tz101

Yes, but where do you find one? These were originally only released in Japan, but can be found on Ebay.

I believe this is common especially with home brews. Stella's Stocking is a home brew. Sort of like how not all NES games work on the new clone systems based on NOAC technology. Somehow, it seems that some of the home brew programmers are not aware of a glitch that existed on certain model of VCS/2600 consoles. Atari and Activision programmers of yesteryear must have known how to program around these slight differences, while modern home brewers have not figured it all out quite yet.

There's lots of that garbage on CL these days. Almost everything comes with a $1 listing until you actually read the ad.

The Xbox duke controller is awesome. Don't dis it.

This Hori controller for N64 solves the problem of having to stretch to use both the analog stick and the d-pad in a comfortable manner...

Q: Since Atari originally secured console rights for Ms. Pac Man, Jr. Pac man, Vanguard and the like back in the 80s, would not Infogrames still own those rights for any new flashback consoles, even this many years later? Did these licensing agreements have a time limit stipulation included?

Nice find man! Planing on opening it up? Or keeping it closed for closed for collector value? I already cracked it open to make sure it was the real deal. It is, and has all the original packing materials. Sweet.

Got this, new in box, never been cracked open, at GW for $5...

How about these: Atlantis (Imagic) Berzerk (Atari) Demon Attack (Imagic) Donkey Kong Jr. (Coleco) Enduro (Activision) Fire Fighter (Imagic) Frogger (Parker Bros.) Frostbite (Activision) H.E.R.O. (Activision) Jr. Pac Man (Atari) Lock N Chase (M Network) Moon Patrol (Atari) Mouse Trap (Coleco) Ms. Pac Man (Atari) Pitfall II (Activision) Robot Tank (Activision) Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back(Parker Bros.) Super Breakout (Atari) Vanguard (Atari) Zaxxon (Coleco) Now that would be a killer lineup...

I saw one of those at Goodwill a while back. Where can a person get a PC to 5200 controller adapter?

The metal tabs inside were intended for grounding from static discharge. The grounding should be fine with even one in place. I never understood Nintendo's reasoning for grounding the super FX carts and not worrying about this on all the other games.

10v DC MD1 power brick will do well on the Jag. No worries. I use my two Jag bricks on my Genesis all the time, and vice versa. Power bricks upwards to 15v DC rated at 1-2 amps would be alright as long as the polarity is the same (center negative).

Would it be possible for a home brewer to correct the 2600 version of Jr. Pac Man, making the mazes scroll horizontally like the arcade version? How difficult would this be?

I picked up a Dream Gear that looks like a mini Dreamcast console today at a Salvation Army store for $2.95, but after looking through the games I feel like I overpaid. There are 75 games on this one, but all are very lame Famicom-type stuff. One is trying to hop from cloud to cloud with a frog to complete some unknown task, and another one puts the player into the cockpit of a tank while you spin in circles and shoot every enemy tank and truck that comes into your view window. The thing is there is no challenge as the enemy tanks and trucks never even fire a shot back at you. Man, people must have felt ripped paying $40 a pop for these bad titles back in the 80's is all I have to say.

Castlevania for NES. They could have made Frankie and Igore just a tad easier to beat. I think I got past those two only twice in all my years of trying. Sad, because that game could have been so much more fun if were a little more completable.

Genesis model 1 uses a 9v DC output rated at 1 amp, but it is safe to use up to a 15v DC power adapter on it as long as the connector polarity is identical (center negative). 7v is underpowered for Genesis and is probably why it won't work in your case. To answer your question, yes, the model 1 and 2 consoles have different DC adapters. The polarity is different and the end plugs are different. You can actually use a Sega Master System, Atari 2600 (later models like the 2800), or Atari Jaguar power adapter on a Genesis 1, but not on a Genesis 2.

Don't throw it out yet. Please take the effort to take the main board out and inspect the chip solder points with a magnifying glass. Most likely a broken solder connection from the freeze/thaw cycle. After all, look what it does to the roads with potholes. This is probably an easy fix with a soldering iron and minimal soldering skills.

Look on Craigslist. Got both of my Intellivision systems and 45 game carts from a trade and $20. They come up on CL, but somewhat irregularly.

Easy fix. Use a polymer pencil eraser readily available at many stores.

I don't know about a multitester, but a continuity tester is simple and will do the trick. It is basically a narrow flashlight with two alligator clip contacts. Connect one clip to the pin at the controller's connector plug, and the other clip to the correlating wire end inside the controller housing, then turn the flashlight on. If the bulb lights up then you have a complete circuit throughout the entire length of that particular wire. If it doesn't, then you have a broken wire to repair. As for the pots: Atari used a couple different types of pots, but they are interchangeable. The arms are press fit over the shafts but can be adjusted by forcing them to move past the stop (in either direction). Here's the adjustment method: Pop in Missile Command, then fiddle with the upper and lower pot arms until the on-screen crosshair is visually centered. The key is that the upper pot arm needs to be aligned exactly at 9 o'clock with the crosshair at vertical center, and the lower pot arm needs to be aligned exactly at the 6 o'clock position with the on-screen crosshair centered horizontally. You will have to mess with the pot arms for a while to accomplish this.

The Amazon prices are stupid. I saw a FB2 at a used game store for $12.50 a week ago.

Here's what you need for realigning the stick slider plates with the pot arms on reassembly of the controller: Make certain the top pot arm is aligned at the 9 o'clock position and that the bottom pot arm is aligned at the 6 o'clock position. Then, with the stick held as close to perfectly centered in the controller's top case half, lower the slider plates over the pot arms. Don't pinch any wires and everything should be good to go once you tighten all the screws back in place.

Old controller pots can be taken apart and have the contacts cleaned. That is mostly what makes them work improperly: dirt buildup on the internal contacts. Carbon contacts on the back of the rubber buttons tend to get "ozoned" over the years. Start by cleaning all the carbon dot contacts with alcohol. If that does not fix unresponsive buttons, go to the foil dot trick next. Basically, use a paper punch to punch a bunch of dots out of a sheet of good quality aluminum foil, then use either a hot glue gun or super glue to attach a dot to the carbon contact of each rubber button. Presto, all your rubber buttons will work as good as new. Finally, if the stick rubber boots are cracked or very loose in their feel, it is well worth it to order some new stiffer ones from Best. Mine are now self centering due to Best replacement boots. Best wishes with your 5200. You will enjoy it for sure.

I think the whole FB3 thing is a farce. A pipedream that is never coming to pass. Atari/Infogrames has zero interest in hardware, being mainly a software dev company milking the Atari name badge for what it's worth. Curt Vendel offers little tantalizers to keep people on a string like "If..." and every Atari fan fawns. The real future for playing Atari classics will most likely be emulation on the PC.

Never saw a FYE as I don't frequent malls. Sounds like another Musicland or Camelot Music, which both went out of business years ago. If they were overpriced to begin with, how good of "deals" is one going to get at their closeout sales? I went to a Blockbuster that was shuttering the doors a while back. They were massively clearancing all inventory but still had DVD movies listed at $15-$20 and PS2 games at $20. Made no sense to shop there until they were truly interested in clearancing the merchandise...