Atari 7800 is a game console released by Atari in June 1986 (a trial release took place two years earlier). The 7800 was designed to replace the unsuccessful Atari 5200 with the goal of bringing Atari back into the gaming console market it shared with Nintendo and Sega . In this system, Atari eliminated all the shortcomings of the Atari 5200: instead of analog joysticks, it had simple digital joysticks, was almost completely compatible with the Atari 2600 and it was even cheaper - the initial price was $ 140.
| Atari 7800 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Atari |
| Type of | Game console |
| Generation | Third |
| release date |  June 1984 (test) June 1986 1987 year |
| Pieces sold | 3,770,000 |
| Carrier | Cartridge |
| Previous | Atari 5200 |
| Next | Atari jaguar |
The 7800 was the first Atari gaming system developed by an external company (General Computer Corporation; after that, Atari Lynx and Atari Jaguar were developed outside the company). The system was designed so that it could be supplemented to a full-fledged home computer - a keyboard was developed that also had an expansion port (it was a SIO port from the 8-bit Atari family) for connecting peripherals such as a floppy drive or printer.
In 2009, IGN compiled a list of the best gaming consoles, putting 7800 in 17th place [1] .
Specifications
- Processor: Atari SALLY 6502 ("6502C")
- Frequency: 1.79 MHz, decreased to 1.19 MHz when accessing the TIA or RIOT chip
- Note: Unlike the standard version of the 6502 processor , the SALLY processor could be suspended to allow other devices to access the bus)
- RAM: 4 kB (two IC 6116, organization [2Kx8])
- ROM: built-in BIOS 4 kB, 48 kB ROM cartridge
- Graphics: MARIA Specialized Graphics Controller
- Resolution : 160 × 240 (160 × 288 PAL ) or 320 × 240/288
- A palette of 25 colors selected from a color space containing 256 colors (16 hues × 16 luma), various graphic modes limited the number of colors used and the number of colors per sprite
- DMA
- GPU Frequency: 7.16 MHz
- I / O: 6532 RIOT and TIA control byte for joystick and console with switches
- Ports and connectors: 2 ports for joysticks, 1 port for replaceable cartridges with games, 1 connector for extensions, power connector, high-frequency video output
- Sound: TIA chip, same as Atari 2600 . In 7800, the model was used only to generate sound in games. The 2600 model was used both for generating audio and video data.
- Optionally, POKEY audio chips could be integrated into cartridges and games to create more advanced audio effects.
See also
- List of games on the Atari 7800
- List of games on the Atari 2600
Notes
- ↑ Top 25 Videogame Colsoles of All time . IGN (2009). Date of treatment March 21, 2011. Archived February 24, 2012.