Atari Flashback Portable!

[BillLoguidice]

I heard a few of those games were dumped and work on emulators. They all suck tho, which is probably why you don't see dumps everywhere. No interest in them. I know working in a emulator don't mean it'll work on a real console, but I thought I'd throw that out there anyway.

 

There are actually a few decent games in there, but yes, I get your overall point. In any case, I don't believe they add much value to the appeal of the products.

[Great Hierophant]

Is it just my imagination or is the pitch of the sound lower than the real 2600 on the AFP? I listened to the games as demonstrated in Willie's videos and believe I could hear many differences in the sound that cannot be explained by the crappy speaker.

 

Also, it appears that the the video output is being connected to the display via composite, not any kind of digital or higher quality input. Is that the case?

[Flojomojo]

Is it just my imagination or is the pitch of the sound lower than the real 2600 on the AFP? I listened to the games as demonstrated in Willie's videos and believe I could hear many differences in the sound that cannot be explained by the crappy speaker.

 

Also, it appears that the the video output is being connected to the display via composite, not any kind of digital or higher quality input. Is that the case?

 

It's a teeny little speaker on the portable. I don't think it's lower pitched.

 

Yes AV out is analog composite, and you need to bring your own mini-plug to RCA cable. It's much like the Genesis portables.

[BillLoguidice]

 

It's a teeny little speaker on the portable. I don't think it's lower pitched.

 

Yes AV out is analog composite, and you need to bring your own mini-plug to RCA cable. It's much like the Genesis portables.

 

It uses this cable: http://atgames.us/AV-Cable-for-Ultimate-Portable-Game-Player-GPC100.htm

[doctorclu]

My review was published on the Atgames site!!

 

We need more reviews on there. Here was mine...

 

"Just an amazing little unit

11/16/2016

A bit thicker and longer than your standard cell phone this is the portable Atari 2600 that I was waiting for. The screen is nice. The D pad is a good though a tad touchy. You quickly get used to the D-Pad as you try out all the built in games. And when you have had fun with that, you can load other games (rom images) that you have on the SD card.

As a retro-nut I have all the original Atari systems. And when something retro comes out I think it is cool but I may or may not get it. But a Atari 2600 that fits easily in your pocket? I ordered this as quick as I could.

Now if Atgames could only use the same mold, same screen, SD card support, and make an Atari LYNX Flashback. Now THAT would make many more Atari fans very happy. Especially if it had TV out support.

In the meantime, thanks Atgames for this amazing product. :D"

[Flojomojo]

I'll bet this one would work, too. 90% cheaper and in stock, ready to go. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=665

[BillLoguidice]

I'll bet this one would work, too. 90% cheaper and in stock, ready to go. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=665

 

It would be good to know what does and doesn't work. I have had a great deal of trouble finding compatible cables, so I have to warn potential buyers be cautious when getting one of these. I don't know why some of the ones I've tried didn't work.

[BillLoguidice]

 

Now if Atgames could only use the same mold, same screen, SD card support, and make an Atari LYNX Flashback. Now THAT would make many more Atari fans very happy. Especially if it had TV out support.

 

We have discussed the possibilities of a mini Lynx before (same case, just a bit smaller), but there are a few key issues with that. The first is that no one outside of the Atari faithful really knows what Lynx is (or was), and the second is that Atari has only a few titles left in their IP library related to the Lynx. As such, it would be very difficult to get a sufficient number of games onboard, which is one of the keys with a product like this.

 

So yeah, the odds of it ever happening from AtGames are quite small I'm afraid.

[doctorclu]

 

 

It would be good to know what does and doesn't work. I have had a great deal of trouble finding compatible cables, so I have to warn potential buyers be cautious when getting one of these. I don't know why some of the ones I've tried didn't work.

 

I got one to work yesterday but with some static. The audio cables are not the same quality as what you need for a video line. That is why I went ahead and ordered the $7.99 cable from Atgames.

 

 

We have discussed the possibilities of a mini Lynx before (same case, just a bit smaller), but there are a few key issues with that. The first is that no one outside of the Atari faithful really knows what Lynx is (or was), and the second is that Atari has only a few titles left in their IP library related to the Lynx. As such, it would be very difficult to get a sufficient number of games onboard, which is one of the keys with a product like this.

 

So yeah, the odds of it ever happening from AtGames are quite small I'm afraid.

 

So how about this: The Atari Anniversary Flashback Portable.

