Editing Atari 5200 (section)

==Hardware==
[[File:Atari-5200-4-Port-Console-Open-wControllers.jpg|thumb|The 5200's large size is due in part to controller storage in the back of the unit]]
[[File:Atari-5200-Console-Set.jpg|thumb|The second revision of the 5200]]
{{Refimprove section|date=February 2014}}

Following the release of the [[Atari 2600|Video Computer System]] in 1977, Atari began developing hardware for a next generation game console. Instead, it was used as the basis for the [[Atari 8-bit computers|Atari 400 and 800]] home computers.

Atari later decided to re-enter the console market using the same technology. Prototypes were called the "Atari Video System X – Advanced Video Computer System". Actual working ''Atari Video System X'' machines, whose hardware is 100% identical to the Atari 5200, do exist, but they are extremely rare.<ref name="vsx">{{cite web |author=Curt Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/vsx.html |title=Video System X |publisher=Atarimuseum.com |access-date=January 12, 2011 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117121835/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/vsx.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The initial 1982 release of the system had four controller ports, compared to two in most other consoles. The controllers have an analog [[joystick]], numeric keypad, two fire buttons on each side of the controller, and game function keys for Start, Pause, and Reset. The 5200 also featured the innovation of the first automatic TV switchbox, allowing it to automatically switch from regular TV viewing to the game system signal when the system was activated. Previous RF adapters required the user to slide a switch on the adapter by hand. The [[radio frequency|RF]] box was also where the power supply connected in a unique dual power/television signal setup similar to the [[RCA Studio II]]'s. A single cable coming out of the 5200 plugged into the switch box and carried both electricity and the television signal.

The 1983 revision of the Atari 5200 has two controller ports instead of four, and a change back to the more conventional separate power supply and standard non-autoswitching RF switch. It also has changes in the cartridge port address lines to allow for the [[Atari 2600]] adapter released that year. While the adapter was only made to work on the two-port version, modifications can be made to the four-port to make it line-compatible. In fact, towards the end of the four-port model's production run, there were a limited number of consoles produced which included these modifications. These consoles can be identified by an asterisk in their serial numbers.

At one point following the 5200's release, Atari planned a smaller, cost-reduced version of the Atari 5200, which removed the controller storage bin. Code-named the "Atari 5100" (a.k.a. "Atari 5200 Jr."), only a few fully working prototype 5100s were made before the project was canceled.<ref>{{cite web|author=Curt Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5100/5100.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130117055530/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5100/5100.html |url-status=live |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |title=5100/5200 Jr |publisher=Atarimuseum.com |access-date=January 12, 2011 }}</ref>

