robert588 (@robert588@mastodon.sdf.org)
mastodon.sdf.org
Attached: 3 images Very soon! Come play with this Atari 400 on this sweet TV set. RetroGameCon October 8-9 in Syracuse, New York. Working hard to get everything packed and ready to go. Come play games! Retrogamecon.com #vintagecomputalk @SDF

I never knew such a thing existed

  • Tempo
    2•2 years ago

    Atari spent the mid to late 80s making bank on their computers while their consoles perished by the wayside. Started with their 8-bit line of computers; the 400 and 800 in 1979 with a variety of upgrades and updates for over a decade until Atari ended support as late as 1992. The 8-bit line also served as the general hardware basis of the 5200.

    The Atari ST followed in 1985 and did well in Europe as a cheaper alternative to the dazzling but pricey Amiga. That line ended with the incredibly poor selling Falcon released in 1992. Everything else that wasn’t related to the Jaguar (2600, 7200, Lynx, ST line including the Falcon) was officially culled in 1993 to focus all efforts into the Jag.

    Atari’s computers weren’t necessarily the most popular, but the 8-bit line did well enough against the Commodore computers in the US for it to make a name for itself as a home computer underdog. The success of the ST (in Europe mostly, the US home computer market was mostly C64s, Macs and IBMs) also can’t be understated.