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The 7800 was the successor to the ill-fated Atari 5200 Super System, which had failed in the market due to lacking a native ability to play games from its popular Atari VCS / 2600 predecessor. As such, one of the fundamental design decisions for the 7800 was that it must accept the 2600's game cartridges. Originally launched in June 1984, the 7800 was not actually released to the market until January 1986, the delay being caused by the sale of Atari from Warner Communications to Jack Tramiel and a subsequent legal wrangle over who should settle bills relating to the 7800's development costs. It finally found its way into the EU market in 1987. The system supported graphics of up to 320x240 pixels (with PAL models upping the vertical resolution by a further 48 lines), with 25 on-screen colours from a palette of 256. In addition to playing the 2600 games, a range of 7800-specific cartridges were released to take advantage of its higher specification. Support for the 7800 ended in January 1992, along with that for the rest of Atari's 8-bit home computer and video game systems.
Atari, 1986
Donated/on loan from: Centre for Security, Communications and Network Research (CSCAN), Plymouth University
The 800XL is part of Atari's extensive family of 8-bit home computers, which began with the Atari 400 and 800 in 1979. The XL range essentially used the same technology (6502 processor alongside custom graphics and sound chips) as these earlier systems, but received a cosmetic overhall and, it t... (read more)Atari, 1983
The Falcon was the final computer product to emerge from Atari Corporation. Sharing a visual similarity with Atari's highly successful ST range, and using the same TOS operating system and GEM-based graphical environment, the system was based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and had 4MB of RAM. Graphics ... (read more)Atari, 1992
The Atari VCS (later known as the 2600) popularised the use of cartridge-based games as opposed to dedicated TV game hardware with all games built in. Originally shipped with a tank and plane warfare cartridge (Combat), the VCS utiltimatley played host to the hundreds of original games, as well ... (read more)Atari, 1977
A redesigned version of the Lynx handheld from 1989, which holds the distinction of being the first colour handheld game console. The 6502-based device hosted several innovations, including the use of custom graphics hardware (allowing polygon filling and zooming/distortion effects upon sprites)... (read more)Atari, 1991
The Portfolio distinguishes itself as the first PC-compatible palmtop computer, with Atari having licensed the technology from a Guildford-based company called DIP. Powered by an 80C88 processor running at 4.9152MHz, the Portfolio had 128K of RAM and 256K ROM. The latter held the operating sys... (read more)Atari, 1989
Atari Computer 600XL/800XL Connection Instructions for PAL TV Systems, (read more)Atari, 1983
One of the original Atari 8-bit range, the 6502-based Atari 400 was one of two systems released to capitalise on the growing home computer market already, and to build upon Atari's existing success in video gaming. The 400 was released alongside the more powerful Atari 800, which bettered it by ... (read more)Atari, 1979