===Technical specifications===
[[File:Atari-5200-4-Port-Motherboard-Flat.jpg|thumb|right|A first revision 5200's motherboard]]
[[File:Atari 5200 Joystick schematic.png|thumb|right|Joystick schematic from patent]]
* [[Central processing unit|CPU]]: [[SALLY (microprocessor)|SALLY]] @ 1.79 MHz (Custom [[MOS Technology 6502]])
* [[Video display controller|Graphics chips]]: [[ANTIC]] and [[CTIA and GTIA|GTIA]]
* Support hardware: 3 custom [[Very Large Scale Integration|VLSI]] chips
* [[Display resolution|Screen resolution]]: 14 modes: Six text modes (8×8, 4×8, and 8×10 character matrices supported), Eight graphics modes including 80 pixels per line (16 color), 160 pixels per line (4 color), 320 pixels per line (2 color),<ref name=modes>{{cite web|url=http://gury.atari8.info/card_graphics_modes.php|title=Atari 8-bit Forever by Bostjan Gorisek|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701190029/http://gury.atari8.info/card_graphics_modes.php|archive-date=July 1, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> variable height and width up to overscan 384×240 pixels
* [[Palette (computing)|Color palette]]: 128 (16 [[hue]]s, 8 [[Luma (video)|luma]]) or 256 (16 [[hue]]s, 16 [[Luma (video)|luma]])
* [[Color depth|Colors on screen]]: 2 (320 pixels per line) to 16 (80 pixels per line).<ref name=modes/> Up to 23 colors per line with player/missile and playfield priority control mixing.  Register values can be changed at every [[Scan line|scanline]] using [[ANTIC]] [[display list]] [[Raster interrupt|interrupts]], allowing up to 256 (16 hues, 16 luma) to be displayed at once, with up to 16 per scanline.
* [[Sprite (computer graphics)|Sprites]]: Four 8-pixel-wide sprites, four 2-pixel-wide sprites; height of each is either 128 or 256 pixels; 1 color per sprite
* [[Scrolling]]: Coarse and fine scrolling horizontally and vertically. (Horizontal coarse scroll 4, 8, or 16-pixel/color clock increments, and vertically by mode line height 2, 4, 8, or 16 scan lines.) (Or horizontal fine scroll 0 to 3, 7, or 15  single-pixel/color clock increments and then a 4, 8, or 16-pixel/color clock increment coarse scroll; and vertical fine scroll 0 to 1, 3, 7, or 15 scan line increments and then a 2, 4, 8, or 16 scan line increment coarse scroll)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue67/338_1_Atari_Fine_Scrolling.php|title=Atari Fine Scrolling|first=Karl E.|last=Wiegers|access-date=January 1, 2017}}</ref>
* Sound: 4-channel [[Programmable sound generator|PSG]] sound via [[POKEY]] [[sound chip]], which also handles keyboard scanning, serial I/O, high resolution interrupt capable timers (single cycle accurate), and random number generation.
* [[Random-access memory|RAM]]: 16 [[Kilobyte|KB]]<ref name="converting" />
* [[Read-only memory|ROM]]:
** 2 KB on-board BIOS for system startup and interrupt routing.
** 32 KB ROM window for standard [[ROM cartridge|game cartridges]], expandable using [[bank switching]] techniques.
* Dimensions: 13" × 15" × 4.25"

===Controllers===
[[File:Atari-5200-Controller.jpg|thumb|right|175px|The Atari 5200 controller included with the console]]
[[File:Atari-5200-Trak-Ball-Controller.jpg|thumb|right|175px|The Pro-Line Trak-Ball controller]]

The controller prototypes used in the electrical development lab employed a yoke-and-gimbal mechanism that came from an RC airplane controller kit. The design of the [[analog stick|analog joystick]], which used a weak rubber boot rather than springs to provide centering, proved to be ungainly and unreliable. They quickly became the [[Achilles' heel]] of the system due to the combination of an overly complex mechanical design and a very low-cost internal flex circuit system.<ref name="atarimuseum">{{cite web|url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/A5200.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030808134516/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/A5200.html |url-status=live |archive-date=August 8, 2003 |title=The Atari 5200 Super System |publisher=atarimuseum.com |access-date=July 6, 2014 }}</ref> Another major flaw of the controllers was that the design did not translate into a linear acceleration from the center through the arc of the stick travel. The controllers did, however, include a pause button, a unique feature at the time.<ref name="NGen15">{{cite magazine|date=March 1996|title=The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: 5200|url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-015/page/n33/mode/2up|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|issue=15|page=33}}</ref> Various third-party replacement joysticks were also released, including those made by Wico.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atarihq.com/5200/sticks52.html|title=Atari 5200 Controller Alternatives|website=www.atarihq.com|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref>

Atari Inc. released the Pro-Line [[trackball|Trak-Ball]] controller, which was used for games such as ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]'' and ''[[Missile Command]]''. A paddle controller<ref name="paddle">{{cite web|author=Curt Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200paddle.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040703205537/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200paddle.html |url-status=live |archive-date=July 3, 2004 |title=Atari 5200 Paddle Controller Prototypes |publisher=Atarimuseum.com |access-date=January 12, 2011 }}</ref> and an updated self-centering version of the original controller<ref name="selfcenter">{{cite web|author=Curt Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200joy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040703210439/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200joy.html |url-status=live |archive-date=July 3, 2004 |title=Self Centering Joystick Prototypes |publisher=Atarimuseum.com |access-date=January 12, 2011 }}</ref> were also in development, but never made it to market.

