NIAD Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Whew! The AtariMax test utility works great and you can also use the following rom placed on the AtariMax Ultimate SD Card or USB Cart. Super Action Controller Tester (1983) (Nuvatec).rom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Thank you. We will use them both. I have an AtariMax so I'll load this up and take it to my meeting with the engineer later this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Looks like another awesome product! Any idea when this becomes available and the price? Want one for sure! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpc Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Any updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Any updates? SOOOOOOOO grateful to Willie Culver for conducting and posting this review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Just a quick update on the coming products for the classic and Flashback Colecovision consoles! Prototype Updates * We received test artwork from two vendors and one of them really delivered the goods. It looks great and should last a lifetime. The printing is on vinyl, with a clear gloss overlaminate for protection. * We got a sample of a matrix keypad from China and it worked like a charm! So the prototype seen in Willie's video is now fully functional in every regard. You can see that same unit re-skinned with the new art in this photo set. * We are in the homestretch with putting together a video for a Kickstarter campaign, which I plan to launch on January 19. On that topic, I want to say that I took very seriously the feedback in these forums for and against the idea of using Kickstarter versus a simple pre-order list, not the least of which was the addition of 8-10% in overhead to the cost of the project. Its definitely true - most of the enthusiasm and sales for this project is going to come from the "inner circle", which include YOU if you are reading this now. However, talking to people inside and outside that circle, I learned the Kickstarter system conveys greater legitimacy to the folks with a more casual interest in gaming but are not going to buy any Colecovision hardware. Likewise, the wider circle of friends and family of Edladdin. Hopefully we will pick up some pledges for swag items (coffee cups and t-shirts) from those folks, and one or two of them may decide to make the kind of heavy hitting pledges that really send the project on its way. I'm not counting on that for success, but I want the door wide open to those people with deep resources. Kickstarter Goals The Kickstarter goal will be to raise $9,650.00, which will cover all the items that require bulk purchases/minimum runs up front: $3,300.00 - 100 controller boards: overseas fabrication, assembly, and programming at $33.00 each 1,695.00 - 60 panel labels x 4 designs, plus side art 1,440.00 - 400 membrane keypads (200 matrix, 200 non-matrix) at $3.60 each 1,400.00 - 100 large aluminum enclosures @ $14.00 each 500.00 - 25 small enclosures @ $20.00 each $8,335.00 - Bulk Items total 820.00 - Kickstarter overhead (8.5% of $9,650.00) $9,155.00 This leaves an extra $495 for the first batch of joysticks, pushbuttons, DB9 cords, and enclosure machining needed to actually build a controller, but all of these items can be purchased a few a time and can thus be covered by our regular operating budget. The project goal also does not include recapture of any of the funds I have spent ($3,702) to get to this point. We can recapture that with future sales beyond the pre-orders/pledges captured in the campaign. Pricing Here's where the pricing has landed: Output to both the classic and Flashback Colecovision consoles $ 99.00 - "Seagull CV" controller adapter (use Atari 2600, 7800, '82 Colecovision, Flashback Colecovision, and Sega Genesis controllers, with 12 key membrane keypad) $149.00 - "Super Arcade Controller" (Sanwa stick, 4 Suzo-Happ Pushbuttons, 12 key membrane keypad) $199.00 - "Super Arcade Controller PLUS" (combination of "Seagull CV" and "Super Arcade Controller", as shown in Willie Culver's video) Output to USB for computer emulation $179.00 - "Super CV USB" - (Sanwa stick, 4 Suzo-Happ Pushbuttons, 12 key membrane keypad) Obviously this one will work when emulating any console or arcade machine, but the inclusion of the keypad is for fans of the Colecovision, plus other systems with keypads on the controllers. The heart of this controller will be the Ultimarc iPac2. By the way, the photos show all of these with classic "Super Action Controller" red knob and button colors, but of course they can be any colors you want. "Your wish is our command!" Conclusion I hope you will all consider supporting this project when the Kickstarter launches in a couple more weeks! We have a track record of success delivering awesome controllers and adapters to the 7800 community, and we are poised to offer the same to fans of the Colecovision. They are expensive, but they are well built with care and love, and they really do change the level of fun that these consoles and the games deliver. Here's a snip from an email I just received: I can truly say this is the first time I’ve enjoyed playing my 7800 - shame since there are lots of good games on it!!! Thanks for your support! I'm happy to answer any questions. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 This looks great, and I hope your funding campaign will succeed. I just have one question: It just came to my attention that the fire buttons on the ColecoVision Flashback controller are reversed compared to the original Coleco stock controller (left button registers as right button, and vice-versa). How does your adapter deal with this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 This looks great, and I hope your funding campaign will succeed. I just have one question: It just came to my attention that the fire buttons on the ColecoVision Flashback controller are reversed compared to the original Coleco stock controller (left button registers as right button, and vice-versa). How does your adapter deal with this situation? Thank you for your kind wishes! -------- So I just tried the Flashback with its own controller in test mode (press left and right buttons while turning it on) and got: Left Button = Button 1 Right Button = Button 2 Then I hooked both the '82 and FB controllers to the "Super Arcade Controller Plus" prototype, with outputs from the SAC+ feeding the '82 and FB consoles. Since the '82 console is connected to RF and the FB is connected to AV, I have both consoles connected to one television at the same time. Whether using the Nuvatec diagnostic