WispFollower Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) I picked up some miscellaneous stuff today. I can google some stuff about it, but it only takes me so far. I was hoping I could get a little help from the wise collectors and historians around here, as I've noticed sometimes a single person on Atari Age knows more than a search engine on particular topics. Any info is appreciated- history, function, use, rarity, current value, etc. Thank you! Edited October 28, 2012 by WispFollower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I do have a tip for you. The games for the Supercharger came on tape. However, you can find them on-line in WAV format. Convert them to MP3 format (using very high quality) and then you can play the games using any old portable MP3 player. Frogger for Supercharger is just fantastic. I don't think they are worth a lot, since a lot of people have no idea about them. Maybe $20-$30 I would think. But not completely sure. I have one that I bought new probably about 1984 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WispFollower Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 It seems like such a strange technology. Thanks for the tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Seek out a CD called Stella Gets a New Brain. It is all Starpath game ROM's in .wav format on a single CD, and you can play the entire library from any CD player. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 It seems like such a strange technology. Thanks for the tips! As if your avatar doesn't give it away, but you're showing your age! This "strange" technology is how we used to communicate via baud rate modems and play/record our games and programs to magnetic media waaaaay back before you were born. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WispFollower Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) As if your avatar doesn't give it away, but you're showing your age! This "strange" technology is how we used to communicate via baud rate modems and play/record our games and programs to magnetic media waaaaay back before you were born. Haha, yeah I didn't mean to insult it. I guess I didn't elaborate on my thoughts. I was thinking about the context of it being used to plug a video game cartridge into a cassette or cd player. It's like some video game creator was a less extreme version of Dr. Frankenstein, making crazy combinations. Edited October 28, 2012 by WispFollower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Haha, yeah I didn't mean to insult it. No insult taken! BTW: there's a program for generic PC users that can modulate .bin or .rom files into .wav files for use with the Supercharger... have fun with it! BTW: An unmodified Supercharger can only play so many 2k and 4k games. There's info to be found on the interwebs about that as well... http://www.romhackin.../utilities/712/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidLikesIntellivision Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I like this video that runs a demo in the Starpath 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 No insult taken! BTW: there's a program for generic PC users that can modulate .bin or .rom files into .wav files for use with the Supercharger... have fun with it! BTW: An unmodified Supercharger can only play so many 2k and 4k games. There's info to be found on the interwebs about that as well... http://www.romhackin.../utilities/712/ This is great info. I didn't realize you could play standard 2k and 4k games! With an old MP3 player, you have a ghetto harmony cart. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 This is great info. I didn't realize you could play standard 2k and 4k games! With an old MP3 player, you have a ghetto harmony cart. Ghetto Harmony cart... exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) back then tape was often used with home computers as disk drives were very expensive. When I got my VIC 20 in 1981, the Datasette was around $70 while the floppy disk drive was $600-$700 (don't recall exact, but it was over twice the cost of the computer, which was $299). $299 for the computer doesn't sound like much, but that's $730 or so when adjusted for inflation. A $600 disk drive would be $1460. Edited October 29, 2012 by SpiceWare 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WispFollower Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 I'm getting excited about finding this thing. Thanks for the info everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilevoix Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I have one with 6 games. Really ups the quality of the 2600. I will look for that cd to get more games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Look for an old thread around Atari Age where Nukey Shay converts many of the incompatible 4K ROM's for Starpath compatibility and posts them for free download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 What you have can also be used as a multicart of sorts. I second the idea of the mp3 player and Supercharger combo, but you will need a 1/8 inch mono female to 1/8 stereo male converter. Even rat shack still carries those. The Starpath library screams quality throughout. You might seek out a couple of the games and then decide if you want to build up the whole collection of them. I have them all on tape, but I still load the copies I dumped of my own tapes with a computer or mp3 player. I use a modified Supercharger while my original one sits there like the museum piece that it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Can you play Supercharger games on the Harmony cart, at all? I'd like to try out some of these games. A bit OT, I know, but I