Atari 7800 (PCGH Retro, May 21)

… 1984: They weren’t the first – but the most successful: Atari had dominated the game console market with the VCS 2600 for years. But in 1983 this market began to collapse, far too many always the same and sometimes terrible games bored the customers; Consoles and matching game cartridges are increasingly only to be found on the rummage tables in department stores. Atari also felt this, the outdated model 2600 sold less and less, the designated successor 5200 – incompatible with the predecessor and with serious technical defects – became a flop. Nevertheless, the company is trying again: with the Atari 7800, which will be presented on May 21st, together with games like Ms. Pac Man, Pole Position 2 or Dig Dug. The console also takes on the games of the original model, but is technically hardly ahead of it; a 1.79 MHz processor and 4 KiByte RAM are nothing special even at this time. Shortly thereafter, the sale of the console begins in some test markets – but that’s about it: In June 1984, Commodore founder Jack Tramiel takes over the company and wants nothing to do with the dead video game business, he prefers to concentrate on a new series of home computers called ST and stops selling the console. Only in 1987, when Nintendo’s NES revived the market, was the 7800 model dug up, but it no longer stood a chance against the Japanese superiority. However, this is not the last attack on the console market: Ten years after the introduction of the 7800, Atari releases the Jaguar console – also without success.

Also take a look at our specials The most important game consoles from 1972 to today and Happy Birthday, game console: 40 years of Brown Box