Great overview of this under-discussed game system. I was searching around just to figure out what the big buttons on the console were, and your video came up... and now I know! I wanted one as a kid after seeing the ads, but ultimately I'm glad I didn't get it. A couple years later I had saved up for a Sega Genesis, which had way more cool factor than any Atari system could've had, at least in my middle school scene.
Great video. I love how clean the video from your XEGS is. I would point out a couple of things. 1. Tramiel didn't sit on the 7800 because he didn't want to release a console into the market in 1984. He definitely wanted to release it, but he was a very cheap man and wasn't going to pay GCC the money they were still owed when Jack bought the company from Warner. While that whole situation worked though the courts the system gathered dust in warehouses for 2 years. If Jack had just paid GCC what they were owed in 1984 the 7800 probably would have had a small chunk of the 8 bit console market by the time Nintendo released the NES (the NES would have still done great for too many reasons to cover). 2. The buttons of the top front of the XEGS are definitely not neon, they are pastel. Considering many people thought even the subtle pastel colors on the XEGS were garish, imagine what they would have thought if it had big fluorescent buttons on it? I only own a 400 and 800XL because I don't want to have to fix the issues you find with the cheaply made Tramiel 8 bit Ataris even though I actually like the look of the XE systems better than the XL ones. If cheap build quality wasn't such an issue I'd definitely add an XEGS to my collection because it's really nice as long as you don't have to change joysticks and unlike the XE computers, the carts plug into the top which makes swapping them much easier than on the back. Speaking of joysticks, you should have mentioned the gamepad controller Atari sold with the system in Europe. I own one and it's really neat. I like it a lot.
Interesting when you say "cheap build" of Atari XE 8 bits. My 130 XE has been working like a dream since the day I bought it brand new 38 years ago with zero issues. How many computers, devices let alone marriages are still going strong after 38 years? lol
@@adm712I agree. The only cheap thing found in the xe line is the standard membrane keyboard, which btw many late xl models had it and the single material/color case. None of them really reduced the reliability of the model. Other than that both machines have the same issues , mainly bad MT RAM. If you were lucky and your machine had a different memory brand chances are that you still have a working machine. With XEGS machines things are different, at least this is what I experienced with mine. Bad CPU, bad Memory, bad ROM and bad EMI coil filter. The models with the golden mask board happen to enjoy better solder joints.
Great video. I had the game system. Also have an Atari 800, 600 xl, 2 800 xl's, 2 65 xe's and 3 1050 disk drives. Those were the fun days. Loved the Ultima series on Atari. Thank you for this good video!!!
I always waned this computer back in the day but never got one until just a couple of years ago. Mine is working great and I play it pretty regularly. I love the 5200 so this is like a dream come true for me. Great video and channel. Keep it up.
I love the XEGS. I was never really a fan of the Atari 8bit line until I got one. I grew a Commodore guy, So I never really played around with the Atari 8bit's until many, many years after they were discontinued. The whole Atari vs Commodore thing is really a tit for tat. As both system were just as capable, though I would say the C64 still has better sound with the SID, rather then Atari POKEY. Just IMHO... Thanks for the complement, watching, and commenting.👍👍
The XEGS is a cool system. Personally I just like the way it looks. But if you've already got an Atari 8-bit system, that's 64k. There's really no reason to get one unless you just want to have one. Since I've purchased my xegs these are all the things that have gone wrong with it: Cold solder joints on the cartridge port re-soldered worked for a while. Then it stopped loading cartridges all together turned out to be a bad mmu. Then I started getting really bad graphical issues while hitting the joystick button. Replace the antic chip. Literally right after I did the video replacing the antic chip then the reset button stopped working and I replaced that. Oh and then, I forgot, my keyboard wasn't working so I ended up repairing the keyboard membrane to make it work. I haven't had any other issues with it and it has become one of my most used systems.
I found one at a flea market around 2010 that was basically in the garbage with a bunch of random electronics that had been rained on and mine still works perfectly, I've never had to fix anything on it
Good to hear you saved one from the scrap heap. Cool that it still works after all its been through. Must not have MT rams chips.. Those fail on a regular basis. The MMU and system rom seem to have issues too. So if you start to have issues loading games from carts or you cant get the built in missle command to work off the rom, that would be your issue. If you ever have issues with it, you can contact me and I can walk you through the repair if you want. Thanks for watching and sharing brother👍👍
Hey thanks for the XEGS vid. Enjoyed it! Glad you like the machine. They have a lot of depth and if one knows how to use it, can get hundreds of hours of enjoyment from it. I think that's it's main issue, especially nowadays, is that people don't know how to use them. They are absolutely for use as a computer and that's where they are better than any console for that reason. They function well as a computer but the styling or ergonomics doesn't work as well as an 800/XL/XE as a desktop. In one sense the keyboard isn't anything special as you note but at the same time it's great because it's the only external keyboard for the whole line. In that sense it's fantastic and desirable. There are some inaccuracies here. Made/sold 250,000 XEGS units in total. Often the number quoted is about 100k but that is for the first '87 holiday season only. Was not meant to compete with the NES but to move old inventory. They had warehouses full of chips, carts, peripherals, etc. The XEGS was a success from this perspective and that was why it was made. Did have build quality issues. Tramiel is absolutely to blame for built quality issues, post Warner. But the chips run cool so they are not destined to fail. There are more rare copper motherboards that have better build quality. It wasn't really the last one they produced. The 65XE/130XE were probably built afterwards. The PIA is not used for SIO devices, that's POKEY For Flight Sim2, artifacting is used for dash color which wasn't showing in this video but minor gripe Yes it should have come out in around '82 to '84. The 5200 was ill-conceived. The 7800 was better than the 5200 but it's joysticks are awful too and bad sound. All this said, we are very fortunate to have this system. It was far better than nothing. The XF551 drive that was released around the same time was nice and also unique peripheral being double sided and double density, the only of it's kind for the line. The GS is a great machine to have now, more desirable to have now than at launch. Any issue can be repaired as you are learning. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed the video. I'd have say that this system has grown on me. I have a boxed 600xl upgraded to 64k. But now I use the XEGS more as it has composite out. I will be doing the av mod to the 600xl once the parts come in. One of my next projects. When I first used the XEGS, I found it had issues. The hardest to fix was the keyboard. The traces on the mylar were shot. I had to redraw several of them with conductive paste. Made a video of that too awhile back. Now its works great. I was a Commodore guy growing up. Just now really getting into Atari 8bit. Great systems. Seeing what I missed out on in the 80's.
