Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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When the Atari 400 & 800 launched they managed to land without much interest, and failed to get traction, especially in their native US market. Why weren’t they success, what bad luck and unforced errors got them to that point, and why were they such a great design?

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Sources:
ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-32-al-alcorn-atari-employee-3
atariarchives.org/dev/CGEXPO99.ppt
archive.org/details/JoeDecuirEngineeringNotebook1977
archive.org/details/JoeDecuirEngineeringNotebook1978
archive.org/details/atari-800-series-computers-40-years/PRGE+2019+session+320.mp3
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Raiders
youtube.com/watch?v=0R9LwFeftxQ
archive.org/details/vcf19eastr6/page/n9/mode/2up
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTIA_and_GTIA
https://archive.ph/20121208194608/http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/8BITS/400800/ATARI800/A800.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CES_(trade_show)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_BASIC
historyofpersonalcomputing.com/wordpress/atari-400-and-800
https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/wci_games.html
archive.org/details/19781128AtariEntersPersonalHomeComputerIndustry
archive.org/details/Inside_Atari_DOS
archive.org/details/vcf19eastr6
gamedeveloper.com/business/atari-the-golden-years----a-history-1978-1981
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxian
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_computers

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