radiohead

I took the plunge and updated. Yes, it works well. - The menu is a "tad" more responsive (for game title/rom selection. There's still a slight lag in menu section selection, but that's probably due to screen loading. No biggie.) - Space Invaders P2 is fixed. The game used to close out when P2 moved left. Not anymore. - The "About" page has been updated to reflect the current AFZ firmware website. (At the QR code, previously there was a mention about an AFZ app which included the word "placeholder".) - When a game starts, there are brief lower screen graphics that display the difficulty switch settings (Left=Easy Right=Hard, etc). Just like last years model, but the display time is a lot quicker (less than 1 sec.) - The Scanline filter is more subtle. The lines are thinner. That's all I noticed. SD card/roms still work. You will lose your Favorites/Recently Played data because of the reset, but not the game save state slots.

@Lohe Thanks for the heads up. I was (finally) able to register my FB9 Gold and downloaded the specific firmware (v.0225.img) but I haven't installed it yet. Truthfully, I'm kinda of scared to do so since everything is working so well at the moment. I can confirm that it's a bigger firmware file size. The Atariage firmware is 35,985Kb, while this new one for FB9 Gold is 63,365Kb. Anybody braver than I care to try this out first?

Nor connect it through a soundbar. I read that on this forum, and I find my FB9 Gold either has sound or none when my Vizio 5.1 surround is turned on (which is attached to my HDTV ARC). If the sound bar is on and the FB9 sound does play, random sfx and music are missing. So now I turn off the soundbar when its game time. Very finicky.

Curious that Atgames is separating the FB and FB Gold firmware. The firmware on this forum seems to work for both. Aside from the menu and 10 extra games, I would think the software is identical. But I guess support for the wireless controllers requires different coding.

I also can't register my FB9 Gold on the afz site. I was able to create an account, but it says my id is invaild. Back in December, I was able to download their v20141212 update file by just logging in (no registration), but didn't install it over this forum's update file. The download is now blocked when I log in. Atgames doesn't even have the FB9 Gold listed on their site.

I have purchased the FB2, the FB4 (the Sams Club Anniversary set with IR Joysticks & paddles & collectible posters!), the FB8 (composite version, $20 with discounts and coupons at Bed Bath & Beyond), and now the FB9. I also received plug n' plays for Intellivision, Activision, Jakks TV Atari Paddles and a Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith game as gifts or impulse buys. Most of which have since been sold at yard sales or donated to Goodwill. The FB2 & the SW game are packed away in my closest. Presently, I have no plans to purchase the FB10 as long as my FB9 Gold still works. But the HD flashbacks do seem to have a big point of failure in the controllers. If they break, there's no way to access the menu to select games (as I can find), to say nothing about rewind and save states. It's not ideal to keep switching the unit on and off to get back to the menu multiple times in a single gaming session, especially since these consoles are now booting up software instead of running off a chip. I suspect there's the possibility of corruption by doing that. Now if I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say ATGames purposely wants us to buy the FB every year, and certainly the FB10. Joystick failure is a real concern. Adding potentially joystick busting games like "Track & Field" and "Decathlon" fuels into that fear, yet there is no advertised way on the website to buy or replace the controllers (how long does the warranty last, 90 days?) They've also included a dozen paddle games, including the most famous ones, yet changed the paddles' programming so you can't use previous controllers, and they offer no means to obtain their new specialized controllers (aside from the user electrically hacking into old paddles). The company line is "The new paddles are coming...!" And each year, the company releases multiple versions of the same product with store-specific features/games/SKUs, hoping that collectors will try to "catch 'em all". Hmmm.... very shrewd, Dr. Evil! But for the time being, I'm happy with my purchase. I would say I do buy from ATGames every 3 to 5 years. $20-$60 dollars each purchase over that time frame doesn't seem that expensive to me. So maybe they know me better than I know myself...?

I would say "I am" their target audience... a 40-something male who grew up playing Atari back in the day, but is not a "hardcore video gamer" or "collector". I have purchased a number of $20 plug n' plays at Walmart over the years and casually got my gaming fix. But when the batteries died, so did my interest. Mostly because I couldn't play all the games I played when I was a kid. I even invested $100+ on the Raspberry Pi and accessories, downloaded the roms, read hundreds of Reddit pages getting my system customized, but I never got a good Atari 2600 experience. Same thing with PC emulators. This Flashback 9 is the best product for me - decent joysticks and play action. Works out of the box, relatively good game selection and with the SD card, I can now play EVERY game I had back in the day for JUST $45 DOLLARS! (Actually, I sprang $69 for Gold version with the wireless controllers. I may never go back to wired joysticks!) Sure, it should have had the paddles. Sure, it should have had more quality control. But I don't expect much from it except for it to work (which mine does.) Certainly, I don't expect it to last 40 years like the original hardware. The price point for the FBs is perfect for what it is - something that has to last as long as my interest in it lasts. I sure ATGames realizes that. I'm still playing it 3 months later, but that's because my batteries are still good.

It would be cool to transfer some favorite roms with box art and instructions to the hardware to replace unpopular titles (like Tic-Tac-Toe, Fun with Numbers). It would cooler if there were some Hackchi software to scrape titles, metadata and box art (like the Mini NES).

No, I don't think so. It's my understanding that FB9 requires a different voltage from the paddles than the previous consoles, which is why none of the older paddles work. Changing the controller potentiometer corrects this for FB9, but it will be putting out a different voltage than what the original hardware uses.

