ATARI ST GAUNTLET GAMEPLAY VIDEO ON A 16MHZ ATARI 520ST.
8This is a snippet of gameplay to show Gauntlet 1 @ 16mhz on what could easily have been the replacement for the ST instead of the STE...16mhz 68000 accelerator cards were around as early as 1986 but had Atari chosen to upgrade the ST with a full implementation of a 16mhz 68000 and nothing more (except possibly a cheap 2 channel 8bit DAC for improved digital sound...same as in the STE). As we all know the poor old original ST didn't have any hardware scrolling, sprites etc no blitter like the Amiga and no hardware sample playback DACs...EVERYTHING had to be done in software. This combined with the fact that most games were programmed very badly on both the ST and Amiga when it comes to arcade conversions makes it unbelievable that this turns out to be the best home computer conversion of the arcade smash Gauntlet IN THE WHOLE WORLD even at 8mhz and with 16mhz this particular game becomes perfect.!
Now before you all say how superior a blitter is to a non blittered ST let me give you this sobering fact....NOBODY CARED TO WRITE STE GAMES! Very few games even detected a blitter and hardware scrolling.
However....had Atari launched a 16mhz top end machine for the extra £100 $150 etc instead of the STE it would have meant that a huge back catalogue of games would have instantly warranted a return to enjoy again with AUTOMATIC IMPROVEMENTS. With a full 16mhz bus design (with 8mhz for shifter and other sub sections being acceptable) it would have not cost that much, and buying chips in bulk from Motorola already gave Atari a good start for discounts so you would have ended up with a version of Gauntlet second only to the 1990 onwards Sega Megadrive/Genesis. That's some feet for a machine launched in 1985 and possibly being upgraded to 16mhz as early as late 1986...a full 4 years before the Megadrive and the game would have been half the cost of a Sega cartridge.
Sobering thought, and this explains why PCs benefited from having NO CUSTOM CHIPS, because new PC = better smoother play of ALL your old games. Custom chips that nobody supports or programs directly are a waste of time...either launch a machine with the hardware to do arcade games at the start like the Amiga contained OR don't bother and just ramp up the CPU to improve your existing huge back catalogue. Important mistake and probably the only one that could have been helped from Jack Tramiel of Atari...the cost of a 16mhz ST motherboard for mass production = LESS than development costs and manufacturing of STE motherboard.