Atari vcs flickering problem

[Doeman]

Ok so out of my twenty games only solaris has problems. The game turns on but the screen is flickering and I have a hard time looking at it. The sound is fine, what could be the problem? Also the cartridge has a tight fit when pushed in the vcs but my other cartridges fit?

[+Atari_Warlord]

Maybe it is the wrong broadcast format? NTSC or PAL depending on were you are located.

[Doeman]

No it's utsc format, says on box.

[+SpiceWare]

What color is the screen? The NTSC one will show these colors:

 

Due to the way the Atari works, a PAL catridge on an NTSC Atari will have the wrong colors:

 

It's possible the ROM in the cartridge went bad. It's not very common, but it's also not unheard of.

 

 

 

As for the tight fit, you don't mention it, but I suspect you have a six switch Atari. There's something about the cartridges for later games (Solaris came out in 86) that make them not fit well with the six switch models. Try this.

Edited May 16, 2013 by SpiceWare

[Doeman]

Thanks, I suspect the cartridge is bad, I got it brand new though....

[+SpiceWare]

While it might have been "new in box", the cartridge was made nearly 30 years ago.