1988 Atari XE Commercial

[MrMinemonBound]

Great graphics? GREAT GRAPHICS?! Even Mario is better than all this!

[waverider01]

And none of those companies are no longer around.

[DjStiv3]

@waverider01 lol comment is funny

[whanethewhip]

Those guys are NOT gamers.

[MissWii85]

Flight Simulator was SO boring!

[MOOKYJONES]

i miss my atari xe.mr robot, montezoma, splunker, pitfall 2, gemstone warrior, jump man, mercenary, ultima 1-4, whislers brother, alley cat, great amer. road race, alternate reality, conan, goonies, star quake, archon 1 & 2, , M.U.L.E, castle wolfenstein, super huey, gyrus, joust, so many nerd adventures to remember. those were the days muthafalka

[99GoldenGamer99]

YEAH GREAT GRAPHIC (not)

[superdonald333]

Is the XE a computer or just a game system?

[IfritEngen]

You know when Atari rox when whole family play Atari games <3. The times of old computers and consoles. Thanks for the vid!

[lutzdify]

Will cartridges for the 800xl work on the xe?

[KubaPSP]

@lutzdify Yes, not sure if all XEGS carts will work on normal 800xl, but probably yes :)

[MattTheSaiyan]

XEGS wasn't a bad system in terms of the games. But it was stupid, since Atari already had a system, the lovely 7800, that desperately needed more attention, funding and marketing. Releasing this did not help matters at all.

[HypnoToad72]

The name "subLogic" alone brings back nice memories of Flight Simulator... the Amiga did a far better job with flight simulation too...

[uriituw]

"Flight Simulator needs computer power. Only the XE has it."

I doubt that. The Amiga and the Mac probably had better performance.

[LSpear76RCN]

I want to buy an XE system. It looks cool. The games are limited of course, but I'd still like to play some Hardball.

[OlSkoolGamer87]

Its a creepy old guy who got me to play NES and then well I don't talk about that day anymore.

[BlacklockTV]

Atari is like mordor, it'll come back and corrupt some white wizards up in here

[TheInformalstyle]

This Atari 8-bit technology (POKEY, GTIA etc) was already 10 years old in 1988.... Atari management was clueless, re-releasing the Atari 800XL with no keyboard to complete with the Sega Master System and NES... doomed to fail.

[EmeraldWarrior420]

Wow! I actually remember this commercial. Once I saw it it all came back. I was 5 years old in '88.

[ovinophile]

My dad got me one of these when they went on clearance (probably not long after its release). It was actually pretty awesome - it had some lightgun games and you could program in BASIC on it using the keyboard. I would actually credit it with sparking my interest (and eventual career) in programming. Thanks Atari!

[CBETelevisionNetwork]

.... Collectable over here in the uk.

[CBETelevisionNetwork]

@thorgallpl Ermmm...no it wasnt. I do not know if your british, but if you are you should understand. If your american, think what the C64 did for america, the spectrum did that for us over here. And yes, i know the graphics and sound are shit, but it has TWICE the programs as the C64 (10,000 for the C64, 20,000 for the spectrum). And most of them are so much fun! And, in fact, I am a Commodore fanboy, even though i have only lived 10 years (11 in 6 days) i own a collection of old cocsoles

[bazfanv2]

With the commodore 64 running wild, i wonder why other manufactures bothered.

[retrogamerSam]

Had a chance to buy one of these for 30 bucks. Passed it up. Regret it. Also had a chance to buy a boxed one for 50. Passed it up. Regret it even more.

[AFTrash]

Wow, Epyx. That's going back.

[PhobiaGuy]

back then i upgraded my amiga to a whole megabyte, read it and weep!

[jimbox114]

Back then Amiga and PC prob would have cost you over $1500. Not sure what the Atari XE went for though.

[TheDoopliss2]

is that why there rare?

[MrAsrgr]

Why did they try to revive old 8-bit technology in 1988 when the Atari ST had been around since 1985?

With marketing like that it's no wonder they went under

[philiptwood]

@MrAsrgr I think there were still die hard Atari 8bit fans during that time. The 8bits were still more affordable then an Atari ST. The 8bit was still popular even then. Keep in mind that Commodore 64 8bit didn't stop selling until the mid 90s.

