Atari 400/800/XE/XL compatibility
Ron Engel
I found a batch of Atari XE game carts at a local thrift.
Will those work on the old 800 or 400? Or only on the XE system itself?
I assume that the old 400/800 cart will work on the XE.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron
lupus
>I found a batch of Atari XE game carts at a local thrift.
>
>Will those work on the old 800 or 400? Or only on the XE system itself?
The XE carts will work on the XL or XE series of computers, as well
as the XEGS, but not the original 400/800 nor the 1200xl (though I'm
not sure about that last one). The 600/800xl and the 65/130xe have the
same OS as the XEGS.
>
>I assume that the old 400/800 cart will work on the XE.
Indeed.
--lupus
Dan Mazurowski
Ron Engel wrote:
>
> Will those work on the old 800 or 400? Or only on the XE system itself?
>
From what I have heard, most will work on older machines. Some require
64K of RAM, and some may use hardware not present in the older computers
(such as different graphics modes).
> I assume that the old 400/800 cart will work on the XE.
>
Most of the older carts work on the XLXE machines, but there are a few
that don't, such as Demon Attack.
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-Kev-
On Tue, 13 Jan 1998, James Carter wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Jan 1998 14:35:22 +0000, Ron Engel <ren...@wave.tcs.tulane.edu>
> wrote:
>
> >I assume that the old 400/800 cart will work on the XE.
>
> Some games require a keyboard, and if you didn't have that attachment for the
> XE you'd be out of luck.
>
> Then there's the handful of Right Slot cartridges that only work on the 800.
>
> And there's several cartridges some people have reported to have trouble
> running on their XE/XL, but run fine on a 400/800. I have an 800XL and about
> 50 cartridges, and personally haven't run into any incompatibility problems.
The one example I have of this is Imagic's Demon Attack, shows nothing but
a blue screen and stationary cursor when started on an XL or XE, but works
fine on 400/800. That, the four joystick ports, and the right cart slot
are the only reasons I still keep the old 800!
Anyone know which others won't run?
peace,
-Kev-
Saxymanny
well...that's cause the 800xl can run the majority of them. the only ones it
cannot run are the 400/800 right slot carts which none can and kangaroo.
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Greg Miller
Saxymanny wrote:
>
> well...that's cause the 800xl can run the majority of them. the only ones it
> cannot run are the 400/800 right slot carts which none can and kangaroo.
There are some others that won't run.
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Andrew Krieg
I started adding compatability info to the 800/XL/XE cart list, but I'm not
sure if I will continue. There are carts that only run on the 400/800s.
There are some that only run on the XL/XEs. There are some that have memory
requirements. There are some that run on 800s and XLs, but not XEs. It's
getting too confusing to try and document everything, plus I don't have the
equipment (or time) to try carts on all of the different possible systems.
Here is what is known so far. Some of the carts listed as 400/800 only have
been found to work on XLs. Most 64K games won't run on a 400/800 (even with
a memory upgrade).
If you want the complete 800/XL/XE list you can find it at:
http://www.execpc.com/~krieg/VidGames.htm
= Key =
= ------ =
= * = This cart only runs on 400 and 800 model computers. =
= rso = This is a right slot only cart, exclusively for 800 computers. =
= 48 = Requires 48K of RAM to run. =
= 64 = Requires 64K of RAM to run. =
Atari RX8099 88 Ace of Aces (by Accolade) [64] C [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8092 87 Archon (by Electronic Arts) [48] C [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8064 87 Ballblazer (by Lucasfilm) [48] C [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8086 87 Barnyard Blaster [lg] [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8077 87 Battlezone [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8081 87 Blue Max (by Synapse) [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8101 88 Dark Chambers [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8083 87 David's Midnight Magic(Br0derbund)[64]U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8089 88 Desert Falcon [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8085 87 Fight Night (by Accolade) [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8079 87 Food Fight [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8090 87 GATO (by Spectrum Holobyte) [64] R [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8084 87 Hardball (by Accolade) [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari <none> 83 Kangaroo [*] PR [ ][-][-]
Atari RX8082 87 Lode Runner (by Br0derbund) [64] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8108 88 Necromancer [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8093 87 One-on-One Basketball (Elec. Arts)[64]U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8063 87 Rescue on Fractalus (by Lucasfilm)[48]U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari RX8078 87 Star Raiders II [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Atari CA400201 87 XE Demo Cartridge [4 games] [64] ER [ ][-][-]
Austin Franklin <none> Austin 80 Console Software [rso] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Br0derbund 82 Choplifter! [48] U [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. 10031A-3 83 BearJam [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. 10011A-3 83 Leo's 'Lectric Paintbrush [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. Leo's Links [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. 10042A-3 83 LogicMaster [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. 10021A-3 83 MicroMaestro [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Chalkboard Inc. 10016A-3 Micro Illustrator [ppt] [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
Eastern House KISS [rso] R [ ][ ][ ]
Eastern House Monkey Wrench [rso] R [ ][ ][ ]
Eastern House 83 Monkey Wrench II [rso] R [ ][ ][ ]
Epyx 82 Monster Maze [*] U [ ][ ][ ]
First Star 82 Astrochase [*] ER [ ][ ][ ]
K-Byte 81 K-razy Kritters [*] R [ ][ ][ ]
Koala AT00315-1 83 KoalaPainter [kp] [klp?] [*] U [ ][ ][ ]
Roklan 09-01102 83 Gorf [*] C [ ][ ][ ]
Romox <none> 82 Attack at EP-CYG-4 (by Bram) [*] R [ ][-][ ]
Sar-An Magic Dump [rso] R [ ][ ][ ]
Synapse <none> 82 Chicken [*] U [ ][ ][ ]
Synapse <none> Necromancer [48] R [ ][ ][ ]
Synapse <none> 82 Picnic Paranoia [*] R [ ][ ][ ]
Synapse <none> 82 Shamus [*] C [ ][ ][ ]
Synapse <none> 82 Slime [*] U [ ][ ][ ]
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Dan Mazurowski
Saxymanny wrote:
>
> REALLY?
