New Atari 2600 Homebrews Available

[Albert]

I've just added three Atari 2600 games to the AtariAge Store!

 

New Atari 2600 Games

Two of these games are new homebrews, and one is a re-release of Tony Wong's wonderful Haunted Adventure Trilogy:

 

- Cave In

- Lead

- Haunted Adventure Trilogy

 

 

 

 

And don't forget about other recent 2600 homebrews:

 

- Incoming!

- Dungeon (and don't forget the beautiful poster!)

- Juno First

- Stella's Stocking Re-Release (for those who missed it the first time around!)

 

Many of these games have gameplay video that you can view by clicking on the "Video" tab. Thanks go out to Nathan Strum with his help in creating these videos!

 

You can find all the latest 2600 homebrews here:

 

Atari 2600 Homebrews, sorted by newest arrivals

 

Melody Board Arrives

The new Melody board is available as an upgrade for nearly all Atari 2600 games sold in the AtariAge Store. You can trade-in any Melody-based games for 50% of their purchase price towards new games, as well as receive a free upgrade if a game is revised down the road. You can read about the Melody here:

 

- Learn about the Melody Board

 

 

Enjoy!!

 

..Al

[StanJr]

Holy Mack-arel. I MUST have Cave-In! I must. I will not sleep until I own that game.

 

Oh, and Lead looks amazing as well.

 

(I already have the HA Trilogy)

[Lendorien]

Out of curiosity, what's the cost comparison between reprogramming standard Eprom based cartridges or using a melody board? The new features possible witht he Melody board sound great, but will homebrew carts using them be cheaper to produce?

 

Not that I will ever use it as a non-programmer. I'm just curious.

[tetrode kink]

Uh, Al? I think you buried the headline:

 

The store is open!!!

 

OK, maybe you wanted the headline to be "New Atari 2600 Homebrews Available," but still...

 

The store is open!!!

 

Two questions:

 

1. What kind of revisions are free when you opt for a melody carted game? Bug fixes? Sequels (i.e. Juno Second)? Or both?

 

2. Just how badly do you want to delay my subscription to AtariAge? I mean, with the store now open and all the drool-inducing game choices, I really wanna do the right thing and subscribe, but man you really aren't making it easy...

 

-tet

Edited February 13, 2010 by tetrode kink

[Albert]

1. What kind of revisions are free when you opt for a melody carted game? Bug fixes? Sequels (i.e. Juno Second)? Or both?

Bug fixes and other minor tweaks, primarily. There are times in the past where this would have been useful. Any significant new versions (such as a "Juno Second") are basically an entirely new game. Something along the lines of "Skeleton" to "Skeleton+" (which had a few minor improvements) would be up to the author as to whether a free Melody upgrade would be applicable.

 

I'll make this clearer on the Melody page, as it's a bit vague right now.

 

2. Just how badly do you want to delay my subscription to AtariAge? I mean, with the store now open and all the drool-inducing game choices, I really wanna do the right thing and subscribe, but man you really aren't making it easy...

I can't help you with that.

 

..Al

[dwh]

Ordered some stuff...even though the topic was 'hidden' in the 2600 forum.

[ianoid]

I am so going to buy these at CGE.

[Albert]

I am so going to buy these at CGE.

I have to bring games to sell at CGE?!?!

 

..Al

[Nateo]

Oh awesome. I have been counting the days. The instant I get some disposable income it is going into that store.

[+batari]

Out of curiosity, what's the cost comparison between reprogramming standard Eprom based cartridges or using a melody board? The new features possible witht he Melody board sound great, but will homebrew carts using them be cheaper to produce?

No, the Melody boards cost more. It is really difficult to beat the cost of EPROM boards as recycled EPROMs are usually used. I would consider the cost of Melody to be competitive with EPROM boards using new, recently manufactured EPROMs, though.

 

We knew all along that the cost would be greater. The original idea was that there would be labor savings as we were having the boards professionally assembled, however, that didn't quite work out as planned. We ended up having the boards mostly, but not fully assembled instead, so I have been soldering the MCU to every board myself. There is still labor involved but soldering the 48-pin surface mount MCU is not as bad as it may seem.

 

The hardest part is lining the pins up to the pads, and it takes patience and a steady hand as it's rather small:

[Lendorien]

No, the Melody boards cost more. It is really difficult to beat the cost of EPROM boards as recycled EPROMs are usually used. I would consider the cost of Melody to be competitive with EPROM boards using new, recently manufactured EPROMs, though.

 

We knew all along that the cost would be greater. The original idea was that there would be labor savings as we were having the boards professionally assembled, however, that didn't quite work out as planned. We ended up having the boards mostly, but not fully assembled instead, so I have been soldering the MCU to every board myself. There is still labor involved but soldering the 48-pin surface mount MCU is not as bad as it may seem.

 

The hardest part is lining the pins up to the pads, and it takes patience and a steady hand as it's rather small:

 

Ok, you have a lot more patience than I do.. or a steadier hand. It's botch a soldering job that small up within 30 seconds. Thanks for answering the question. I was curious.