CV Gus
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Posts posted by CV Gus
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So far, I've narrowed it down. It's most likely the POKEY chip, although there is a possiblity it's in the transistor cluster at the lower right, or the diode in the line.
Can one get a replacement POKEY chip?
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My 5200 doesn't work.
Well, it does...except for the directional controls. When you move the joystick or paddle, nothing happens, although jiggling the port while something is plugged in makes (whatever) move, although in a chaotic fashion. This appears to be the case with all of the ports, and I tested the contacts withing the port itself. If nothing is plugged in, this is not the case, and at times the cursor in Missile Command is NOT down and right, which is what normally happens if the joystick is unplugged.
If you lightly brush the pins 9, 10, and 11 with the tip of your finger, the object will move smoothly horizontally- the cursor in Missile Command, that is.
There is almost no activity for vertical.
All other funtions work correctly, including fire and keypad.
I just copied the schematics for a 5200, and will look into it tonight. But I will also need the schematics for those partcular chips*, so I can test them, and my time is up here for the weekend, so that won't be for a few days.
If anyone here can give me some help on what to look for, that'd be great.
* This is how I was able to repair my CV Roller Controller- actually, the exact info was there on the schematic itself, but the same idea.
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Could you be a bit more specific about what happens? What do you mean by "drifting?" What happens if you turn on the CV without the controllers?
The Intellivision- it's highly unusual for a systen to not work AND THEN work in any way. Normally, it's the other way around, usually because of a defective resistor or such warming up and having its value change. If your Intellivision works in any way after a time, it could be a bad solder point or break in the circuitry that expands as the unit heats up, thus making proper contact. As for the rest, again, could you be specific?
Note- I have written directions about replacing those chips in the CV. I can send you a copy if you'd like.
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It is a good game. It's also tough as anything. I've only managed to get about 2/3 of the way through the fourth time.
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Last night I tried the "free games" bug. Unless I am just unlucky and kept hitting the 25% part, the 64 free games bug does not occur here, nor does the upside-down screen or no-boundaries screen. The glitch that is supposed to occur on screen 140 or so does occur here, however.
Note: My version does allow one to skip screens. However, I actually played through screen 137 once I got there.
It also has that odd dot-color feature. What's really strange about it is that simply pushing the RESET button has no effect on the colors; only by switching the CV on and off will do it.
Is there anyone else here who has a version that does that- the dots can be light blue/cyan; yellow; or white. Again, whichever one it starts with affects the dot colors in all four mazes in Ms. Pac-Man.
This has got to be the best version of these games among systems before the 32-bit consoles. And it can hold up against those, even.
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Last night, I read through an old videogame magazine, and came across an old trick to "play forever."
In Ms. Pac-Man, when you reach screen 137 (oh, is that all?), the characters and dots are as they should be, but the maze is upside-down. If you finish the screen anyway, there was a 75% chance you'd get 64 free games, and the next screen was a maze with no boundaries.
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If you start the Ms. Pac-Man game right away, sometimes the first maze is blue.
So it is in the arcade version, too. Talk about accuracy!
Is there anyone else with a version that has the dots being a different color as you flip the on/off switch? I can get cyan, white, and gold; possibly light blue as well. In the case of Ms. Pac-Man, this affects the dot colors in all four mazes.
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Did you try best-electronics-ca.com?
I did now- nothing about such things. Do you know of anyone else?
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I've asked this before, but I lost track of it. Since my time on these computers is very limited, can anyone here direct me to a company that sells those 15-pin plugs used on the Atari 5200 consoles?
I need several to repair my 5200 (it only has one port, so Space Dungeon and Robotron: 2084 cannot be played fully), and to help finish my 9-pin controller to 5200 console module. Once that's built, almost ANY 9-pin controller can be used on a 5200, as well as the 2600 paddle controllers!
Thanks.
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In your opinion, when did home video game consoles peak in terms of the experience they deliver?
This isn't an intellectual thing; I'm asking on an emotional level.
For me, it was the 5200/ColecoVision era. That's when it peaked for me. Those consoles delivered the home arcade experience we'd been promised all those years. And they were just so danmed cool. The 5200 looks like it's something from space. And it can frickin' talk to you without a voice module. Hey -- maybe it is from space!
As for the ColecoVision, it had unlimited expansion possibilities. And they actually fulfilled many of them. Sure, we didn't get the Super Game Module, but we did get a trak-ball, a driving wheel, a 2600 adapter, and a tiny little computer add-on. And the most amazing controller ever made, complete with four action buttons, a full keypad, a spinner, and a real joystick. All those add-ons were produced within the short lifespan of the ColecoVision. Amazing! (The light that burns twice as bright . .. )
And the games are just awesome. Galaxian, Defender, Star Raiders, Berzerk, Frenzy, Super Cobra, Robotron:2084...I could go on and on. These two systems have a high percentage of really great games. And thank you Coleco for bringing some lesser-known favorites to the home console. Back then, I thought I was the only one in the world who loved Venture. There was no way I'd ever see that on a console. But Coleco did it! That was amazing to me. It was like they were working from my video game playlist. If it was on my list and Atari hadn't made a cart for it, Coleco did.