 

Since it is all emulation, throw in multiple emulators for 2600, 7800*, XEGS, and Lynx. Would throw in Jaguar too if you can make the small hardware that is powerful enough to handle that emulation. Then a user can select Atari games throughout time and various systems, or load rom images that they own through SD support.

 

 

*Really interesting to me that we haven't seen any 7800 coverage since the Flashback 1.

Edited November 18, 2016 by doctorclu

[thevnaguy]

I'll bet this one would work, too. 90% cheaper and in stock, ready to go. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=665

I have one of those and it does work. Just connect the white lead to the audio input and the red lead to the video input.

 

 

The sound is improved using this cable, but the menu select screen looks pretty bleh.

[BillLoguidice]

So how about this: The Atari Anniversary Flashback Portable.

 

Since it is all emulation, throw in multiple emulators for 2600, 7800*, XEGS, and Lynx. Would throw in Jaguar too if you can make the small hardware that is powerful enough to handle that emulation. Then a user can select Atari games throughout time and various systems, or load rom images that they own through SD support.

 

 

*Really interesting to me that we haven't seen any 7800 coverage since the Flashback 1.

 

Your wish may be granted for some of that with the upcoming volumes in the Flashback Classics software series. Perhaps for the 2018 hardware products (2017 product pipeline is already set) we can explore leveraging some of the other Atari platforms. Also, it's not that easy to perfect so many different emulators in one product, particularly if you don't "borrow" them without asking.

 

Emulating Jaguar is also quite tough, period, plus Atari only has the rights to a couple of titles (although good ones). Never say never, but that one would be much further down the line if it was ever attempted.

[thevnaguy]

What really would be cool in this little flashback portable is a paddle control like a dial or something to play the onboard paddle games (and not to mention kaboom in the SD card )

[Flojomojo]

What really would be cool in this little flashback portable is a paddle control like a dial or something to play the onboard paddle games (and not to mention kaboom in the SD card )

 

Yes, please. And Atari should recreate Tempest 2000 while at it. Doesn't have to be Jaguar emulation, just close enough to be fun. They can hire Jeff Minter back instead of suing him this time.

[onmode-ky]

It would be good to know what does and doesn't work. I have had a great deal of trouble finding compatible cables, so I have to warn potential buyers be cautious when getting one of these. I don't know why some of the ones I've tried didn't work.

The problem with 3.5mm-to-composite-video cables is that there is no standard with regard to which ring of the 3.5mm plug carries which part of the signal. I discussed the issue somewhat in this post, in the paragraph that's numbered 2. There's a ring for each RCA plug and a ring for ground, and if the ordering of the rings is such that the ground ring is in the wrong place relative to what you need, the cable isn't going to carry your signal properly.

 

Speaking of plugs, I just remembered a question I had about AtGames' Genesis portable: does its headphone port output in stereo? Anyone know? The system itself only has one speaker, and the console version only does mono, so stereo from the portable would be a boon. Obviously, the number of sound channels doesn't matter for the Atari portable.

 

onmode-ky

[Andromeda Stardust]

Looks like the cable thevnaguy posted is a standard stereo audio cable. If indeed the right channel carries video, you would probably need a 1/8" mono to 1/8" stereo adapter, otherwise you'd get composite video in the right headphone, which would sound terrible and potentially damage your hearing. You would also need some method to control volume output since A/V connections are typically too loud for headphone use (ie max volume) in some cases, or too high impedance on the output for low impedance headphones.

 

AFAIK, most four prong third party A/V cables carry left channel on the tip, right channel on the first ring, ground on the second ring, and composite video out on the outer sleeve (bottom). Reason for this is standard stereo jacks have the ground prong higher up on the sleeve, or second ring from the bottom. An alternate wiring also exists that places ground at the bottom sleeve. I think Apple used to do this with old generation iPods. They also used a "smart" chip embedded in the cable to prevent third parties from making cables without paying a license fee. With either cable standard, a standard headphone or 1/8" stereo plug would effectively shunt the composite connection. The device would detect that the composite signal was grounded and disable video output.

 

Back to topic, I ultimately passed on the portable in favor of the Flashback 7. I picked up a Flashback 7 at Target today since it's rumored to be the last system to feature analog A/V and the best selection to date. I also didn't want to miss out on the Space Invaders remake. Why does the portable have fewer games? My understanding is if AtGames has paid the licenses anyway, they should have included all 100 games on the portable instead of just 60.

[Atariboy]

 

Yes, please. And Atari should recreate Tempest 2000 while at it. Doesn't have to be Jaguar emulation, just close enough to be fun. They can hire Jeff Minter back instead of suing him this time.

