LANC3L0T

Wow, this game looks absolutely amazing! 💗 I can't even fathom how this is possible on the 2600. Being a huge fan of Ultima III and IV, I will definitely be ordering a copy along with the AtariVox. Thanks for all the time you put into making Penult, you will be getting my vote for best Atari 2600 game.

Good to know. To be honest, the largest modern television I used for my 2600 was 19 inches. And the quality on that TV was decent enough for me. I can't imagine how rough the games would look on a modern 50+ inch television using the RF adapter.

I don't like modding my vintage Atari systems. I use a $3 coaxial RCA Adapter to get my old Atari consoles working with a modern TV. As far as I know, modern televisions can still tune into channels 2.0 and 3.0 just fine. At least all of mine can. https://console5.com/store/gold-plated-premium-coaxial-rca-to-f-type-converter.html

Me too!! As you can tell from my profile photo, Mr. Do! is my favorite arcade game. It would be awesome to have it in cartridge format for the 5200.

I use that adapter for everything I play on my 5200, and I LOVE it!! I cleaned a few used original 5200 joysticks and got them in working order... but after sitting a few weeks, several buttons failed to work again. I need to order the gold replacement innards from Best electronics, to see if that helps.

Qix has always been one of my top 10 arcade games. When I picked up a 5200 console last year, Qix was the first game I bought. 🙂

I totally agree about the 5200 having some of the best arcade ports. I just recently tried the 5200 for the first time, and was stunned by how good the games look. The Pokey chip enables the games to sound amazing too. Although, it did make sense once a discovered the internals of the console are extremely close to the Atari computers of that era.

Albert, thanks for offering this great deal before the games are gone for good. You are going to be VERY busy these next few months. I greatly appreciate all that you do for the Atari community. I ordered 3 Atari 5200 last chance games: Archon, Satan's Hollow and Sinistar. Can you tell I was a teen in the 80's? 😄 I also ordered Galagon for the 2600... another big 80's game.

Sega Genesis controllers work fine on the Atari 2600 and 7800. If you want the use of 2 separate fire buttons on the Atari 7800, the Atari 7800 MEGA Adapter is wonderful. It is super easy to solder the necessary components - female and male 9-pin ports, 4 resistors, and 2 transistors. I used 680 ohm resistors, since I lacked the 620 varieties. Here is the link to PCBWAY if you want to order some: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Atari_7800_Mega_Drive_adapter.html I ordered a few and was able to add the components (do you best to add an angle on female plug that goes into the Atari 7800). Here are photos of the PCB, and my final result.

I would not change it either. If it works, don't "fix" it. The Jr is my favorite 2600 system for daily use. Super small, external RF port, and no protruding switches... making it easy to store on my bookshelf. Plus, they are the cheapest version on eBay, so I know it would be easier to replace if it dies.

Based on some fun I had over the holiday weekend, I can give you my rookie advice. Always start by checking the power coming out of the voltage regulator and large capacitor. If those look good, pull out the RIOT, CPU and TIA chips one by one and test them in a known good system. I prefer to go that route before trying known good chips in a faulty unit. As for the fun I had: I revived two Atari 2600's and made a few dollars from my local retro video game shop. The shop owner said that the units were donated to him because both had defective video output. I had to replace the RIOT chip in a 6-switch unit that at least tried to display something, but it was very messed up. The 4-switch unit just showed a black screen with a thin vertical line on the left side. It's RIOT chip worked fine in one of my good units. But, the CPU did not. I installed a spare CPU and everything worked great!! Unfortunately, I had to de-solder both of them and add a sockets, unlike the 6-switch system that was already socketed. While testing each system, I noticed that the RIOT and CPU chips ran much hotter than the TIA... so I have a hunch those two will fail far more often than the TIA.

