n00b-friendly Master List of available 7800 mods

[n00b-friendly Master List of available 7800 mods]

The compatibility mod to allow Robot Tank, Space Shuttle, Decathlon and the Starpath Supercharger to work on systems with the bad timing circuit.

[Bentley Bear Crystal Quest Running Without XM!]

So would these new boards be used as a competitor, or a complement to the XM?

 

Seems like some XM-only games will run on them without really needing the XM.

[XM - any chance it will be in our hands by Christmas?]

But when you look at it having sold 250 units already, and look at the quantities the average 7800 homebrew sells... don't you think it is very likely that the vast majority of fans have already bought the XM?

 

It seems to me that the acceptance is so high that the fans not having an XM will be the minority.

Being one of the fans in the minority having not been given a chance to purchase one kinda sucks

[Classic games are getting expensive]

People have been saying physical media will be gone "in a few years" since DVD premiered in 1997. Calm down. Physical media isn't going anywhere. There are too many manufacturers and CE corporations invested in physical media for it to disappear. The world is much bigger than a handful if DLC packs and crappy iPhone games.

[quick question about 7800 sound chip]

Speaking of this subject, does anyone here have a schematic for the X-Board mod? I've read that it's pokey method is the same as the XM, but it seems the person who made it doesn't make them any more? I would like to find a way to add pokey sound to my 7800, since sales of the XM have been suspended. I have a copy if Beef Drop and plan to buy DK XM, but I'm not sure if I will ever get an actual XM

 

Thanks!

[Pete Rose Compatibility Issue]

If you happen to have a 7800 with the suspect timing circuit in it, the fix to make the Starpath Supercharger and the Activision FE bank switched games (Space Shuttle, Robot Tank, Decathlon) work is really easy. One capacitor can be removed.

 

Or you can just use a Harmony cart, as every game works with it.

[XM - any chance it will be in our hands by Christmas?]

Let's keep beating this dead horse, since it's not quite dead enough!!!

[XM - any chance it will be in our hands by Christmas?]

It's pretty discouraging seeing people get this upset by fanatics and flamers on here. Not exactly a nice way to welcome newer members to the community. But I guess that's par for the course for video gamer forums.

[XM - any chance it will be in our hands by Christmas?]

Well, this one is open, last post November 13t:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/214684-7800xms-just-checking-in/page-4

 

And this one too, with a post from November 14th:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/173454-7800-expansion-module-xm-hardware-game-details-112612/page-9

 

I absolutely understand people wanting more info, but I don't think starting a new thread will make Curt specify a release date any more than the questions in the existing topics do. I think this is a bit of a general problem on AA, people starting threads on existing topics either because they don't want to search or because I don't know what. That leads to discussions being scattered through several threads, and people asking questions that might have already been answered elsewhere. It would be easier to keep track of what's happening if we could all just try to keep one thread per topic.

 

 

BTW, just to put a finger into the wound... I played a few XM games on Saturday, on a real XM. Amazing stuff!

As is the way with many online forums with very a specific niche the problem goes both ways with the grumpiest of members. Some people complain about too many topics on the same subject, and chew out new users for starting new threads. Some people make a big deal about people bumping really old threads "necro-bumping" as it were, because apparently this violates some kind of unwritten message board etiquette rule or something.

 

I find the best way to deal with it is to ignore both sides and post comments or questions wherever the hell I feel like it, and let people with a hair across their ass about complain to their heart's content.

 

As for the XM, I would like to buy one, but I can't because according to all the threads i read lately, sales are suspended until its actually released. I can understand that, but that is a bit concerning, since previously everyone was told there would be plenty left for the people who didn't pre-purchase it. Guess we will all have to continue to wait and see.

[Atari 7800 issue - LED comes on, no video or audio]

Considering the relative cost to find 7800 specific repair parts and pain in the ass to desolder if the problem is tia or Maria related vs. just buying another working console, it's probably easier to just keep this one for spare parts/repairs and just get another one the works.

[Commando game repro for A7800]

The funny thing is, the ability to Switch between PAL and NTSC is an odd feature, because the PAL version of this game is not rare at all. You can find PAL 7800 Commando on eBay for like $10 boxed. It's a common in PAL territories.

[Commando game repro for A7800]

Demand sets the price, always. Again, what you're doing here is nice, but it's not in demand. No one asked you to do it. You took it upon yourself to make these carts. At that point the cost to make them is your own sole responsibility.

 

If someone is willing to pay the $50 you're asking, that's great. If not, you may end up stuck with a bunch of products you have to sell below cost just to get rid of them.

 

In my own personal opinion, none of these games should really sell for more than $5.00 each, because they are 30 years out of date, not the latest tech, and not very popular. The retro gaming market is a very small niche. to most of the world, these are worthless old games nobody wants or cares about.

 

However, if your PCB can be adapted to handle multiple formats if 7800 carts, there may be much more interest on the part of Albert here at AA or some of the other AA Homebrew repro makers if they can be mass produced.

[Commando game repro for A7800]

 

AtariFriend you know, I have seen in the past on Ebay many Commando carts for 50 and 60 dollars. But nobody talks about these..... .

