The Video Game Console Library - Atari 7800 ProSystem

	Atari 7800 ProSystem
	DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
	Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy

Developer	Manufacturer	Release Date	Country(s)	Initial Price	Model Number	Game Releases	Overall Rating
Atari Inc. \ GCC	Atari Inc.	Jun-86	North America, Europe	$149 USD	CX7800	64 (commercial)	NA
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Media	Specs\Manuals	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality)	N\A
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile)	N\A
Controllers (design, response, feel, use)	N\A
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation)	N\A
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects)	N\A
Media (game media format, design, durability)	N\A
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging)	N\A
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library)	N\A
Innovations (technological industrial strides)	N\A
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?)	N\A
Collector Value (good collector investment?)	N\A
Games Rarity (general availability of games)	N\A
Console Rarity (general availability of a system)	N\A

Reviews

Atari 7800 console

DW FACTS
- by Dark Watcher

The Atari 7800 Pro System was originally designed around 1983 and 1984, but was never released during that time frame because of the "Great Videogame Crash of 1983". Around 1985 Nintendo had revitalized the videogame industry with its release of the NES. This prompted then Atari CEO Jack Tramiel to try at the console market once again in 1986.

The Atari 7800 was brought out of storage to compete against Nintendo's NES. By the time the system was ready for sale, Sega had released the Sega Master System and had made the marketplace even more hostile for Atari. So what happened?

If it were released back in 1984 the system may have done amazingly well, but now its specs were clearly dated compared to its competitors. The Atari 7800 played classic 2600 games and revamped versions of older arcade classics, but gamers wanted new original games. Atari had almost no 3rd party support mostly because of disinterest or Nintendo's restrictions, so they had to try and support the 7800 alone (Froggo, Activision, and Absolute were a few third party supporters). By the time original games came out it was too little too late and it was time to put the system out of its misery in 1989.

FACT: The Atari 7800 was originally developed in 1984 as the Atari 3600. It was actually designed by a company called General Computer Corporation (GCC). As part of a lawsuit settlement GCC had been sued for releasing an unlicensed speedup chipset for Atari's arcade version of Missile Command.

Pictures & Media

Various picture\video media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Atari 7800 - Front

Atari logo

Atari 7800 - Back

Atari 7800 Print Advertisments

Atari 7800 Print Advert - Courtesy of AtariAge.com

Atari 7800 Nolan Bushnell Signature Series Prototypes

Atari 7800 Nolan Bushnell Signature Series (eBay auction)

Specs & Manuals

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.

Processor Type	Processor Speed	Other Processor Information	RAM \ Video RAM
Atari SALLY (8-bit custom 6502c)	1.79 MHz	Atari MARIA GPU @ 7.16 MHz	4 KB
Screen Resolution	Color Palette	Polygons \ Sprites	Audio
320 x 240	256 (16 on-screen)	N\A	TIA (2 channel)
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
Cartridge	16 KB to 144 KB (max)	64 (commercial)	Compatible with Atari 2600 games
Internal Storage	External \ Removable Storage	Game Controllers	Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
4 KB ROM (BIOS)	None	Joystick, 2 button	Light Gun and various 1st \ 3rd party controllers
Controller Ports	Network Ports	Other Ports	Audio \ Video
Two (2)	None	Expansion port (1st model only)	RF, SCART (Peritel model)
Power Supply - External	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
Input: AC 120V, 60Hz, 15W Output: DC 9V, 1a	None	The expansion port was never utilized. No peripherals were ever released for it.
Manuals
Atari 78700 Pro System Owners Manual (PDF) - 3.18 MB

Games & Emulation

Games, media format, emulators and screen shots for titles released on this system.

Software for the Atari 7800 was distributed on ROM cartridges. First party games were packaged in the classic silver cardboard boxes that were utilized with the Atari 5200, and to some degree the 2600.

Eight titles were released that featured the moniker "Super Game Cartridge" on the front of the box (pictured to the left). These titles were advertised by Atari as containing additional storage capacity which resulted in larger, more complex game offerings. In truth, though they varied from the standard 16KB / 32KB ROM format of most games, there is nothing especially unique about these offerings. In fact, most of these games were pretty awful to be honest.

Atari 7800 Game Boxes

Atari 7800 Game Screenshots

Ace of Aces

Alien Brigade

Ballblazer

Basketbrawl

Centipede

Choplifter

Commando

Crossbow

Dark Chambers

Desert Falcon

Dig Dug

Donkey Kong Jr,

Double Dragon

Fatal Run

Fight Night

Food Fight

Galaga

Hat Trick

Ikari Warriors

Impossible Mission

Joust

Klax

Kung Fu Master

Mario Bros.

Mean 18 Golf

Midnight Mutants

Motor Psycho

Ms. Pac-Man

Ninja Golf

Pete Rose Baseball

Pole Position II

Realsports Baseball

Rescue on Fractalus

Robotron: 2084

Super Huey

Title Match Pro Wrestling

Tomcat F-14

Touchdown Football

Xevious

Third Party Emulators
Program	Website	Description
Stella	http://stella.sourceforge.net/	This Atari 2600 emulator is DOS based and uses an easy to use Windows based GUI. There are several other emulators, but this is one of our favorites.

Models

Additional authorized releases for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Atari 7800 ProSystem

Initial release which featured the expansion port.

Atari 7800

Second release with no expansion port

Atari 7800 Peritel

French release which featured SCART output

Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones).

No clones were released for this system.

Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.

Name	Website	Description
AtariAge	http://www.atariage.com/...SystemID=7800	Great resource for Atari games and hardware
Atari Museum	http://www.atarimuseum.com/.../7800menu/	Many articles\pictures of the 7800
The Atari Times	http://www.ataritimes.com/system.php?System=7800	Game and system review among their offerings

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Page last updated 29-Jan-2012

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