I Bought an Atari 5200... Here's What I Learned 

The Wico joystick is great joystick alternative and the actual atari 5200 trackball is nothing short of magic two must haves for this system.

I've owned a two-port model for years, and never once considered putting the AC adapter inside the controller storage. You're a genius.

Someone identified the issue with my second 5200! "Atari was *notorious* for using cheap RAM in the 8-bit computer line. Score values and graphical corruption are a good indicator that something is wrong with the memory." THANKS FOR THE INSIGHT; 'Graham Bell' and 'Wired-Up Retro'.

Since most 5200 games were also released in nearly identical versions for the 8-bit computer line, and the remaining ones that weren't have homebrew conversions as well, I've never seen much point in getting a 5200. And if you really prefer a console, just get an XE Game System and then unplug the keyboard. It has direct video and audio outputs, too, for the best quality.

Also, Centipede for the 5200 with the trackball controller: best arcade experience you can get on a home console to date.

Gotta love how this was the first console to show manufacturers why backwards compatibility is important

My opinion: The Atari 5200 is a system where piracy of its library of 69 games is not only advisable, it's encouraged!

I came here expecting a 5200 video, I ended up pulling up to the after-party instead.

We need a clone console (Analogue, Im looking at you) that plays 2600, 5200, 7800, Atari XE/8-bit computers, Colecovision, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Lynx and Jaguar cartridges. A lot of these consoles are getting harder to find in working order and we could really use something that at least plays all the Atari stuff: 2600, 5200, 7800 and the XE/8-bit computer cartridges and include Colecovision and Intellivision too.

Man this console is just so...interesting, with it's niche' audience and random games, It's like something from another plane of reality. Thanks for taking your time with this historic console Frame, your effort shines through in the video.

We had this when I was a kid. I absolutely loved it. I used to play Star Raiders all the time. The biggest downfall was of course the controllers will eventually quit working. We had 4 controllers originally and over the years whittled down to just one working controller. Back then I thought the controller itself was the coolest thing ever. The first big company game console with a Pause button on the controller! That was big back then!

Get an Atari 8 bit computer. The 5200 literally is just a stripped down 400. You also would get the benefit of a machine that has S-Video outputs if you buy a cable. They use standard Atari/Genesis style joystick ports, so stick either of those controllers in there for a much better experience. You'd also get the added bonus of a much larger library since they made games for the computers on floppy and cassette far longer after cartridges fell out of favor. I think you can get an SD card adapter for a reasonable price for one if you don't want to deal with floppies and cassettes for the later games. The Atari 8 bit line was definitely ahead of its time. It was able to actually compete somewhat with later machines like the C64 and the ZX Spectrum, even though it predates the cool but quaint Commodore Vic-20.

You are MUCH more likely to have four working 5200 joysticks than three friends that want to play the 5200 with you all at the same time. However, not being able to play three games from the library is a non-trivial downside of the 2-port model.

I wish Hyperkin released an all in one Retron for all classic consoles such as 2600, 5200, 7800. Intellivision and Colecovision in the same vein as the Retron 5.

Lol. That side-by-side with the mini Genesis Classic, then switching to a real Model is hilarious at showing how much of a chonker it is. As for the issues, yeah,the things being fidgety and often breaking been my experience too. In the late 90's I ended up finding a set at a garage sale for decent price with both a 2-port and 4-port console, a pile of regular controllers, games with a couple of duplicates, and a trackball. Last I played with it, only one of the controllers worked fully. The Trackball was partially froze up (wouldn't spin well) at time of purchase and the buttons wouldn't all work. The 2-port console never worked right. The 4-port was working still, though, last I poked at it years ago. Go Atari 8-bit computer instead is my vote.

You might try picking up a label maker. The result would look nicer, the tape won't degrade over time like masking tape and marker will, and it won't leave a messy residue if your box of games gets too much heat exposure.

Always wanted a 5200. It's my one that got away. I still have my 6 switch 2600.

