In 1982 a new system was released that was known as the Atari 5200. Although the Atari 2600 was still being produced, the Atari 5200 was considered a replacement as well as a means to compete against Mattel's Intellivision. The Atari 5200 was to be considered a failure due to some serious design flaws in the usability of the Atari 5200 system.
The Atari 5200 was generally based on the Atari 8-bit computer systems, but the 5200 did not come with a keyboard and it was also not compatible with any of Atari's 8-bit computer systems.
The 5200 actually came with four controller ports. This system also came with their new joystick, a numbered pad, multiple fire buttons as well as a start, reset and pause button. It also came within an RF switch to allow the user to switch from the standard TV hook-up to the newly released RCA cable hook-up.
A revision a year later removed two of the controller ports and also went back to the non-switching power supply. This new revision also came with an ability to play the Atari 2600 games on the 5200 unit.
Although the Atari 5200 came with the 360° rotational controller, there were some serious design flaws in the joystick itself. They also released the Pro-Line Track Ball which was so large that it was almost as big as the Atari 5200 gaming system itself. To make amends for their controller, they released a newer version of their joystick, which was self-centering and also fixed many of the major flaws in the initial 360° rotational controller.
The Atari 5200 is considered by many as a complete failure and was soon taken off the market. Not much has been seen or heard of, about the Atari 5200 since.
Original Authors: Gobel Team (Nick)
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 19/05/2008
