Atari Flashback 6

[Bill Loguidice]

Would it be too expensive to add an SD card slot to it? Or just have the connectors for one inside. That way the hard-core minority can mod it, but the general population will still buy a new version with more games.

 

They can easily do it, but it would have to be authorized by Atari. It's my understanding they've never authorized it. As you'll note, for the Sega stuff there's no issue with cartridge slots or SD card support. Sega is good that way.

[Bill Loguidice]

You know, now that you guys mention it, I do vaguely remember Lunar Lander now from the Atari Flashback 2. AtGames got involved from the Flashback 3 on, so what came before didn't involve them. I'd be curious what happened to the Lunar Lander ROM as I'm not sure how available it is. It would be nice to include, although I'd put it on the second tier of nice-to-have arcade game additions (meaning a nice game to have, but not necessarily one with any significant name recognition).

[Newsdee]

That's very interesting... I guess it makes sense Atari is worried.

 

How about having a way to mod it for higher video quality? S-Video is probably not difficult, HDMI probably too expensive (extra components) but maybe expose RGB+Sync for people to mod?

[Bill Loguidice]

That's very interesting... I guess it makes sense Atari is worried.

 

How about having a way to mod it for higher video quality? S-Video is probably not difficult, HDMI probably too expensive (extra components) but maybe expose RGB+Sync for people to mod?

 

All I can say is that in my past discussions with them about using HDMI over composite, while technically possible, it would raise the costs beyond what it needs to be sold at. If it's priced at any higher than it's presently sold at, apparently the big box retailers wouldn't carry it. As for other video outputs, since modern TVs usually only have composite or HDMI, there's probably no incentive to add in anything else for the type of audience this is targeted to.

[Newsdee]

Ah what I was suggesting is just having the connection points on the motherboard. Leave it to us crazies to mod the connectors/cables in :-)

 

Shouldn't impact final sale price, unless they are reusing the same moterboard fro previous manufacturing.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Newsdee

[Bill Loguidice]

Ah what I was suggesting is just having the connection points on the motherboard. Leave it to us crazies to mod the connectors/cables in :-)

 

Shouldn't impact final sale price, unless they are reusing the same moterboard fro previous manufacturing.

 

Understood. Yeah, I would think if they were going to go to the trouble of doing that, they'd need a justification to do other things to the motherboard. This is a common platform for them that they haven't changed in quite a while hardware-wise.

[Keatah]

I rather like Lunar Lander. The flashback versions could use some improvement in the resolution of the instrument panel, not the text font, but the precision of the counting. I'd also like to see some consistency in the amount of left/right thrusting. Seems a little biased with the right movements being more easily made.

 

All in all not too bad.

 

ADDED: A google search will turn up 1 version of the rom. There are 2 that I know of.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Keatah

[garyd97]

I'm discussing the 2016 products with AtGames now (again, it looks like just Atari and Sega updates), so if anyone has any suggestions for games to include - particularly arcade games (Battlezone, Pooyan, etc., are some obvious ones that come to mind) - let me know and I'll pass it on to them. They're looking for new games to license.

Battlezone 2600 with correct emulation

Wired controllers

Keep all current games

Food Fight 7800

us games- gopher, squeezebox, eggomania

[Atariboy]

Restoring Battlezone (And fixing their emulator so it can be properly enjoyed) is a must.

 

Ignoring titles with obvious problems that all but certainly are insurmountable (The Nintendo ports, movie tie-ins, etc.), I think the following Atari ports would make fine additions.

 

-Berzerk,

-Moon Patrol

-Mouse Trap (I believe they own this Coleco conversion)

-Phoenix

-Vanguard

 

And rebrand Othello as Reversi to get it out there. It's a fine classic videogame adaptation of the board game classic. While it won't sell any Flashbacks, it's still a nice complement to the lineup and one more game that's worthwhile to play. And best of all, it's free and clear just with a renaming.

 

And while perhaps too expensive, dealing with Namco and Warner Brothers would be advisable. Some excellent 1st party conversions would open up here, including the following classics. I'm not sure about the Namco properties, but suspect that Defender and Joust would at least fall within the realm of financial possibilities here.