It was a great time to be a kid. And now, as an adult, they're still great consoles. Sure, they both have their quirks, but they make putting up with it well worth while.
That's my opinion. What's yours?
Pretty much that.
It was so nice, seeing which arcade games from that era would make it home- Cosmic Avenger, Q*Bert, Bump `N Jump, Burgertime, Frenzy, Mr. Do!'s Castle, Turbo, Spy Hunter, Tapper, Ladybug, Pepper 2, etc.
Guess I just liked the whole scene better back then.
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Last week I managed a "perfect" game. Wasn't hit even once.
This game is an achievement, really. It actually approaches fourth-generation quality.
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The Atari 7800 has Super Pac-man like the Atari 5200 does.
Here is a video of Atari 7800 version of Super Pac-man in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJRQXvQeuew
I only mention Super Pac-man because I don't know CV Gus knows about its existence for the Atari 7800.
Actually, I've been aware of it for a while now- I even asked which version is better over at the Digital Press, but yours is the best video of the 7800 version I've seen so far, so thanks!
I guess I'll ask the same here. I would assume a slight improvement in visuals with the 7800, but much better sound with the 5200.
Still, to see this delightful game- my favorite of the original four- on the 7800 is something else. If Atari had realized that any potential market for the 7800 was with "first generation" gamers, then they would've scooped up classics for the 7800, and it might have had a firm place with those of us not into the more (for then) games.
But part of my leaning towards the 5200 version is that- what some at the 5200 section cannot comprehend- is that the 5200 is only behind the CV in my collection, which is why it's hooked up. Just push the button, and you can play the 5200 like that.
But right now, I cannot get any such games. It's been a tough year.
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The full review is over at the Digital Press. Sorry it didn't work here, newcoleco.
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Ah, heck. Since the pictures didn't make it, let's just say that this game is to the CV in 2009 what Smurf Rescue was in 1982- an amazing piece of work.
The scrolling, which is multi-plane, has to be seen to be believed.
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Super Mario Bros on the 7800, to put and end to the debate of whether it's possible or not.
Well, there is an MSX version of that game- which means it could be done on a CV, and newcoleco's Ghostblaster proves it could be done better than that version. So it can be done on a CV.
The 7800 has Scrapyard Dog, which is a Super Mario Bros.-style game.
So why couldn't it be done, and done well, on a 7800? Unless adding the extra needed memory would be a problem?
But would a 7800 Super Mario Bros. actually sell? That would be the biggest obstacle of all.
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Having owned all three systems for years, I would definitely recommend the 5200, in spite of the crummy controllers.
I myself have started 5200 vs. 7800 threads in the past. The only thing everyone agrees on is that the 7800 usually has the better graphics, but the 5200 has superior sound. As for the titles, well, obviously that's strictly subjective. If you like Berzerk and Qix, for example, then go for the 5200.
To me, the overall look of the 5200 games are just "brighter" than those of the 7800, which just somehow seem- although technically better- duller.
The 5200 also had a superior collection for its time, although that probably does not matter so much in late 2009.
Still, the 5200 library is better than the 7800's, at least to me.
Here are some good ones to look out for:
Pengo.
Space Dungeon.
Defender.
Super Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man. Actually, the 7800 version does not look THAT much better at all, although the mazes are more accurate than the 5200's. As far as I know, the only version that has perfectly accurate mazes and gameplay in the 8-Bit arena is Opcode's CV version.
Blueprint.
Robotron: 2084 (has more impact than the 7800 version).
Gyruss.
Mountain King. Be warned, it's insanely frustrating.
Berzerk. Yes, it does talk.
Qix. One of the most unique games ever made.
Star Raiders.
Centipede. Especially if you can get the trak-ball.
Millipede.
Wizard of Wor. Graphics aren't great, but the gameplay is 100%.
Just be warned that, unlike the 7800, which uses standard 9-pin controllers, the 5200 uses an unusual 15-pin analog control scheme, so unless you can build your own, don't expect to find 5200 controllers easily.
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One more vote for Atari Paddle controllers! In fact, I don't see why anybody would want to play such a great game without a paddle.
Try the joystick on the NES..it's just lame. How can anybody manage past the fifth level without the paddle? You simply need that lightning quick reaction time; there isn't another option IMO.