I modified my FB4 paddles and they work very well considering paddles don't work at all on FB9. I'm not great at any of these games, but on Kaboom, I can score close to 2000 points (on joystick, barely above 500), and on Astroblast from the SD card about 4000 points. No noticeable lag as far as I'm concerned - certainly not like the mushy lag on FB8 and FB4. It's not store-bought perfect (depending on the quality and torque of the potentiometers you get), but spending $8 dollars and 2 hours making non-working paddles function with the FB9 is fine with me until new paddles arrive on the scene.

When my cheap pots break, I have 8 others left in the pack as replacements! Aside from the incorrect length, I can't image the pots I got are any worse than what ATGames used. These paddles didn't last 5 years. Each year's new release makes the previous model obsolete/disposable. I'm only hoping this $8 fix will work for 1-2 years before I break down and buy another FB, hopefully with better working paddles.

Bought cheap 10K ohm potentiometers from Amazon (box of 10 for $7.99 - sorry boggis the cat!) Shaft height was smaller than I hoped (15mm instead of the necessary 25mm), but there's a molded collar inside the controller where the pot rests on. Filed that down enough for the outer screw bolt to catch on the top side. Knob fit perfectly on the shaft, and added some hot glue to secure it, Despite my not-at-all professional soldering skills (and a slightly melted burn mark on the side of the 2nd controller), for $8 dollars I'm very happy. Got up to 900 points on Kaboom! Thanks to those members who figured this all out!

The pot I used had a screw thread that was a bit too wide for the paddle base opening. Using the soldering iron, I melted the paddle opening a bit larger and just enough of the screw thread showed for the fastening nut to secure it tightly. No packing was necessary. I would have had to make additional alterations because the shaft was also too wide/long for the knob base, but I didn't want to because this was really just a test to confirm that swapping the pot voltage to 10k Ohm would work. Temporarily, I'm using the knob that was originally for that specific potentiometer. My paddles are from the FB4, not the 40-year-old Atari paddles (when I pulled the knob off one of the controllers, the shaft yanked clean out of the pot!) Those ATGames pots look to be fairly standard in size, so I'm hoping the pots I bought on Amazon will be an easy clean swap. The most particular difference between ATGames and Atari legacy paddles is the base of the knob where the shaft goes in - ATGames paddles accepts a full circle shaft (common among pots sold today), Atari accepts a half-circle shaft (like boggis the cat's controller.) The only customization issue I expect is having enough shaft poking through the controller so the knob will stay on tight. Paddles seem to have longer than usual shafts for the knob. Maybe that's the manufacturing hiccup we're seeing - specialized potentiometers. When done, this project will have only cost me about $8 dollars to make broken paddles work on the FB9. For me, that better than paying $29.99 (ATGames' price for previous controllers) for controllers to play just 12 paddle games. But If they sell them cheaper or they are wireless, then maybe I pick up their new paddles.

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EDIT: The wireless P1 joystick special buttons WILL continue to control select, start, rewind and menu while the paddles are plugged in (just not fire or direction). An info disclaimer box appears whenever you use the paddles at the start of a game: "The wireless joysticks will not work properly when paddles are plugged in. Please remove paddles when not playing a paddle game. Press Fire to continue." You will have to wake up the joystick after it goes to sleep mode though. The control with the new 10K potentiometers seems more than adequate, certainly far better than playing with the joystick. And nothing like the lag I had using these paddles on FB4 & FB8.

I followed boggis the cat's instructions in this thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/287000-flashback-9-special-buttons/ I replaced the potentiometer with a 10K Ohm and it worked! Now I'm off the purchase a set of new pots for my paddles. If/when AtGames releases their official paddles, then I'll have 2 sets for 4-player Warlords.

I can confirm boggis the cat's findings that 10K ohm single-turn potentiometers do make the Paddle controller work in FB9 (I have the Gold with wireless joysticks). I had an FM radio engineer friend help me solder an old 10K pot he had - complete with the old-timey radio console knob - to the left paddle controller and it works! The paddles are AtGames paddles from my FB4 deluxe, not originals. It's a little sluggish turning (maybe the pot is old, not lubricated), but it is very responsive on screen. Will have to see if I can pick up newer inexpensive 10K pots. The wireless joystick won't work with the paddles plugged in. So you have to start the game with the joystick, then plug in the paddle, select and start the game (using the buttons on the console), then play. When done, unplug the paddles, wake up the joystick (it goes to sleep mode), and return to menu.

Very cool! Seems easy enough provided you have the correct pots and necessary tools (I have neither). I may need to call a friend...

Any chance there could be a how-to guide/video for this mod in the near future?

Bed Bath & Beyond has them on clearance for $9.99. https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/blast-flashback My wife has a 20% coupon, so I might get the Bandai Namco Pac Man Blast.

The sizes of this thread's update .img file (unzipped) and the AtGames update .img file (V. 20121214 (released on Dec 27, 2018)) are identical = 35,985KB. My FB9 is working fairly well, so I'm not tempted to kick the beehive to see if there's any real difference.

I also feel that we're not going to see the new paddles until the FB10 next fall. I think the Blast Flashback wireless paddles were more of a priority to AtGames. The inclusion of the SD Card probably was enough to distract us from getting better paddles (I had the FB4 & FB8 - the paddle control was always pretty spotty.) There would be no reason to keep buying anymore Atari Flashbacks (for me anyway) had the paddles came out this year. I suspect it'll be a selling point for the next model, as well as maybe a cartridge port (like the Sega). Future flashbacks may also include Atari 5200 and 7800 games too. Otherwise, how much further can this product line go? In the meantime, I do really like the FB9. I'm using joystick conversions for some of the paddle games, which have better control than the AtGames versions. (Thanks to those responsible for those roms!)