Major_Tom_coming_home

I have a Jr. with an A/V mod and I am very happy with it. It's not as sturdy as the other Atari consoles but I think the quality is still good, certainly MUCH better than the NES with it's horrible cartridge connector and Bi-Polar 10-NES lockout chip. The only actual benefit I've found vs earlier VCS consoles is the small size which can be handy for certain applications, and it's 'cool' looking modern appearance that some folks might prefer. If you have a VCS already I think there is no reason to buy one, but also there is no reason to NOT buy one - it's really just an optional thing to collect. Personally, I think you should consider getting a Sears Video Arcade II Atari clone with it's combination paddle / joystick controllers before getting the Jr. In my opinion it's much cooler than the Jr. and very unique.

I'm interested as well

Err... actually there has been a modern clone in a manner of speaking. The Atari Flashback 2 plug and play console was a hardware clone of the 2600. It only came with built-in games, but it was designed in such a way that a cartridge port could be added and it would then become a fully functional 2600 with modern A/V inputs. I believe it was possible to do the mod so it would still be able to play the built in games but I'm not 100% sure about that. I don't think too many Flashback 2 consoles were ever modded however. By the time you bought the flashback and the parts to do the mod, it was cheaper to just get an original 2600. Fortunately for all of us there isn't a really a need for a modern clone. the 2600 has proven to be a very sturdy console and lots of them were made. Since they can be purchased inexpensively I suspect there is no money to be made by selling a clone. The random untested Atari 2600 bought at a flea market will stand a good chance of actually working. On the other hand, the random NES is almost guaranteed to not work without the cartridge adapter being repaired or replaced. But hey, what about a 5-in-1 Atari clone that can play 2600, 5200, 7800, 8-bit, and lynx games? (I'm thinking a jaguar clone would be too expensive to clone with hardware and too difficult or even impossible to emulate on an inexpensive plug-and-play.)

Snagged a 7800 with hookups, 2 controllers, and a dozen games for $35 shipped. Also an XEGS console / keyboard with hookups and 2 gemsticks for $80 shipped.

My thanks to everyone for the advice. So if I understand correctly, I could use either the $59.99 Maxflash USB Cartridge Programmer Kit to create a multicart, or get the SIO2PC which would let the Atari computer read ROM files off of a PC via a USB cable?

I recently bought an Atari XEGS console / keyboard and was wondering what the options are as far as buying a ROM cartridge? I read the pinned newbie thread, but it gave me information overload and left me kind of unclear. Other than the cartridge itself, what exactly do I need to purchase in order to load ROMS from my PC and onto a ROM cartridge, and then use that ROM cartridge on my XEGS? The Newbie thread mentioned hardware add-ons being available for Atari Computers, but is this needed to use a Rom Cartridge? Also, are there any ROM cartridges that other users would recommend (or any other kind of advice advice)? I build PCs and I'm intimately familiar with PC hardware / software but I've never had an Atari Computer before (I grew up with a TRS-80 Coco II). Thanks!!!

Modern Controller on a 2600...Nah, I have a Genesis controller somewhere but I mostly use a TAC-2. For games that have a first person or behind view (like Solaris) I use a Wico Bat. I'll admit that a Genesis controller is pretty nice for Pitfall though. Emulation...I don't emulate Atari 2600 any more since I have the actual console, a cartridge collection, and a harmony cart. If I was emulating Atari I'd use my iBuffalo USB Famicom gamepad. If I was being lazy and didn't want to hunt down the iBuffalo then I'd use the XBox 360 controller already attached to my computer. Now that is blasphemy!

Of course you might be able to defray some of the cost by selling some of your duplicate cartridges to some random sucker new collector.

I think fair market value for a heavy in good condition with first party hookups and joysticks is $100. This is obviously only my opinion. I paid about $50 for my Light Sears Sixer that included hoockups and a few extras. The heavies carry a premium at least on Ebay, but I think most of the buy-it-now heavies are grossly overpriced. Of course, a Heavy Sixer is worth different amounts to different collectors. At the end of the day I think it comes down to this: how much of a premium are you willing to pay to get a Heavy Sixer vs. the cosmetically similar and functionally identical Light Sixer???

I think that owning 'rare' and 'valuable' stuff is the only way some of these people have to feel important and good about themselves. If their CIB copies of Combat and Missile Command aren't worth $50 each, that would mean that they don't own anything of value and therefore aren't influential or important. The fact that their flea market booth doesn't break even and has to be subsidized with their meager social security check is besides the point. In their deluded world, somebody who will see the value of their merchandise and actually want to buy it will eventually come along and they will be vindicated. If I'm sounding cruel that isn't my intent, I think it's pretty much just sad but reality.

So very true, especially if it's a thrift store like Goodwill that's a charity in theory only, but a vehicle for excessive executive compensation in practice. My opinion is that Goodwill does the bare minimum to be considered a charity and get free merchandise to resell in their stores at a 100% profit.

