Third VideoGame Generation Recap - Atari 7800 - Adam Koralik 

The 7800 was the first system I ever had. All my friends had the NES, and I would play at their house, so I begged and begged my parents for one for Christmas. I thought the box was Nintendo shaped under the tree, but then...7800. They were the king and queen of "close enough" when it came to that.

I bought my 7800 in 1993.bought it from Atari in California. I got it in the mail. In mass. Still works good. Over 30 years.

Adam, with regards to some of your comments in this video about the lack of composite output on the Atari 7800 in 1986 -- In the 1980s, I NEVER saw a TV in our home, OR in any friends or families' homes that had composite input on it. In every TV set that I can personally remember seeing and hooking game consoles into, EVERYTHING actually connecting to the TV was done through coax. In my experience, setting up (and later packing up) every console we rented from a video store involved several steps -- blindly reaching behind the TV, twisting the hexagonal coax connector with your fingers until it started to rotate and disconnect, connecting the RF adapter for the console in its place, and then twisting the coax cable onto the RF adapter. Unhooking it at the end of the weekend to return the rented console to the video store involved a similar ritual, but in reverse. I can remember doing this same set of steps with both rented NES, Genesis and SNES consoles, and the SNES didn't come out until August 1991 in North America !! I never, EVER saw anyone use a multi-out AV cable on an SNES, or the composite video and rca audio ports on the NES at the time -- only in the more recent fifteen or twenty years since coax has become less popular. These non-RF interface ports were a curiosity to most people I knew, just as much as the expansion port was (on the bottom of the units). VCRs, etc did sometimes have composite input and output ports on them, so you could theoretically hook a composite cable from a game console into a TV through the already-connected VCR if you so desired, and then select the composite input source on the VCR instead of the RF tuner. Nobody I know ever did this, but I remember it was at least an option because I explored this kind of stuff on all our gadgets. There were composite monitors (monitors, NOT TVs) around in the mid-80s -- there was a popular Commodore monitor (model 1702?) with composite inputs in many homes and schools, which is still commonly seen around today with retro systems. There were also other computer and AV monitors around that people used with simple home computers, security cameras, video editing suites, etc. So, it would have made perfect sense for Atari to stick with RF for a console designed in 1983/1984 and released in 1986, because that's what the majority of people had on their TVs where I lived. Hell, many TVs didn't even have coax input -- they had these two screws which you needed to use a 75 ohm to 300 ohm adapter dongle in order to connect coax cable into.

I got this system with $10 allowance in 1988. It was in a milk crate with a mix of 2600 and 7800 games, maybe 60 all together. Everyone I knew who had a 7800 bought it in a similar sense; dirt cheap with a ton of games included. The 7800 was never anyone's primary system. Mine was plugged into my small black and white tv in my bedroom while the NES was plugged into the big color tv in the family room. The 7800 wasn't family friendly. Sure there were multiplayer games, but my mom would never play the 7800 with me. NES games had music and parents had fun playing with their kids.

again this is the best RU-vid channel that actually has good information

A game called Ballblazer for the 7800 used the extra sound processor in the cart. It sounds better than literally any other game on the system.

Weird but my mom is a video game console fanatic(Hoarder). For some reason she was so infatuated with Atari and convinced they were the greatest company. She owned a Atari Pong, 2600, 5200, 7800. Not just one of each, every edition and every game even ET. Also Atari stock. Until she discovered Super Mario Bros on NES and has now had every NES upto the Wii. Btw she has only played Ms. PacMan and Super Mario Bros

If they had released the 7800 instead of the 5200, it probably would have done rather well.

It’s that time again Adam. Time for the yearly rewatch of this whole series. See you in the Genesis video, where I will once again quote, “MICKDAWNALDS”

+Adam Koralik Hey dude if you want the EU version of the controller you can have set of two , I know one works perfectly , I have no interest in ever replacing my console and I have already sold my games , so they are your's if you want them

I really like that you did 3rd generation too! I've watched all your generation videos and i really enjoy them.

Another thing is that the 7800 library has almost doubled in recent years because of the homebrew community. Some great arcade ports especially. The 7800 had so much unused potential. But if you love that classic arcade/Atari gameplay the 7800 is a very fun system even now.

