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Flashback X found (in the wild) today!


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14 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

It definitely matters.  Why put an SD card slot on one version and not the next?  I think it would sell way more if they did.  I know I won't be buying one without it.  As for ATGames it seems the communication is getting worse.  I'm still disappointed they couldn't get new paddles to work for the FB9!

I believe you very much misunderstood my post. :)

 

What I was saying was that while it doesn't matter as much now that AtGames sadly removed the SD slot, I still wondered if the Stella build was upgraded to a more recent version here for the FBX.

 

Like many, a major appeal of a newer build of Stella would've been the ability to load up things like Space Rocks here. But since you obviously can't do that thanks to the unfortunate removal of the SD slot (At least out of the box; There's a tiny glimmer of hope of a workaround), an upgraded built of Stella being loaded here isn't quite as important now.

 

It would still be nice to see though. Even if we couldn't fully take advantage of the newest versions of Stella, a lot of subtle improvements have been added to it.

Edited by Atariboy
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9 hours ago, original_gamer said:

This is a quick video of the new Legends FB. Great game selection!

Legends_Flashback.MPG

Thanks for the video. I see the menu theme and layout remains unchanged from last year's model. Neat that they kept the SD card slot for the Legends console. Is the FBX menu layout any different from the previous year?

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13 hours ago, Atariboy said:

I believe you very much misunderstood my post. :)

 

What I was saying was that while it doesn't matter as much now that AtGames sadly removed the SD slot, I still wondered if the Stella build was upgraded to a more recent version here for the FBX.

 

Like many, a major appeal of a newer build of Stella would've been the ability to load up things like Space Rocks here. But since you obviously can't do that thanks to the unfortunate removal of the SD slot (At least out of the box; There's a tiny glimmer of hope of a workaround), an upgraded built of Stella being loaded here isn't quite as important now.

 

It would still be nice to see though. Even if we couldn't fully take advantage of the newest versions of Stella, a lot of subtle improvements have been added to it.

Heard of Retron 77?  

 

Retron 77: With upgraded community SD card image firmware

 

1)  Runs Stella 6 so you can play Space Rocks and recent home brews

2)  Has SD card so you can have unlimited games, plays all home brews

3)  Has Stella 6 interface so it looks like your on a PC

4)  Works with stock CX-30 paddles

5)  Has cartridge slot so it play many original cartridges

6)  Has a first rate joystick w/10ft cord

 

No brainer

 

 

 

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Of course, but this is the Flashback X thread. :)

 

Thanks though, since you had no way of knowing that I was aware of it and the benefits the Stella community has brought to it by getting the Stella build inside of it upgraded to current specifications. 

 

I don't own one as of yet (Buying the Flashback 9 back in 2018 since it was cheaper), but if I buy one of these this year, it will be the Retron '77. I do like the external appearance of the Flashback X, but otherwise it so far appears to be a step down from last year's Flashback 9 other than the plastic casing and the compatibility with standard 2600 paddle controllers.

 

I'm not sure I can leave behind that SD slot now that I've experienced it on my Flashback 9. It's basically going to be a prerequisite going forward. 

Edited by Atariboy
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On 10/10/2019 at 5:23 PM, DurradonXylles said:

I decided to see if the FB X is being sold online, and currently I don't see it sold on Amazon. I find that very strange, because usually you can find them online but you pay about $10-12 for a new Flashback online than in brick-n-mortar shops. None of the stores in my area sell them until the holiday season, so I'll have to wait at least another three weeks until I can find them in my area. Until then, I may pick up a FB 9 Gold after my next paycheck.

its actually sold in smaller store chains or retail chains before hitting online markets usually. last year the FB legends and the sega flashback were found at Fry's around this time of the year, and nothing was available online. I would go to fry's to check but given how they are now pretty barren and barely carry anything i doubt they would have it in stock.

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The Flashback Legends certainly has some interesting games on it but sure has a... "unique" look to it.