The 5200 was forward-thinking, if not flawed. So many problems would be avoided if Atari used gold plated flexcircuits for the joysticks like they had for the trakballs! The 5200 had great versions of Qix and Centipede that blew the 8bit computer counterparts out of the water. But along with revised versions of 8bit and 2600 games, newer arcade titles and platformers were needed. If only Sinistar, Tempest, and other games were finished at the time as well... At least it got Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus.

Atari is an untouched mystery for me. I wouldn't know where to begin with hardware issues.

I still have my mom's old Atari 5200 2 port, here's my experience: She has 2 controllers, they're all broken. Not due to her own bad, the controllers just deteriate regardless of how you store them 🤷‍♂️ The console works great when loading games! But with busted controllers, it's not as fun. The 2600 adapter for the 5200 is AMAZING!! It's how I got into the 2600, thank God she had the adapter! MegaMania beats Space Invaders, facts

I don't think there's anything to be lost by swapping the RAM out on that 2-port 5200. Atari was *notorious* for using cheap RAM in the 8bit computer line, and score values and graphical corruption are a good indicator that something is wrong with the memory. Speaking of the 8-bit line, if you like the 5200's library at all, I'd just get an Atari 800 XL or 65/130 XE. They take up less space, have composite output, use digital joysticks, and they play all the same games plus a bunch more. Unless the intention is for the 5200 to be a shelf queen (it is a conversation starter, for sure), the computers are a better bet all around.

Thanks for making this video- and I'm grateful for the mini-shoutout to my channel :) The 5200 is definitely an interesting system with some great games! It sounds like you had some unfortunate happenings when it comes to the 5200, but you could try a RAM replacement or maybe replace the entire board inside with a new one (It's possible that Best Electronics still has some). I have a video on my channel about how to do the circuit board replacement. Glad you showed some of the adapters and alternative controllers. There will soon be an amazing controller available from Edladdin which will be able to play the analog games as well as digital games. It may be out in January or February of 2022, so be sure to take a look at that when it's out. Again- once you have a working 5200 and a great controller, it will be one of the best consoles you can own (and the biggest). Oh- and don't forget to get the Trakball!

I don't know about the 5200 itself but I used to have a 400... (Got it from a garage sale for $50 USD with several games) Carts where way smaller probably because most of the power came from the inside of the unit as apposed to being passed through the expansion buss like interface from the carts themselves, but they looked and ran very identical to there 5200 counterparts... And being a computer you could attach a keyboard and external 5 inch floppy drive which around the time I had it was very easy to copy almost any of the games on to... Obviously anything you have today would be MUCH BETTER than one of those but if you're really dead set on the old school experience the 400 in my opinion is the way to go at it will much more reliable hardware...

I owned a 5200 when I was young. I have fond memories of these games. There were some quality issues with the controllers. Robotron, super breakout, miner 2049er, and Pac-Man were some of our favorites.

The Nerd made it perfectly clear in minutes that the Atari 5200 was a no-go. Almost made the fatal mistake of buying one a few years ago, and darned glad I didn't after seeing this video.

The way the cable to the rf things fit into the square on the console is really cool to me

Hello framerater

Even though I was born in 1987, this and the Intellivision were my first systems that I ever experienced. That’s what my parents had gotten from one of my dad’s coworkers before I was born. Anyway I played both of them, and loved both of them. Sadly, the controllers died and everything ended up getting pitched. I’ve now almost gotten a full set(still need 2 games), and I still love the system but I will admit nostalgia plays a HUGE part into it. Yeah a lot of the games are on other systems, either the Atari 800 or even stuff like the ColecoVision, but I still love it. Also, I’ve never really had issues with my current 2 port system. Some 2 port systems already had 4 port bios’ installed when they were transitioning to them and that’s what I have.

The games were surprisingly well done on the system. A lot of good arcade ports were available. Sadly, the system itself and its controller were so susceptible to breaking and/or simply not working very well. Every friend I knew who had this system, they had issues with it.

