Chris-in-NJ

Crackpots isn't all that bad. I was a bit shocked to see all the poor reviews it gets on on-line review sites. My copy was bought at Sam Goody in Paramus, NJ, for $10 all those years ago. Still remember the TV commercials for it. Plaque Attack is my all-time favorite "underdog" (ie not wildly popular like Pitfall, HERO, Kaboom!, etc.) Activision game, though...

My 2600 Trak-ball has a sticker on the bottom that says "MADE IN MEXICO". I had thought that Atari only made their hardware in the USA or Taiwan. Still, it works after having been cooped up in a plastic bag and various cardboard boxes for the past decade or so, used it on 7800 Centipede the other day and it works fine.

Like with my 5200, I inherited my 7800 in the late 1980s when my brother's roommate moved and left both systems behind. My brother years ago modified it to take a standard 9V DC adapter like Radio Shack sells, but for some reason the adapter he found for me a few months ago when I told him I wanted to use the system again didn't work, so he reversed the polarity (a simple cut-and-wirenut job) and when he pressed the power contact on the PC board it turned on. Funny thing is, when I reassembled the console, it wouldn't turn on. Turns out that the little stick-like thing that's supposed to hit the PC board contact doesn't hit it. So right now my 7800 is sitting on the floor naked, and when I use it I have to hit the contacts with a pen or my fingers. I think I'll remove the Power button and stick a Q-tip in the space so I can turn it on with the cover in place! Has this sort of thing ever happened to anyone else?

It's a toss-up to me: 5200 Centipede is way too hard, even in the "Easy Play" mode, and I very rarely make it past 15,000, even with a Trak-Ball. On the 7800, the centipede itself has much more realistic animation, though the spider looks awful, and I like the way the play field has more mushrooms like in the arcade game, the 5200 doesn't have enough to start with -- you need something to stop all your "arrows" from hitting the top of the screen every time. Now if only we could have the 7800 version with the 5200 spider and the 5200 sounds that'd be perfect Have yet to try the 7800 version with my 2600 Trak-ball. Is it compatible?

I played it tonight for the first time in over a decade, and it is much, much better than the 5200 version (which I played for the first time ever two months ago!) Control is much more precise, and I was using the 7800 version of the Redemption adapter to play it on my 5200. The 7800 graphics look arcade perfect to me, though as I haven't *seen* the arcade version in more than 20 years I could be wrong. The fire from Fygar, Pooka's sunglasses, and the vegetables all look much more realistic -- the 5200 veggies look like shapeless blobs at times! I really like 7800 Dig Dug, even after one play, as I don't have the frustration of fighting the controllers (yes, even using 7800 sticks on the 5200 I have to fight them). If only Atari had sold this version in 1984 like planned...

Are they as unreliable as the ones on the joysticks? I've been using my Trak-ball for the start/pause/reset buttons since I got the Redemption adapter, and they seem to function fine. The keypads work fine as well. Do they regularly break down like the ones on the joysticks? Is there some sort of maintenance that could prolong their life?

Don't know exactly how, but it did involve jiggling the chip around a bit... Quite an addictive little game. I never had the 2600 version, but a friend of mine did, and I must say I never really liked it all that much -- I thought it was too simple. The 5200 version with the shooting tanks is much more difficult. So far I've made it to 19,000 points or so. My 7800 joystick works fine with it, though I'm guessing this game would benefit from analong control since the instructions say that the fighter plane has various speeds. Is 5200 HERO all that much different from the 2600 version? I had the latter and it was one of my favorite games. Keep in mind that I can only play games with 2600/7800 sticks or a Trak-ball

Has anyone else heard of this on-line retailer? Their full URL is www.playerschoicevideogames.com Last night I ordered 5200 Pengo, Moon Patrol and Dreadnaught Factor for $4.99 each from their website, and today they sent me a $5 off certificate for a future order. I don't know if these games are new in box or used as the website doesn't say, but for these prices I can't complain. They don't list their Atari games on their homepage, to see them just enter the system number in the search box or click on their "history of video games" link -- they've got about 150 different 2600 games, about 20 5200s and only 4 7800s but their prices seem highly reasonable to me.

I tried playing it with a 7800 joystick yesterday, and IMHO the gameplay is better than with the Trak-ball. I managed to get over 200,000 first time with the joystick, and man this game gets reaaaaally fast that high up! I take back what I said a few days ago, this is a superb version of the game! On a related note, my 4-year-old nephew got the 10-in-1 2600 joystick game for Christmas, and he says he loves Centipede. Wait till he sees my 5200 version!