The Vaus controller for the NES is far too flimsy; I have one, and I hardly use it because I'm sure it'll just stop working one day. And the fire button is finnicky; I usually just use the fire buttons on a secondary plugged in joypad.
If this game actually happens, it could really be something! And with it, a great renewal of interest in old school games...played on a supercharged Colecovision! That would be awesome. However, it doesn't seem to be moving as quickly as previously thought...no new word from the developer?
True, so true!
The only way to play such games is with a paddle controller. The difference between Super Breakout with the joystick and a paddle controller just cannot be described. I was able to finish games with a paddle controller!
But to make one for a CV is more difficult than making a digital controller for a 5200.
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Pulsar for the CV. Unless the 5200 can better handle the sound effects.
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Since I've lived near Amsterdam, N.Y., for the past 16 years, I've met quite a few people who used to work at Coleco.
Yeah, the ADAM was a disaster.
First of all, in those days, you had a good number of computers out there already. If you wanted to get anywhere, you had to have something GOOD- but the ADAM, with that ridiculous tape drive, oddball programming, and the like, just helped shoot it down. Compare it to a C-64, which had a superior set-up- just as the Ataris did. It wasn't even close.
It was also rushed out. This is why it had so many defects.
But all of the blame cannot be put on Coleco. They fell for that marketing/compunerd "video gaming was dead, computers were the wave of the gaming future" line. Had they stuck with the CV, they might have made it. Just as Atari should have stuck with the 5200. In a way, they never had a chance; the NES, had it been released with them, probably would have been doomed. It was not the market itself, but the folly of relying on theory and marketing "research" to make decisions, that doomed the third generation. Those particular years were slow poison for any home console, since the ones in charge believed that it was already over- something the SMS and NES didn't have to deal with. It was the prophesy fulfilling itself.
Note- As for "dumping"- who is to stop them? The Government? That pretty much ended with Reaganomics, didn't it?
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I've actually known and have discussed the ADAM with a number of former Coleco employees.
They were so eager to rush it out, they slapped together some plywood tables together and hired people off the streets to solder things together. There was no effort at "ultraclean" or static electricity protection, which is why so many were defective.
It was simply a poorly-planned and executed effort. The tape drive alone was a mistake. Since the CV seemed to be similar to a Spectravideo computer, a keyboard and a cable to allow you to store things on a tape recorder would have been a perfect start for most people.
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How hard would it have been to simply check a few facts? About 2 minutes?
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Having been around since the first "Pong" game hit the arcades, and thus having seen the home systems from Day One, there are a few observations to be made:
1) Arcade-To-Home. One of the BIG reasons to own a home console was to play home versions of arcade games. Since the arcade lifespan of the vast majority of arcade games was measured in mere months, once it was gone, then unless you could travel the world to find an arcade machine (on-line emulation did not exist in any modern sense of the word), the home version was IT. Period.
The problem was, and maybe still is, the fact that home versions had the game rigged against them from the start. A home console had to be able to do many things; an arcade game could be geared to do just one, especially with unusual controls (steering wheels, guns, etc.). You could rarely expect a console that ran about $200.00 to truly match the most recent arcade machines that weighed hundreds of pounds and cost a few thousand. The simple fact was that arcade technology, especially from about 1978 through 1984, was evolving at a fantastic pace, while home consoles could not, except via chips in the cartridges, and this could not overcome the difference, just lessen it somewhat.
Therefore, it would be unfair to hate any system for failing to match an arcade game, unless it was obviously a cheap effort (why a 3-screen NES version? Why not a 4-screen CV version of DKJr., when such did exist after a time, in the first place?). Even then, budgets were a problem, as were schedules. If a home console did a good job overall of arcade games, and had a good variety of non-arcade titles as well, what more could one expect, really?
2) Capitalism does not always yield the best. As mentioned earlier, a company with an inferior system but a huge budget can overwhelm a superior system by sheer mass. For one thing, they can buy up more arcade (and other) titles, especially the most popular. So a better system may not have as many games as one would like, through no fault of "its" own. You just have to make the best choices you can, that's all.
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There are two versions of this module: one that does not use any battery but so far only works with a 7800 controller, and one that uses a battery (or current from my wind-up radio).
Since I've only enough materials for one or the other, I've decided to go with the battery-powered one. This is because it works with just about every 9-pin controller, including a CV controller. It also takes 2600 paddle controllers, but you do not have the gear-shift button from the 5200 paddle controller. Thus, of all the games I have, this is good mainly for Super Breakout.
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But can any home version, really?
You're not in the arcade with your friends. It's not the same place and time as when you played it as years go by, and you're no longer the same person. All of the harware dedicated to that one game is not there. Didn't all of this add to the overall experience?
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AAARGH!? Malfunctioning 5200!
in Hardware
Posted
Can anyone direct me to a schematic for the POKEY chip itself, so I can test it?