Jack's sudden change of heart did indeed come from Nintendo. You're right that the 7800 released in test status in 84 but you left out the fact that Atari were in talks to Distribute the NES in America under the Atari name. These talks lasted until a few months after the 83 CES and eventually fizzled out. So part of the reason for the 86 release was due to Nintendo ushering in a new opportunity for home gaming (the market needed someone to come in with that much marketing muscle) but the other part was because Atari was wrapped up in a lawsuit by the guys who designed the 7800 and that didn't get cleared up until late 85 IIRC. Some say that Atari had no intention of actually going through with the Nintendo deal and was just buying time but I don't think anyone has ever gone on record. Anyway, nice vid and great series in general!

In US Atari 7800 was one of the last consoles that has a direct pedigree from a PC.

The better Pokey sound chip was used in Commando and Ballblazer and sounds quite nice. They planned to make an inexpensive version for inclusion in the 7800 carts called "Gumby" but as with the other things you mentioned, it was not produced. You can still get those d-pad controllers and other accessories (and even games) from Best Electronics.

Thanks for doing another generation recap Adam! These are always great when they come out

Your videos are great. Very insightful, smart, cool to watch. As a gamer for 30 years I'm still learning something new every time I watch one of these vids. Keep up the good work!

Adam, I love these retrospectives. Thank you for making them.

The only time I have seen anything about the 7800 is when I was a kid, they had an Atari TV commercial trying to sell 7800s for $50.

7800 is one of my favorite consoles. You get the full 2600 library and the 7800 versions of games were a big step up.

Great video and series. You're not kidding about how easy it is to confuse 2600 and 7800 carts - I've done it myself. Must have been hard for them to be appealing next to the colorful NES carts.

Love your channel Adam! Keep up the good work man

Your last one about the Master system was great thanks for the story and the facts. Awesome vids man!

Great video like always Adam! Your content rocks my socks! :)

Great work and great series. Keep up the good work!

Watched the entire series today. Thanks for making these. 2nd gen coming soon I hope

I know it's old news, but here goes. Yes it was possible for games to feature a sound chip on the cartridge to boost the game's audio capabilities, but only two games ever used this. One of them was ballblazer, and I can't remember the other one for the life of me.

have watched and have enjoyed every video in your generation recap series. I like watching ur opinions and hearing your very honest take on each of these systems. you have great knowledge and its fun watching these videos and learning so much about the history of video games. keep up the awsome work and keep your videos comming!

This is the Atari system to get vs the 2600 because of all the games that it's able to play, plus it still looks slick. Great video Adam, I really enjoy what your doing.

Please, do the Apple Pippin video.

Love the generational recap series! Actually, the 7800 is how I found your channel. Ironically, you mentioned finding your SMS at the Kane County toy show, I found my 7800 there earlier this year, and it too even had a strip of the protective film across the metal band on top of the console. Anyway, it needed to be cleaned badly, and the power button was sticky so I used your video and am happy to say my $10 7800 works (and looks) almost flawlessly now.

it sad's but this is the console I remember playing first before Nintendo system. Out side of a commodore 64

Great video once again Adam. Keep it up.

If you could sum up this console in two words, it would be "half-assed". But somehow, this console has 5x the colours of the NES, 4x the colours of the Master System. Kinda crazy.

Extra audio chips were included in ballblazer for the 7800. They used the "pokey" chip

yo dude I from California and my cousin own a Atari 7800 and said that he had since he was 4 and he was bron in 1980

thank you adam for your dedication

Ballblazer and Commando were the only two 7800 games that took advantage of sound expansion in the cartridges. The 7800 version of Ballblazer is actually better than the NES counterpart in sound and graphics.

1986 Atari needed $$ to launch the ST in Europe. They had a successful ST launch in the USA and had warehouses full of video game product. They put out the 7800, the 2600 Jr and about 50 carts between the two. It actually worked and they made a HUGE splash with the 520ST in the UK and sold a few million 7800 (not a huge splash, but $$ for ST push)

"Wild West Era" of gaming: nice description of that early 8 bits era. I'll use it!

This was the first video game console I ever played! I don't remember it much though because I was only like 3-4 when I first played it. Not long after though my parents bought a Super Nintendo and traded off the 7800. I remember playing Poll Position 2 (It was my fave at the time), Centipede, Donkey Kong jr, and Crossbow. I'm sure there were others, but those are the games that I clearly remember playing. The SNES is by far my favorite console of all time, but the 7800 was a good starter console none the less, and I remember really enjoying it at the time.