Thanks for the replies. I was looking into Pengo, Berzerk and Gyruss. Since the only controllers I've got are a Trak-ball and various 2600 and 7800 joysticks with only one Redemption adapter, Space Dungeon and Robotron (which anyway is also available for the 7800) are out unfortunately. I've also got Qix and Dig Dug which I forgot to list above. You know, I've never heard of Xari Arena, about to check it out in the rarity guide... Isn't Bounty Bob the one someone on eBay is asking $400 for right now? The $64,000 question again: has anyone tried playing Gyruss with the Redemption yet?

Could you guys give me some suggestions for the best games that were made only for the 5200, and/or games that are better on the 5200 than the 7800? I really want to build up my collection, which right now consists of, in no particular order: Galaxian Countermeasure (can't figure this one out...) Super Breakout Missile Command Defender Kangaroo Millipede Centipede Star Raiders Pac-Man Jr. Pac-Man Joust Q*Bert Popeye Frogger (non functional) River Raid (non functional) I've got a 7800 but no power source (it was modified to use a non-standard adapter) but I hope to get it running again one day...

The 5200 I "inherited" had three Parker Bros. and one Activision cartridge with it, and I've noticed that on Q*bert and Popeye I've had to jiggle the actual chip inside the cartridge to make them work. I have yet to get either Frogger or River Raid to work at all, I just get either a green screen or a black one with a white bar on the side. Is this common with 3rd-party games? I'm sort of new to the 5200 and liking it more and more the more I play it -- played Qix for the first time ever this evening and really liked it, it's so different...

Having got myself Millipede in the Thanksgiving sale, I have to say I feel a bit disappointed with it. There are three things IMHO that make it less than perfect: 1. It starts it way too slow, the millipede itself doesn't stand a chance! 2. The bonus every 10,000. Every arcade version I've played has always had the bonus every 15,000. I played quite a few games of it too earlier this year as the cafeteria at work had one of those Millipede/Centipede/Missile Command 3-in-1 cabinets. 3. The insect swarms last too long, much longer than in the arcade. These three together led me to getting over 120,000 on my very first game, with my score starting at 0! The slowness tends to go away gradually; it's as if the programmer knew the system couldn't handle all the movement and compensated for it at the start of the game. The long insect swarms and the 10,000 bonus intervals often led me to getting two extra lives in a single swarm. Something's not right when Centipede is much harder on its regular setting... These games at least proved to me that my battered old Trak-Ball still works perfectly after being kept in the porch at my parents' house for more than 15 years suffering the ravages of the seasons :-)

You know, I've *never* seen a 2600 joystick with the hex disc before. Maybe I did in catalogs in the late 70s, but I don't remember! (I didn't get a 2600 until around 1980, though friends of mine had them earlier.)

Got my "new" 5200 in the mail today and hooked it up. First game I tried was Jr. Pac-Man, which I bought from the last Atari Age sale, and wasn't able to play before now. The game is near arcade-perfect. The mazes are all spot-on, and just as fiendishly difficult as the real thing. Only the occasional flicker detracts from the playing experience, though not by much. I've just spent more than 2 hours playing it with a 2600 joystick, and my thumb hurts :-) I noticed three bugs in it, though... -- 1. If you die while a power pill is being destroyed, it won't disappear. Rather, it becomes un-eatable, and the board you're on will become un-clearable. I believe I read about this somewhere, probably on atariprotos.com. -- 2. On the drum board, sometimes I'd go over the target and nothing would happen. -- 3. Once I finished a board while the ghosts were blue, and one of them started the next board still blue.

Thanks for the replies! I only asked as I had just placed a bid for a 4-port system on eBay, which I've just won for $20.50. It comes with four non-functioning joysticks, the RF switchbox/power cord, and nothing else, which is why I guess I got it for so cheap. Now I can replace my 2-port system, which decided to stop working a few weeks ago. Yeah!

Does anyone else remember this? I actually won Q*bert for my 2600 by calling this number. I kept the prize letter for over 10 years too, but it's long gone now. Funny thing is, I can't remember if it was a TV campaign or was it something to dow with breakfast cereals; anyone have a clue about the competition? ISTR I must've called the number at least 100 times until I didn't get a busy signal...

