Although Atari was marketing it as such... The Atari XE was not a crappier version of the NES. It was a full featured computer, more a competitor to the Commodore 64. You could learn to program. You could write a school essay and print it.
So with that in mind... yes a keyboard is a little more helpful than a robot that even NES fans agree was a gimmick.
Ok so Atari has some weird rip offs, a keyboard, and an unknown flying game. Yeah that so beats ROB the Robot, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and the Zapper
@Beltzer0072 ROB sucked. I put his slow, noisy ass back in the box and used both controllers simultaneously. The games for NES were undoubtedly better.
@suzuke352 I don't know if C64 did it but I got a RF adapter for my old Apple II to play on a regular television. A lot cheaper than buying a monitor. It wasn't hard to do. Do some research and that might be your answer.
@slugnbozo The C64, as well as the brilliant Atari 2600.....and just about every game console.... had internal RF modulators. That has nothing to do with 8 bit or 16 bit or whatever. The Apple II series didn't offer a modulator to play on a television and needed a RF adapter/module to play on a regular tv. Don't want to sound like a jerk, just letting ya know. :-)
@DickLodge68 I stand by what I wrote. I realise it has nothing to do with the 8-bit architecture of the CPU, never the less 8-bit computers of the era shared a lot of common features such as TV connectivity and BASIC in ROM. I also accept that the Apple II required an adapter, but most of the others (e.g. C64, TI994/A, Spectrum, VIC20, Amstrad CPC, BBC, TRS-80, Atari XL/XE) could plug straight into a TV set though an RF modulator included in the box.
@slugnbozo Agreed! Haha, I wish I still had my old stuff...it was great to enjoy seeing the development of computers and consoles....the game development through the ages now! Have fun!
@DickLodge68 Tell me about it! Something else computers of that era all included in ROM.... a touch of magic ;-) I have a working Apple IIc, TI994/A and Atari XEGS all packed away under the house. I can't bare to part with them, even though they're just taking up space.
@slugnbozo Well, the sad thing is that you have a great deal of computer history there and it's virtually worthless! Oh don't get rid of them...bust 'em out now and then and have some fun! The very first computer game I played was in about first grade so 1973/74? It was a field trip to the Lawrence Livermore Lab. Huge "mainframes" in a room full of typewriters! I chose football. Just a text game like Zork but everything printed out on the typewriters! Gone a long way, baby!
This is one of those systems I remember seeing advertised at the time, but knew absolutely no one who actually owned or had even played it. You either had a Nintendo in 1987 or you were basically a loser.
@Tamanozke - Yes...back when 3-D graphics first started being used on computers, a few fps didn't matter because the 3-D was the WOW factor. You usually only saw it in simulation-type titles, though, not 'action' games until the 16-bit systems could do a better 10-15fps. Now, of course, anything under 30fps is considered crap.
@Tamanozke No, it wasnt. Even river Raid for the VCS (2600) had a higher framerate. 3D nothing. Play RAD RACER or something in better 3d like 3D WORLD RUNNER. MUCH BETTER.
@janmansde3dede Actually, i never called river raid a flight sim, and if u push SELECT in rad racer or 3d world runner while wearing 3d glasses, you can see 3d effects.
@wyatt8740 Yeah, but that isn't 3D in the sense that it uses polygons like FS2 here and you didn't said that river raid was a flight sim but you compared it to one.
@slugnbozo ok, im not saying that. I NEVER said rad racer had a map. Im saying framerate was terrible and e whole system sucked. MY OPINION DOES NOT MATTER. IM NOT TRYING 2 TROLL
@wyatt8740 I'm not sure what you're trying to say then. I doubt any 8 bit computer or console could have had a better frame rate on a full flight simulation. I'm happy to be corrected that there was a better flight simulation out there if you know of one.
@Tamanozke Actually yes it was ok. I accepted it was a simulation. My Dad really enjoyed it, though it wasn't fast enough for me. I wanted arcade action.
@Tamanozke I played Flight Sim II on my Commodore 64 back in 1985 and the frame rate was comparable. Thing is, it was a flight sim not an cockpit view arcade game so the puny 8-bit cpu was overtaxed with calculations (landscape, weather, plane controls, etc) and hence the game was so slowwww (though you didn't realize it back then and were simply amazed at the concept of a flight sim). You guys today are honestly so jaded and spoiled. A lot of guys shit their pants over FS2 back then
@weegeeDS I find the commercial generally amusing but in this case I agree that the keyboard did more than the robot did. ROB was pretty pointless for doing anything except get the NES sold in stores as something other than a 'video game'.
