Atari 7800 - the choice of the experts...

[Mister-VCS]

I followed Donn Nauert's advice and I still love my 7800 in 2014! Had a great Centipede 2-player-competition-session with my

8-year-old-nephew this morning.

 

My collection so far: Asterodis, Centipede, Donkey Kong Jr,, Desert Falcon, Galaga, Pole Position II and Xevious.

 

Atari 7800 everywhere

[Lynxpro]

There's a 7800 version of Centipede that's been hacked to natively support Trak-Ball mode. You can have AtariAge build you a cartridge of it. Then, all you have to do is buy a CX-22 or CX-80 and it'll be a similar experience to the arcade. 2 Player Trak-Ball mode!

 

Congrats!

[Mister-VCS]

I used my CX-80 and my nephew the Atari-joypad.

 

[Lynxpro]

I used my CX-80 and my nephew the Atari-joypad.

 

Fotos-1278.jpg

 

Cool, but it doesn't do native Trak-Ball. It's joystick mode emulating the Trak-Ball in the 7800 version, unlike the 5200 version. That's why a hack has been done to it so 7800 owners could also benefit from it.

[Mister-VCS]

 

Cool, but it doesn't do native Trak-Ball. It's joystick mode emulating the Trak-Ball in the 7800 version, unlike the 5200 version. That's why a hack has been done to it so 7800 owners could also benefit from it.

 

Yes- I know this fact...

[Gorfy]

2-player Centipede is killer!

 

My trak-ball players are quite sluggish. Perhaps I never tried them on the hacked versions for trak-ball use --- something else to look into.......

[godzillajoe]

2-player Centipede is killer!

 

My trak-ball players are quite sluggish. Perhaps I never tried them on the hacked versions for trak-ball use --- something else to look into.......

 

That's because no released Atari game uses the trakball in trakball mode (where the faster you spin the ball the faster your guy moves) They work in joystick mode. There's a switch on the TB to switch modes. The hacks make them work in TB mode. Totally awesome if you have a multicart of some kind and can get them to work on the real hardware.

Edited October 21, 2014 by godzillajoe

[78001987]

 

That's because no released Atari game uses the trakball in trakball mode (where the faster you spin the ball the faster your guy moves) They work in joystick mode. There's a switch on the TB to switch modes. The hacks make them work in TB mode. Totally awesome if you have a multicart of some kind and can get them to work on the real hardware.

or you can order one from the Atariage store custom cart option!

[VectorGamer]

My collection so far: Asterodis, Centipede, Donkey Kong Jr,, Desert Falcon, Galaga, Pole Position II and Xevious.

 

Atari 7800 everywhere

 

Get some of Bob's games from the AA store like Pac-Man Collection, Scramble and Jr. Pac-Man - they are all great games.

[godzillajoe]

or you can order one from the Atariage store custom cart option!

 

Yes! ^^ THIS ^^ Support this site!

[Lynxpro]

 

That's because no released Atari game uses the trakball in trakball mode (where the faster you spin the ball the faster your guy moves) They work in joystick mode. There's a switch on the TB to switch modes. The hacks make them work in TB mode. Totally awesome if you have a multicart of some kind and can get them to work on the real hardware.

 

In the case of 7800 Centipede, GCC did include native Trak-Ball support for a 7800 Trak-Ball that they modded from Dan Kramer's CX-22 design. But that controller was never released so consequently, 7800 Centipede doesn't natively support the CX-22 or CX-80. The modded Centipede ROM that can be found on this site does add such support back to the game.

 

Thanks to Dan Kramer's relentlessness back at Atari Inc, there are plenty of 5200 games that do natively support his CX-53 Trak-Ball controller.

 

Most of the 2600 games that were ports of arcade titles that did use a Trak-Ball were released before the CX-22 shipped and Atari didn't go back and re-release them with such support. Those would be the likes of Missile Command, Centipede, and Crystal Castles. AtariAge does sell modded versions of Missile Command for the 2600 - called Missile Command-TB - that either supports the CX-22 or the CX-80. Alas, the 7800 never had ports of Missile Command or Crystal Castles. [that we know of!].