Retro Games are at it again - The 800XL

[rubber_jonnie]

So a modern 800XL in the vein of The C64 Maxi is up for pre-orders now from Retro Games (Same folks doing the A1200), but won't be shipping until April 2027...

Unlike the C64 Maxi it will also run original carts. As far as I can see though it's USB controllers only though.

Looks like the Revive Machines 800XL RM 800XL might have been beaten to the punch.

I was kind of hoping the RM 800XL was what was on pre-order as the RM 800XL is very much like the C64 ultimate in that it can use original peripherals and behave more as the real thing.

Since I have many original Atari's I don't think I'll order one as the lack of compatibility with older peripherals would not be something I'd want.

Also, I'm not sure I'd want to pay £199 for one when I have a 400 Mini, a 400, an 800, a 600XL, 2x 800XL, a 65XE and an XEGS!!!

I might be persuaded to get an RM 800XL in the future though if and when I decide to slim down my collection...

[alexh]

Thanks for the heads up.

I never had a Commodore or Atari 8-bit computers so I have no nostalgia for them. (My 8-bit memories came from : Acorn Electon, Dragon 32, Sinclair Spectrum 48, Amstrad 6128+)

But I do like the 65/130 XE (because it looks like a baby Atari ST) I thought about collecting one of those (original).

I imagine the 800 was the biggest seller and hence why they are remaking that one?

What are some good 800 games/demos to check out?

[rubber_jonnie]

Thanks for the heads up.

I never had a Commodore or Atari 8-bit computers so I have no nostalgia for them. (My 8-bit memories came from : Acorn Electon, Dragon 32, Sinclair Spectrum 48, Amstrad 6128+)

But I do like the 65/130 XE (because it looks like a baby Atari ST) I thought about collecting one of those (original).

I imagine the 800 was the biggest seller and hence why they are remaking that one?

What are some good 800 games/demos to check out?

The 800XL was the closest competition the C4 had BITD, but never sold as many but IMHO was as good. Overall though the C64 sold many many more than the 800XL though with sales as best I can tell of 1/2 Million against 12 or more million for the C64

It was a shame as it was and is a fantastic machine. The earlier 400 & 800 sold more combined at .8 million.

The 800XL was the cheaper more mainstream machine though and probably the one that many people remember.and certainly from a personal perspective the 800XL was what I had (After a brief foray with the 600XL).

The original 800 was always my personal favourite and I managed to get a good one last year. My 65XE I've oned from new.

It has many good games, ones I recall are:

M.U.L.E
Miner 2049er and Bount Bob Strikes Back
Star Raiders & Star Raiders II
Fort Apocalypse
Archon
Rescue on Fractalus
Koronis Rift
The Eidolon
Defender
Donkey Kong
Dropzone
Pastfinder
BallBlazer
Joust
Jumpman
Dreadnought Factor
International Karate
Lode Runner
Frogger
Jet Boot Jack
Chop Suey
Diamonds & Dan Strikes Back
Elektra Glide
Yoomph

I could go on for days!!!

The Lucasfilm titles are all particularly good and look much better on the Atari 8 bits than the C64. There are a lot of excellent titles by English Software too.

There were a lot of good games out of Poland too and many take advantage of more RAM, so 128KB or more.
Some of my machines are also stereo POKEY and have up to 1MB of RAM available and multiple OSes to choose from a menu.

Overall a superb machine that IMHO didn't get the love it deserved considering it was one of the first out of the 8 bit computers available in 1979.

Unfortunately Commodore had the advantage of producing it's own MOS ICs and that meant they were able to start a price war that Atari couldn't compete with.

Atari can take some of the blame though, they initially targeted home and learning rather than games. Shame

The Atari's are often regarded as the forerunner of the Amiga as a lot of the same people worked on both and the architectures were very similar.

I've rambled on enough now though

[mjaap]

I bet Atari will release cartridges for the Atari 8-Bit computers, just like for the 2600(+) and 7800(+).