Hello, its blogging time again and its also Christmas time again and for this blog entry today, Im covering a rereleased video game console.
Now I know what your thinking, "Ryan, Its January. Why are you doing another Christmas blog when you already did one on Christmas day?" And you're right, I already did do a Christmas blog on Christmas day. But due to my mother insisting on waiting for my grandparents and bother to arrive, I ended up only getting my 3 switch games on Christmas, and would get the rest later on. So thats why I did the Skyrim entry instead of this which I was intending to do.
Anyway, agreeing to that I patiently waited, and sure enough, on January 8th, Just yesterday, My mother put this on the counter that afternoon:
I had I had a good idea on what it was and when I opened it, my suspicion was confirmed:
Yep its the Atari 7800+!, A modern day version of the Atari 7800 console, originally released in 1986. In order to understand the console, we need to take a look at the story behind it. The 7800's origins trace back to 1977 after the release of the Atari 2600. While designing the VCS in 1976, the engineering team from Atari's Cyan Engineering division said the system would have a three-year lifespan before becoming obsolete. They started blue sky designs for a new console that would be ready to replace it around 1979. Jay Miner, and many of the engineers that designed the 2600, would work on this improved console dubbed "Stella 2".
They began work on an evolved version of the TIA (Television Interface Adapter) at the heart of the 2600's graphics and sound, was upgraded and split into 3 chips: The CTIA, The ANTIC, and the POKEY.
They began work on an evolved version of the TIA (Television Interface Adapter) at the heart of the 2600's graphics and sound, was upgraded and split into 3 chips: The CTIA (Or Color Television Interface Adaptor), The ANTIC (Or Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller), and the POKEY (Or Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit).
The CTIA and ANTIC offered multiple resolutions, 4 player sprites and 4 missile sprites as opposed to the 2 player and 2 missile sprites of the 2600, and a choice of around 12 colors for the background and sprites out of a palette of 256, and the POKEY chip handled I/O routines, Paddle Input, and could produce 4 voice square wave or noise channel audio, with the option to mix channels for more precise frequency control, or more complex sounds.
Nolan Bushnell, Atari's Co founder and CEO, was pushing parent company Warner Communications to cease support of the 2600 in favor of "Stella 2", However Warner were adamant in pushing the 2600, and not only regected the idea, but soon replaced him with former Burlington Industries vice president Ray Kassar.
Around the same time, the microcomputer revolution took place, and machines like the Commodore PET, TRS-80 and Apple II began appearing in stores.
Kassar took note of the Apple II, and realized the chipset developed for the "Stella 2" would be very competitive with it. Soon, plans were made to adapt the chipset into 2 computers codenamed Candy and Colleen. Candy was meant to be a low end hybrid computer and game console with 1 cartridge slot, a membrane keyboard, RF output, and no expandability, and Colleen was meant to be a high end computer with dual cartridge slots full keyboard, RF and Monitor output and user-accessible expansion slots.
The computers were eventually named the Atari 400 and the Atari 800 as they were originally made to include 4K of RAM and 8K of RAM respectively, however a price drop in RAM chips lead them to both include 8K. the computers were announced in December 1978 and made their debut a year later in November of 1979. The 400 and 800 were some of the first personal computers with dedicated graphics and sound chips and were an incredible success, selling over 2 million units by 1981.
Meanwhile, The 2600 continued to sell with moderate success, from selling around 350,000 to 400,00 in 1977 to around 600,000 by 1979. But in 1980, Atari made the decision to license the arcade game Space Invaders from Taito, making it the very first officially licensed port of an arcade game. It was an immediate success, selling over 6 million copies and causing the 2600 sales to go from 1 million in 1980 to 3 million by 1981.
However in 1980, Toymaker Mattel released the Intellivision, which boasted better graphics and sound, and had already sold 1 million units by 1981.
Fearing the competition, they fired back by releasing a successor to the 2600. Seeing that their 400 and 800 computers were selling extraordinarily well and were pretty competitive with the Intellivision, Atari soon began the development of a console they had dubbed The Atari System X, later called the 3200.
