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ColecoVision Flashback System


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I find the keypad buttons a bit of an annoyance. You have to really press in all the way as opposed to the old bubble style pads, which seemed more responsive. Anyone else have this issue?

 

Used with the overlays maybe? Otherwise, I barely have to press or indent those soft keys in order for them to register.

 

Not like we're talking about the Intellivision controller anyway; where we rely on quick, fast and smooth-gliding, keypad diddling. :lol:

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The issue I see (based on the attached picture I've seen) is that the joystick 'shaft' is WAY too short. Pinched fingers when pressing UP are a distinct possibility here...

 

While I never had any issues using the Coleco made hand controller unlike MANY others, this new AtGames controller with it's very short shaft looks like it's going to present a considerable problem. Looks like the modders in the community might have another controller mod to add to their line-up of services.

 

Hopefully the CVFB sells well enough to warrant a CVFB 2 which will afford AtGames the opportunity to correct improve some items:

- move the power connector to the back of the unit

- lengthen the shaft of the controller

- group the Homebrew games together

 

Hmm. maybe they could lengthen the controller shaft and top it with threads that would allow the top to be interchangeable between the standard Coleco style disc, a ball-knob or a stick like the A2600's controller.

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Used with the overlays maybe? Otherwise, I barely have to press or indent those soft keys in order for them to register.

 

Not like we're talking about the Intellivision controller anyway; where we rely on quick, fast and smooth gliding, keypad diddling. :lol:

 

No, I tried it with and without the overlays. I've experienced it on both controllers.

 

Do you find the text a bit hard to read? (try Tournament Tennis in particular) What about the colors, particularly in Choplifter? Are the background mountains rainbow colored? (from a technical standpoint, perhaps it's a straight interpretation of the ColecoVision's video output, and as such does not benefit from whatever additional processing is inherent in the original?)

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*That's* the difference alright! Have already experienced some cramping/pinching going on and have barely played the thing.

 

Really like the side buttons and keypad though!

I DO like the shorter stick. I was 20 in 1983 when I bought my Colecovision (just to provide a reference to the fact that I was a young adult), and I hated the stick, which I found too long and cumbersome. I DO like this shorter version, and I haven't experienced any issues so far. It may be a matter of taste, though. However, I welcome the change. Just like I welcome the inversion of the side key actions in Cosmic Avenger. It made no sense to have torpedoes on the right and laser on the left. More modern games (Gradius anyone?) got us used to the opposite. Matter of taste in that case, also. I guess. Since I own all the originals, I guess I'm not that picky, and I was looking for something a bit different.

I love the side buttons and the keypad buttons, also.

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I DO like the shorter stick. I was 20 in 1983 when I bought my Colecovision (just to provide a reference to the fact that I was a young adult), and I hated the stick, which I found too long and cumbersome. I DO like this shorter version, and I haven't experienced any issues so far. It may be a matter of taste, though. However, I welcome the change. Just like I welcome the inversion of the side key actions in Cosmic Avenger. It made no sense to have torpedoes on the right and laser on the left. More modern games (Gradius anyone?) got us used to the opposite. Matter of taste in that case, also. I guess. Since I own all the originals, I guess I'm not that picky, and I was looking for something a bit different.

I love the side buttons and the keypad buttons, also.

 

Can you move well in Venture? I found the switched buttons annoying in some games.

 

As for the controller nub, it's almost like it was designed to be used with a thumb like a modern d-pad, but it doesn't work well for me doing that either. The classic ColecoVision claw hand grip is uncomfortable for me with the short numb.

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I also noticed there's no speech in Squish'em Sam. Anyone else confirm that?

Nope, no speech.

 

Do you find the text a bit hard to read? (try Tournament Tennis in particular)

Yes, the text in some games is a little fuzzy. LIke the title screen text in Tomarc the Barbarian.

 

What about the colors, particularly in Choplifter? Are the background mountains rainbow colored?

Yes, I noticed rainbow coloring too. In Mountain King, the player is tri-colored (green,white,magenta) instead of all white in the original. The botom floor of the cave and the floor in the throne room are multi-colored too instead of being all yellow. It's sort of like a test pattern of colors.

 

 

In some games, I think the short joystick is much too responsive. I haven't been able to race to the top of the mountain yet in Mountain King because the joystick is too sensitive.

 

The Heist plays way too slow. From the timer at top of the screen, it's only playing about half as fast as it should be.

Edited by ed1475
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Can you move well in Venture? I found the switched buttons annoying in some games.

 

As for the controller nub, it's almost like it was designed to be used with a thumb like a modern d-pad, but it doesn't work well for me doing that either. The classic ColecoVision claw hand grip is uncomfortable for me with the short numb.

Controls were sluggish in Colecovision Venture, but that was a matter of coding, not controllers. That said, I can play the Colecovision Flashback version much more easily than the original CV version, even with my favorite control system, aka the Atari 7800 gamepad.

The Flashback controller is made to be used with the thumb. I find it very natural that way. The old "thumb + index - stick - grip" method does not work with this one as it did with the old one. And, frankly, I don't miss that :).

