How do you get your fix of ColecoVision Gaming on the Go?

[NIAD]

In the past I used a Sony PSP for on the go gaming, but sold it a number of years ago for lack of use. Recently I got the itch again to have a device for mobile gaming and was considering modding by son's PSVita until i came across what I consider to be the perfect option with the dual screen Nintendo DS lineup and ColecoDS by AlekMaul. Suffice it to say, timing is everything in life and wavemotion-dave had just taken up further development of ColecoDS, which had been dormant for over 10 years. As of v0.49, ColecoDS is easily once of the best ColecoVision emulators for any system and includes support for MegaCart games, Opcode SGM games, 32 sprites per line to eliminate sprite flicker or leave the 4 sprites per line limit on for games that require it, overlays support and input via the touch screen, numerous controller configuration options, save states and recently has added emulation of the SG-1000, SC-3000 and Sord M5... some of the ColecoVision's close relatives.

BTW, I acquired a Nintendo DSi LL, the Japanese version of the XL, and couldn't be happier.

 

Here are links to the ColecoDS Github page and a thread hear on AtariAge started by ColecoDS author:

 

https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/ColecoDS

 

 

[+wavemotion]

Obviously for me it's the DS line (specifically the DSi/XL/LL).

 

Nintendo makes well-built handhelds - the units are rock solid with controls you always feel are responsive. It helps that the screen resolution matches pixel-perfect to the Colecovision (256x192) so there are no scaling issues.

 

The DSi XL/LL units are large enough for my older eyes and have a slower screen refresh so that pixels fade a bit more slowly - almost mimicking the phosphor fade of a real tube TV. Other handhelds I've used refresh so fast that small bullets and things start to get hard to track as they move across the screen. Part of the art of these old games was knowing how a tube TV would respond - there is sometimes something lost in translation when these are played on modern hardware.  The DSi XL/LL tends to produce an image that is very acceptable when mimicking the look/feel of these classic games. 
 

Nintendo sold more than 154 Million DS/DSi units with more than 41 million in the upgraded (CPU/Memory) DSi and DSi XL units.  Given that Colecovision probably sold about 3 million units - and you can still find those after 40 years, I'm guessing you'll be able to get a DS/DSi in 40 years easily enough!  I have a small fleet of them and they are my go-to handheld for all 8-bit gaming (including the Intellivision which is technically a 16-bit CPU but is rather 8-bit with its supporting cast of peripheral hardware). 

 

The DSi is an upgrade over the original DS/DS-LITE in terms of double the CPU speed (133MHz vs 66MHz) and 4x the memory (16MB vs 4MB). I've tried to make sure that all the emulators I've worked on for the DS line still work with the older DS/DS-LITE hardware but given the modest used price of US$50-$75, there's almost no reason not to have a DSi XL/LL in your retro-toolbox. 

[NIAD]

2 hours ago, llabnip said:

Nintendo sold more than 154 Million DS/DSi units with more than 41 million in the upgraded (CPU/Memory) DSi and DSi XL units.  Given that Colecovision probably sold about 3 million units - and you can still find those after 40 years, I'm guessing you'll be able to get a DS/DSi in 40 years easily enough!  I have a small fleet of them and they are my go-to handheld for all 8-bit gaming (including the Intellivision which is technically a 16-bit CPU but is rather 8-bit with its supporting cast of peripheral hardware). 

 

The DSi is an upgrade over the original DS/DS-LITE in terms of double the CPU speed (133MHz vs 66MHz) and 4x the memory (16MB vs 4MB). I've tried to make sure that all the emulators I've worked on for the DS line still work with the older DS/DS-LITE hardware but given the modest used price of US$50-$75, there's almost no reason not to have a DSi XL/LL in your retro-toolbox. 

Considering the shortages that are currently going on in the world and the fact that so many DS systems of all variants are out there, still in great working condition, affordable and people like yourself are still supporting them... it is a great option for those looking and IMHO the best option.

 

Check out the other emulators for the DS lineup that llannip has available:

 

https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/

[TPR]

I have been very happy with the ColecoVision emulation on the Raspberry Pi based GPi Case. That being said, I'm also a huge fan of the Nintendo DS handhelds going back to my days of developing games on that console, and emulation on that device is something I've been meaning to get into, so perhaps this will push me more in that direction. 

[+bhall408]

For me and mobile, it is Argon (no surprise - I'm one of the people that work on it) on phones and tablets. For home play, I have an NVIDIA Shield hooked up to the big screen TV, and an arcade cabinet modded for Argon.

[NIAD]

Just noticed that Wavemotion (llabnip here on AtariAge) has updated ColecoDS to v6.0. Lots of great updates and supports 4 systems now: ColecoVision, SG-1000, Sord M5 and MSX!