@@RetrogamerGenX Yes definitely do the AV mod on the 600XL as long as it can look clean (dremel hole or wire it out of the PBI port as a cable, etc) and not a hack job. PAL 600XL's have the video DIN port like an 800XL, NTSC 600XL's do not. Know that there are five different keyboards for the 600/800XL machines and some suck and some are fantastic. The ones with brown PCB under the keycaps are the ones to get (mechanical). Brown PCB and solid white (inverted font) CONTROL are the Alps switches which are best. Yes the mylar traces on XE's often start to fail. The conductive paint is tricky but works! It's probably a very good idea to replace the old capacitors in these machines if you are experienced in doing that. I made a tutorial video for how to use these that you might find helpful. Second video in my channel, presently.
Around 3 years ago i really got into collecting retro systems. Ones from my younger years that i never had. I thought i just absolutely must have one of these XEGS. Ordered one off Ebay. I plug it in and play a couple games for around a hour to make certain it works. Boxed it back up and havent touched it since. One of these days im gonna get all of this stuff out.
I had 2 dead controller ports but would respond to button presses. Built in basic or missile command wouldn't work either. Turned out to be a bad pia(6520) chip
I realized maybe I can be the judge: It is a game system but since I can't get my keyboard to have a reliable connection, not a computer at the moment. Also some insight: the only other thing different than like the 65XE is that diagonal orientation of the cartridge slot. So yeah they couldn't make it straight across because then it would not be a "new system" to sell
Yeah I use it more as a game console too. My keyboard works, and there are a lot of games that require it, but I stick to the games that don't. I have an Upgraded Atari 600XL (64K) if I want to get down and dirty with the "computer" games like Zork, Ultimate Reality, etc... As far as the 65XE and the XEGS being similar.. They are a lot alike, but there are some differences. Like you pointed out, the cart slot is diagonal, but there are differences inside too. The XEGS lacks the Expansion port. It has only one ROM for OS/Basic/Missile Command while the 65XE has two Roms OS and Basic. Also the 65XE has more Ram chips, depending on motherboard version (same amount though 64K) with expansion available on the mother board to make it 128K. Making it upgradable to a 130XE so you can play all those cool 128K games.
I for one had a C64 in the 80's and I can tell you I did a lot of homework on it. Sure you couldn't go to Google. But you could create and print reports, logon to BBS's that contained subject matter that you are studying. All computers had educational software to learn math, languages, etc .. so even though they seem archaic, they still did a lot for school. But yeah, let's face it, the real reason we had them back then was to play games. 🤣🤣🤣
The keyboard is difficult to use. The buttons have a strange tactile feel, and they are arranged in a very unusual manner. It’s still fun to play around with though.
Yeah I would agree. The keyboard is absolute garbage. Uses that cheap membrane inside and it has a real spongy feel. And the keyboard is not a standardized qwerty keyboard. But for what it was, an entry level console/ computer. It wasn't too bad compared to other offerings like this. The Coleco Adam and intellivision ECS etc..
Systems based on Atari's 8-bit architecture were produced from 1979 thru 1992, which is an incredible longevity for its time period. Personally, I think it's more of a testament to Jay Miner's forward-looking technical genius than his follow-up system known as the Amiga, which ended up having a shorter lifespan.
They beat the C64 by 1 year as far as production of the architecture of the 8 bit line. But if your talking architecture, then Commodore had the Atari 8 bit line beat. The Pet was released in 77' and the Commodore 8 bit line ran until 94' with the C64 . Though not truly compatible with each other. (PET, VIC20, C64, etc..) Miner was a brilliant man. Helping create the 2600, the 8bit line, with creating the CTIA, Antic, and then leaving Atari and helping start up Amiga with Kaplan. Seeing his achievements are still being talked about today, is a testament to his engineering prowess.
@@RetrogamerGenX One year? That doesn't sound correct.The design of the integrated circuits for audio and graphics alone were completed in November 1981.The computer was announced at CES 1982 and it was released with drive speed issues. The Atari 8bit line was announced in 1978 and delays in the production of an improved CTIA design (GTIA) forced Atari to ship the computers with the older version the following year. Atari 8bit system design scheduled was was also affected by stringent FCC regulations forcing the team to redesign or remove features of the initial architecture. If you listen to Joe Decuir's talks on Jay Miner's trilogy (VCS ,Atari 8bit,Amiga) you will appreciate their struggles back in 1977-79 and how things improved 1-2 years later. If we want to compare 8bit architecture we should stick to a specific one. Commodore was forced to change its architecture (VIC 20) in order to match Miner's machine and even then it never really beat the Atari 8bit chipset. To be fair it did improve many things like color memory management, some aspects of the audio and resolution but a list of shortcomings in other areas are visible even with today's homebrew productions especially when compared to the Atari machine.
A few details: - According to one of the guys behind the 7800, Jack Tramiel actually had a plan for that console in 1984, but at a rock-bottom price of $50, and expecting retail stores to sell it at... $50 - The Atari 400 was actually supposed to be a console. But its high production cost + Atari margin made it unsuitable to be a console. That and Atari management wasn't in a hurry to produce a next gen console as the 2600 was selling well
Yes, the 400 was slated to be the next console. In fact, because of the decision to make it a computer, a lot of Atari engineers left. One of them was Jay Miner which went on to create the Amiga later on.