The three 5200 systems I bought still work perfectly. The only "chip" fault I remember reading about involved the common CD4013 Flip-Flop IC that can be picked up at console5 (or many other places): https://console5.com/store/cd4013-flip-flop-ic-atari-5200-power-stuck-on-or-off.html

I did the power mod simply because it removes the need for a TV adapter (which was not included in either of the 4 port 5200's that I bought). The systems I bought did not come with a power supply, but I do believe that original 2 and 4 port system's power supply works on a modded 4 port system... can somebody please verify this? LOL. I love tinkering with non-working systems, so I was a little bummed that most of them worked. But, at the same time, I was very glad that none of the chips were dead. How serious were the issues with your two 2600 systems and the 7800? Did you get all three working?

Yeah their web site is not easy to navigate. And you have to call them to place an order. I don't mind though, because they are very pleasant and can offer advice if needed. I bought and installed a couple of the 5200 power mod kits from Console5: https://console5.com/store/atari-5200-4-port-powered-switchbox-bypass-modification-kit.html And this power supply to use after the MOD was complete: https://console5.com/store/triad-magnetics-power-supply-for-atari-5200-twin-famicom-pal-snes.html I grew up with an Atari 2600 and bought a three 7800 systems and some games a few years ago. I knew very little about the 5200 until buying a couple of systems and games last year. I was interested in the fact that it had the Pokey sound chip on the motherboard, unlike the 7800. That chip is also used in many 80's arcade machines, so the 5200 games are close to being arcade perfect. The way you are currently eyeing the 5200, was pretty much how I felt last year. 🙂 FYI: You should feel comfortable buying used Atari systems... they are built like tanks!! Every "untested" 2600 and 5200 system I bought of eBay worked. I only had one 7800 system (out of three) that needed the power switch replaced. If it doesn't work, the people in these forums get super excited to help figure out why a system doesn't work. 😄

Great point, thanks for pointing that out!! Let us know what your opinion after trying it out on a few games. I think it makes many of the arcade style 5200 games so much easier to play. For the games that require the standard 5200 joystick, I recommend going to https://www.best-electronics-ca.com They have modern redesigned parts you can use inside the joysticks that will improve reliability and response. Plus, they deserve our love and support for the numerous years they have devoted to the Atari community.

The Atari 5200 adapter from RetroGameBoyz cost $60 and is basically a number pad that plugs into the 5200. It has a 9 pin male port that you plug a joystick into. The only games that don't work are those that require the analog input... I think Missile Command is one that does not work. It looks like this: They also sell one that has an arcade style joystick built in for $125, and looks like this: The Multicart SD is sold by Atarimax and 8bitclassics for $129.

Has any progress been made on getting M.U.L.E. produced on an Atari 5200 cartridge? I would definitely buy one! I know I could buy the multi-cart, but they are expensive. Plus, I would prefer to have M.U.L.E. in it's own dedicated cartridge. I grew up playing the game on my C64, and it eventually became my favorite game of all time. I recently found out that MULE was first produced for the Atari computers. I don't own one of those, but the 5200 version is pretty much the same as the computer version, just tweaked a bit to work on the game console. So, getting a 5200 version on cartridge would be wonderful. 😀 Here is the 5200 MULE bin file if anybody wants to check it out on an emulator. MULE.bin

First off, I love the RockLobster name you picked... straight from the Amiga 500 motherboard! Second, I agree on the 4-port model. I bought a couple of them initially and did the power mod on both. It is very easy, and does away with the need for the funky RF box. Here is a link to a really good discussion on the modification: I have since bought a 2 port model as well, simply because it was cheap and I wanted both versions. 😄 Also, I bought a 5200 DB15 to DB9 adapter from RetroGameBoyz. It allows me to play most 5200 games with a Sega Genesis controller (or any standard 9 pin joystick for games that use one fire button). Here is the link to that: https://retrogameboyz.com/products/atari-5200-db15-to-db9-adapter-with-keypad-sega-genesis-amiga-amstrad-commodore-joystick-pad?variant=39399140720695 Also, you guys mentioned M.U.L.E. for the 5200. Since it requires bank-switching, I have no idea how to get the game onto a new cartridge PCB. If anybody has the ability to do this, I would be willing to pay for it. M.U.L.E. is my favorite game on the C64 (and that was ported from the Atari PC version). I know I could buy the Atari 5200 Ultimate SD Cartridge, but the $130 price is quite high. Here is the ROM I found in an old AtariAge forum. Check it out on the 5200 emulator, it is amazing!! MULE.bin

