8 replies to this topic

[5200 Collector Dude]

I've been really wondering lately,how was Gremlins for the 5200 released in 1986 when the 5200 was discontinued in 1984 and Jack Tramiel halted all projects once he got hold of the company.

[AtariBrian]

not sure, and i have never played this game either

[PingvinBlueJeans]

5200 Collector Dude, on Sun Oct 2, 2011 7:57 PM, said:

I've been really wondering lately,how was Gremlins for the 5200 released in 1986 when the 5200 was discontinued in 1984 and Jack Tramiel halted all projects once he got hold of the company.

Because although he halted all projects, Gremlins was ready to be released and had already gone out for ROM production. They got stuck with a bunch of cartridges and had to do something with them, so they eventually ended up releasing the game (along with two other titles - Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus) in 1986-87.

[5200 Collector Dude]

Thanks so much! While I was waiting for a reply to my question,I found out that Atari actually made better controllers for the 5200 in 1987 and I was all like whhaaaaaaaatttttt????I can't believe I'm such a huge 5200 fan(look at my screen name!)and I didn't even know this!Thanks!

[MIKE5200]

I think it's the best game for Oct

[Greg2600]

Didn't Spielberg threaten a lawsuit if it wasn't released?

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Greg2600, on Mon Oct 3, 2011 7:28 PM, said:

Didn't Spielberg threaten a lawsuit if it wasn't released?

It's also been said that he attempted to buy the cartridges from Atari so he could release them. I'm not sure if either of these claims are true.

Oddly enough, Gremlins was released on time for the most part. That is, the Atarisoft versions for most of the home computers (Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC) were released in 1984, as was the Atari 2600 version. Only the 5200 and 400/800 versions were held up, with the latter being the only one to never get a release.

[ApolloBoy]

Gremlins was actually released in 1987, making it the final official release for the system. Curt Vendel posted some sales figures from Atari Corp. dating from 1986 to 1990, and Gremlins doesn't appear in the 1986 list. I forget where the thread is, but if you do a search for it I'm sure you'll find it.

[5200 Collector Dude]

Interesting...I'll do a bit more research on this.