Awesome video!!!

That controller (cx24 "Super Controller") or Joy stick as it is better known came with the Atari 2600 JR that my dad had from launch in 1984 I now own it :). I feel it was awesome still one of my favs to use.

Ninja Golf for the 7800 is a great game

This is one of the most nostalgic consoles from my childhood, and after many years of collecting I have a complete set of games for it aside from Tank Command..I was worried you might be a little too harsh on it, but you did a honest, detailed review & just told it like it is pretty much..My parents got me one instead of the NES I was dying for one Christmas in the late 80's & I distinctly remember crying pretty bad over it =P but I learned to love it & have some fond memories...Bottom line is Jack Tramiel screwed up everything, it's such a shame because it had so much potential & was capable of putting out a library of the more modern kind of games the NES was getting at the time..Ballblazer & Commando used the "Pokey Chip" that should have been the standard, but like everything else..his cheapness prevented it..the music is great on Commando & unlike the NES version, there's no flicker or slowdown either (which I believe is the case with a couple other ports too)...I have a nice composite modded unit now that I got from Best Electronics & also picked up 2 "Euro controllers" a couple years ago..WORLD of difference! & AFAIK they can still be found for like $20-$25 new at Best or maybe another store or 2 online

You should do a piece on the Atari XE. I only had one for a short time when I was 3 but it was a full video game system built into an ancient computer my half assed family actually just owned to send and receive E-mails or print word documents in 1994 (long after its relevance). It had a great line of game cartridges, worked with 2600 controllers as well as several other peripherals, and was backwards compatible with other Atari computer models game cartridges which there are many computers all with many games. I saw its picture in your intro but you never really talked about it. It's definitely distinct from the 7800 or just a 1980's computer. It's interesting that Atari had two different competing consoles at the same time, 3 if you count the 2600 still having games released at that time. It's worth talking about.

I always learn a lot from these videos. Thanks again for another great series, Adam.

The 7800 actually has better graphics abilities. The 7800 can handle over 150 sprites per scanline. The nes can only handle 8

Nice videos ! If you could put a bit more screenshots (and sound examples, when you talk about the sound on a console) that'd be great ! Will you talk about portable systems ?

thoroughly enjoyed

It also didn't help that in 1985 there was a big advertising campaign pushing the 2600 version 2 for $50. With one Atari system for $50 it was hard for anyone to understand why the 7800 was better. I remember after our parents bought us the 2600 for Christmas of 1985, I saw the 7800 in the Sears Christmas catalog and I couldn't understand how it was any better. The first time I saw the NES was a TV commercial in 1986 or 1987 though and I knew right away that it was better than the 2600. Fortunately me and my brother caught the chicken pox in 1988 and we got an NES because my mother in particular felt sorry for me and my brother.

I had the original Atari Flashback “Mini 7800” as a kid (I was born in 1998, well after the 3rd gen), which came out in 2003 (almost 15 years before Nintendo released the NES Classic). I remember playing lots of the games on there and they were either original 7800 games, or upgraded and enhanced versions of the 2600 games that were ported to 7800. Mostly first party but some third party games. In this way, I probably had more experience with the 7800 than most kids in my generation, or even those born well before me. I enjoyed most of the games and I got used to using The North American controller which still came with the Flashback version. I think the audio was also upgraded on this mini version, which I still have and use sometimes. Definitely on par with the other 3rd gen consoles, and maybe better in some ways. It was only held back by market factors. I wish it had seen more success (was still much more successful than 5200, which may as well be forgotten by time). All subsequent Atari Flashback models were more focused on the 2600, but the 7800 will always be remembered fondly by me because of this. I had some of my earliest gaming experiences with it.

You are sorta right on why the 7800 was shelved, it was also due to a legal battle between Atari Corp and GCC who developed the 7800 and some of the launch titles.

Thanks for making this series Adam. I've always enjoyed your generation retrospectives. This one was obviously much shorter than the others, but it was still awesome with the best part probably being your video on the Master System. Your storytelling and reactions are fun and hilarious to see and listen to. Do you plan on doing a 2nd gen retrospective by the way?