The system was eventually named the Atari 5200, and went on sale in November of 1982, for $270 dollars.
However, the system ended up being a disaster as it was plagued with problems. The first issue was that while it was originally designed to compete with the Intellivision, by the time it was released it ended up being a competitor with the Colecovision. Not only did the Colecovision have much better graphics and sound, but it was the chipset for the 5200 was not as competitive with it.
The second issue was consumers didn't understand the concept of replacing their video game system after 5 years, when they've owned devices like TV's and Record Players for 25 years.
The third issue was, despite using the same chipset and CPU, the 5200 was not compatible with the Atari 400 and 800, nor was it able to function as one by adding a keyboard. It was also incompatible with the 2600 so users had to get completely new games for the system.
The fourth issue was it used an automatic TV switchbox, allowing it to automatically switch from regular TV viewing to the game system signal when the system was turned on, with the RF box also containing the power plug. However, while it was innovative, many users found it confusing.
And the fifth issue was the controllers were notorious for being awkward, fragile, and prone to malfunction. not only that, but it was incompatible with the 2600 controllers forcing users to use the 5200's controllers.
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Atari was split into two different companies: Atari Corporation and Atari Games. Atari Corporation handled consumer products, such as their line of personal computers and video game consoles, and Atari Games handled arcade games.
On July 2nd 1984, The majority of Atari Corporation was sold to Jack Tramiel, the founder and former CEO of Commodore.
Tramiel had previously left Commodore after he showed the prototypes of the TED project consisting of the Commodore 264 and the Commodore 364 (The former of which later became the Commodore Plus/4) at CES and getting into a dispute with Irving Gould.
The problem was Tramiel had no interest in the video game business and wanted to focus on the computer business, specifically with the upcoming Atari ST.
Combined with his refusal to pay GCC's royalties in development and the 7800 ended up being stored away in warehouses for over 2 years. The system was eventually released in May of 1986 for $79.95 with 2 controllers Pole Position II as the pack in game, and all of the 13 titles initially announced being sold along side it as well (With the exeption of Rescue on Fractalus! which was canceled, and Nile Flyer which was renamed Desert Falcon).
However the 7800 ended up selling poorly. Few stores carried it, and its technology and line up couldn't compete with the NES and Sega Master System. Not only that but the marketing campaign for the system was with a budget of around $1 to $4 million dollars, far less than the $16 million spent by Nintendo and $9 million by Sega. Overall, the 7800 only sold 3.77 million units and captured just 12% of the gaming market, before being discontinued in 1992.
However, fast forward to August 2024, when Atari Interactive (The modern day ancestor to the original Atari), announced the release of the 7800+ as part of its Atari+ platform introduced with the Atari 2600+ in 2023.
The 7800+ was released in December 2024 for $129.99 with 1 wireless controller and Bently Bear's Crystal Quest as the pack in game.
Now that the history's out of the way, lets have a look at the console. Inside the box you get the console on the left with the manuals underneath covered in a plastic shell and a smaller box on the right which houses the controller the game and the required cables.
Now the 7800+ looks a little different than the original 7800, thats because its based on the European 7800 console which had a slightly different silver badge on the front and had its buttons recessed rather than raised.
Interesting fact, the case for the 7800 was based on the case for the Atari 2800, A version of the Atari 2600 sold exclusively in Japan, but was also released in the US by Sears as the Video Arcade II.
Now, when i first say the 7800+, I thought it was strange that they would model it after the European version, but it certainly still looks the part. plus it certainly makes it look more like a 1986 machine than a 1984 machine.
On the front you have the cartridge port on the top, the Power, Pause, Select and Reset buttons, and the left and right controller ports with the left and right difficulty switches in the middle.
On the back you have the HDMI out, a 16:9/4:3 aspect ratio switch, and the USB-C power port.
