64 replies to this topic

[carmel_andrews]

Gunstar, on Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:00 PM, said:

else, on Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:47 PM, said:

mos6507, on Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:24 PM, said:

else, on Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:34 PM, said:

Console.  Computers by their nature are sold with some type of storage mechanism (otherwise what else are they good for).  The XEGS never had any storage device manufactured for it.  Yes, I know that the existing line of Atari tape and disk drives will connect to it, but these were XL / XE devices that didn't match the styling of the XEGS.  So I say console all the way....

Computers were sold without tape or disk drives back in the day. You could have plenty of fun using an Atari 8-bit home computer with just carts.

You misunderstand what I said. Atari sold the 810 for the 800, the 410 for the 400, and the 1050 for the XL line, etc. But I'm not aware of a storage device made specifically for the XEGS. Of course, that doesn't mean that each and every person who bought a 800 also bought a 810, etc.

Actually, there was a law suit over just this between Nintendo and Atari. Nintendo stated thatsomething like it was false advertizing for Atari to be saying that the XEGS has 1000's of titles when it requires a disk drive to access the vast majority of those titles and the 1050 didn't count becuase it was old hardware for an old line, etc. (this is s very simplistic and possibly not 100% correct of the actual suit, just for example) So, in response to this, Atari made the XF551 drive. So, the XF551 drive, technically, was made for the XEGS, even though it works on all 8-bit sytems. If it weren't for the XEGS and Nintendo's suit, the XF551 would never have been.

The XF551 isn't and wasn't a new design, it was based on the same design that atari were going to use on the XE version of the orig. ST external drive, the only difference being an updated o/s and also a 5.25 instead of a 3.5 disk mech used (although it is possible without modd'y'g the drive to getting the xf to accept 3.5 mech's)

[MaDDuck]

you're all right......
it's two, two, TWO SYSTEMS IN ONE!!!!

[Retro Rogue]

Just to add my 2 cents -

When I talked with Leonard Tramiel he stated the XEGS was an attempt to "do the 5200 right."
It is a both a game console and a "traditional computer", and was intended as such.

[DracIsBack]

wgungfu, on Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:38 PM, said:

Just to add my 2 cents -

When I talked with Leonard Tramiel he stated the XEGS was an attempt to "do the 5200 right."
It is a both a game console and a "traditional computer", and was intended as such.

Interesting annecdote.

One thing that always drove me nuts about the XEGS what that it seemed like they didn't test its design with users. It had some basic ergonomic problems that limited it's enjoyment, in addition to the "dated games" issue.

It had a detachable keyboard, which was great. Shame the cable was only a foot long.

It had RCA jacks, which were great. Shame they weren't clearly labelled and were so far apart that some RCA cables had to be stretched.

It had a lightgun. Shame it wasn't very accurate.

It had two joytick ports. Shame it was bloody hard to take joysticks out and put light guns in because of the positioning.

[NightSprinter]

Quote

It had two joytick ports. Shame it was bloody hard to take joysticks out and put light guns in because of the positioning.

That, plus it sort of killed the experience for games that REQUIRED four joystick ports (Ultima III: Exodus, M.U.L.E., etc.)..

[Jeff Lodoen]

NightSprinter, on Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:58 PM, said:

Quote

It had two joytick ports. Shame it was bloody hard to take joysticks out and put light guns in because of the positioning.

That, plus it sort of killed the experience for games that REQUIRED four joystick ports (Ultima III: Exodus, M.U.L.E., etc.)..

Going back to 4 ports would have broken lots of things by 1987...

[NightSprinter]

Yeah, but it really does kill the experience for games that rquired all four ports. Also, how DOES one play any of the four-player paddle games on the 400/800? Was it still two sets of paddles only in the player 1 and 2 sockets, or something else?

[Jeff Lodoen]

NightSprinter, on Fri Sep 23, 2005 11:44 PM, said:

Yeah, but it really does kill the experience for games that rquired all four ports.  Also, how DOES one play any of the four-player paddle games on the 400/800?  Was it still two sets of paddles only in the player 1 and 2 sockets, or something else?

Were there any paddle games with head-to-head gameplay on the 400/800? 8 player Breakout always seemed like an unlikely occurrence.

Too bad about MULE, Maze War, etc.

[jaybird3rd]

DracIsBack, on Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:22 PM, said:

Interesting annecdote.

One thing that always drove me nuts about the XEGS what that it seemed like they didn't test its design with users. It had some basic ergonomic problems that limited it's enjoyment, in addition to the "dated games" issue.

It had a detachable keyboard, which was great. Shame the cable was only a foot long.

It had RCA jacks, which were great. Shame they weren't clearly labelled and were so far apart that some RCA cables had to be stretched.

It had a lightgun. Shame it wasn't very accurate.

It had two joytick ports. Shame it was bloody hard to take joysticks out and put light guns in because of the positioning.

I use the XEGS as my primary Atari 8-bit computer mostly because I appreciate the case upgrade (particularly the detached keyboard), but you're right about some of its design quirks. The A/V jacks never bothered me too much, but I would have liked to see the joystick ports coming right out of the side of the console as they did in the XL series, or better yet, out the front of the console like the 800. As for the keyboard, its cord definitely should have been longer (and probably should have been moved to the back because of its bulk), and they shouldn't have bothered making it attachable to the front of the console; having the joystick ports there instead would have been a better idea.

[poobah]

On the plus side, most of the issues are easily remediated with with a new kb cable, and a couple joystick extensions... you couldn't live with an early ST without two 6" joystick extenders... must have been the same design people =P

[Goochman]

NightSprinter, on Fri Sep 23, 2005 9:58 PM, said:

Quote

It had two joytick ports. Shame it was bloody hard to take joysticks out and put light guns in because of the positioning.

That, plus it sort of killed the experience for games that REQUIRED four joystick ports (Ultima III: Exodus, M.U.L.E., etc.)..

Did Ultima III use 4 joystick ports????????????????

[NightSprinter]

I'm not sure, I'm trying to play it on Atari800WinPlus right now, and have no idea what key does what.

[Goochman]

Ah - ok - Ultima III is a keyboard game - the PC keyboard doesnt reflect how the 800 keyboard was laid out - try the following keys to move:

/ ? = * ( ) + _ ] } ; '

Some combination of those should give you N, S, E, W

[NightSprinter]

Yeah, I found out that end went down, left and right arrows went in the aformentioned directions, and enter was up. I need a manual.. so freakin' different from the NES version.

[Goochman]

Ah yeah - U3 on the 8bit was one of the originals - It much deeper than the NES version. Lots of dungeons and land to visit

Really fun - there is a Walkthrough on the net somewhere which give you step by step instructions on finishing - I think I finished in 6 hours one day with the walkthrough