Atari 2600 Clone

[boggis the cat]

Hi to all.

 

I got hold of a 2600 'Vader' clone a while back, and it is a bit different from others I have seen. Produced in Hong Kong, no RF shielding, 64-in-1 built in games with re-purposed switches, and very odd joysticks. PCB has "8931" on it, which I am guessing is a date stamp for 1989, 31st week. [Edit: the chip stack marked "510002D" has an "8929" date stamp, so it is a 1989 clone.]

 

Photos below.

 

 

Console:

 

Weird joystick (two supplied with console):

Edited November 17, 2017 by boggis the cat

[+save2600]

Very interesting, especially the joystick! How does it feel when playing compared to the regular cx40?

[boggis the cat]

Very interesting, especially the joystick! How does it feel when playing compared to the regular cx40?

There is no real tactile feedback. You are mashing a flexing piece of metal against a screw, so not surprising.

 

I actually thought they were clone joysticks until I looked closely. Very sneaky to mould the plastics to mimic the originals.

[AW127]

Will the Harmony work on this clone? Can you test it?

[boggis the cat]

Will the Harmony work on this clone? Can you test it?

I don’t have a Harmony cartridge, unfortunately.

 

It works with standard (PAL format) cartridges that I have tried. The switch that is normally TV Type is now a momentary action, so I am not sure that it would be fully compatible. (They could use a flip-flop to switch it each time the momentary action is made, but I don’t see one. The “MC14024BCP” is likely used to select the game from the built-in ROM: it is a shift register chip.)