@@RetrogamerGenX I've heard of different stories as to why Atari engineers left. Jay Miner wanted to make a 68000-based computer but Atari wanted him to keep working on 6502-based computers. As for the rest of the team, I read once that Atari management refused to give them a bonus they had promised them.
The Atari 8-bit was developed in 1977 and released in 1979. Given that fact, it's amazing to think it held its own throughout the 1980s. It had a lot of first's and innovations that are still used today.
By the time that the Atari XEGS came out on the market all of the local electronics and computer stores had chosen to drop out of carrying anything by Atari. So the closest thing that I ever had to an Atari XEGS was an Atari 800XL home computer. Atari under Jack Tramiel's ownership did have a number of games made primarily for the Atari XE line of computers that were compatible with the Atari XL line of computers as well, but not all of the games however for there were still certain games that were XE series exclusives.
I do remember that... I was a Commodore guy at the time, so I vaguely remember only seeing Atari computer merch at KB Toys and Toys R Us, maybe K-Mart and Sears. The computer store I went to at the time, had Commodores, Amigas, and PC Clones. No Apples, Tandy's, or Atari's. I believe there were 32 games made for the XEGS. But they work on all the other 8-bit lines too, if they had at least 64k of ram installed or upgraded to get 64k.
I believe that the LucasFilms game cartridges Ballblazer and Rescue On Fractulus only worked on the XE computers, not the earlier 400/800 8 bit models. If I recall, I found that out for myself although it was SO long ago, it's hard to remember clearly.
Yep, kinda of like me. I went from the c64 and apple II to the Amiga. And didn't look back until 1997 when I bought my first PC. Argh.. Still not happy about it. I loved my Amiga's.
@@RetrogamerGenX my Amiga bit the dust around 2007, and I never got another because of how expensive it got for Amiga anything. Instead I use Amiga Forever, and I also have an FPGA with Amiga core if I want something closer to the real thing.
That sucks bro.. Do you still have the Amiga?? I'd take it as a project if you do.. Might be able to get it up a running for you. I hate to see old Amigas die. If I can't help, I know some that might.
@@RetrogamerGenX I’m very sad to say I left it for bulk trash when I moved out of my last house over 10 years ago. Believe me I kick myself every time I think about it. I got rid of a lot of other old computers, too, which I wish I would have kept. The only 80s era machine I still have is a Mattel Aquarius. An Amiga 500, a C64, a TRS80, a broken 1084S monitor, and an Atari 800XL all left for trash. 😭
Great video! We actually had the XEGS for sale over here in the UK too. You say that it was superior/equal to the NES and SMS? That's interesting as it was just the same 1970s 800/400 hardware which had been repackaged in the 600/800XL repackaged again by Tramiel. I'd be interested in your reasoning. 🙂
🤣🤣 Right.. A mini XEGS.. Love to see one. Yep ol' Tom Green. Classic bro. Well when I opened my XEGS, my Freddie Got Fingered. 🤣🤣 But only with protection.... An ESD wristband!! 🤣🤣
I think the team at Atari that designed the style of this computer and the neon logo did a fantastic job. In the late 80s, it looked positively futuristic. But the technology inside was old and crusty. Certainly ahead of it's time in 1977, but by 1988... not so much.
I agree, it defiantly looks the part from the late 80's with the design. Marketed to compete with the NES but was really sent to market to get rid of the remaining stock of parts for the 8bit computer line they were planning on discontinuing.
All 8 bit machines were old at that point. The 16bit and MSX next generation machines were already there. The main issue with this machine was ...software houses. We only saw what the 8bit Atari machines could do thanks to the modern homebrew scene that still goes strong.
@@nickolasgaspar9660 I 100% agree. The Commodore 64 was 6 years old in 1988, but it was a developer darling and they got more and more out of it. But the Atari 8-bit was still getting by with its early 80s software for the most part and it just wasn't cutting it for me. I'd love to see what an alternate universe would have looked where Atari won the 8-bit wars.
I agree they should have released it 2 years sooner. That was their issue with the 7800 too. Came out too late. But love the detachable keyboard of the XEGS. I think they were selling it for $249 at the time, but that was too much at the time it came out.
I think if they would of released the 5200 as something like this, things would have been entirely different for Atari.. Maybe even remaining king of the home console market. Also, if the deal with Nintendo would of went through when they were trying to find a distributor for the NES, we'd all still be playing Atari's now probably.
I disagree with your opinion that people should avoid this. There is no easier way to get into the 8-bt Atari stuff and you have a composite out right away. You can play all the 8-bit carts and you can either use a disk drive or an SIO modern solution to play disk based games. All of the (later) Atari 8-bit machines suffer from the same bad build quality. The 800XL is also pretty poorly made, though the original 800 is built like a damn tank. They cost a fortune to ship too because of how heavy they are. I don't think those 800s have 64k of RAM either, I think they have only 48.
You are correct - 64K wasn't available for Ataris until the XL line. and there is no way to retrofit 64K circuitry into a 400 or 800, so they both top out at 48K, albeit with a slight motherboard modification on the 400 to upgrade past 16K.
Just my honest opinion. I have a 600xl too, and it has none of the problems this one has. It's been upgraded to 64k, so it just like the GS, but with a parallel port too. Though I've never used it. My 64k ram upgrade is done internally and not on the PBI with the 1064 Mem. Module. Don't get me wrong, I love the XEGS. But I think if I suggested one, somebody would ebay one and get it. Turn it on and it worked. And few days later turned it back on and nothing.. lol. I would feel bad, saying "Yeah that is a great system". I have to be honest. If I know of any potential issues, I let the people know.. Even though I love this system.
