Have you ever wanted to pause a game while playing your Atari 2600? Has the phone rang, have you had to run to the bathroom, was dinner ready, or one of many other scenarios where you had to abandon your attempt at a perfect game of Pitfall? We're proud to offer an Atari 2600 Pause Kit that you can install in your favorite Atari 2600 console! Once installed, you'll be able to pause any 2600 game, allowing you to resume your paused game right where you left it!
The Atari 2600 Pause Kit includes:
- Populated Atari 2600 Pause Kit circuit board
- Red, Black, Blue, Green and Orange (x2) wires
- Heat shrink tubing
- Toggle switch
- Double-sided tape
Soldering skills are required in order to install this kit. The installation procedure involves opening your Atari 2600, soldering four wires to the Atari 2600 Pause Kit circuit board to two chips on the 2600 circuit board, and soldering two wires to the toggle switch that will enable/disable the pause function. You'll also need to drill a 1/4" hole in your Atari 2600 console case in order to mount the switch.
Full Installation Instructions
While paused, the Atari 2600 will display either a blank screen, "garbage", or an invalid television signal. There's not much that can be done about that, unfortunately. The Atari 2600 was never designed to be paused in this nature!
Special Thanks
Many thanks to Victor Trucco, who did the research on how to safely pause the Atari 2600 and designed a circuit in order to do so. Victor created a website with all the details on exactly how the pause circuit works:
http://www.victortrucco.com/Atari/AtariPausa/atariPausa_en.asp
I do not understand why this great kits always uses ugly switches. Is it really so hard to replace the BW/color switch by another one with additional switch position? I've done that and it is not required to damage your beloved ATARI! that's really poor to add such switches!
Easy to install and, at $20 assembled, a real bargain. It works great...every time.
I installed it on my 2600 Jr. and I'm ordering another for my 4 switcher. It's great to be able to pause my 2600 games.
Highly recommended.