Stella 6 on the R77: the eagle is landing

[Stella 6 on the R77: the eagle is landing]

I’ve had a MicroSD card die that way before: couldn’t be formatted or written to by any OS, device or software; but could be read no issue.  Frozen in time forever.

[Can’t tell if sealed game is PAL or NTSC (Kangaroo)]

This is the PAL box:

 

And this is the NTSC:

[Can’t tell if sealed game is PAL or NTSC (Kangaroo)]

I have a sealed copy of Kangaroo (1988) which I always assumed was PAL as it has 6 languages on the back.  However I just noticed on AtariMania that the North American release from that year appears to use the same international box for some reason.

 

Game was purchased from someone in the US.  Any way to discern the region without opening?

[Champ Games - Wizard of Wor Arcade - 2600]

25 minutes ago, MissCommand said:

  Is the latest ROM supposed to have the voices? I don't have any on mine.

Do you have an Atarivox plugged in?

[New GPU Accelerated 2600 Emulator]

This is great, I have a backlog of games I’d like to play but will probably never get through before I die.  Now I can just have an A.I. play through them all

[Wanted: Common Atari 2600 and 7800 Cartridge Shells]

4 hours ago, Albert said:

Generally, no, although it depends on the number of cartridges and how much it'll cost to get them here.  Might work out for a large number of carts (over 50), but shipping is still likely to be a killer.

 

 ..Al

Yeah, figured as much.  

 

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with 30 Asteroids/Combat/Missile Command carts.

[Wanted: Common Atari 2600 and 7800 Cartridge Shells]

Will you reimburse shipping costs from Canada?

[IBMs 50th aniversary moon exhibit has our 2600!!]

35 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Why the hell are they celebrating something that didn't really happen?

Of course it happened... in fact it was Kubrik’s best work 😉

[Raiders of the Lost Ark Thoughts]

I just thought I'd give this thread a bump to salute "Raiders of the Lost Ark" on its 38th birthday! The movie premiered in the US on June 12, 1981.

 

My father dragged me to the first screening on opening day. He had read something about it in the newspaper, but I took one look at the poster and thought it was a boring cowboy film. Boy, was I wrong.

 

As for the game, I had it for years before finally figuring out how to beat it one day with a friend.

[Windows 2600]

I laughed out loud just reading the thread title

[Galaga For Atari 2600]

Wow, mind blown! This looks amazing, and the gameplay is so smooth and spot-on! If I had to pick my #1 wish for an unreleased 2600 game, this would be it, and here it is, unbelievable! Great job to all involved.

 

Up till now Lady Bug has been my favourite 2600 homebrew, but I suspect Galaga might top that...

In any case, I’m very happy this was kept a secret, because otherwise the wait would have killed me

[What's the BEST Atari 2600 joystick.]

CX40 all the way. Anything else is just weird.

 

I have 2 from Best Electronics with the PCB and silicone boot upgrades, hopefully these will stay in better shape than my original sticks.

 

I am interested in trying the microswitch board posted here in the forum though.

[Best third party that isn't Activision or Imagic]

 

Eh, joking or not, I'd be willing to give you that one. Eggomania and Commando Raid were good games

 

 

I played a ton of Commando Raid and Entombed back in the day, more than some of the more popular games that I owned at the time.

[Why is there not an "AVS" (fpga based console) equivalent for the 2600?]

Emulation became important to me because it was nearly a complete re-introduction of the stuff I enjoyed in the 70's & 80's. Stuff I honestly and truly believed I would never ever see or play again. Ever!

 

Emulation is awesome, especially for preservation. There is absolutely no doubt that it is ultimately the way forward for the future, whether via software, FPGA, or some other hybrid hardware solution.

 

But I'll be hanging on to all my 2600 stuff until either it dies or I die

[Why is there not an "AVS" (fpga based console) equivalent for the 2600?]

There's nothing magical about cartridges anymore. It's a fallacy they offer a better experience in this day and age.

 

That’s quite a subjective statement you’ve made

 

Cartridges are still very much magical, and they absolutely do offer a better experience even today... FOR ME!

 

Sticking cartridges into an original VCS with original controllers is integral to my enjoyment of the system (and original cartridges at that, despite owning a Harmony Cart).

