https://www.polygon.com/pre-order/441690/atari-7800-plus-price-availability-games
The console launches alongside ten brand new games for the 2600 and 7800 and wireless controllers
Sort of tells you everything you need to know about the target market that all the images on the game listings are box art and the physical carts (unless you scroll way down). Anybody who cares more about gameplay will just emulate the things with some sort of nice controller or handheld. This is for collectors (god bless 'em).
I'll always have a soft spot for Atari, despite all of the turmoil over the years regarding the brand.
The 7800 would have been a welcome redemption following the lackluster 5200; however, the crash of 1983 and internal company struggles made them decide to shelve the 1984 release of the 7800.
By the time they chose to jump back into the market by pulling these out of the warehouses and getting them on the shelves in 1986, the stigma of the brand was still somewhat fresh, the hardware was out-of-date, and Nintendo was well on their way to devouring the majority of the US market with the NES.
Didn't help that the games weren't there for it either. But the vicious cycle of "console needs games to sell units -> devs won't make games for consoles that don't sell" was in full effect for the 7800, and really any Atari console after the 2600, except maybe their Lynx handheld (which still lived in the Game Boy monolith's shadow just like every other competing handheld).
The crash was such a huge loss. This thing in 1984 was an evolutionary but very nice update to the 5200. Seriously, look at Asteroids on the 5200 (prototype, but very similar to the 400/800) and 7800, which looked low-key gorgeous on a CRT.
By 1986, Nintendo was the bold savior of the console market, and even then there's an alternate universe where Atari completely abandons the 7800 and XEGS to re-brand the NES or, later, the Sega MD/Genesis.
The 7800 had a controller with a keypad used for many games.
Is that gone entirely?
Who am I kidding, I wouldn't have bought one anyway, but it was my first console.
You're thinking of the 5200, which had the keypad and analog sticks that didn't auto-center.
The 7800 controllers were roughly the same form factor, but were digital and only had two buttons, but given the weird history and struggling Atari, many games didn't even use the second. I think the last models shipped in Europe may have even had a gamepad like the one this new thing comes with.
EDIT: Here it is. I guess the d-Pads were standard in Europe.
Unlikely. They put a fake keyboard on their most recent Atari 400 despite many 400 games requiring a keyboard.
As another commenter pointed out, I was thinking of the 5200. But yeah, I was also doubtful.
Pretty tempting, since there's a chance to get new cartridges for it.
If Sega did this for the "tower of power" the nostalgia would be too much to resist.
You can get an add-on for the genesis mini that adds this: https://www.play-asia.com/mega-drive-mini-tower/13/70crmd?srsltid=AfmBOoqh0S4UQSdFVd2A8NocnB1SHu7dy_r9C0IkuuYy_W-ajJAOhooY
It's not functional though.
Yeah! So cool! I tried when it came out but I wasn't able to get one before it was discontinued.
They're for sale on eBay from Japan. There's three varieties (Genesis 1 CD and 32X, Genesis 2 CD, and Base Converter).
I've already got the 2600+ though I am interested in the gamepad. Is there a non-wireless version?
The article states that you can plug them into the original consoles, so I'm sure you can do the same with the new ones.