Thought I'd revive this old thread to plug 3D games in Farmington and Skowhegan. I got some good VCS deals and they worked with me a little on price in the Skowhegan store. I picked up Laser Gates, Star Wars Arcade, and a few other games.

My favorite lines to tell to a clueless thrift store manager: 1) "I understand you'd like to get $159 for it, but this is a Goodwill and not Macys. I can buy one of these brand new for the same price" 2) "When you saw the same item on Ebay for $159, was that the asking price or the selling price? Because asking is not the same as getting". 3) "If you want to get the Ebay price then you should go through the trouble of selling it on Ebay. This isn't Ebay. I am offering you $X in easy cash right now".

It would be possible, but the real question is how faithful could the port be? For instance the 2600 port of Zaxxon isn't faithful at all, but IMO it's still a good game that still has the spirit of the original game.

The artwork on the cartridge is extremely appropriate, congratz. Score one for the collectors!!!

If old = valuable I would be happy to sell the 1,000,000 year old granite rock in my front yard for $500,000 LOL. Sellers like this end up asking the same price without budging until the day they kick the bucket. Either they are hoarders who don't really want to part with anything, or their ego makes them delude themselves into thinking they own lots of valuable things even though they actually don't have a pot to piss in. Their $55 combat cartridge will still have that price tag when it gets tossed into a landfill never to be played or collected again. It a sad situation for this type of seller when you think about it.

Well, to be fair $5 isn't bad for Plaque Attack if you don't mind a roached up label . I would have gotten it if I needed it for my collection. Also, if that boxed River Raid 2 is being sold for $10 I would buy it in a heartbeat assuming that is actually the price he has for that item.

Sadly no pics but still worthy to mention: Circa 2004 I went to a toy store in the local mall (KB-Toys I think but I am not certain) to buy Metroid Prime for the Gamecube. The location was in the process of closing and they had a bunch of old crap that had been recently been 'discovered' in their distribution center. They were selling brand 'new old stock' copies of Desert Strike for the Sega Genesis at something like $30. At that point, the game was 12+ years and two console generations old, and was / is a very common game. Honestly, I probably would have bought it at $10 just for the nostalgia of buying a brand new Sega Genesis game from a toy store. To be fair, it actually is a very good game IMO. :-)

I was wondering if the Sears Arcade II combination joystick / paddle controllers work for both functions on other models of the VCS? I believe the Arcade II has a switch to toggle between joystick control and paddle control, and I'm wondering if this means the combination controller will only work properly with an Arcade II system? Thanks!

Methinks IBM was quite delusional in thinking they could wrest control of the PC market back out of the hands of the PC clone manufacturers and Microsoft DOS / Windows. They did get some sales for their PS/2 systems based on the IBM name alone, but not enough people were ever going to spend 2x the price of a PC clone to get a system with hardware / software that could only be supported by IBM at exorbitant cost.

A bit off topic, but I also miss the old Sears. Pretty much every power tool and gas powered lawn equipment my grandpappy bought came from Sears, and much is still being used after his death 20 years ago. My first socket set was Sears Craftsman made in the good old USA. I'm not sure if Craftsman hand tools were considered 'top of the line' when I got them but they were undeniably great value for the money. I bought my Craftsman cordless drill because the consumer reports rated it very highly and it was 1/2 the price of the other highly rated drills. The sad part is K-Mart bought them not to operate them but with the intention to slowly milk them dry, let them go out of buisness, screw the employees, and then make the real profit from the land. Their former culture and the way they used to operate is sadly now obsolete, but had advantages for the consumer. Sears was a place you could go to get everything for a household in one place. You knew that anything with a Sears brand would be good quality. They carried parts for everything they sold and they gave great post sale support. Their employees cared because they were commissioned and knew a lot about the products they sold. Great customer service. Basically, they were the opposite of Wal-Mart in every way and it's too bad we don't have that option any more.

I'm sure lots of us have been there and done that, as you may have read in my previous post.

I believe it's more or less a less harsh liquid spray form of silver polish. At least that's the purpose.

I'm sorry to read that this happened to you. If it helps, you aren't the first person to destroy something by attempting to repair it. I've bricked two beautiful high end Asus laptops by trying to 'fix' something that either wasn't really broken or was something I should never have tried to fix myself in the first place. As you can probably understand, I'm typing this post with a desktop computer (that I actually quite competently built myself LOL) and will never own a laptop again. $60 certainly stings and I feel for you, but the same lesson cost me $3400 over the course of about 4 years to learn.

I actually have Pitfall II ($11.50) Frostbite ($3.50) and Cosmic Commuter ($13). The Frostbite cartridge had marker writing on the label but I was able to get the majority of it off without harming the label. I could probably get it all of but my OCD was satisfied with 90%. My experience has been that if you are patient with Ebay and are willing to sometimes bid instead of buy it now, you can get very good deals on Atari games. I think the Price of H.E.R.O. won't stay as high as it is now, but if it does that is why I have a harmony cartridge. My absolute limit on Atari games is $25 and that would only be for the 'extra special' titles like H.E.R.O. . At the moment I can't actually think of any other games I would pay the full $25 for.