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Rob Mitchell

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Posts posted by Rob Mitchell

    Starplex controller variant

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    On 11/12/2021 at 11:36 PM, Crazy Climber said:

    ...then I saw the $75 price and poor condition and quickly lost interest...

     

    What was the problem?   I've thought of rebuilding one of mine with new Sanwa 24mm buttons after the fire button wore out.

     

    Re: Astroblast:  you install one AA battery and when you push the fire button it autofires ..  I wonder why they didn't use a P7 wire which would have delivered +5v to the controller .. 

    • Like 1

    Vectrex Custom Controller

    in Vectrex

    Posted · Edited by Rob Mitchell

    On 8/23/2021 at 10:58 AM, Gr8dane said:

    Hey, I'm glad you got a chance to try it out! I only sent him the enclosure with overlay, he installed his own buttons and joystick.

    Thanks Dane for selling the enclosures to me so that I could install genuine Sanwa buttons and Sean Kelly's repro Vectrex cable.  (I chose the Red/Black button for V4 so that newbies would presume that it is Fire!)  It was a hit at the Vintage Computer Festival section of the Southern Fried Gaming Expo. 

    AC Adapter

    in Odyssey 2 / Videopac

    Posted

    i have one also .. there are two models of O2:  one with wired joysticks and one with detatchable controllers.  one uses one power plug and one uses the other plug.

     

    My guess is that they decided to avoid disappointment with customers getting the wrong PS so they made it for both.

    Switchable Arcade stick spinner combo

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    I’m going to reply out of courtesy .. 

     

    a paddle is a potentiometer for a game like Pong.  There are great 2600 games which use the paddles ..

     

    a spinner is a rotary digital switch which was first available for the 2600 in 1977 as a pack-in for the Indy 500 / Race game.

     

    there are some vintage, commercially available controllers which have both paddle and joystick in one handheld controller.  One made by Atari is for the Sears Video Arcade II.  You turn the joystick to control a paddle.  The other is the Coleco Gemini clone which has a paddle below the joystick.  The issue with these is that Joystick Fire is not the same as Paddle Fire.

     

    add to the fact is that *most* games are either joystick or paddle ... so why have a combo?  If you don’t want to plug / unplug into the console, then use an extension controller cable.

     

    The Bally Astrocade has an all-in-one controller which the joystick knob is the paddle.  Only one game uses all the functions which is the built-in game: Gunfight which is a brilliant game.

    Engine Analyzer ....what the?

    in Vectrex

    Posted

    Engine Analyzer is nothing more than a light pen based demo ..  I imagine that they were thinking of using the Vectrex as a diagnostic tool .. but there’s nothing anywhere about any hardware to connect it to a vehicle.

     

    11. What is the Engine Analyzer good for?

    This program is an educational tool and has no real functionality. However, it does show an auto mechanic's example of good and bad graph functions that suggest certain problems with a particular car engine under analysis. I presume that GCE was thinking of marketing the Vectrex as a diagnostic tool to mechanics and this program was to be part of the training package. Of course the real Engine Analyzer program has never shown up, nor has the equipment for attaching it to the spark plug wires and ignition coil of a car.

    • Like 1

    Should I make the Circus Vectrex more like the Atari version?

    in Vectrex

    Posted

    I like it .. you must make an analog option to use the Vectrex paddle which has a push button wired to Vectrex button 4.

     

    See https://www.playvectrex.com and look under Vectech for an article about the Vectrex Paddle (written by someone who’s name sounds vaguely familiar)

     

    way back in the day I played the Exidy Circus Arcade game which has two pair of horizontal platforms off which the clown will jump .. and there is no see-saw flip.  Of course the Atari version does allow flip.

     

    if you wanted to incorporate all these elements into the game, you could offer an option to select between the arcade version and the home version.

     

     

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