> why not call B&C and ask them then...that is where my info came from
>
Well, regardless of what B&C says, I know that Demon Attack, by Imagic,
will ONLY work on 400/800 machines. Perhaps B&C was only referring to
carts manufactured by Atari?
Geoff Oltmans
Andrew Krieg wrote:
>
> I started adding compatability info to the 800/XL/XE cart list, but I'm not
> sure if I will continue. There are carts that only run on the 400/800s.
> There are some that only run on the XL/XEs. There are some that have memory
> requirements. There are some that run on 800s and XLs, but not XEs. It's
> getting too confusing to try and document everything, plus I don't have the
> equipment (or time) to try carts on all of the different possible systems.
>
> Here is what is known so far. Some of the carts listed as 400/800 only have
> been found to work on XLs. Most 64K games won't run on a 400/800 (even with
> a memory upgrade).
Back when I was collecting for my Atari 400, I bought some games from
Toys R Us for it. They all touted either 400/800/XL. I never tried any
of the XL/XE carts.
For clarity(?) I don't remember a Right hand cart slot on my 400...I
remember the 800's had one...but I don't think the 400 did.
*Geoff!*
Saxymanny
REALLY?
why not call B&C and ask them then...that is where my info came from
Saxymanny
>Well, regardless of what B&C says, I know that Demon Attack, >by Imagic, will
ONLY work on 400/800 machines.
>Perhaps B&C was only referring to carts manufactured by Atari?
BINGO...yes...slight misunderstanding...I stand corrected...your theory sounds
correct...they meant only Atari manufactured then.
CYBERYOGI =CO= Windler
Andrew Krieg wrote:
>
>For clarity(?) I don't remember a Right hand cart slot on my 400...I
>remember the 800's had one...but I don't think the 400 did.
Yes,I havw an Atari 400 and it has only one cart slot and it even has no bus
edge connector on its rear side(only inside the case,but no hole to access it).
Dan Mazurowski wrote:
>
> Ron Engel wrote:
> >
> > Will those work on the old 800 or 400? Or only on the XE system itself?
>
> From what I have heard, most will work on older machines. Some require
> 64K of RAM, and some may use hardware not present in the older computers
> (such as different graphics modes).
>
The graphics hardware of all 8 bit Atari computers were the same,just th BASIC
of the XL/XE ones was able to generate additional modes.
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I ! I
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m.j.beau
So if you were to have only one Atari 8-bit computer, which would run
the most number of cartridges? I assume the XE Game System? If you had
an XE, but not the keyboard add-on, would this cause any games to be
unplayable?
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Glenn Saunders
The mortal m.j.beau wrote:
: So if you were to have only one Atari 8-bit computer, which would run
: the most number of cartridges? I assume the XE Game System? If you had
: an XE, but not the keyboard add-on, would this cause any games to be
: unplayable?
Tons of good ones would be filtered out. Even games like Star Raiders
require certain hotkeys so we're not just talking about RPGs.
I think most XEGSs out there have the keyboard.
Any 64K machine would run the most games. A few games require 128K
(Draconus for instance, awesome european platformer) but you can upgrade
most any XL to 128K.
For games, the 130XE is probably best for stock machines because it has
Y/C out on the monitor. Others need it hacked onto it. (although you
want composite out for games like Lode Runner that require artefacted
colors).
As for style, I do happen to think the XEGS is the most modern and the
cutest, with its oblique cart slot and its pastel buttons.