[thorgallpl]

@MrAsrgr better technology doesnt mean better games. atari st in 1988 was on par with c64.

[MattTheSaiyan]

@thorgallpl No, ST was on par with Amiga (well, slightly less powerful than the Amiga, or quite a bit less powerful than the Amiga but still powerful for the time. Depends on who you ask)

[elsquibbs]

"subLogic, Broderbund, Epyx, and Accolade" LOL

[andreyjardim2]

Only Amiga makes it possible....

[PobreDiablillo]

yes mister, 150 levels of boringness as atari used to bring to us (no scroll screen, black background, and so on). atari deserved to go out of business for a while at the same time that nintendo and sega created better consoles.

[um09dndam]

well...i think EA, sierra, capcom, bandai, square enix and others will not agree to this...

[MadCommodore]

Electronic Arts developed a huge catalogue of games for all cutting edge machines at their birth, when they didn't sell so well or the sales tailed off they stopped making the games for them...until then they supported many 8 bit and 16 bit home computers, not just gay mariostations ;)

I wish people would research before commenting stuff they know FA about Dohhhhhhh!

(Starfox, Archon, Racing Desctruction Set, Deluxe Paint 1-5, Marble Madness on Amiga)

[jason24568]

Jack Tramiel stole the first Atari!!! The SwordQuest game is can't get those three prizes!!! (According to the Angry Video Game Nerd). The second Atari is so sucks my ass! But the third Atari become a computer video game software company because of the bankrupt of the second Atari.

[utubeworms]

Those companies were all giants in their day in the computer game world!

[dogeymon83]

Hey that Baseball game looks like the one from The Princess Bride!! Was that was Fred Savage was playing??? I've always wondered.

[RyuHayabusa06]

I wanted an NES back in 87/88 for Christmas and got an XE. What a terrible machine. Graphically, it was hopelessly outdated compared to the NES. Bug Hunt, Flight Simulator II, Missile Command, all slow and outdated compared to Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda.

[Vkmies]

Does that mean that its horrible? I still play with my NES, altough it only has old games. It doesnt mean its horrible.

[bigpoopie69]

@RyuHayabusa06

You got an XE game system right? No wonder. The stupid thing didn't even come with a disc drive out of the box. That same Christmas, folks got me an 130XE with a disc drive and a slow growing collection of third party software on floppy disc. If you've never played New York: The Big Apple, you haven't lived man. You haven't lived.

[THELUKESTIR]

just bought one of these at goodwill for 4 dollars :D

[hazzardwantcookies]

oh man i hate you lolz no i envy you. :)

[bigpoopie69]

I have come from the future (the year 1989) to let you all know Atari fails two years from now.

[cybersalad]

That's great, I'm sure all the kids they were marketing to were swayed by a bunch of old men in suits telling them about the fabulous Atari XE.

[madpierrot92]

apparently my brother was... I've got one in my basement :P

[hazzardwantcookies]

how much 4 it bro?

[naaaaaagz]

@cybersalad actually we were

[atari800]

Everyone loves Atari ! the number one video game !

[snakes3425]

I've always wondered this is suppose to be the XE Game system correct, not one of the XE Computers

[hazzardwantcookies]

it was 2 in one. they combined the computers with games to try to outdo nintendo

[bigpoopie69]

@hazzardwantcookies

They didn't do crap. They just repackaged a 65XE and shipped it with a lightgun and a controller.

[hazzardwantcookies]

so you dont like the XE? cause i loved mine! and it they DID package it with games

[bigpoopie69]

@hazzardwantcookies

I loved my 130XE computer because I had a disc drive and about 100 mostly third party programs on floppy disc and cassette that I never would have been able to use on an XEGS because it didn't have a disc drive.

Bug Hunt and Barnyard Blaster were like the only two games that even used the lightgun and they were simpleton games. I had more fun playing New York: The Big Apple and Beer Belly Bert's Brew Biz on my XE computer.

[hazzardwantcookies]

kool

[trophy242]

Come on. Atari was not so bad. Although, I liked 800XL more, which was previous model, and at that time... C64 seems to be more attractive.

[thecritic2007]

oh how i loved to play centerpeed and missile command

[madpierrot92]

moon patrol > all

[Mage3337]

the controller for the XE was an atari 2600 one. how old school.

