Hardware "Easter Eggs"?

[Cap5750]

Are there any hardware "Easter Eggs" in the Atari 2600? I've heard of one (forget what it's called) that had something to do with flicking the power on and off really fast or something....

 

Cap

[RCorcoran]

Are there any hardware "Easter Eggs" in the Atari 2600? I've heard of one (forget what it's called) that had something to do with flicking the power on and off really fast or something....

 

Cap

 

Frying is the term. Haven't heard of any others tho'.

[Chris++]

That's not so much an Easter egg as it is a malfunction. I'm all but completely positive that it's bad for your VCS. I don't even think "frying" should be counted in lists or archives of Easter eggs. But that's just my 2K.

 

 

CF

[Paul Slocum]

On some games, using the wrong controllers can cause odd stuff to happen. Like using paddles on a joystick game and pressing both buttons at once. This works on Berzerk.

 

But I'm not sure if I call these easter eggs since I think the definition of an easter egg is something the programmer intentionally hid in a game. I think they'd fall a little closer to the "bugs" category.

 

-paul

[Tempest]

So what happens in Berzerk?

 

Tempest

[Paul Slocum]

I don't rember. I swear I read that somewhere and now I can't find it or figure out what it was. It's possible that I'm crazy.

 

-Paul

[Chris++]

"...

 

Drop the gun: Hold UP+DOWN and tap FIRE. At times, you will lose your gun. The gun will remain in one place and the robots can get killed if they walk into it. This may also work by holding LEFT+RIGHT when firing. And if you try to shoot after losing the gun, your character's arms will rise but no bullets will leave. {Tony Roy}

 

Crazy bullets: Go to the left side of the screen, hold UP+DOWN and then hold RIGHT. As soon as your character begins to move, press FIRE. Note: You should be holding the three directions while pressing FIRE. The bullets will start from the center of the screen and continue to the right. This is useful if there is a wall in the center and there are robots that you want to hit. Press LEFT instead of RIGHT when all three directions are held causes bullets to leave from the guy's head. If this trick is done on the right side of the screen it is sometimes possible to get the bullet to pass through the wall and come out on the left side of the screen. Go to the right side of the screen, hold LEFT+RIGHT and then hold DOWN. When press FIRE, the bullet it will suddenly appear on the far left of the screen and not move form that location. If UP is pressed instead of DOWN, the bullet will appear not as far to the left. {Tony Roy}

 

..."

 

(Courtesy of Scott Stilphen's 2600 Easter Eggs page)

 

 

CF

[Inky]

The only hardware EEgg I remember is in the Sega Master System. There's a fun little maze game hidden in the bios.

 

Turn it on without a game, then.. I think it's up and A and that activates it.

[junglehunter]

I have a problem with my 2600 6 switch woodgrain model. When I turn the system on with a game in it I sometimes have to tap the on knob to the side to get it to work good. This isn't the same thing as frying is it?

 

Off topic - to get that snail maze game on the Sega Master System, when you see the word SEGA, hold Up+Button 1+Button 2 until the snail maze game pops up. Someone try to beat my record of three mazes completed! LoL.