[Could the 5200 have succeeded?]

probably not looking back there was very little success with converting an existing computer to a game system

 

the commodore 64game system flopped so did the amigacd32 those may be unfair because commodore management was inept

[Released Games: 69?]

20 hours ago, leech said:

Football for the US is a dumb name for it.  You only really touch the ball to your foot for kick off, and the rest of the time try not to drop it.  should be called Handball... soccer being called football makes so much more sense.  (I am from the US and can admit our mistakes)

yea i agree with you american football evolved too much originally you could only pass latterally and kick forward now the game is just "forward passes" i guess passball or pushball or pigskin anyname would be better

it would be awesome if the only way to pass forward was to drop kick it  and i personally dont think the thing they play with is really a "ball"

 

 

but i'm sure we could find other examples of thing that we name weird just think about the word screen

 

now we call any video visual display a screen it makes no sense all because inside a crt there was shadowmask that looked similar to a windowscreen to keep bugs out

[how did california games come boxed?]

i have not explored my lynx very much since i bought it i have many games but have a question my lynx came with california games and its manual is pretty large did they make a different manual for a small box or did they use the large manual in a large box?

 

as seen here https://archive.org/details/atarilynxcaliforniagames

[2 Button Games for 5200]

hmm there are 5 games that "need" analog control ,superbreakout,kaboom,starwars,gorf,missile command

 

games that need 2 buttons hmm i havent gone through them lately but the ones that come to mind are qix fast /slow walls and pole position gas brake (although the brake is very mild a downshift is a better brake)

[Operation: RESTORATION - CX53 Trak-Ball]

yea the trackball uses pin 12 so you probably need to use a neo geo extension cord

[anyone have electrocop manual and a scanner?]

maybe we could get atari age to add it to the manual section

 

https://imgur.com/HXwD7Mp

 

https://imgur.com/WxK5yrq

 

let me know if these are downloadable imgur has changed a bit

[anyone have electrocop manual and a scanner?]

thanks so much so its just a trifold sheet i was wondering why it didnt seem like a booklet

[anyone have electrocop manual and a scanner?]

ive had this game loose for years but i cant find a "scan"  of the manual  i have a really crappy photocopy of the manual but it would be neat to have it for posterity 

[why is dig dug hose different color if launched up/down vs left right?]

its always bugged me but i never bothered to ask anyone

[California Games BMX Map]

thats neat

 

i wonder if its the same as it is on world of sports

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/291497-just-had-mind-blown-about-california-games-bmx/?tab=comments#comment-4280422

[Imagic -- No games for the 5200?]

i guess they didnt feel they sold enough units to make it worth while they made plenty of games for the c64

 

demon attack,moonsweeper,dragonfire,chopperhunt,nova blast

[home made controller using variable resistors]

when i made my altoid tin controller its just 4 push buttons  up button is connected to 9,11 down button is connected to 11,15  left is 9,10 right is 10,15

you connect a resistor between 9 and 11 for uppy downy and 9 and 10 for lefty righty

[Retro Game Boyz 5200 controller]

its neato not exactly a "company" making it its very simple to wire up  a controller i've always said the hardest part is finding an "enclosure" every one is either too big or too small  if anyone saw my attempts at home made controllers ive gone through altoid tins up through a metal power supply  box

 

i guess the problem i note is arcade machines use joysticks because it mounted to a giant unmovable enclosure

the atari 2600 joystick works cause its fine to hand hold and press the one button with your thumb but when you get to 2 buttons it gets more tricky companies have been using heavy steel plates and feet and even suction cups to replicate the feel of a stationary arcade cabinet

 

it is cool that it is a right hand stick so many arcade sticks are left hand stick

 

the second hardest part is finding a plug that fits in the 5200 jack

 

 

i wish everyone luck making joysticks ive come to the conclusion if you are going to hold it in your hands it should be ergonomic

 

i just use a gravis gamepad and a pc adapter

[Building an arcade joystick for the 5200 ?]

