Atari

The Atari Video Computer System. The 2600. "Want to come over and play Atari after school?" The King Of Consoles. In my opinion, without the Atari 2600 proving video gaming as a commercially viable enterprise, the video games we enjoy today would not exist in their current form. In 1977 they released the Atari Video Computer System, assembled in Sunnyvale California, at Atari headquarters. The system was designed to play the Tennis game, the Breakout game and the Tank game. Thanks to the open ended architecture in it's design, creative and gifted programmers were able to coax game play and graphics from the system, far beyond what the original designers had ever envisioned. With wild success, and the pioneering of a fledgling industry, the Atari suffered from a rush of 'Me Too' games and crappy movie licenses over the course of it's lifespan. This rush also led to the creation of third party developers, most notably ActiVision, which is successful to this day. The vast selection and collectability of games for this system, and the active and vibrant homebrew scene make this a console that is a pleasure to own. No classic game collection, or classic gaming session is complete, without a few classic Atari 2600 games. "Have You Played Atari Today?"

Then from Atari came the Atari 5200 - a system of many firsts. It was the first follow up Atari released after it's industry establishing console, the Atari 2600. It was the first system to sport full analog joystick response, much like today's SONY DUALSHOCK controllers. It was the first system to sport dedicated Pause, Reset, and Start buttons right on the controller! It's trackball games were actually coded to take advantage of the arcade like analog swiftness only a track ball can provide. The Atari 5200 was literally huge, with size and weight only recently challenged by Microsoft's Xbox. This big, sleek machine has my favourite version of Qix, and a great version of Centipede, that the analog track ball makes arcade perfect. It's too bad the 5200 never really captured the hearts and minds of gamers when it was released, still overshadowed by it's wildly successful older brother, the 2600. Those ground breaking controllers, were also very prone to simply *breaking*. Fortunately, they can be permanently upgraded. This is a collector's system if ever there was one, and it's not without it's charm. Get a track ball, and some professionally refurbished original controllers, and enjoy some great games. Berzerk is awesome on this system, complete with voice samples! "Intruder Alert!! Intruder Alert!!"

Then there was the Atari 7800 - it was the Playstation 2 of it's day. Well... except it wasn't very successful. What *does* it have in common with the PS2? Backwards compatibility! The Atari 7800 could play it's own "Super" games AND it could play virtually all titles made for the uber successful Atari 2600! It can use 2600 controllers, many peripherals, and play the games as well. Alas, back in 1986, backwards compatibility with the seemingly ancient, pre-crash Atari 2600, was not enough to give it a boost in the popularity department. It had some good games of it's own, mainly superior ports of old arcade games, like Joust, Centipede, and Ms. Pac Man. However, it was too little too late for Atari, and both the SEGA Master System, and the Nintendo Entertainment System swamped it out of the market and into the discount bins. Collecting for this system has it's positives, as many games are available cheap, and many still new in box!  (whoah!) It also has the benefit that one need not have an Atari 2600 hooked up as well to be able to play Atari 2600 games. So what if Impossible Mission for the system really *is* impossible?

OSG can repair Atari's suffering from many different failures, including cartridge recognition failure, power on/ toggle switch issues, controller response issues and more.  Estimates are free and no obligation. Repairs are always much more reliable than replacing with another used condition console. If the estimate is approved, and repairs are performed, repairs come with a 90 day warranty. We are so confident in the quality of the Atari repair work OSG can perform, that we're willing to give a warranty that is second to none. All Atari systems repaired by OSG receive a full diagnostic test, and a full detail cleaning, inside and out. 

We can also perform repairs on Atari brand 5200 controllers. We can often acquire replacement AC adapters, RF cables, F-Plugs and more. 

OSG does not offer free evaluation service for Atari 2600 Jr.'s, Atari Lynx and Atari Jaguar. See our "orphaned systems" tab for more information.

OSG can bring it's experience having serviced many Atari's and thousands of other repaired game consoles to your game console. OSG tracks all systems in a sophisticated database, that gives us a framework for tracking reliability and repair history that is second to none. E-mail us for more information or drop off your console at one of our Depots. See the Depots link above for locations.

DISCLAIMER:

OSG DOES NOT and WILL NOT support or enable piracy in any shape or fashion. OSG supports the ability to improve one's hardware, to enhance reliability, and functionality for the end user. Any enquiries regarding illegal copyright infringement, will be ignored, and possibly reported to the authorities. Backing up games you own is fine. Copyright infringement is illegal and will not be supported. OSG does not offer support on how to generate copies of game discs, so do not ask.