mimo Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Well, one can still be hopeful. The final design has not been settled yet, I think. So maybe it's still open to some cosmetic design alterations? My vote goes to D-pad right, Button left. Unfortunately I think the Play Station Generation have ruined any chance of that happening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math You Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 (edited) Looks great!. Shame there's no PAL version. I hope the next generation of Flashbacks are dual standard. It would probably increase profits aswell as make distribution a lot easier, especially since there's no power supply to worry about Edited June 21, 2007 by MRB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I'm definitely getting two for networking experiments. I love this stuff! Networking? How? The second joystick connector could perhaps be used for input but how would you do the output from the FB2? Can some pin in the joystick port be configured as an output? -- Karri I don't want to put out another idea just yet. Me and another member have talked a little about it. Sorry to be so cryptic, but don't want to be another "idea peddlar." For now I wanna keep it to myself. Once I get a couple of units I'll begin. Unfortunately I think the Play Station Generation have ruined any chance of that happening I think I'm more second generation than I thought. I've grown used to the idea of the d-pad on the left. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TailChao Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Well, one can still be hopeful. The final design has not been settled yet, I think. So maybe it's still open to some cosmetic design alterations? My vote goes to D-pad right, Button left. Unfortunately I think the Play Station Generation have ruined any chance of that happening Just be glad it's not a segmented D-Pad By the by, these designs look great, Curt. Good luck! I'd definitely pick one of these up when it eventually appears (probably a godsend, since I can't exactly lug my Heavy Sixer around college next year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Networking? How? The second joystick connector could perhaps be used for input but how would you do the output from the FB2? Can some pin in the joystick port be configured as an output? -- Karri Yep - STELLA PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE The two ports (Port A and Port B) are 8 bits wide and can be set for either input or output. Port A is used to interface to carious hand-held controllers but Port B is dedicated to reading the status of the Stella console switches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Well, one can still be hopeful. The final design has not been settled yet, I think. So maybe it's still open to some cosmetic design alterations? My vote goes to D-pad right, Button left. Unfortunately I think the Play Station Generation have ruined any chance of that happening Thank god. I've grown quite used to the traditional controller setup since the NES days. The only type of controller that feels right with the fire button on the left is a joystick of some sort (which is why the XBOX 360 classic joystick is BACKWARDS with the stick on the left and the buttons on the right ). If you're going to have a dpad setup, it belongs on the left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeGuyWithDSL Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Unfortunately I think the Play Station Generation have ruined any chance of that happening You mean the NES/SMS Generation. I don't mind going on the record saying that while I prefer handheld joysticks to be right-hand operated (like the 2600 stick), I think a D-pad + buttons setup should only put the directional controls on the left side like this prototype ... especially if it expects to have any commercial success. If it were on the right, every mainstream review of the product would contain: "Cons: why is the D-pad on the right?" and likely an entire paragraph slamming the issue. Anyone who has used a console in the past 20 years has this muscle memory now, even if it's different than the muscle memory for the games that we played in the 2600's heyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 So does that mean there will not be DC power in? If you had it, a lot of folks on car trips could use the cigarette lighters and adapters. That way, it could dual marketed as home console. Having batteries only at least in a TV games unit is my biggest pet peeve (which is why I only have one of the Jakks units). I'm seriously anal-retentive when it comes to removing batteries to avoid corrosion since I had most of my stuff as a kid go bad because I didn't remove the batteries. I know it might be too late for DC in, and I understand this is a portable unit and not meant to be another home console, but still, if possible- I think it would be a huge gain, even if you had to send off to Atari to get the transformer. If it doesn't have a DC in jack then one can probably be hacked in somewhere. But if it really runs for 15hrs on a charge, it's not that big of a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Networking? How? The second joystick connector could perhaps be used for input but how would you do the output from the FB2? Can some pin in the joystick port be configured as an output? The controller ports on the 2600 can be bidirectional. I don't think it's practical to do networking that way, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragnerok X Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 The controller ports on the 2600 can be bidirectional. I don't think it's practical to do networking that way, however. I agree; here is some additional material on the matter. