What's your favorite paddle compatable game?

[What's your favorite paddle compatable game?]

It does matter. PAL cartridges produce a 50 Hz picture, while NTSC carts run at 60 Hz. Most PAL televisions can handle a 60 Hz picture, but most NTSC televisions choke on a 50 Hz picture with vertical rolling. Also, the PAL and NTSC consoles' circuitry have different colo(u)r pallettes. Playing a PAL cartridge on an NTSC system (or vice-versa) will give incorrect colors.

Oh thankyou for the clarification, so if I play an NTSC cartridge on my PAL equipment it will most likely just be funny colours ... maybe thats why the walls are purple in pitfall

[I think my Atari's RF cable is broken...]

Update: Its not the RF cable. Its the power supply. The connector on the back is wobbly and its only powers on if I hold it up.

 

My 2600 has that problem too, it's a loose connection between the power supply socket and the circuit board, maybe I'll fix it tomorrow when I'm not drunk

[What's your favorite paddle compatable game?]

I want one! But I require PAL format ...

 

Sorry, I haven't got the magic to accomplish that.

The confusing thing is that while half my cartridges have PAL on them, the rest dont have any indication of PAL or NTSC so this makes me wonder if it even matters at all!

[Help with stuck joystick button!]

Don't go chopping bits off! I'd suggest some sort of lubrication, then if that doesn't work, sanding the holes wider.

[Electrical hum on my Vader]

Anything else I should try?

A different power supply.

[What's your favorite paddle compatable game?]

Steeplechase is great fun with four players. But it's quite rare to find one in my experience.

 

I've always liked Steeplechase too. I've got one or two spare if anyone's looking.

I want one! But I require PAL format ...

[Trak-ball?]

I thought the track ball was a substitute for a joystick?

[Electrical hum on my Vader]

I second what the above two chaps said, this is often the mains AC frequency leaking through the filter capacitor(s)

[2600 ac adapter, famicom system]

I need an ac adapter for my heavy sixer

 

Any 9 volt, 500 milliamp output transformer will do. For my 2600 I use an old British Telecom phone power supply

[NEVER SAW THIS LABEL BEFORE? VALUE?]

Caps lock; For when you want to look really smart.

 

 

This'll just be the European version. I have a few games with the instructions in all those languages

[Atari 2600 Pause Kit Now Available!]

I'm going to have to get one of these, needing to blow your nose in the middle of a game of Megamania is a hellish situation.

[Best Lesser-Known Games?]

I dont think anyone mentioned this one yet, but it's pretty unknown

 

Maze Craze!

 

It's definately my favorite Atari game, if you play it have the game select matrix to hand (aka: the game variations table) It gets really challenging and interesting in the mode where you can add flase walls to the maze and have to catch 3 "robbers" (coloured squares) before you can escape!

Additionally every maze is different, they are randomly generated each time you start a new maze!

[Is there a way to make paddles less sensitive?]

oops I just discovered an error! The ranges are, Warlords: 380 K ohms to 33 K ohms, Super Breakout: 350 K ohms to 36 K ohms. Just accidentally added an extra hunded thousand ohms in my calculations

 

 

I just tried out a 220k pot and you can get almost the full range of movement even though it's more than 100k ohms off what I calculated, a 500k pot works well however I think something like a 650k pot would work better, but then again it's almost all down to personal taste or the game you are playing.

[Is there a way to make paddles less sensitive?]

I don't necessarily accept the assumption, BTW, but I'll go along with it for the sake of discussion. Report back your findings.

 

 

Okay I just did an experiment with a rudimentary ohm-meter I built from some stuff in my lab, so these results are aproximate but damn near correct if you ask me

I tested Warlords and Super Breakout, Warlords had a slightly larger range than Super Breakout, my results are;

 

Warlords: 480 K ohms to 33 K ohms

Super Breakout: 450 K ohms to 36 K ohms.

 

For both that's a range of over 400k. Now back to the lab to try some different potentiometers.

[Trading for paddle games! (Atari 2600)]

So I'm looking for paddle controlled games for the Atari 2600 and thought I'd trade some games to save a little cash

I've got the silver and red label versions of Centipede and will trade either one of them for any paddle controlled Atari 2600 game you are offering! PAL format carts please Both have some scratches but nothing too detrimental, they both still look clean- none of those weird dark splodges some cartidges have.

 

Location: England, UK (I'd prefer to trade inland but overseas is okay too, as postage should not be too much more)

 

Tech info: The silver label cart is PAL (has the P on the end) but the red label has no markings that indicate PAL or NTSC however it works fine on my PAL atari

[found a semi-working tac 2]

According to wikipedia:

# TAC-2 has no microswitches, using instead a metal ball that short-circuited contacts (Don't you mean "connects contacts" wikipedia?) around the bottom shaft of the controller.

# The fire buttons work with copper contact plates, which tend to become oxidized and thus need care every now and then.

 

 

Sounds like a bit of cleaning will make it work again!

[Paddle problem]

It could also be that the capacitor that is responsible for timing for that paddle has gone bad.

 

-tet

Bad capacitors are quite often the source of problems in electronics. Fortunately they are cheap and normally easy to fix

[Is there a way to make paddles less sensitive?]

I really like the way a nicely damped set of paddles works; smooth but with just enough resistance to motion to make them controllable. I tend to overshoot a bit on Kaboom and Circus with a really "free" set of paddles.

 

I must get some of that grease too, I allways overshoot on supert breakout

 

Accepting the assumption that the 500K pot yields the desired sensitivity level for all games

I am going to buy lots of paddle controled games and find out if that is so

[Bent pins in joystick port light sixer.]

Both pins in both ports are bent the same way so it does look like it has been done on purpose and not by accident.

Ah but thats exactly what you'd expect from the mechanical virus, a damaged plug bends the same pins in every socket it is used in!

 

Antivirus:

 

[AtariAge/Monkey Labs "Secret CGE Project" Label Making Contest!]

I couldn't quite tell from your first post but did you want the text "AtariAge/Monkey Labs CGE 2010" included somewhere on the label?

 

Have some of my entries anyway

[2600 Jr Pal-I composite?]

Hey be sure to post your findings, datasheets and pins numbers etc, I'd be really interested to find out aswell.

[atari games are they worth it?]

Guys, guys... we're missing the point of this post. He's asking "Is it worth it, considering our woefully short and unstable lifespans, to play Atari games?"

In the cosmic perspective of life we are insignificant and nothing is worth anything and everything we do is ultimately pointless ... so, who's up for Warlords!?

[What's your favorite paddle compatable game?]

Warlords.

 

I am getting damn good at it too

[Bent pins in joystick port light sixer.]

This happens when a faulty controller plug is plugged into a socket, bending the pins. Subsequently certain functional controler plugs will become damaged by being used in a damaged socket, then they go on to damage any more sockets they are used in!

It's the only known mechanical computer virus, it affects almost everything with pins in thier ports (to different degrees, some types of socket are more susceptable than others).

[atari games are they worth it?]

That's a good deal if you ask me, I'd pay that much for a 6-switch 2600 by itself!