x=usr(1536)
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Posts posted by x=usr(1536)
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2 minutes ago, leech said:
Haha, I mentioned the movie elsewhere recently as I also just bought it like a few weeks ago. I want to say he was also in the one where he gets sucked into an arcade to fight some demon thing... Nightmares, I think?
Yup, Nightmares. One of the horror anthology-format movies that was popular around the time. Estevez was in the 'Bishop of Battle' story.
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1 hour ago, nadir said:
I cannot say the same for my CDs from the '90's and 2000's where half of them are failing...
I'm seeing the same thing here, too. It seems like CDs pressed between 1984 and 1992-ish were of higher build quality than ones from the mid-'90s on to the early 2000s.
My theory: that was the time of peak CD sales, so cranking them out as quickly and cheaply as possible was key; longevity wasn't - and especially not once digital music formats (including streaming) started becoming mainstream.
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8 minutes ago, bent_pin said:
It's on prime video for $9.99 to buy. Is it worth it?
Put it this way: it's a decent B-movie horror flick that's better than it should be. Never read the Stephen King story that it's based on, so can't comment to that aspect of it, but if you like AC/DC and movies playing off of the comet-passes-the-earth-and-we're-all-screwed theme, it's fun.
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6 minutes ago, Zolaerla said:
Why oh why did I click to play this video? The over-done bloom and constant flashing lights actively bothers me and causes my vision to go blurry for a while. If this is your idea of a great time, great! Have fun! I'll pass...
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1 hour ago, zzip said:
Pac-man was alway owned by Namco with Bally/Midway producing arcade cabinets. It's a game that gets erroneously associated with Atari, but Atari only ever had the home publishing rights.
Pac-Man and its relatives are a great example of how convoluted IP ownership can become. Just on the arcade side:
- Pac-Man: Namco, licensed to Bally / Midway
- Super Pac-Man: Namco, licensed to Bally / Midway
- Pac & Pal: Namco, no distribution outside of Japan
- Pac-Man and Chomp-Chomp: Namco, almost licensed to Bally / Midway, but they decided against it in the end
- Pac-Land: Namco, licensed to Bally / Midway
- Ms. Pac-Man: created by GCC, licensed to Bally / Midway
- Pac-Man Plus: created by Bally / Midway
- Baby Pac-Man: created by Bally / Midway
- Professor Pac-Man: created by Bally-Midway
- Jr. Pac-Man: created by GCC, licensed to Bally / Midway
- Pac-Mania: created by Namco, licensed to Atari
With all of the parties involved, lawsuits, bankruptcies, mergers & acquisitions, subsequent changes of ownership over the years, etc., it's a small miracle that any of the rights to it other than the original game were at all able to be determined. The fiasco surrounding Ms. Pac-Man's ownership a few years ago was a really good example of this.
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30 minutes ago, JPF997 said:
I have no idea what you meant by saying Soylent green when you said it
OK, so you didn't get the joke; I can understand that sometimes the delivery can be a bit off. However:
30 minutes ago, JPF997 said:i know the original reference but why you used it in that context against me I have no idea
It wasn't being used 'against you,' as you put it. It was in response to someone else's comment:
On 9/14/2023 at 12:49 AM, x=usr(1536) said:On 9/14/2023 at 12:26 AM, jeremiahjt said:I will go with Wade Rosen. I mean how are you going to buy a forum and not even come by and say hello. Wait a minute... Atari just bought AtariAge and @JPF997 is a brand new member... JPF997 is Wade Rosen!
He's also Soylent Green!
The part in bold is added emphasis on my behalf, and is where the response was directed. You weren't even on the radar when I made it.
30 minutes ago, JPF997 said:just assumed it was some form of insult and moved on.
Therein lies the heart of the problem: by your own words, you assumed it was an insult. It wasn't. It was a dumb throwaway joke made in response to something else entirely.
Missing the humour is one thing; jokes sometimes work better in the mind than they do in delivery and I've certainly delivered my share of ones that fell flat. But - and I'm going to be completely straightforward about this - assuming that something is an insult because you don't understand it isn't helping matters any. Much like @bent_pin, I've also witnessed you take things incredibly defensively for no very good reason other than that someone else presents an opinion to the contrary, or even just mild disagreement.
Relax. Everyone isn't out to get you, even if they have a difference of opinion. This is a hobby and it should be fun; getting spun up over it isn't worth it and ultimately only detracts from your enjoyment of it. Believe me, I've been there and can speak from experience on all of this.
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11 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:
I know, I know ... it's your money. And I wish you well.
Y'know, it's funny, but I've recently been thinking of picking up a nominal amount of PONGF stock. This has nothing to do with any illusions of it becoming my retirement portfolio or being the launchpad for a lucrative career move into day trading, but rather because it would give me a tiny sliver of skin in the game.
