Atari 7800?

[Desh]

Does anyone have one of these and what is their experience with them?  I recently got the urge to bust out the old 2600 my father purchased new back in 78'.  Unfortunately, even my Sony Wega won't pick up the RF output on this thing.  To remedy this, I nabbed a cheap Vader 2600 I am doing a few mods to including composite video.  I am also converting a spare NES controller that will work on both the 2600 and 7800.

After looking around it appears there are some games that look pretty good for the 7800.  Since the 7800 is backwards compatible with the 2600 it only makes sense that I should pick one up.

Other than the crappy sound and small library are there any other negatives?  What are your guys' experience with these things.

[Dicer]

It's solid hardware with a few neat titles, nothing mindblowing though, and you need this controller...

[Desh]

It's solid hardware with a few neat titles, nothing mindblowing though, and you need this controller...

Yeah, those PAL controllers are cool.  That should have been the standard controller everywhere.

[bartre]

I had one for a while, i essentially used it as a 2600.
Decent hardware, Just nothing for me

[BigusSchmuck]

I got one from the convention in Portland this year, but it quickly died after 2 days of using it. What fun I did have was with like the awesome port/remake of Asteroids and Ball Blazer.

[Bernie]

Never seen a 7800, but it would be nice to add to the game room

[EvilEvoIX]

I think it's biggest asset is that it is Backwards compatible.  Lots of 2600 classics to play and that really helped.  I think that if is launched in 1984 it would have had a much better run and disallowed Nintendo to have a massive stranglehold of games being produced for other systems.  It also came with the very same sound chip that was used in the 2600 launched in the 2600 back in 77!  You could have added a sound chip to a game cart for better sound but the system should of had  better sound chip to begin with.

[DragonmasterDan]

I like my 7800 it's one clean unit that plays my 2600 games and 7800 games.

However, I have a few 2600 games that won't play on the 7800. As mentioned above the stock controller sucks. Most games don't require two buttons so using a Sega Genesis pad will get you by in most cases. The European pads are decent and can be bought from Best electronics.

Overall the system would be better if it had composite out, but it's not a bad pickup. Some years ago I purchased a 7800 lot with around 200 games (mostly 2600 games), many controllers, peripherals, etc for under 100.00 shipped. These days I have no idea what they go for.

[SuperGrafx]

I do recall that the 7800 version of Commando is far superior to the NES edition.

The graphics and colors seem more arcade-like and you don't get those weird scrolling sprite glitches that the early NES Capcom games were known for.

[cjameslv]

I have a 7800 as well, you can even see it in some of my nes advantage mod thread pics. I modded 2x nintendo nes controllers to be my 7800 controllers. If you get a 7800 you need to find the revision "A" model which was made in 1984. The later models all have some sort compatibility issues. Very nice looking system as well but i still kept my av modded vader 2600 too. There is a nice svideo mod available for the 7800 too.

[BigusSchmuck]

I do recall that the 7800 version of Commando is far superior to the NES edition.

The graphics and colors seem more arcade-like and you don't get those weird scrolling sprite glitches that the early NES Capcom games were known for.

Oh yeah forgot about Commandos. Its also has the Pokey chip enhancing the sound a bit. Someday I'll purchase another 7800 or get this one fixed. At any rate, I got mine for $30 with 5 games at the convention with 2 controllers and all the hookups..

[MrBroadway]

The 7800 is worth it for three reasons:

Centipede
Robotron 2084
Homebrew

My god, the homebrew! If you like arcade classics, get that machine pronto. Then make sure you get it modded. I used ElectronicSentimentalities with no problems. (The site never could load on my home computer, but was just fine loading on my phone. I blame TimeWarner.)

A couple things, though. You do not need a euro pad. Only a small number of games utilized a second button. They're not bad games (in fact, I recommend getting these 2-button games: Commando, Ninja Golf, and Midnight Mutants), but they're so few you can most likely get by without getting one, especially since the three I listed aren't cheap (compared to the rest of the 7800 library, that is).

If you like 2600 games, too, then definitely get yourself a nice Wico stick or Competition Pro, or if you wanna shell out money, UberArcade's stick is a solid production and feels nice. For Robotron, you'll need a different setup, but rubber bands and two regular Pro Lines are usually sufficient.

And about the sound, yeah it's TIA, but some games have a POKEY chip inside of them that allows for even better than Famicom sound. Check out Ballblazer to hear it. Some homebrews have utilized it, but because it wasn't widely used in the carts (Atari was being cheap and decided against using it in the console) it's a bit rare. I believe AtariAge, though, is manufacturing soon a chip that imitates it, so we might see a boom in awesome sounding 7800 homebrews soon.

Hope this helps! I love my 7800, and you really can't do any better if you're a Centipede fan.

[Punch]

I've been checking it out and some games looks really good (specially in comparison with the NES) but everything has this C64-ish feel to it with variable pixel width. I don't know how I feel about this console.

[bob]

I have never played a 5200 or 7800.  I have a stack of 5200 games that I got in a box of other stuff a while back.  I still play my 2600 once in a while just so the system doesn't rot.

[Lost Monkey]

Atari 7800 Ms PacMan is the definitive home version.  Emulators included.  IMHO It plays better than the arcade game.

Robotron is also a highlight, as are the other release day arcade ports: Centipede, Galaga, Dig Dug and Asteroids.

Other than those arcade titles though, I don't like much else on it from the original releases. 

2600 B/C and homebrew make it a must have.

The only "issue" I have with this system is the cheap power cord and OEM design of the plug.  I have had to replace the power jack on two systems in the last 10 years because the crappy wire on the original wall wart becomes faulty...  It is best to  just retrofit the same type of jack as a Genesis has and use a Genesis power supply...