Anticipation among diehard video fanatics was almost unbearable in early 1982, when Atari, already the unquestioned king of videogames, announced the development of the powerful new "Video System X", a unit that promised to blast the rival Intellivision "back into the Stone Age". Atari assured gamers that this new unit would not make the venerable VCS obsolete. Just as General Motors marketed different and better automobiles at different price points, they explained, so Atari would now offer a superior videogame system for its more upscale customers. The System X promised to revolutionize home videogames and the thought of true arcade-quality versions of hits like Pac-Man, Defender, and Centipede had most gamers buzzing.
The actual release of the "5200 Supersystem", as the unit was eventually dubbed, was accompanied by surprisingly little fanfare. As the delays in the release dragged on, several major videogame retailers informed their customers that Atari had shelved the 5200 and the unit would never come out. Such reports proved false, but amazingly, Atari pretty much missed the 1982 Christmas season. On the east coast, the 5200 did not appear on store shelves until the second and third weeks of November, nearly two months after the sensational new ColecoVision had taken the videogame world by storm. A mere handful of tired classics accompanied the release of the 5200: Space Invaders, Galaxian, Star Raiders, Missile Command, and the pack-in game, Super Breakout.
Reviewers openly wondered whether this new system would ever get off the ground. They quickly pointed out that this "Supersystem" hardly represented a striking breakthrough in videogame hardware. Though vastly superior to the Atari VCS, the 5200 is nothing more than a 16K Atari computer (featuring 320x192 pixels of resolution, 256 colors, and four sound channels) with a different cover. Word soon got around that the "revolutionary" non-centering joysticks were an unqualified disaster. The joysticks feature two independent fire buttons on each side and a numeric keypad, and they work wonderfully on games like Defender and Realsports Soccer. However, they ruin games that require standard, four-directional movement such as Pac-Man. These joysticks are so prone to malfunction and breakdown that some believe they are actually possessed. Yet another major objection to the 5200 concerns the fact that it wasn't 2600 compatible, leaving millions of VCS owners in the lurch (a 2600 adapter was later released for the 5200).
Despite the 5200's hardware limitations, Atari fully understood that the success of a system ultimately rests on the quality of its games, and it is in the area of gameplay that the 5200 gradually began to shine. Though Atari failed to revolutionize videogaming as they had promised, they did "evolutionize" the hobby by slowly building up a library of first-rate 5200 arcade translations. For a year and a half, Atari released one or two outstanding new cartridges every month and in the process they achieved a truly remarkable record of consistency: a review through the contemporary videogame magazines reveals that virtually every cart Atari produced for this system was well-received by the press and public. The 5200 library is pretty much free of the licensing fiascos and over-produced monetary sink-holes that plagued the 2600 and helped sink the company.
Today, for both videogamers and collectors, the 5200 represents something of a mixed bag. Atari achieved spectacular successes with its 5200 translations of arcade classics like Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Joust, and Dig Dug. Few, however, will now bother playing these classics on their 5200 simply because even better versions came out later for the 7800, the NES, and in some cases even the Genesis. Similarly, the 5200 sports titles - though quite good when released - offer little today. Nonetheless, every dedicated gamer should own a Supersystem because a number of great games are available only for the 5200 or at least are at their best on this system. First on that list is the classic shoot-em-up Space Dungeon, which alone is worth the few dollars a 5200 costs today. Other outstanding efforts include Berzerk, the only home version to contain built-in voice synthesis; Dreadnaught Factor, Jr. Pac-Man, Gremlins, Pac-Man, Rescue on Fractalus, Qix and Zone Ranger. Robotron 2084, though improved upon for the 7800 is especially fun when played on the 5200 with the joystick coupler, an item unavailable for the 7800. Miner 2049'er, an enormous hit in 1983, is still rather fun - or for an even greater challenge, try the sequel - Bounty Bob Strikes Back, which contains over thirty screens! Several other 5200 titles have also held up nicely over time.
The passage of time has not enhanced the reputation of the 5200 controllers. Here Atari pioneered the only joystick in gaming history to break down as a function of use or even disuse. Yes, brand new sticks left unused for a few months will often experience fire-button failure. There is little point in purchasing used controllers - they rarely work. Among the more desirable items for players/collectors therefore, are the various third-party controllers marketed by Wico and other companies. Perhaps the most sought-after non-cartridge items is the Masterplay 5200 Interface from Electra Concepts. This dandy little device allows gamers to plug any Atari 2600-compatible joysticks into the 5200, and really brings out the best in maze games like the marvelous Pac-Man. Unfortunately, the Masterplay Interface is as scarce as it is useful.
For those more interested in collecting than game playing, the 5200 once again has its positives and negatives. 5200 collecting is great for beginners. Many of the Atari releases are still very common, and anyone with access to some thrift stores and flea markets should be able to complete over half of the 5200 library very quickly. The 5200 is attractive to advanced collectors as well because it is one of the few systems for which it is genuinely possible to find every cartridge that was ever sold in stores.
On the other hand, the 5200 library - which consists of 89 titles (including all known prototypes), contains relatively few of the oddities, third-party releases, and rarities that make 2600 collecting so much fun. A mere eight third party companies released just thirty-six titles (at least twice as many companies produced for the rival ColecoVision). Most of the unreleased Atari prototypes have been copied and are readily available to collectors as well. Few collectors will ever see the original prototypes themselves, however. The most difficult carts to find include Meteorites, Frogger II, Bounty Bob Strikes Back, and Beamrider. Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus, both of which were released well after the demise of the 5200 are both excellent finds, as is Gremlins. With a few exceptions such as Frogger and Q*Bert, third-party releases are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. Collectors are not likely to find Zone Ranger, Zaxxon, Zenji, or Star Wars: Death Star Battle in a pawn shop or flea market. As is the case with Vectrex games, 5200 titles tend to be either very common or quite difficult to find.
The library also includes little in the way of interesting label variations. Realsports Football, Realsports Soccer, and Miner 2049'er each have two different labels though it is unclear whether any of the variations are scarce. 5200 boxes are not particularly exciting either - all of those released by Atari are in the same rather dull gray and blue color scheme.
A final note: one of the more intriguing questions for 5200 collectors concerns the existence of some sort of prototype of the arcade smash Tempest, which is only available in cartridge form for Atari's 64-bit machine, the Jaguar. We know that Atari was working on this difficult conversion for some time, and it was even listed in Atari catalogs. But there never has been a confirmed sighting of a Tempest prototype at any stage of development. Consider Tempest the UFO of the Atari library.