Benheck

https://www.benheck.com/project-started-in-2000-finally-finished-atari-2600-junior-single-chip-portable/

Holy cow! There's a Single Chip Atari 2600 Junior in that lot!

There is no path to success here. It's an emulator box at 3X+ the cost of the "mini" systems people like these days. In addition - let's be honest here - the "Overton Window" has long passed the Atari 2600 as the "nostalgia system of choice" Compare this to the Ouya, which made 4X in crowdfunding, selling a box 1/3rd the cost of this, with Android compatibility and it STILL flopped. Also 3m for development is chump change, and that's just for development. That 3m is also supposed to fund manufacture and delivery? Ha!

No prototype = all monies raised get spent on development and nothing is left to fund manufacturing. Seems like a major whiff to me. A grandma can get emulation going on a Raspberry Pi and your toaster can run Netflix these days. What's special about this device beyond the branding?

Came across this chip while sorting junk bins after shop move. Just did a Google hangout with Parker Dillmann to cross-reference the pinout since he has one of these as well (the schematics online are inaccurate) It still works! Not fried after all. Now I can finish that super portable I started back in 2001...

Thanks I'll look into that! One reason I stopped doing the show was the episode schedule was a never-ending treadmill. We didn't finish projects the best way, only the fastest. So yes, I'll probably revisit this with real PCB's and modern SRAM.

Was going to post about this build but there was a topic already! For more details and high-res photos check out my site: https://www.benheck.com/atari-800-handheld/ I'd love to continue working on this concept. Ideally it should be an 800XL with modern SRAM and all the glue logic done with a small CPLD (cheaper version of an FPGA) This would avoid the need for the Freddie chip and simply use the common main IC's. A lot more could be added if I was getting real PCB's made but our show is (was) always on a rushed schedule so with a 2 week time limit was faster to make them in-house. Curious to hear your thoughts and ideas!

I did perform more testing, and consulted with Omni to make sure I was entering his data correctly into my system. I couldn't achieve anything better than a 5.57, nor can I disprove a 5.51. But I can confirm that his spreadsheet models correctly predicted all tested behavior on real hardware.

You mean like how the Dreamcast controller works? Yeah that would be pretty straightforward would just need to define the "edge" that it triggers at (since hall effect are analog) I would like to get back into console mods at some point. Regarding the record, I built a device that allows the theories to be tested on real hardware, removing human error. If the score cannot be achieved with this rig, then it's probably not possible. David Crane would be the final say, have seen him at a few conventions this year but he seemed kind of tired, doubt he'd actually give a crap.

I was happy to do it. I love classic 8-bit hardware and making a RAM dumper/analyzer was a fun challenge. BUT..... I see myself as the guy making the microscope, not the guy using it to analyze blood stains. What I've suggested to Jace is we Osh Park up like 3 of these things, one for Todd, one for Omnigamer, and maybe a third party (perhaps on Atari Age?) For Todd I'd add joystick support, so he can "map in" his style using a real stick, then adjust it manually for best results. Thus far, all of Omni's predictive spreadsheets have been confirmed in real hardware. If it can be done, my system can do it, but the magical formula is not my forte.

2005 was like hundreds of projects ago so it's hard to recall, but my method would have been this: 1) Find best image possible on Google. 2) Blow up / clean up image. 3) Find closest font and lay over in Illustrator. 4) Modify font vectors to match original as close as possible. At the time, for the commission project, I would have gone for "good enough"... anything that at least captured the feel of the original logo. If anyone wants to be a real "vector detective" I could email them the AI files. Keep in mind RWB was scooping up ancient dead marks, so they'd have no access to original files. Even if mine weren't perfect they'd be better than nothing.

Here's what I sent them in 2008. Again, the original (and only) Coleco portable I made was in 2005, by commission for a customer who was not associated with RWB. And yes as some have mentioned it was a heavily modded original Colecovision, not a new machine. And by looking at the dates on these provided logo files, RWB contacted me over 2 year after I built the one-off.

Heading home from a trip. I'll post the original AI logo files I provided RWB when I land, so you super sleuths have can at it!

The one I used on my portable and provided files for was the rainbow "Colecovision" one.

Yes I am real. I've had an AtariAge account for a long time. Again I can't recall what was in the agreement. It's very likely there was language saying they could use my images for promotional purposes. But it does sound like I was bamboozled. Like a guy charging you to park in a lot he doesn't actually own, and then saying "Look at all the cars, this must be a real business!"

My Gmail purges anything more than 5 years old so this is all from memory. The Colecovision portable was a one-off commission job for a private individual back in 2005. A long while afterwards River West Brands emailed me about it, saying it was their brand but they would authorize my use of it. (Checking my contact data (which doesn't get purged) it was Mark Thomann thanks enoofu for reminding me) They also asked if I could email them the vector files of the Colecovision logo. At the time there was nothing usable on the web so I had re-drawn it from scratch. That part might sound weird, but see, I used to be a graphic artist. You'd be shocked how many businesses have no logo art besides what's on their business card. And I don't mean the files used to make the card, but the ACTUAL CARD ITSELF. River West claimed to be the new holder of the trademark so I just figured they had no access to original materials. Was happy to help. I do have the Illustrator files of what I sent them, dated 3-16-08. This is how I know the general time when River West contacted me. A good two years after I built the thing. I seem to recall there was an agreement drafted but can't remember specifics of it. I can't find said document in my project files or my collection of printed legacy contracts. I do know that I didn't actually pay the $1 fee. This is all I can remember. If they still have the contract maybe they could produce it.

Hopper, the villain from the criminally underrated "A Bug's Life" had a great quote: "First rule of leadership: Everything... is... your fault!" Yeah this Sean guy sounds like a scammer. But it's your job not to hire scammers. The fact you couldn't smell his BS shows you really weren't fit to run a hardware manufacturing project in the first place. The fact that you were so desperate to get this project off the ground (despite it not making much sense as a product) is what put you in a position to get scammed by a scammer.

Sadly, the whole part about "supporting developers" could easily apply to Nintendo as well.

Nintendo would want carts so they can handle all the manufacturing themselves and use that as profit center (secret reason they clung to carts for so long) Also, retailers like game SKU's on the shelves because they don't get a % when a game console is all digital downloads. It's one reason Apple prices are higher, more margin for retailer to make up for this

"What purpose the PCI card served?" Um... its purpose was to FOOL people. Wow. That was easy. If Coleco honestly doesn't know that, it's not hard to see how Mike strung them along this far.

The results from the "independent engineer" will be that both the SNES2 and DVR card were very well designed

They'll lift up the DVR board to find... NICOLE SIMPSON'S "REAL" KILLERS!

People should keep in mind: 1) At least this was stopped before customers lost any money (unlike the Pinball Scams of 2015 where $2 million+ vanished) 2) It's tempting to blame associates when the responsible party is AWOL, but often times they were just as mislead as potential customers.

Gotta say, Mike called me a couple years back asking if I wanted to be involved and it was tough finding a nice way to say "no thanks" when I was really thinking "this is pretty pointless and dumb" I especially hated the Jaguar case and the carts, called them a "poisoned chalice" if I recall. So it's very fascinating to see what came of this and to be glad I wasn't involved.

I didn't even see the DVR card reveal when I started my previous post. Holy hell. He's not even a *good* scammer. A good scammer would have spent $90 on an FPGA dev board and stuck that in. It too would have been quickly identified but at least would have fit the "narrative".