RamrodHare

I get the idea of why we use the ARM and I'm glad we have it. It means we can have games that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. There are still a lot of old original games I love and a lot of new ones. I don't pay any attention to 4k or 32k or Melody boards. I only care about the games. If they are fun to play, then they are doing what they were meant to do. I just wan to say to all the great "Wizards" here, keep making games the way you want to, with the technology you choose to use. I figure most people playing the 2600 feel the same way.

Get a Harmony cart. There's no reason to hunt down and buy original carts on eBay and such, unless you just want to have a collection of carts to deal with. Grab a Harmony cart and download all the games and play anything you want. The Harmony cart is by far the best purchase I made for the 2600. Next, you want some good original joysticks. You'll want to buy rebuilt ones or rebuild a set yourself. Same thing goes for paddles and driving controllers. I also got a save key from a fellow board member. It does what it says, it saves high scores and stuff. It only works on some games, so if you don't have a Harmony or some of the compatible Homebrews from the Atari Age store, it's not something you need. I could give my opinion on games and accessories all night, but it really comes down to you. The one purchase I can garantee you won't be disappointed with, is the Harmony Encore.

So, without reading through 110 pages in that other thread, are paddle controllers and the Harmony cart working with the retro 77? I saw there had been issues at one point.

My opinion is that the price is too high, but I guess it just comes down to what you can afford and how bad you want them.

I haven't had time to take any pics. I was just wondering if the encoder wheels (I think that's what they are called), should be shiny or kind of a dull gray color? These seem to have a rough dull gray finish. I didn't know if that could be an issue or not.

I've had them apart and they were really clean, from what I could tell. I can take them back apart tonight and snap a few pics.

I tested them with all of the trackball games I have on my Harmony cart and it's the same result with each.

It may just come down to personal preference. Some people pay a bit more for items that have the box, but most collectors want items to still be sealed in the box. I wouldn't pay more for items with boxes, but that's just me. If you're going to use the items, don't worry about the box. If you are going to put the items back in the box and put them away for 20 years, then I'm sure the box will add some value. Things are only worth what someone is willing to pay.

Just checked again, it's the correct ROMs. I'll try some different games later. With the trackballs in joystick mode, they have the same issue while trying to navigate the Harmony menu. I also tried them on two different consoles, just to be sure it wasn't a console problem.

I tried Centepede and Missile Command, from the set of trackball roms I downloaded here on AA.

I just clicked on this thread, since I picked up a nice 2600JR, 4 joysticks, 2 power supplies, and a nice Game station for $10. I actually had to think it over for a day and only decided to buy it for the Game station, since I already have a mint 2600JR that I think I paid $30 or so for a couple of years ago. It came with a bunch of games and accessories. LOL

So, I picked up two CX22 Trackballs the other day. I tested them, took them apart and looked everything over. Neither of them is working right in joystick or trackball mode. The cursor does move, but only in short jumps and never goes very far before bouncing back. I don't know anything about working on them and honestly don't want to put forth the effort. What I'd like to do is ship both of them to someone who can repair them, keep one for their self, and ship the other back to me. (I'm in Greeneville TN). If anyone is interested, let me know. I've been trying to get a working trackball for a while now and this makes four of them I've gotten that didn't work. I would just offer to pay someone to fix them, but I don't have the extra money.

You can rewire an NES controller if you have a spare. I used to do it. As far as making an enclosure for that adapter, if you have access to a 3d printer it would be great. It would be really easy to make a shell out of sheet styrene. A wooden shell wouldn't be too hard, if you have the tools. There are a lot of possible ways to make a shell, it just comes down to what tools you have and your experience. Sheet styrene is by far the simplest and probably less costly.

I didn't get one for Christmas, sadly. My first Christmas console was the NES, the year it came out. I got probably 15 games that Christmas. I don't remember what they all were. My Uncles had Coleco Combat, but it was broken by the time I knew about it. My next Christmas console was the Sega Genesis and 5 or 6 games for it. Sometime after the NES, but before the Genesis, I played a few 2600 games at a friend's house. I was hooked on Combat. I dug out the broken Coleco Combat and tried to fix it. I was too young to do it right, but I got it working enough to see it on the TV, but the controls didn't work right. After the Genesis I traded for a Magnavox Oddessy. It had probably 50 games and the Voice attachment. I played it for a while, but never really thought it was that great. The last console I got for Christmas was a PlayStation, the year it came out. I liked I so much that I stuck with Sony. I bought my own PS2 and PS3 and a PSP. I did go back to Nintendo when the Gameboy Micro came out and bought a used GameCube too. I know this has been a long story, but it's almost over. A couple of years ago I got a job at a comic and collectables shop. I ended up with a few non working 4 switch 2600s and 100+ games. I got one console working perfectly after a recapping kit and an AV mod. Then I found a good deal an a 2600 jr and jumped on it. Even without modding, the picture quality was excellent. So I sold the 4 switch and bought a Harmony Encore. Now if I just had someone to play Combat with...

I'm looking forward to the upgrade. In my financial situation carts are out of my price range. I even got rid of most of my original carts, just to save space. I use my Harmony encore for every game. So being able to purchase ROMs should make it easier on my limited income and still allow me to own the quality Homebrews that keep coming out.

It's looking good. I'm a big fan of chess, so I'll be watching this thread closely.

I had this video come up in my YouTube feed and I checked it out. I wasn't impressed. Also the gameplay at the end looks fake as does the cart he has plugged into the 2600. I watch a lot of the restoration videos and I see a lot of them where the "dirt" looks like someone put it there. This one was no exception. His way of "restoring" the joysticks was pretty bad too. Maybe he thought he did a good job, if so, more power to him.

I've had bad luck with both trackballs I've bought. Neither of them worked at all. One was used, the other was NOS. I ended up returning them to the seller for a refund. After that experience, I just gave up on owning one.

As mentioned, it's probably the cable. Simple fix, just replace the cable. I never toss any controller that can be repaired, especially one that only needs a cable.

Yes. Exactly what AtariLeaf said. The RF cable on the Atari looks like it's a RCA video input cable, but it's not. You need the adapter that converts it to coax or a switch box.

I added a ferrite core and use a coax adapter instead of a switch box and all my games play great, with extremely good picture quality on my 2600 JR. I composite modded 3 different 4 switch models (Vader's seem to be the worst) and never got the kind of picture quality I expected, even with different types of mods. The UAV board was the mod I always wanted to try, but I never had the extra cash. It's got great reviews and I intend to grab one. I just have to get my hands on another 2600 first. Try the ferrite core before anything else, they are cheap and work like magic when it comes to cleaning up the interference. If you have some old USB cables laying around, chances are you might have one you can pull a core from. I got mine from an old Sony cable. It had a two-piece core with a nice clamp on plastic shell.

I'm guessing someone has by now, but it's up to eBay to follow through and I don't see that happening. I just hope anyone considering buying it has the sense to do their research first.

I sent a couple of messages to the seller, with links and photos to prove it's a repro and instead of replying, he sent 2 offers. The first was $2,000 and when I told him he was crazy, he sent a second offer, $500. He knows what he has isn't worth anything. He's just a trying to sucker someone who doesn't know any better.

My Jr is still in excellent shape. Probably looks as good now as when it was new. I tote it around in a bag with the controllers and my Harmony, have yet to see any chips or scratches. I so intend to get a small laptop bag for it one of these days, since I often carry it to friend's homes.

I'm really thrilled about this game. I've been following along for a while now with the progress and it's amazing how you keep thinking of new things. This is going to be an excellent game and one I'm looking forward to playing.