 

Try out Wavemotion's other emulators for the DS as well... wavemotion-dave · GitHub

 

[Tekman]

ColecoDS is what I use and absolutely love it!

[NIAD]

3 hours ago, Tekman said:

ColecoDS is what I use and absolutely love it!

Yep… it is one of the best CV emulators for any platform. Do yourself a favor and check out wavemotion’s other emulators for the DS lineup. I’ve been enjoying his Intellivision emulator and have to find some time to setup his 2600, 5200 and 7800 emus even though I’m a CV guy through and through.

[+wavemotion]

Checks in the mail, guys ???

[digdugnate]

I'm using an Anbernic RG351V portable runningArkOS/EmulationStation with lr-bluemsx as the emulator.  it works really well but you have to remember the buttons once you map them. ?

[+bhall408]

Here is Argon running Mecha-8 on a Samsung Galaxy Flip (folding clamshell phone)...

 

In our next update, the meta-pad will appear on the lower screen all the time (in this picture, it is still toggled via the keypad icon upper right).

 

[NIAD]

ColecoDS has been updated to v6.7 and over the last couple of updates has added numerous ColecoVision cousins to the list of systems emulated. Here is the complete list along with notable features:

 

* ColecoVision game support (.rom or .col files)
* Super Game Module support including AY sound chip.
* Megacart Bankswitching support (up to 512K).
* Coleco ADAM game support (.ddp or .dsk files)
* Sega SG-1000 game support (.sg roms)
* Sega SC-3000 game support (.sc roms)
* Sord M5 game support (.m5 roms) - requires sordm5.rom BIOS
* Spectravideo SVI support (.cas) - requires svi.rom BIOS

* Casio PV-2000 support (.pv roms) - requires pv2000.rom BIOS

* MSX1 game support (.msx or .rom or.cas) up to 512K 
* Memotech MTX game support (.mtx or .run) - single loader games only.
* Full Controller button mapping and touch-screen input.
* High-Score support - 10 scores per game.
* Save/Load Game State (one slot).
* Video Blend Mode (see below) and Vertical Sync.
* LCD Screen Swap (press and hold L+R+X during gameplay).
* Overlay support for the few games that need them.
* Super Action Controller, Spinner and Roller Controller (Trackball) mapping.
* Full speed, full sound and full frame-rate even on older hardware.

 

Check out wavemotion's GitHub page for all the info and his four Atari system and Intellivision emulators for the DS lineup.

 

wavemotion-dave · GitHub

 

Pic of the ADAM version of Donkey Kong Jr. Super Game with the ADAM Keyboard Overlay enabled on the touch screen.

 

[+wavemotion]

Thanks @NIAD - I always appreciate the appreciation

So many of these systems of that era (1982-1985) used the same off-the-shelf hardware. Zilog Z80, TMS9918 (or the PAL equivalent), SN sound chip or possibly the AY sound chip (MSX and compatibles). 

The Super Game Module has provided some easy MSX ports but there are other systems that are just slightly different enough but largely 90% compatible. I'm trying to capture them all - I think the Tatung Einstien is the last major one I'm missing.

 

Great games like the Sord M5 APPLOON would be right at home on the Colecovision - if I had this game as a kid, it would have been every bit a favorite as Lady Bug or Pepper II.

 

[NIAD]

39 minutes ago, llabnip said:

The Super Game Module has provided some easy MSX ports but there are other systems that are just slightly different enough but largely 90% compatible. I'm trying to capture them all - I think the Tatung Einstien is the last major one I'm missing.

How about the Hanimex Pencil II? A core for the CollectorVision Phoenix was made and one of the three known games for the system is available…don’t know about the other two. I seem to recall it was mentioned as being a clone of the CV and only the available BIOS was needed to get it up and running.

Edited April 12, 2022 by NIAD

[NIAD]

46 minutes ago, llabnip said:

Great games like the Sord M5 APPLOON would be right at home on the Colecovision - if I had this game as a kid, it would have been every bit a favorite as Lady Bug or Pepper II.

 

Looking at the screenshot, I immediately thought it would have been made by Konami, but see it was made by Takara.

[+wavemotion]

53 minutes ago, NIAD said:

How about the Hanimex Pencil II? A core for the CollectorVision Phoenix was made and one of the three known games for the system is available…don’t know about the other two. I seem to recall it was mentioned as being a clone of the CV and only the available BIOS was needed to get it up and running.

Wow! I didn't even realize this was a thing... from a quick look at the MAME driver, it appears to be nearly identical with a different BIOS (same memory location, however) and 2K of RAM (up from 1K on the CV) with mirrors.