This way, the next time someone spouts off about having an opinion regarding an Atari product without actually owning it, I can start my reply to them with, "Speaking as a shareholder in Atari, SA..." The view from the high horse will be amazing.
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On 9/26/2023 at 7:50 AM, baktra said:
In any case, XEGS sold well enough, so it was a success.
It's probably safe to say the same about the Coleco Adam, though it turned out to be a total disaster for both customers and Coleco.
The main reason why the console-as-computer idea never really caught on was because the console and home computer markets were (and still are) totally different. Console gamers generally weren't looking for a gateway drug into the world of computing, and computer users generally weren't interested in console gaming - at least, not typically to the same extent as console gamers.
Although the XEGS had what was probably the best overall execution of the concept, it still had its flaws that showed how these types of machines typically sat in a no-man's-land between console gaming and home computing. It was also a dead concept by the time the XEGS arrived in 1987; I'm having a difficult time thinking of anyone else who followed the same pattern after 1987. The Amstrad GX4000 and Commodore 64GS don't count as those were not designed for use as computers.
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12 hours ago, JPF997 said:
I'm not posting here because there's nothing more to be said on this subject, plus I consider this thread to be a failure, no productive discussion really took place here, it quickly devolved into a shit flinging contest between everyone who participated in it ( me included, yes I am capable of self reflection, the problem started with the title itself, if I had made the topic to be about the best and worst CEOs instead of just the worst ones then maybe this could have turned into a good thread), now I'm just waiting for Albert to shut this whole thread down like I've requested.
Before calling it a day on this thread, I really would like to know your answer to the following:
On 9/14/2023 at 10:22 AM, x=usr(1536) said:On 9/14/2023 at 12:49 AM, x=usr(1536) said:He's also Soylent Green!
When I wrote this, what did you think I was referring and/or alluding to? Again, genuinely curious.
Not asking to be antagonistic, but rather because I think that my comment re: Soylent Green may have held a different connotation for you than it did for me.
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3 minutes ago, guppy said:
That describes the average Atari collector...
Maybe. For my part, at least, I'm under no illusions that all this crap will continue to be worth about what I paid for it, possibly even less
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14 hours ago, JPF997 said:
Thanks for the information. If I remember correctly he hasn't sold his pongf share's yet because the value is too low, but it's anyone's guess if the stock will actually go up in value at any point in the near future so his share's could end up being worth more or even less depending on future stock evaluations, not a good place to be in my opinion.
That's flat-out speculation, not investment. He's basically sitting on the shares hoping that they'll increase in value so that he can cash out as opposed to having a long-term investment strategy for them.
It reminds me of the people with a house full of crap, and all the crap will be worth something someday.
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Quick update: it appears that the sum total of information regarding the main IC (marked 'AV775C') consists of people looking for datasheets for it, or mentions in a few reviews. The datasheets themselves, however, do not appear to be readily-available, though the IC appears to have been used in a few different low-end A/V converters.
Interestingly, the basic circuit design has been incorporated into other devices using a different form factor. This Livejournal post (in Russian) shows essentially the same circuit in a mini-VGA converter. The main IC is shown to be a MacroSilicon MS1851, but it"s not a pin-for-pin equivalent to the AV775C - the MS1851 has 16 pins per side, whereas the AV775C has 20. This leads me to believe that while the AV775C may be a knockoff of something, there's more than one hardware revision of this basic design out there and the MS1851 may not be what it was based on.
Having said that: a bunch of the pins on the AV775C seem to just be sunk straight to ground, so there's no good way of telling what's going on from just a visual comparison.
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The Aliexpress converter arrived today. So far, its sole purpose has been to provide images of its internals. Chances are good that that will be the sum total of its lifetime achievements, but I may trace out the pads on the CON1 connector and see if anything interesting comes of it.
If anyone knows someone who is willing to open up the Apollo / Atlas converter, please point them towards these pictures. A Coke says that the internals are the same.
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1 hour ago, JPF997 said:
There is a lot of consern right now in the retro gaming community over the problem of disc rot, the disc's of early disc based console's like the PS1 and 2 weren't exactly made to last, especially if used frequently,
Yup. This particularly started affecting laserdiscs in a significant way starting in the late '90s. Pretty much any optical disc media can be subject to it - that doesn't mean that they will be, but given that the major formats (CD, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-Ray, various proprietary formats used by consoles, etc.) all use similar construction methods, it's definitely a real concern. Related:
1 hour ago, JPF997 said:cartridges are know for lasting much longer than disc's but how much longer is the question, I have no doubt that in 30 year's most PS1 disc's and console's will be filling landfills while most old Atari console's and cartridges will still be playable ( they were built to last after all, not like the crap made in China today ),
There is a counterpart to disc rot that affects ICs: bit rot. It's been known for decades as well.
Realistically, as long as the media (disc or IC) was manufactured in a clean environment, not abused during its lifetime, and was stored in environments that were no detrimental to its health, the lifespans can be considered indefinite. What that really means is 'indefinite until it fails', which isn't easy to quantify. I have no doubt that there will be a ton of media that outlasts our lifetimes and then some, but entropy being what it is most will not.
