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x=usr(1536)

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Posts posted by x=usr(1536)

  1. Posted · Edited by x=usr(1536)

    Perhaps we'll see more soon, but I remain skeptical about it being "so much more than" anything currently available. I have plenty of "connected devices" in my "today's living room" and would need a lot more compelling reason to want this besides it being vaguely Atari-themed.

     

    Agreed. And, compared to what we've known about this thing for the past eight months, the only thing new in this ground-breaking announcement is that they've chosen to use the VCS name. Unsurprising, really: without the association with the console that truly kickstarted modern console gaming, the Ataribox has nothing else of substance to it.

     

    But, hey, you can at least YOLO the shit out of their tacocoin casino on it, then flip over to Hulu and watch some Family Guy with the audio coming over your dope Atari speakerhat. #atarilifestyleyo

    • Like 5

  2. Posted · Edited by x=usr(1536)

    Seems like they needed to have the sledge taken to them upon return. Damned morons. Would it be all that hard just to look inside, or even bring along a power source with an outlet on it just enough to see if something comes to life? The minimum amount of cash for the scrap metal is crap change compared to the unselling value of those games before they got cannibalized sold as is, or stripped and the decent parts sold individually for those looking to rehab another. Just totally gross stupidity and incompetence. I can't say lazy as tearing that up for so little money takes work.

     

    Meth use isn't known for inculcating good financial habits.

    • Like 1

  3. Posted

    Thanks

     

    Thanks. Do you typically use a "chip puller" tool to reseat chips?

     

    You can... Or you can carefully pop them out with a small screwdriver or similar. Automotive fuse pullers may also work depending on the ICs involved.

     

    Sometimes just opening it up, pushing down on them with your thumb without removing them, and seeing what happens is all that may be required.

  6. Posted

     

    Per some of the posts about HOKEY over the years, it's NOT a full POKEY clone; it is intended for sound generation only. While undoubtedly useful for homebrew 7800 games, it won't help much at all for A8, 5200's and arcade game repair preservation.

     

    Good point; I'd forgotten about that. Take HOKEY in this context to mean, 'generic full-capability POKEY replacement,' then ;)

  7. Posted · Edited by x=usr(1536)

    I'm all for upgrades or replacements, but we really need the HOKEY.

     

    That's not to say that there isn't room for other solutions, but given that the POKEY also handles inputs and is used across a wide range of Atari hardware (both consumer and coin-op), having a working replacement for it is vital to hardware preservation.

     

    Curt released the original POKEY scehmatics in November of 2016; hopefully that will lead to HOKEY seeing the light of day. Hell, even if it's implemented on an FPGA or similar, it would at least give an option (and conceivably could be done as a cut-down version of the QPOKEY).

    • Like 4

  8. Posted

    It's gonna be another render in a video, playing in AMD's booth, to tout the chip. I am sure that'll make the stock go through the $1 roof.

     

    Expect the company principals to bail out at $1.02, at which point it should return to its approximate worth closer to nil.

  11. Posted · Edited by x=usr(1536)

    Last night, stopping in at our local carneceria y supermercado, I noticed something on the shelves I hadn't seen there before:

     

    w5x3rlj.jpg

     

    I bought them out. Come the apocalypse, we will still have delicious spicy tacos.

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    Legacy and modern devices eh?

     

    iTari 2.600

     

    Since everything modern has to have a name starting with a lower case i or u, and have a . in the model number despite it always being followed by a 0.

     

    yTari would be more fitting. Y not?

     

    Don't forget to toss in a dash of umlauts, acute accents, and circumflexes for that International flavour!

     

    ÿTárî is gonna rock you!

    • Like 2

  14. Posted

    Checking the earlier-referenced article re: the debut of the Ataribox, it looks like the following statement wasn't too far off from something I was theorising about earlier:

     

    "The Atari blockchain platform, online casino games using crypto-currencies are the very first stones of a unique construction, at the crossroads of Technology and Entertainment".

     

    I wasn't 100% correct, but was evidently close enough to get the gist of one of the things they're aiming for. But being right wasn't the point: trying to figure out which cockamamie directions Atariboxcorp, Inc. might try to take this thing was.

     

    They seem to be doing a fairly good job of figuring out exactly what those cockamamie directions are. But who needs a solid game plan when you've got buzzwords and social media?

    • Like 3

  15. Posted

    How long are we going to discuss looks, before we get into functionality, compatibility, quality and so on? I thought the topic would cover all aspects at the same time, but the majority of the posts so far have concentrated on the visual appearance as also indiciated by the OP would be the first sub topic.

     

    Besides, we already have a thread for Sexiest Old Computer... That's the one for just looks ;)

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

    I seem to remember buying a US Doubler for my 1050 from them, and possibly an RTC cartridge for my ST later on. Always had an ad in either Atari User or Page 6, from what I recall.

     

    Never got to visit their shop any time I was in the UK, though. Would love to see some photos of it if anyone has them floating around, though I imagine it mostly looks like a late-1980s computer store on the inside ;)

  21. Posted · Edited by x=usr(1536)

    I think atari800 has what you want:

     

    * R: device (the Atari850 serial ports) mapped to net or real serial port.

     

    It's a good, highly compatible emulator that runs just about everything I throw at it.

    https://atari800.github.io/features.html

     

    Thank you for that, and I have to admit that I feel slightly dumb for not thinking of it earlier - I had been using Atari800MacX as my emulator of choice on my desktop machine, but wrote it off about a year ago after it became increasingly incompatible with later versions of OS X. That caused me to not even think of the Windows / Linux versions as a possibility.

     

    Cool. Now to get on with the project icon_smile.gif

  22. Posted

    Really? I know Color Dreams was infamous for their poorly made unlicensed games, but I thought their activities were illegal.

    As this relates to Atari: Atari lost against Nintendo in court because Atari copied the 10NES chip in its enitrety and included it in its games. Color Dreams had no such problems because they simply circumvented it, and there were no legal grounds (such as the DMCA) for Nintendo to effectively fight that approach in court at the time.

     

    What's the purpose of the lockout chip if bypassing it has no consequence for the game's publisher?

    Look at it this way:

     

    On a long enough timeline, virtually all protection methods will be broken. The idea is to make that timeline long enough that there will be no value in eventually breaking it because the system that it was implemented to protect has no commercial value by the time that the protection is circumvented.

     

    It's a form of insurance for the hardware manufacturer: it buys them enough time to recoup their hardware and software development investments, make money from software licensing, and turn a profit in the market.

     

    Regarding consequences against pirates, bootleggers, or those releasing unlicensed software: any legal action would have to be financially worth pursuing and have a reasonable chance of bringing a victory in court. If those two conditions aren't likely to be satisfied, then other avenues (such as a cease & desist letter, or threatening to pull supplies of the original hardware and software from retailers who also carry bootlegs) may take place.

     

    And, again, this is an issue that has changed substantially over the last three decades. In a lot of ways, it's still being dealt with today: see console hacking as an example.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    It's a possible theory. Could say it depends on how bad the cart is, and how out of spec the console is. If they're a little out of spec, each, it could add up to being way out of spec when both are combined.

     

    This. I don't how many times I've run into a situation that falls into the category of 'but it works over there', only to later find that there was a secondary issue going on that was causing or exacerbating the primary issue.

     

    Here's an easy test: swap the light sixers' power supplies between them and see if the problem follows from one machine to the other. If it does, you've got a possible PSU problem; if it doesn't, move on up the chain until you find it. Good luck!

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