Intellivision newby; some questions ...

[Yosikuma]

So I just picked up an Intellivision Model I and some games (the super common ones -- Astrosmash, etc.).

 

I noticed that my player one controller's disc has a tendency to "stick" in a certain direction. What can I do to alleviate this?

 

Also, what games would you suggest to someone new to the platform?

 

Thanks!

[HunterZero]

Does spinning the disc change the location where the disc gets stuck?

 

Best idea is probably to take the controller apart, check for broken pieces or spilled sticky drink, and give the plastic parts a good clean. Check the mylar insert with conductive printing for damage/wear. If you clean the mylar contacts, give them a gentle clean with a damp cloth or small amount of isopropyl alcohol (be very careful as you could damage the printed material on the mylar).

 

Ensure that the disc spring and the white plastic washer are intact and correctly assembled. If the disc movement isn't smooth, use a non-conductive dry lube like white graphitic BN where the disc pivots in the back housing.

[HunterZero]

https://console5.com/techwiki/images/e/e1/Intellivision_Hand-Controller_Service_Flyer.pdf

[spacecadet]

Also, what games would you suggest to someone new to the platform?

 

It depends on which super-common games you already have. The Intellivision is a little different than most systems in that probably 90% of the games from its heyday are "very common" and probably 90% of its best games are among that group. I don't think of it as a system with a lot of hidden gems; its best games were generally its most popular. Some exceptions might be in the later INTV corp releases; mostly they just re-released older games but they did also put out some new ones and they were much more limited. I don't have a lot of those, although I do have a few of their arcade ports and sports games and they're generally good.

 

That said, obviously some games hold up today better than others. So here are some games that I think are still fun or unique, or are just best on Intellivision vs. other systems:

 

Atlantis

B-17 Bomber

Bump n Jump

Microsurgeon

Burger Time

Demon Attack

Frog Bog

Sea Battle

Space Battle

Tron: Solar Sailer

Tron: Deadly Discs

Utopia

 

You'll need an Intellivoice for Tron: Solar Sailer and B-17 Bomber, but those are literally like $5.

 

Obviously that's not an exhaustive list, just games that I've played recently that I think are still fun. And they're all common so you shouldn't have trouble finding them.

[HunterZero]

Thunder Castle and the AD&D games are worth tracking down, although Thunder Castle and Tower of Doom can be on the pricey side.

 

Thunder Castle

Lock 'n' Chase

Beauty and the Beast

Locomotion

Happy Trails

If you can track down the homebrew games Christmas Carol, Donkey Kong/D2K and Ms Pacman, they are amazing.

 

 

Here's the top games list as voted by AtariAge users:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/226879-top-50-intellivision-games-as-determined-by-you/?hl=+top%20+20

 

- J

[mr_me]

Sea Battle is a great game but is for two players only. Same thing with Biplanes on the Triple Action cart. I can recommend Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Space Battle, Auto Racing, Tron Deadly Discs, Dreadnaught Factor, Thunder Castle. A flash memory cart might not be a bad investment.

 

And that white plastic washer in the Intellivision controller is very important.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

So I just picked up an Intellivision Model I and some games (the super common ones -- Astrosmash, etc.).

 

I noticed that my player one controller's disc has a tendency to "stick" in a certain direction. What can I do to alleviate this?

 

Also, what games would you suggest to someone new to the platform?

 

Thanks!

Not saying that you don't have a controller issue, but it could be a technique thing. The disc works by rolling clockwise and counter clockwise. I notice "sticking" more in maze games where I try to change direction abruptly from up to down or right to left. Try rolling around the clock with the disc. If it's just blatantly sticking or worse, it could be the controller. If you own Golf or MLB, you can test the disc motion as both of those games utilize all 16 directions (aiming in golf and fielding the ball in MLB). MLB is also good for testing side buttons and the keypad. As a last resort, try taking apart the controller, but it can be tricky getting it back together properly if you're doing it for the first time, so be careful. There are a few decent videos on YouTube.

[Yosikuma]

Well I popped open the controller and found this. The Mylar under the disc has burned or rusted and caused this lovely ring. I have tried a bit of cleaning to no avail. It's pretty on there.

 

Suggestions?

[+intvsteve]

Ugh... That looks totally worn thorugh! Not sure if that can be repaired easily. I've tried conductive paint in the past, others use pens. For example this kind of stuff. Can't say what the rate of success is, though.

 

Getting good controller guts for a decent prices is a crap shoot.