 

I will admit that for practical reasons I’ve come around to using ROMs for other systems, although I still enjoy using my original Amiga as well.

[Why is there not an "AVS" (fpga based console) equivalent for the 2600?]

 

Agreed. Latency sucks.

 

But, that's why we use real hardware on a CRT, isn't it?

 

If an FPGA VCS is a product I'm selling, I can't just pipe out the raw VCS output. Many displays will choke. It's a customer service nightmare. I can't afford the hassle; nobody can.

 

A viable console will almost certainly need to offer a buffered 60Hz output option and an accurate VRR/Freesync/GSync mode. The video output is so unpredictable; that's probably the only reliable solutions.

 

Maybe the MISTer project will eventually grow and offer what we want. In the meantime, it's Stella and real hardware.

 

 

MiSTer has zero lag on its analog output (which will put out the equivalent of the original signal to a CRT).

 

As far as the HDMI output, the scaler currently produces less than a frame of lag (using the vsync_adjust=2 setting). Of course the particular HDMI display you use may add its own lag, depending on the model.

 

MiSTer is currently very much a work in progress, but overall is quite promising. Some systems are almost flawless, however the 2600 core still needs some work to properly support all games. I am using MiSTer for NES, SNES, Genesis, PC-Engine, Amiga, the Atari 8-bit computers, and the arcade cores it supports; and I am very happy with the experience (especially with regards to input lag). For the 2600, I’m currently using original hardware and carts.

[Mystery Cart]

Space Shuttle

[Best third party that isn't Activision or Imagic]

Space Jockey gets a little tedious, but I think it's a worthy diversion in small doses. I appreciate the variety of options it has.

 

 

Garry Kitchen’s first game... it’s amazing what a difference there is between this and Keystone Kapers/Pressure Cooker, both of which were released only a year later!

[Why the fascination with the 2600?]

Probably like many who are hanging around this forum, I’ve been a gamer since the home version of Pong was released. I have owned almost every console up to the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U, at which point I became disenchanted with modern gaming.

 

In terms of strictly playing games, I would say my favourite consoles of all time are the original Playstation, Super Nintendo, and Dreamcast, in that order. However, I would say the 2600 is the console that has had the most impact on me (in an almost emotional way), and to this day I’m still endlessly fascinated with it. I think it’s awesome that amazing homebrew games are still being released, and would love to live in some parallel world where the Atari VCS was still a thing.

 

The thing is, I’m not really sure why this is the case. Why is there still a connection with this primitive outdated machine 40 years later? I wonder if anyone else feels the same way, and if so, can you articulate why?

 

 

[magazine ad - Do you see any games previously unknown listed ?]

My mistake.

 

Venture was released, ofcourse.

 

 

 

Darn, for a second I thought I had a rare prototype or something

[Help: I found a strange atari 2600 game]

That label is amazing, it uses artwork from the Trend scratch n' sniff stickers of the early '80s! (Well, except for the deformed E.T. they stuck in there)

[Why isn't Evil Otto the Default in Berzerk?]

The best Atari game variations are often buried in the cartridge somewhere.

 

Speaking of which, has anyone ever compiled a list with the best recommended variation per game?

 

Having a single reference for all games would be a lot easier than digging out a specific manual when playing these games infrequently.

 

(On a side note, I always found the idea of variations weird. I mean isn't the whole point of almost every game from that time to get a high score, just like in the arcade? With variations, it makes it almost impossible to compare scores with family/friends: "Hey, I just got 24100 points, on variation 33 with left difficulty B!"

[Looking for odd console owners!]

I won't have access to my JR until next week, but I'll test the mentioned games when I have a chance (Although I recall Kool-aid man working fine on that system).

[Looking for odd console owners!]

It's not on your list, but I have an NTSC JR that exhibits a small visual issue in Spider Fighter. There was a thread on here regarding others having the same issue, and someone posted a patched PAL rom that fixed the problem (Which I couldn't test on my North American system).

[telling the difference between NTSC and PAL games]

Activision PAL carts may have "International Edition" on the label.

 

NOTE: I have a few Activision carts labeled "International Edition", but they are NTSC versions (I believe these were for the Canadian market). One of them has an 'N' sticker on it, but the others don't.

 

So that is most likely not a reliable way to determine PAL/NTSC.