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up2knowgood

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Posts posted by up2knowgood

  1. Posted

    Apparently, you only have half of the device: those pins installed on the case just carry the signals from the atari cart port. A daughter board was obviously meant to be plugged on those pins and, as stated by others, it was most probably an eprom board. Having it in two pieces allows to easily build different boards (for different eproms, or different game sizes for example) without having to modify another cartridge every time.

     

     

    AH! Got it, well, the other parts are missing then, and I certainly don't have the technical skills to make this work. Oh well, thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

  2. Posted · Edited by up2knowgood

    Sorry about the size, all I have is my phone to take the pictures with. And work's been crazy so I'm sorry for not getting back here for so long. Anyway, I took a few pictures of the insides, and there's wires to the strange studs the poke through the front of the cartridge.

    More wires

    The Wires

    The Insides

     

     

    I have no idea what they could be for.

     

    Edit: I added more photos the Album, close up of the studs on the front, let me know if there's any other photos you all want me to take.

    • Like 2

  3. Posted

    So, a friend of mine who owns a game store got this in a bundle of Atari games. He's never seen anything like it, and gave it to me wondering if I knew what it was. I have never seen anything like this, so I ask you all, anyone know what this is? I plugged it into an Atari, and I couldn't get it to do anything.

     

    As you can see, it has these strange pegs coming out of it, and has this label on the back, but I don't know what they might do, and what the label means. The pegs are perfectly poked out of the casing, with no scratches around them, making him think that they were not made by a person, but I'm not sure. I think it looks like a regular Combat cartridge that has been modified. I have it with me if anyone wants me to upload more photos of it.

     

    Top

    Side

    Back

     

     

    Thanks in advance for any help identifying this thing.

  4. Posted

    FuzacC9.gif

    Here's the GIF!

     

    - Terence

    Hyperkin Public Relations Specialist

    Let's see, Asteriods to Ms. Pac Man to Dig Dug, to Combat to Combat(for some reason) to Missile Command to Pac Man to Yars' Revenge to Frogger to Donkey Kong Junior.

     

    Did I win?

  6. Posted

    I'm also taken aback by the confusion over the 2600 cartridge interface. Look again at the picture in post #31: there's a console, and there's a cartridge. Both are facing the camera right-side up, so that neither the picture on the cartridge label, nor the text on the cartridge or console, are upside-down. If you just imagine yourself picking up that cartridge and sliding it into the cartridge port, without ever having to flip it over or turn it around, it's hard to see how else one should do it. Would it really be "less backwards" if the label was upside-down or on the back side of the cartridge instead??? It seems that there are some people with some very strange ideas about what constitutes "good design," perhaps because they've become accustomed to the bad designs in so many of today's devices and appliances (which is not to say that all the old designs were good).

    With the Genesis, SNES, N64, and Jaguar, most hold it label down and rotate vertically into place. I almost did it that way with the Atari, but again, saw that end label, flipped it and then put it in. It was I wanted to make a note of the game and looked at the wrong side that it was the other way around from what I expected. Failed my Observation roll.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    Received a boxed Vader, which was packed in a great shipping box, the vader itself was in bubble wrap, the joysticks and PSU as well. The games are individually wrapped. The seller, female.

     

    normal_Atari_2600_VCS_all_black_28Vader_

     

    The downside? No inner box, but you can't win 'em all.

    Does that say it came with Phoenix? Very cool.

  11. Posted

     

    Hi everyone,

     

    A few words on our WIP projects for the system.

     

    1. The joystick.

     

    We tried to replicate the same mechanics for the one that comes with the system, so I know it's about as fragile as the original thing. Our E3 sample survived some real abuse throughout 3 days of the show, so I'd say it's about the same, give or take. But there are still concerns (MJR messaged me that he broke his), so we decided to make a super strong version - maybe not as similar in terms of operational fidelity to the original one, but really strong (and heavy). So in case if people really end up breaking their joysticks, we plan to offer a free replacement - the coming stronger version. We plan to call it "The Mammoth" as we expect it to be able to take some good beating. ;-)

     

    2. The paddle.

     

    We know it's really hard to find a paddle in good working condition nowadays, and playing games like Breakout or Pong is not the same without one, so we're making a combo controller that will have both functions (joystick + paddle), with a really strong metal potentiometer that won't break. As advised by my E3 visitors, we decided to step away from the initial super-slim design with the PSP analog stick, and to feature a real strong joystick for the sake of reliability.

     

    A few more things are in development, but these two are the priority that we hope to make real soon. :)

    I really look forward to that new paddles, sounds like the combo controller Sears Video Arcade II. Also would like any improvement to the classic joystick.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    The difference between this and the Atacobox, is that Retron has a good PR department.

    And a product people want, and the means to make it, and the ability to make money...there's a few differences.

    • Like 5

  13. Posted

    Depends on you. Don't have as many games as you, but I also was more interested in the fringe stuff so probably spent more on it.

