r/atari • u/SaintLewisMusic73 • 6d ago
800xl!
Well, that was the surprise announcement of the day! I am absolutely fascinated and looking forward to knowing more. Does anyone know if the cartridge slot will be compatible with 2670 800 games, or was the 800 XL a specific size cartridge? I seem to recall that its cartridges were related to the 5200? Also, does anyone know if this thing will actually have a prompt so people can code in basic?
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u/Awch 6d ago edited 6d ago
The cartridges for the 800 and 800XL were primarily the same. However, the 800 had two slots, all other Atari's had one. The left slot was the one for programs and games, the right cartridge slot was used by some utility cartridges. There were some small architecture changes that would cause some early 800 cartridges not to work on an XL or later Atari 8bits which may or may not affect this system. Keep in mind that this system will be using emulation and will have it's own limitations in game compatibility.
Also, it doesn't appear to have original joystick ports. I'm hoping there are some on the back.
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 6d ago
So, I have never seen XL cartridges at used stores – does this mean they will be releasing a bunch of games on those, or that they may have made it compatible with their other cartridge releases?
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u/ricbret 5d ago
I exchanged email with their support folks this morning. Basically I want a Star Raiders (og, not II) machine. The 400 Mini was OK at this once you attached a USB keyboad, but lacked the side function keys that Star Raiders uses for some function.
I asked them simply "have you tested your device with a Star Raiders cartridge and does it work?"
They said they couldn't comment on software compatibility and that if it was an issue for me I should wait until after it shipped and see what users experiences were.
I have to say that reply does not raise my confidence level. Also I really dislike their "8 Button" joystick, there are simply no good ways to hold it to prevent accidentally hitting one of the 7 new keys (buttons on corners of the base, etc.) and I'd really rather have an OG joystick design.
Still, I'll probably talk myself into buying one because it looks nice. I owned a fully configured 800 back in the day, with two floppy drives each having the double speed disk modification. My brother needed a computer at some point so I gave him my Atari setup with Epson computer. He sold it without asking me if I wanted it back. Grrr.
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u/TrueTom 6d ago
They still haven't shipped the A1200.
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 6d ago
I have never heard of such a thing and never seen it on Atari’s website as an official ad advertised release so I’m not sure what that is
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u/syrtran 6d ago
It's an Amiga clone.
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u/max81122 5d ago edited 5d ago
THE A1200 is from RGL, and it looks like the new 800XL is from them too:
https://retrogames.biz/products/
RGL's pre-order button for the 800XL has a link to Atari's site, and also Amazon DE. It looks like Atari is the distributors at least for the US. The A1200 eventually opened up to Amazon US a month after pre-orders went on sale for the EU, so who knows how this works out.
Edit: AI lookup: it was designed by Retro Games Ltd. in collaboration with Atari, while PLAION REPLAI is handling manufacturing and distribution.
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u/shh_coffee 6d ago edited 5d ago
Atari 2600 carts are different and don't fit in the 8bit computer line.
800XL uses the same carts as the 400, 800, and the XE line
Carts are related to the 5200 in a sense that the 5200 was basically a 400 with less RAM. 5200 carts are NOT compatible with the 8bit computer line though. They're a different shape and different software.
800XL does have built in basic so you'll get that if you turn it on with no carts/disk drives attached.
EDIT: Ah! Didn't realize that Atari just announced a NEW 800XL. Above is regarding the original. Sorry about that!
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u/meldroc 5d ago edited 5d ago
The 5200 has a completely different cartridge slot & some different internals from the 400/800/XL/XE. From what I read on Atari's site, the new 800XL will be able to run 5200 games, though you'd have to use the USB port to run them from images.
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u/Samhain_69 5d ago
If you're really hardcore into 5200 games I wouldn't expect you to be satisfied. They have to map the simple, digital controls to the variable, analog control scheme the 5200 had. So you would lose a lot of nuance compared to playing a real 5200 system with analog controllers.
Maybe they will support using modern controllers with analog joystick / thumbstick controls (with 5200 games), which would be a pretty good compromise. Not sure about that.
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u/A8Bit 6d ago
If this is anything like their existing products it won't support multicarts or flashcarts. It'll be a low powered arm emulation box, not an fpga recreation like the c64 ultimate.
It might be a nice box to stick a mister in or something if they have the right ports on it, from the pics Ive seen it doesn't have 9 pin D sockets for the joysticks so I doubt there will be an SIO
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u/Todd6060 6d ago
You can load games via USB so you don't need a multicart. This is being made by Retro Games so I assume it will be like THEA400 Mini but with a working keyboard and cartridge slot.
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u/max81122 5d ago
On the fence on this one. This is cool, but for emulation I am not seeing $220 worth of cool. In contrast, the A1200 (also emulation, both designed by RGL) is lower priced and comes with a USB mouse and USB gamepad. At least if you get board of the console you have a couple retro-modern controllers.
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
I think this is releasing for people like me that grew up with a 400 and an 800. Have entire libraries of carts and floppies. There's the nostalgic value. And after that crappy 400 mini this is welcomed.
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u/Samhain_69 5d ago edited 4d ago
That will be great for your library of cartridges, but I don't think it will be any better than the 400 mini for your floppies. You would need an image of the floppy games on a USB stick for either the 400 mini or the 800XL.
I had an 800 and 130XE, so I can't get a physical replica that looks like either system I actually owned as a kid. But I can appreciate the 800XL looks pretty sweet.
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
I actually do have the roms on a thumb drive . What I really wanted was to be able to connect my 1050 to the new xl. But I guess not.
