The Ataris represent a level of forward-thinking and unfettered design that's rarely seen today. With dedicated sound and graphics processors, hardware sprites, user-definable character sets, fine scrolling, S-video outputs (in 1978!), intelligent peripherals, and lower-case letters (which the Apple II lacked), the Atari 8-bits were hugely popular but actually suffered for being TOO far ahead. Back then, excellent graphics and sound were maligned as being for games. Sad.