Xref: utzoo rec.games.video:1496 comp.sys.atari.8bit:2056 comp.sys.atari.st:12710
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!gatech!bloom-beacon!oberon!nunki.usc.edu!rjung
From: rjung@nunki.usc.edu (Robert  allen Jung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,comp.sys.atari.8bit,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Re: New Atari Home Video Game (Just a rumor?)
Message-ID: <2074@nunki.usc.edu>
Date: 3 Dec 88 06:30:37 GMT
References: <1027@paris.ics.uci.edu> <3863@ihlpe.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: rjung@nunki.usc.edu (Robert  allen Jung)
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 51


(Cross-posted to rec.games.video because it's relevant, comp.sys.atari.8bit
because the 8-bits are involved, and comp.sys.atari.st to address Atari's
US image problems) :


In article <3863@ihlpe.ATT.COM> kimes@ihlpe.ATT.COM (Kit Kimes) writes:
> [Questions about the Atari 7800 game system deleted]
>
>The 7800 was designed while Warner Brothers still owned Atari and almost 
>never saw the light of day.  Tramiel inherited 100,000 or so of them when
>he bought the company.  They sat for a year or more and were only released
>because Atari wanted to clear them out and make a little money (my opinion).
>They caught it just right though, because video games took an upswing about
>then.  The 7800 has even better graphics than the 8bit computer (and XE Game
>System) because it was designed with graphics in mind and with a better
>graphics handling chip.  I think they compare very favorably with the
>Nintendo and Sega systems, but have only a limited number of cartridges (if
>you don't count the 2600 games).

  I agree, the 7800 would (have been?) be a great system if there was more
software for it. As it is now, Sega and Nintendo seem to have a deadlock on
the "hot" game titles, which seems to hamper Atari's chances to penetrate
the market.

  In relation to all this, who else thinks as I do that Atari is spreading
itself reeeeeeeeeeeally thin with three game systems? Why the 7800, the 2600,
and the XEGS -- all at once? If all the software was compatable, then it'd
be okay (sort of like Nintendo's Basic System and Deluxe System, etc.). But
with incompatable games, it's like a lot of waffling from Sunnyvale...
Maybe just the XEGS and/or the 7800.

  Then, of course, this all ties in to the problem of Atari's "Pac-Man"
image problems in America. When will we see a serious drive for promoting
the ST in America? Us ST owners know the machine blows the doors off most
other machines in its price category, but all we get are silly looks from
the die-hard IBM/Macintosh pinstripes crowd...

  Anybody want to add anything to this mess?

						--R.J.
						B-)

(I shouldn't be reading the net, I should work on my Sun/ST emulator)

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Disclaimer: These are my views, and mine alone.
                                                             # ## #
  Mailing address: Beats me, just reply to this message      # ## #
                    (rjung@nunki.usc.edu?)                  ## ## ##
                                                         ####  ##  ####