simonsimon69

I know Jefflrok I posted hastily before I had done any googling regarding Atari 2600 flicker. It's funny I don't remember being bothered by flicker when I played in '78-'79, or it even being present, but now it seems to do my head in middle age I suppose......

Thanks for the further info Jeremy.

Thanks Thomas, didn't know about Stella either. Very useful.

Thank you for your help Thomas. I don't think I'll be playing asteroids much then, it's given me a headache :-)

Maybe it's just the way it is then if you tube videos don't show the flickering. But surely the ship itself should be static?

Hi, It's an old crt television, so there isn't much I can adjust. I am sure the problem is either with the game or the console with that particular game. Just to add to my original post, I've just noticed the ship itself in asteroids is flashing permanently too! Its a strange one. All seems to be playing fine and everything seems to be working, just got this flashing problem. I may buy another cheap asteroids cart and see if it's the same.

Hello all, The 2600 I recently acquired came with amongst others Asteroids and Pacman. I seem to be getting a strange problem with both these games where in asteroids the rocks are sort of flickering and flashing as they move, and the same with the chasing ghosts in Pacman, where they are sort of flickering. It's pretty sore on the eyes and definitely not normal behaviour. I've looked at a couple of videos on YouTube and the behaviour is not present. With both games all other artefacts are static and displaying as they should, it's just the moving things that seem to be flashing/flickering. Has anyone any idea what could be causing this. I'm a new returner to the Atari fold, so dont have much knowledge or experience of playing about with these things. Any pointers would be appreciated. Just wanted to add, I do realise the ghosts in Pacman are meant to flicker, but this seems excessive. And I don't think the rocks in asteroids are meant to flicker at all, but they are really flickering a lot. So I thought there might be some connection between the two. I'm viewing on an old crt tv.

I discovered that the defect was actually that on the switch plate plastic insert, the colour was coming away from the insert. If you look at the lighter bubbling defect in the pic, under this the black paint had been left on the plastic of the actual console, and the plastic insert had pulled away from the paint. Hope that makes sense :-). Anyway, in case it's of use to anyone, I removed the casing and popped the insert out, so I just had that section, and tried heating it up with a hairdryer, without any effect. I then tried putting it in some very hot water, and for some reason this seemed to allow the plastic insert to meld with the paint again, and with a bit of manipulation, a bit like installing a screen protector to a phone, it now looks a lot better, although not perfect. Hope this is of use to someone else out there.

Thanks Jeremy. Yes I had thought of maybe trying some sort of heat in some way. I will maybe take the console casing apart, and from watching YouTube, I understand the affected panel pops out, so at least I wouldn't risk damaging anything else while I experiment. It's annoying as its good condition otherwise. I have seen a couple of consoles on eBay here in the UK with the same problem, one seller even describing it as still having the protective plastic film on the switch plate, so the seller obviously thought the same as I thought at first. I wonder if it's maybe something unique to consoles that have spent years in garages etc in the colder damp environment of the U.K.? Anyway, I'll try a couple of things, and if successful I'll post back here in case it's of use to anyone else with the same defect.

No, can't manage it. It seems to be some sort of top coating layer coming away from the plastic sticker that makes up the switch plate. It doesn't seem to be a protective film unfortunately. I wonder if there is any way I can improve the appearance of this problem? Have any restorers come across this age related cosmetic problem before?

I had a go at peeling it earlier, and couldn't seem to manage it, hence posting here to see if anyone knew if they did indeed have a plastic film on them when new. It doesn't feel like it has a film on it, but it does look like it does. Perhaps I'm being to careful when trying. I'll have another go :-)

Hello All, First post. I used to have a 2600 back in '79, and recently got it into my noggin to buy one again for old times sake. I managed to find and buy what I think is an early Sunnyvale light sixer, with I think a fairly early serial number. It's boxed and comes with everything it should I think. Anyway, my question is, does anyone know what this bubbling is on the switch plate. It looks like there is maybe a plastic film that is still in place waiting to be satisfyingly peeled off, but I'm really not sure. Is it just the plastic peeling away? If anyone's has any experience of this please can you share your knowledge. Thanks everyone.