When did the Atari 5200 come out?

The Atari 5200 launched in North America on January 23, 2026.

How many games are licensed for the Atari 5200?

Approximately 69 licensed games were released for the Atari 5200.

How much did the Atari 5200 cost at launch?

The Atari 5200 launched at $269 USD.

How many Atari 5200 units were sold?

Around 1.0 million Atari 5200 units were sold worldwide.

Can the Atari 5200 be modded?

The Atari 5200 requires hardware modification (chip installation or soldering) to run custom firmware. Custom firmware: N/A.

Atari 5200

Manufacturer: Atari
Production: 1982–1984
Generation: Gen 2
Type: Home
Region: US
Launch price: $269
Units sold: 1.0M

About Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout, which had already appeared on previous Atari home platforms.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Read about the Atari 5200 in the Chapter 1: Foundations era of our long-form console history.

Library & collector facts

Software library

69licensed games

North America: 69

Best-selling game

Pac-Man

Lineage

← Atari 2600Atari 5200

Release timeline

🇺🇸 North America: January 23, 2026
Lifespan: 2 years on market

Pricing

Launch price (1982)

🇺🇸 USD: $269

Controller

Joystick / Trak-Ball

Launch titles & exclusives

Launch titles

Super Breakout · Centipede · Galaxian · Star Raiders · Defender · Missile Command · Pac-Man · Soccer · Space Invaders · RealSports Football

Pack-in game

Super Breakout

Notable exclusives

Bounty Bob Strikes Back · Star Raiders · RealSports series · Final Legacy — library mostly re-implementations of Atari 8-bit computer games with very few true exclusives

Final licensed game

~1986; only 69 licensed titles ever released

Most valuable collectible

Bounty Bob Strikes Back (~$300 CIB); Final Legacy (~$200 CIB); Meteorites silver-label (~$250)

Hardware specs

Cpu: MOS 6502C @ 1.79 MHz
Ram: 16 KB RAM

Hardware revisions

Original 4-port(1982)
separate AC adapter and RF switch box (a usability mess)
2-port(1983)
integrated power supply, dropped two of the four controller ports as cost reduction

Launch colorways & special editions

Launch colors

Two-tone gray (only colorway)

Special editions

None significant — 5200 was a commercial disappointment

Modding scene

Difficulty: hard-mod
Custom firmware: N/A

Reception & legacy

Launch reception

Disappointing — too similar to the Atari 400/800 computers (which had piracy via floppy disks) and the broken analog controllers crushed early reviews

Notable controversies

ColecoVision launched a simultaneous Atari 2600 compatibility cartridge that directly attacked the 5200's market; Atari sued and lost the case

Cultural significance

Atari's failed answer to ColecoVision; the broken analog controllers became a textbook QA cautionary tale taught in product design courses