Arcadia 2001 Fan Appreciation Thread

[+sixersfan105]

6 hours ago, stupus said:

There is at least 1 arcadia proto i hope the owner will someday release to make carts of.

Really? What game is the proto? 

[+stupus]

Are any if the vc4000 homebrews physical releases? I dont follow it too much, i havent collected alot for it.

[+stupus]

Just now, sixersfan105 said:

Really? What game is the proto? 

Unfortunately i cant share that because of the owners wishes.

[+sixersfan105]

3 minutes ago, stupus said:

Unfortunately i cant share that because of the owners wishes.

Ha! Sounds like an eccentric dude (or gal). If I owned a prototype of any system, I'd shout it from the rooftops!

[carlsson]

No, from what I know all Senil's programs are ROMs only. Well, source code as well. I suppose the market for VC-4000 homebrews is so small that it is risk free to post your source code for the world to benefit from. I should reprogram my EPROM in @Rolo's Dragon multicart to contain all of the VC-4000 ROMs, possibly getting rid of a few of the G7000 ROMs that share space on the same EPROM (for me, since those are the two systems I own).

[+stupus]

2 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

Ha! Sounds like an eccentric dude (or gal). If I owned a prototype of any system, I'd shout it from the rooftops!

I would share too. Unfortunately some collectors just dont share the opinion that everyone deserves everything. They see it as a more personal thing, it can be hard to understand and it makes you wonder how many games out there will be forever lost from it.

[Mikebloke]

9 hours ago, carlsson said:

Regarding modern development, it was mentioned above that the Arcadia 2001 has 4 known homebrews. I see that the VC-4000/1292 APVS surpassed that since Senil has posted 5 different homebrews: Flappy Bird, VC4K-anabalt, VC4boom, Tetris and a Megademo!

I still remember playing the canabalt clone, I didn't know it existed, so when I saw it load up I was like "wow I know what this is!" I remember playing it a stupid amount on mobile.

 

The tetris looks new! Missed out on that one I guess.

[+sixersfan105]

There's a jerk selling @5-11under's Arcadia multicart on eBay for $249.99. If you're that jerk, shame on you. If you're interested in a multicart, don't be a doofus and purchase that way overpriced cart on eBay. Instead, be sure to contact the aforementioned creator of the multicart, as he sells them for $90 USD shipped (at least to the US, shipping elsewhere may vary). Cheers.

[+stupus]

Thats a member here selling it.

Does Harvey always have them available? I had to wait like 2 years for mine.

[+sixersfan105]

4 minutes ago, stupus said:

Thats a member here selling it.

Does Harvey always have them available? I had to wait like 2 years for mine.

Really? That's messed up! Yes I'm pretty sure Harvey is able to make them with greater frequency now. He had one available with 24 hours of my contacting him. That was in late November 2020 and he also referenced at that time that he had "plenty of them."

[+5-11under]

There have been periods of time when they weren't available. At the moment, I have a few boxed and ready, and have boards assembled for about 25 more - next I need to cut and clean the shells for these.

[+sixersfan105]

6 minutes ago, 5-11under said:

There have been periods of time when they weren't available. At the moment, I have a few boxed and ready, and have boards assembled for about 25 more - next I need to cut and clean the shells for these.

Thanks for all that you do, Harvey!

[wolfy62]

I purchased the multicart last year,just because it was available. 

I have been an intellivision video game collector for a very long time and I have most of the other systems that were made in the early 80's. I could go on with that story,but my point is I finally purchased my Arcadia 2001 and hope to play all the games when I get it in a couple  of weeks!??

I had some conversations with Stupus/ Mark(Thank you!) last year about the system and that really inspired me to go forward with the purchase. 

I hope I love the games!

[+stupus]

Did you just buy the 1 from Charles? Nice deal if so

[wolfy62]

2 hours ago, stupus said:

Did you just buy the 1 from Charles? Nice deal if so

That is exactly the one!!!

I thought that was a great deal and I couldn't pass it up.

I will let you know how well it works.?

I just looked on Ebay and someone is auctioning off a brand new Arcadia 2001.

I figured people in here would want to know!?

[+stupus]

Cool, he is a great guy and it looks like a nice fully working system at a good price.

Always happy to see a good deal between 2 friends here

I do have a nos arcadia, dont see them often!

[doug0909]

Mine is gathering dust in storage, along with a multicart. As I recall, a few games were playable including Cat Trax and Turtles Turpin. Is the Phillips connection the reason the Odyssey 2 and Arcadia 2001 were the only systems with Turtles ports, albeit kind of different ports?

 

What has always befuddled me is why every sound that comes out of the system brings to mind the sounds of an animal in its death throes. I mean, the sound chip clearly had as much range as the primitive chips on my Odyssey 2 and Apple II, but while the sounds on the former were boring and the latter a bit scratchy, nothing this side of Tom Waits sounds as bad as an Arcadia 2001. Was there a technical reason for that? 

[+sixersfan105]

Welcome to the club, @wolfy62! I think you'll enjoy it. I'm happy for that multicart to finally be put to good use!  If you have any q's about the system as you get started with it, you know where to ask! Cheers. 

[wolfy62]

I understand the system only has a couple games that are considered really good.

Does anyone have a personal favorite or have a couple recommendations for me?

I think most everything is on the multicart so I will try to check out every game when I get my system. 

[+stupus]

If you have 5-11s multicart that should have every game now.

Cat trax

R2d tank

Spiders

Hobo

Funky fish

Pleiades 

Jungler

These are good ones to start with

[+sixersfan105]

3 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

I understand the system only has a couple games that are considered really good.

Does anyone have a personal favorite or have a couple recommendations for me?

I think most everything is on the multicart so I will try to check out every game when I get my system. 

@stupus's suggestions are good ones. I also enjoy Route 16, Turtles Turpin, Jump Bug and Super Bug. 

[wolfy62]

I recieved my system today and I am very happy to say it works!??

Is there a source on the internet for instruction booklets?

I can see I need to know what buttons to press for certain games.

So glad that it works!!!?

[+stupus]

There is a ton of manuals and stuff on James site the amigan.

http://amigan.yatho.com/

[Icsmoke]

On 12/14/2020 at 11:06 AM, carlsson said:

Yeah, Philips acquired Signetics in 1975, right when the 2650 was released. While the exact date for the first 1292 APVS systems is debated (1976 or 1978), I wonder if the support chips were developed over time. Clearly the 2636 Programmable Video Interface must've been ready for the first generation of games, while I don't know the date of the 2637 Universal Video Interface used in the Arcadia 2001. 

 

I have a few, never used 2637N and they are signetics  dated 7931 or maybe 30. Given to me straight from someone at philips. Never knew back then - mid-80s - how to use them without datasheet and only now I see these were used in this console

Edited February 12, 2021 by Icsmoke

[carlsson]

Cool! That would suggest that in a fast paced world, the Arcadia 2001 or compatible systems might have been released in 1980, simultaneously with e.g. Intellivision, instead of 1982, simultaneously with ColecoVision. Now I don't know if two years earlier had made that much of a difference, perhaps depending on which games they could have offered and in particular if licensing was possible to obtain except for where the big dragons like Atari had exclusive rights.