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Family Dollar Flashback unit


Jess Ragan

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They're trying to flush these out of Family Dollar stores, cutting the price from $40 to $25. I've been hearing the criticism of these machines here, though, and I'm getting the impression that they're not even worth that much. (That damn Game Gear handheld sure didn't reflect positively on the manufacturer, that's for sure. Passive matrix in THIS day and age!?) So what is specifically wrong with this thing?

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Anytime a place wants to "flush" something, can't be good... :rolling:

 

I've referred to it as the "flushback" a couple times (always on purpose).

 

As for Family Dollar, much like the rest of their title claims (the Dollar Store & Discount Store), they do discount products. Thinking about the demographic they serve, by their own FAQ they claim "Family Dollar serves low to middle income customers", which is elsewhere described as "the $30,000 to $40,000 household income demographic and followed by the Great Recession...continued trade-down traffic (new traffic that understands the value)". $25 for a game system, which may come with a bit of brand recognition, is likely much more affordable than a PS4 or Xbox One, and the $15 reduction in price moves inventory that is not making money (and likely causing additional loss related to shelf space and storage). I'll have to pop into my local FD (just a short 10 minute walk around the corner) and see if they have any (and if those are on sale).

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I believe it's this machine:

 

http://boingboing.net/2012/12/03/atari-flashback-4-console.html

 

Can this be modded to work with actual 2600 cartridges?

 

 

 

 

If it is the 4 then I heard no Only the Flashback 2 had the board with the solder points to install a cart port not sure of the 2.5 flashback and no the 3 is not hackable either

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I believe it's this machine:

 

http://boingboing.net/2012/12/03/atari-flashback-4-console.html

 

Can this be modded to work with actual 2600 cartridges?

 

 

That one is nice but only the Flashback 2 or 2+ having the capability to be modded for actual cartridge use as those were the ones that were pretty much a real 2600 chipset just redesigned, the rest including the 4 are more emulation based.

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Im led to understand every Atari Flashback unit after the FIRST one is fine. The 4 has wireless/remote joysticks, maybe theres a problem with them, havent heard.

 

I just acquired a FB2, but if I didnt, & knew where a Family Dollar store was, I'd go get it.

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I don't think it's quite correct to say the other Flashback units are emulation-based. From my understanding, they actually ported the games to run on NOAC (Nintendo-On-A-Chip) hardware. The inaccuracies in the games aren't due to any type of emulation being used, but are due to the fact that porting them to different hardware (and quickly) entails certain compromises.

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I have an FB4 that I bought cheap, more out of curiosity than anything else, as I have a couple of working 2600s.

The unit is actually not bad, and the wireless controllers work alright as long as you make sure you have a clear line-of-sight to the console.

Personally I prefer using regular wired controllers, and they work just fine with the FB4.

 

I understand that the innards are based on some kind of ARM processor running a 2600 emulator. The emulation is pretty good but not perfect; I've noticed a few very minor glitches, and the sound is a bit off in a couple of games.

 

I think the FB devices do fill a niche for the casual gamer who enjoys retro games but doesn't want to go to the trouble of serious collecting. If you are really into the games, though, you will be happier going on eBay and picking up a decent working 2600 with a bunch of commons for the same money.

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  • 1 month later...

Something like that would be good for people who remember Atari games but hadn't played any in 30 years, so they wouldn't give a crap about emulation... I was thinking of getting it for entertaining guests in the gaming room but can't find any in the local dollar stores. My only complaint about it is why did use a remake of the Space Invaders arcade instead of the 2600 version everyone knows?

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