3D printer owner here. Late to the party, but there’s a few reason the Maker Matrix controller shell is designed like that. The most noticeable design, the back half of the shell being completely flat, is bc it’s the easiest way to 3D print objects while not having to worry about surface finish. With it being flat, it prints flat on the printer, getting an even finish thanks to the print bed. If it was curved, you would have to use supports on either the inside or the outside. On the outside, supports will always leave little bumps of plastic all over the surface, chafing up your hands. If supports are on the inside, this isn’t an issue, but the layer lines near the end of the print will be more apparent. Look at the 3D print you showed in the video. The bottom has more uniform layer lines, but the top is less visually appealing. This is also why the edges have a 45 degree angle instead of being curved. And brittleness shouldn’t be an issue as you speculated, unless the shell was printed with very few layers. Even PLA, an easy to use and not very strong filament, can be used to make Glock frames and other things that see extreme stress.

I always enjoy your videos, sorry to hear you had such an issue with the 5200. I don't have any experience with the console myself so I'm not gonna be of much use to you. Still though I wanted to say thanks for making such a well put together, informative, professional video as always.

Excellent video. I still have a working 5200. Purchased in the 80s.

I loved my 5200. I had years of fun with it.

Great video - this is the best review of the Atari 5200 on RU-vid. It's nice to see this console get some attention!

Your videos convinced me that I wanted a 3DO, but I can say with little uncertainty that any interest I might've had in the 5200 died with this upload. Guess I'll just stick to emulation lol

This is a great overview / intro to the 5200! I had a 5200 as a kid. We got the initial 4 port model and were disappointed that it wouldn't support the 2600 adapter when it came out. My mom made the decision to keep with the 4 port rather than send it in to be modified to the 2 port model since we still had our original Atari VCS. At the time the analog controllers seemed closer to 50/50 as far as ok and not ok for the games. For many games they were fine but for anything that required quick movements they were frustrating to use, with Pac-Man as the classic example. Someone else mentioned the Wico Command Controller sticks and I had a pair of these as well. These were a big improvement as they were more loose and allowed for quick movements better than the stock 5200 controllers. The trim controls on the bottom weren't a big issue for me. You just needed to be careful they didn't get moved during gameplay. My main complaint is that they were light plastic compared to the regular Wico sticks which were solid with metal parts inside. In retrospect it's easy to say that Atari, Intellivision and Colecovision all had questionable controllers but it was a time of experimentation. It took Nintendo and Sega to show the way that gamepads were the future. BTW, the trackball controller was great... styled for left or right handers with a solid feel. I really wanted the hard, clicky buttons from the trackball controller on the regular controllers! The single cable with power and RF signal was an interesting attempt to simplify what was going to the TV. At the time, it was common for the game console to be on the floor, midway between the TV set and where you were playing. Often you would just sit on the floor and play. Rather than have two cords stretched out from the console, Atari tried to simplify with a single long cord. The antenna/game switch box was also automatic when the 5200 turned on, unlike other switch boxes which had a big sliding lever. It seemed more advanced at the time and actually a step or two less than other consoles. It didn't work well in practice, added manufacturing complexity and they corrected with the 2 port model. As for interference, I'm sure there was a lot less RF signals flying around at the time. Our picture was always rock solid.

Hey, try not to feel like this was a waste. This video is far more comprehensive than the famous AVGN episode.

I got into buying older consoles and flashcarts with the intention of having the closest to a "true experience" and I can relate.

I appreciate your sacrifice for the price plus the points you made are pretty good about the console!

So I own a 5200 and it was an odyssey to find. See, I'm a Mr.Do! fan and as a kid I was always trying to find a home port of Do Run Run. It's what made me a collector (there is no home port of Do Run Run it seems). One day while my Mom was working at a record store, someone traded in a copy of Mr.Do!'s Castle for the 5200 which I did not own AND was a game I had never heard of. Well screw it. We bought it, tried to see if we could run it on the VIC-20 or Commodore 64 (the carts are similarly shaped) and then just...desperately look for a 5200 for almost a decade before FINALLY finding one. The controller only kinda sorta worked but GOSH DARNIT I COULD FINALLY PLAY MY COPY OF MR.DO!'S CASTLE! Which is a game I rarely see in 5200 collections. Along the way I found a 2600 version of Mr.Do!'s Castle which is ABYSMAL but I still played the crap out of it due to franchise loyalty. I now own a Mr.Do!'s Castle arcade machine with boards for Mr.Do!, Mr.Do!'s Castle, and Do Run Run (though I have to turn my head sideways for that one). Alas the power supply blew out on it but I keep my Mr.Do! collection in the coin box. One day we'll fix that darn power supply! Either way the 5200 will always have a special place in my mind for being that mysterious system I could almost never find in the wild. Heck both the Gameboy and SNES versions of Mr.Do! were announced and released before I could ever find a 5200. (obviously this was the pre-EBay days)

