History Platform / Atari7800

The system was roughly on par with the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in terms of graphics and overall processing power, though sound processing was greatly inferior to its competitors due to constraints related to making the system backwards compatible with the 2600. The sound could be upgraded if an optional [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers POKEY]] sound processor was included in the game cartridge, though only two games did so. The 7800 somewhat unfairly gained a reputation as being much less powerful than the NES, largely due to the number of lazily done ports from its two predecessors.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_XG-1_light_gun XG-1 light gun]] (also compatible with the [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers XEGS]] and 2600, though only one 2600 game, ''Sentinel'', used it)

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their [[UsefulNotes/Atari2600 2600 system]] reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. The company was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which produced hardware for the home market) and Atari Games (which continued to make arcade games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames an emerging market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The system was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem had successfully revived the console market from the Crash.

The system was roughly on par with the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in terms of graphics and overall processing power, though sound processing was greatly inferior to its competitors due to constraints related to making the system backwards compatible with the 2600. The sound could be upgraded if an optional [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers POKEY]] sound processor was included in the game cartridge, though only two games did so. The 7800 somewhat unfairly gained a reputation as being much less powerful than the NES, largely due to the number of lazily done ports from its two predecessors.

The 7800 was discontinued in 1991, selling just under 5 million units in its lifetime. This number might not sound impressive now, but the 7800 was able to pull this off despite Nintendo's market dominance during the time period right after the Crash, a lacking library, and middling support from Atari. It also did turn a profit thanks to low development costs and the strength of the huge 2600 backlog. There was clearly still an appetite for Atari's consoles; unfortunately, the company's following efforts with the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar wasted their chance to get back on their feet.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. The company was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which produced hardware for the home market) and Atari Games (which continued to make arcade games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames an emerging market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The system was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem had successfully revived the console market from the Crash.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which produced hardware for the home market) and Atari Games (which continued to make arcade games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames an emerging market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which continued to produce hardware) and Atari Games (which continued to make games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames an emerging market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

* ''VideoGame/{{Meltdown}}

* ''Ballblazer'' (notable for its procedurally-generated jazz title screen BGM, achieved using an added-on POKEY chip on the cartridge).

* ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}''
* ''Crossbow''
* ''Desert Falcon''

* ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission''

* ''VideoGame/MidnightMutants''

* ''Ninja Golf''
* ''Ms. VideoGame/PacMan''
* ''VideoGame/PolePosition II''

While Nintendo were abusing their position as king of the mountain to hoard third-party games for the NES, Atari managed to still get a small amount of support for the 7800. Nintendo had a two year home console exclusivity requirement for third-party developers, but some NES conversions of arcade games were not made by the arcade manufacturers they originated from. The arcade manufacturers were not beholden to Nintendo's agreements as a result, so Atari could go straight to them to secure licensing deals. This led to the 7800 getting its own versions of 7 NES games: ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' (ironically enough), ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.

While Nintendo were abusing their position as king of the mountain to hoard third-party games for the NES, Atari managed to still get a small amount of support for the 7800. Nintendo had a two year home console exclusivity requirement for third-party developers, but some NES conversions of arcade games were not made by the arcade manufacturers they originated from. The arcade manufacturers were not behold to Nintendo's agreements as a result, so Atari could go straight to them to secure licensing deals. This led to the 7800 getting its own versions of 7 NES games: ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' (ironically enough), ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which continued to produce hardware) and Atari Games (which continued to make games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a emerging market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

The system was roughly on par with the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in terms of graphics and overall processing power, though sound processing was greatly inferior to its competitors due to constraints related to making the system backwards compatible with the 2600. The sound could be upgraded if an optional [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers POKEY]] sound processor was included in the game cartridge, but barely any games did so. The 7800 somewhat unfairly gained a reputation as being much less powerful than the NES, largely due to the number of lazily done ports from its two predecessors.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which continued to produce hardware) and Atari Games (which continued to make games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a revitalized market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reigned over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which continued to produce hardware) and Atari Games (which continued to make games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

The 7800 was discontinued in 1991, selling just under 5 million units in its lifetime. This number might not sound impressive now, but the 7800 was able to pull this off despite Nintendo's market dominance during the time period right after the Crash, lacking library that was heavily reliant on the 2600's backlog, and middling support from Atari. It also did turn a profit thanks to low development costs and the strength of the huge 2600 backlog. There was clearly still an appetite for Atari's consoles; unfortunately, the company's following efforts with the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar wasted their chance to get the company back on its feet.

* ''Ballblazer'' (notable for it's procedurally-generated jazz title screen BGM, achieved using an added-on POKEY chip on the cartridge).

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reign over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Atari was split into two entities: Atari Corporation (which continued to produce hardware) and Atari Games (which continued to make games). Atari Corp, now under the ownership of Jack Tramiel, decided to come back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

While Nintendo were abusing their position as king of the mountain to hoard third-party games for the NES, Atari managed to still get a small amount of support for the 7800. Nintendo had a home console exclusivity requirement for third-party developers, but some NES conversions of arcade games were not made by the arcade manufacturers they originated from. The arcade manufacturers were not behold to Nintendo's agreements as a result, so Atari could go straight to them to secure licensing deals. This led to the 7800 getting its own versions of 7 NES games: ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' (ironically enough), ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Creator/{{Atari}} was king. Their 2600 system reign over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Though they were down, they were not out (yet), and came back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Atari was king. Their 2600 system reign over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Though they were down, they were not out (yet), and came back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''. The 7800 was initially released for a one-month run in June 1984 in southern California, but a number of legal and logistical issues led to its official launch being delayed until January 1986, by which time Creator/{{Nintendo}} and its UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem revived the console market from the Crash.

