CollectorVision Phoenix Game Console

[Toaddio]

Thanks again for this work. I did the early adopter and hope the Kickstarter comes through. This whole thing is a really exciting advancement for the community so I hope those of us that are emotionally attached don’t deter you from your efforts.

[VintageGamer74]

This looks really cool. Never had a Colecovision but this may be something to consider. Love 8 and 16 bit systems and games. Good luck with this! ?

[Keatah]

This looks really cool. Never had a Colecovision but this may be something to consider. Love 8 and 16 bit systems and games. Good luck with this!

 

Colecovision was THE SHIT among my small circle of videogame buddies back in the day. Once we were old enough to understand tech specs and how consoles worked in general, it became one of the most anticipated systems of anything to date.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Keatah

[SegaSnatcher]

I just wanted to apologize to the Collectorvision team if my posts have offended you and I never meant drama to come out of it. I just truly felt mentioning the things I thought was lacking in the system could have been of some help to possibly make the system more appealing. Unfortunately I allowed a specific member here to get to me to the point that caused an ongoing bickering match. I realize now that it was a waste of time and just caused a distraction. I simply just wanted to say my peace without someone attacking me, that is all. And no, I'm not saying this because someone told me to. I'm just tired of people assuming I'm just a troll/hater. That is definitely the opposite of who I am and what my intentions were.

Again, I wish you luck and hope you find success with this project.

- Matt

[rodge2001]

So the only output is HDMI? Is there no way to connect it to a CRT TV? I wish there was a simple analog output as well. RF is authentic but prone to interference while composite may require too much modification. Can HDMI be converted to analog with a simple adapter?

[digress]

Yes. one of these would do it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XS22FD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

So the only output is HDMI? Is there no way to connect it to a CRT TV? I wish there was a simple analog output as well. RF is authentic but prone to interference while composite may require too much modification. Can HDMI be converted to analog with a simple adapter?

[Toaddio]

CollectorVision Phoenix Kickstarter is now live!

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1408938247/collectorvision-phoenix-an-fpga-colecovision-conso/description

 

Bump.

[TPR]

 

Bump.

 

Also see this thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/283794-collectorvision-phoenix-kickstarter-is-now-live/

[Pixelboy]

Question for the CollectorVision team (or to TPR if he is able to test it): How are the various buttons of the Super-NES controller mapped on the Phoenix? I'm talking about the regular Super-NES controller, not the NTT (buttons A, B, X, Y, SELECT, START, L and R).

[retroillucid]

Question for the CollectorVision team (or to TPR if he is able to test it): How are the various buttons of the Super-NES controller mapped on the Phoenix? I'm talking about the regular Super-NES controller, not the NTT (buttons A, B, X, Y, SELECT, START, L and R).

 

The number keys can be accessed through button combinations using the L and R trigger buttons (i.e. L + Y = 1)

[Pixelboy]

The number keys can be accessed through button combinations using the L and R trigger buttons (i.e. L + Y = 1)

Um, not really what I asked... Let me rephrase my question: Are the A/B/X/Y buttons mapped to the four Super Action Controller buttons, and is START mapped to (*) and SELECT mapped to (#)?

[Bmack36]

Um, not really what I asked... Let me rephrase my question: Are the A/B/X/Y buttons mapped to the four Super Action Controller buttons, and is START mapped to (*) and SELECT mapped to (#)?

No L or R triggers pressed:

B-> L fire

A-> R fire

Y-> SAC 3 button

X-> SAC 4 button

Start-> not mapped yet but could be

Select-> not mapped yet but could be

 

L Trigger held down

Y-> 1

X-> 2

B-> 3

A-> 4

Select-> 5

Start-> 6

 

R Trigger held down

Y-> 7

X-> 8

B-> 9

A-> 0

Select-> *

Start-> #

[Pixelboy]

Okay, thanks for the info.

[Zonie]

OK, now I've taken a closer look. I was never the CV fanboy, but this will play 2600 Roms natively from the SD, has a PS2 keyboard port presumably for the numeric keys, Built in Home brews, SGM games natively, and a SNES control port so it will work with my 2 button CX40 with Nintendo internals...