 

It's all they really need to do anyways where the Jaguar is concerned.

 

Pick out the best games on the already small list of Jaguar games and you're not left with a very long list. Next strike the 3rd party games or the licensed games that Atari releases themselves (That in several instances have been regularly rereleased in superior form like Doom), and what you'd be left with is a very small list.

 

Not left with much else besides Tempest 2000 that makes sense to rerelease. Atari would be wise to invest in recreating/porting this and getting it in a shape where the best version of the Jaguar's crowning achievement can easily be rereleased on modern platforms.

 

Tack on the arcade original, Tempest 3000, and rebrand TxK as Tempest 4000 and allow him to port it to consoles like he planned, and it would be a heck of a compilation.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Atariboy

[doctorclu]

Back to topic, I ultimately passed on the portable in favor of the Flashback 7. I picked up a Flashback 7 at Target today since it's rumored to be the last system to feature analog A/V and the best selection to date. I also didn't want to miss out on the Space Invaders remake. Why does the portable have fewer games? My understanding is if AtGames has paid the licenses anyway, they should have included all 100 games on the portable instead of just 60.

 

101 games, or SD card support. I'll take the SD card support.

 

Sure it might have 60 (actually cool) games (which also include arcade Frogger and Space Invaders) but then you can plug in the SD card and add several hundred more games.

 

Has the AV out option. All it doesn't have is the joystick port for actual sticks, which right now I'm wondering how hard it would be to wire up a port to the four position D pad and and the fire button. Hmmm. (Did it on the Dreamcast controllers all the time.)

 

And all that would leave at that point is no player two joystick port to play with your friends. And so far that might be the only thing at that point the Flashback 7 would have over the Flashback Portable.

Edited November 19, 2016 by doctorclu

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

101 games, or SD card support. I'll take the SD card support.

 

Sure it might have 60 (actually cool) games (which also include arcade Frogger and Space Invaders) but then you can plug in the SD card and add several hundred more games.

 

Has the AV out option. All it doesn't have is the joystick port for actual sticks, which right now I'm wondering how hard it would be to wire up a port to the four position D pad and and the fire button. Hmmm. (Did it on the Dreamcast controllers all the time.)

 

And all that would leave at that point is no player two joystick port to play with your friends. And so far that might be the only thing at that point the Flashback 7 would have over the Flashback Portable.

Also being disappointed that all my favorite games (Galaxian, Berserk, come on) don't work, including homebrews...

[Flojomojo]

I was surprised to see as many paddle games as there are on the Atari Flashback portable --from top of head there's Circus Atari, Pong sports, Super Breakout, Demons to Diamonds, Night Driver ...none of which control super well with spas in my opinion but they're fun to have.

 

Adding the 2-player only stuff like Combat doesn't make sense for a thing with just one controller, but they can be added with SD card.

 

There was a variant of the blue Sega handheld with a wireless second controller. http://segaretro.org/Arcade_Ultimate

 

I haven't used the Atari with headphones but I assume they duplicate mono sound in both ears. The Sega portable has stereo sound in headphones but the music is vomitous.

[thevnaguy]

Well it looks like someone has destroyed the compatibility list that FloMojo created cant figure out why someone would do that.

[Moo]

Jaguar wouldn't need nearly as many games as games are deeper and more involved than 2600 or other 8-bit systems. I'd say if they could scrap together 20 Jaguar games that would be good enough. Tho I don't know if Atari would actually have the rights to even 20 Jaguar games. They need to start adding SD card support to their home consoles too.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Moo

[Flojomojo]

Well it looks like someone has destroyed the compatibility list that FloMojo created cant figure out why someone would do that.

 

Since we can't have nice things, the list has been restored from backup, and locked down to prevent accidental errors. Thevnaguy is happy to made edits for you, he's been a MACHINE about testing and reporting back!

[doctorclu]

 

Since we can't have nice things, the list has been restored from backup, and locked down to prevent accidental errors. Thevnaguy is happy to made edits for you, he's been a MACHINE about testing and reporting back!

 

Go Thevnaguy!

 

Currently adding what I was able to test last night. Updated the INTV roms and working on the Atari roms. Not much of a sports game buff so I'll have to get back to those.

[Hyperboy]

Well it looks like someone has destroyed the compatibility list that FloMojo created cant figure out why someone would do that.

What the f@ck is wrong with people??

 

Sent from my non beer holding hand.

[Keatah]

Maybe it was an accident?