 

-Defender

-Defender 2/Stargate

-Dig Dug

-Galaxian

-Joust

-Jr. Pac-Man

-Ms. Pac-Man

-Pac-Man (Bound to be beneficial since despite its mixed reputation, it's a 2600 game that everyone had)

-Pole Position

 

Plenty of fine 3rd party titles that would be viable possibilities, too. Bump N Jump for an example that I'd love to see (They already have a relationship with Intellivision Productions, the likely owner of the 2600 port, and G-Mode is in the business of licensing their Data East properties.).

 

And I hardly think that we even need to mention Activision. Getting them to play ball would be a great boon to the continued success of this product line.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Atariboy

[AtarinDave]

Yeah, Berzerk sounds good, too.

[onmode-ky]

And best of all, it's free and clear just with a renaming.

Isn't that the slogan of the Witness Protection Program?

 

Sorry, I don't really have anything substantive to add to the current conversation. I've actually never been very familiar with the 2600's library, particularly when it comes to third-party releases.

 

With people posting about owning actual FB6 units recently, I thought I'd soon get answers to my questions from post #51, but not yet, it seems.

 

onmode-ky

[AtarinDave]

If anyone here does get a FB6 (incidentally, they should be readily available now at your local Toys 'R Us stores), here are the questions to which I would like to get answers:

 

- Question: Is Battlezone actually in the system?

- Projected Answer: No, it's a misprint on the box.

 

- Question: Is Secret Quest fully playable, with some substitute in place for the B&W/Color switch function?

- Projected Answer: No, it's as broken now as it was the last time AtGames included it in a Flashback (2011, FB3).

 

- Question: Does Indy 500 work with the VCS driving controller?

- Projected Answer: No. But maybe it works with paddles?

 

- Question: Does holding down Start + Select while powering on the system still make it go into the debug mode?

- Projected Answer: Yes, because it's the same underlying hardware.

 

- Question: Does the debug mode still say "Titan"?

- Projected Answer: Yes, because it's the same underlying hardware.

 

Oh, great and powerful Fuji gods, let someone give us the answers to these questions!

 

 

If it were officially licensed, though, shouldn't there be a copyright/trademark notice on the box, like there is for Taito, Intellivision Productions, and Good Deal Games? And, May 2016 is far enough away that the FB6 will be an afterthought by then. I'm inclined to think it is not licensed.

 

onmode-ky

 

I believe your projected answers are spot on. I don't think the Indy 500 driving controller will work, but it will most likely work with paddles.

 

If I there's something missing from my reply, someone correct me.

Edited October 15, 2015 by AtarinDave

[Newsdee]

Just wondering, what would be Atari's view of hacking ET to change sprites and call it "Alien" or something like that? That way they remove the movie tie-in?

[toiletunes]

The only thing ET has going for it is name recognition. Change the name and there'd be no reason to add it to the lineup. Folks like us could figure it out and enjoy, but the general public, not so much.

[Bill Loguidice]

Thanks, guys. I sent another email with a few of the additional suggestions for arcade games that I previously missed. I'll let you know of any updates if I get them (not expecting much, the hard part is now on them).

[Bill Loguidice]

By the way, Battlezone is NOT in the actual product. Here's the official list (the prior comment about the new games on the list was 100% correct, obviously):

 