[bigpoopie69]

I owned an Atari 130 XE and made love to it several times.

[daro2096]

I wonder how much these guys were paid to say that?

I had an Atari 65XE. The graphics of games sucked. The same game on Commodore 64 and Spectrum looked much better. The cassette games on Atari took ages to load. Zybok took over 20 minutes to load. Actually it seemed like every game took over 20 minutes to load. The same games on Commodore and Spectrum didn't take as long to load(or maybes it seemed quicker).

Wish I could have afforded a disc drive back then.

[ANSON29]

I had one back in 1989. Everyone an NES and I had a sorry ass atari XE.

[thecritic2007]

LOL i feel your pain i had one 2 it was all my parents could afford

[chilenoygordo]

subLogic, Broderbund, Epyx, and Accolade= everybody is worless, hehehe.... losers

[st1ka]

Accolade was actually a pretty good developer at the time, heck they were the creators of Star control 2, one of the best RPGS of all time

[leofera11]

:23

ROFL!!!!

[snakes3425]

Broderbund: High Tech Animation is the story on the XE: The NES was better

Epyx: Sound Effects are a must, the XE practically sings: The NES was better

subLodgic: Flight simulater needs computer power, only the XE has it: The NES was better

Accolade: look at the great graphics on Hardball: The NES was light years ahead of the XE.

What's the best system for playing your computer games: the Nintendo Entertainment System

[whattheheck1000]

LOL all of those companies are gone today. Time's have changed.

[jason24568]

@whattheheck1000 Yeah, there are now defunct such as Broderbund, Epyx, subLogic and Accolade.

[xnonsuchx]

@jason24568 - While no longer separate companies, Broderbund became part of Ubisoft, subLogic became part of  Activision and Accolade became part of Infogrames (now Atari Inc.). Epyx was the only one that dissolved (after they had sold the 'Handy' (Lynx) and other properties to Atari Corp. But yeah, that might be nitpicking. :-)

[jason24568]

@xnonsuchx Broderbund is now a software company for creativity use on your computer.

[xnonsuchx]

@jason24568 - Ooops! Yeah, Ubisoft sold most of the Broderbund licenses and name. The 'new' Broderbund (w/o the 'ø') is part of Navarre, who also bought the Roxio name and products from Adaptec.

[jason24568]

@xnonsuchx Yes, the new Broderbund is become a software company but it was a parent company of Encore, Inc. Thanks for reply! xD

[vjrei]

@whattheheck1000 Is not funny, Atari was more advanced than Apple back then by far. The Atari owner gave the company to his kids and they destroyed.

Actually sucks today we have or Mac or PC only to choose from and once Steve Jobs dies Apple will sink. In some 15 to 20 years there is gonna be just one platform and with todays corporate blindlesness and greed be sure it will suck big time.

[TheAmazingUploader]

You sir, are wrong. Epyx still exists, Accolade still exists, Broderbund was bought by Mattel in 1999, subLOGIC still exists within Microsoft since 1995 and most important of all... Atari still exists.

[whattheheck1000]

@TheAmazingUploader

Per Wikipedia, Epyx ceased to exist in 1993.

Accolade was folded into Atari SA in 1999, and ceased to exist as a company at that time.

Broderbund was bought by The Learning Company in 1999; all Broderbund games are now published by Ubisoft.

subLOGIC was bought by Microsoft in 1995 and still exists. Sorry, I was wrong originally about that one.

Atari, while not referred to in my initial comment, is still around.

February 18, 2011 11:24 PM

[akumacornflakes]

@whattheheck1000

Even so, the Atari of today is basically a hollow husk of its former self. Other than Nolan Bushnell being on the board of directors, it seems to be "Atari" in name only.

[whattheheck1000]

@akumacornflakes Atari's golden age (c. 1980-1984) had passed even by the time of this commercial. Atari existed until the mid 1990s though in original form; today it's gone through a series of complicated mergers and buyouts. The name "Atari" is still around, in a far different company than in 1988.

March 13, 2011 9:13 pm

[Dreammotive]

@whattheheck1000 Not quite, atari no longer has a home system but they are a MAJOR player in game production

[ThisIsGonnaBeCool]

have you noticed how all the atari commercials have a crappy camera with the same audio and hue?