I’ve never been a huge gamer. In fact years have gone by when I didn’t play at all. But I’ve always kept a toe in the water, so to speak. So I actually started with pong, eventually got an Atari 2600. From there we got a Coleco vision. I also had a commodore 64. Then I really didn’t play for a while, until I got a PlayStation one. Then eventually, I got a PlayStation 2 . then I didn’t play for a while again, until I got an Xbox 360. And I kept rocking that 360 until just about a year and a half ago when I got an Xbox series S. But I still mostly play old games! And that includes an Atari flashback portable that I recently acquired. And that’s what brought me to your channel. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy it. Thanks!

I love the futuristic look of the console, but it should have been designed more like the XEGS using standard 2600 controllers and Atari 8-bit carts. In fact, that was the original plan for the 8-bit line. One was to be a game system the other a computer. What we ended up with was the 400/800 computers instead and it was because the 2600 was too popular at the time to be replaced yet.

7:11 lmao you really got me there for a minute, I was genuinely in shock they made a console that gigantic until you revealed the ruse

that memory corruption towards the end is absolutely hilarious to me - pacman suddenly getting over three hundred thousand points was so funny and idk why

Wonderful video!!!

My friend got me a 5200 2 port and I just have an Atarimax cart with an external keypad and use a 2600 flashback controller. I've had a lot of fun so far. I think it was worth it for me. I swapped out my RF cable for a better shielded cable and play on an old Sears CRT with dials. It's great. Mine still has the protective plastic on the metal face plate too, which is cool

Missile Command and Star Wars Arcade are a dream with the standard controller. A modern self centering thumbstick wouldnt work. Needs the long range motion and for it not to pull to the center. Infact if your rubber boot on the controller is torn so it literally doesnt center it's even better. Or the wico stick with self centering turned off.

Always plug in any kind of av or rf wires 1st before you plug in the power adapter. Especially if it looks sketchy. And you executed that awesomely! Great vid.

this is good video about the 5200 I learn so much thank you and I'm also an Atari 2600 kid as well

Good video. Great job I enjoyed watching it.

I lucked up and found my two-port 5200 for $50 on Facebook Marketplace. In the box, with two working controls, and several games in the box! It’s pretty neat, even though the controllers are weird. I like it, and am glad to have it in my collection!

FrameRater you know what I miss? The FrameChopper!

I never owned a 5200, but one of my cousins got one for Christmas and we happened to be gathering at his house for a family get-together on that day. I played all the games he got with the console and I hated it because of the controller. I only recommend the console if you have a good controller option. I DO own an Atari Jaguar however and what I did to fix the open cartridge slot is lay the owner's manual over the top of the console so it's covering the cartridge slot. That actually works believe it or not.

I know this is an older video but I wanted to share what I think most people misunderstand about the 5200 controller. There is one correct way to hold it, and if you don't hold it that way it feels really clunky. Start by gripping the fire bottoms with the thumb and middle finger of your non dominant hand. Then put your dominant thumb on the tip of the joystick. If you let the rest of your fingers fall naturally to support the controller from here, it will make a very big difference. I found my 5200 in my grandmothers attic when we were cleaning her house. It was buried under a pile of rotting clothes but was wrapped in plastic and in immaculate condition. After I got it set up at my house, my uncle, who got it new for Christmas, sat down and taught me his tricks for it. The way he held the controller looked odd at first but once I tried it I knew he had the right idea.

I remember when I got 1st 5200 ,had that same problem. Had to go back to toys r us at the time to replace it. Awsome video.

Love your videos please make more.

