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Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 is the video game console version of the Atari 400 computer developed by Atari. It was released in 1982.
Initially conceived to compete against the Intellivision, it ended up primarily competing against the ColecoVision. Despite beating both systems in performance and value per dollar, the 5200 was considered a commercial failure, only reaching 1 million units sold compared to the 2600's 30 million units.
Its unique joystick allowed for 360 degrees of input values and a keypad, along with featuring more utility buttons such as Start, Pause and Reset.
Although software is not directly compatible between the Atari 5200 and the 8-bit Atari computers it was based on, most Atari 5200 emulators are compatible with software designed for either system. Because of this, Batocera refers to the Atari 5200 the same as the Atari 800 internally sometimes.
This system scrapes metadata for the “atari5200” group(s) and loads the atari5200 set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
- Emulator: RetroArch
- Core: libretro: atari800
- Folder:
/userdata/roms/atari5200 - Accepted ROM formats:
.rom,.xfd,.atr,.atx,.cdm,.cas,.car,.bin,.a52,.xex,.zip,.7z
BIOS
| MD5 checksum | Share file path | Description |
|---|---|---|
281f20ea4320404ec820fb7ec0693b38 | bios/5200.rom | |
06daac977823773a3eea3422fd26a703 | bios/ATARIXL.ROM | |
0bac0c6a50104045d902df4503a4c30b | bios/ATARIBAS.ROM | |
eb1f32f5d9f382db1bbfb8d7f9cb343a | bios/ATARIOSA.ROM | |
a3e8d617c95d08031fe1b20d541434b2 | bios/ATARIOSB.ROM |
ROMs
Place your Atari 5200 ROMs in /userdata/roms/atari5200.
ROMs in the .a52 format require an additional selection of the ROM type at the start of the emulator and sometimes that selection screen is not visible and requires a blind button press. You can convert the .a52 files into a different format, .car, which contains additional information so that the selection screen is bypassed. The method of doing that inside the emulator together with a list of this information for all known Atari 5200 ROMs can be found here: Cartridge Type Code List
Emulators
RetroArch
RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.
RetroArch configuration
RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + 
which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.
Standardized features available to all libretro cores: atari5200.videomode, atari5200.ratio, atari5200.smooth, atari5200.shaders, atari5200.pixel_perfect, atari5200.decoration, atari5200.game_translation
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
GRAPHICS BACKEND atari5200.gfxbackend | Choose your graphics rendering ⇒ OpenGL opengl, Vulkan vulkan. |
AUDIO LATENCY atari5200.audio_latency | Audio latency in milliseconds, turn it up if you hear crackles ⇒ 256 256, 192 192, 128 128, 64 64, 32 32, 16 16, 8 8. |
THREADED VIDEO atari5200.video_threaded | Improves performance at the cost of latency and more video stuttering. Use only if full speed cannot be obtained otherwise. ⇒ On true, Off false. |
libretro: atari800
Atari800 is an Atari 400, 800, 600 XL, 800XL and 130XE computer and Atari 5200 console emulator libretro core by Petr Stehlik.
This is a bit more complicated than I thought. Needs confirmination about which settings actually apply to only 5200.
libretro: atari800 configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings specific to atari800 | |
ATARI SYSTEM atari800.atari800_system | Choose what Atari System to emulate ⇒ 400/600XL/800 (48K) (OS B) 400/800 (OS B), 800XL/1200XL/XEGS (64K) 800XL (64K), 130XE (128K) 130XE (128K), Modern XL/XE (320K CS) Modern XL/XE(320K CS), Modern XL/XE (576K) Modern XL/XE(576K), Modern XL/XE (1088K) Modern XL/XE(1088K). |
VIDEO STANDARD atari800.atari800_ntscpal | Switch frequency and resolution by region ⇒ NTSC NTSC, PAL PAL. |
SIO ACCELERATION atari800.atari800_sioaccel | Speeds up file loading (a few games will not load) ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
HI-RES ARTIFACTING atari800.atari800_artifacting | Artificial color filters to mimic actual hardware ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
INTERNAL RESOLUTION atari800.atari800_resolution | Enables alternate resolutions for some games ⇒ 336×240 336×240, 320×240 320×240, 384×240 384×240, 384×272 384×272, 384×288 384×288, 400×300 400×300. |
| Settings specific to atari5200 | |
JOYSTICK HACK (FOR ROBOTRON) atari5200.atari800_opt2 | Treats the second analog stick as joystick 2 ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
Many required settings for the emulator are not exposed to RetroArch or EmulationStation but need to be set inside the emulator itself. You can access this menu by pushing in [L3] or the [F1] key.
Controls
Analogue joysticks are supported only via hard-coded mouse inputs (bypassing RetroPad and default controls). The analog sticks of gamepads are not supported. This makes some games unplayable unless you connect a mouse.
Sure that it's not possible to remap them?
Here are the default Atari 5200's controls shown on a Batocera Retropad:
Troubleshooting
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.
- systems/atari5200.1646090710.txt.gz
- Last modified: 4 years ago
- by atari