humppa

So you didn't try any of the working games? Or did some of the games listed as "working" on the compatibility sheet didn't work for you? I think >200 games is already quite a number to keep you busy for some time...

You should have a look at the compatibility spreadsheet that I linked above. More than 200 games are currently listed as working. Nevertheless, I agree that the Amiga core still needs work...

He doesn't keep it separate on other forums, therefore my question if it is really him. Personally, I don't like CEOs who try to appear like normal customers but do nothing else than promote their own products.

"They" also known as you, i.e. the owner of Arcade Retro Gaming who released the MCC-216 and who registered as "RetroFan" on some other forums?

In order to compete with the Minimig on the Amiga-side, the MCC-216 also needs a considerable boost in game compatibility. At the moment, only ~30-50% are working properly. Please note that the compatibility list linked above only lists games which are working or at least partly working.

Further, compatibility of software emulators such as Stella is *much* better than the current status-quo of the MCC-216 core. Just have a look at this list (Google Doc spreadsheet): http://goo.gl/u1aCM At present, it's no fun to use this device for VCS 2600 emulation. The C64 core on the other hand is much better.

After checking approximately 80 games, I have the feeling that game compatibility of the Atari 2600 is even worse than that of the beta Amiga core. For now, I don't mind about some minor Gfx-bugs, but in a lot of games, the video timings are out of range and none of my monitors/LCD can sync to the signal. For some games, I get an "unsupported mode", for others, the screen flickers as if it is constantly trying to resync. Please note that I am using the VGA version of the MCC-216. Some of the games with video timing issues: Adventures of Tron (no signal) Air Raiders (no signal after intro screen) Airlock (no signal after intro screen) Amidar (no signal after intro screen) Artillery Duel (no signal) Asteroids (no signal) Bachelor Party (screen flickers/resyncs) Bank Heist (screen flickers/resyncs) Beamrider (no signal) Beany Bopper (screen flickers/resyncs) Blue Print (no signal) Boing (no signal) Boxing (screen flickers/resyncs) Burger Time (no signal) California Games (no signal) Circus Atari (screen flickers/resyncs) Congo Bongo (no signal) Decathlon (no signal) Defender 2 (no signal) Fast Food (no signal) Frogger (no signal) Frogger 2 (black screen) Frogger 2 (black screen) Galaga (screen flickers/resyncs) Gyruss (no signal) Midnite Magic (screen flickers/resyncs) Moon Patrol (unsupported mode) Night Drive (unsupported mode) Polaris (black screen) Summer Games (no signal) Tapper (unsupported mode) Zaxxon (screen flickers/resyncs) It would be *extremely helpful* if someone here with a MCC-216 could check a few of the above titles and confirm the issues. I would also be interested to know if they also occur in the S-Video version of the MCC-216 or only the VGA version. I really hope that the Atari 2600 core soon gets updated since it is very limited in the current version (1.17).

There is a new unofficial MCC-216 forum to have one place where all things related to the MCC (VCS, C64, Amiga) can be discussed. It would be nice if someone could add experiences regarding game compatibility of the VCS 2600 core. Link: http://www.retrorebooted.com/mcc/forum/

So did you manage to ship the first orders this week?

That's the type of news I wanted to hear...

Any idea or estimate when you will start shipping? In general, I am not too happy to get my credit card charged for something when I still have to wait over 2 months to receive the items. I fully understand the reasons why it takes so long. I just think that some things could have been handled a little better.

@A.J. Franzman Interesting read. Any possibility for some photos of how you finally did the shielding? So far I have only tried to surpress interference using ferrit clamps and a double shielded RF cable (leading to mediocre improvements), but now I'd really like to continue with modifying the shielding of the unit itself.

Would be great to see a video of the game, first to get an idea about gameplay and second to have a peek at the intro...

Video Game collector looks promising, but do they also monitor and list PAL games? In the case of my Cakewalk cart it should make quite some difference that it's "only" a PAL version...

Ah, ok. The cart itself looks nearly identical to the cart of the NTSC variant. The only difference is that the "Program Content Copyright 1983 CommaVid Inc" line at the very bottom is missing on my cart.

Prices dropped quite a lot during the last year, especially for loose carts, so maybe they aren't up to date anymore. Any idea how much I could get for a PAL Cakewalk (loose)? The price guide only lists some German/Quelle version for PAL. Or was the cart itself always called "Cakewalk"?

Thanks, I didn't know the digitpress database. Great that it also lists estimated values. At AtariAge, there are only rarity ratings, but no estimated/averaged prices specified.

I've seen lots of different rarity listings, but haven't found a price guide for VCS 2600 carts yet. I was thinking of a something similar to the Intellivision price guide on this site. Prices compiled and averaged from ebay auction's can at least give a rough idea what a collection is worth. So are there maybe any links that I have overlooked? Why did I come up with this? I was wondering what a PAL Cakewalk w/o box might be worth...

...like e.g. Strat-O-Gems (using the reset button).

I will directly plug the 7800 into my TV (other devices are using SCART), so I won't need a switchbox. Concerning video quality, the Sixer and Jr.-models have a buffer-chip that supposedly improves video quality. I wonder if something like this was also used in the 7800, or if any other technical improvements were made regarding the RF section. RGB, wow, that would be even better than S-Video. I wonder why they haven't sold those RGB/SCART 7800 in other parts of Europe too.

I am finally planning to get myself a 7800. One thing that I am concerned about is video quality, especially the amount of interference and static. So how does the 7800 compare to the different 2600-models? From what I read, the (Heavy) Sixer and Junior should have a better video quality than the 4-switch and Vader versions. Is the 7800 even better? I have read that a few 7800's have been shipped with a SCART/Péritel connector instead of a simple RF plug. Is this a composite or S-video signal going through the SCART connector? Were these 7800 only sold in France (and why)?

Yep, I think the game is still kind of undervalued and overlooked. It offers lots of 2-player fun. Even for grown-ups. Frogs 'n Flies is under my top-10 favourites actually. For Europe/PAL, I've only seen the Telegames (1989) version so far (that's the one I have). Were there any other PAL-versions that have been sold in Europe?

Case closed I guess, hehe...

A port to Symbian (S60) would be great.

1. Defender 2 2. California Games 3. Mario Bros. 4. Jr. Pac-Man 5. Fathom 6. Dig Dug 7. Klax 8. Frogs & Flies 9. Moonsweeper 10. Combat