The Ultimate Home Gaming System

[HardyGirl]

OOH! $5! I'm jealous. I've tried to win a few on ebay but always seem to get outbid. There are still good ones out there without the screen rot. I haven't looked lately but someday I want to get one with a good screen. The games are fun. I like the bowling one and pinball.
Rich

I remember bringing it to school and telling the kids it was the great grandaddy of the Game Boy. One kid liked it so much, he actually wanted to take it home and borrow it! (I didn't let him).

[starsky]

man, what the heck is that!

[toys2cool]

Anyone remember Vectrex? I remember seeing those in the store and thinking they were just AWESOME. Disappeared pretty fast though.

http://computermuseum.50megs.com/images/collection/vectrex2.jpg

Not quite a home gaming system but rather the first handheld game with interchangeable cartridges was Microvision.
I still have mine. I loved that game. Still missing a few cartridges but I need to find a better console as the screens tend to get "LCD-rot" and turn black. It still works but hard to see clearly.
Rich

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/MB/MB-MicrovisionUS.jpg

what the hell

[jds1911a1]

yeah cause it was the only thing around, but you're gonna tell me they were better then nintendo? please you don't know what you're talking about

it's not fair to compare computer technology from different decades..
but if Atari 2600 had failed no one would know what a Nintnedo or sega genesis is

[jds1911a1]

I forgot to add, if anyone needs a quick Atari fix and they don't have access to a vintage console there's a couple of high quality new items which are pretty easy to get.

The easiest and cheapest way to go is the Jakks Plug n Play Atari. It looks like a vintage 2600 controller and has 10 built in 2600 games. These are currently sold at Walmart and TRU for around $19.99. The games are emulated but done very well.

Welcome to JAKKS TV Games Atari

Then there's the Atari Flashback 2. It's out of production but amazon.com still has it in stock for $34.99.

Amazon.com: Atari Flashback 2 Plug and Play: Video Games

What's great about the FB2 is it's actually real 2600 hardware and comes with two real 2600 joysticks that also work on vintage 2600 and 7800 systems. It has 40 built in 2600 games and two hidden that you can play if you have the vintage 2600 paddles. The system doesn't have a cartridge port but can be modded to take one. It's probably worth the $34.99 just for the two new 2600 joysticks alone.

The down side to the FB2 is there are graphic glitches and errors if played on some HDTVs. Not all that surprising though considering HD resolutions didn't exist when the 2600 was released.

DON"T get the first Atari Flashback. It was not real Atari hardware. It was based on the NES on a chip design and all the games are emulated.

thankis wolfie and this sure looks like a 7800 (it camde up when I added it to my wishlist) heard anything on this one?
Amazon.com: Atari Flashback Game System: Atari ST: Video Games

[Wee67]

Is it correct to assume that someone has made a conversion attachment to play the 2600 on a TV with a HDMI input. My Atari has a converter that allows me to hook it uo to a coaxial cable input, but I have yet to christen my flat screen with a blown-up and distored version of Pitfall. Is that even possible?

[Werewolf]

thankis wolfie and this sure looks like a 7800 (it camde up when I added it to my wishlist) heard anything on this one?
Amazon.com: Atari Flashback Game System: Atari ST: Video Games

That's the first Atari Flashback. Yep, it's look is based on the 7800 design. On the plus side, it plays a mix of 2600 and 7800 games. On the downside, they are all emulated. The controllers look likey the should work on vintage Atari systems, but don't. Not bad if you can get it cheap. Unfortunately, mine actually broke after a couple of months. I would really strongly recommend the Flashback 2 over it.

[Werewolf]

Is it correct to assume that someone has made a conversion attachment to play the 2600 on a TV with a HDMI input. My Atari has a converter that allows me to hook it uo to a coaxial cable input, but I have yet to christen my flat screen with a blown-up and distored version of Pitfall. Is that even possible?

To the best of my knowledge an Atari will not work rigged through HDMI. They have been modded to run through a standard RCA composite cable. But with mixed results, from what I hear. It's best just to run them through the cable jack.

[Wee67]

To the best of my knowledge an Atari will not work rigged through HDMI. They have been modded to run through a standard RCA composite cable. But with mixed results, from what I hear. It's best just to run them through the cable jack.

My flatscreen does have a bacle jack. Do you think it would work on the flatscreen? I wonder is it would be stretched.

[Werewolf]

My flatscreen does have a bacle jack. Do you think it would work on the flatscreen? I wonder is it would be stretched.

Most flatscreens have a picture mode so you can run it in 4:3 ratio so it shouldn't look stretched. It will just have a black bar on each side of the picture.

[martyg]

The local Kroger got in a bunch of Flashback 2s for Christmas.

Unfortunately, all the ones through Kroger are all pirate ones with cheaper internals and a plethora of problems. We haven't manufactured any new ones since 2005. The only current authentic one is the Flashback 2+ on Atari's site, or older user/old stock FB2's on amazon.

[martyg]

They have been modded to run through a standard RCA composite cable. But with mixed results, from what I hear. It's best just to run them through the cable jack.

Actually what you heard was not accurate. RCA (AV) kits sold now are pretty flawless, and some include s-video as well. What was mixed was some of the plans floating around on the internet for years and their results.

As far as going through the cable jack, you're actually more likely to get problems on modern high-def tv sets. The 2600 was designed during the 70's, when analog tuning was the norm (and most sets had a fine tuning dial). As such their signal is not precise and more often than not people trying to hook them up to modern tv's that way report syncing/picture problems.

We had problems reported with that as well with our Flashback 2 not syncing right on some modern TV tuners. Since it's a full reproduction of the original circuitry on a single chip, the issue was reproduced.

[martyg]

That's the first Atari Flashback. Yep, it's look is based on the 7800 design. On the plus side, it plays a mix of 2600 and 7800 games. On the downside, they are all emulated. The controllers look likey the should work on vintage Atari systems, but don't. Not bad if you can get it cheap. Unfortunately, mine actually broke after a couple of months. I would really strongly recommend the Flashback 2 over it.

The Flashback was a rush job, they only gave us a few months to get the product together from start to finish because they wanted it for that Christmas sason (2004), and basically stated either we get that out or there won't be a Flashback 2. It's not using emulation though. The original spec was for a full 2600 on a single chip inside, and instead we had to go with the much more easily available NOAC (Nintendo on a Chip better known as a single chip NES) and port the games over. Likewise the factory screwed up and did the scale of the unit smaller than what we asked for, but because of the timeline there was no time to correct it with new molds.

Luckily we were able to correct it with the Flashback 2, which features a full 2600 on a single chip we custome designed. Unfortunately, the pirate ones do not - they're a poorly cloned alternative.

[Bruce Banner]

We had a Radio Shack Pong type game with an early light gun peripheral back in the day... then finally upgraded to the Mattel Intellivision around 1980... followed by the ColecoVision a few years later.