I always wonder what would have happened if Atari had released the XEGS instead of the doomed 5200. There would have instantly been a huge game library, and it would have been the best opportunity for game players to upgrade to a real computer. I think Atari could have dominated both the console and the computer market if they had gone with the XEGS design rather than the 5200.
Agreed, but that was Time Warner Atari and they were more into the video games then they were computers. Wasn't until Jack Tremeil took over that they took a flip-flop and started concentrating more on computers than consoles. But yes, imagine if they would have released a console like the XEGS instead of the 5200 it would have been a game changer.
The XEGS was a spinoff of the XE 8 bit computer line which came out nearly 5 years after the 5200. In 1982, when the 5200 was released, the 8 bit line still consisted of the 400 and 800 models. The XE revamp was still a few years off so there was no way the XEGS would have been ready in 1982.
I wonder how atari didn’t got sewed for turning their computer into a expandible game console,since atari had also only the rights to put cerain arcade games on computer systems and not game console,but since atari did came out with theit atari xe,that automatically ment that their computer games could work on their game console and vice versa so basically atari was curcomventing those rules to get around that.
Very interesting that you pointed this out. I'm really not too sure about the licensing on Atari consoles versus computers, I'll have to do some research to see. Thanks for bringing this up. Definitely something I'll have to research and bring up in a future video. Thanks for watching and commenting
"Atari" probably should not have released the XEGS. It would have been a lot better to put the money into the 7800 cartridge hardware. The XEGS is not Atari's most powerful 8 bit game system. Both the Lynx and the 7800 were more powerful. The XEGS is a glorified Atari 800 still stuck with mono sprites. It was really just a cash grab.
The Atari XEGS is a further development of the Atari 800, which came out in 1979. So the XEGS has even older hardware than the Atari 7800. Only the 7800 had the sound chip from the Atari 2600, from 1977. The Pokey sound chip in the XEGS was a lot better.
@@gespy Yes, but the 7800 was designed from the beginning to have sound hardware on the cartridge. Atari should have put the money they dumped into the XEGS into the 7800 and cartridge hardware.
IDK. I'm kinda of for XEGS. Really the XEGS is more powerful then the 7800. The only thing more powerful was the Maria chip in the 7800. It could produce up to 100 to 120 sprites on screen. But it all depended on their size, colors, if there was a background(as Maria handled background and bitmap too where 8bit used the ANTIC for this), if it was double scan lined or not. So it really depends on to the number of sprites that really could be displayed. Too many different variables. Honestly, only a few games and homebrew have captured the true power of the Maria chip.. Too bad they didn't put the Maria in the XEGS.. What could have been. As for the rest: CPU: Same Sally 6502 Ram: 7800 2kb vs 64kb XEGS ROM 7800 4kb(system OS, unlicensed check) vs 32kb (with BASIC,MISSLE COMAND, and System OS) GPU(S) 7800 Maria 256 colors max res 320x240 max sprite on screen 100 VS ANTIC and GTIA XEGS 256 colors max res 384x256 8 sprites on screen more with bank switching. Sound 7800 TIA chip (2600 chip argh..) only 2 official games carts had the pokey chip for the 7800 VS the POKEY XEGS Comparing any of these 6502 based systems really depends on the programing and graphics hardware. Because really the Apple II, C64, VIC20, PET, Atari 8 bit, NES, 5200, 7800, etc, are all really the same, but made incompatible by the manufactures, due to different memory locations, and custom chips. But that is why it was so easy to port a game from one system to all the others. Sega and Coleco were the odd balls using the Z80. But hey, it worked for them...
Jack was just trying to off the supply on 8bit hardware to fund the ST projects. He really didn't care about consoles, he was a computer man, or should I say a computer salesman. Consoles were kids toys to him. When Atari was sold to him, it became a computer company per se, just like Commodore the company he presided over before. He only bought the consumer division of Atari. The Games division and Warner split and was around until 99' when they merged with Midway. Which filed for bankruptcy years later.
"the 5200 failed, it was right about this time that the video game market crashed" ... connect the dots! the "video game crash" and the failure of the 5200 were THE EXACT SAME THING. actually there was no "video game crash" at all -- japan was fine, europe was fine, arcades were fine, home computers were fine. what was crashing, was Atari.
based on the game demo alone, they look like complete garbage compared to the NES and C64 at the time. As an Atari fan I'm disappointed. The 2600 had only 128bytes of RAM! and managed to build a library of over a hundred solid games.
ATARI 8 bit line destroyed the C-64 . The only reason the C-64 outsold the ATARI 8 bit computers was price . STAR RAIDERS is proof ATARI ruled the 8 bit computers in power .
Right!! Although it was a good sim at the time. Defintalty something 12 year old me found boring. I had it on my C64 and I can probably count on my two hands how many times I sat down and tried to play it back then. By the time I got into sim games, I had an Amiga. They should of packed it with bug hunt, and battlezone xe.
Great overview of this under-discussed game system. I was searching around just to figure out what the big buttons on the console were, and your video came up... and now I know! I wanted one as a kid after seeing the ads, but ultimately I'm glad I didn't get it. A couple years later I had saved up for a Sega Genesis, which had way more cool factor than any Atari system could've had, at least in my middle school scene.
