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AFS

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Posts posted by AFS

  3. Posted

    The next release of the Harmony BIOS should support the FB2 console (thanks to some work from myself, batari, and Thomas Jentzsch). This will enable the FB2 to play the majority of original 2600 titles, and some homebrews, from an SD card.

     

    Here is an image of the Harmony menu system (showing the new 1.04 BIOS version):

     

    post-6563-126556138236_thumb.jpg

     

    Feel free to ask any questions, and let me know if you can think of a better way to anchor the Harmony (I didn't want to glue anything directly to the Harmony, so it can be removed later).

     

    Chris

     

    Excellent! So I will finally be able to load a menu system on a Harmony Cart for my FB2? I currently do not own a Harmony Cart because it does not do that yet for my FB2 (I asked on the main Harmony thread). I own a Krokodile Kart which allows me to play a single game at a time and I was told right now the Harmony only allows you to play one game at a time on a FB2. Looks like I will finally get this new BIOS version of the Harmony when it becomes available! :cool:

    Yep, the menu system works just fine. We expect that this new BIOS will be ready to go this week.

     

     

    Awesome. And the FB2+ will be shipped soon as well. Anyone in the NYC area willing and able to install this mod for a reasonable fee?

  4. Posted

    What is the exact incentive to buying a Flashback if you already own an original 2600 heavy sixer? I am not trying to start a flame war or demean anything Curt Vendall or Legacy Engineering has done. I am just curious what the difference would be between an authentic 2600 and the Flashback (besides the obvious not having to buy the carts individually and placing them into the slot). Thanks!

     

    Well, there are some advantages, I think, though others may not care about them as much as I:

     

    1) As you mention, you don't have to swap cartridges. That's a pretty big advantage from my perspective. All my old 2600 carts were sold years ago at a garage sale, and I'm not so interested in rebuilding a library. Even if I did still have a decent library of cartridges, I'd prefer not to have to get up and switch cartridges every time I want to switch games.

     

    2) The FB2/FB2+ already has modern AV connectors built in, so you don't need to have/buy a converter to connect to your TV.

     

    3) The FB2/FB2+ has a smaller footprint, which is an advantage if you don't use it frequently and so want to pack it easily in a TV cabinet most of the time.

     

    4) The FB2/FB2+ has no cart connectors to get dusty or corroded, and so presumably will require less maintenance to stay functional for a longer time period.

  6. Posted

    If you were to trace the pins of the current ROM, it should be possible to replace it. You would have to reverse engineer the menu system though (how it switches from menu mode to 2600 mode, how it handles loading ROMs and bank switching, etc...). It would be easier to add a cartridge slot ;)

     

     

    Hopefully it would be possible to license the menu system from Atari together with the games.

     

     

    The chips on the FB2 (IIRC) are affixed with a glob of epoxy. It's nearly impossible to replace these chips.

     

    The only way to add a module is through a cart port mod. Adding a cart port to the FB2 is not an easy task, and only a handful of consoles were ever modded or ever will be modded.

     

    EDIT: just opened up my FB2 and although both chips are epoxied, one appears to be on a separate daughterboard with SMT leads. SO maybe it could be done.

     

     

    This is obviously the bigger issue. I wonder if there would be room just to leave the existing chip in place, but disconnect it, and connect a new chip in its place.

     

    Alternatively, depending on how much unused storage capacity there is on the existing ROM module, maybe something could be sold that would allow users to overwrite the existing chip with a larger package of games.

  7. Posted

    So let me preface this by saying I'm not criticizing the game library included in the FB2+, or the job that Curt and his colleagues are doing, or raising any woulda/coulda/shoulda-type musings. I totally respect and support the decision to stick to in-house games to keep production costs down and sell at a price point that gets the general public interested rather than just the tiny core of enthusiasts. But I was wondering whether anyone had any thoughts on the technical and/or legal and/or commercial possibility of producing a replacement ROM Module for the FB2 and FB2+ that would include many more games, fully licensed and legal, for sale to enthusiasts to swap in to their FB2 or FB2+ units.

     

    I was thinking something like 200 or so classic games, from Atari, Activision, Namco, Imagic, etc., together with as many homebrews as can be easily verified and licensed for free. I guess this would also be limited to those games that have been demonstrated to work on the FB2 by people who did the cartridge slot mod. And let's say this fully loaded replacement ROM module would have a price point of around $100.

     

    So Curt has said that 860,000 FB2s were produced. Let's hazard a guess that another 200,000 FB2+s will hit the market this year. So figure there will be around a million compatible devices out there. If the owners of 1% of them want the replacement ROM module at the $100 price point, then that's potentially $1 million in sales. Not much, but not bad when we're talking about something some guy can probably produce in his parents' basement. Figure each $100 sale would pay $50 to the license holders, and maybe $25 for the materials and shipping, and that guy in his parents' basement can clear $250,000 by servicing 1% of the total market.

     

    Is anything like this remotely feasible? Would the transaction costs with the game companies kill it? Would they demand too much in licensing fees? Is the ROM module too difficult for your garden variety enthusiast to replace? (Easier or more difficult than the cartridge slot mod, for example?) Would anyone (besides me) pay $100 for such a product?

     

    Your thoughts, please.

  8. Posted

    Maybe this is pie-in-the-sky thinking, but I wonder if it would be possible for users of the FB2/FB2+ to buy batches of games/licenses directly from Konami or Activision or whomever.

     

    I'm not so interested in modding in a cartridge slot and fumbling with cartridges, but it would be nice to expand the game library, so if another game developer were able to sell a larger memory card, that includes the FB2+ games but also has licensed games added, that users could swap in, then I'm sure a lot of us would happily pay for it. It seems to me that producing something like that would be an easy way for the license holders to make some money off of enthusiasts with very little capital invested.

     

    I mean, 40 games sounds like a lot, but aren't there more than 900 games out there for the 2600 that should work seamlessly with the FB2 or FB2+? It totally makes sense that Atari would limit the built-in library to limit the cost of producing the unit, but that just seems to create an after-market opportunity. Surely someone could come up with a properly licensed replacement memory module with 200 games or so and sell it for $100 or so . . .

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    Thanks, Curt. That is a tantalizing non-response. :)

    I guess I'll not bother with eBay and wait a few months to see what happens . . .

     

    Atari Flashback 2.0 was produced from July to November 2005, 860,000 units were built. No further FB2's have been made since. Now that just might be an FB2+ coming out shortly... maybe, possibly, can't say for sure. Might have several different games in it, might even have a new hidden game in it, maybe... I really can't say for sure or confirm for sure. You understand, NDA's and such...

     

    Curt

     

  12. Posted

    So before Christmas Amazon was carrying the Atari Flashback 2.0 for around $40. Now Amazon is out of stock, and the Amazon sellers that still have flashbacks for sale are asking $140 and up.

     

    I haven't seen any definitive story or anything, but has the Flashback 2.0 been discontinued? It would be nice if it were just end-of-lifed to make room for the next iteration of the Atari Flashback, but based on the posts here it seems that this is still months (or years?) before an Atari Flashback 3 may be available for purchase.

     

    Can anyone clarify exactly what is going on? Is there an official press release of some kind from Atari? Mostly I'd like to know whether it's worth duking it out on eBay for one of the few units available there. If we could be pretty confident that the 3.0 will be released within the next year or so, and would be a similar product (playing old 2600 and 7800 games on your TV, but maybe with more games built in and perhaps some sort of expansion slot for yet more games), then I'd be inclined to just wait.

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