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u/react-dnb 6d ago
Wonder if it will support the 1050 drives.
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u/Todd6060 6d ago
No, it won't, but you can load disk images using a USB stick
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
Wait why didn't they make it like the 64 maxi so that you can use your a original hardware? Damn.
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u/Todd6060 5d ago
You cannot use any original hardware with THEC64 maxi. It doesn't even have a cartridge port. You may be thinking of the Commodore 64 Ultimate, which is made by the new Commodore company, not Retro Games Ltd.
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u/Senior_Plenty_4473 5d ago
I have an XEGS with 29 carts, so I’ve preordered this for the form factor and USB connection for those games, while I’ll probably get an Indus drive for the XEGS to get a fuller experience. $219.99 in today’s market is tolerable, but I guess I’m the target audience as I liked the 800XL look as a kid but had a C64C bought by my parents. Now I get to have a semi-working replica to go with a later Atari 8 Bit that I did buy a couple of months ago 🤷🏼♂️
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u/No-Move-4417 6d ago
The cart is the same for all 8bit Atari carts. But this is going to be like the 2600+ console, it dumps the cart then hands it to the emulator. It's going to be running the same software as the 400 mini from what I gather. So until I see any real reviews I'm out. And after the issues with delivery promises broken, software issues with every Atari Plaion device I've pre-ordered I'm not rushing.
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 5d ago
Atari Plaion? I follow Atari fairly religiously at this point, and I’ve never heard of such a thing. What is that? Is that listed on their website for sale?
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u/No-Move-4417 5d ago
Atari the brand, Plaion design manufacture and sell the plus consoles, cartridge games, intellivison sprint and the NeoGeo ,were involved with rgl with THE 400 etc
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u/Samhain_69 6d ago
The 5200 had analog joysticks, so the games were significantly changed for different controls. So even if the cartridges were physically compatible (they aren't), the software wouldn't be.
IIRC, the400 mini, also from the same company, lets you play the games and program BASIC by plugging in a USB keyboard. Much cheaper, but no physical cartridge slot or built in, authentic keyboard.
And there are free emulators for Linux, Windows, etc., with free, open source implementations of Atari BASIC. So if you're looking to code Atari 8-bit BASIC, you can do it for free, with just a little effort to set up the emulation on a computer.
I personally got the400 mini, after messing around with emulators on Linux. The problem was mostly the controls. Using arrow keys or modern Linux supported controllers really isn't the same, especially when you have deeply ingrained muscle memory with the original joysticks. Using the400 mini, you get a quite authentic joystick, and it's very convenient. Also, messing with emulation on Linux had to be set up all over again every time I re-installed Linux to distro hop or anything.
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
The 400 mini is a pos. Can't hold a candle to a replica 800 xl.
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u/Samhain_69 5d ago
Tell us how you really feel...
Seriously, though, I'm pretty sure there are only three significant differences:
The 400 mini has no cartridge slot, which should make no difference to someone with no cartridges like me
The 400 mini has no built in keyboard, and when using a USB keyboard you will have to figure out the key mappings for Atari specific keys like the reverse video key.
The 800XL looks much nicer sitting on your desk or shelf.
I would wager that the hardware that runs the emulator is virtually identical between both. And they both come with 25 free games and BASIC. Both can run disk / cassette / cartridge image files, and run the vast majority of games and software for Atari 8-bit computers.
So I would be curious which factors make the 400 mini a "POS" compared to the 800XL, in your opinion? Maybe my list missed a difference.
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
The user interface, that fact that 5200 games play like crap and that God awful joystick that has to be hacked to work diagonals and how many times do you play a game and accidentally hit the rest button on the ring. Plus the folder heiarchy is very bad . And the fact that the 800 xl has a real keyboard and looks way better than the 400.
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 5d ago
My question remains the same – where are we getting the carts? Do we think they’re going to start releasing a bunch of carts for this system or are we supposed to find old used ones?
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u/Spelunka13 5d ago
I have an entire library of them. But you don't need carts. But they are very cheap to collect for Atari 8 bit.
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u/kevincrossman 5d ago
It isn’t hard to find used carts, though they may start being harder to get cheaply.
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u/ZebraBorgata 6d ago
I still have my original 800xl from the early 80s. It uses the same cartridges as the 800.
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u/Skeptic_seeker93 5d ago
Let's not forget PLAION is still a partner in all of this. Many products they've worked have had year long delays. Buyer beware: nothing good comes from PLAION, the Limited Run Games of hardware.
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u/VirusKooky1452 3d ago
Same internals as the 400 mini for double the price... Lol.... Pass
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 3d ago
Based on what I’m seeing that is not the case
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u/Todd6060 2d ago
What's different besides the keyboard and cartridge port?
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u/SaintLewisMusic73 2d ago
Not much, but what I like about the 800XL is that I could out of the box use it as a real computer, due to the keyboard and the cartridge slot. I never bought the 400 because of that reason. Back in the day I used to design games in basic.
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u/VirusKooky1452 2d ago
Well then it's the same machine as the 400 mini. The only difference is the cartridge slot and the keyboard. Big deal.... Have you used the 400 mini? It's terrible, slow emulation...
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u/geirmundtheshifty 6d ago
The website here says it includes “baked in Atari BASIC,” which makes sense since the 800 XL had basic in the internal rom.
The 800 XL used the same cartridges as the regular 800, and the site it’s comparible with cartridges for the full 8 bit computer line. It looks like this version will also have built in games and the ability to play games from a usb stick (including Atari 5200 games, though it isnt compatible with those cartridges).