in my altoids controller i just used 2 240k resistors 220k is probably ok too

 

treating each direction as a button is easier to wire them individually

 

so button up should be from 9 to 11 with a 240k resistor across the terminals

button down should be from 11 to 15

button left should be 9 to 10 with a 240k resistor across

button right should be pin 10 to 15

 

 

 

the reason this works is that 240 is the default resistance till you hit up or left then its a dead short so the charging circuit is seeing rapid charge if you press down or right it is grounding it out so its seeing no charging which is the same as infinite resistance

 

left and up is like fire hose full blast centers is like a garden hose and right down are like a dribble or nothing

 

if you want to make it deluxe use a 500k potentiometer in place of the resistor to dial in your center but i find consoles are very forgiving and self adjust after a couple resets on off cycles

 

i just used 8 conductor eithernet wire you really only need 6 conductors for the bottom row directions and buttons and i use the other 2 wires to connect pins  4 and 7 to activate start

 

[First Five 5200 games]

well i got my first 5200 in a trade in around 1987 for a sega master system it came with about 20 games

 

superbreakout

pacman

galaxian

centipede

tennis

digdug

berzerk

moon patrol

vanguard

space invaders

robotron

pengo

mario bros

jungle hunt

joust

defender

choplifter

football

kangaroo

ms pacman

 

 

[comical 5200 mention in 1990 VG&CE]

yea the controllers were lacking but yea the 2600 was still on shelves in 1990 probably the last year i remember them at kb toys there was a flood of master system stuff about then

[Any way to repair controller potentiometers?]

i would suggest putting in missile command and see if you can center the cursor pull off the actuators then place them back on at the 9:00 and 6:00 positions the 5200 self calibrates and is pretty forgiving just doing a few circles and power cycles

[Biscuits in Hell]

neat work i wonder has fear(figure 8 racing) been modified?

[Making a homemade 5200 controller.]

you do not need active components you only need them when you are converting to serial or are using a 2600 controller with a common ground

 

since you are using a breadboard with individual switches

 

you can replicate a digital to analog contition by using a 220-240k resistor  for the center of each vector

 

so one for uppy downy and one for lefty righty

 

with the uppy downy one you just use the up button to short the resistor so that button makes 0 ohm

now the trick is how to make a button press feel like 500k some just use a normally closed button that way when you break the contact it would be infinite resistance  but there is another dirty trick you could play on the system if you steal a leg from the button ground pin 11 it will feel like there is no charging going on and the system interprets this as infinite resistance

 

just repeat for lefty righty knowing that left is wants low ohms and right wants high ohms

 

[Wico Y Cable Issue]

wico cable is only for the wico 5200 stick

 

the 15 pin atari connector has the top row being the keypad matrix the bottom row is for directions and fire buttons

 

the cable passes through the top row from the controller to the system

and the bottom row is sent to the 9 pin wired in their special configuration

 

if you have the wico y cable and do not have a wico analog 5200 stick you are not going to be able to do anything

 

you can wire a push button to pins 4 and 7 on a 15 pin female plug jack it in and not need a atari controller plugged into the y adapter most games only need you to press start

 

also the y adapter conductors can break so use an ohm meter and check each connection (remember what i said about top row and bottom row

 

 

[Star Castle fans?]

thanks works neato in the emulator i am using

[Star Castle fans?]

i wonder what nukey shay has been doing lately if we find him maybe we could beg to have him look it over

[Star Castle fans?]

i wonder if someone could optimise atari 800s star island

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xajULLhhr5g

[Cracked Magazine (November 1982)]

check the archive.org someone been busy during the plague

[Competition Pro + RF Switch in need of repair]

hmn the ideas i have for repair ive done this with genesis controllers

 

where the outer wire sleeve cracks at the stress relief

disconnect the inner wires pull them through then peel out the wire sleeve tube from the stress relief

 

then lube  up the wire with alcohol  slip it back through the stress relief then put a ziptie on it so it cant pull back through

 

with the competition pro i like making a little dongle with a start button and two 240k resistors so you can just play

 

 

with the switch box open it up carefully peel the shielding away from the cord use an exacto to cut a bit of the white inner insulation and then with needle nose pliers pull the center wire out a bit more from atari's spiffy push on f-connector