didn't think it warranted a new thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidLikesIntellivision Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Can you play Supercharger games on the Harmony cart, at all? I'd like to try out some of these games. A bit OT, I know, but I didn't think it warranted a new thread... YES! You can play supercharger games. In fact, I have a directory only for Supercharger games! I play those games with the joystick I bought from you The only issue I'm aware of is the final score of Escape from Mindmaster. It's hard, sometimes impossible to read the final points. --------- Now I have one doubt too! I've heard the Supercharger by canal 3 (Brazilian clone) doesn't need any mod to play all kinds of roms... Is it true? To be honest, I'm searching for Canal 3 supercharger but It's hard to find them even for me... There's one in ebay but it's U$ 199.00. Too expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 That's good news. I'm off to try some of these games out then. PS: Glad the joystick's getting some proper use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Stella used to mess up the final score in Mindmaster, but that was fixed. Something about the state the Atari or the Supercharger starts up was causing the ending to play wrong. I am surprised to hear that the Harmony does this. I'll have to check it out. There was just a high score contest with Mindmaster and I didn't read anything about Harmony problem, although maybe people were only playing on a Supercharger or Stella? I have had my Supercharger since I bought it new. I had the cassettes, but they are currently misplaced. Play everying off iPod 60GB. Added all modded games by Nukey Shay to play on unmodified. It's a good start with lots of 2k and 4K games, but so many good games are more than 4K it made buying a Harmony Cart worth the money for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Stella used to mess up the final score in Mindmaster, but that was fixed. Something about the state the Atari or the Supercharger starts up was causing the ending to play wrong. I am surprised to hear that the Harmony does this. I'll have to check it out. There was just a high score contest with Mindmaster and I didn't read anything about Harmony problem, although maybe people were only playing on a Supercharger or Stella? IIRC, this is actually an issue with certain consoles; some work fine, and others exhibit the graphical glitch. Stella was eventually 'fixed', in that it emulates those consoles that show the score correctly. A somewhat similar case can be seen in the 'Kool Aid Man' ROM, which Stella currently doesn't emulate correctly, but some consoles do (and others don't). I hope to get this one 'fixed' in Stella too. I put fixed in quotes since it depends on which version of the console you're emulating. Put another way, some of these ROMs fail on legitimate hardware too. So who's to say which is more correct?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidLikesIntellivision Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Thanks, stephena! I'll try some other consoles and see if one will work perfectly! --------------- Just tested with the Expansion Module #1 for the Colecovision. And the problem is right there... I think all Coleco EM#1 will have the gliches... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Here is the link to the thread with the hacks: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/65897-supercharger-conversion-hacks/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Haha, yeah I didn't mean to insult it. I guess I didn't elaborate on my thoughts. I was thinking about the context of it being used to plug a video game cartridge into a cassette or cd player. It's like some video game creator was a less extreme version of Dr. Frankenstein, making crazy combinations. As Spiceware pointed out, back in the 70's and early 80's, cassette tapes for computer storage was a pretty common method due to it's low cost. Floppy drives were still very expensive. The Supercharger, besides loading games off tape, also expands the 2600's RAM from 128 bytes to 6k - allowing far higher res graphics on the system. Take a look at the Parker Bros. vs. Starpath Frogger for instance: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thanks, stephena! I'll try some other consoles and see if one will work perfectly! --------------- Just tested with the Expansion Module #1 for the Colecovision. And the problem is right there... I think all Coleco EM#1 will have the gliches... No! My EM#1 plays the end just fine with my Supercharger! That's all I had as a kid because we sold the Atari to get the Coleco Exp #1. I had to widen the plastic slot to accommodate the slightly bigger Supercharger. I never knew there was a glitch until I saw it in Stella years later. It does make sense that the different Atari model chips are the same cause for this as Kool Aid Man. Thanks for pointing that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bcombee Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 There were a couple of CD compilations made back in the 90's for Supercharger owners called "Worship the Woodgrain" featuring as many of the 2K/4K ROMs as possible converted into audio files for loading. In some cases, games were modified to change code that would trigger the SC's built-in bankswitching logic too, IIRC. Some collectors might have this for sale. There's a 2008 thread with download links at http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/125293-worship-the-woodgrain-in-mp3-format-4-disks-2pg-track-list/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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