 

If you're not set on keeping the system cosmetically pure, you could use a controller from the Intellivision Flashback along with an adapter cable. Not certain on stock there, and if the store there is operating effeciently. If you're handy, you can do the adapter cable yourself, too. Nurmix here on the forums has a youtube video showing the process, IIRC.

[Yosikuma]

If you're handy, you can do the adapter cable yourself, too.

 

Hehehe.

 

BAAAAHAAAHAAHAAAA!

 

Yeah, not so much. I can operate a screw driver and I've replaced a socketed chip once. Handy is not an adjective you can apply to me.

[IMBerzerk]

Search eBay for parts only units. Eventually you'll find one that you can buy for a good price. Anyone that collects old consoles knows that you need a few extra scrap units just to keep the main one working.

[mr_me]

 

Hehehe.

 

BAAAAHAAAHAAHAAAA!

 

Yeah, not so much. I can operate a screw driver and I've replaced a socketed chip once. Handy is not an adjective you can apply to me.

Like Intvsteve said, Intellivision Productions sells the adapter cable as well, or you can contact atariage user Nurmix directly.

 

If the plastic circuit has a hole worn through, you'd have to patch the hole first before you can repair it with conductive ink. Not sure how well that might turn out but there is no harm in trying.

 

I wonder what game they were playing to make that hole.

Edited November 3, 2017 by mr_me

[SiberianSpForces]

Luck has it that I have a parts intelli that's taking up space. I'll be home later tonight, so I can check/test the controllers.

[Yosikuma]

That would be fantastic!

[SiberianSpForces]

With just swapping them, they don't work properly. I'll give them a good cleaning/look over and try again.

[Yosikuma]

I appreciate it!!

[Yosikuma]

Also, I tried ordering the Flashback controller and adapter from the links above and, as of today, I have yet to hear anything back. Does this store still operate??

[mr_me]

https://intellivision-productions-inc.myshopify.com/

You should get a confirmation email if you order anything from their online store. Looks like they are out of controllers now. If they don't respond to emails try calling them.

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/contactus.html

 

If they are out of controllers you'll have to go to the secondary market (eg ebay) to find an Intellivision Flashback with two controllers.

 

See this for more info. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/272526-cyber-monday-lives-rocks-limited-edition-couldnt-resist/?p=3899116

Edited November 28, 2017 by mr_me

[Yosikuma]

I actually just saw the email about Keith's passing so I am understanding the delay. I feel terrible for complaining now, considering the news!!

Edited November 29, 2017 by Yosikuma

[Gernot]

 

I wonder what game they were playing to make that hole.

this i wondered to, i fixed one long time ago with the suggested conductive ink (thanks pa there was nearly nothing missing in your stock)

another broken one i fixed, believe it or not, with a number pad from a calculator, it looked quite strange.

this costed me days,

because internet in 1985?

friends who used the inty or had a old for spare parts????

everything i had to figure out myself.

taking a ohm meter and tested the function and created a table, i wonder today what capabilities i had in my youth

(i still have them, comment from "back to work program": "Mr. Schrader you are amazing you can make any tool from a piece of wire". but still i have no job, to know how to cheat ppl is much more important today, but i wonder where will lead us this, certainly no useful THING will result from it)

 

however, i assume it's burned, it looks like, corrosion it can hardly be because i guess it's a graphite coating and graphite can't corrode, but it can desintegrate (burn off).

two things can cause this;

to much power, but it's hard to imagine where this should come from.

heat, which is to me the most comprehensible possibility.

the intellivision has the power adapter integrated in very little space and with far to less cooling thus (you might have noticed this already) the case heats up enormousely above the power adapter.

unfortunately it's still powered when switched off and it still produces heat (only to disconnect from power grid will stop this)

i can imagine someone has the console placed decorative in his living room and still connected to the grid.

the paddle might be left for a long time in the worst position you can imagine, right on top of the power adapter, this will first cause the thing to heat up more because the controllor shields the heat flow

somewhat, the console will heat up a little more (perhaps open it once i assume you will see that it got to hot), if any conducting wire is heated up it has a higher resistance and it will produce even more heat, this is progressing until... yeah until in the worst case the whole electrical thingy will blow up stating this with a little blue cloud.

heat is a killer!

i have no idea why they placed the power adapter inside the case instead outside (except for design reasons).