Yeah, maybe this is the one to get.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Zonie

[retroillucid]

The Intro of Sydney Hunter & The Caverns of Death

[Gandor]

WOW super nice intro

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[128Kgames]

WOW super nice intro

 

I second that.

[xybot67]

Just curious, will the Phoenix also fix the flicker in Atari 2600 games?

[Zonie]

Just curious, will the Phoenix also fix the flicker in Atari 2600 games?

Oh wouldn't that be nice.

[Tursi]

While I can't speak for Phoenix directly, I would comment that from a technical aspect, it's pretty unlikely to fix the flicker in 2600 games.

 

The flicker in 9918A games is normally caused by a limitation in the video chip - it can only draw four sprites of 32 on a single line. Fifth sprite or higher disappears. Software can rotate the sprite indexes to produce a software flicker, or do nothing and let things briefly vanish. Either way the F18A stops the flicker by drawing all 32 sprites.

 

The 2600 has no problem drawing all of its "sprite" objects on a single scanline (that being two players, two missiles, and a ball). The problem here is that the count of objects is too small for most games, so the games "multiplex" the objects - that is, they draw the same object in different places at different times (often with different patterns - it's very flexible). Sometimes it's just too hard to get everything in place on a single frame, so objects are multiplexed across multiple frames. For instance, on even frames the player sprites might be the two human players, and on odd frames the player sprites might be two enemies. This will cause flicker. Since the Phoenix is hardware, it's going to be focused on the single scanline it's currently drawing. But to remove this flicker, it would need to be able to process two entire frames and somehow understand that the players bouncing around the screen are supposed to represent different characters, and completely regenerate the image. And flicker across 3 frames is not uncommon on the 2600, either. I'd be shocked if someone pulled it off convincingly and more shocked if it was done without inducing latency.

 

(I guess I should note you COULD add a phosphor effect and fade the pixels over time - this would reduce flicker by reducing apparent brightness. But it still requires a full frame buffer.)

Edited November 18, 2018 by Tursi

[Zonie]

Party Pooper.

[xybot67]

While I can't speak for Phoenix directly, I would comment that from a technical aspect, it's pretty unlikely to fix the flicker in 2600 games.

 

The flicker in 9918A games is normally caused by a limitation in the video chip - it can only draw four sprites of 32 on a single line. Fifth sprite or higher disappears. Software can rotate the sprite indexes to produce a software flicker, or do nothing and let things briefly vanish. Either way the F18A stops the flicker by drawing all 32 sprites.

 

The 2600 has no problem drawing all of its "sprite" objects on a single scanline (that being two players, two missiles, and a ball). The problem here is that the count of objects is too small for most games, so the games "multiplex" the objects - that is, they draw the same object in different places at different times (often with different patterns - it's very flexible). Sometimes it's just too hard to get everything in place on a single frame, so objects are multiplexed across multiple frames. For instance, on even frames the player sprites might be the two human players, and on odd frames the player sprites might be two enemies. This will cause flicker. Since the Phoenix is hardware, it's going to be focused on the single scanline it's currently drawing. But to remove this flicker, it would need to be able to process two entire frames and somehow understand that the players bouncing around the screen are supposed to represent different characters, and completely regenerate the image. And flicker across 3 frames is not uncommon on the 2600, either. I'd be shocked if someone pulled it off convincingly and more shocked if it was done without inducing latency.

 

(I guess I should note you COULD add a phosphor effect and fade the pixels over time - this would reduce flicker by reducing apparent brightness. But it still requires a full frame buffer.)

Thanks for the explanation, but it was fun to dream, lol

[ColecoJoe]

I never received an answer to this question when the kickstarter was happening so I will ask again. Will there be any warranty or support for this product?

[retroillucid]

I never received an answer to this question when the kickstarter was happening so I will ask again. Will there be any warranty or support for this product?

We're going to give a limited warranty wich will warrants the original consumer purchaser that the CollectorVision Phoenix shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase (when the unit is received)

 

As for support,

After the 90 days warranty, if something happens to your console, we are going to repair or replace your console and we'll provide you an estimate cost of repair

 

*All these informations (and more) are going to be included in the Phoenix Instruction Manual

 

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by retroillucid

[Master Phruby]

I just made the commitment for a Phoenix machine. I have faith in Collectorvision that this won't turn into a 7800XM or Opcode DK situation.