General Computer Corporation / Atari Atari 7800 ProSystem

About

The Atari 7800 ProSystem is one of gaming’s greatest what-ifs. Designed in 1984 as a direct response to the NES, it offered strong arcade-quality graphics and full backward compatibility with the Atari 2600’s enormous library. But corporate chaos — Atari’s sale to Jack Tramiel, a two-year release delay, and a complete failure to secure third-party support — meant the 7800 arrived in 1986 to a market Nintendo had already conquered. It sold approximately 3.77 million units — respectable, but a fraction of the NES’s dominance. The 7800 was developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) — the same company that created Ms. Pac-Man — under contract to Atari in 1983-1984. GCC designed the MARIA custom graphics chip specifically for sprite-heavy arcade ports, and the console was test-marketed in southern California in June 1984 to positive response. Then everything stopped. Warner Communications sold Atari’s consumer division to Jack Tramiel (former Commodore CEO) in July 1984. Tramiel’s Atari Corp focused on computers, not consoles, and shelved the 7800 for two full years. When Nintendo’s NES proved that the console market had recovered, Tramiel finally released the 7800 nationally in May 1986 at $139.95 — but without having secured licensing agreements with third-party publishers. The NES had been on the market for months, and Nintendo’s strict licensing practices locked most publishers into exclusivity. The MARIA graphics chip was the 7800’s highlight. It could display up to 100 sprites per scanline (vs. the NES’s 8) with up to 256 colors in its most advanced display mode. This made it technically superior to the NES for sprite-heavy games — particularly arcade ports with many on-screen objects. The Atari SALLY CPU (a modified 6502C at 1.79 MHz) was comparable to the NES’s Ricoh 2A03. The 7800’s critical weakness was audio. To maintain 2600 backward compatibility, Atari used the same TIA sound chip from the 2600 — producing the same crude, two-channel audio from 1977. A

References

• Video Game Console Library↗