Even though I first played an Atari 5200 back around, I think 1983 or 84 (one of my elder brothers bought one...first played the Odyssey 2 through him as well), I didn't actually buy one myself till maybe six years ago. It is a 4-port model, with two working controllers (!). To be honest, while the non-self-centering control sticks are a little annoying for some games like Super Breakout, I am liking the console. Granted, I also own an Atari 600XL computer that can play most of the Atari 400 library but even though the 5200 is a big, hulking console I like the 15 games I do have for it, like Vanguard, River Raid, Defender, Mountain King, Pitfall II (IMO vastly improved over the first Pitfall), and others. No, the console doesn't need to be in everyone's retro collection any more than the Odyssey 2 (another console I own and love). But if you have a fondness for the unloved, red-headed stepchildren of retro games, the Atari 5200 is an excellent addition to your collection. Just make sure you have room for it on your shelf :)

I have a 5200 4 port with 2 working controllers it is a great console! My favorite game is centipede and have always wanted the roller ball controller for it but can never find one for a good price.

You've earned another subscriber for spending so much money on this episode! All joking aside, watching you experiment with two 5200s was definitely interesting. Thanks to you I'll be sticking to my Atari 800.

Thanks for the video

Btw the Wico Command Control was a really decent 3rd party 5200 controller. It required a y-cable or number pad module to make it work. It used an analog joystick but it's a very usable one for digital control.

When we used 2600 style joysticks on my VIC20 and C64, we always removed the rubber cover from the stick. Made them much more responsive, if a little uncomfortable (the top of the stick had a kind of sharp edge - easily rectified with a bit of sanding).

I bought a 4-port from a flea market, missing the little video box. Some plans on the internet and a trip to Radio Shack and I built a substitute. Not a month later, I ran into my grade school friend who I hadn't seen in years, who offered me his two port model and all his games.

My 5200 was bought off ebay not knowing if it would even work but it works great. I was reccomend to a ebay seller that built a box similar to that box you have and has 2 knobs on it for vertical and horizontal adjustments which also allows me to use my sega Genesis controller on. It costed me $89 but im glad i I purchased it. I have the 2 port model 5200.

64 views 244 likes. Gotta love you tubes data collection

I have a four port Atari 5200 and the vast majority of my game cartridges for it play just fine. I have both the original 5200 controllers and the Retrogameboyz P15 to P9 adapter keypad with my original Atari CX-40 joystick controller, most of the games are fine either way but I was never fully into 5200 RealSports Baseball. I believe that you have to actually use the Velcro on the back of the automatic switch box to keep it in place.

I grew up with an Atari 2600. I have had a heavy sixer, a light sixer, a four switch woody, a vader, and a Jr. Now? I have a Jr only. I also own the 5200, 7800, and a Jaguar. The 5200 is my least favorite, especially after wanting one so bad for YEARS! Rather than spend the money trying to fix the controllers I have, I simply opt for emulation. Altirra is my emulator of choice on Windows. As I am not a Mac or Linux user, I don't have recommendations over there. Anyway, the ability to use digital on ANY game, or digital even. I have my 5200 in my collection along with a couple dozen games. I have no desire to part with it either. I just rather not bother making it work seeing that it is a four port, and it is a serious pain to get hooked up. I strongly recommend anyone that wants to enjoy the games...get the console and games for your collection, but just emulate to enjoy the titles.

"I've got so much stuff and hardly any of it gets used." The retro gamer's 'semper fi'