Glad you enjoyed it and found out new things about the xegs. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Great video. I love how clean the video from your XEGS is. I would point out a couple of things. 1. Tramiel didn't sit on the 7800 because he didn't want to release a console into the market in 1984. He definitely wanted to release it, but he was a very cheap man and wasn't going to pay GCC the money they were still owed when Jack bought the company from Warner. While that whole situation worked though the courts the system gathered dust in warehouses for 2 years. If Jack had just paid GCC what they were owed in 1984 the 7800 probably would have had a small chunk of the 8 bit console market by the time Nintendo released the NES (the NES would have still done great for too many reasons to cover). 2. The buttons of the top front of the XEGS are definitely not neon, they are pastel. Considering many people thought even the subtle pastel colors on the XEGS were garish, imagine what they would have thought if it had big fluorescent buttons on it? I only own a 400 and 800XL because I don't want to have to fix the issues you find with the cheaply made Tramiel 8 bit Ataris even though I actually like the look of the XE systems better than the XL ones. If cheap build quality wasn't such an issue I'd definitely add an XEGS to my collection because it's really nice as long as you don't have to change joysticks and unlike the XE computers, the carts plug into the top which makes swapping them much easier than on the back. Speaking of joysticks, you should have mentioned the gamepad controller Atari sold with the system in Europe. I own one and it's really neat. I like it a lot.
Interesting when you say "cheap build" of Atari XE 8 bits. My 130 XE has been working like a dream since the day I bought it brand new 38 years ago with zero issues. How many computers, devices let alone marriages are still going strong after 38 years? lol
@@adm712I agree. The only cheap thing found in the xe line is the standard membrane keyboard, which btw many late xl models had it and the single material/color case. None of them really reduced the reliability of the model. Other than that both machines have the same issues , mainly bad MT RAM. If you were lucky and your machine had a different memory brand chances are that you still have a working machine. With XEGS machines things are different, at least this is what I experienced with mine. Bad CPU, bad Memory, bad ROM and bad EMI coil filter. The models with the golden mask board happen to enjoy better solder joints.
Great video. I had the game system. Also have an Atari 800, 600 xl, 2 800 xl's, 2 65 xe's and 3 1050 disk drives. Those were the fun days. Loved the Ultima series on Atari. Thank you for this good video!!!
I always waned this computer back in the day but never got one until just a couple of years ago. Mine is working great and I play it pretty regularly. I love the 5200 so this is like a dream come true for me. Great video and channel. Keep it up.
I love the XEGS. I was never really a fan of the Atari 8bit line until I got one. I grew a Commodore guy, So I never really played around with the Atari 8bit's until many, many years after they were discontinued. The whole Atari vs Commodore thing is really a tit for tat. As both system were just as capable, though I would say the C64 still has better sound with the SID, rather then Atari POKEY. Just IMHO...
Thanks for the complement, watching, and commenting.👍👍
Great vid! I was going to grab an XEGS on ebay, but now I guess I'll stick to my modded 600XL and emulators. Don't need new headaches.
The XEGS is a cool system. Personally I just like the way it looks. But if you've already got an Atari 8-bit system, that's 64k. There's really no reason to get one unless you just want to have one.
Since I've purchased my xegs these are all the things that have gone wrong with it:
Cold solder joints on the cartridge port re-soldered worked for a while.
Then it stopped loading cartridges all together turned out to be a bad mmu.
Then I started getting really bad graphical issues while hitting the joystick button. Replace the antic chip.
Literally right after I did the video replacing the antic chip then the reset button stopped working and I replaced that.
Oh and then, I forgot, my keyboard wasn't working so I ended up repairing the keyboard membrane to make it work.
I haven't had any other issues with it and it has become one of my most used systems.
I found one at a flea market around 2010 that was basically in the garbage with a bunch of random electronics that had been rained on and mine still works perfectly, I've never had to fix anything on it
Good to hear you saved one from the scrap heap. Cool that it still works after all its been through. Must not have MT rams chips.. Those fail on a regular basis. The MMU and system rom seem to have issues too. So if you start to have issues loading games from carts or you cant get the built in missle command to work off the rom, that would be your issue. If you ever have issues with it, you can contact me and I can walk you through the repair if you want. Thanks for watching and sharing brother👍👍
Hey thanks for the XEGS vid. Enjoyed it! Glad you like the machine. They have a lot of depth and if one knows how to use it, can get hundreds of hours of enjoyment from it. I think that's it's main issue, especially nowadays, is that people don't know how to use them.
They are absolutely for use as a computer and that's where they are better than any console for that reason. They function well as a computer but the styling or ergonomics doesn't work as well as an 800/XL/XE as a desktop. In one sense the keyboard isn't anything special as you note but at the same time it's great because it's the only external keyboard for the whole line. In that sense it's fantastic and desirable.
There are some inaccuracies here.
Made/sold 250,000 XEGS units in total. Often the number quoted is about 100k but that is for the first '87 holiday season only.
Was not meant to compete with the NES but to move old inventory. They had warehouses full of chips, carts, peripherals, etc. The XEGS was a success from this perspective and that was why it was made.
Did have build quality issues. Tramiel is absolutely to blame for built quality issues, post Warner. But the chips run cool so they are not destined to fail.
There are more rare copper motherboards that have better build quality.
It wasn't really the last one they produced. The 65XE/130XE were probably built afterwards.
The PIA is not used for SIO devices, that's POKEY
For Flight Sim2, artifacting is used for dash color which wasn't showing in this video but minor gripe
Yes it should have come out in around '82 to '84. The 5200 was ill-conceived. The 7800 was better than the 5200 but it's joysticks are awful too and bad sound.
All this said, we are very fortunate to have this system. It was far better than nothing. The XF551 drive that was released around the same time was nice and also unique peripheral being double sided and double density, the only of it's kind for the line. The GS is a great machine to have now, more desirable to have now than at launch. Any issue can be repaired as you are learning. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed the video. I'd have say that this system has grown on me. I have a boxed 600xl upgraded to 64k. But now I use the XEGS more as it has composite out. I will be doing the av mod to the 600xl once the parts come in. One of my next projects. When I first used the XEGS, I found it had issues. The hardest to fix was the keyboard. The traces on the mylar were shot. I had to redraw several of them with conductive paste. Made a video of that too awhile back. Now its works great. I was a Commodore guy growing up. Just now really getting into Atari 8bit. Great systems. Seeing what I missed out on in the 80's.
