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discotronic

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Posts posted by discotronic

  6. Posted

    Best rebuilt controllers are a must.

    TrakBall because of Tempest.

    AtariMax cart in my opinion is required. 

    Plan for the controller from Maker Matrix if you are serious about getting the system. https://www.maker-matrix.com/product/5200-controller-left

     

    I have a 4 port board that I picked up from Best that is modded to work with every game and the 2600 adapter. Had it for a few years now and it has been solid for me. No AV or power mod. A 2 port might be the way to go unless you want to play Castle Crisis with 4 players. The 4 port switch box is getting harder to find. 

     

    Other than that I can say that eBay sucks for buying a 5200 unless you actually buy from someone that knows what they are talking about and can give you an honest description of the system and controllers. If they say they don't know if the controllers work then they don't work. If they say the system is untested don't even bother. It will likely be a waste of money. 

     

    I love the 5200 and there have been some really nice conversions and homebrews over the last few years. This is not a cheap system to get up and going. For me this system is worth it since it was one growing up that I thought was just the coolest looking slap of high tech wizardry ever made. 

    • Like 1

  7. Posted · Edited by discotronic

    9 hours ago, save2600 said:

    I too just received my copy (love it!!) and the second game in, something strange happened: 

     

    In the Arena, a Garwor and Thorwor were coming at me at once and squeezed me into the upper left corner of the maze. As soon as that happened, I disappeared, but could hear myself still firing. Thought I was still walking around, but noticed a pattern of white starfield dots in the middle of the screen instead. Had to reset the game as it was just stuck in that mode. Couldn't see myself nor my shots. Here's a vid:

     

     Umm... it's not showing. Taken from my iPad and it's a .mov file. Not compatible with the forum software? Apple's own browser. 

     

     

     

    bug.mov 1.78 MB · 8 downloads

    This happened to me as well. I thought I was in the upper right hand side but could be mistaken. Pretty sure it was the second or third stage in. Def not the fourth. I just disappeared. When pressing the fire button I could hear it firing but nothing else. Actually let it run for a few minutes to see if some find of collision happened but nothing. Had to reset the game. Wish I could give more info on what I was doing and all that but it was just one of those things that happened so quickly and then haven't seen it again. I will try and play the game some more to see if it can be replicated. 

     

    I thought about doing a video but figured it was a one off thing. If it happens again I will take a video. 

     

    This was running on a light sixer 2600. No Atarivox. Standard difficulty. 

  9. Posted · Edited by discotronic

    Looking to do a trade for a working Atari 2600 Jr. with at least a power supply, decent controller or two and paddles. The important thing is everything works. If there are some common games to throw in that would be great. 

     

    The Atari Video Cube game is in great condition overall. The box has a couple small creases in the corners front bottom left and right. The top flap has a small tear but still closes. Cart front label is excellent. End label has a small amount of lifting in the center but the edges are good. The label itself looks nice. Manual is excellent as well. This is a really nice collectors CIB game. 

     

    I would consider a regular 4 switch but that isn't my first preference here. 

     

    You ship yours and I ship mine. 

     

     

  10. Posted

    Nice review. Thanks for posting it.

     

    I have been playing with mine for a couple weeks now and can give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can't knock the quality of the controller at all. While it doesn't have the feel of a Xbox controller it is still pretty solid feeling. For me the button placement has not been a problem up to this point. Also having the primary buttons with some sort of rubberized coating would be nice but again, for me, has not been a problem.

     

    This controller rocks with the new Moon Patrol redux that was posted here recently:

     

     

    Pac-Man Arcade, Bosconian and Scramble are three newer games that I have really enjoyed with this controller.

     

    I did have a problem with my extension cables. The two that I already own are a few years old and do not work the controller. Jarrod and Herb were great to work with. They verified that controller itself worked with all of the different methods for testing and I pretty much knew it wasn't my 5200. I went ahead and bought another cable from them and they sent the controller and cable out extremely fast. Everything works perfect. 

     

    Overall I would recommend this for any 5200 owner. After the new year I will put an order in for a second one. 

     

    • Like 3

  13. Posted

    I was lucky and was able to get all three of these. The boxed Pro Golf and the Augusta and Desert carts. This is an easy game to start playing but it is not at all easy to master. The split screen play is really nice. Overall I think these games are a gem for the 2600 community.

     

    Thank you for creating these great games. I have the games on my Harmony cart but wanted to get the actual carts for my collection. Having the roms to play without dragging the actual carts out every time is awesome. 

     

     

  16. Posted

    I can only tell you about my experience with these damned 5200 systems. This is all from my time with 4 port systems.

     

    I had 2 power supplies and 1 TV switch blow for no reason that I know of. One of the power supplies worked and out of nowhere just took a dive. Another worked great and did the same thing. The TV switch was working and one day I walked away and left the 5200 powered on and running a game for about 30 minutes. Came back in the room and there was nothing on the TV. The switch never worked again after that.

     

    After that I purchased a 4 port upgraded motherboard from Best Electronics. Brad's description is below:

     

    • Atari 5200 4 Port fully populated US / NTSC Atari Engineering Upgraded, last version 5200 Motherboard made with Atari 5200 retro fit Kit built into the motherboard.  This last production run of Atari 5200 4 port Motherboard has the 5200 Retro fit kit designed into last 5200 4 port motherboard.  So this Atari 5200 4 port new replacement motherboard will work with the Atari CX55 2600 "T" shaped 2600 adapter.  About 98% to 99% of the Atari 4 port consoles and 4 port 5200 motherboards made will not work with the Atari CX55 2600 Adapter 

    http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/cx52_j.htm#CX52

     

    Scroll down a ways on the linked page. The website is straight out of 199so be prepared to look and read if you are looking for something.