2nd gen and 1st gen now i guess. Great vids keep them coming.

I like the 7800, it's a good system. My favourite game for it is ms Pac man :D

will you ever do videos of the second generation (the one in like 82,83,84 with stuff like the 5200, sg-1000,etc)

give us the second generation. seriously im a REAL FAN of this serie. I REALLY LIKE IT, i told my friends about it. plz do the second and the first. then do video game reviews for those old games that you got and no one knows. like dk 7800 on atarie

The 7800’s initial release was delayed for several years due to legal issues & mgmt turnover, allowing competitors to catch up graphics-wise. Ultimately it was released with a sound chip designed exclusively for 2600 compatibility, which is why almost all the games sound terrible....plus the controllers were uncomfortable and awkward.

+AdamKoralik So you think you could do this same kind of series but with Handhelds (gameboy,ds,psp, etc.)

The POKEY chip was used in a few games for sound - Commando is the game I've got with it. As for controllers, ebay.co.uk sometimes has pads - I was lucky enough to buy one recently with two working pads. I've also been able to buy games like Alien Brigade for PAL easily, whereas it's rare and expensive in the US.

Here in sweden the atari st and amiga 500 almost count as consoles even if you could do other stuff on them most people would use them thru RF and for games only. Only music people would basically use them for other things like midi sequencing.

how many consoles will you need for the second gen recap? Assuming the 2600, 5200, ColecoVision and in Intellivision. Maybe Fairchild?

I was very fortunate to find one of those PAL 7800 controllers once at Gametraders for $10, but that is only time I've ever seen one in Australia. Apparently the French 7800 has a Scart connection, I don't know if it's True RGB or just scart.

I really enjoy watching these. I was wondering if you would ever do the handheld generations?

The games press at the time (winter 1986) were reporting that Atari were planning to unveil the 7800 for it's UK Launch at the Christmas Atari Show in the Royal Horticultral Hall, Westminster, London, where it would be the centerpiece of the show, expected UK launch price £69.95, lot of USA software and some UK titles ready for UK launch Bob Gleadow then convinced Atari the 65XE was a better fit for the UK market, so Atari went with that, finally releasing the 7800 much later.

I hope to see u do the 2nd gen and the 1st gen as well as I love this series

Tramiel was using game consoles to finance the ST family. The 7800's massive number of sprites made for some of the best period arcade conversions. The sound is the reason I never bought one.

what's strange is that large UK retailer Argos still offered the 7800 well after its demise you'd see it in the catalogue alongside megadrive etc.

Hey Adam love ypur vids. Anyway you do a retrospect of Atari 2600?

Love this series, any chance of going as far back as the second or first generation?

Two years later: collectibility in these is way up for units in good condition. Easily reaching and topping $100 with a few games included. This was my second console, the first being the 2600. The 7800 controller never bothered me as a kid c

My first console the 2600. Any chance you make a video on it with the pippin, I see people asking about the apple console

Good stuff.

How often do you play your 7800? Another Atari console I want to get, but on eBay the console price for the 7800 is getting up there going for 90.00 and over 100.00 with shipping. So again the evercade has Atari collections with 7800 games along with 2600 games at least they are physical carts.

So Adam, about that sound issue you put on screen at 8:40, there were games that used their own sound chips for the 7800. For example, The Atari 7800 port of Ball Blazer uses an Atari POKEY sound chip for the music and sound. Might I mind you that the Atari POKEY chip is a piece of hardware used for Atari's 8-bit line of personal computers like the Atari 400, Atari 800, and their second dabble into the video game market, the Atari 5200.

Got one of these [consoles] in a box of 2600 stuff (this was in the mid 1990's). It only had one on one basketball for 7800 games, and all other games were 2600. I moved on to the Sega Genesis.

even if you don't have any other Gen2 systems, it'd be nice to see you do a little retrospective on the 2600 also I agree if you have a Pippin or can borrow one please do a video on it

Reason why Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Junior were able to be port to Atari 7800 was because Atari still had the rights to license those games. Any Nintendo 1st party arcade game not exclusive to the NES could be ported to any system including the Atari 7800.

the amiga cd32 also uses the same controller port as the megadrive and 2600/7800 but you cannot use a megadrive controller correctly on the cd32

Master System and Megadrive controllers work n the 7800, you just can;'t use the 2nd button unless you get a Seagull 7800

The Pokey Chips for sound were used in 2 or 3 original games, but have been used in quite a few new home brews.

