Difference between revisions of "Atari"

From CPCWiki - THE Amstrad CPC encyclopedia!
Jump to: navigation, search
(16 bit)
 
(88 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
Nowadays, the Atari brand belongs to Ex-[[Infogrames]].
 
Nowadays, the Atari brand belongs to Ex-[[Infogrames]].
  
Used to build 8 and 64 bits consoles (Atari 2600/5200/7800, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar), 8 bits computers, the famous Atari ST (16 bit) and less famous Atari Falcon (32 bit)
+
Used to build arcade systems, 8 and 64 bits consoles (Atari 2600/5200/7800, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar), [[Atari 8-bit|8-bit computers]], the famous [[Atari ST]] (16-bit) and less famous Atari Falcon (32-bit). And Atari also produced a line of IBM-compatible PCs.
 
+
== 8 bit ==
+
 
+
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family Atari 8-bit family on the other WIKI]
+
 
+
== 16 bit ==
+
 
+
The [[Atari ST]] was released in 1985. The case looks a lot like the 8bit Atari XE. It originally had an external PSU and external floppy drive. In 1986, the Atari STF integrated these components inside the machine itself.
+
 
+
A version intended for business users was also created in 1987 and named the Mega ST. It featured more RAM, a real time clock, a blitter chip for faster rendering and a detached keyboard.
+
 
+
These machines were famous for being:
+
 
+
*Inferior to the [[Amiga]] yet still better (the war still rages on nowadays). It was easier to do work on Atari, while on Amiga a guru meditation (machine crash) was never far away. Also the TOS was in ROM which mean it could be used immediately and it didn't consume valuable RAM. And as the OS was immutable, less time was spent customizing it and more time was used to do productive work.
+
 
+
*A hardware [[MIDI|Midi Port]] : this spawned a generation of Musician Geeks. And some Atari ST games did use Midi sound as an option. [https://forums.atariage.com/topic/301647-midi-games/ Source]
+
 
+
*used widely in Amstrad CPC software developments (mostly games ?).
+
 
+
Its use in CPC development (Cross Development) had many advantages :
+
 
+
*Quite similar Video Resolutions : 320x200x16.
+
*Possibility of a good [[Graphical User Interface|GUI]] : easier, really.
+
*Same Sound Chip : almost.
+
*Quite powerfull to calculate sweet [[Data Compression]] (used in [[Xyphoes Fantasy]])
+
 
+
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST Atari ST on the other WIKI]
+
 
+
The Atari STE followed up in 1989 by adding these new features:
+
* 4096 instead of 512 colour palette
+
* Fine Horizontal and Vertical hardware scrolling
+
* Blitter chip, same as in the Mega ST
+
* Stereo 8-bit PCM sound using DMA, with variable rate (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25KHz)
+
* 256KB ROM instead of 192KB, containing the TOS
+
* Four 30-pin SIMM-slots, for up to 4 MB RAM
+
* Extended and analogue capable joystick ports
+
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
  
*[https://www.atarimania.com/ Atari Mania] Games database of everything Atari
+
*[https://atariage.com/ AtariAge] Covers Atari gaming consoles
 +
*[https://www.atarimania.com/ Atari Mania] Games database of everything Atari (arcade, consoles and computers)
 +
*[https://youtu.be/-KHvaPkgvvQ All Atari 2600 games] [https://youtu.be/6z3qvj28o5Q All Atari 5200 games] [https://youtu.be/nzJOtgZKHXU All Atari 7800 games] [https://youtu.be/lWgyaDCJyVQ All Atari Lynx games] [https://youtu.be/gS17wwR468Q All Atari Jaguar games] in one video
 +
*[https://youtu.be/YKVa1M35iJs Jack Tramiel vs. IBM - The Atari PC Story] by [[ctrl-alt-rees]]
 
*{{EnWiki}}
 
*{{EnWiki}}
 
+
*[http://ftp.pigwa.net/ Atari FTP Archive]
===8-bit===
+
*[[Atari 8-bit]]
*https://atariwiki.org Atari 8bit wiki
+
*[[Atari ST]]
*[[Media:Altirra Hardware Reference Manual - 20240921.pdf|Altirra Hardware Reference Manual]] Latest (09/2024!) Atari XL hardware documentation
+
 
+
=== 16-bit===
+
*https://www.atari-wiki.com Atari ST Wiki
+
*[[Media:Atari ST - Hardware Specification.pdf]]
+
*[https://www.synacktiv.com/ressources/Atari-ST-Internals.pdf Atari ST Internals]
+
*[https://www.atarimuseum.de/archiv/tech/sm_ste.pdf Atari STE Service Manual]
+
*[https://docs.dev-docs.org/ Atari Documentation Archive]
+
*[https://info-coach.fr/atari/documents/myDoc.php Atari image file formats documented]
+
*[[Media:MC68000 User's Manual.pdf|Motorola MC68000 CPU User's Manual]]
+
*[[Media:WD1772-JLG.pdf|Western Digital WD1772 FDC datasheet]]
+
*[[Media:MK68901 MFP datasheet.pdf|Motorola MK68901 MFP datasheet]]
+
*[[Media:HD6301V1 datasheet.pdf|Hitachi HD6301 IKBD datasheet]]
+
*[[PSG|Yamaha YM2149 SSG chip]]
+
*[[6850 ACIA chip|Motorola MC6850 ACIA chip]]
+
*[https://www.atari-forum.com/ Atari ST forum]
+
  
 
[[Category:Non CPC Computers]]
 
[[Category:Non CPC Computers]]

Latest revision as of 00:33, 10 April 2025

Nowadays, the Atari brand belongs to Ex-Infogrames.

Used to build arcade systems, 8 and 64 bits consoles (Atari 2600/5200/7800, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar), 8-bit computers, the famous Atari ST (16-bit) and less famous Atari Falcon (32-bit). And Atari also produced a line of IBM-compatible PCs.

Links