I forgot how big the cart boxes were for the 400/800. The console wars of the late ’70s and early ’80s were fought largely through package art and package design. Demo centers were few and far between, but we all saw the boxes faced out under glass counters or behind the registers. The 400/800 packages were bigger, Atari would have us believe, because the contents were more sophisticated. Pac-Man wasn’t just a game when played on the Atari 400 and 800. It was a “computer program.”
When I got my 800 in ’82 or ’83, it came bundled with Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.
(Photo via vigorito; box scan via Atari Mania)
2 Warps to Neptune 
It’s true, they totally made their boxes bigger for the computer games. I bought Robotron 2084 for my 800XL and it was in an even bigger box, because it came with this plastic tray to hold the two joysticks in during gameplay. Yup, and right in the middle was that tiny little dinky cartridge. That was an awesome game, btw. I still have my 800XL and the Robotron cartridge somewhere I think. It’d be nice to bring it back.
Robotron is one of my faves, for the sound effects alone.
Bigtime. Talk about an immersive game, right?
From my experience, I would definitely rank Robotron’s in-game sounds as one of the defining and/or most memorable sounds of the arcade (others include Gyruss, Pole Position, Defender and Donkey Kong). It was such a chaotic game that there was no way one couldn’t hear it…
There was something about the sounds in those Williams games (video and pinball) that really made them stand out for sure.
I think it was a combination of both the game sound design and the way they built their cabinets. They must have used good speakers, and somehow the cabs provided good amplification. I remember both Robotron and Tempest totally keeping me on my toes. Thumping bass and piercing high notes…! Same with Defender!