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Controls were sluggish in Colecovision Venture, but that was a matter of coding, not controllers. That said, I can play the Colecovision Flashback version much more easily than the original CV version, even with my favorite control system, aka the Atari 7800 gamepad.

The Flashback controller is made to be used with the thumb. I find it very natural that way. The old "thumb + index - stick - grip" method does not work with this one as it did with the old one. And, frankly, I don't miss that :).

 

I really dislike the 7800 gamepad. For me, the best ColecoVision controllers are properly modded original ColecoVision controllers with oversized ball tops. The Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man controller mods I have are absolutely perfect. I really do think the hardware designer on the ColecoVision Flashback went with thumb-based control, and to me, for this type of system, that's not a good thing. I don't feel I can pIay these games any better that way, and in fact in some, it's far worse. I'd much rather have a simple mirroring of the ColecoVision original with nominal modern considerations/improvements.

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I really dislike the 7800 gamepad. For me, the best ColecoVision controllers are properly modded original ColecoVision controllers with oversized ball tops. The Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man controller mods I have are absolutely perfect. I really do think the hardware designer on the ColecoVision Flashback went with thumb-based control, and to me, for this type of system, that's not a good thing. I don't feel I can pIay these games any better that way, and in fact in some, it's far worse. I'd much rather have a simple mirroring of the ColecoVision original with nominal modern considerations/improvements.

I understand. I would not mind at all a V. 2 with (perfect? :)) replicas of the original controllers. The 7800 gamepad is what it is, but I find it better on CV than the Sega Master System pad. I've never owned a ball top CV controller, even though I was sort of drooling over the ball top mod ads in Electronic Games back in the days. It probably indeed is the best option. However, over the years I became a pad guy. So I guess I like this controller because it feels like a compromise between a pad and a joystick.

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I'm still confused about Toys "R" Us-I checked their website last night, and couldn't even find a listing for the word Colecovision.

I went to a Toys-R-Us today to hopefully see the CV-FB & no joy walking around store ....

 

then ask electronics sales person who didn't know anything about it

 

he was missspelling it on their Website & even with correct spelling nothing came up

 

nothing comes up now for Toys-R-Us web site or even Amazon.com ..... :o

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I took a fruitless trip to T-R-U yesterday, and didn't see ANY kind of electronic games there. :( However, I was tickled to find other throwbacks to my non-electronic youth - a Spirograph set and a Snoopy Snow Machine. If I look harder maybe I'll even find Light Brites and Shrinky-Dinks. Oooooh, memory lane....

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I went to a Toys-R-Us today to hopefully see the CV-FB & no joy walking around store ....

 

then ask electronics sales person who didn't know anything about it

 

he was missspelling it on their Website & even with correct spelling nothing came up

 

nothing comes up now for Toys-R-Us web site or even Amazon.com ..... :o

You have to Google "Colecovision Flashback" which will direct you to a specific store in the U.S. where you can pre-order it. The site i went to was a Toys-R-Us in New Jersey. The site says "coming to stores in October" i hope that includes Canadian Toys-R-Us stores as well

Edited by Rik
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Not 'as is'. The output signals are not the same as an original controller (adapters should be easily made though, like I did with the Intellivision Flashback controllers).

 

The issue I see (based on the attached picture I've seen) is that the joystick 'shaft' is WAY too short. Pinched fingers when pressing UP are a distinct possibility here...

 

attachicon.gifImageUploadedByTapatalk1409102104.680906.jpg

 

I find myself simply operating it with a thumb.

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I find myself simply operating it with a thumb.

But that's not the Colecovision the way I remember and love the Colecovision. It's a bit like putting the fire button on the opposite side of a 2600 joystick and telling people to just "adapt". It's not the same. It's not the way I played it. And if I'm buying a modern recreation of a retro system, I expect there may be some flaws with certain games, speed, emulation, but I don't expect it to force me to change the way I have always played it - the way my brain is HARD WIRED to play it.

 

That said, yes, it's $40. It's a no brainier purchase. Yes, I will still buy one when they are released. But my first order of business will be modding the "joy-nub" into a proper "joy-stub".

Edited by nurmix
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I just don't think the thumb-based method works either, but I can say that the controller does work better with the traditional thumb and forefinger grip the more you get used to it. Naturally, in some games, like Zaxxon (in fact, it may work better than on the original controllers), the controllers work better than in some of the others I've tried, where I've found it quite frustrating to use. I have yet to do a side-by-side comparison, but there are definitely color variances in certain background objects (more or less a rainbow effect on these objects) and sound variances from the original versions of the game.

 

I'll be curious if those who lengthen the shaft or put on a ball top find the controllers to work ideally, i.e., work well in all games, or they still exhibit some of the same issues.

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I also noticed there's no speech in Squish'em Sam. Anyone else confirm that?

 

I just tried the Squish'em Sam rom in blueMSX and also don't get the speech (apart from some garbled sound that is clearly heavily distorted speech). Does anyone else also experience this in blueMSX? Is this therefore a wider common emulation problem?

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