software on the '82 console or the FB's diagnostic program on that console, the result is the same from the '82 and FB controllers routed through the SAC+: Left Button = Button 1 Right Button = Button 2 On the SAC+ fire buttons: Yellow = Button 1 Red = Button 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 That sounds encouraging (and thanks for testing this) but have you tried playing an actual game that requires two buttons? Cosmic Avenger or Choplifter should be good test candidates for this kind of test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 That sounds encouraging (and thanks for testing this) but have you tried playing an actual game that requires two buttons? Cosmic Avenger or Choplifter should be good test candidates for this kind of test. You are right! How weird! For this test I had classic and FB controllers connected to the SAC+, with outputs to the classic and FB consoles. Here were my results with Choplifter: 82 Console Left Buttons and Yellow SAC+ Button = Rotate Chopper Right Buttons and Red SAC+ Button = Fire Gun FB Console Left Buttons and Yellow SAC+ Button = Fire Gun Right Buttons and Red SAC+ Button = Rotate Chopper FWIW, the Flashback console matches the play on the Atari 7800 version of Choplifter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Are you able to not have the screws on top of the controller for the joystick like uberarcade did to his controllers ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixMoonPatrol Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) Looks really good. I'll be grabbing the super arcade controller plus much later in the year for sure. I might be able to donate abit for kick starter but money's tight right now so it won't be too much,sorry. Good luck with the campaign and many thanks for getting this off the ground. Those peripherals look well made. Edited January 8, 2016 by PhoenixMoonPatrol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Are you able to not have the screws on top of the controller for the joystick like uberarcade did to his controllers ? That would be ideal. The aluminum in the enclosures is not thick enough to full recess the screws. The exposed screws has been a compromise to getting a sturdy but reasonably priced enclosure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Looks really good. I'll be grabbing the super arcade controller plus much later in the year for sure. I might be able to donate abit for kick starter but money's tight right now so it won't be too much,sorry. Good luck with the campaign and many thanks for getting this off the ground. Those peripherals look well made. Thanks very much. Your support is very much appreciated at whatever level makes sense. As Phil the No Swear Gamer always says, "First things first". :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Very much looking forward to the Kickstarter which I will definitely be supporting. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions: 1. You mentioned before that the joystick is a Ball-top Sanwa joystick with octagonal restrictor plate. I have no idea how this feels but have to ask if this is a compromise you've selected over a joystick with both 4-way and 8-way gates selectable by the user? 2. There are a lot of CV games with keypad overlays. I can see how difficult it would be to accommodate the use of original overlays with your membrane keypad. I'm curious to know if you have considered the use of keypad overlays and then dismissed the idea. There have been a few people on AA who have produced near perfect reproduction overlays who I'm sure could produce custom overlays for your arcade controller if a mechanism was provided to fix them in place - is this something you would consider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I just received this the other day and put my own Atari vinyl sticker on it . Hopefully one day soon Space Dungeon can be made for the 7800 ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Very much looking forward to the Kickstarter which I will definitely be supporting. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions: 1. You mentioned before that the joystick is a Ball-top Sanwa joystick with octagonal restrictor plate. I have no idea how this feels but have to ask if this is a compromise you've selected over a joystick with both 4-way and 8-way gates selectable by the user? 2. There are a lot of CV games with keypad overlays. I can see how difficult it would be to accommodate the use of original overlays with your membrane keypad. I'm curious to know if you have considered the use of keypad overlays and then dismissed the idea. There have been a few people on AA who have produced near perfect reproduction overlays who I'm sure could produce custom overlays for your arcade controller if a mechanism was provided to fix them in place - is this something you would consider? Thank you very much for these questions and your promise of support! 1. Yes, the octagonal plate is a compromise due to the fact these aluminum cases are screwed shut. Its only a few minutes to open one up, but its nothing like the convenience of our Supreme 78, where the control panel is hinged to allow immediate access to a hand-adjustable 4/8 restrictor plate (see photo). We thought about using that case and panel, but that hinged panel was too narrow to accommodate the Colecovision keypad, plus the steel is punched so the adhesion would not be as good. If anyone DID want to open one up and change it as needed, you could definitely return the octagonal restrictor plate back to a simple four corner insert, which can then be rotated between 4 and 8 way as desired within the Sanwa baseplate. The second photo shows the two inserts side-by-side. I have to pay extra for the octagon and install it into the sticks, so usually the stock four-corner insert goes in the trash. If anyone wanted to have both I'd be happy to send both. In my opinion, the octagonal plate really IS a nice compromise. With our first few "Super 78" and "SuperTwin 78" controllers (which use the same enclosure) we simply used joysticks set to the 8-way position, but it was so awful to try and play a maze game I went looking for another answer. The octagon gives a distinct "landing spot" in all the directions where you want to be, so there is none of the mushy sliding that happens when you are working against the flat side of a restrictor plate. 