     

    Call me stupid, but I bought every label variation of Space Invaders I have come across just because I like to display them.

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    Fun fact, when I first started collecting for Atari, I initially ignored the M-Network carts because the form factor was so strange, I didn't even think they were Atari games. It didn't help at the time GameXChange labeled all precrash systems as Atari with a flat rate price of $1.95 each, so who knows what is what? After reading up on the M-Network carts on Atariage, I picked up classics like Burgertime, Bump n Jump, Frogs and Flies, and a handful of others. I think Frogs and Flies is one of my favorite M-Network carts.

     

    The other third party carts like Imagic, Activision, and Coleco, made no question which system they were meant for. M-Network don't stack well at all, have a very narrow profile, and a thin end label with the game title and nothing more.

     

    Finally, yes, I did first attempt to insert the cart backwards. 5 seconds later I turned it around, then marvelled at the action of the retractable dust covers. Why was Atari the only company to ever do this? So the idea that it let to much confusion and head scratching on my part simply isn't true. I worded my post to sound more dramatic then the whole experience truly was.

    Yeah, they are super weird, and super hard to store cause of that T shape. Also, I don't know if it's the same chain, but the Exchange around me, far better for music than games.

     

    Yeah, for me I looked at the end label and went from there. Didn't hit me till later the main label was facing a different direction compared to Nintendo and Sega.

     

    My first M Network game was Astroblast, and I did sit there for several seconds flipping it in my hands trying to decide how it should go in. Didn't help that I had never seen an Intellivision at that point, so I was just flying blind. I was also afraid putting it in the wrong way might break it, so I was really hesitant on inserting it.

     

    I actually got my system off Ebay, and set all the original Atari games aside, because I hadn't read about the dust cover, and didn't know how it worked. I played the Activision games first. Then noticed the cartridge slot had a dust cover, got a paperclip and discovered magic.

     

    Funny story, I actually came on here fearing I got a fake when I got a sliding dust cover that didn't lock because I was so familiar with all the Atari games locking dust covers. :dunce:

    • Like 1

  18. Posted · Edited by up2knowgood

     

    A - Not to 'advertise' what was being played (Wrong word to use...). But to let others know what game is in the system. You are also assuming this is meant that the only people in the house would be those invovled in the purchase of the game. What about friends who came over etc? They wouldn't likely know every game you had purchased.

    B - In the homes i lived in...it usually was yes. So this was stated strictly from my perspective back then and now.

    C - You would have heard the game but not really seen it yet, again depending on how your home was laid out they might not see the screen just yet. And you can't assume that someone walking into the room would be completely familiar with the game based on sound. My mother certainly never did quite remember the sounds from all the games. My step dad stated they all sound the same him at the time.

    D - Yes they could tell you, but then if we were in the middle of playing games, we didn't exactly like talking in during game play.

    E - Not convoluted from the way I always perceived it then and now honestly.

     

    Never expected that to be taken so seriously? I thought we were all just speculating here anyway?

    Yes, we are just speculating. And sorry about missing that part of your post.

     

    I would also like to add something to C. How can you tell what game it is by sound? Only a handful have game music, not just a tune at the beginning. Many games don't have much for sound, and there's a ton of recycled sounds.

     

    Edit: Another thought just occurred to me. Could they have been based off 8track tapes? The label facings I mean. I never saw one in action, so I don't know how they go.

  19. Posted

    I was reading in the Hyperkin Retron77 thread about how people were blasting a rather cosmetic decision of labels facing frontwards. As a product of the NES generation, I finally bought my first Atari in 2012. And while I can't remember which game I tried to play first, I do remember turning the cart label facing me and it didn't fit. Why? Was my system broken? Then I had an epiphany: "Turn the cart around, doofus!" Worked like a charm after that... :dunce:

     

     

    I actually got my first system around the same time. But I read a lot about Atari before then, and saw pictures of the system so I knew which way the cartridges went. Until I came across an M Network game, and I was so confused by it I had to just guess. Same when I got my Coleco Gemini. Managed to guess right both times.

  20. Posted

     

    Do you happen to have a source for this? I have never read or heard anything that corroborates, or even suggests this.

     

    It doesn't really hold water:

     

    A) Why "advertise" what has already been purchased? Even in a less literal sense, chances are people in or near the room knew what was going on

    B) It assumes the console will be positioned in such a way that someone walking into the room will be able to see the cartridge label, and would see it first, which may not necessarily be the case

    C) By the time you get close enough to identify the cartridge by the text on the label--because that's what they were at first--you'd have seen and/or heard the game in action already

    D) Your friends could simply tell you what they're playing

    E) It seems like a really convoluted justification for what was fundamentally an aesthetic choice for the design of the console

    It also doesn't hold because while it works with Coleco games, all of Atari's own cartridges have the picture upside down, and the title hidden in the cartridge slot.

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