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.

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

again this is the best KZfaq channel that actually has good information

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Yeah, that was my biggest turn-off toward the 7800 was that most of the games were just new versions of old games. Which is fine to a certain extent. Even now days we're seeing HD remixed versions of older games but they also release new games. If Atari had done that, 7800 might have been more successful. Nintendo on the other hand was doing just that, releasing fresh new games as well has a few old games like Donkey Kong, Mario Bros.

Adam, with regards to some of your comments in this video about the lack of composite output on the Atari 7800 in 1986 --

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

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!

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.