     

    So this motherboard is apparently the same as what is supposed to be in the * models. Works with the 2600 adapter. I have had no issues at all with this board and it was worth the price at the time a few years ago. Pretty sure the price has gone up since then. $75 as of right now.

     

    If you really want to have the * model on the case and you want the functionality I would recommend going with the Best Electronics board. I had a ton of problems out of old used eBay stuff that it ended up more expensive in the long run. Since buying the motherboard and the Best rebuilt controllers I've been a happy 5200 owner. It has been at least 5 years at this point. 

     

     

  17. Posted

    17 hours ago, reklen said:

    Basic Math sells for 100.00 easy.

    This is something I did not know and my first reaction was bull***t. Looked at eBay and wow you are right. 


    I did a search and didn't come up with the answer but why would that sucky and not really rare game bring that kind of price? I understand the whole what a person is willing to pay but this seems a little crazy to me.

    • Like 1

  18. Posted · Edited by discotronic

    Here is my recollection of Solaris and the 2600.

     

    My brother and I grew up dirt ass poor which is not an exaggeration in the least. We didn't have any kind of video game system until about 1986 or 1987 when we put our birthday money together and bought a 2600 and big box of games for $10 at a yard sale. Our birthdays were 6 days apart by the calendar but we were 4 years apart in age. I do remember it was a 6 switch and had joysticks and paddles. Games that I remember we got with the system were Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, Stampede, Freeway, Pitfall, Breakout, Video Pinball, Night Driver, Combat and Air Sea Battle. There were more but I can't remember back that far. Most kids were starting to get an NES so the 2600 was a real bargain for kids like us. 

     

    Not long after that Big Lots must have purchased a large lot of Atari overstock. I don't remember the exact year. They were selling a 7800 with a bundle of games for about $50. They also had a large number of 2600 games. Big bins full of games and more hanging on the wall. One of them was Solaris. It was $2.00 still sealed. The graphics on the back of the box looked amazing which we knew was BS. No game actually looked that good on the 2600. We bought it anyway. Can't beat $2 for a game.

     

    My brother and I were blown away by this game from the second we hit the power switch. We had friends that had an NES and the graphics and gameplay were almost as good. Who knew this old as hell system could do this. 

     

    My brother and I moved on to more advanced systems as the years went on. I have the game in the original box in almost as good of shape as it was the day we bought it. Solaris is the reason I still love the 2600. For me I don't think I would still feel the way I do about the 2600 without Solaris. 

     

     

    • Like 4

  19. Posted

    I have a 4 port 5200 and a 2600 light sixer hooked to a 27" CRT TV. Everything is plugged into a power strip. I turn everything off and the power strip when not in use. 

     

    The 5200 uses the powered TV switch and I do not like to plug it in with power already connected to the TV. That spark isn't healthy. Best Electronics has it right. Plug in the switch and power supply before actually turning everything on. I blew out a TV switch by not doing this. Those things are getting more expensive all the time.  

  20. Posted

    On 11/9/2019 at 5:47 PM, doctorclu said:

    Since the Zeropage Homebrew Awards are no longer featuring hacks, I no longer have to hold back till after the beginning of the year for a hack I did of this one that Jamcat started.  Continue on a cool idea Jamcat had and let some people enjoy this.

     

    I've hacked and hacked this game.   Hacked the music, hacked the character in the radar to look more Viper like, hacked the radar to be more green like in the show, hacked the number fonts to look more like those used for BSG. 

     

    Bsg12.bin 8 kB · 5 downloads

     

    What next?   Maybe hack the font again to the number font used in the radar screens.  At this point what I would really like to see is the radar on the BOTTOM of the screen, and the view screen on the TOP.  Much like the picture below.  I think that would make the game a lot more like the show.

     

    546087236_ScreenShot2019-11-09at4_40.58PM2.thumb.png.6cf48688e5e0848b9cf5a0bcda094992.png

    (Concept picture)

     

    Maybe even move the score at the bottom of the screen underneath the radar.  Anyway, in the meantime, enjoy!

    I would love to see the game with the radar at the bottom. I will throw it on my Harmony cart and see the latest changes. Glad you ran with Jamcat's inspiration on this!

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    I was actually telling a friend recently that I thought a beer pong Atari game would be sweet. He laughed and said that it would be a safe bet that most of the people that would play it on the Atari last played real beer pong 20+ years ago. 

     

    Personally I love the concept you have written out. If someone drinks too much it won't be because of this game. They were going to drink too much anyway. Put me down for a boxed copy if you get to that point. 

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    I did a search and didn't find what I need. Hope someone here can point me in the right direction. 

     

    Is there anyone that makes custom boxes for 5200 games? More than anything I'm looking for a box for my Adventure II game and a couple other loose homebrew games to put on the shelf with my other homebrew games. They don't need to be an actual reproduction box and this isn't going to be something for resale. 

     

    Since a full on printed 5200 box is probably cost prohibitive I was thinking maybe something along the lines of a plastic VHS style clamshell case. My preference would be that the case be somewhere close to the same size as an original 5200 box. It would also need room for a manual. 

     

    Any ideas?

  25. Posted

    On 11/17/2019 at 6:32 PM, David Alexander said:

    Before Atariguy1021's current absence from the scene he was designing an adapter that would allow you to plug in unmodded Jag controllers to use with the 5200.

    And if they sold well PBolond may have made Atari 5200 overlays that fit the Jag Keypad. I was looking forward to that.

    I purchased a Masterplay clone from Atariguy1021 with a modified paddle controller. The MP is a very nice piece of hardware. It can use a Genesis style controller. I wish I could have picked up another set before he stopped making them. There is no way I would play my 5200 near as much without it. If something like this were widely available the 5200 might get a little more love. 

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