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62988 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I've never had any troubles going from a right hand joystick to a left hand d-pad, even when using a gamepad to play Atari...but for some reason, the Atari joystick is the only one I can even use my right hand with...back in the day when you could play games like Wolf3D or DOOM with a joystick, I always had to use it left-handed...I tried modding an Atari joystick to be left handed, and it didn't quite work. Go figure. I don't think the d-pad being on the left is such a big deal. Purists will just plug in a real joystick, anyway =) Great to see that we'll get actual joystick ports on this thing =) Curt, on another thread, you said one of the memories would be used to store things like box art? Does that mean we get to see funky 8-bit (or whatever 2600 is) renderings of box art in the menu? Not that that's bad, just wondering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Purists will just plug in a real joystick, anyway =) Great to see that we'll get actual joystick ports on this thing =) Exactly right. That portable looks terrific - I can barely wait to get my hands on one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 The controller ports on the 2600 can be bidirectional. I don't think it's practical to do networking that way, however. I agree; here is some additional material on the matter. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62988 That sounds great! Some nice two-player Battleship could then be reality by connecting two FP2P's together with a joypad cable. I can think of a lot of nice board games that would work with this concept. Othello or yahtzee comes to my mind. It might also be fun to program single-player real-time games that just share the scores over the link. -- Karri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 (edited) Very cool piece of equipment. Is there a pending release date yet? Edited June 25, 2007 by homerwannabee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalemFrost7800 Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Portable Joystick to go with The Portable FLASHBACK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Man I can't wait till this thing comes out! I've always wanted a portable atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort Apocalypse Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I had a thought about a possible menuing system for the FB2 portable (unless it has already been decided). Considering that there could be a whole lot of games you could play, it seems one idea for menuing system could be the following: When you first turn it on it reads all the filenames in and then displays the first character of every filename (uniquely) in a single line of left and right scrolling (use joystick or keypad) characters. Then after clicking the button to choose one, it would show a scrollable list (like existing FB2) of all games in that category. The problem would be in all of the potential characters that the bin filename could start with- but the menuing system would have to support that anyway I'd guess for the scrolling menu of bin names under the letter you chose; although it could just display characters that aren't alphanumeric as some "block" character. Also, would upper and lower case be supported? However it may be more likely to just have a really long list to have to choose from. But that could get really tedious to choose a game when you have a lot loaded. The FB2 menu was good IMO, granted for the purpose it was serving and on the hardware it ran on. But the one for the FB2 portable would have to be more utilitarian I'd assume (no pictures, no categories). Anyway, has the menuing system already been decided? Also (diff topic) I went on and on about having a DC/AC in for the FB2 portable, and I noticed in other threads it was said that it would have a power jack. Regardless though, I'm psyched. Other question is (and sorry if already discussed) what is the current planned timeline on the FB2 portable (can't wait!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I would assume they're aiming for a holiday 2007 release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorf Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Salvating profusely.... Mopping up drool now...... Looking great Curt. I love the upload feature. I think 2 megs is fine. That is still 64 32k games. Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 About a cool menu system. I have been working on a 2D matrix that grows in both directions. Something like: 4 games on it: A A A A 9 games A A B A A B B B B 14 games A A B C A A B C B B B C C C And so on. In this way you memorize where in the matrix the game is and you can quickly scroll to it. I don't think that sorting the games is necessary. I would rather calculate some small hash key for every game available and store some nice icon for it in the system. So when you download a game to the cart it could already have an icon for it if the hash keys match. For unrecognized entries you could just show the Atari symbol with a number. -- Karri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math You Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 (edited) I was hoping that the Flashback portable would come out this spring or summer. I think a lot of people will like the idea of something they could use at the park or beach or anywhere. BTW it might be a good idea to print ATARI on the back of the unit so that other people can see what it is when people use it in public. Free advertising!!!! Edited July 11, 2007 by MRB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werejag Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I was hoping that the Flashback portable would come out this spring or summer. I think a lot of people will like the idea of something they could use at the park or beach or anywhere. BTW it might be a good idea to print ATARI on the back of the unit so that other people can see what it is when people use it in public. Free advertising!!!! yeah something non paper so i dont have to recreate the label after i modify it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 ^^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math You Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 (edited) yeah something non paper so i dont have to recreate the label after i modify it OK. It would have to be printed on or molded into the plastic Edited June 27, 2007 by MRB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 yeah something non paper so i dont have to recreate the label after i modify it The same people read the different threads in the AtariAge forums. But I assume that the need to hack the FB2P is not there. It seems to be a very nice piece of hardware. -- Karri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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