Has anyone tested Gyruss with the Redmeption adapter yet? I remember the arcade game well and would love to get it for the 5200 (once I've got a working one again). Heck, I didn't even know it had been ported to the 2600, let alone the 5200, until I saw the Parker Bros. listings here. Also, has anyone gotten Q*bert to work properly with Redemption? I've tried it with the 7800 version (holding down the left button all the time) and can't get him to jump up and left. Sorry, but my 5200 stopped working before I could try it with the keypad. I presume it's played with 1, 3, 7 and 9?

How does it? When it detects a signal coming from the 5200 it automatically transmits it to the TV? Is the switchbox connected to the power transformer, ie there's one wire coming out of the 5200 itself? I've read FAQs but it isn't all clear to me how it works.

Well, I opened up the unit and had a look inside. It's so dusty! I'm surprised practically all the casing apart from the joystick storage area has circuit boards in it. The RCA cable looks like it was a hasty addition to the design, the way it loops beneath the circuitry. I guess it had to be when the 4-port models were redesigned. Yes, the light comes on. I tried connecting a regular RCA cable to the switchbox and still no signal. I don't have any other functioning classic systems (my 7800 has no power cord and my 2600 has no games) so can't try that trick. The switchbox I bought at Radio Shack a few months ago. I told the salesman that I needed one for an old Atari and he knew right away where it was on the shelf. Anyway, I'll have my older brother take a look at it and if he can't get it to work I'll no doubt buy another one on-line or if I'm lucky in a thrift shop. Well, it's been a fun two-and-a-half days of playing 5200 games with a joystick for the first time... Hopefully I can play some more. It's really frustrating to have two new games and no way to play them.

Yesterday I was so excited as my Jr. Pac-Man and Millipede cartridges arrived in the mail, literally 5 minutes before I was due to leave for work. I put Jr. Pac-Man in my 5200 slot, turned the TV to channel 3, moved the switchbox to the game mode, and -- snow. For some reason, the signal is not reaching my TV. The 5200 turns on, but nothing is going through the black RCA cable. Is the other end of the cable soldered to a circuit board, or can it be removed like in a 2600? I hope it's just a loose wire. I had been playing regular Pac-Man about 90 minutes prior to this with no problem. My 5200 is a 2-port model, made in Taiwan. Anyone have any suggestions as to what happened and how it can be corrected? I've only had my Redemption adapter for 3 days and want to play more! :x:x

My 7800 Redemption adapter finally arrived today (it took 5 days via Priority Mail. Interesting...) Anyway, I've had a 5200 since 1988 or so, which I sort of inherited when my older brother's roommate moved to Florida and left both his 5200 and 7800 behind. Even then, the 5200 sticks had ceased to function. I kept the 5200 anyway, since it had a functioning Track-ball, and I could play Centipede with it. I'd hoped I could find joysticks at a flea market or yard sale some day. I did find 3 of them once. "Oh, they work," they told me, and of course they didn't. So I threw all 5 of them away soon after, but kept the Track-ball, which is what I'm using for the keypad with my Redemption. The 5200 had been kept in a box in the porch of my parents' house, until I read about the Redemption adapter on this site. I brought it over to my apartment a few weeks ago, and it still works. Well, after a long wait, today I can finally play the dozen or so games the roommate left that require a joystick. The first I tried was Pac-Man. What a great port! The ghosts have the same personalities of the arcade game (which I don't think I've played in nearly 20 years now) and it's just as hard as the real thing. Using a CX-26 joystick on it felt odd, but it works great. Next game I tried was Dig-Dug. I had the 2600 joystick connected, and the pump was on all the time, so I switched to a 7800 Pro-Line joystick, and it played fine. Oddly, it seems that games that require the fire button (even if it's only one) don't work with a 2600-style joystick with the 7800 adapter. I'm not too worried about this as the roommate also left me 7800 Dig-Dug Later I tried Q*bert. Using the Pro-Line joystick, I had lots of trouble moving him properly. I kept the left fire button held down, but I couldn't get proper movement. Should the joystick be angled a certain way like in the 2600 version? (I did try this but it still didn't work...) Many thanks to everyone involved in making this great product available to those of us hankering to play their long-forgotten 5200s that have been languishing in closets and porches world-wide :D A final question: is 5200 Gyruss playable with the Redemption? I see from the instructions that it suggests moving the joystick in a circular motion. My guess would be it's not playable digitally. Has anyone tried it?