[Intersonus903]

Electronic Arts and Activision are missing. More than likely, they had better things to do than develop on the Atari XE in 1988.

If you wanted a keyboard with better graphics and sound: you got an Amiga.

If you wanted a no-nonsense video game system with impressive 3rd party support (though illegally retained by a restrictive contract), you got the NES.

If you wanted a computer, you got a PC or a Mac.

Or, wait a year later: Sega Genesis DOES what NintenDON'T, much less the Atari XE.

[IGExpandingPanda]

This whole XE game system was a joke. As someone else pointed out the games were years old (Summer games... 1984), which odds are would run on an early 80s Atari. The detachable keyboard was nice, but it was like $150. While marking to people who were afraid of computers was a decent idea, this screamed "We don't have a new idea, so we're going to sell the old one in a new package".

It wouldn't have been so bad if they offered a better graphics chip to compete with the Nintendo.

[daro2096]

@Intersonus903

I had a Sega Genesis or as it was called here Sega Mega Drive.

[Lumotaku]

The xe had a keyboard it was detachable.

[NotATube]

Sorry, but even if their companies made great games at the time, "men in suits" is not the way to sell a video game system. Unless you're going to do something funny like get pacman to eat them all at the end of the commercial.

[uraniumdeath]

Accolade was bought out by Infogrammes, who were bought out by Electronic Arts (EA Games). I think that's right.

[NotATube]

Not exactly; Infogrames did buy Accolade, but they were never bought in turn by EA.

On the contrary, Infogrames are one of the big players in the market. However, nowadays they trade under a famous name they acquired in the Hasbro Interactive takeover. You may know Infogrames better as.... ATARI.

No kidding... the "new" Atari *is* Infogrames.

[RicardoNY1]

Sublogic bought out by MS

[Gamebrain]

Heres the correct list

Broderbund- Bought Out

Epyx- Defunct

subLogic - Defunct

Accolade - Bought out

btw, is that Dan Crawford (broderbund)?

[evidence7]

Broderbund is not defunct.

[conservaguy]

Broderbund-Defunct,EPYX-Defunc­t,subLogic-Defunct,Atari Inc.-owned by several different companies since founded, not the same company these days. It isn't funny how times have changed?

[conservaguy]

I mean "isn't it funny"

[jpadula]

lalala xD

solo/ng

[wvoutlaw2002]

The Atari XE Games System : What the Atari 5200 should have been

[NotATube]

They were basically identical! The XEGS was basically just a 65XE computer (i.e. slightly improved 400/800) without a keyboard. The 5200 was basically... a 400/800 computer without a keyboard. The difference was that the XEGS retained compatibility, the 5200 changed minor stuff around (mostly pointlessly) so that 400/800 games would not play on it (and vice versa). Stupid.

[wvoutlaw2002]

I know. They should have just used the exact same design of the Atari 400 (minus the keyboard, of course), even down to the size of the game cartridges. And the game controllers should have been a near-exact clone of the Atari 2600 controllers...just with an extra fire button.

[Intersonus903]

Of course, you ought to know why it happened that way: JACK TRAMIEL who favored computers over video games to the point of obsession.

It was what had driven the Commodore 64 to huge success but what helped to bury Atari.

[Intersonus903]

What I mean by burying Atari was not at the hands of Commodore.

In 1984, Tramiel resigns from Commodore. Later on, he would assume leadership of Atari after purchasing majority stock from Warner Communications.

He did not really adapt to changes in the market after the Commodore era, IMO. And that level of inflexibility was likely what had helped to bury Atari.

[daro2096]

Yep the XE came out 5 years too late. The Commodore 64 and Spectrum +2 were much better computers and they had more games available. You could buy games for the latter machines that you couldn't get for the Atari.

Least that was how it was in the UK. Maybes things were better in the States. I heard the Atari computers did better over there. Here Atari computers and hardware were way too expensive. I mean the games on tape took 20 or more minutes to load. Disc drive was over 300 pounds.

[thorgallpl]

@daro2096 the c64 and spectrum were much better than atari? lol

[daro2096]

@thorgallpl

Sorry but they were. I had an Atari 65XE. A mate of mine had a Spectrum zx82 and I was green with envy.

[thorgallpl]

@daro2096 oh god. spectrum was the shittest home computer ever!