Asteroids has been ported to multiple systems, including many of Atari's systems ( Atari 2600, 7800, Atari Lynx ) and many others.

The Atari 7800 version was a launch title and featured co-operative play, it was the built in game on the European Atari 7800 release.

Category: Atari 7800 games

On May 21, 1984, during a press conference at which the Atari 7800 was introduced, company executives revealed that the 5200 had been discontinued after just two years on the market.

The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986.

The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc .' s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily shelved due to the sale of the company after the video game crash.

They justified this relatively low ranking ( though higher than every other Atari console save the 2600 ) with the summary statement: " Its delayed release, its cancelled peripherals, and a lack of financial backing from the company's new owners all combined to ensure that Atari 7800 would never see any success beyond being a sexier way of playing Atari 2600 titles.

The Atari 7800 ProSystem was the first game system from Atari Inc. designed by an outside company, General Computer Corporation ( GCC ).

The project was originally called the Atari 3600, though was later renamed the Atari 7800.

In response to the criticisms of the Atari 5200, the Atari 7800 could play almost all Atari 2600 games out of the box, without the need for an adapter.

This would eliminate the need for more ports on the back of the machine, and allowed for the elimination of expansion slots for supporting more complex devices ( the Atari 8-bit family used a similar solution, known as SIO ).

The Atari ST was part of the 16 / 32 bit generation of home computers, based on the Motorola 68000 CPU noted for 128 kB of RAM or more, a graphical user interface, and 3½ " microfloppy disks as storage.

Namco Bandai has purchased a 34 % stake in Atari Europe on May 14, 2009, paving the way for its acquisition from Infogrames.

* The Dot Eaters: classic video game history-Comprehensive history of videogames, extensive info on Atari offerings and history

The 5200 was based on Atari Inc .' s existing 400 / 800 computers and the internal hardware was almost identical, although software was not directly compatible between the two systems.

Although the Atari 5200's internal design was extensively based on that of the 400 / 800 home computers, the differences were sufficient that games designed for one would not run directly on the other.

Atari Corp .' s later XE Games System revisited the idea of a console based on the 400 / 800 hardware.

Following the debate over Custer's Revenge, an Atari 2600 VCS title with adult themes, Atari had concerns over similar adult titles finding their way onto the 7800 and displaying adult graphics on the significantly improved graphics of the MARIA chip.

* Atari CX7800, two joystick ports on lower front panel.

In response to criticism over ergonomic issues in the 7800 ’ s Pro-Line controllers, Atari later released joypad controllers with European 7800s, which were similar in style to controllers found on Nintendo and Sega Systems.

In 1999, a limited run of cartridges were produced by Atari historian Curt Vendel using ROM code from Gary Rubio ( the former Atari liaison to GCC on the Atari 7800 project ).

Released on the XE Game System, an Atari 7800 version was started but not completed beyond a simple demo.

When emulators of 1980s video game consoles began to appear on home computers in the late 1990s, the Atari 7800 was one of the last to be emulated.

Atari Inc. had previously worked on several other handheld projects including the Breakout, Space Invaders, and the Atari Cosmos portable / tabletop console.

Atari Corp. changed the internal speaker and removed the thumb-stick on the control pad before releasing it as the Lynx, initially retailing in the US at US $ 179. 95.

As Nintendo's Super Nintendo and Sega's Mega Drive / Genesis filled retailers ' shelves, Atari Corp. refocused its efforts on its Jaguar console.

Soon after release, copies for the Atari ST and Amiga were taken off the store shelves.

Unusually, the system co-existed with the Atari 2600jr and Atari 7800 on store shelves

Atari was exclusively licensed to produce the first play-at-home version of Pac-Man, but Munchkin hit store shelves in 1981, a year before Atari's game was ready.

The game was very popular at gatherings of Atari ST users until the end of the Atari ST era, circa 1993.

Their client was a former employee of Atari who wanted to market his new arcade game, but his contract with Atari prohibited it until a later date.

Light guns are very popular in arcade games, but had not caught on as well in the home video game console market until after the Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ), Sega Master System ( SMS ), Mega Drive / Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System ( SNES ) systems and Atari XEGS.

This can make catching syntax errors on the Atari much easier than on other editors ; most BASICs will not display the errors until the program is executed.

Early versions of the game were made and ported among early computer platforms, and then the Atari ST, until 1990, when Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, where it was ported to several Sega consoles.

Jack Tramiel left to run Atari Corp. Pacific Tri Micro continued to support PLUS / 4 users until 1988.

Atari didn't join the 3D craze until 1997, when it introduced San Francisco Rush.

This made it impractical for game development use until 1989 with the release of the Atari STE which used DMA techniques to play back PCM samples at up to 50 kHz.

At Atari he started game work with Wizard for the VCS, but this work was abandoned and would not appear until some time later.

The success of the Atari 2600 in turn revived the home video game market during the second generation of consoles, up until the North American video game crash of 1983.

The Atari versions of Cubase used the cartridge port for this purpose, while parallel port dongles were used up until Cubase VST5. 1 on the PC and Mac.

In 2008, however, IGN's Levi Buchanan rated it the fourth worst Atari 2600 arcade port, citing poor visuals and a technical problem that makes the game excessively difficult ; a lack of animations for enemies while jumping between cubes made it impossible to know which direction they travel until they land.

Didaktik's glory went out with price fall of 16-bit computers, such as the Atari and Amiga, around the middle 90s until it was finally steam-rolled by the PC soon after.

It was not until 1974 that Atari released the first audio game, Touch Me.

The best-selling console of this generation was the NES / Famicom ( which remained the best-selling home console up until the PlayStation ), followed by the Sega Master System ( which dominated the European and South American markets ) and then the Atari 7800.

After leaving Apple, Wayne resisted Jobs's attempts to recruit him back to Apple, remaining at Atari until 1978 when he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and later an electronics company in Salinas, California.

This enjoyed a lot of success in his arcade, but was unofficial until Hasbro Interactive included it with Tempest in the compilation Atari Arcade Hits: Volume 1 for PC in 1999.

Developed by Sensible Software and first released for Amiga and Atari ST computers in 1992 as well as for the PC, it featured a zoomed-out bird's-eye view ( most games until then such as Kick Off and Matchday used a closer top-down or side view ), editable national, club and custom teams and gameplay utilising a relatively simple and user-friendly control scheme.

Founded in 1981 by Mike Austin, Nicholas Austin and Pete Austin, the company produced about 20 games for BBC Micro, Nascom, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Oric, Atari, Lynx 48k, RML 380Z, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Amiga, Apple II, Memotech MTX, and Enterprise until the commercial declining market of the text adventure genre forced their closure in June 1991.

An Apple Macintosh version was in development for Audiogenic, but never completed, and a version was written for the Atari Lynx, also for Audiogenic by Hand Made Software but lay unreleased until picked up by Songbird Productions in 2004.

" Atari will continue to use the " Kee Games " title as a brand name until 1978.

ST Action served as the games section for Atari ST User for several issues until Atari ST User was closed in November 1994.