Atari 5200
Developer: Atari
Year Released: 1982
Generation: 2nd
The Atari 5200 Super System, commonly known as the Atari 5200, was introduced as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600. The 5200 wound up directly competing with the ColecoVision shortly after its release. When the 5200 was released Atari rebranded the Atari VCS as the Atari 2600.
The 5200 was a large console, larger than almost every other console available at the time. They replaced the iconic one button joystick of the 2600, and the new controllers had a 12-digit keypad on the front, copying controllers from systems such as the Mattel Intellivision and the ColecVision.
Although there were some popular games released for the 5200, overall it didn’t do well commercially. A major complaint was the inability to play any Atari 2600 games on the machine, something which the ColecoVision could do using an adapter. Not only was it competing with other 2nd generation consoles, it was also competing with its predecessor the Atari 2600, which was still being heavily marketed. Finally, in 1984, Atari announced that it would no longer be supporting the 5200.