Also we speak for 20 years used cartridges, who support only one or the other version.

Nobody talks about those because those people paid too much. This game isn't quite that rare. It's normally worth about $18 depending upon condition. What you're doing is nice, but it's not in heavy demand, so the higher price isn't going to help.

[Need 7800 Commons]

I have a bunch of these. What's the going rate for AA store credit for these?

[Atari 7800 issue - LED comes on, no video or audio]

Only way to verify it is to plug it into a proper CRT tv. Some 7800s vary a bit in their output signal, and even though one will work with you LCD, another might not - but it may still work with a CRT.

 

And if you do the "easier 7800 composite mod" you can find here, you can reverse it just as easily.

[I hate it when people do this.]

 

Just don't buy the stuff if you feel it's overpriced. Eventually it will come down, or a competitor will offer similar/same goods for better prices.

Well sure, that's the obvious answer. But the presence of these overpriced sales can drive up the price of the whole market if and when they do make actual sales. Not everyone who sells these games is an atari fan like most of us. Some of them just resell whatever items they can get their hands on that are selling for the most money. In fact - that's what most ebay sellers do.

[I hate it when people do this.]

schoolgirl is alright really, once she had a 2600 homebrew for like $200 and I contacted her to tell her that it is an AA homebrew for $25, and I gave her the link, and she thanked me for putting her right.

I could do the same with the7800 titles, but she already has two offers, maybe they're high, so good for her, buy low sell high, it's the American way after all.

No, it's not. That's what put US economy into it's stranglehold. Falsely inflated markets due to unscrupulous sales weasels. Allowing or encouraging people to blow normal commerce markets out of porportion "because they can" is the reason we have 8% unemployment and gasoline at nearly $4.00 a gallon.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to get all political, I know that's a no-no in the regular gaming forums, but as it pertains to this subject, it's accurate. Retro Video Game sellers falsely inflating the value of games on places like ePay and other auction sites are no different than Wall Street swindlers and Subprime Mortgage lenders preying on people's weaknesses or lack of knowledge. Expoliting people is not the American way.

[Back in the game]

So is it safe to assume all the games GB had in development for the XM will never see the light if day, or had he delivered binaries to anyone for production?

 

Also is $149 really the final price? Yikes. I was really hoping it would stay at $99

[A few questions!]

Pitfall 2 works just fine on the 7800. It doesn't work from the cuttle cart 2 on a 7800. But an original cart, or running the rom from a harmony cart works just fine.

 

Out of the thousands of existing original and homebrew 2600 games, there are very few that have compatibility problems with certain revisions of the 7800 motherboard. They are:

 

2600 Space Shuttle

2600 Activision Decathlon

2600 Robot Tank

2600 Starpath Supercharger

 

 

And that's a it. Atari added a timing circuit to the board because of problems with their own 2600 version of Dark Chambers. But there is a capacitor in that circuit that, if removed, makes every one of these games compatible, except 2600 dark chambers.

 

Or, if you don't want to mod your 7800, just get a Harmony cart. It makes all of the games compatible, even on the suspect 7800 motherboard revisions.

[Are there any Component Video Mods?]

S-Video is the chroma component and the luma component. Two components. Component signal. Mush them together into a composite of the two components, you get a composite signal.

Three separate color signals, assuming they're red green and blue, are called RGB or some variation. Also a component signal.

 

YPbPr Component can actually do 1080p, too. It's up to the signal source & receiver to support this, but my xbox 360 does it just fine.

The semantic argument here doesn't change the fact that S-video and YPbPr are quite different, and we both know the OP was referring to YPbPr as "component" because that is the common usage.

 

And no, you can't get a raw "component" signal out of a 7800, unfortunately.

[Are there any Component Video Mods?]

S-Video is a component signal... but no, the system doesn't output the individual Red/Green/Blue signals you'd need, as far as I know.

No, it isn't.

 

S-video is simply Chroma and Luma separated, but all colors are mashed together like Composite. Compositie is S-Video with the Chroma and Luma Combined.

 

Component is three separate color signals, Red Bias and luma, Blue Bias and luma, and Green/with luma and video sync.

 

Component is much cleaner than S-video, ans is capable of delivering up to 1080i resolution. S-Video maxes out at 480i.

[Rarities - PAL and NTSC]

I got Commando NTSC for $18 loose on ePay not that long ago. Patience is indeed key.

[Atari 7800 video too greenish]

This is why I keep a CRT in my game room. I have the LCD for PS3 and Genesis, but keep the CRT for the 7800, 2600 and SMS.

 

There is a way to lessen the greenish hue on 7800 composite modded out put, by adding a bridging resistor between the outputs if a coupl of resistors on the luma ladder. I'll see if I can post pics of my custom mod later.

[H2]

 

Who says this is coming? Stop bumping this if there's no news.

Nothing wrong with bumping the thread occasionally so new user can find it if the project is still ongoing. I have a 2600 HArmony cart, and would LOVE to get one of these since the CC2 is no longer made and crazy overpriced on ePain.

[Another 7800 Game to update like Donkey Kong XM?]

I, Robot would be awesome.