1 3D Tic-Tac-Toe

2 Adventure

3 Adventure II

4 Air Raiders TM

5 Air·Sea Battle

6 Aquaventure

7 Armor Ambush TM

8 Asteroids

9 Astroblast TM

10 Atari Climber

11 Backgammon

12 Basketball

13 Black Jack

14 Bowling

15 Breakout

16 Canyon Bomber

17 Centipede

18 Championship Soccer

19 Chase It

20 Circus Atari

21 Combat

22 Combat Two

23 Crystal Castles

24 Dark Cavern TM (Night Stalker)

25 Demons to Diamonds

26 Desert Falcon

27 Dodge 'Em

28 Double Dunk

29 Escape It

30 Fatal Run

31 Flag Capture

32 Football

33 Frog Pond

34 Frogs and Flies

35 Front Line

36 Fun with Numbers

37 Golf

38 Gravitar

39 Hangman

40 Haunted House

41 Home Run

42 Human Cannonball

43 Indy 500

44 International Soccer TM

45 Jungle Hunt

46 Maze Craze

47 Millipede

48 Miniature Golf

49 Miss It

50 Missile Command

51 MotoRodeo

52 Night Driver

53 Off-the-Wall

54 Outlaw

55 Polaris

56 Pong (Video Olimpics)

57 Radar Lock

58 Realsports Baseball

59 Realsports Basketball

60 Realsports Soccer

61 Realsports Volleyball

62 Return to Haunted House

63 Saboteur

64 Save Mary

65 Sea Battle TM

66 Secret Quest

67 Shield Shifter

68 Sky Diver

69 Slot Machine

70 Slot Racers

71 Solaris

72 Space AttackTM

73 Space Invaders

74 Space War

75 Sprintmaster

76 Star Ship

77 Star StrikeTM

78 Steeplechase

79 Stellar Track

80 Street Racer

81 Strip Off

82 Submarine Commander

83 Super Baseball

84 Super Breakout

85 Super Challenge TM Baseball

86 Super Challenge TM Football (NFL Football)

87 Super Football

88 Surround

89 Sword FightTM

90 Swordquest: Earthworld

91 Swordquest: Fireworld

92 Swordquest: Waterworld

93 Tempest

94 Video Checkers

95 Video Chess

96 Video Pinball

97 Warlords

98 Wizard

99 Yars' Return

100 Yars' Revenge

[AtarinDave]

Thanks for the list, Bill.

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, Berzerk sounds good, too.

That's such a great game for zoning out. I'd love to see it come back in some official way. Atari shut down a free Android game called Manik that had nearly identical graphics, sound, and gameplay to VCS Berzerk. I was sorry to see that go, even more so if they don't have a way to bring it back.

 

I have enough retro stuff in emulation now, not to mention several of the Atari Flashback units. I guess it's nice that they revise it every year, but 6 is an awful lot of these things. I guess someone is buying them every year.

[Bill Loguidice]

I got word back about some of the questions. I was told the issue with Secret Quest "should be resolved." Considering how the game works, I somehow doubt that, but don't have a unit of my own to see.

 

In regards to Indy 500, the license was received from Atari and left at that. The racing controller doesn't work, but the emulation code allows the joystick to control it. Again, without a unit of my own, I don't know how well (can't imagine all that well).

[Oldschool80skid]

My brother-in-law said that his flashback 6 has quit a game in play and reset to the game's initial screen. This happened to him with both asteroids and space invaders. He said it's usually after playing for an hour or more. He said that is playing the console for more than hour, but not the particular game itself. Has this happened to anyone else? It sounds like a bug in the emulator.

Thanks,

Tom

[Atariboy]

Yeah, nothing new there. Crashes and oddness have been a way of life with the Flashback 3-5.

[TrekkiELO]

You know, now that you guys mention it, I do vaguely remember Lunar Lander now from the Atari Flashback 2. AtGames got involved from the Flashback 3 on, so what came before didn't involve them. I'd be curious what happened to the Lunar Lander ROM as I'm not sure how available it is. It would be nice to include, although I'd put it on the second tier of nice-to-have arcade game additions (meaning a nice game to have, but not necessarily one with any significant name recognition).

 

Well, these three games were all original to the Atari Flashback 2 & Atari Flashback 2+, exclusives by Curt Vendel and his Legacy team...

 

Atari Flashback 3 included Adventure II

Atari Flashback 4 included Return to Haunted Housewith

Atari Flashback 6 includes Yars' Return

[TrekkiELO]

Hey Bill,

 

Hope I'm not too late!

 

What about Kangaroo?

 

Manufactured by Sun Electronics and distributed by Atari, much like what they did with most Namco games.

Edited October 27, 2015 by TrekkiELO

[Atariboy]

I see that Meijer will have these for $29.99 on Black Friday.

 

[onmode-ky]

Geez, their regular price is $59.99? Do theirs come with a full set of overlays? ;P Or maybe that's the price after Indy 500 licensing kicked in!

 

Dollar General will have the 2015 AtGames Atari and Sega offerings for $28 on Thanksgiving Day. Also on that day, they'll have Campbell's Chunky brand soups for $1. Mmm mmm good. Unfortunately, the sole 2015 plug-n-play system that I'm even vaguely interested in, Star Wars: Blaster Strike, hasn't appeared in any Black Friday ads yet.

 

onmode-ky