My first flashback! :)

[oky2000]

So I was out wandering through loads of Microsoft and Sony pap (and even more boring crap that has nothing to do with gaming or electronics) in the weekly boot sale (kinda like a yard sale/flea market in the US I guess) and there was an Atari Flashback 3 which the ladies only wanted £5 for. It was in the box everything looked tidy and as new and even the box had no rips etc....so kerching I bought it

 

So I've never seen one of these things in real life, not even really followed their development either, but my first impressions were...

 

1. Big smile on my face because it has D9 connector equipped classic joystick (they feel a bit loose!!)

2. It's so damned cute because it is like a baby VCS (I would prefer the joystick ports on the back though to max out the wood effect fablon strip on the front of a real VCS etc).

3. Seems well made.

4. As expected very few of the arcade conversions are on there not even Space Invaders (massive omission, how many pennies in commission could Taito have charge in royalties per unit sold?) but still plenty of stuff not on real cart like Combat 2 etc.

 

Right let's hope it still works and take it from there....and then obviously I need to take a screw driver to it to have a look at the PCB and then obviously surf the net to see if you can bodge a cart slot onto it

[BSA Starfire]

Nice find for a fiver. Bloke @ our bootsale had about 20 new ones, last week. Was asking £15 each, made a big deal about them still being £45 in Argos. I must admit it didn't seem worth £15, but a fiver, hell yes.

Be interested to see how you get on with it.

[brojamfootball]

Only FB2 could be modded with cart slot.

[Retro Rogue]

The FB3 was done by a different company, not by us. Atari decided to license out the brand and product we created to a Chinese firm. There are no mod capabilities in that or the FB4, and neither use our 2600-on-a-chip. They instead use emulation via a custom emulator.

 

[oky2000]

Ahh well even without the mods for 5 bucks for split mint in box with uncreased manual and all the cable ties you can't really ask for more. Plugging the joysticks in (even if the ports should be on the back) always brings a big grin to your face too

 

I do miss the games I loved on my own real VCS as a kid not being there (Vanguard probably the most notable one missing for me personally) but still there are plenty to play on there that I do like. As for Argos doing them for £45 well.... they have the Flashback 4 for £42 right now in the UK if anyone wants one (only 2 left on their ebay outlet last time I looked at that price).

 

What is really WRONG is the version of Space Invaders on the Flashback 4 may be more authentic as an arcade conversion but it is NOT VCS Space Invaders and for that reason it is inferior in my opinion The wireless joysticks are a nice idea I guess, but then having a couple more joysticks to use on emergencies with D9 connectors is no bad thing at all hmmm.

 

Right back to a bit of Missile Command methinks.........