+remowilliams Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 800 computer in a 5200 case ... I just need to wrap up some business through April 18-19 I will be free to more aggressively persue this with the resources in the community to make this happen for us. Curt Holy Crap!! You make that happen Curt (as an individual or corporate project) and you've sold six or so to me alone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 From what I understand, the FB3 is (or was to be) an Atari 400/800 clone. . . 800 computer in a 5200 case. Thanks. Since the 5200 and 800 were supposed to be similar, maybe I'll finally get to play some of those 5200 games I always wanted to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Sounds like a really sweet piece of hardware. I wonder what it would have retailed for... I hope that the community can get this done somehow...think of an AtariAge branded system While that WOULD be cool, I don't think Atari Age would really have the resources to see it through. Unless they only licensed the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 PD. Alrighty then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Sounds like a really sweet piece of hardware. I wonder what it would have retailed for... I hope that the community can get this done somehow...think of an AtariAge branded system While that WOULD be cool, I don't think Atari Age would really have the resources to see it through. Unless they only licensed the name. Good thing they don't need to licence anything Atari released the Atari 8bit chipset into PD for me several years ago, so any FB3 project at this point could very well turn into a PD or individual released project/product Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpecarne Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) I see my French lesson turned a few heads. I know you were refering to Public Domain even before people explained what it meant. I was just jokingly adding what the term meant in a totally different language. (clash of culture! ha ha ha...funny, right?) In any case, back to the topic on hand, this would have potential to be a very cool product. One use I thought up of was for parents buying a computer for their young children. Seeing as it would probably have a word processor and such, it could be used as an educational tool as well as a video gaming system at a very affordable price. Edited March 22, 2006 by carpecarne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) In any case, back to the topic on hand, this would have potential to be a very cool product. One use I thought up of was for parents buying a computer for their young children. Seeing as it would probably have a word processor and such, it could be used as an educational tool as well as a video gaming system at a very affordable price.Don't forget the edutainment titles that are also available on the A8, not to mention Logo, PILOT, the built-in BASIC interpreter, and a bunch of other programs and learning tools that would be great for kids. My three-year-old niece loves using the Atari light pen and AtariGraphics on my XEGS whenever she comes to visit, so that's another example. I really really hope the FB3 becomes a reality; there are any number of uses for a small, affordable A8 computer in today's world that go beyond playing old video games. Marketed as an edutainment system, it would certainly be a more attractive package than those VTech kid's computers that I've seen for about the same price (~$30 and up). EDIT: Speaking of software, I'm wondering if Curt (or anyone else involved in the FB3 project) is at liberty to talk about the games that were going to be packed-in with the FB3. I'm just curious to know what kind of lineup Atari was planning, and if it included any third-party titles. Edited March 22, 2006 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Good thing they don't need to licence anything Atari released the Atari 8bit chipset into PD for me several years ago, so any FB3 project at this point could very well turn into a PD or individual released project/product I wasn't referring to the technology, though. I was referring to the AtariAge name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) ... footprint for vga out ... Curt Woaw! I would *love* to see that on the FB2 rev C... (if there's any chance that there will ever be one) Regards, Moderntimes99 Edited March 22, 2006 by moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanes Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 800 computer in a 5200 casefootprint for vga out How is that supposed to work, anyway? Are you planning to run the GTIA's output through a framebuffer, or is the intent for modders to build their own signal converter? Personally, I'm a big fan of routing the signal through a framebuffer first. The TIA and GTIA were competent chips for their time, but the signal quality just doesn't look that good on the precision of a modern LCD screen. (Though surprisingly, some of the LCD TVs I've seen do an excellent job of filtering out any jitter in the signal.) Placing a framebuffer in the way would allow for a much cleaner TV signal to be produced without compromising the original chipset design. Of course, it might also increase cost (approx. an additional 64K of RAM, +/- extra timing crystals, and a more complex SOC) so I can perfectly well understand if you don't use one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 800 computer in a 5200 casefootprint for vga out How is that supposed to work, anyway? Are you planning to run the GTIA's output through a framebuffer, or is the intent for modders to build their own signal converter? I’m not sure Curt anticipated the complications of getting a VGA output. A modern PC monitor can’t sync as low as a TV horizontal frequency. So you’d need an integrated scan-doubler or otherwise you’ll need a very old VGA monitor (such as NEC 3D). Scan doublers are not chip, and I’m not aware of any scan doubler that works correctly with overscans, no so rarely used in the 800. As jbanes suggests, it would be possible to produce the right signal at the “GTIA” level. That would be much simpler and cheaper than post-processing at the analog level. Still looks complicated and not very cheap. And still chances that overscan screens won’t look right. Personally I’d prefer a SVHS (croma+luminance) output. And perhaps just make the digital video output available in the board for any possible user or aftermarket mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanes Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 A modern PC monitor can’t sync as low as a TV horizontal frequency. So you’d need an integrated scan-doubler or otherwise you’ll need a very old VGA monitor (such as NEC 3D). Scan doublers are not chip, and I’m not aware of any scan