1 hour ago, JPF997 said:but after that how much longer can they theoretically last, 50, 100, 200 year's? Does anyone have a rough estimation of much longer we can expect these cart's to work before they start falling apart, let me know if you do.
There's really no set number. Magnetic media from the 1950s has been successfully read and recovered, while media from even the past decade may be unrecoverable. Wire recordings from much earlier than that are still playable. It's pretty much case-by-case.
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The Junior. Love the compact form factor and its looks fit in with the 5200 and 7800.
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9 hours ago, johannesmutlu said:
You know what am amezed about,not only is the 5200 based on both the atari 400 & 800 computer systems ,heck even the atari 600xL and atari 800XL are probably identical hardwarewise ,and even the later atari XE is nased on the same hardware as of that from the atari 400 computer,wich i sometimes could hardly believe wich is really mind blowing
Backing up for a moment: it's more accurate to say that the A8 range is based on the 5200. The 5200 was scheduled to replace the 2600 roughly three years after its launch, but Atari, having already designed the hardware for what would become the 5200, decided to use that platform to move into the home computer market. That was in 1979; the 5200 eventually went on sale in 1982.
As for differences between the A8 and 5200: no PIA on the 5200 so no SIO, a completely different OS ROM, incompatible controllers, an expansion port on the 5200 that isn't replicated on the A8s, etc. Sure, they share SALLY, POKEY, ANTIC, and GTIA, but there's more to it than just recasing an A8 and calling it good.
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14 hours ago, c1ph3rpunk said:
Sure, here’s the PSU that came with it. I had read about issues with some of them previously so I haven’t used it, waited until I got a new one at VCF from 8-bit Classics.
That one should be OK, but testing it before plugging it into the machine is very much recommended
Pinout is:
14 hours ago, c1ph3rpunk said:I was going to buy RAM and likely a GTIA, ANTIC and, if possible, a POKEY (they seem costly now). Is there a known reliable source for them in the US? Searching eBay has results but some of them immediately look suspect.
POKEYs are not cheap these days. Best Electronics has them, as does The Brewing Academy. Other than that, outside of taking a chance on a non-working machine and hoping that it yields good ICs the options are fairly slim.
15 hours ago, c1ph3rpunk said:I suppose second question on the RAM, if the Mt ones are known to have issues, is there a more reliable replacement manufacturer?
A couple of years ago, I picked up somewhere in the region of 384K of mid-1990s manufacture NEC RAM. The ICs were pulled from unknown sources, but it's been working great.
Can't remember where I got it from, but it was probably an electronics surplus site. Too many counterfeits on eBay / Amazon to make it worth buying it there unless I'm familiar with the seller and their reputation.
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46 minutes ago, c1ph3rpunk said:
I then went back to check Vcc all over and when I got to the GTIA chip I get effectively 0V on Vcc. When I check across Vcc and Vss on that chip, it shows -5V, I’m guessing that’s not good.
Yeah, that's not the best.
Can you use a different power supply? If you happen to have the original one, please post a photo of it here before using it - there's one 110V PSU (the 'Ingot') that's known to kill systems.
Any solder bridges and/or splatters anywhere on the board?
One thing worth noting: as @Beeblebrox mentioned, you have MT RAM in that machine. It's known to be not the most reliable. This may be a contributing factor to the behaviour you're seeing if not outright responsible for it.
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4 hours ago, JPF997 said:
Anyways I think I know which individual you are referring to, Mr. Powerdubs/Josh right, the man's shilling power level is easily over 9000, but I don't think he's a bad guy, all the times I've interacted with him on Twitter and reddit have been quite positive, if he wasn't so hardcore with the Atari SA pongf stock shilling I think more people would like having him around.
This is not the first forum where he's done something like this. I watched him pull pretty much the exact same crap on another forum of which I also happen to be a member, and he didn't make himself any more popular over there than he did here.
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On 9/17/2023 at 12:57 PM, phoney said:
You may want to reconsider placing the monitor on top of the 800. The more room that the machine has to vent its heat, the better.
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9 hours ago, RevEng said:
The lack of working code I can live with. It's the lack of quotes from Moby Dick that's the real problem.
"Eskimo."
If anyone gets the reference from just one word, well, colour me impressed
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Tacos.
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35 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:
Prosystem has been ported to every OS I can think of. Prosystem is the 7800 emulator of choice for RetroArch, and RetroArch has been ported to everything.
Well, TIL
Guess that's what I get for not fact-checking my cross-platform compatibilities once in a while 
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Pinout is:
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Which model of the Atari VCS/2600 do people usually prefer ?
in Atari 2600
Posted
Ehh, not necessarily. It's usually possible to reuse the power connector and splice it onto a new PSU. Keeps everything original except for the PSU itself.