I grew up with the 1st gen game consoles. When the 5200 came out a friend bought one, I'll never forget the first time I got to use it - it was dislike at first sight. The sheer size of this console was just ridiculous and there was no living room environment where it looked like it belonged. It was always in the way, somehow. Even a Channel F could have a few magazines or a storage box stacked on top of it, you couldn't stack anything on a 5200. The 5200 was difficult just to pick up, there was no good place to fit your fingers under it and the edges were smooth slick plastic. If you really want to torture yourself coat your 5200 and the controllers with some Armor-All. The stock controllers of course are horrible. While it was forward-thinking to put the console control buttons on the controller, using sunken membrane buttons behind the stick made then difficult to access. The width and button positions seemed to be carefully measured specifically to induce RSI. And those buttons being stacked right on top of each other made it really easy to hit the wrong one, or both. There was absolutely nothing pleasurable about using the controllers, it's difficult to imagine how they could possibly have been more poorly designed. The games were the same as you could get on the Atari computers, so it was obvious that what you were buying was a crippled computer. Why not just get the real thing? Or if you really wanted a console: the Colecovision. Sure the Colecovision also had awkward controllers, not as bad as the 5200 controllers but if you didn't like them you could just plug in a bog-standard Atari joystick for many games, something which you could NOT do on a 5200. I've read that inside Atari the 5200 team deliberately changed a few internals to prevent competition with the computer division, but what they ended up doing was highlighting just how pointless the 5200 actually was. Games were easy enough to port to the 5200 from the Atari computers, but even so many companies didn't bother. I have to admit that I only played a 5200 console a handful of times back when it was first released. It was the one console which a friend owned that nobody wanted to play after the newness wore off. Have you ever accidentally bitten down on a piece of aluminum foil and hurt your tooth? That's the same feeling the 5200 had.

You got me with the Genesis Mini for a second lol

I've been thinking this for a while: your voice reminds me of Jeff Anderson's. That's a compliment.

Great work and good point! I can’t even find a good 3rd party controller replacement for my 2600. Got the junior controllers, which are my choice. I’m acustom to them from my youth. An i am waiting an Atari FPGA that takes cartridges. Phoenix System did a great job for Intellivision. And i can’t find anything on that Atariman. The Atariman is a project in the dust, which should be made available!!!!

Thank you, thank you for your examination of one of my childhood toys. Please provide tip jar /Amazon links for buying you a Latte. I am thankful !

the 2600 junior controller i had was pretty good, like there'd be no issue with pacman as crashdive was pretty unforgiving if you could't do fine small movements when that sea monster was walking over you.. as for freezing issues, likely causes jump to memory(as someone pointed out) cpu heat (little heatsink stuck on top should work), dirty connector(s) or the fav failing of consoles more than few years old - capacitors (as i hear, gamegears are super likely to suffer this)

Word, I also have 2 of that exact same wooden table that you use to show the two 5200 models

The 5200 is a wonderful console and was exciting for the time. If you have Ivory Tower Collections refurb and mod the console, it becomes a really wonderful relic from 40 years ago.

As someone with a 3d printer, the maker matrix probably has the design it does as it's easy to print. The flat top and bottom are printed against the bed. Then you just build up for the walls. A formed bottom would be difficult with FDM.

The only thing predictable about the 5200, is the fact that it's so unpredictable. I own it because it's a piece of history and it was fun to give as a present and see my sister's face when she found a beer in the top compartment! Oh!, and it also has some great games and looks awesome in my cave! I like to buy all my retro consoles in the original box,(if possible) but I'm not rich :( It took me and my sister 15 years of Garage Sailing, along with 4 a.m. Flee market trips to finally get one I was happy with. Both inside and out ;) Cheers from Canada

same later

The real reason that the analog stick is weird is that the design that was released was not the intended one. The engineers prototyped it with a mechanism from an RC airplane controller. They intended it to go into production with something similar. The production controller used a rubber boot to cut costs. The engineers reportedly hated the change.

Gotta tell ya, that intro is catchy as all heck.

10:13 Perfected - shame about the stick drift though of most analogue controllers these days...

Commenting for the algorithm, great video!

I liked this a lot! I love obscure, forgotten hardware like this, specifically because you *don't* hear about it often, so seeing it in (mostly) working condition is a treat. While it obviously was a pain for you for completely understandable reasons, I still enjoyed learning about it and in my opinion it was worth it.