@@RetrogamerGenX Yes definitely do the AV mod on the 600XL as long as it can look clean (dremel hole or wire it out of the PBI port as a cable, etc) and not a hack job. PAL 600XL's have the video DIN port like an 800XL, NTSC 600XL's do not.
Know that there are five different keyboards for the 600/800XL machines and some suck and some are fantastic. The ones with brown PCB under the keycaps are the ones to get (mechanical). Brown PCB and solid white (inverted font) CONTROL are the Alps switches which are best. Yes the mylar traces on XE's often start to fail. The conductive paint is tricky but works! It's probably a very good idea to replace the old capacitors in these machines if you are experienced in doing that.
I made a tutorial video for how to use these that you might find helpful. Second video in my channel, presently.
Around 3 years ago i really got into collecting retro systems. Ones from my younger years that i never had. I thought i just absolutely must have one of these XEGS. Ordered one off Ebay. I plug it in and play a couple games for around a hour to make certain it works. Boxed it back up and havent touched it since. One of these days im gonna get all of this stuff out.
Dig it out and show it some love..🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for sharing!!!
Came back to watch it again......
Thanks for watching again bro!!!
I had 2 dead controller ports but would respond to button presses. Built in basic or missile command wouldn't work either. Turned out to be a bad pia(6520) chip
Nice.. Glad you got it working..
I realized maybe I can be the judge: It is a game system but since I can't get my keyboard to have a reliable connection, not a computer at the moment. Also some insight: the only other thing different than like the 65XE is that diagonal orientation of the cartridge slot. So yeah they couldn't make it straight across because then it would not be a "new system" to sell
Yeah I use it more as a game console too. My keyboard works, and there are a lot of games that require it, but I stick to the games that don't. I have an Upgraded Atari 600XL (64K) if I want to get down and dirty with the "computer" games like Zork, Ultimate Reality, etc...
As far as the 65XE and the XEGS being similar.. They are a lot alike, but there are some differences. Like you pointed out, the cart slot is diagonal, but there are differences inside too. The XEGS lacks the Expansion port. It has only one ROM for OS/Basic/Missile Command while the 65XE has two Roms OS and Basic. Also the 65XE has more Ram chips, depending on motherboard version (same amount though 64K) with expansion available on the mother board to make it 128K. Making it upgradable to a 130XE so you can play all those cool 128K games.
Boy I'd love to see how a pre-internet 8 bit computer would help anyone with their homework.
I for one had a C64 in the 80's and I can tell you I did a lot of homework on it. Sure you couldn't go to Google. But you could create and print reports, logon to BBS's that contained subject matter that you are studying. All computers had educational software to learn math, languages, etc .. so even though they seem archaic, they still did a lot for school. But yeah, let's face it, the real reason we had them back then was to play games. 🤣🤣🤣
The keyboard is difficult to use. The buttons have a strange tactile feel, and they are arranged in a very unusual manner. It’s still fun to play around with though.
Yeah I would agree. The keyboard is absolute garbage. Uses that cheap membrane inside and it has a real spongy feel. And the keyboard is not a standardized qwerty keyboard. But for what it was, an entry level console/ computer. It wasn't too bad compared to other offerings like this. The Coleco Adam and intellivision ECS etc..
Systems based on Atari's 8-bit architecture were produced from 1979 thru 1992, which is an incredible longevity for its time period. Personally, I think it's more of a testament to Jay Miner's forward-looking technical genius than his follow-up system known as the Amiga, which ended up having a shorter lifespan.
They beat the C64 by 1 year as far as production of the architecture of the 8 bit line. But if your talking architecture, then Commodore had the Atari 8 bit line beat. The Pet was released in 77' and the Commodore 8 bit line ran until 94' with the C64 . Though not truly compatible with each other. (PET, VIC20, C64, etc..)
Miner was a brilliant man. Helping create the 2600, the 8bit line, with creating the CTIA, Antic, and then leaving Atari and helping start up Amiga with Kaplan. Seeing his achievements are still being talked about today, is a testament to his engineering prowess.
@@RetrogamerGenX One year? That doesn't sound correct.The design of the integrated circuits for audio and graphics alone were completed in November 1981.The computer was announced at CES 1982 and it was released with drive speed issues. The Atari 8bit line was announced in 1978 and delays in the production of an improved CTIA design (GTIA) forced Atari to ship the computers with the older version the following year.
Atari 8bit system design scheduled was was also affected by stringent FCC regulations forcing the team to redesign or remove features of the initial architecture. If you listen to Joe Decuir's talks on Jay Miner's trilogy (VCS ,Atari 8bit,Amiga) you will appreciate their struggles back in 1977-79 and how things improved 1-2 years later.
If we want to compare 8bit architecture we should stick to a specific one. Commodore was forced to change its architecture (VIC 20) in order to match Miner's machine and even then it never really beat the Atari 8bit chipset. To be fair it did improve many things like color memory management, some aspects of the audio and resolution but a list of shortcomings in other areas are visible even with today's homebrew productions especially when compared to the Atari machine.
A few details:
- According to one of the guys behind the 7800, Jack Tramiel actually had a plan for that console in 1984, but at a rock-bottom price of $50, and expecting retail stores to sell it at... $50
- The Atari 400 was actually supposed to be a console. But its high production cost + Atari margin made it unsuitable to be a console. That and Atari management wasn't in a hurry to produce a next gen console as the 2600 was selling well
Yes, the 400 was slated to be the next console. In fact, because of the decision to make it a computer, a lot of Atari engineers left. One of them was Jay Miner which went on to create the Amiga later on.
@@RetrogamerGenX I've heard of different stories as to why Atari engineers left. Jay Miner wanted to make a 68000-based computer but Atari wanted him to keep working on 6502-based computers. As for the rest of the team, I read once that Atari management refused to give them a bonus they had promised them.
