{{Unreferenced|date=December 2007}}
{{Infobox CVG system
|title = Atari 7800
|logo =
|image = [[Image:Atari 7800 pro system.jpg|300px|Atari 7800 System]]
|manufacturer = [[Atari]]
|type = [[Video game console]]
|generation = [[History of video game consoles (third generation)|Third generation]] (8-bit era)
|lifespan = {{flagicon|US}} June [[1984 in video gaming|1984]] ([[test market]])<br>{{flagicon|US}} June [[1986 in video gaming|1986]]<br>{{flagicon|Europe}} 1987
|discontinue = January 1, 1992
|CPU = Custom [[MOS Technology 6502|6502C]]
|media = [[Cartridge (electronics)|Cartridge]]
|onlineservice =
|topgame =
|units sold = 1 million{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
|topgame = ''[[Pole Position II]]''{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
|compatibility = [[Atari 2600]]
|predecessor = [[Atari 5200]]
|successor = [[Atari Jaguar]]
}}

The '''Atari 7800''' is a [[video game console]] released by [[Atari]] in June 1986 (a [[test market]] release occurred two years earlier). The 7800 was designed to replace the unsuccessful [[Atari 5200]] and re-establish Atari's market supremacy against [[Nintendo]] and [[Sega]]. With this system, Atari addressed all the shortcomings of the Atari 5200: it had simple digital [[joystick]]s; it was almost fully backward-compatible with the [[Atari 2600]]; and it was affordable (originally priced at [[United States dollar|US$140]]).

==Summary==
The 7800 was the first game system from Atari designed by an outside company ([[General Computer Corporation]]; future consoles designed outside the company included the [[Lynx (console)|Atari Lynx]] and the [[Atari Jaguar]]). The system was designed to be upgraded to a full-fledged home computer — a [[computer keyboard|keyboard]] was developed, and the keyboard had an expansion port (which was the SIO port from [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari's 8-bit computer line]]) for the addition of peripherals such as [[Disk storage|disk drives]] and [[computer printer|printer]]s (this should not be taken to imply that this computer expansion would have allowed the 7800 to run programs designed for Atari's computers, as the two architectures were entirely different). GCC had also designed a 'high score cartridge,' a [[Battery (electricity)|battery]]-backed [[Random Access Memory|RAM]] cart designed for storing game scores. Atari manufactured none of these accessories, and after the initial production run they also eliminated the expansion port (allegedly for connection to a [[Laserdisc video game|LaserDisc]] player). In 1987, the [[Atari 8-bit family#Tramiel era: XE series and XEGS|Atari XEGS]] was released and came with a [[light gun]], called the [[XG-1]]. The XG-1 was fully compatible with the 7800 and the 2600. Atari released four games on the 7800 that utilized this peripheral.

The 7800 was test-marketed in [[southern California]] in June 1984. One month later, [[Time Warner|Warner Communications]] sold Atari to [[Jack Tramiel]], who did not want to release a new video game console under his newly formed Atari Corporation. He pulled the plug on all projects related to video games and decided to focus on Atari's existing computer line in order to begin development of the new 16-bit computer line (which appeared as the [[Atari ST]]). The 7800 was re-introduced at the end of 1986 after the success of the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] proved that the [[video game]] market was still viable. Unfortunately, by the time the 7800 made it to market, the NES had 90% of the American market cornered and the rival [[Sega Master System]] had most of what was left.

The 7800's technical superiority is still debated today. According to a 2003 interview with Leonard Tramiel, the Atari 7800 was essentially "a 2600 with some things put into hardware that were done in software on the 2600". [http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/tramiel/] Although this view is held by many, the truth is the 7800 shares little architecturally with the 2600.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} (In fact, Tramiel's statement is more applicable to the [[Atari 5200]], where the [[ANTIC]] drives the [[GTIA]] to produce graphics like a 2600 game's kernel drives the 2600 [[Television Interface Adapter|TIA]].) Compatibility with the [[Atari 2600]] is enabled by including the same chips used in the [[Atari 2600]]. When in 7800 mode, the 2600 chips are used for sound (a cost cutting measure) and the switch and controller interfaces; 7800 graphics are completely generated by the MARIA GPU. The designers allowed games (notably ports from the [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 400/800]] computer line) to include a [[Atari POKEY|POKEY]] audio chip in the cartridge. Only two originally released games, [[Ballblazer]] and [[Commando (video game)|Commando]], used the POKEY chip.

The MARIA GPU is very different from other second and third generation consoles, which made it more difficult for game programmers to make the transition. Instead of a limited number of hardware sprites, the MARIA allows for a much larger number of sprites described in a list of display lists. Each display list contains sprite entries with pointers to graphics data, color information, and horizontal positioning. The same display list is used for multiple rasters with the pointers being automatically adjusted. However, managing and displaying a large number of sprites required much more CPU time (both directly and indirectly since the MARIA would halt the CPU when drawing sprites) than consoles with hardware sprites and backgrounds.