doubler that works correctly with overscans, no so rarely used in the 800. You'd probably need a scan doubler in addition to a scan converter. YUV output just won't look right on an RGB screen. That being said, a low-quality scan converter/doubler is not that expensive to build. It's the fancy interpolation doublers and hicolor converters that drive up the price. For a system that otherwise produces blocky images and low color, this isn't as much of an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Good thing they don't need to licence anything Atari released the Atari 8bit chipset into PD for me several years ago, so any FB3 project at this point could very well turn into a PD or individual released project/product I wasn't referring to the technology, though. I was referring to the AtariAge name. Ah ha! I misunderstood ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Personally I’d prefer a SVHS (croma+luminance) output. Gnngngggngg. S-VIDEO. SVHS is a kind of VCR (which happened to be one of the first pieces of consumer equipment to feature an S-Video port, hence the confusion which persists to this day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Holy crap on a candy cane. I'm not reading 17 pages. Can anyone recap what the FB3 was supposed to be like? Was it supposed to take existing cartridges or just those little memory sticks or maybe both? How about paddles? Would it finally have a separate place for paddles so we wouldn't have to unplug a joystick? 800 computer in a 5200 case function keys/buttons along under the silver strip for pause, select, keypad, etc... FB2 joystick usage Front SD card slot acting as D1: edge connector inside on board to solder an 800 cart connector to for legacy cartridge usage. Built in SIO2PC connection port for transferring to/from console footprint for SIO connector to be added footprint for ps/2 keyboard connector footprint for vga out Composite out Games included would've come on an SDcard That was what was being shot for, much of the VHDL work on several of the chips went through first pass work and I have in fact tapped a few people from the community to help on the completion of the chipset and need to send out appropriate chip schem's on the 800 for some additional work to be done. I just need to wrap up some business through April 18-19 I will be free to more aggressively persue this with the resources in the community to make this happen for us. Curt Now that's what I call the perfect FB3! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I amassed most of the company over the last 20 years and essentially have what was Atari already. For paperwork and protos, yeah, but you've got to give credit to Best Electronics for warehousing so much NOS Atari parts. And for NOS carts, there is O'Shea's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 800 computer in a 5200 case Just an 800, not an XL? Just 48K memory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Curt, I bought a few FB1s, just for the novelty. I bought over a dozen FB2s for gifts and for my personal collection. The FB2 was a dream come true. If you build the FB3 as a private venture you can count me in for at least two, probably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 800 computer in a 5200 case function keys/buttons along under the silver strip for pause, select, keypad, etc... FB2 joystick usage Front SD card slot acting as D1: edge connector inside on board to solder an 800 cart connector to for legacy cartridge usage. Built in SIO2PC connection port for transferring to/from console footprint for SIO connector to be added footprint for ps/2 keyboard connector footprint for vga out Composite out Games included would've come on an SDcard That was what was being shot for, much of the VHDL work on several of the chips went through first pass work and I have in fact tapped a few people from the community to help on the completion of the chipset and need to send out appropriate chip schem's on the 800 for some additional work to be done. I just need to wrap up some business through April 18-19 I will be free to more aggressively persue this with the resources in the community to make this happen for us. Curt That sounds like one sweet, sweet piece of hardware. Question: would the 5200 unit be a "mini" of sorts, like the FB2? I always liked the design of the 5200, but it's so friggin big! If this goes forward as an independent project, it'd be great to have the 800 cart connector already built in. I'd imagine many enthusiasts would be into this, even with a higher price point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted March 29, 2006 Author Share Posted March 29, 2006 Glenn, You are referring to vendors with inventories that they retain in order to sell, also plastic & metal means nothing without truly understanding the people, time and work that went into their creation. What I meant was I have essentially what is the collective core of what was Atari's Intellectual Properties ontop of having an inventory of physical hardware/software assets. Curt I amassed most of the company over the last 20 years and essentially have what was Atari already. For paperwork and protos, yeah, but you've got to give credit to Best Electronics for warehousing so much NOS Atari parts. And for NOS carts, there is O'Shea's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8littlefield Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 I have to admit, I wasn't sold on this being the concept on the FB3, but after hearing it all those features - I'll buy one. And this is from a guy who skipped the FB1 & 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 I hope this Flashback 3 thing works itself out. I skipped 1 and 2 due to having a 7800 with Cuttle Cart II, but would be all over this concept of a Flashback 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieAtari Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Curt, will there be any chance of a PAL FB3 if the project comes to fruition? We missed out on the FB2 and I'm sure there is a sizeable market for PAL FB3 units in Australia and the UK. I can't help out with the design etc, but float the idea of individuals coughing up monetary support to help "sponsor" development - would that help make the dream a reality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 It's a shame atari had to go and screw up everything so badly. I was really looking forward to this one. I grew up on the 5200's sister the 8-bit computer series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpfalcon2003 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 I really like the Flashback 2, so I'm sure I'll get the next model. Can't wait to see what it will be like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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