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DW FACTS
by Dark Watcher

The Atari 7800 Pro System was originally designed in1983 but saw a very limited release the following year due to the Videogame Crash of 1983. In 1985 Nintendo had revitalized the videogame industry with its release of the NES. This prompted then Atari CEO Jack Tramiel to try again with this fully developed console 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.

MODELS Officially licensed releases
The Atari 7800 had three major revisions. The initial release featured an expansion port (which was never utilized), which was removed from the 2nd revision. The third, the Atari 7800 Peritel, was the PAL version and provided SCART output.
Atari 7800 ProSystem	Atari 7800	Atari 7800 Peritel

Atari 7800 Nolan Bushnell Signature Series



CLONES Non-licensed hardware releases
No clones were released for this system.

CONSOLE RATINGS
by Marriott_Guy

Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. A 10 point scale is utilized, with 10 being excellent.

CRITERIA	RATING	NOTES & COMMENTS
Console Design	07	I happen to like the compact design of the 7800. Backwards compatibility with the Atari 2600 is a huge plus.
Console Durability	08	Even with heavy use, I have not had any issues with my console. Due to its light mass, care should be utilized to avoid pulling the console off of the table in a heated gaming session.
Controllers	04	The small joystick is extremely rigid almost to the point that you may think that it is unmovable. The keypad featured in the 5200 has thankfully been removed, but the oblong design is cumbersome and difficult to navigate.
Graphics	04	Being basically a glorified Atari 2600, this system falls well short in times of graphical output when compared to its primary competitors, the NES and Sega Master System.
Audio	02	Probably the worst aspect of the 7800, the sound chip actually took a step backwards from its predecessor the 5200 (2 channel vs. 4 channel) to enable backwards compatibility with the Atari 2600.
Media	04	Identical is size and shape to the Atari 2600 carts, the lack of differentiation makes finding titles difficult.
Gamer Value	04	With a library comprised of mostly rehashed titles, the 7800 offers very little to the gamer with the exception of its backwards compatibility.
Collector Value	04	Lacking any true innovations, the Atari 7800 is not the most desirable system for the collector. Acquiring one of these systems is not an issue, nor is the price in any way prohibitive.

FORMAT, PACKAGING & GENERAL INFO Interesting facts on software for 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 also 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. 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. The overall library is rather small (59 commercial releases) with most titles easily obtainable. The Atari 7800 is also compatible with Atari 2600 games, boosting its overall value as a console for those looking to save some room and/or money.
	applemctom's Games that Defined Compiliation

Atari 7800 Game Boxes


SCREENSHOTS Captured in-game images
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

EMULATION
First and third party system emulators

MESS

MESS (Multi-Emulator Super System) is a DOS based emulator capable of running many
systems including this one. It has a Windows based GUI and is extremely user friendly.

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 chip (2 channel)
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
Cartridge	16 KB to 144 KB (max)	59	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 7800 Pro System Owners Manual (PDF) - 3.18 MB Atari 7800 Video Game System Owners Manual (EU - PDF) Rev A - 0.94 MB Atari 7800 Peritel Owners Manual (PDF) - 0.54 MB