The Atari 8-bit was developed in 1977 and released in 1979. Given that fact, it's amazing to think it held its own throughout the 1980s. It had a lot of first's and innovations that are still used today.
A guy portage space harrier to the Atari 8-bit and it's amazing.
By the time that the Atari XEGS came out on the market all of the local electronics and computer stores had chosen to drop out of carrying anything by Atari. So the closest thing that I ever had to an Atari XEGS was an Atari 800XL home computer. Atari under Jack Tramiel's ownership did have a number of games made primarily for the Atari XE line of computers that were compatible with the Atari XL line of computers as well, but not all of the games however for there were still certain games that were XE series exclusives.
I do remember that... I was a Commodore guy at the time, so I vaguely remember only seeing Atari computer merch at KB Toys and Toys R Us, maybe K-Mart and Sears. The computer store I went to at the time, had Commodores, Amigas, and PC Clones. No Apples, Tandy's, or Atari's.
I believe there were 32 games made for the XEGS. But they work on all the other 8-bit lines too, if they had at least 64k of ram installed or upgraded to get 64k.
I believe that the LucasFilms game cartridges Ballblazer and Rescue On Fractulus only worked on the XE computers, not the earlier 400/800 8 bit models. If I recall, I found that out for myself although it was SO long ago, it's hard to remember clearly.
whatever Atari 8-bit you have, including XEGS, you need Fujinet
I had the Atari 130XE and an Atari 800XL. Those were cool but I moved on to an Amiga 500 and stayed on that until 1998 when I got my first PC.
Yep, kinda of like me. I went from the c64 and apple II to the Amiga. And didn't look back until 1997 when I bought my first PC. Argh.. Still not happy about it. I loved my Amiga's.
@@RetrogamerGenX my Amiga bit the dust around 2007, and I never got another because of how expensive it got for Amiga anything. Instead I use Amiga Forever, and I also have an FPGA with Amiga core if I want something closer to the real thing.
That sucks bro.. Do you still have the Amiga?? I'd take it as a project if you do.. Might be able to get it up a running for you. I hate to see old Amigas die. If I can't help, I know some that might.
@@RetrogamerGenX I’m very sad to say I left it for bulk trash when I moved out of my last house over 10 years ago. Believe me I kick myself every time I think about it. I got rid of a lot of other old computers, too, which I wish I would have kept. The only 80s era machine I still have is a Mattel Aquarius. An Amiga 500, a C64, a TRS80, a broken 1084S monitor, and an Atari 800XL all left for trash. 😭
Great video! We actually had the XEGS for sale over here in the UK too. You say that it was superior/equal to the NES and SMS? That's interesting as it was just the same 1970s 800/400 hardware which had been repackaged in the 600/800XL repackaged again by Tramiel. I'd be interested in your reasoning. 🙂
Think there will ever be. an XEGS Mini?
Better come with that Zapper!
What About Freddie Got Fingered...Tom Green
🤣🤣 Right.. A mini XEGS.. Love to see one.
Yep ol' Tom Green. Classic bro. Well when I opened my XEGS, my Freddie Got Fingered. 🤣🤣 But only with protection.... An ESD wristband!! 🤣🤣
Maybe not an xegs mini, but maybe an xe mini.
It wasn't as "bubbly" as the NES so that is why it didn't really take off. But it was the only hybrid console and computer at the time.
The NES was just marketed better. Way more commercials for the NES then either the SMS, or XEGS. Ad's lead to sales, and Nintendo knew that.
I think the team at Atari that designed the style of this computer and the neon logo did a fantastic job. In the late 80s, it looked positively futuristic. But the technology inside was old and crusty. Certainly ahead of it's time in 1977, but by 1988... not so much.
I agree, it defiantly looks the part from the late 80's with the design. Marketed to compete with the NES but was really sent to market to get rid of the remaining stock of parts for the 8bit computer line they were planning on discontinuing.
All 8 bit machines were old at that point. The 16bit and MSX next generation machines were already there. The main issue with this machine was ...software houses. We only saw what the 8bit Atari machines could do thanks to the modern homebrew scene that still goes strong.
@@nickolasgaspar9660 I 100% agree. The Commodore 64 was 6 years old in 1988, but it was a developer darling and they got more and more out of it. But the Atari 8-bit was still getting by with its early 80s software for the most part and it just wasn't cutting it for me. I'd love to see what an alternate universe would have looked where Atari won the 8-bit wars.
Most people did NOT already have an NES in 1987.
I agree they should have released it 2 years sooner. That was their issue with the 7800 too. Came out too late. But love the detachable keyboard of the XEGS. I think they were selling it for $249 at the time, but that was too much at the time it came out.
I think if they would of released the 5200 as something like this, things would have been entirely different for Atari.. Maybe even remaining king of the home console market. Also, if the deal with Nintendo would of went through when they were trying to find a distributor for the NES, we'd all still be playing Atari's now probably.
I disagree with your opinion that people should avoid this. There is no easier way to get into the 8-bt Atari stuff and you have a composite out right away. You can play all the 8-bit carts and you can either use a disk drive or an SIO modern solution to play disk based games.
All of the (later) Atari 8-bit machines suffer from the same bad build quality. The 800XL is also pretty poorly made, though the original 800 is built like a damn tank. They cost a fortune to ship too because of how heavy they are. I don't think those 800s have 64k of RAM either, I think they have only 48.
You are correct - 64K wasn't available for Ataris until the XL line. and there is no way to retrofit 64K circuitry into a 400 or 800, so they both top out at 48K, albeit with a slight motherboard modification on the 400 to upgrade past 16K.
