kennetzel

There was this couple where I worked at the time who were the elite...what I mean is, if something new came out, they got it first. And God forbid someone beat them to it...which is what I did with my Atari. I got mine before they made the plunge. And they would go out of their way to berate the thing. The big one was "You're wasting your money on those "tapes" you buy because they wear out after being played so much. So after a few months they are useless and you wasted thirty bucks on junk."

Oh, well that's nice of them. I thought I left something out. But it did look like the same spring in the button assembly.

This is the Track Ball I have. It worked okay, except the problems I described above. It needed a cleaning, so I took it apart, and when I put it back together, I had a spring left over...LOL...But it does work.

Mine gives me a black screen and wierd noises when a cartridge isn't in all the way. Maybe carts aren't registering as being in.

It was for idiots like me who didn't know better, bought one, and got let down when using it seeing it work so crappy. They made the bucks, and I had a useless trackball.

I never had luck with the track ball...I don't know if it is the type I have, or if this is a problem with all of them. But it seems I don't have the control with it like in the arcade. No matter how fast I spin it, the cursor only moves as fast as if the joystick was moving the object. So you don't get free movement. You can spin fast, but it moves at the speed the stick would make it move. So why bother?

It's the same TV I have been using, but it just started doing this when I switched consoles. It is a projection set, but when I use the focus feature, it says all guns are on target. So I am at a loss. It gets real bad in games like Gravatar when using a small ship...it looks like two ships right next to each other.

I would agree if other colors did this. but the reds, the greens, the yellows...sharp as a tack. It didn't do this with my old system. Despite the general interference (squiggly lines) present, the colors were sharp...all colors. This was the first thing i noticed because I put in the new Pac Man and spotted it right away with the maze walls.

Okay, I couldn't get a clear enough photo of the problem, but I drew it. All other colors are very sharp. Only blue or purple look like this. And the smaller the object is, the worse it looks. Like the ratio is the same on all objects, but being smaller, the spacing is wider in proportion.

I have played other games and it is noticable on them too...but mostly on PacMan 4K. It's not a big issue...just a bit annoying since my other machine didn't do that. But hey, its a trade off really because with the interference I was getting, this is minor compared to that.

Sorry...I guess I beat around the bush to much...but what I was really looking for was some answers as to why the doube image. Is it still interference? Is there something wrong with the game? Can I fix it? Not to mention, I thought the consoles were somewhat rare, and with the posts about air raid and all, I thought I was posting an appropriate post. I apologize for wasting the space.

I posted a few weeks ago about how my system was giving me trouble. So I replaced it. I got myself a Darth Vader console. And boy what a difference. I also posted about interference. That's gone now and the colors look so vivid and sharp. The only problem is blue objects seem to be doubled...like two stacked on top of one another. A little disturbing in the new Pac Man 4K...it looks like two objects on top of one another and shifted slightly. But that is the only problem. It's clean and works great.

Here is one more submission from me.

I guess the game that freaked me out the most was Pac Man. Not in a scarry way...well, maybe some. The look of the Pac Man himself. He had that one eye, and his movements were like he was in slow motion...that mouth of his slowly opening and closing. He looked more like a hungry clam than Pac Man. It reminded me of the Creature from the Black Lagoon when they would show him walking and gasping for air. All that was missing was the moving gills. It just seemed like they didn't try with the game. They say ET was programed in six weeks...Pam Man looks like it was done in a week. The new 4K version is so great.

Thanks Moonsweeper, I didn't see that.

I did the same thing...game and paddles from Amazon. What always buggs me about these games is they always supply one video and one audio cable. Most TV's are stereo these days...don't you really need an left and right audio cable? Without that you only get sound out of one side. I guess they feel it's not necessary to have full sterophonic sound on these old games. But the reason I ask is I have a random HDMI cable hangingn out the back end already for when my daughter hooks up her Xbox, and I was hoping to just hook it into that. I guess I have to move the TV.

Hi all. I preordered the Atari Flashback 4 for my living room TV. It's an HDMI ready LCD TV. Anyone know how they hook up to the TV? Do they hook up with an HDMI cable, or is it component? Being new I assume they can be hooked up to the newer sets, I just want to be ready when it ships and gets here. Thanks to anyone who can help.

Well, I got some tuner cleaner, and used compressed air and cleaned the switch, and no luck. It is still stuck in hard difficulty. I think either the switch is shot, or there is a short in the system. That is why I took my original Atari in in the first place....there was a short in the joystick on the same side. It kept firing even without a joystick plugged in. Apparently the "glitch" for the system.

Good thing I checked back before I did anything. I almost used the WD40...I don't have any cleaner. I have compressed air, but no cleaner. I have to get some. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Moonsweeper, I'll try it.

I thought my Telegame was in perfect shape aside from some cosmetic damage. Scratch that. My wife decided to join me in playing the other day and when we played Breakout...we couldn't adjust the difficulty switch on her side. It seems to be stuck in high difficulty. She was stuck with the narrow paddle and no matter how many times I flipped the switch, it had no effect. THat's odd because that game was normally played by one person...that switch was hardly ever used, and why it would be stuck in difficult mode is beyond me. If it was to be stuck, I would rather it be stuck on easy. So...can that switch be replaced...easily? Or would it be wise to hunt for a new system?

I would have to say Space Invaders. That is why I bought the system in the first place. I was hooked on that arcade game back in the day and when I found out Atari offered it in the home, I had to have it. But lots of the other games come close like Missile command, Adventure, Phoenix, Demon Attack, etc.

How do they work...do you just put the ROMs you get on the SD card and it plays from them? (EDIT) Never mind. I read the other page from the link. Sounds interesting. I may look into it.

Hey Bennybingo...I don't think I unearth anything unusual. I have a lot of games from then...I think the rarest is the Star Trek game which is not that rare to begin with. I have the run of the mill games...pacman, space invaders, yar's revenge, missile command, frogger (parker brothers), break out, super break out, adventure, stuff like that. I was hoping something would be unique, but it's not judging by the research I have done here. As far as my joysticks go, I found a place on line that sold two for twenty dollars...brand new, and they work great. Other games I have now are what I picked up on Ebay, a few still in the shrink wrap. I downloaded the emulator and am surprised how poor some of the games are. Despite the classics in the system, it seemed like companies tried to slap anything together to sell as an Atari game. Not to take away from the greats however. Like anything...there are good and bad. I am just fascinated on how well the older games play...still a challenge despite the primitive graphiics and it's interesting to see some of the home brews coming up and what people can do with the thing. Thanks for all your offers for help. I will keep you all in mind in case I need something.

Here is where my ignorance comes into play...how does one put it on a cart to put into the game? I assume there is certain hardware needed...Or is this designed to play on your pc.