 

But the Flashback X sure does have a great design with those "real" switches and all, but I might be biased as I believe my Light Sixer is at the pinnacle of console design. Would love to get one when they arrive here in Europe.

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went to Kohls, walmart, fry's, local video game stores, Target, and best buys nearby. not a single unit in sight.

 

I wanted to try my hand at running homebrew at this model, but guess not. lol

 

if anybody finds someone selling them nearby them and its willing to sell me one please PM me. 

Edited by WD_GASTER
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9 minutes ago, WD_GASTER said:

went to Kohls, walmart, fry's, local video game stores, Target, and best buys nearby. not a single unit in sight.

 

I wanted to try my hand at running homebrew at this model, but guess not. lol

 

if anybody finds someone selling them nearby them and its willing to sell me one please PM me. 

 

How much are you willing to pay?  I can do a lot of driving for the right price.  And by 'right price', I mean right for me.

 

It's just a Flashback console.  Give it time; it'll pop up.

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I haven’t had adequate time to fully explore either of the new flashbacks, but here are some observations.

 

FBX

This thing is darn cute!

Vintage paddles work (as well as my FB7 paddles)

 

Here is a pic of the menu.

Hold game select and game reset down when booting up.

Press game select and game reset to start the paddle test.

 

FB_Legends

Great game lineup!

SD card option for adding games straight out of the box!

 

Ron

Paddles test menu FBX.JPG

paddle_test.JPG

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Hmm...

Switches on the FBX... I don't get how they managed to screw switches on an Atari console up. That thing looks hideous! It certainly does look more like the original console, with woodgrain on the front and controller ports on the back though.

 

I wonder how the Legend FB is supposed to play CV games with a Genesis like controllers!

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8 hours ago, bluejay said:

I wonder how the Legend FB is supposed to play CV games with a Genesis like controllers!

Probably the same way I played a bunch of Colecovision games on my Mega SG today, since most of the games don't use the keypad, and you can map game-start buttons 1234 to the SEGA controller easily enough.

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On 10/11/2019 at 8:40 PM, ACML said:

Heard of Retron 77?  

 

Retron 77: With upgraded community SD card image firmware

 

1)  Runs Stella 6 so you can play Space Rocks and recent home brews

2)  Has SD card so you can have unlimited games, plays all home brews

3)  Has Stella 6 interface so it looks like your on a PC

4)  Works with stock CX-30 paddles

5)  Has cartridge slot so it play many original cartridges

6)  Has a first rate joystick w/10ft cord

 

No brainer

 

 

 

Uh, I've heard on several accounts that the Retron 77 does NOT work well with the original unmodified paddles.  It's been said on this forum you need to make some modifications for it to work.  The FB9 can play Space Rocks.  I've done so on mine.  The more recent homebrews like Galaga, I know the Retron has the edge there.  As far as the controllers that come with the Retron, it's been well advised to stay away because they brake after little use.  Also, the cartridge slot is very inconsistent.  I might have bought the Retron if it didn't have so many issues to begin with and that's why I ended up with the FB9.  If this paddle issue would be worked out fully on either system, I would feel better about that...

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9 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Probably the same way I played a bunch of Colecovision games on my Mega SG today, since most of the games don't use the keypad, and you can map game-start buttons 1234 to the SEGA controller easily enough.

The "Y" button brings up a virtual keypad. The "B" button selects. 

virtual_keypad.JPG

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A few quick points.  No surprise the vintage paddles work as Bill said in the other thread that this would be the case.  So that's very cool to hear. 

 

As for the SD cart, the full unit seems very small now, so perhaps there wasn't room on there?  Perhaps, to get the paddles to work again, they reverted to FB7/8 hardware, which had no SD? 

 

Lastly I guess I'm just really surprised that these are in stores.  Didn't seem like they were imminent. 

 

Can this be modded via micro-USB?  Dunno, but every other major device has been (NES/SNES, Playstation, Genesis) and they were developed by totally different engineers and yet still cracked.  Especially if it's running Linux like the FB9, I don't see why you couldn't.  Problem is that it requires people with the proper knowledge and time.

