Hyperkin gave me a Retron 77 at E3

[+swlovinist]

 

 

John, if you lived closer.... you know I would take you up on that

 

No worries friend. I little jealous you are getting one first but no worries I know that you will do a do a good job with the review. The same reason why I cant come up more friend. I have end of year cleanup in my classroom next week or I would love to join you!

[Schizophretard]

I'm interested in what version of Stella it is running and the features of that version.

[SS]

I want to know if it actually has a SD card slot. I cannot see one in any of the released pictures.

[AtariLeaf]

I second the testing of paddle games (my favorites) and some of the latest homebrews if you have them. Congrats MJR, I'm glad you got one first as your opinion (and John Hancock as well) is one I actually look forward to hearing

[DirtyHairy]

Hey guys and gals. Hyperkin gave me a Retron '77 at E3 for review for my YouTube channel. What sort of things would you like me to test and review in that video? What questions do you have about the device? I wanted to come to the biggest Atari fans first, so let me know as my video will probably get released next week!

 

 

Awesome I'd like to add Meltdown to the list; if the firmware is indeed based on Stella 4.7, graphics should be glitched. For DPC+ home-brews (Stay Frost 2, Space Rocks, etc.), be sure to try them via SD, too, as they cannot be fully dumped from the 6507 bus. It'd be interesting to see whether CDF cartridges (Draconian, Super Cobra Arcade, ...) run, but chances are they don't unless Hyperkin backported the corresponding code from Stella 5 (again, try those from SD, too, they cannot be dumped from the 6507 bus).

[+Karl G]

Hyperkin has said that only joysticks and paddles are supported, but I'm curious if a genesis-compatible controller would work? If so, will homebrews or hacks that make use of a second button work?

 

If you are trying out new and upcoming homebrews, I wouldn't mind finding out for certain that Space Game works on the console.

[Noah98]

The one I really hope works is Stay Frosty 2. Its one of my favorite 2600 games of all time. Please test if you have it!

 

Also, Space Rocks. I think Hyperkin said Space Rocks works fine though.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

For when is your review planned? I suppose some people are eagerly waiting for how well it works.

[digdugnate]

i'm looking forward to the review!

 

i'm curious about homebrew carts and SD card ability (like probably everyone else, lol)

[DirtyHairy]

The one I really hope works is Stay Frosty 2. Its one of my favorite 2600 games of all time. Please test if you have it!

 

Also, Space Rocks. I think Hyperkin said Space Rocks works fine though.

 

 

As they are (according to Andrew) using Stella 4, Stay Frosty 2 should work, provided that the SOC is fast enough to handle ARM emulation. However, music is likely to sound off --- there was a fix for that in Stella 5.

Edited June 14, 2018 by DirtyHairy

[H.E.R.O.]

I'm interested in what version of Stella it is running and the features of that version.

 

This is why I think Super Cobra Arcade won't work because it was a recently released version that was needed to play it.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

In a stream of Zeropage Homebrew James stated that 16K is the limit. I suppose he is wrong, no?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

This is why I think Super Cobra Arcade won't work because it was a recently released version that was needed to play it.

Since they promised to follow Stella's license and the emulator can be updated, it should be no problem to update to a newer version. Assuming the CPU can handle it.

[+stephena]

Assuming the CPU can handle it.

 

Yes, that's the big question mark at this point. We don't even know how well the hardware handles Stella 4, let alone if it can handles Stella 5 (and 5.2 will increase requirements again).

[Gamemoose]

Would the driving controller fall under "paddle"?

 

Also, as it is a joystick, what about the Track & Field controller?

[+Atari_Warlord]

Does it come with an A/C adapter? There was a post from E3 that said it came with a USB cable, but they weren't sure about the adapter.

 

Edit: Just read the pre-order page and Hyperkin doesn't know if it comes with an A/C adapter either.

[Jstick]

Would the driving controller fall under "paddle"?

 

Also, as it is a joystick, what about the Track & Field controller?

 

Only standard paddles and joysticks supported out of the box according to an earlier post, no driving controllers or keypads etc. Track & Field controller should be fine as it’s just mimicking a regular joystick (left, right and fire).

Edited June 14, 2018 by Jstick

[+SpiceWare]

Driving controller should work just fine, it reuses the same pins as a joystick.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Driving controller should work just fine, it reuses the same pins as a joystick.

The I suppose the Trak-Ball hacks should work too.

[accousticguitar]

I want to know if it actually has a SD card slot. I cannot see one in any of the released pictures.

I would like to see some games played from roms off the SD card.

[BassGuitari]

Do not try to over analyze it, but the first time I attempted to plug in an Atari cart, it was label facing frontwards. And it did not fit.

 

Prior to Nintendo, there were no standards. Labels, controller ports, switches faced backwards. To the millenial generation, that doesn't make much sense. I get that. Every other postcrash system outside of Atari's ecosystem had carts upright label facing forwards. Well except the NES toasters! And we all know how reliable those cart slots were...

 

Was your system a 2600jr. or Gemini by chance? I could see the rear-facing cartridge labels in those systems seeming a little backward to a noob, but it's sort of necessitated in 6- and 4-switch systems; the labels would face down at the grille otherwise.

 

I dunno, I was an NES/Genesis kid growing up and I never thought of the Atari's cart port as backward. It seemed pretty straightforward to me.

 

In the early days of consoles, I think connectors, jacks, and ports were considered unsightly. The design philosophy of the day seemed to be that the forward-facing areas of the console should be as clean and streamlined as possible, so as to blend in with sleek hifi systems and television setups. I think the Atari 5200 may have been the first game system with obviously visible front-facing controller jacks, at least that I can think of. Or maybe the Colecovision's Atari adapter, if that counts (IIRC that all came out just before the 5200).

 

Yes, BUT it makes the end label upside down, which is a drag.

 

Ah, the old Colecovision problem. Coleco cart labels are oriented in such a way that everything is front-facing and right side up and looks right when the cartridge is seated in the console, but when storing them, if you stack them label side up like a normal person, the end labels are upside down.

 

Ditto for Telegames 2600 carts (the mail order company, not Sears). Now those look backward.

[haightc]

I would like to know if it it handles the toggle switches correctly. Like for example one the homebrew games at PRGE at the AtariAge both switchs between the map and graphic view based on the color/monochrome switch. I would also like to know if pitfall II plays correctly on the system. Can the display setting be change to resolutions lower than 720p? I would prefer to have the option of connecting this to my 4:3 CRT.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I would prefer to have the option of connecting this to my 4:3 CRT.

Then get one of these for crt use...

[Jim Pez]

If you have a Roller controller maybe you can try that too.

[FOX2600]

This is the only Ataribox I care about... Flashback 2 was pretty cool too but ya had to mod it, and Im no modder lol