Atari2008

Agreed!!!!! Fauxscot has resurrected the RCA S2 36 years later and it's quite the exciting time to be an S2 owner. This is actually my first S2 console thanks to all the interest Fauxscot has generated. Looking forward to the coming developments, but yes thank you for all of your work on this system.

Paul, These homebrews are simply amazing. You are quite talented to port these classic games to the RCA S2 and so quickly!!! I've been having a ball playing all these games I wish I could play on the RCA S2 but never thought possible...until now. I'm looking forward to the Multi-Cart and playing these games on the hardware. Just wanted to say thank you...your efforts are greatly appreciated. I'm enjoying my first RCA S2!

Hi fauxscot, I just wanted to thank you for reviving the RCA Studio II and for your work repairing people's units as well as designing the Multi-Cart. You have renewed interest in this under-appreciated console and opened up a whole new world of possibilities for it. It's quite exciting! I finally got my hands on a boxed working unit with a few games...my first RCA Studio II! I'm impressed by this machine that you built way back in 1976.

Agreed!!! I'm totally in for a multi cart. :-)

Awesome work Paul! This game translates very well to the RCA S2! Great job translating the control scheme as well. The black and white graphics work well in this one, reminiscent of the arcade game. This is great fun. Thank you for cranking out these fun S2 games. Looking forward to playing these on the console.

I just played Pac-Man - wow amazing port, Paul! I find it incredible how you were able to maintain most of the basic elements of the game. Despite the stripped down graphics, the game is just as fun to play as any other version of Pac-Man. This is a great addition to the S2 library. Thank you for this!

Wow, you are amazing Paul. Thank you! I'm so looking forward to playing this when I get home. This is one of my video game dreams come true.

Agreed!!! I can't wait to see Pac-Man on the S2. You're a genius Paul.

Paul, well done!!!! This game is so addicting and fun on the S2. I also feel that the simple left right movement of the game will be well suited to the S2 keypads. This is an excellent translation, none of the fun is lost and it's just as addicting!

Good luck!

I'm glad fauxscot was able to repair one of yours. Wow, I had no ideas that many of the RCA S2's out there are not working. I knew the one I bought was a gamble as it was untested, but I was hoping since it was such a simple unit, that it would work. Sadly no signs of life. I'd get another unit except that this one was relatively expensive so I don't have any money for another unit right now. Also, I've never fixed anything electronic, so I don't know how much I can do at my end. Too bad, seems like an interesting system, I was looking forward to playing it, even if the games sucked.

That looks great!!!!!!! Glad you had time to start tinkering.

It's nice to see that someone with know-how can make a switch box. I'm not that skilled, perhaps I can locate a replacement switch box.

Thank you for your response. I should've clarified, I'm a newbie when it comes to electronics in general. I've never used a soldering iron. On rare occasion I've opened up one of my consoles but usually not to do beyond move some socketed chips around. I say that to say I really have no electronics know-how to do any meaningful repair. The only thing I did was connect the Atari 2600 PSU to the switch box, since I know that PSU works to see if perhaps the RCA PSU wasn't working. Still didn't power up. If it is true that an Atari 2600 power supply is compatible, then perhaps it's the switch box? I'm going to stop by a local retro game store to see if they have an RCA S2 switch box, to see if I can eliminate that as the source of the problem. I imagine it's possible that it could be a problem with the system itself as well? Sure, I can hang on, I'd like to see if there's anything I can do to get it up and running. I'm considering selling this one for parts and waiting for a tested, functional unit, but I'm not there yet. If there's anything I can do as someone with little electronics knowledge let me know. I also don't know how to tell you the polarity of the connection. Look forward to hearing from you and fauxscot, and many thanks!

Thank you Paul! I also tested it with a working Atari 2600 PSU and the system still didn't power up. Could the likely culprit be the switch box?

I hope I don't derail this thread with my post, I had created a separate one but since all of the RCA S2 experts are here, it was recommended that I post in this thread. If you'd like you can respond to me directly in a private message. Thank you in advance for your help! I recently received an RCA Studio II from eBay, that was untested. It came with the original PSU and switch box. I bought this adapter from Radio Shack to connect to my flat screen: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062054&locale=en_US I connected everything, switched the switch box to RCA Studio II and nothing happened. The red LED light on the console didn't light up at all. The console didn't make any noise, the TV didn't react in any way. I was wondering if it was the RCA PSU. I read that an Atari 2600 PSU works with the RCA Studio II. I tried that, and again nothing. Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot the system? Also please keep in mind that I'm a newbie when it comes to retro-electronics. Thank you!

Warming up with Kaboom sounds good to me. You did an amazing job with your Space Invaders clone, it would be nice to see other arcade ports. Perhaps a simplified Pac-Man clone? Some type of space shooter like a simplified Defender would be nice. Maybe a watered down Asteroids or Missile Command?

Thank you, I've been following the thread, I just didn't want to derail the topic. But your idea does sound like a good one, so I'll give it a shot and post there. Thanks!

No life out of Studio II - no red led, no beeps, no black screen on the tv. I even tried an Atari 2600 psu and nothing. Guess that means a bad system? Too bad, it wasn't cheap and I probably won't be able to afford another for a while.

I recently received an RCA Studio II from eBay, that was untested. It came with the original PSU and switch box. I bought this adapter from Radio Shack to connect to my flat screen: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062054&locale=en_US I connected everything, switched the switch box to RCA Studio II and nothing happened. The red LED light on the console didn't light up at all. I was wondering if it was the RCA PSU. I read that an Atari 2600 PSU works with the RCA Studio II. I tried that, and again nothing. Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot the system? Also please keep in mind that I'm a newbie when it comes to retro-electronics. Thank you!

I am a huge fan of Revival Studios' games on other classic consoles and I think it would be awesome if they started producing high quality homebrews for the RCA Studio II. I already emailed in my interest, and encourage everyone else to do the same.

I agree! This thread is very exciting and I have high hopes that we can get some cool games within the limits of the RCA Studio II.

Thank you everyone for all your efforts in tracking down all of the RCA S2 ROM files. This is very exciting and also an important part of preserving gaming history.

I agree that Tetris would appear to be a good candidate. I also think Pac-Man, if it's possible. Which Chip-8 games use 256 bytes of RAM or less? Too bad the memory addresses between the RCA S2 and Chip-8 are incompatible, I was digging the idea of a sort of Supercharger to allow it to play Chip-8 games. However, I'm looking forward to what creative geniuses can squeeze out of the system.

Agreed!!! His Space Invaders clone is one of the best games for the system, and it would be great to be able to play it on original hardware. If the Chip-8 games can't be ported, is anyone here willing to program some homebrews for the S2? Perhaps simplified version of arcade classics like the Space Invaders homebrew?