@weegeeDS The Nintendo robot (ROB) sucked. It was loud, slow, and if it wasn't directed at the screen just right, it would crap out and screw up your game. The graphics, however, were better than on the XE.
This is the nintendo video game system, it only plays really nice and addicting cartridge games. This is the new Atari XE System, It play hundereds of crap broken games that cost £50 each! What a deal =D
The Atari XE costs £700 while crappy nintendo gives you a good system at a 7th of the price!
Nintendo has a toy robot? Well Atari XE comes with a huge clunky broken down keyboard.
Well yes a keyboard is better then Robb cause Robb Sucks. Watch AVGN!!!! With a keyboard and basic you can code your own video games. Lol
DwightKSchrute3 2 months ago
Although Atari was marketing it as such... The Atari XE was not a crappier version of the NES. It was a full featured computer, more a competitor to the Commodore 64. You could learn to program. You could write a school essay and print it.
So with that in mind... yes a keyboard is a little more helpful than a robot that even NES fans agree was a gimmick.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
Ok so Atari has some weird rip offs, a keyboard, and an unknown flying game. Yeah that so beats ROB the Robot, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and the Zapper
Beltzer0072 4 months ago
@Beltzer0072 ROB sucked. I put his slow, noisy ass back in the box and used both controllers simultaneously. The games for NES were undoubtedly better.
MyTeamsBettah 3 months ago
@MyTeamsBettah Well it was still cool back then to have a robot with a game console and he makes a useful holder for your beer during gaming sessions
Beltzer0072 3 months ago
ok a keyboard is NOT BETTER than a ROBOT
R.O.B. wins
ZeldaMario24 4 months ago
@ZeldaMario24 If you think that, you never owned R.O.B. - It was slow and loud. I had both. NES just had better games.
MyTeamsBettah 3 months ago
wow flight simulator runs at 1FPS! awesome! better than nintendo games!
hurr1c4n3k33k 6 months ago
does anybody know where to get a commodore 64 monitor? besides ebay
suzuke352 7 months ago
@suzuke352 I don't know if C64 did it but I got a RF adapter for my old Apple II to play on a regular television. A lot cheaper than buying a monitor. It wasn't hard to do. Do some research and that might be your answer.
DickLodge68 5 months ago
@DickLodge68 thank you for trying to help
suzuke352 5 months ago
@DickLodge68 Yes C64, as with just about all 8 bit computers, could be (and usually were) plugged into regular TVs.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@slugnbozo The C64, as well as the brilliant Atari 2600.....and just about every game console.... had internal RF modulators. That has nothing to do with 8 bit or 16 bit or whatever. The Apple II series didn't offer a modulator to play on a television and needed a RF adapter/module to play on a regular tv. Don't want to sound like a jerk, just letting ya know. :-)
DickLodge68 3 months ago
@DickLodge68 I stand by what I wrote. I realise it has nothing to do with the 8-bit architecture of the CPU, never the less 8-bit computers of the era shared a lot of common features such as TV connectivity and BASIC in ROM. I also accept that the Apple II required an adapter, but most of the others (e.g. C64, TI994/A, Spectrum, VIC20, Amstrad CPC, BBC, TRS-80, Atari XL/XE) could plug straight into a TV set though an RF modulator included in the box.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@slugnbozo Agreed! Haha, I wish I still had my old stuff...it was great to enjoy seeing the development of computers and consoles....the game development through the ages now! Have fun!
DickLodge68 3 months ago
@DickLodge68 Tell me about it! Something else computers of that era all included in ROM.... a touch of magic ;-) I have a working Apple IIc, TI994/A and Atari XEGS all packed away under the house. I can't bare to part with them, even though they're just taking up space.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@slugnbozo Well, the sad thing is that you have a great deal of computer history there and it's virtually worthless! Oh don't get rid of them...bust 'em out now and then and have some fun! The very first computer game I played was in about first grade so 1973/74? It was a field trip to the Lawrence Livermore Lab. Huge "mainframes" in a room full of typewriters! I chose football. Just a text game like Zork but everything printed out on the typewriters! Gone a long way, baby!
DickLodge68 3 months ago
Mmm the good old days =)
kaiBiggins 8 months ago
i love it how video game manufacturers tried to dust each other back then :D
naaaaaagz 8 months ago
This is one of those systems I remember seeing advertised at the time, but knew absolutely no one who actually owned or had even played it. You either had a Nintendo in 1987 or you were basically a loser.
wibassplayer 10 months ago
Okay. Anyone who grew up around this time, I want to ask you something.