 

Easy as pie to emulate with my current core. Consider it done.

[+wavemotion]

And done!  Simple... and this game does appear to utilize the extra RAM (2K vs 1K... mirrored throughout). 


There appears to be like 8 other "known games" for the system that have not been dumped yet. Hope those don't get lost to history.  All things considered, this one is rather fun!

Edit: I tried to run this with the 2K RAM but with the original Colecovision BIOS ... no dice. It requires the Hanimex Pencil II bios and the extra RAM.  Otherwise this would have run as-is on a system with extra RAM (Adam, SGM or other similar RAM upgraded system).

 

Dave

Edited April 12, 2022 by llabnip

[NIAD]

1 hour ago, llabnip said:

And done!  Simple... and this game does appear to utilize the extra RAM (2K vs 1K... mirrored throughout). 


There appears to be like 8 other "known games" for the system that have not been dumped yet. Hope those don't get lost to history.  All things considered, this one is rather fun!

Coming soon from CollectorVision…

 

https://collectorvision.com/games/treasurehunt.php

Edited April 12, 2022 by NIAD

[Keatah]

Don't actually game on a portable device anymore. Mostly I bring a USB with to friends and family that have established setups. If you can call that portable gaming.

[+wavemotion]

16 minutes ago, NIAD said:

Coming soon from CollectorVision…

 

https://collectorvision.com/games/treasurehunt.php

Incredible - should have figured
Well... I can play it a little early

It's currently listed as 'Colecovision Compatible' which means a clever person figured out how to map the BIOS calls and reduce the memory footprint. 

[zyzzle]

The trouble is now the cheapest "good" condition or complete DSI XL costs more than $100 on the highway robbery site also known as Ebay. I think a couple of years ago, one could find a plethora and an excess of the DSI handhelds for $20 every day of the week. There must be other less expensive options available. I'd really, really like to try ColecoDS but am not willing to fork over $100+ for a working, unscratched, non-defective system, so I guess I'm stuck with PC Emulation of Coleco-on-the-go for now and the future.

Edited April 13, 2022 by zyzzle

[+wavemotion]

@zyzzle I feel ya. When I first started working on emulators for this system 18 months ago, you could get a really nice XL unit for $60-70 shipped.  Prices have gone up... but bargains can still be had. Here are some tips:

 

• Expand your search to LL Japanese units. The LLs are the same as the XLs but made for the Japanese market. That means they are in Japanese... but once you soft-mod them, you'll be dealing with English.  And an LL unit will play ANY region game - despite what some sellers list. The DSi was a region-free unit (as is the DS... but not the 2DS/3DS).
• Consider broken units. Why?!  Because some things don't matter. One of the best units I have (in terms of looking nearly pristine) has a bad cart port. The cartridge port for DS games won't matter if you're playing homebrews. Once you soft-mod, you'll be using the SD card slot only (to play homebrews... and you can also play DS games if you were so inclined - compatibility on DS games goes up as the months roll past and the menu systems get better).
• Keep a 'back end' search filter to look for new listings and look every (early) morning when the Japanese (14 hours ahead) might list new items. You can often snarf up a good listing before the rest of America wakes up.
• Small scratches or mild screen yellowing tend to not show up when a game is played (or are so reduced as to be a non-issue).  The backlight is generally very good at masking these. I have one screen that looks rough when turned off, but I can't notice any issues when running games.

 

I think you can still get a good unit for $70... not much more than a single boxed game and you can play more than 10,000 classic 8-bit games on it across a number of systems (Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, A8, Intellivision, Colecovision, etc).

 

Dave

 

 

[zyzzle]

Really appreciate the tips; they are great. I'll expand the search. As to defective units, I see many XL listings where one screen is broken. I assume this renders your emulators unuseable, but can either the top screen only, or the bottom screen only be used to play the games? In other words, is it possible in emulator settings to turn one screen off and / or swap the top and bottom screens to a "good" functioning screen? One might also want to do this to, for example, greatly improve battery life. Why run two screens all the time if you don't need to?

 

[+wavemotion]

So you can swap screens easily enough (in my emulators... L+R+X hold for 1 second)... but there is no touch-screen on the top LCD and so it's hard to run too many games if you can't use the touch screen. 

 

Note: even if you swap screens, the bottom screen is still responsive to touch presses. That's where the touch screen controller is... so in this case, pressing the bottom screen where the RESET button would be will actually reset the game.

 

 

 

[Pixelboy]

6 minutes ago, llabnip said:

So you can swap screens easily enough (in my emulators... L+R+X hold for 1 second)

I don't have a DS so forgive me if my question sounds silly, but why not just map the screen swap function to the SELECT button?