2. We definitely talked at length about the question of keypad overlays! I was able to come up with three solutions: A. Create a plastic part to attach to the front of the enclosure that would allow overlays to be inserted from the top or side, much like the vintage and Flashback Coleco controllers. The downside to this is that injection molding anything is astronomically expensive. The molds would cost as much as the entire rest of the project, which made this a non-starter. This would be a pennies-per-unit solution if we were going to make 10,000 units rather than hoping to sell 100. Perhaps there is a 3D printed solution that would not be so expensive? B. Mount a simple plastic or metal spring clip of some kind to the case. Very easy if we can find an off-the-shelf solution, but a little tacky. Also have to be just the right thing to keep the clip from damaging the overlays. Its also possible the mechanical clip could be replaced with a steel plate and magnet arrangement. C. Replace the membrane keypad with a touchscreen video keypad with every overlay stored internally, to be called up from a menu. That would be the bomb and the ultimate solution (no more lost overlays!) but again, the expense of the touchscreens and their programming is the hurdle. So none of these ideas made it past the idea phase, but I am wide open to implementing any solution that does not blow the cost out of the water. These controllers are already way at the expensive end of the spectrum, and our tiny production numbers weigh us down with every purchase, especially for the custom items. Another example of this problem of our tiny volumes... The main Seagull CV control board that will drive all of the arcade hardware and translate to the two consoles is fully equipped and capable to also operate a single-axis thumbwheel. So the Super Arcade Controller could truly duplicate the classic Super Action Controller in EVERY capacity, playing even Super Action Baseball, Football, and Soccer. But we could not find an optical encoding wheel assembly that would not add at least $50 to the cost of each unit, so after folks in these forums said no one cared about those three games we just left it off. But the board and the logic is there and ready, and it all works. Anyhow, thanks again! Let me know if you have any additional questions! Best rgds, Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 If someone wanted an overlay, possibly it could be made a bit wider than the keypad and affix a magnetic strip on each side that would hold it down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Thank you for the excellent and comprehensive reply to my questions. I certainly see the dilemma's you have been struggling with. 1. I certainly like the option of having both restrictor plates so that would be a good option to offer people, particularly if both are available at no extra cost anyway. With regard to changing the restrictor plate, would it be possible to hinge the bottom, using something like a piano hinge, and then only have two screws holding the bottom closed? This would allow much quicker changes of the restrictor plate if someone wanted to use the 4/8-way option. 2. Like the spinner, I would classify the overlays as a "nice to have" but one much higher on the wishlist than the spinner. Would a magnetic option work, i.e. is the area around the pushbuttons a magnetic material? Regardless, this would probably best be handled as an after-market development should demand justify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 A couple of years ago I had a friend make an arcade joystick and you could change from 4 way to 8 way on the bottom without opening anything . I can't remember exactly how but you would slide the knob . I think the bottom was cut out similiar to a half moon shape where you would switch it . I should try to get in contact with him about it . It worked great . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Our Kickstarter campaign will go live tomorrow (Jan 20) at 10:00 am EST! Thank you for the excellent and comprehensive reply to my questions. I certainly see the dilemma's you have been struggling with. 1. I certainly like the option of having both restrictor plates so that would be a good option to offer people, particularly if both are available at no extra cost anyway. With regard to changing the restrictor plate, would it be possible to hinge the bottom, using something like a piano hinge, and then only have two screws holding the bottom closed? This would allow much quicker changes of the restrictor plate if someone wanted to use the 4/8-way option. 2. Like the spinner, I would classify the overlays as a "nice to have" but one much higher on the wishlist than the spinner. Would a magnetic option work, i.e. is the area around the pushbuttons a magnetic material? Regardless, this would probably best be handled as an after-market development should demand justify it. 1. It would be feasible to make a hinging case by adding a piano hinge, but its always a balancing act of trying to keep the costs low enough so the price doesn't go beyond what anyone would reasonably pay. The hinge adds the cost of a hinge, a latch on the front, and the additional machining to add it all to the stock enclosure. And the octagonal restrictor really IS a nice compromise! 2. That's probably the most reasonable solution - a little frame that attaches to the front via magnets. The case is aluminum, so it would require a piece be attached to the case and then the top part that would cover the buttons and the overlay. Magnets with countersunk mounting holes are available "off the shelf", but the steel plate would have to be custom fabricated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Following up on my announced plan to launch the Kickstarter today (Jan 19)... With the holiday it took a bit longer than expected to clear Kickstarter's internal review/approval process. But we are all clear to launch now and will do so tomorrow (Jan 20) at 10:00 am EST! I'll be back with a link as soon as we go live. Thanks everyone, for all the feedback and suggestions! Its really been helpful in bringing us to this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenG76 Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I put my pledge in for the Super Arcade Controller Plus. It looks awesome. Can't wait to try it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAZ Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Can I get an update on this device? Did you sell this to some people? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Can I get an update on this device? Did you sell this to some people? Thanks! They just started receiving all the parts and then the fun job of assembling them begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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