And finally on the bottom you have your standard model information stickers, as well as seeing some of the metal weights through the vents used to add weight to the system.
the controller it comes with is the CX78+, specifically the wireless version. This is another cue from the European version of the 7800, the original US release of the 7800 came with a controller Atari called the CX24 "Proline" Joystick. Originally Atari planned to release the Proline as a controller for the Atari 2600 in 1983, but was canceled and later bundled with the 7800. While certainly an improvement over the 5200's controllers, the 7800's controllers are still not as good as the famed CX40 as the buttons are very spongy, and the joystick itself is very stiff.
Atari later released the CX78 controller which was a NES style joypad, with the option for a screw in thumbstick, mush like the Sega Master System's controllers.
I actually had trouble with this at first with pushing both buttons with my thumb, but got use to it after a while. It's completely rechargeable with a USB-C port on the back, and also comes with 2 dongles for the console and playing it on a computer.
Hardware wise, the original 7800 used a Atari SALLY MOS 6502 based processor clocked at 1.79 Mhz, 4K of RAM, and 4K of ROM. The graphics are handled by the MARIA (Or Memory Address Register with I/O Access), Which provides 160×240 or 320 X 240 resolutions with 25 colors out of a palette of 256. The sound is handled by the TIA chip, providing 2 voice audio and providing backwards compatibility with the Atari 2600. Theres also the RIOT chip for 2600 compatibility as well, handeling the RAM access.
Now the 7800+ uses modern hardware of course, with a built inenulator and cartridge reader. I believe how it works it that the software loads the rom on the cartridge into memory as if it was a ROM file.
As for games, the 7800 can play pretty much all 400 Atari 2600 games (with the exeption of games like Activisions Space Shuttle, which used the Black and White switch/Color for controlling the shuttle) and 59 official 7800 games as well as homebrews. However due to the emulation, the 7800+ has a few incompatibilities with certain games, but can still play a majority of 2600 and 7800 titles. Speaking of games, Let's have a look at some titles starting with the pack in game, Bently Bears Crystal Quest.`
Originally, this game was published by Bob Decrescenzo in 2013, and was exclusive to AtariAge, but Atari Interactive has sinced purchased AtariAge, allowing them to use it as a pack in title. Its an unofficial sequal to the 1983 Atari arcade game Crystal Castles which was a maze game which a trackball and some platforming elements, but this game is designed to be a Super Mario Style Platform Game. You play as of Bentley Bear, whos on a quest to get the Five Crystals of Life back from the evil Witch Berthilda, dodging old and new enimes along the way. I had played the game before on an online emulator and actually wasn't a fan of it at first, because it just felt like Sega's Wonder Boy/Hudsons Adventure Island, but after playing it on 7800+, Its grown on me. Its also one of the few games that takes advantage of the Atari POKEY chip for enhanced sound, Something that only 2 games did on the original 7800.`
And its also the on 7800 game I own, as the other on my list (Food Fight) hasn't arrived, However, I do have some Atari 2600 games to play on it, Starting with a 4-1 cartridge that came with the rereleased paddle controllers (I got them more for the paddles than for the game, as I wanted to used the paddles for something (but that's story for another day), so we can have a look at the games on that.
The first is the classig Breakout, the classic pong on its side where you break as many bricks as possible. the paddles were a little jittery at first but got better as I played.
Next we have Night Driver, an arcade released in 1976 It was one of the earliest first-person racing video games and is commonly believed to be one of the first published video games to feature real-time first-person graphics, It mayed its 2600 debut in 1980. Its is a solid conversion of the original, and while i had a little paddle issues, it played great.
Next up is Canyon Bomber, another arcade conversion, released in arcades in 1977 and on the 2600 in 1978. The goal is to bomb as much of a canyon as possible before running out of bombs. I could never figure this game out, but does seem to work fine.
And finally there's Video Olympics, which is basically 50 different variants of Pong, Including Pong, Super Pong, Robot Pong, Pong Doubles, Quadrapong, Foozpong, Soccer, Handball, Ice hockey, Hockey II, Basketball, and Volleyball. It works very well, and it would be fun with a 2 or more players.
