

Production:

Atari CX7800 - Vastly modified and enhanced 2600 model. Two joystick ports on lower front panel. New chipset (except sound chip; POKEY chips could be added to carts). Side expansion port for upgrades and computer add ons. Bundled accessories included two CX-24 Pro Line joysticks, AC adapter, switchbox, RCA connecting cable, and Pole Position II cartridge.
Atari CX7800 - Second Revision. Slightly revised motherboard, added an addional timing circuit. Expansion port connector removed from motherboard but is still etched. Shell has indentation of where expansion port was to be.
Atari CX7800 - Third Revision. As above but only a small blemish on shell.

External links

[Atari7800.com Institute For Advanced Atari Gaming Studies - Atari History Library & Web Resource]
[Dan B's Atari 7800 Tech Page] Tech resource on 7800
[AtariAge – Comprehensive Atari 7800 Rarity Guide and information]
[Atari 7800 FAQ]
[The Dot Eaters entry] featuring the 7800 and its games