Atari 7800 Thread

[TrekMD]

That would defeat the intended purpose.  Atari had originally planned to release an XM back in the day.  This release is meant to do what Atari did not and the goal is to keep it as close to the original product as possible.  Even doing that there are many complaining about it because they rather see the hardware incorporated into carts than into a centralized unit. 

[retromod]

That would defeat the intended purpose.  Atari had originally planned to release an XM back in the day.  This release is meant to do what Atari did not and the goal is to keep it as close to the original product as possible.  Even doing that there are many complaining about it because they rather see the hardware incorporated into carts than into a centralized unit.

but why it is delayed by years? As I understood from project websites they add/remove features on their own so it seems not really a 1:1 copy of the Atari project in my opinion, specially as their are some "private" features developers want to implement. Any more details?

[TrekMD]

Health issues, losing help, bugs that are affecting compatibility with some carts...  We have a thread on the XM with a link to the original site:  Atari 7800 eXpansion Module (XM).

[TL]

[align=center:2x5ddyru]Lets Play Atari 7800 Frenzy![/align:2x5ddyru]

[TrekMD]

I have this cart and it is well made.  It's cool having both games included.

[TL]

I have this cart and it is well made.  It's cool having both games included.

I REALLY REALLY want this, wish I could have got one when it came out 

[TrekMD]

It is still available:  http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1029 

[TL]

It is still available:  http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1029

Yes, but only on Atari Age 

[TrekMD]

It is still available:  http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1029

Yes, but only on Atari Age 

I can order one and send it your way.  It does appear to support both NTSC and PAL systems.

[guest5175]

I will probably open up a can of worms here but why is it that 7800 fans practically demand nothing but arcade ports? I'm Mr. Arcade and I have zero desire to see more arcade ports for the system, if you want to make a couple of bucks off your ability to make 7800 games then I would rather spend it on something fresh (Crystal Quest will have my money)

I say this because:

1) The most memorable games on the 7800 were original stuff like Ninja Golf or Midnight Mutants
2) It had a lot of arcade ports BITD because it was the cheap and easy thing to do
3) I think it's have enough ports that we know what the system can do in that regard.
4) MAME
5) I own some of these games in their original arcade form so perhaps that makes it worse but I really have no desire to own something that I paid a heck of a lot more for in the best form you will find the game

[TrekMD]

There were some original games being developed but, since the XM has not been released, development stopped.  A game that isn't original but was finished is Super Circus Atari, essentially a nice update of the 2600 title for the system.  Also, if you check on the homebrews section here, you'll find other homebrews being made, including one I recently posted about that is a type of Adventure game.  Neither one of those games are arcade ports. 

[guest5175]

There were some original games being developed but, since the XM has not been released, development stopped.  A game that isn't original but was finished is Super Circus Atari, essentially a nice update of the 2600 title for the system.  Also, if you check on the homebrews section here, you'll find other homebrews being made, including one I recently posted about that is a type of Adventure game.  Neither one of those games are arcade ports.

Well I just mean when I talk with 7800 fans, the majority seem to be always clamoring for arcade ports. I've argued with people before who try to make the case that we should ONLY get arcade ports because that is the "spirit of the 7800" supposedly and to have anything more complex like NES level complexity would apparently be sacrilege. I just think that is a bunch of baloney but I'm just trying to understand it a little better as the position doesn't make full sense to me. The Atari 5200 library is 95% ports and it bombed. Adventure II is the only reason I had to go out of my way to get one, pretty much everything else worthwile you can get for the XE/XL, even Space Dungeon.

 I know there are some games that aren't ports (as mentioned, Crystal Quest) but where so many of them are, I just can't get excited for them. I would like to support the guys that put all this effort into it but I just am not interested in the ports of those games. I can get behind ports of stuff from the Atari 8-bit or maybe a system I don't own like the Sinclair. Heck I wouldn't mind seeing how the 2600 could handle Solaris or Save Mary but those aren't available on 1000 different platforms.

[TrekMD]

I agree with you there.  Limiting the library of the system to just arcade ports is narrow minded.  The system can certainly have more complex games (and needs them) and there should be no reason for it to not get more complex games once the XM is out and programmers can take advantage of having the extra memory and POKEY in one place (rather than worrying about finding carts with those). 

[Lorfarius]

Its probably because its much easier for design and gameplay purposes to port something rather than create something entirely new.  The Adventure game sounded interesting but I wouldn't mind seeing the likes of an RPG maybe even a redesign of something like Ultima as the consoles more than capable.

[TL]

[align=center:2darmh43]Atari 7800 Astro Blaster[/align:2darmh43]