I received mine today as well, and I have to tip my hat to Albert. The packaging and quality is amazing!! I agree with Silver Back... the music is wonderful. Definitely the best I have heard on the 7800. So, the Hokey chip is a legit Pokey alternative. The game play is very similar to the C64 version that I own, and the graphics look great. So, kudos to the development team!! The SNES adapter makes the game super easy to play. But, unfortunately it does not work with other 7800 games. If you are thinking about buying this game, I would highly recommend it. But, if you have not played Petscii Robots before, please read the manual first. Without knowing how things work, you will most likely get bored and quit... missing out on a splendid game.

Noelle, Thanks for sharing that link. Your skills are very impressive! It's fun hearing how your tunes vary from system to system. Did you get help converting your music to all the different platforms? Or do you know how to do that yourself? Great job on the PC speaker versions! That had to be tough, given the EXTREME limitations. I grew up with a C64, so SID music always tugs at my heartstrings (I bought that version of Petscii Robots right away). I have recently gotten into the Atari 5200 and 7800, and thus experienced the POKEY. Which is very impressive given it was around long before the SID. My favorite platform you included would have to be AdLib... the quality is amazing. 😀

Wow, I am so excited to get this game. But seeing how many others bought the game is really cool too. Albert, I really appreciate the time and dedication you put into producing all those games. And thanks for sharing the photos!! I was rather sad this game didn't win the 7800 Homebrew Award. 1942 is a great game, but Petscii Robots offers so much more depth and replay value. They even created the SNES adapter for it. Not only that, despite being a very recent game, the 7800 joins a long list of retro systems that now have a Petscii Robots port.

Thanks for the very positive information about this game. I ordered it back in late January, so I really look forward to experiencing it on my 7800!! Especially after your glowing comments. And I agree about the SNES adapter. They really need to sell that separately, because I think a lot of people would want to own that!!

You should have no trouble selling a C128!! Those typically go for quite a bit more than the C64 units. And having the box will increase the value quite a bit.

I think adding the black and white Spies would be awesome! There was a great Spy vs Spy video game back in the C64 days that my friend and I loved playing. Having an option to somehow include them in this game would be a real treat!! TIX did a great job "pixelating" them. 💗

I have the C64 Mini, C64 Maxi, A500 mini, and oodles of the cheap Atari, Nintendo, Sega video game clones. But all they do is collect dust. I prefer using the real hardware... and buying new gadgets for them, like the SD2IEC for my C64C's and the ACA500plus for my Amiga 500's. Same is true for the Atari video game consoles that I own. I am not even 100% sure why I buy the clones... probably because I want to support the retro community. I was sparked to get back into the C64/A500 a couple years ago... encouraged by people like the 8 Bit Guy and Adrian's Digital Basement. For the first 50 years of my life, I never even held a solder gun. Up until then I thought working on motherboards was beyond my capabilities. BUT, there are LOTS of places to find tips and videos on how to repair all sorts of things. And in the last year, I have been able to fix or mod all kinds of systems I bought off eBay. A word of warning though... be careful, because the rush you get when reviving dead hardware is VERY addictive. 😄 Back to the topic... As a few others have also mentioned, the Commodore 64C is very reliable. The redesigned PLA rarely fails, unlike the original C64 PLA. It has fewer RAM chips. Plus, many of the "newer" SID tracks and amazing games came from Europe, where the C64C and newer 8580 SID chip was relevant. Over the last year, I picked up 5 "untested" C64C systems/motherboards (NTSC and PAL). They all worked without any help on my part. I didn't get the pleasure of reviving even one of them. I would encourage anybody that was interested in getting a real C64, based on one main condition. If they actually plan on spending considerable time with the system. If you are going to play a couple games and box it back up, then something like the C64 mini or emulation would be a much better option.