Atari 5200



The Atari 2600 was dominating the video game market during the second generation, but Atari started to feel a real threat to its domination, as its competitors were making more advanced consoles like the ColecoVision and the Intellivision. Of course Atari wouldn't take this shit, so they stepped up the game and created the Atari 5200. It was more or less based on the architecture of the Atari 8-bit computers, and though their games weren't compatible with each other porting them between platforms was very simple.

While the 5200 wasn't a bad console, two major flaws were detrimental to its success. First, most of its titles were the same old games all over again, and second, its controller sucked balls. Not only its buttons were a chore to use but its directional, which could turn full 360 degrees, couldn't self-center, not to mention they were very prone to failure (good luck trying to find one in working condition and which stays like that for any amount of time). Atari promised to fix the damn thing, but then the Great Video Game Crash happened and the rest is history.