The Atari 7800 ProSystem was the first game system from Atari Inc. designed by an outside company, General Computer Corporation (GCC). The system had been designed in 1983 through 1984 with an intended mass market rollout in June 1984, but was canceled shortly thereafter due to the sale of the company to Tramel Technology Ltd on July 2, 1984. The project was originally called the Atari 3600, though was later renamed the Atari 7800.
Several key factors influenced the design of the 7800. First, Atari had been facing mounting pressure in the form of competition from the ColecoVision, which boasted graphics that more closely mirrored arcade games of the time than Atari’s reigning 2600 VCS system. Second, the Atari 5200 (the original intended successor to the Atari 2600 VCS) had been widely criticized for not being able to play Atari 2600 VCS games without an adapter.
The 7800 featured the ability to move around a tremendous amount of objects (75-to-100) that far exceeded previous consoles. Powering the system was an Atari SALLY 6502 (Atari’s slightly custom 6502, sometimes described as a “6502C”) processor running at 1.79 MHz, similar to the processor found in home computers (Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Commodore 64) and other consoles (Atari 5200 and Nintendo Entertainment System). In contrast to the Atari 5200, the Atari 7800 could play almost all Atari 2600 games out of the box, without the need for an adapter. In addition, it featured a return to a digital controller.
To address the concerns of parents that home computers were a better investment than consoles, the system was designed to be upgraded to a full-fledged home computer. A keyboard was developed, and the keyboard had an expansion port (which was the SIO port from Atari’s 8-bit computer line, though the 7800 could not run Atari computer programs) that allowed for the addition of peripherals such as disk drives and printers. To further enhance the gaming experience, GCC had also designed a “high score cartridge”, a battery-backed RAM cartridge designed for storing game scores. On the side of the 7800 was an expansion port, reportedly for a planned connection with a laserdisc player.
This is the collection of original hardware and software. None of this collection is for sale. If you have an item which is not on the list, please contact me and maybe we can trade. Donations are welcome too 🙂
Hardware:
| Item | Manufacturer | Boxed/loose |
|---|---|---|
| 7800 PAL with joypads etc. | Atari | boxed |
| Pro Joystick CX-24 (large box) | Atari | boxed |
| Pro Joystick CX-24 (small box) | Atari | boxed |
| Trakball CX-22 | Atari | boxed |
| Trakball CX-80 | Atari | boxed |
Software:
| Title | Media | Publisher | Boxed/loose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace of aces PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Asteroids NTSC | r | Atari | loose |
| Alien brigade PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Ballblazer PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Barnyard Blaster PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Baseball | r | HES | loose |
| Centipede NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Choplifter | r | Atari | loose |
| Crossbow PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Dark chambers PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Dig Dug PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Donkey kong NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Donkey kong PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Donkey kong junior NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Fight Night NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Fight Night PAL/td> | r | Atari | loose |
| Food Fight PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Galaga PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Hat trick NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Hat trick PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Ikari warriors PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Impossible Mission PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Joust NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Jinks PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Karateka PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Kung-Fu Master | r | HES | loose |
| Mario bros PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Mat mania challenge PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Mean 18 | r | Atari | boxed |
| Meltdown PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Midnight Mutants PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| Motor psycho NTSC | r | Atari | loose |
| Ms Pacman PAL | r | Atari | loose |
| One on one | r | Atari | boxed |
| Planet smashers PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Pole position II PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Scrapyard dog NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Sentinel PAL | r | Atari | boxed |
| Super Huey UH-IX | r | Atari | boxed |
| Xevious NTSC | r | Atari | boxed |
| Xevious PAL | r | Atari | loose |