ColecoVision Flashback System

[Andromeda Stardust]

Atgames likely tested their menu system on a display with minimal overscan. Game developers back in the early 80s likely made sure all their games adhered to the "safe" zone. Assuming the Flashback is not rescaling the games and emulation is descent, they should display the exact same amount of scanlines as the original system. This may or may not cause the games to appear slightly "letterboxed" on a modern flat panel. The fact that the menu does not adhere to early 80s Coleco standards is really minor. As long as the menu stays in the "safe zone", I'm good. But if the game titles get cropped on certain CRT sets, that might be a problem.

[nesboy43]

 

I put that in the manual. The AtGames preference is to just use 16:9 (which is why the Intellivision and Atari manuals state that - I think the Sega one does too; I didn't work on those), but the original aspect ratios were more like 4:3. 16:9 doesn't "do" anything, but the picture is obviously a little more stretched than it would normally be. With chunky pixels, it's not that big of a deal, but I wanted to stress authenticity.

 

And yes, your assumption is correct, even at 4:3 it doesn't necessarily fill the screen on all displays. That also varies by display type. Using it on certain CRTs and the overscan (particularly on the menu) is rather aggressive. There's not necessarily consistency in that regard.

Here's what it looks like on my CRT:

 

The edge of the TV is where those lit up side buttons are. So is this normal then? This is how the originals looked too?

[Flojomojo]

That looks right to me. Remember 1980s televisions had curved edges, and arcade-style games like Donkey Kong put the score pretty far up into the corners. You wouldn't want that information to get cut off.

[Flojomojo]

It's hard to find YouTube videos of ColecoVision games that aren't running in emulation or on a flatscreen. Here's an old TV commercial that illustrates the borders pretty well. It's nice that they seem to be using actual footage, not a mockup.

[chart45]

today i receive the confirmation from toyrus.com that my colecovision flash back its on its way to canada so it work by selecting international shipping

[thegamezmaster]

So has anyone gotten the CV Flashback from a Dollar General yet? The ones by me know nothing. Just curious. Thanks!

[Hyperboy]

I checked mine yesterday and they were clueless so I bought a 12 pack and went home.

[Atariboy]

Sounds about par for the course. I can just imagine the blank stare if I walked into a local store like Dollar General and asked the 18 year old kid at the register where the Colecovision Flashbacks were.

 

It's easier to just assume they're not in stock, if you can't find it yourself.

[Falconhood]

Has anyone found these on Clearance yet?

[bkrownd]

Still none here. I did find one of those 8-in-one Pac Man things.

[+frankodragon]

I did ask at the local Wal-Mart if they will be getting the CF's, but they have no idea if they're even getting any. Whatever comes in those trucks, the associates are left in the dark.

[ColecoDan]

I did ask at the local Wal-Mart if they will be getting the CF's, but they have no idea if they're even getting any. Whatever comes in those trucks, the associates are left in the dark.

Don't worry wal-mart is left in the dark as well. It is a clueless company. Their corporate used to force all their vendors and other companies to have all these standards yet they would send a truck of goods to us and had no idea what was in the truck, totally reliant on us to tell them what was in it and annoyingly painful when they were not told immediately.

[adamcon]

I did ask at the local Wal-Mart if they will be getting the CF's, but they have no idea if they're even getting any. Whatever comes in those trucks, the associates are left in the dark.

 

My local Dollar General is clueless as well. Never heard of it, but "we will be getting in trucks of merchandise every Friday".

[+save2600]

I checked mine yesterday and they were clueless so I bought a 12 pack and went home.

A 12 pack of what? DG doesn't sell beer by you, do they?

[Hyperboy]

A 12 pack of what? DG doesn't sell beer by you, do they?

They sure do!

[Andromeda Stardust]

^^Probably depends on state and county ordinances if they sell beer or not.

[Hyperboy]

^^Probably depends on state and county ordinances if they sell beer or not.

Yep..Alcohol laws are state and sometimes county specific.

[cimerians]

Mines shipping and I think I'll have it this weekend. Will probably try it on my CRT first and then an LED TV afterwards and decide which one to keep it on. I may not keep it hooked up though as I have a real Colecovision (a few of them) with a flashcart.

 

Nothing beats a Yurkie controlled CV with an Atarimax!

[chart45]

i dont want to offence you or yurkie but for the led tv f18a colecovision its the way to go or framemeister its a better way but $$$$

[cimerians]

i dont want to offence you or yurkie but for the led tv f18a colecovision its the way to go or framemeister its a better way but $$$$

 

Oh yes! I skipped out on that and of course forgot about it.

 

I cant for the life of me get myself to buy a framemeister. I wish I could its just the money.....

[+Darrin9999]

checked 2 stores nothin! but Family Dollar did have the Sega Genesis one..

[Colecovision]

today i receive the confirmation from toyrus.com that my colecovision flash back its on its way to canada so it work by selecting international shipping

 

It didn't work for me. I had some issues with my credit card at checkout and they won't ship international with Paypal. I'm still looking for another solution.

[cimerians]

I got mine and I tried it out and its not that bad, pretty much agree with what everyone has said. The sticker on top makes it look cheap but for me the controllers are quite responsive, the only problem as everyone mentioned...the control stick is too short and the emulation is off. Heist is unplayable but Zaxxon is a lot more fun with the extra speed. Hopefully they correct the emulation on future units.

 

I have mine hooked up to a 13" CRT. I think I'll keep it there cause it looks pretty good.

 

One strange thing I noticed is that when I first turned it on the controller barely worked. I could not move it up and down etc. without really pushing on it but then after about 5-10 minutes of playing it worked great with no issues and the keys on the kepad were also very responsive. Not sure what that was all about....almost like in needed to warm up or get broken in a bit.

[frank_c]

Saw three CV Flashbacks at the TRU in Mayfield, Ohio. No INTV though.

 

Picked up a CV and checked out the box, and almost took it to the counter...but that incompatible controller thing is really the sticking point. That, and the Yurkie modded CV and the AtariMax flash cart are really, really good. I'm working on a couple controller ideas of my own, I will probably finish that and my setup will be perfect.

[davidbrit2]

Really liking the CV Flashback so far. I'm particularly pleased that it displays a proper non-interlaced video signal. Audio sounds like it might be getting over-amped a bit in the emulation, and clipping the waveform sometimes as a result. It's not horrible, though.

 

What's the verdict on adapting the new controllers for an original CV? I had a quick look inside, and it seems like the original CV controllers use 7 wires, while the CV FB controllers use 8 (there's a 9th one soldered to the PCB, but it doesn't look like it goes anywhere).