Games were shipped with plastic card overlays that snapped in over the keypad. The cards indicated which game functions, such as changing the view or vehicle speed, were assigned to each key.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atariage.com/system_items.php?SystemID=5200&ItemTypeID=OVERLAY|title=Atari 5200 overlays|date=31 January 2018|website=Atari Age|access-date=31 January 2018}}</ref>

The primary controller was ranked the 10th worst video game controller by [[IGN]] editor Craig Harris.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers |url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/690/690449p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303093919/http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/690/690449p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 3, 2006 |website=IGN |access-date=December 13, 2019 |date=February 21, 2006}}</ref> An editor for ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' said that their non-centering joysticks "rendered many games nearly unplayable".<ref name="NGen15"/>

===Differences from Atari 8-bit computers===
[[David H. Ahl]] in 1983 described the Atari 5200 as "a 400 computer in disguise".{{r|ahl1983spring}} Its internal design is similar to that of Atari 8-bit computers using the [[ANTIC]], [[POKEY]], and [[GTIA]] coprocessors. Software designed for one does not run on the other, but source code can be mechanically converted unless it uses computer-specific features. ''[[Antic (magazine)|Antic]]'' magazine reported in 1984 that "the similarities grossly outweigh the differences, so that a 5200 program can be developed and almost entirely debugged [on an Atari 8-bit computer] before testing on a 5200".<ref name="converting" /> [[John J. Anderson]] of ''[[Creative Computing]]'' alluded to the incompatibility being intentional, caused by Atari's console division removing 8-bit compatibility to not lose control to the rival computer division.<ref name="anderson198403">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1984-03/Creative_Computing_v10_n03_1984_Mar#page/n51/mode/2up | title=Atari | work=Creative Computing | date=March 1984 | access-date=February 6, 2015 | author=Anderson, John J. | page=51|quote=The games division [..] saw the home computer division as a threat [..] If any of their new machines could expand into true computers, the reins would automatically be handed over [..] To the games division, this was a fate worse than death [so] they chose death. [The 5200 was internally] very nearly an Atari 800 [but] all compatibility and expandability had been designed out [..] If, in 1981, the next-generation game machine ''had'' been designed to be compatible with the Atari 400 and 800 microcomputers, Atari would not be in the state it is today. Instead, the 5200 game unit was launched. Internally, it was very nearly an Atari 800, and as such was a fabulous game machine. The notable exceptions were that all compatibility and expandability had been designed out [..] with an external keyboard and 800 compatibility, could have been transformed into a product superior to the famed Coleco Adam, way back in 1982.}}</ref>

Besides the 5200's lack of a keyboard, the differences are:<ref name="converting">{{Cite magazine |last=Buchholz |first=Claus |date=January 1984 |title=Transporting Atari Computer Programs to the 5200 |url=https://archive.org/stream/analog-computing-magazine-15/Analog_Computing_15_1984-01_Inside_the_600XL#page/n59/mode/2up |magazine=ANALOG Computing |page=59}}</ref>
* The [[Atari 8-bit computers#Built-in operating system|Atari computer 10&nbsp;KB operating system]] is replaced with a simpler 2&nbsp;[[kilobyte|KB]] version, of which 1&nbsp;KB is the built-in character set.
* Some hardware registers, such as those of the GTIA and POKEY chips, are at different memory locations.
* The purpose of some registers is slightly different on the 5200.
* The 5200's analog joysticks appear as pairs of [[Paddle (game controller)|paddle]]s to the hardware, which requires different input handling from the digital joystick input on the Atari computers

In 1987, [[Atari Corporation]] released the [[Atari XEGS|XE Game System]] console, which is a repackaged 65XE (from 1985) with a detachable keyboard that can run home computer titles directly,<ref>{{cite web | last = Harris | first = Neil | title = Re: Is Atari killing the 8 bit? | date = May 12, 1987 | url = http://groups.google.ca/group/comp.sys.atari.8bit/msg/98a62e383f31d6cc?dmode=source | access-date = June 5, 2014| institution = [[Atari Corporation|Atari Corp.]] | quote=So what we have with the XE Game System is essentially a 65XE in disguise. [..] It is completely compatible with the current 8-bit line, including software.}}</ref> unlike the 5200.<ref name="converting" /> Anderson wrote in 1984 that Atari could have released a console compatible with computer software in 1981.{{r|anderson198403}}