 

even worse sony did the same mistake for their first Playstation, after they released the smaller PSone with an external power adapter all the problems of old Playstation was gone.

one could guess they might have learned something from the past but it seems they doesn't, they only learned how to save 1/2 cents.

the recent active ventilation of the PS is neither a good solution, it still heats up and it's noisy, what the heck put that shitty thing outside dammit!

pa's selfmade universal power adapter had cooling plates far bigger as the whole thing itself, it looked to my as a child very futuristic with these "wings" attached, but he didn't made this for fun.

this thing was not to kill and i assume it still does its work in someones lab after 40 years of use.

(caugh) i used it to blow up electrolyte condensers - greetings to jeri ellsworth (puff - puff - puff, i had a good laugh when i saw this at the end of one of her yt clips)

shit! i even started with disassembling as a child, i neither had any idea about but likewise to her it brought me experience, unlike her i didn't made it to a chip designer, i design space ships which is in fact not worse).

 

thus i really assume it was heat by looking at your picture of the controller mylar.

even if you can handle only a screwdriver i suggest to open the console, just to take a closer look at it.

an experienced dude (oh sorry girl as well) can tell you the problem by smelling (ok or looking at it).

because i really fear there is most likely a overheating problem, or even worse to much power at the controller also this i can imagine can be caused by overheating.

a wire don't likes heat but for semiconductors heat is acid and poison together, if it didn't blows them up it alters at least their function.

always by the minded way of progressing effects, thus it's to imagine a transistor outputs far more power as it should by specification.

after it was overheated the effect stays in a semiconductor, it's burned out.

 

if it's clean inside and has no marks of overheating you're lucky and can close the console and attach a new controller.

 

if it looks overheated i suggest to test the power layed on the controller first.

either check the second one to compare or use one of the schemata you find of the inty in the web.

if that result is negative you can also close it.

 

if not, then you're in trouble, little trouble at least, because if the power is really to high (which i see as the worst and least possible) any controller attached will have the same problem after a while.

 

most probably your lucky and the burning was caused by orange juice and the resulting high transition resistance.

 

but it could be as well all of the possibilities together, covered & stored in the wrong place (above a "raygun", i mean a TV tube), a little heat here, a little sticky fluid there this and that and all littles together result in malfunction.

 

-------------

 

wie papa immer zu sagen pflegte: "das geht ja schon kaputt wenn man es nur scharf ansieht"

 

 

especially when it's made in Hong Kong or Korea - nah, koreans can make quality products it only matters what i order and how much i will pay for it.

as a short example Logitech compared to Trust controllers, they might look similar, they are even priced the same by the retailer, but if you open one worlds will differ them.

unfortunately i bought last year a Trust controller because the retailer has Logitech no longer in stock i would have to order it. since i liked to replace immediatly a long time used, 10 years of use, dual stick from Logitech i bought it rightaway. but it didn't lasted long and the right trigger wasn't working proper anymore. i opened it and had a not so good laugh.

if i would have made such pa would have called me an idiot "it can't work this way". the button was soldered directly on the PCB in a 90° angle, malfunction is programmed and

it had a malfunction wich was workside corrected with a piece of paper to fill the small gap between trigger outside and button inside, such things pass Q.C. !?

it's programmed and i assume every Trust controller of this model will have this fix, you simply can't do this, you can't solder a button in 90° angle on a PCB that's bullshit.

first time you press a little harder the button bends out of position and the controller doesn't works as expected. this autumn, one year after purchasing the left stick sendet wrong data and it became totally useless, the button i could fix but not the analogue stick controller. last week i ordered a Logitech and oh what a beautiful beefy thing it is, made in Korea as well but a complete different thing.

worst is they cost almost the same but the leaking quality of a Trust you can get from a brandless for $5.

 

never trust a Trust or any brand using superlatives for their products, you can be sure super means supershit.

 

 

 

yeah order the LTO Flash, if not for playing games (i'm sure you like to play them all) then at least to check the controllers with Joe's fabulous Controller Checking Demo.

(it's dammit the only useful i have for the macbook, i mean overall you can't check the function of a connected controller, not even with any of the controller softwares you can get for OSX. thus as strange as it sounds i need for this jzintv and the controller checking demo, something is missing in OSX, i assume it's the OS).

 

always disconnect your intellivision from the power grid if you don't use it for a longer time - it will live longer.

(and never play Bump 'n Jump for 30 hrs, it can cost your consoles life by smashing it on a wall)

Edited December 7, 2017 by Gernot