I've never seen a 7800 but I have seen this mold before, on a Frankenstein NES clone here in Brazil. This clone was called Phantom System, it used the Atari 7800 body, the Genesis controller molds and ran NES games. I believe it was the main nintendo console in Brazil since we didn't have an official release from Nintendo here. I think (it's speculation here) Gradiente (the company who made the console always tries (or tried) to get patents before the original companies before they arrive in Brazil. (they held the rights to the NAME iPhone before Apple, to give you an idea) Anyway, great video.

There's a huge fanbase for the 7800. They've released dozens of homebrews, showing more of what it was capable of, and soon will have the only port ever released of Baby Pac-Man (the arcade/pinball hybrid).

I believe the sound chip was used in two games. Ballblazer (really good port BTW, probably one of the best of its time), and Commando. I have ballblazer and it has pretty good music, but I don't have commando. I've heard that it's one of the best versions of the soundtrack (although most people prefer the C64 version's sound). Also, ballblazer uses just the extra soundchip (called POKEY), while commando uses both the POKEY and the onboard sound together for the music/sound.

Adam, in your opinion what is the best option to play Famiclone cartridges in Europe ? The "official" consoles were dirt cheap but they were lasting a few weeks at best.

I played an Atari when I was too young to know anything. Don't know the model, it was an older relatives. It's possible that early nascent memory is what urged me to mither for a computer, I got a Vic 20. The Atari 7800 was invisible in the UK< just didn't exist in the pages of magazines, which covered everything, even the Atari GE, the AMstrad GX4000, the Commodore 64GS, and the soon to be made Konix. But I never recall the 7800.

The only story I have is this was given away as an obstacle course prize in early episodes of Double Dare. If you check it out they use the tagline "the system that plays video games only a computer could play before". Hilarious.

I'm from France and bought an Atari 7800 to play 2600 games (i don't have any 7800 games ,should try somes i guess) because it have a SCART output which have better quality (not RGB i think) and is much more practical than RF where here (France) you've got to manually search the good channel and that don't always work on modern lcd. You talk on the master system video of games that was already in the console ,i don't know if that was the case in the US but my 7800 have Asteroids in the console.

Adam! I would love to see a review of the Atari 2600

I actually had a 7800 back in the day, it was my first console. I begged my dad for an NES but he couldn't afford it. But my aunt was selling the 7800 and my dad agreed to buy it for me. I had no idea what it was at the time but was happy to just have a console of my very own. On a side note, there is at least one game that uses better sound chips. Check out Ballblazer, it's a Lucas Arts game. Sound is really good but most impressive of all it's a full 3D game in first person and has split screen to boot. Easily my favorite game on the system.

I wish you would have shown the Atari Jr in this episode. the design was similar and they are both released in tandem although Atari Jr was still second gen

It would have been nice to get AV outs with out modding it. The UK gamepad would also have been a nice touch.

a great game for the 7800 is Ninja golf. really amazing game for the system. Also surprised you didn't mention the built in game. my 7800 has a copy of asteroids built into the system

Does the Sega master system controller work on this console?

only two atari 7800 games used the option for enhanced sound, ballblazer and commando

I've been enjoying your videos, especially the "3rd generation recap" series. I'm fortunate enough to own a modded 5200 and 7800. They have composite output, but the difference in picture quality is pretty damn dramatic compared to RF. Fun times can be had with the 7800, but Atari really hurt their chances by sticking to the old arcade classics; by 1986, "Ms. Pac-Man" seemed really dated compared to "Super Mario Bros."

There are a few places where you can buy an adapter that allows you to use a Genesis controllers for 7800 and 2600 games. There is a guy selling some on the Atariage forums for $20 shipping right now. A lot of people mod the SMS and NES controllers to make them work on it, but I personally am not a big fan of either of those controllers.

8:37 Actually, some LucasArts games, like Ballblazer and (I think, but I'm not sure) Rescue on Fractalus had a POKEY sound chip built in the cartridge. That was the same sound chip used in the Atari 5200 and the Atari 8-bit computer like (400, 800, XL/XE series)

I may want to get a 7800, but that Rf bugs me. Do you run this through a VCR?