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Were cartridge with slot covers the default?


Quon

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Hi all!!

I've seen a number of Youtube videos where they are showcasing their favourite 2600 games and hardware, and one thing that seems to stand out is the connector cover that slides back to reveal the connectors inside are considered to be something pretty standard on Atari branded games. But then I was thinking back to when I had my first 2600 when I was little, and I had about 15 or 16 games for it, which apart from Pitfall, Ghostbusters and an 8 in one multicart with selector switches on it, they were all Atari brand cartridges, mainly silver label ones. I did have a few black and picture label ones like Dodge Em or Pele's Soccer, and one red label one which was Jr. Pac Man... but I distinctly remember one cartridge standing out from all the rest as having that protection mechanism, being a silver label Crystal Castles. This was the only game I had with the protection mechanism, so... I was wondering what was the norm or how common were the cartridges with and without the mechanism? I mean, I only had one game out of the ones I had, and yet on Youtube it's made out to be the norm... I even got Combat recently, with its original black text only label, and that one too has the mechanism, so it's not as if it's something that was added on later cartridges...

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Third party cartridges rarely had the sliding-door protection. 40 years later, I think it's pretty safe to say, it looked nice and worked well, but wasn't really needed.

I actually don't know if I'd say that. 40 years on, I find the protected Atari carts generally pop in and turn right on while all the open ended 3rd party stuff requires frequent cleaning with Alcohol to work. The covers prevent oxidation.

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I also don't think the dust cover mechanism really makes much of a different. I have plenty of later Atari releases, as well as 7800 games, that work just fine, and those leave the circuit board exposed just like most of the third-party carts. Activision carts seem to have a higher failure rate, but that could be for various other reasons. I generally haven't had the same issues with other third-party games as I do with Activision carts.

 

..Al

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As I said all the first party ones I had were without the cover, except Crystal Castles... But I got the Jr, so that was later in its life, so that 1984-1986 thing might be the reason. Crystal Castles was a gift from the friend who's Darth Vader I was always playing at their house before I got my own... They saw how much I loved that game and gifted it to me. Well, friend, my father's friend.

 

And the covers do help, not with oxygen, but with dust, moisture, and other elements that tend to work hand in hand with oxygen.

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Most first party games had dust covers. A lot of third party didnt, or had alternative options. Some early Activision titles had a sponge for a dust cover. Not sure if anyone used a sleeve (like nes games) but I wouldn't say no.

 

As for useful, I've never had issues with dust cover games. It does as the name imply and keeps dust and debris out of the contacts. Atari is pretty forgiving though, so most carts I have issue with (activision) are other issues besides dirty, like thinner pcb that just doesn't make good contact.

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