14:40 The most common types of 3D printed plastics are pretty strong as long as they're printed with the right settings regardless of what's behind it. With most slicers (the software that converts the 3D model into a series of CNC commands for the printer) you're going to be getting at least 0.8-1.2mm of solid plastic on a top or bottom layer with the default settings, and breaking that by hand is going to require intent. I suspect the reason has more to do with making it easier to print and eliminating the need to post-process the part. If they wanted to have proper hand grips without making them a separate piece they'd have to use a bunch of support material when printing the bottom part of the shell, and removing that inevitably leaves a lot of rough spots behind that would need to be sanded down. I'm assuming they're probably using PLA for the shell, and that material isn't the most fun to sand. As for how the plastic would feel during play: that's a bit more tricky. I've printed my own face place for my GameShell handheld and that doesn't really feel any worse than the standard part, but in that case I'm not really wrapping my hands around it like I would a controller. I can't imagine your palms rubbing against the layer lines would be all that pleasant, though I can't say I've ever printed a full controller shell before.

Atari: makes a console with four Controller ports Also Atari: only has two games supporting four players.

My dad bought me this console for Christmas in 87.played it for about a year until it stopped working from blue screen of death.maybe from dust getting inside the cartridge slot.

controler replacement idea: ive had a 5200 for years and ive played maybe three times. my controllers have to be eraser cleaned every time i want to play it so i dont bother. someone needs to invent a way to replace the contact sheet with a pcb of actual clickable buttons instead, hardwired in. it should be able to fit into the existing controller housing. it would give you tactile feedback to the buttons as a bonus. i have a few spares i got to test my theory out i just need to get around to doing it.

Your Pacman game's crazy score is because you have the "Special", Billy Mitchell edition. If you had the original box, it would come with a vial of Hot Sauce and a special instruction pamphlet titled, "How to Cheat Pac-Man". It sells for 666.66$, tax included. What a "Hot" deal! Cheers from Canada P.S. Great video, btw. I landed up learning a few things I didn't know! Thumbs up, and a Sub for you! Just don't put any Hotsauce on the SUB. ;)

The overlay is still most useful becaus it informs the player what key does what. In fact when it is placed where it was intended to be placed, the player's hand not only covers the overlay and being cited there forces the player to look at the controller instead of the game playing on the screen.

My mom owned a 5200 as a kid, and I actually got to play hers. Had an alright time with it; Pac-Man is definitely a good port, despite the awkward controller.

I was just thinking about looking for one, now I will look for something else

My local retro game store has had around 15 copies of Pac Man for the 5200, and for the most part they did'int sell. I bought a copy and there's still generally the same amount of copies of Pac Man on the 5200.

I had an Atari 2600, a Colecovision, an Intellivision, and a 5200, all at the same time back then. I probably had less than 10 games for the 5200. The non-centering controller was odd, but in some games it was workable. My favorite games were Pole Position and Popeye. As a game system, it was just a blip in the the progression of performance happening then. I think I only played it for around 6 months. I eventually moved to the Commodore 64 and sold all the game systems that I had. I would think I had a four port, but never used any more than two controllers. I never had any issues playing it or any interference issues.

I knew of the 5200 when i was a kid but had never seen the size of one or any games until the early 2000s. Just seeing it a few times i really don't think i missed out on much. I got my C64 in 1986 or 87 and quality coded games were of similar graphical quality.

I have a 5200 plus its wicked cool trackball controller and I really enjoy it. The controllers are wonky but they were extremely innovative for 1982. The issue is the controller was essentially a prototype that Atari rushed out. The library, despite being mostly ports of arcade/VCS titles, is quality and a noticeable improvement over the VCS versions and even the 7800 versions in terms of sound. I would argue that the 5200 is underrated, and hope Hyperkin or someone else makes peripherals for it so people can fairly judge it.

I’m someone who works at a UPS store and you honestly got a deal. Recently had to help a costumer try to ship something to Canada, it wasn’t even in a big box or anything and it was nearly $350 just to ship out

I feel so humbled to see me on such a system

It's worth it for Space Dungeon alone! Sadly, no other port of the arcade game exists.

I don’t think this takes the CD-I’s crown. After all, when it works, the 5200 has some great games. Yes, many are revisions, or arcade downgrades, but they’re fundamentally still fun. The CD-I doesn’t really have that, outside of Hotel Mario (what can I say, I’m a sucker for action puzzle games). Heck, I still felt that moment of terror when I heard the voice of Sinistar.