+frankodragon Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 OK. I need to know what to do about this Colecovision FB that comes up color bars when powered on. It sometimes (but rarely) advances to the game menu after a few minutes. I bought mine from Dollar General online. Their customer service is not letting me send it back, saying that the fact I am getting color bars means the unit is operational and not defective. What you should do is with a digital camera, smart phone, etc, make a small video of you powering on the defective flashback connected to the TV, then upload it to the customer service dept. Hopefully they'll change their minds after seeing the proof. The color bar test should last for a second or two-not several minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 lol why bother. Tell them it doesn't work. End of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_c Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 CV and INTV Flashbacks have arrived at Sam's Club in Mentor, Ohio. Bottom shelf under the Skylanders/Infinity display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I just got a DG version and Antarctic Adventure controls rather well except it bugged out on me on the 3rd area. Left and right just stoppped working. I restarted the console and it worked fine except I didn't try playing that game again. I also tried some old Atari 2600 Wico extension cables and they worked...at least...I turned the system on and I was able to move around. Hopefully they nail it on the next Flashback console. Hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 OK. I need to know what to do about this Colecovision FB that comes up color bars when powered on. It sometimes (but rarely) advances to the game menu after a few minutes. I bought mine from Dollar General online. Their customer service is not letting me send it back, saying that the fact I am getting color bars means the unit is operational and not defective. Maybe they incorrectly assumed you thought the color bar display was a glitch. If it's not booting into the menu after 5-10 seconds, something is wrong. Mine displays the color bars as well, and it's not several minutes, it's a few seconds. I tested my unit the other night to ensure it works, then carefully reboxed it without playing any games. The menu screen pops up maybe five seconds after the color bar. I was able to navigate the menu with the controller but I didn't select any games. It has been put away, knowing it's a good unit I'll be able to enjoy come Christmas. Also People said the controller sucks. Movement and actuation is pretty easy. I haven't tested it in an actual game yet, but I can feel the thumb stick hitting the diagonals as I can feel it depressing the rubber grommets underneath. Anyway I look forward to playing it for Christmas knowing it works. Well that's assuming it actually loads a game when I make a selection press an action button, which I didn't test... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 A heads up for those looking to save a few bucks on these... According to BFADs.net (http://bfads.net/Search/atari) Mejer will offer the flashback line at $29.99 (listed as 50% off) for Flack Friday, while Walgreens will drop to $34.99. I'll post more stores as I see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 CV and INTV Flashbacks have arrived at Sam's Club in Mentor, Ohio. Bottom shelf under the Skylanders/Infinity display. Yup, that's where I found mine at, and they also have the Atari 5 and the Genesis ones as well. I got all of them save for the Genesis. What was weird was that they were put out at different times -- the CV ones last Friday (a week ago), then the INTV and Atari ones on Monday, then the Genesis ones on Wed. If your Sam's Club doesn't have them in that area yet they should be out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Maybe they incorrectly assumed you thought the color bar display was a glitch. If it's not booting into the menu after 5-10 seconds, something is wrong. Mine displays the color bars as well, and it's not several minutes, it's a few seconds. I tested my unit the other night to ensure it works, then carefully reboxed it without playing any games. The menu screen pops up maybe five seconds after the color bar. I was able to navigate the menu with the controller but I didn't select any games. It has been put away, knowing it's a good unit I'll be able to enjoy come Christmas. Also People said the controller sucks. Movement and actuation is pretty easy. I haven't tested it in an actual game yet, but I can feel the thumb stick hitting the diagonals as I can feel it depressing the rubber grommets underneath. Anyway I look forward to playing it for Christmas knowing it works. Well that's assuming it actually loads a game when I make a selection press an action button, which I didn't test... The Intelivision Flashback that I bought on Monday did the same thing -- the 'color bar' screen came up and stayed up, regardless of how long I left it. So I did a exchange on Wed at my Sam's Club, and this time the 'color bar' screen just comes up for a couple of seconds, then you quickly see the copyright screen (and man, I mean QUICK!) and then the game menu. My Colecovision and Atari ones do the same thing. So it sounds like the 'not booting to the game menu' is a common defect in both the CV and INTV units, sad to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 What you should do is with a digital camera, smart phone, etc, make a small video of you powering on the defective flashback connected to the TV, then upload it to the customer service dept. Hopefully they'll change their minds after seeing the proof. The color bar test should last for a second or two-not several minutes. Hope the device he uses to make the video wasn't made by AtGames! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Has AtGames addressed this problem? I sent them an email about the issue and never heard back from them. Been about a week. So do these get returned as defective or just keep and use as long as the menu comes up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 OK, it's official now. The (Colecovision) flashback controllers are inferior to the originals in durability. Today, I was playing Pepper II and my controller stopped going left, so I whipped out the phillips screwdriver and took it apart to clean. However, I found that the stick has four plastic flaps/tabs, one of which pushes down on the circuit board buttons when left, up, down, or right direction is chosen. These tabs are THIN and unfortunately, break off after repeated use (perhaps 8 to 10 hours, in my case). I might be able to glue the tab back on, but am not confident in any longevity of the repair. As a side note, I believe the controller would work BETTER on the diagnals if the joystick controlled a solid disk, instead of four tabs coming off the central pivot point (I think it has been mentioned, but I'll reiterate: ULDR directions occur under about 80% of the area under a depressed joystick, whereas it should be closer to 50%, with northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest presses creating two simultaneous contacts approximately half of the time, for diagnal movement). By the way, if someone wanted to replace the disk-style handle with a different style handle, I discovered the disk pulls right out of the controller, leaving a square hole approximately 3/16 inch by 3/16 inch. Probably could insert a square stick of desired length (perhaps aluminum from the hobby store) and attach any suitable ball to it. Assuming I never wanted to play any two-player games, I'll be getting approximately ($20 for 8 hours per joystick) $2.50 per hour of enjoyment our of this flashback, as long as the second controller lasts just as long. This is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. All the Jakks PnPs are MUCH better built. The greatest thing about this device is the software (except the emulation is sub-par). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snesvision Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 (edited) I just picked up my Colecovision FB. I was waiting for today because Dollar General is having a Fall sale today (11/8). I saved 5 dollars, so I got the system for $35. Not too bad. I played through a bunch of games and they all seemed to play well. I was afraid the controller was going to be a huge disappointment because of all the negative talk about them, but I thought they worked better than the originals. Edited November 9, 2014 by snesvision 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Even Mario had to throw a facepalm after hearing the latest about the poor quality of the CVFB controllers... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 In another thread there's something about calling AtGames, ShAtGames. I couldn't resist at the chance: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 OK, it's official now. The (Colecovision) flashback controllers are inferior to the originals in durability. Today, I was playing Pepper II and my controller stopped going left, so I whipped out the phillips screwdriver and took it apart to clean. However, I found that the stick has four plastic flaps/tabs, one of which pushes down on the circuit board buttons when left, up, down, or right direction is chosen. These tabs are THIN and unfortunately, break off after repeated use (perhaps 8 to 10 hours, in my case). I might be able to glue the tab back on, but am not confident in any longevity of the repair. As a side note, I believe the controller would work BETTER on the diagnals if the joystick controlled a solid disk, instead of four tabs coming off the central pivot point (I think it has been mentioned, but I'll reiterate: ULDR directions occur under about 80% of the area under a depressed joystick, whereas it should be closer to 50%, with northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest presses creating two simultaneous contacts approximately half of the time, for diagnal movement). By the way, if someone wanted to replace the disk-style handle with a different style handle, I discovered the disk pulls right out of the controller, leaving a square hole approximately 3/16 inch by 3/16 inch. Probably could insert a square stick of desired length (perhaps aluminum from the hobby store) and attach any suitable ball to it. Assuming I never wanted to play any two-player games, I'll be getting approximately ($20 for 8 hours per joystick) $2.50 per hour of enjoyment our of this flashback, as long as the second controller lasts just as long. This is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. All the Jakks PnPs are MUCH better built. The greatest thing about this device is the software (except the emulation is sub-par). Hmmm. Do you think it may be possible to superglue a thin nylon washer to the bottom of the four pads? I assume the tabs press down on rubber grommets, at least that's what it felt like. Slightly spongey but not bad at all. The NES Advantage and subsequent Sega and SNES moels had joysticks built on top of giant Dpads. They were built like tanks though and could stand up to tons of abuse. Someone posted a Shapeways 3D printed balltop mod for the controller. I would be willing to try one, but I wouldn't want to invest $20+ on a ball-top if it only increased the stresses on the weak Dpad underneath. The longer the fulcrum, the higher the internal forces would get. Too long and even a weak force could break it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmervine Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Picked up a CVFB at Dollar General yesterday. At first I had the issue with the screen not loading and I had to turn it on and off a few times to get it to work. After some time, it now appears to be ok, Will spend some more time playing it today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Hmmm. Do you think it may be possible to superglue a thin nylon washer to the bottom of the four pads? I assume the tabs press down on rubber grommets, at least that's what it felt like. Slightly spongey but not bad at all. The NES Advantage and subsequent Sega and SNES moels had joysticks built on top of giant Dpads. They were built like tanks though and could stand up to tons of abuse. Someone posted a Shapeways 3D printed balltop mod for the controller. I would be willing to try one, but I wouldn't want to invest $20+ on a ball-top if it only increased the stresses on the weak Dpad underneath. The longer the fulcrum, the higher the internal forces would get. Too long and even a weak force could break it. I've glued the tab back on, but I'm evaluating ways to reinforce it. The washer idea is a good possibility. I'll have to see if I have anything suitable in my old parts containers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onmode-ky Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 What was weird was that they were put out at different times -- the CV ones last Friday (a week ago), then the INTV and Atari ones on Monday, then the Genesis ones on Wed. Yeah, that is weird. What they should have done, of course, is put out the Atari ones first, then the INTV ones a few years later, and then the CV ones a few years after that. onmode-ky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-in-NJ Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Glad mine has worked fine so far, apart from when the little disc thing broke off the joystick. Luckily it snapped right back into place. Have only used the one so far, the second controller is still in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 As anticipated, Dollar General will run with all FB systems for $28 on Thursday November 27 from 7AM to 7PM. http://bfads.net/Item/Dollar-General-Black-Friday-Atari-Gaming/219197 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 ^^Really? Thursday? Then it's not really Black Friday. Thanksgiving time is family time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevnaguy Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 ^^Really? Thursday? Then it's not really Black Friday. Thanksgiving time is family time. welcome to the age of corporate greed. I remember a time when stores were closed on Sundays (dang I am old!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 welcome to the age of corporate greed. I remember a time when stores were closed on Sundays (dang I am old!) Hobby Lobby's still closed on Sunday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkrownd Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 welcome to the age of corporate greed. I remember a time when stores were closed on Sundays (dang I am old!) Some of us non-"corporate" grunts enjoy collecting paychecks on those days. (often better than normal paychecks) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Another interim special at Dollar General as seen on their Facebook page (Tuesday 11/11/14): TODAY ONLY! Buy 2 Flashbacks for $64 total + free shipping. Must use promo code RACEWIN20.http://www.dollargeneral.com/product/index.jsp?productId=43753786 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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