Now lets have look at my own games from my 2600 collection. Now I'm not going to show you Every game I have, because A). this blog would be too long, and B). when I got the games from my room (Which my brother and sister in law were taking up my room), the dogs seem to be yipping for whatever reason in their crates, so i just grabbed as much as i could. So lets have a look at some games shall we?
First up is Pac Man, and Im sure you know this version as ive discussed it and my dads connection two it a while back. And it looks really good on the 7800 plus with the proper colors and sharp picture thanks to the HD.
It certainly looks a lot better than the label, which appears to have had a very rough life indeed!
Next up is Space Invaders, again everything is nice and shap and everything plays fine. You can even two the "two shot" trick by holding the reset button when the Atari logo appears on power up.
Also worth noting is my copy it the the text only label version, just like the one I showed earlier, signifying this is one of the original copies from 1980. Later copies used the standard picture label that most people are familiar with.
Next is the classic Asteroids, based on the 1979 arcade game of the same name. Its notable in the fact that its a Black and White Vector game ported to a color raster console, but its still solid none the less. The game is also notable as it was the first game on the 2600 to use bankswitching, allowing it to use an 8K ROM chip rather than 4K, so it could fit all the features of the arcade game and extra gameplay variations.
Next is the Berzerk, The classic arcade game where you shoot robots in a maze while avoiding Evil Otto if you stay too long. It blays great and again looks sharp.
Next up is Centipede, Yet another arcade conversion that manages to capture the fun and addictiveness of the original. Despite not using the trackball of the arcade game, the controls are tight and accurate.!
Next up is the last first party 2600 game I own it Centipede's sequel: Millipede. It also manages to capture the fun and addictiveness of the original without using the trackball of the arcade game. It even has the same Score selection mode from the arcade game allowing you to start on a higher difficulty with more points. One thing to note is for whatever reason, it didn't detect the game at first, with a blow and hitting reset, the game booted just fine.
One interesting thing about my copy is that I didn't even realized until i looked at the label, Is that its actually from 1987! Yeah that's right, my copies from 1987! Originally Millipede was released for the Atari 2600 in 1984, and it looks exactly the same except for the copyright date.
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When the 7800 was released in 1986, Atari also reintroduced the 2600 as The Atari 2600 Jr which followed the same design language and sold along side it with a few games this being one of them.
The Atari 2600 Jr sticks in my mind because it had a commercial for it, with probably the worst rap song I think Ive ever heard in my life!
The reason why I didnt recognize it as a rerelease, was because it still looks like the 1982-1984 silver label design, and I thought later 2600 releases would use the 1988 red label designs, but apparently not!
Its probably the only game in My collection that's era appropriate for the 7800 and CX78 Joypad, as opposed to the rest which were the early 80s releases we also have a little bit of a look at how the 2600's label has changed over the years with the 1977-1980 text labels, the 1981-1982 Picture labels, the 1982-1984 silver labels and the 1987-1988 silver labels
Its probably the only game in My collection that's era appropriate for the 7800 and CX78 Joypad, as opposed to the rest which were the early 80s releases we also have a little bit of a look at how the 2600's label has changed over the years with the 1977-1980 text labels, the 1981-1982 Picture labels, the 1982-1984 silver labels and the 1987-1988 silver labels
Now we move on to some third party games starting with Activision. You cant have a 2600 game collection and not have at least 1 Activision title. In this case we have Sky Jinks, a beat the clock flying game. I do find the game particularly interesting, but im sure oit camn be fun with two people trying to fly in as little time as possible.
Next up is Imagic's Atlantis, one of their most popular titles. Taking cues from Taito's Colony 7 Arcade game, Your goal is to Defend the city of Atlantis from attacking space ships, Im not good at it, but do play it every so often. Atlantis is notable as it was the the first console game to have a sequel for it.
