found awesome pole position controller

[found awesome pole position controller]

I saw one of those at Goodwill a while back.

 

Where can a person get a PC to 5200 controller adapter?

[Is there something wrong with my Starfox (SNES) cart?...]

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.

[megadrive 1 powersupply 10v+jaguar]

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).

[Jr. Pac Man corrected version?]

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?

[New Plug n' Play system actually has GOOD classic games!]

I can attest to the fact that the dream gear games are very boring.

 

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.

[Games that should have been great]

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.

[Sega Genesis stopped working suddenly]

Genny 1s use a different power supply don't they? Also before my system went out I was using a universal power adapter and had it running at 7.x volts. Could that have done it too. Seems like it wouldn't power on though if that was the case.

 

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.

[Sega Genesis stopped working suddenly]

It just isnt working for me. I guess ill have to find another one. It powers on and all just only get a slight wannabe image through static on the screen. There is a non HDG genny 1 at a local game store I kinda wanna buy for 25 bucks. What is better about it saying High Definition Graphics on it?

 

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.

[Intellivision stuff at Value Village]

Yeah, you dont really see too much Intellivision anything anywhere except whats on ePay.

 

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.

[Intellivision stuff at Value Village]

Any VV I got to they just write the damned price on there with a red crayon.. which really really sucks.

 

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

[More controller woes]

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.

[Flashback 2.0 EOL?]

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

[Details on the controller flaws]

The first couple of times you take a stick apart to repair/replace the flex circuit, you will have a difficult time putting the stick back together so that the pots line up with the rails properly.

 

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.

[Details on the controller flaws]

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.

[IS The FB3 project still alive?]

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.

[FYI: FYE to discontinue its sale of video games new and used?]

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...

[How many years before games go to public domain?]

Its probably been asked before, but I am curious. You know like how really old songs and hymns became public domain over the years. Or does this require some estate curator to sign off on a legal document of some sort?

 

I guess what I am alluding to is, will Pac Man and Zaxxon ever be public domain by sheer age, or would Namco and Sega have to sign off rights first?

[Auctions like this are complete BS]

I had an original 2600 Crazy Climber cart for sale once there. Problem was, I had to create a new label for it because the old one was so hacked up. Printed a really nice end and main label and was upfront on what it was people were looking at. Next thing I know, my auction was pulled without warning. Probably some self righteous bastard of a boob with no life turned it in for artistic copyright infringement (I'm guessing, why else would it be pulled?). The government has been doing a fine job of turning us all against each other and this is no different. Anyone that reports on others' auctions is a wanker in my book. Tattling is lame and something we all learned (or not) out in the school yard.

 

Thing to do is constructively write to the seller and educate them maybe about the potential of copyright infringement or the potential for sum simpleton to get confused. But if you are not the original author and have nothing to lose or gain - why bugger getting into someone else's business?

 

ePay is already a hostile environment. Why add to the agitation? IF someone is stupid enough to purchase a copy of something, thinking it's original, let them learn the expensive lesson then. For me, I guess it's about hypocrisy and regulation. I can't stand the police state that this country is turning into. And that's exactly what's been going on for the last 10+ years re: the Internet. Government and capitalism had to step in. Look where it's gotten all of us. We're all that much worse off because of it.

 

Y, somebody ratted me out for a modded NES one time. The only "infraction" was a disabled 10NES lockout chip on a front loader. Thing they could never explain is that Nintendo left the 10NES completely out of the top loader, so how was my mod doing anything illegal? Game Gavel had no problem with me listing the exact same system over there.

[Auctions like this are complete BS]

Call me dumb, but I need educated about what is so wrong with these auctions.

[Online Atari 2600 Label Maker : Now with Silver Labels]

No sizing abilities in MS Paint. You can download a freeware photo editor that has common functions like crop, resize, and brightness adjustment.

["Excellent" condition is a relative term]

That PS2 console has been through the war.

 

Almost as laughable as all the "rare" items on Ebay these days. Somehow, use of that word magically makes a common game cart worth more.

[FYI: FYE to discontinue its sale of video games new and used?]

Ummm, what is FYI and there could at least be a link in your post...

[2600 paddle still jittery after cleaning]

While cleaning the things often works, it's possible for the pot to simply wear out, especially if something conductive, liquid or metal shavings, ended up inside of it. Replaceing the pot is possible, however, and radiosack and such should have them. Just make sure it matches the 5vDC specs and it should work.

 

Thanks for the response, but I have looked the innards of this pot over with a magnifying glass and there are no shavings or liquid that I can see. I have thoroughly cleaned this pot's inside contents, along with polishing the metal contacts on the stem's disc with fine grit sandpaper. And so no sandpaper residue is left, I have gone over the contacts and carbon patches with alcohol after polishing.

[What Lies Beneath?!]

Is it possible that your relabeled console was originally labeled for sale as a CBS branded model? If so, then maybe that is a CBS label underneath. Just a guess.

 

Use a heat gun to carefully remove the top label. If done right, there will be no damage and you can reapply it with Elmer's glue at a later time if so desired.

[reflowing solder joints]

We had a conversation about flowing solder on a ColecoVision board before. I said this earlier and I'll do it again for emphasis... flowing solder on the CV board is a stone cold bitch because the solder is practically fossilized onto the board. I don't know if the motherboard is pretreated with a coat of silicone or what, but you're going to find it extremely hard to get that solder a movin'.

 

Generally speaking, the hardware is a headache of Xbox 360 proportions. The system is hard to open, the power switch will give you constant problems, and if you accidentally pop off a component (like, say, the extremely vulnerable controller ports), you can pretty much kiss the whole thing goodbye. I tried installing a new controller port in my CV but discovered while trying to unlock Pac-Man Plus on Opcode's excellent Pac-Man Collection that it didn't work properly. Feh! It's definitely not a console that was designed for the long haul.

 

Even if old solder is difficult to reflow, simply apply new solder over the top of the protruding pins on the back side of the PCB. It all accomplishes the same thing.