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Well it might help Activision carts, due to board thinness, they don't make good contact anyways. Though I think most the plus issue is the port is a bit looser than original hardware, though hey, maybe due to that some original games that don't work on original hardware might. Anybody try some xonox double end carts, iirc they simply don't fit. Or the supercharger? If I remember, the teeth that open the dust flap were to long to make contact on original hardware, maybe it works on the plus? (No expectations, but there's hoping)

I thought it was pretty good. With the level being random each time you start, it can be pretty hit and miss wether you can actually advance or not after dying or not. Using your lantern in overcharge mode to kill weaker baddies is cool though.

Never saw this before, that's pretty cool, I'll have to look for some. Just probably like most cleaners, don't get it on the labels.

I'm a bit torn on this one, the first pic is crisper colors and less bleeding, but the second pic looks more properly upscaled (the score limes being the same spacing and size) Both are perfectly acceptable images, but the second image looks closer to actual hardware on an old-school CRT tv.

Well you don't have to collect the loot, in fact, depending how an enemy falls, you may not get to it before the game decides to scroll to the next screen. Bubble bobble and mario bros are strictly kill all the badguys. You can collect loot on bubble bobble, but its not required. Jump man is about collecting the loot, don't think you even can defeat any of the bad guys. How about minor 2049, you collect loot and defeat bad guys, sure, but you also have to step on every floor tile. Iirc, you can actually beat a level without defeating the baddies or collecting the loot, though its insanely hard. Donkey Kong shares more in common with smb in its only goal is to get to the exit, you can collect loot (hammer barrels and badguys) but its not needed.

While the manual can be part of the experience, especially with the old 2600 and its limited resources, I find the manual is usually not needed to make a game fun. Playable, sure, but not fun. Granted if you can't play a game, sure, that is no fun, but I see rtfm in lots of cases where the game is perfectly playable, but still isn't all that fun, such as ET. Holes, holes, f#$%ing holes. No amount of manuals can change that. That said, there are plenty of games that you need to RTFM, to even play. Any of the adventure types, adventure, Indiana Jones, haunted house, and yes, ET. Though if you read it for one, their largely the same game. Ill say RTFM is a great idea anyways, and atariage is a great resource, containing most manuals for various Atari consoles, and especially on 2600 where many games have features that aren't automatically apparent. Such as asteroids, the base game is just vertical rocks, but RTFM and you find you can adjust them to be more horizontal, have the UFO and other neat stuff. Berserk has no Otto on the base game, but you can have him full on, or killable. Lots of games let you adjust lives, or speed, and like I said, atari limited resources meaning most games are dip driven, rather than menu driven. Sure, you might luck on something just fiddling with switches (a/b difficulty being most obvious) but the manual will have a list of settings, and maybe breakout with smaller paddles will indeed be more fun for you. RTFM!

Hmm. That is true. While bubble bobble has platforming elements, the raw goal is to defeat all the enemies. Beat them all is a perfect description in that case. Maybe we could call it a stomper, despite head butting enemies is how you defeat most of them. Mario bros fits the bill here too, defeating all the enemies is the progressive object of the game. I also like "cute games" it does fit that bill, even if that's no particular description of what its about or what you do. I do like cute games. As far as favorites of that type, I'd say one of my favorite all time "cute games" would be the Locoroco series. You encourage a cute wiggly blob to roll around the world, eating berries to grow, while avoiding spikes and being eaten by moja. I guess Sony is done with it, but it really is one of my all time faves.

Oh, that sux. Sounds like a tolerance issue, like the shaft should be the same size as the hole and shouldn't wobble, the originals don't, and at least my new ones don't either, well haven't taken them apart, but the knob doesn't wobble on the controller base. Could be a qc issue. I'm pretty sure they had to have that pot specifically custom made, at least I wasn't previously aware of an equivalent prior to the new cx30+, short of trying to refresh an original set.

The one that drove me nuts was a few years ago when the national news said super Mario bros went for millions graded. Uh...cool? As the community found out, it was massively artificially inflated by the graders themselves bidding on it (think there's a topic on AA somewhere about it) but when the community found out, nothing from the news about that. Idk about legal, or what others think, but wouldn't that qualify as fraud basically?

I was going to say "different currency, different value" but a quickie search on Google suggests a pound is only $1.26 currently. Still a good deal though. Far cry from my early eBay days when pounds were like $3 or something, that was 25+ years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09YBZ8YJR/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=2b9ec80f61f37ac247cf7f4dd4c54b78&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1714339481&sr=1-1-3c6b3b04-89d4-46ee-857c-1e2f0de6a70e&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_scm_asin_0_img&pd_rd_w=9iKfO&content-id=amzn1.sym.4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d%3Aamzn1.sym.4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d&pf_rd_p=4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d&pf_rd_r=P3KK21F59GCT595E26H6&pd_rd_wg=uKYj3&pd_rd_r=d842c15d-a940-4987-925e-3d23755dbd81 I've used composite converters like this one (I'm sure component versions exist too) they just convert the signal straight across, so still the same issues as other things with 4/3 v 16/9 compatibility, but are compatible with any system with that type of output. Not this exact one, but I've used them for PlayStation and 64 stuff before, and it worked great for my experience.

That's cool it was still around. I remember looking up 6502 and at the time that was still being made (maybe still?) 555 timers lasted a chunk of time too. Its amazing how much old stuff is still used, but hey, you need basic functions, why not?

If you programmed a game, you could have it detect an action. Like boot a game and have "press fire to start" then when you press fire, it could detect wether you pressed fire on a joystick, which is fire, or on a paddle, which I believe their fire is actually joystick left or right. I'd see this as doable. Actually, iirc, the pot on a paddle is always on right? Maybe just detect pot or no pot for paddle or joystick when the system boots?

Nice, I'm going to have to try some of those. Never even considered Atari even trying to work on a modern console, and here I was going to say "original 2600 hardware" lol 😛

Why would new paddles develop jitter? I know on the old ones it was the grease in the pot deteriorated, or got dirty, and would cause jitter, but it seems brand new paddles shouldn't suffer for years. Is the grease poorer quality? I couldn't see them collecting dirt or grime being new.