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Flashback 7 was standard definition and on their old hardware. Flashback 8 was on HD capable hardware, but still relied on a far from perfect AtGames developed emulator.

 

Reverting to standard definition hardware and returning to their in-house emulator instead of using Stella would be giant steps backwards.

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12 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

Uh, I've heard on several accounts that the Retron 77 does NOT work well with the original unmodified paddles.  It's been said on this forum you need to make some modifications for it to work.  The FB9 can play Space Rocks.  I've done so on mine.  The more recent homebrews like Galaga, I know the Retron has the edge there.  As far as the controllers that come with the Retron, it's been well advised to stay away because they brake after little use.  Also, the cartridge slot is very inconsistent.  I might have bought the Retron if it didn't have so many issues to begin with and that's why I ended up with the FB9.  If this paddle issue would be worked out fully on either system, I would feel better about that...

The Retron 77 has been much improved since Stella 6 beta 2 came out.  Also, I think they improved the joysticks since first release.  Paddle games work pretty good, but that might be another improvement that came with the recent Stella upgrade.  I thought the FB9 would have been perfect if the paddles worked which is what made me look at the Retron 77.  I had looked at the Retron 77 early on when it came out and read reviews that were not the best so I stayed away.  The community stepped in and improved the firmware and the hardware (joysticks) got some attention.  Check it out now, it might surprise you.

 

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2 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

As for the SD cart, the full unit seems very small now, so perhaps there wasn't room on there?  Perhaps, to get the paddles to work again, they reverted to FB7/8 hardware, which had no SD? 

 

...

 

Can this be modded via micro-USB?  Dunno, but every other major device has been (NES/SNES, Playstation, Genesis) and they were developed by totally different engineers and yet still cracked.  Especially if it's running Linux like the FB9, I don't see why you couldn't.  Problem is that it requires people with the proper knowledge and time.

 

The main circuit board including SD slot on the FB9 is only a little larger than a credit card, and the FB X is probably similar.  The reason for the removal of the SD card was not technical, it's some sort of business decision.  By all appearances so far the FB X seems to be basically just the FB 9 with a new housing, SD slot removal, and some circuitry change to address the paddle issue.  Assuming it is an identical or very similar SoC the support for an SD slot is still built into the core logic, but one is no longer included on the board.  I don't know a lot about the earlier hardware FB 8, other than it was different and possibly Android-based and ran the proprietary AtGames emulator of variable quality.  FB 9 was a substantial re-development of the platform and based on embedded Linux and Stella 3.9.3.  Visually nearly the same identical system seems to be running on FB X.  It wouldn't have made sense to throw away that investment/effort and lose so many emulation improvements.

 

On the FB9 the micro USB is for power only.  It is possible with hardware mod or tapping into a header to establish a data connection and using flashing tools, but the SD card slot and firmware flashing ability makes it easy to produce software-only distributable mods that anybody could use.  There will almost certainly be a way to access and modify the FB X system by either USB or UART.  The FB X may support USB OTG, which would mean the port can be connected to and potentially a user-friendly mod could be built.  But if not then the FB X will be a modding dead end for most except a dedicated few, and most of that modder interest has only been for the Legends and earlier Sega products.  This will be the main driver of whether to spend any real effort on the FB X or continue focusing on the FB 9 exclusively.  And even the FB9 has some real limitations which may or may not get resolved to support further substantial modding.

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On 10/10/2019 at 2:50 PM, Flojomojo said:

Last year's model (Atari Flashback 9) had an SDcard slot, so you could add in your own games, the only one that has that feature. As a result, the lineup matters less, because you can make it your own. The physical design was like the other Atari Flashbacks, with the big yellow buttons, but the controls are on point and the emulation was pretty good. It's at that bottom-out price right now if you want to snap that one up. 

 

This new one is supposed to run Stella for emulation, it has the cute case, but you can't add new games to it. 

I will have to check to see if my 9 Gold has the SD card slot as well.

 

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