Just my honest opinion. I have a 600xl too, and it has none of the problems this one has. It's been upgraded to 64k, so it just like the GS, but with a parallel port too. Though I've never used it. My 64k ram upgrade is done internally and not on the PBI with the 1064 Mem. Module. Don't get me wrong, I love the XEGS. But I think if I suggested one, somebody would ebay one and get it. Turn it on and it worked. And few days later turned it back on and nothing.. lol. I would feel bad, saying "Yeah that is a great system". I have to be honest. If I know of any potential issues, I let the people know.. Even though I love this system.
I always wonder what would have happened if Atari had released the XEGS instead of the doomed 5200. There would have instantly been a huge game library, and it would have been the best opportunity for game players to upgrade to a real computer. I think Atari could have dominated both the console and the computer market if they had gone with the XEGS design rather than the 5200.
Agreed, but that was Time Warner Atari and they were more into the video games then they were computers. Wasn't until Jack Tremeil took over that they took a flip-flop and started concentrating more on computers than consoles. But yes, imagine if they would have released a console like the XEGS instead of the 5200 it would have been a game changer.
The XEGS was a spinoff of the XE 8 bit computer line which came out nearly 5 years after the 5200. In 1982, when the 5200 was released, the 8 bit line still consisted of the 400 and 800 models. The XE revamp was still a few years off so there was no way the XEGS would have been ready in 1982.
Pastel buttons….. they’re pastel.
🤣🤣 Yeah, when your color blind like me everything looks like a shade of gray. So thanks for clearing that up, not neon but pastel. 👍👍
It was doomed to fail. Its a repackaged computer from the 1970s, trying to compete with, what was at the time, bleeding edge technology.
"The heads of 4 leading Computer Game Companies." LOL. None of them exist today.
🤣🤣🤣Right!!
I wonder how atari didn’t got sewed for turning their computer into a expandible game console,since atari had also only the rights to put cerain arcade games on computer systems and not game console,but since atari did came out with theit atari xe,that automatically ment that their computer games could work on their game console and vice versa so basically atari was curcomventing those rules to get around that.
Very interesting that you pointed this out. I'm really not too sure about the licensing on Atari consoles versus computers, I'll have to do some research to see. Thanks for bringing this up. Definitely something I'll have to research and bring up in a future video. Thanks for watching and commenting
"Atari" probably should not have released the XEGS. It would have been a lot better to put the money into the 7800 cartridge hardware. The XEGS is not Atari's most powerful 8 bit game system. Both the Lynx and the 7800 were more powerful. The XEGS is a glorified Atari 800 still stuck with mono sprites. It was really just a cash grab.
Yeah they released it to sell their warehouses full of 8-bit accessories. 👍
The Atari XEGS is a further development of the Atari 800, which came out in 1979. So the XEGS has even older hardware than the Atari 7800. Only the 7800 had the sound chip from the Atari 2600, from 1977. The Pokey sound chip in the XEGS was a lot better.
@@gespy Yes, but the 7800 was designed from the beginning to have sound hardware on the cartridge. Atari should have put the money they dumped into the XEGS into the 7800 and cartridge hardware.
IDK. I'm kinda of for XEGS. Really the XEGS is more powerful then the 7800. The only thing more powerful was the Maria chip in the 7800. It could produce up to 100 to 120 sprites on screen. But it all depended on their size, colors, if there was a background(as Maria handled background and bitmap too where 8bit used the ANTIC for this), if it was double scan lined or not. So it really depends on to the number of sprites that really could be displayed. Too many different variables. Honestly, only a few games and homebrew have captured the true power of the Maria chip.. Too bad they didn't put the Maria in the XEGS.. What could have been.
As for the rest:
CPU: Same Sally 6502
Ram: 7800 2kb vs 64kb XEGS
ROM 7800 4kb(system OS, unlicensed check) vs 32kb (with BASIC,MISSLE COMAND, and System OS)
GPU(S) 7800 Maria 256 colors max res 320x240 max sprite on screen 100
VS ANTIC and GTIA XEGS 256 colors max res 384x256 8 sprites on screen more with bank switching.
Sound 7800 TIA chip (2600 chip argh..) only 2 official games carts had the pokey chip for the 7800 VS the POKEY XEGS
Comparing any of these 6502 based systems really depends on the programing and graphics hardware. Because really the Apple II, C64, VIC20, PET, Atari 8 bit, NES, 5200, 7800, etc, are all really the same, but made incompatible by the manufactures, due to different memory locations, and custom chips. But that is why it was so easy to port a game from one system to all the others. Sega and Coleco were the odd balls using the Z80. But hey, it worked for them...
Jack was just trying to off the supply on 8bit hardware to fund the ST projects. He really didn't care about consoles, he was a computer man, or should I say a computer salesman. Consoles were kids toys to him. When Atari was sold to him, it became a computer company per se, just like Commodore the company he presided over before. He only bought the consumer division of Atari. The Games division and Warner split and was around until 99' when they merged with Midway. Which filed for bankruptcy years later.
"the 5200 failed, it was right about this time that the video game market crashed" ... connect the dots! the "video game crash" and the failure of the 5200 were THE EXACT SAME THING. actually there was no "video game crash" at all -- japan was fine, europe was fine, arcades were fine, home computers were fine. what was crashing, was Atari.
based on the game demo alone, they look like complete garbage compared to the NES and C64 at the time. As an Atari fan I'm disappointed. The 2600 had only 128bytes of RAM! and managed to build a library of over a hundred solid games.
ATARI 8 bit line destroyed the C-64 . The only reason the C-64 outsold the ATARI 8 bit computers was price . STAR RAIDERS is proof ATARI ruled the 8 bit computers in power .
Whoever thought Flight Simulator 2 was a good pack in game for a a system should never have been allowed to work in the video game industry again
Right!! Although it was a good sim at the time. Defintalty something 12 year old me found boring. I had it on my C64 and I can probably count on my two hands how many times I sat down and tried to play it back then. By the time I got into sim games, I had an Amiga. They should of packed it with bug hunt, and battlezone xe.