Pete Rose Compatibility Issue

[+SabertoothRetro]

I recently picked up a copy of Pete Rose Baseball along with several other titles from another AA user. Curiously, Pete Rose does not work in my primary unit but it seems to work fine on an earlier model. All of the other Absolute and Activision games work fine on both systems. I know that some 2600 titles will not work on certain 7800 models but this is the first time I've experienced this with a 7800 game. Has anyone else experienced the issue with this or any other 7800 titles?

 

TIA!

[gorfcadet]

Regular Berzerk 2600 and Berserk VE both hate my 7800s. I have 2 7800s, one modded and one regular and they both hated those carts, but they fire up just fine in my 2600s. The 7800 in general has some weird stuff going on in its revision cycle. Everything else in my 100+ cart collection works fine.

[Cousin Vinnie]

Pete Rose always takes me a few tries to work

[fiddlepaddle]

During the 7800 manufacturing life, they made small incrememtal changes, probably to lower costs, and in the process tightened up some of the specs a bit, resulting in some games that may have been just barely functional becoming just barely non-functional due to the changes. In general, in my experience, the earlier your 7800 was manufactured, the less likely it is to have compatibility issues with 7800 games.

[Lynxpro]

What's with the extra timing chip that was added to the 2nd and 3rd revisions to the 7800? I noticed that mentioned in the wiki but not the FAQ.

[+Mitch]

What's with the extra timing chip that was added to the 2nd and 3rd revisions to the 7800? I noticed that mentioned in the wiki but not the FAQ.

 

It is mentioned briefly in the 7800 FAQ hosted here at AtariAge.

 

Basically some early 7800s had issues with a couple 2600 Sara chip games (Dark Chambers and Stargate/Defender 2) Atari added the timing circuit to fix these games. In the process they broke compatibility with the Supercharger and a few Activision games. Activision later re-released the games with a different bankswitching scheme that was compatible with the 7800. Atari removed the timing circuit from the last run or two of 7800s.

 

Another issue that happens is that the later 7800s used a different mold for the cart port and sleeve that was a little smaller than it should have been. This caused some third party games to not fit properly in the 7800. Imagic and Activision/Absolute cart shells seem to be about the worst in this regard.

 

There are also some random issues that affect both 2600 and 7800 systems due to slight differences in the TIA chips used. For example, the last rev TIA chip has a nasty issue with 2600 Kool-Aid Man.

 

And finally there are random issues with 7800s starting to age and parts starting to wear out that cause some games to act strangely.

 

There; aren't you glad you asked.

 

Mitch

[Lynxpro]

It is mentioned briefly in the 7800 FAQ hosted here at AtariAge.

 

Basically some early 7800s had issues with a couple 2600 Sara chip games (Dark Chambers and Stargate/Defender 2) Atari added the timing circuit to fix these games. In the process they broke compatibility with the Supercharger and a few Activision games. Activision later re-released the games with a different bankswitching scheme that was compatible with the 7800. Atari removed the timing circuit from the last run or two of 7800s.

 

Another issue that happens is that the later 7800s used a different mold for the cart port and sleeve that was a little smaller than it should have been. This caused some third party games to not fit properly in the 7800. Imagic and Activision/Absolute cart shells seem to be about the worst in this regard.

 

There are also some random issues that affect both 2600 and 7800 systems due to slight differences in the TIA chips used. For example, the last rev TIA chip has a nasty issue with 2600 Kool-Aid Man.

 

And finally there are random issues with 7800s starting to age and parts starting to wear out that cause some games to act strangely.

 

There; aren't you glad you asked.

 

Mitch

Thanks, Mitch!

[ColecoGemini]

If you happen to have a 7800 with the suspect timing circuit in it, the fix to make the Starpath Supercharger and the Activision FE bank switched games (Space Shuttle, Robot Tank, Decathlon) work is really easy. One capacitor can be removed.

 

Or you can just use a Harmony cart, as every game works with it.

[Lynxpro]

If you happen to have a 7800 with the suspect timing circuit in it, the fix to make the Starpath Supercharger and the Activision FE bank switched games (Space Shuttle, Robot Tank, Decathlon) work is really easy. One capacitor can be removed.

 

Or you can just use a Harmony cart, as every game works with it.

 

Except 7800 games.

[+SabertoothRetro]

Thanks all for the interesting replies so far. I guess that the 7800 is just a finicky beast. I'll definitely be on the look out for an ''86 or earlier modelfor more consistent compatibility.

 

Has anyone tried the Syzygy cart guides? I wonder if that would help the fit on some of these carts.

http://www.syzygycompany.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=52

[HammR25]

Those are the same guides that will be used in the XM. They should work great.