Was the framerate in Flight Simulator 2 really acceptable at the time?
Tamanozke 10 months ago 6
@Tamanozke - Yes...back when 3-D graphics first started being used on computers, a few fps didn't matter because the 3-D was the WOW factor. You usually only saw it in simulation-type titles, though, not 'action' games until the 16-bit systems could do a better 10-15fps. Now, of course, anything under 30fps is considered crap.
xnonsuchx 9 months ago
@Tamanozke No, it wasnt. Even river Raid for the VCS (2600) had a higher framerate. 3D nothing. Play RAD RACER or something in better 3d like 3D WORLD RUNNER. MUCH BETTER.
wyatt8740 9 months ago
@wyatt8740 theres the problem, river raid isn't a flight simulator and Rad racer and 3D world aren't 3D games
OH AND I BELIEVE YOU LEFT YOUR CAPS ON.
janmansde3dede 6 months ago
@janmansde3dede Actually, i never called river raid a flight sim, and if u push SELECT in rad racer or 3d world runner while wearing 3d glasses, you can see 3d effects.
wyatt8740 6 months ago
@wyatt8740 Yeah, but that isn't 3D in the sense that it uses polygons like FS2 here and you didn't said that river raid was a flight sim but you compared it to one.
janmansde3dede 6 months ago
@wyatt8740 Flight Simulator featured a free roaming 3D map of the whole USA mainland. Rad Racer had that too?
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@slugnbozo ok, im not saying that. I NEVER said rad racer had a map. Im saying framerate was terrible and e whole system sucked. MY OPINION DOES NOT MATTER. IM NOT TRYING 2 TROLL
wyatt8740 3 months ago
@wyatt8740 I'm not sure what you're trying to say then. I doubt any 8 bit computer or console could have had a better frame rate on a full flight simulation. I'm happy to be corrected that there was a better flight simulation out there if you know of one.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@Tamanozke For the time it was very impressive, next generation machines such as the high end Amiga 500 could achieve 10-15 FPS.
janmansde3dede 6 months ago
@Tamanozke Actually yes it was ok. I accepted it was a simulation. My Dad really enjoyed it, though it wasn't fast enough for me. I wanted arcade action.
slugnbozo 3 months ago
@Tamanozke I played Flight Sim II on my Commodore 64 back in 1985 and the frame rate was comparable. Thing is, it was a flight sim not an cockpit view arcade game so the puny 8-bit cpu was overtaxed with calculations (landscape, weather, plane controls, etc) and hence the game was so slowwww (though you didn't realize it back then and were simply amazed at the concept of a flight sim). You guys today are honestly so jaded and spoiled. A lot of guys shit their pants over FS2 back then
7megahertz 3 months ago
This is Nintendo game system. It save the video game system from the crash '82.
This is Atari XE. A desperate attempt to recoup after their company cause the crash in the first place.
acholl980 11 months ago
@acholl980 The crash wasn't in 1982.
DracIsBack 11 months ago
so wait.... a keyboard is better than a robot?
weegeeDS 11 months ago 8
@weegeeDS I find the commercial generally amusing but in this case I agree that the keyboard did more than the robot did. ROB was pretty pointless for doing anything except get the NES sold in stores as something other than a 'video game'.
DracIsBack 11 months ago
@weegeeDS --- AH, YEA. YOU DIDN'T KNOW?
WKRPinCINN 8 months ago
@weegeeDS Technically yes. With a keyboard one is able to make their own programs. :)
lutzdify 6 months ago
@weegeeDS The Nintendo robot (ROB) sucked. It was loud, slow, and if it wasn't directed at the screen just right, it would crap out and screw up your game. The graphics, however, were better than on the XE.
MyTeamsBettah 3 months ago
How can you even compare the XE to the NES. Nintendo still here, Atari, not so much.
gabbogabbo 1 year ago
This is the nintendo video game system, it only plays really nice and addicting cartridge games. This is the new Atari XE System, It play hundereds of crap broken games that cost £50 each! What a deal =D
The Atari XE costs £700 while crappy nintendo gives you a good system at a 7th of the price!
Nintendo has a toy robot? Well Atari XE comes with a huge clunky broken down keyboard.
nottinylil 1 year ago
The only downfall was the joystick. No one wants to use those when you have decent controllers on the NES.
justin76pa 1 year ago
the nes was sooo much better
51rickjames 1 year ago