SabertoothRetro

Bump for 2014. I've added non-7800 items to list and some duplicates that are available for trade. TIA!

I finished the Player 2 "Super Pong" stick this week. I hope the the picture of the rat's nest helps someone with their project. Note: The first joystick is a Happ Competition. The second stick is an IL Competition ("Eurostick"). I definitely recommend the IL over the Happ. It's much more responsive and way better on diagonals. I'm going to switch the Player 1 stick to the IL version when I get a chance.

Mark at Classic Game Room did an entertaining comparative analysis of the 5200 and PS4. It's a fun read. http://classicgameroom.com/feature-article/?id=57

I'll definitely be watching this one. I loved playing KC on my cousin's O2 growing up. Do you intend to update the graphics to take advantage of the hardware? Similar to the graphical improvements that Imagic made to their games across platforms?

Thanks everyone! When I put together the second player controller I'll post detailed photos of the button wiring for reference. I looked at a few "instructable" type posts on other homemade controllers when I got started and think something like that for the 7800 could be useful to folks.

Thanks! I left the diodes in from 5 and 9 to their respective microswitches. I know others here haven't needed them but it seemed to cure the weird behavior I was getting. I also ran separate ground wires (w/ resistors) from each button to pin 8 instead of including them in the daisy chain with the joystick ground. I'm a total novice so there was a lot of trial and error but I had fun with it. Good luck with your project if you build your own!

I finally got back to this and finished the first joystick over the long weekend. The whole case is wood and I went with a "Home Pong" inspired motif for the layout. I works as it should and is a lot of fun to use.

My first system was Coleco's 2600 clone - the Gemini. My parents picked it up in 1983; I was 6. Mine came packed with Donkey Kong and Mouse Trap. As a child I preferred the small form factor and slender combo controllers of the Gemini to that of the VCS/2600. It and all of my original 2600 games were lost years ago. I've nearly got all of my old carts back and I would love to get a CIB Gemini into the collection.

Got mine today. I can't wait to pop this in and try deluxe mode.

I just got shipping confirmation too. I wonder if it will get to CA before Xmas?

I added wires from 5 and 9 to just above the resistors on each button ground. The buttons work fine now. I'll post pics when I have it all together.

I added diodes inline and that took care of the weird auto-engage behavior. Now the the buttons are acting like buttons in a 2600 controller.

Yeah, that's the diagram that I used. I read on the forum before I got my parts that resistors in the 500-600 range should work. They didn't have 620 ohms at Fry's so I went with 560. The ground for the buttons are daisy chained to the joystick. Perhaps I need to splice a separate line for the resistor to the ground instead of placing the resistor inline. Also, what about polarity? Maybe I need to add a diode too. I'll try that and see what happens. Thanks!!

It's raining this weekend so I've decided to camp in the garage and build a pair of arcade sticks for the 7800. I have a Happ Competition and some arcade buttons that I've wanted to do something with for a while. I've used a terminal block and cable from a broken Proline to test wire before I build the box. The directional works fine but the fire buttons are wonky. I put 560 ohm resistors inline to each button from pins 9 (yellow) and 5 (red). Pin 6 (orange) is run direct to each button. 2600 mode seems fine but in 7800 mode the buttons engage automatically - almost like auto fire. For example, when I start up Xevious it goes through the player select screen and immediately starts firing until I hit my buttons. I know that a lot of folks here have built sticks. Any suggestions? TIA!

Thanks all for the interesting replies so far. I guess that the 7800 is just a finicky beast. I'll definitely be on the look out for an ''86 or earlier modelfor more consistent compatibility. Has anyone tried the Syzygy cart guides? I wonder if that would help the fit on some of these carts. http://www.syzygycompany.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=52

I recently picked up a copy of Pete Rose Baseball along with several other titles from another AA user. Curiously, Pete Rose does not work in my primary unit but it seems to work fine on an earlier model. All of the other Absolute and Activision games work fine on both systems. I know that some 2600 titles will not work on certain 7800 models but this is the first time I've experienced this with a 7800 game. Has anyone else experienced the issue with this or any other 7800 titles? TIA!

I just backed this. I haven't had a game magazine subscription since Next Generation stopped running. I hope that you get the support you need to make this happen. Best of luck!

Bump!

What a great collection. Eagerly awaiting pricing.

I played Zippy at PRGE and loved it!

I just got home from a family trip to Portland. I was able to spend a few hours at PRGE on Saturday and picked up boxed copies of Frenzy and Super Pac-man. The first thing I did after unpacking was to fire up Frenzy and it is an excellent port. Thanks for another great game!

What a great line-up! I can't wait to play some of these at the show.

Thanks to everyone for your replies and the advice. I've decided to keep the unit. Regarding the auction, the listing stated that the system was tested and worked fine. I understood that these controllers are notorious for having issues so I was only following auctions for tested units. Had it been listed "untested", "as-is" or noted a specific issue with the controllers, I likely would have passed. Ultimately the seller and I agreed on a partial refund. As for the controllers, I did some research and tried the "eraser trick" on both. One controller seems restored to functionality. The other controller had the potentiometers a 12 & 6 and the membrane is sharply bent on the left so it's definitely been opened. With the potentiometers reset, it now has limited movement and a fire button on right side. I tried opening it up and cleaning it again but no joy. I suspect that the sharp bend in the membrane is preventing the left fire buttons from working. Oh we'll, no two player action or Space Dungeon for now. All in I'm happy to have the 5200. I'm planning on using my partial refund to help buy a Best Electronics refurbished controller. Then I'll have two working units and a decent looking console. Thanks again!

So I took the plunge and picked up a CIB 2 port 5200 from eBay. Although the system was listed as tested and working, both controllers have issues. The first controller that I tried has keypad and directional functionality but the fire buttons do not work. The second controller has some keypad functionality but is otherwise shot. The RF display is great and the system is pretty good cosmetically. It just sucks that the only playable game right now is Pac-Man. I'm debating whether or not to return the seller. Return shipping will be at my cost. What say you? Thanks!