The NTSC 7800 BIOS included code which would generate a digital signature of the cartridge ROM and compare it to the signature stored on the cartridge. This had two benefits. First, it would allow the 7800 to determine whether the cartridge was for the 7800 or the 2600 so the console could be locked into the correct mode. Second, it meant all 7800 games had to be digitally signed by Atari, preventing developers from creating unauthorized games. This digital signature code is not present in PAL 7800s, which use various heuristics to detect 2600 cartridges, due to export restrictions. However, the digital signature long prevented [[Homebrew (video games)|homebrew games]] from being developed until the original encryption generating software was discovered.

==Production run and discontinuation==
The 7800 faced the severe software drought that would plague all the [[Atari]] consoles sold after the [[video game crash of 1983|video game crash]]. Relatively few titles were released by Atari, many of them unpolished and lacking in features, or even games that were already released for previous Atari systems. And there was virtually no effort by Atari to recruit [[video game developer|third party developers]], aside from a few titles from [[Absolute Entertainment|Absolute]], [[Activision]], and Froggo. In addition, many third party developers were locked into exclusive contracts with Nintendo that specifically forbade development on other consoles. Many of the same practices that gave Atari a huge market share pre-crash came back to haunt them during Atari's late attempt to re-enter the console market with the 7800. These problems caused the 7800 to place a distant third in the market of the time, behind the [[Sega Master System]] and [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]. On [[January 1]], [[1992 in video gaming|1992]], Atari formally announced abandonment of the Atari 7800, in addition to the Atari 2600 and the [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit]] computer line, and [[Atari 8-bit family#Tramiel era: XE series and XEGS|Atari XE Game System]].

==Technical specifications==
* CPU: Custom [[MOS Technology 6502|6502C]]
** Speed: 1.79 MHz, drops to 1.19 MHz when the TIA or RIOT chips are accessed
** (note: This is Atari's custom 6502 known as ''SALLY'' which can be halted to allow other devices to control the bus)
* RAM: 4 KB (2 6116 2Kx8 RAM ICs)
* ROM: built in 4 KB BIOS ROM, 48 KB Cartridge ROM space without bankswitching
* Graphics: MARIA custom graphics controller
** 160x240 (160x288 [[PAL Region|PAL]]) resolution or 320x240/288 resolution
** 25 color palette out of 256 colors (16 hues * 16 luma), different graphics modes restricted the number of usable colors and the number of colors per sprite
** Direct Memory Access (DMA)
** Graphics clock: 7.16 MHz
* I/O: Joystick and console switch IO handled byte 6532 RIOT and TIA
* Ports: 2 joystick ports, 1 cartridge port, 1 expansion connector, power in, RF output
* Sound: TIA video and sound chip, same as the 2600. Only the sound is used in 7800 games. Both video and sound are used in 2600 games.
** Optional [[Atari POKEY|POKEY]] sound chip on cartridge for improved sounds.

==System revisions==
Prototypes:
*Atari 3600 - original model number
*Atari CX-9000 Video Computer System

Production:
*Atari CX7800 - Two joystick ports on lower front panel. Side expansion port for upgrades and add-ons. Bundled accessories included two CX24 Pro-Line joysticks, AC adapter, switchbox, RCA connecting cable, and [[Pole Position II]] cartridge.
*Atari CX7800 - Second revision. Slightly revised motherboard, added an additional timing circuit. Expansion port connector removed from motherboard but is still etched. Shell has indentation of where expansion port was to be.
*Atari CX7800 - Third revision. Same as above but with only a small blemish on the shell where the expansion port was.

==See also==
* [[List of Atari 7800 games]]
* [[List of Atari 2600 games]]

==External links==
{{no footnotes|date=December 2007}}
*[http://www.atari7800.com Atari7800.com Institute For Advanced Atari Gaming Studies - Atari History Library & Web Resource]
*[http://www.atarihq.com/danb/a7800.shtml Dan B's Atari 7800 Tech Page] Tech resource on 7800
*[http://atariage.com AtariAge &ndash; Comprehensive Atari 7800 Rarity Guide and information]
*[http://www.atariage.com/7800/faq/?SystemID=7800 Atari 7800 FAQ]
*[http://www.atari7800.org/ The Atari 7800 Page]
*[http://www.flipsiderunner.com/7800 Cousin Vinnie's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo]
*[http://www.thedoteaters.com/p3_stage5.php The Dot Eaters entry] featuring the 7800 and its games
*[http://www.freelists.org/list/atari7800 Atari 7800 Programming mailing list] and [http://www.freelists.org/webpage/atari7800 links to programming information]
*[http://atari7800.xwiki.org Atari Programming Wiki]
*[http://www.ataritimes.com/system.php?System=7800 The Atari Times 7800 Area] Game reviews & features
* [http://www.hardwarebook.info/7800 HwB] - technical info and pinouts
*[http://209.94.123.106/leg/portfolio-7800.htm Legacy Engineering Group] - Information on the (Unreleased) Remake of the 7800

{{Atari hardware}}
{{dedicated video game consoles}}

[[Category:Atari consoles|7800]]
[[Category:Third-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:Backward compatible video game consoles]]
[[Category:1984 introductions]]
[[Category:1986 introductions]]

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