Jump to content
IGNORED

Paddle Games on 5200?


Rick Dangerous

Recommended Posts

So I noticed there is a Kaboom port for the 5200, and I saw Castle Crisis in the AA store. I bought Castle Crisis for the A8 because I want to use the paddle controllers. Both of these games strike me as paddle games, but it appears they are both controlled with the joystick.

 

So long story short, do these games even have the ability to do paddle, and has anyone ever made an adaptor?

 

What other 5200 games might be good with Paddle control? Pole Position comes to mind..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I noticed there is a Kaboom port for the 5200, and I saw Castle Crisis in the AA store. I bought Castle Crisis for the A8 because I want to use the paddle controllers. Both of these games strike me as paddle games, but it appears they are both controlled with the joystick.

 

So long story short, do these games even have the ability to do paddle, and has anyone ever made an adaptor?

 

What other 5200 games might be good with Paddle control? Pole Position comes to mind..

Regarding Kaboom, at least: As far as electronics are concerned, the 5200 analog joystick is no different than a paddle controller. When you move the joystick left and right, the resistance value through a potentiometer is changed, exactly as happens with a paddle controller.

 

I'm a big fan of 2600 Kaboom. But, I don't like playing it with the joystick on the 5200. One of these days, I'll build a paddle controller or mod a regular controller to accept an external potentiometer input that overrides the internal one. I figure a 1/8" phono jack setup should work for that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone have a picture of a paddle modded 5200 controller?

 

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/atariparty/2015/photos/mm/9.jpg

 

Dan Kramer's 5200 Paddle built in Atari Inc's Consumer Engineering Lab by Gary Rubio out of one of the original production 5200 Joysticks circa 1982. You'll notice the * & # buttons say "Atari" instead. It was one of the goodies he brought to the 2015 Davis Atari Party.

 

It's even older than the one Curt has:

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/5200paddle.html

 

For the life of me, I don't understand why Best Electronics doesn't offer a Paddle Mod to go along with their Gold Kit refurb services. They could throw in their [2600] Super Paddle POT into the mix as well, but then again, a lot of the things Best Electronics does doesn't make sense to me or others.

Edited by Lynxpro
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like the 5200 was in strong need of a real paddle controller. I wonder why they never got around to it.

 

The Industry Crash prevented plenty of 5200 controllers from being finished and released since Warner forced Atari to abandon the 5200 and move onto GCC's 7800 project. And thus the 5200 Kids Controller and the 5200 Asteroids Controller were never released, no Paddle Controllers were released, and management cancelled Dan Kramer's plans to build a 5200 Steering Wheel Controller and a Yoke Controller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...