While Nintendo were abusing their position as king of the mountain to hoard third-party support for the NES, Atari managed to still get a small amount of support for the 7800. Nintendo had a home console exclusivity requirement for third-party developers, but some NES conversions of arcade games were not made by the arcade manufacturers they originated from. The arcade manufacturers were not behold to Nintendo's agreements as a result, so Atari could go straight to them to secure licensing deals. This led to the 7800 getting its own versions of 7 NES games: ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' (ironically enough), ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.

The 7800 was discontinued in 1991, selling just under 5 million units in its lifetime. This number might not sound impressive now, but the 7800 was able to pull this off despite Nintendo's market dominance during the time period right after the Crash, lacking library that was heavily reliant on the 2600's backlog, and middling support from Atari. It also did turn a profit thanks to low development costs and the strength of the huge 2600 backlog. There was clearly still an appetite for Atari's consoles; unfortunately, the company's following efforts with the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar wasted the chance to get the company back on its feet.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Atari was king. Their 2600 system reign over the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Though they were down, they were not out (yet), and came back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''.

Released for one month in June 1984 in southern California, then left to sit in warehouses when Warner sold Atari to ex-Commodore president Jack Tramiel and a dispute arose about whether Warner or Tramiel had to pay contractor General Computer Corporation for developing the 7800 and launch games for it.

Re-released in January 1986 after Tramiel relented and paid and someone was found to head the new video game division, by which time the NES revived the console market from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.

The 7800 was discontinued in 1991, selling just under 5 million units in its lifetime. This number might not sound impressive now, but the 7800 was able to pull this off despite Nintendo's market dominance during the time period right after the Crash, lacking library that was heavily reliant on the 2600's backlog, and middling support from Atari. It ended up as the 4 best-selling console as of the end of TheEighties. It also did turn a profit thanks to low development costs and the strength of the huge 2600 backlog. There was clearly still an appetite for Atari's consoles; unfortunately, the company's following efforts with the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx and UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar wasted the chance to get the company back on its feet.

Homebrew development was stalled due to lack of a special programming key to bypass the system's lockout mechanism. The key was eventually discovered in 2001, opening up the 7800 homebrew efforts. It's relatively easy to collect for the platform, as the library is so small and few of the games are really rare.

Re-released in January 1986 after Tramiel relented and paid and someone was found to head the new video game division, by which time the NES revived the console market from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. Though it never made a dent in the NES' dominance, it did turn a profit, thanks to low development costs and the huge 2600 library.

The 7800 was discontinued in 1991. It sold just under 5 million units in its lifetime, which might not sound impressive now, but was still enough to make it the fourth-best selling console of its time (behind only the NES, the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and Atari's own 2600) as of the end of TheEighties. The fact that it managed this feat despite a middling game library, lack of much support from Atari, and the hostile video game market of the time proved that there was still an appetite for Atari's consoles; unfortunately, the company's [[UsefulNotes/AtariLynx following]] [[UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar efforts]] wasted the chance to get back on their feet.

While Nintendo were abusing their position as king of the mountain to hoard third-party support for the NES, Atari managed to still get a small amount of support for the 7800. Nintendo had a home console exclusivity requirement for third-party developers, but some NES conversions of arcade games were not made by the arcade manufacturers they originated from. The arcade manufacturers were not behold to Nintendo's agreements as a result, so Atari could go straight to them to secure licensing deals. This led to the 7800 getting ports of 7 NES games: ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' (ironically enough), ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.

Atari made sure not to repeat the mistakes they made with the 5200. Unlike its predecessor, the 7800 is fully compatible with the library and accessories of the 2600 right out of the box, because it ''is'' a 2600, with a 6502 instead of the 2600's chopped-down 6507, a new graphics chip in addition to the 2600's TIA, and 4K of extra RAM. The 5200 controller was a malfunction-prone abomination, so the 7800 went back to basics and sported nothing but a simple joystick with two buttons. The controller was still criticized, though, so a new version with a similar design to the NES controller was released, [[NoExportForYou but only in Europe]]. All games designed for the 7800 had to be approved by Atari due to the system's lockout mechanism, ensuring there was no glut of third-party UsefulNotes/{{shovelware}} to plague the system like with the 2600. Atari had great plans for this system, the High Score Cart, the 7800 computer add on, and the 7800 trackball were planned but those addons were killed.

During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, Atari was king. Their 2600 system ruled the TV room as the console of choice and the company was a household name. But then a reckoning came, as the failure of the [[UsefulNotes/Atari5200 5200]] and the fallout from UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 left Atari a shell of its former self. Though they were down, they were not out (yet), and came back into [[UsefulNotes/The8bitEraOfConsoleVideoGames a new market of 8-bit games]] with a new system: the '''Atari 7800'''.