Albert Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Note: For the time being I have as many SuperChip carts as I need. Thanks to everyone who sent some in!! -- In an effort to get the homebrew game Cave-In published, I need to acquire a slew of SuperChip-based Atari 2600 carts so we can reuse the SuperChip contained within. What is the SuperChip (also known as SARA)? It's an additional chip that some later Atari 2600 games have that contains an additional 128 byte of RAM, effectively doubling the memory available to Atari 2600 programmers. Here is a list of all the SuperChip based games: Crystal Castles Dark Chambers Defender II Desert Falcon Dig Dug Fatal Run Jr. Pac-Man KLAX Millipede Off the Wall Radar Lock Secret Quest Sprintmaster Stargate Super Football I don't expect anyone to send me copies of Off the Wall, of course, but several of those games are relatively common (such as Dig Dug, Crystal Castles, and Jr. Pac-Man). If you have some number of these carts you can sell to me, please send me a PM. Thanks! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Here is a picture for people who have hoards of loose boards laying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Here is a picture for people who have hoards of loose boards laying around. Thanks. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 You're welcome. Future Cave In parts: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammingcowz Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Do those red carts have everything the superchip carts need? They're a lot slimmer. Edited January 25, 2009 by flammingcowz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Do those red carts have everything the superchip carts need? They're a lot slimmer. Depends on the game. Many of the games in the list above are red label carts, such as Super Football and Jr. Pac-Man. But not all red label carts will have the superchip. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Do those red carts have everything the superchip carts need? They're a lot slimmer. Are you referring to the picture of the PCB's I posted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lendorien Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 In an effort to get the homebrew game Cave-In published, I need to acquire a slew of SuperChip-based Atari 2600 carts so we can reuse the SuperChip contained within. What is the SuperChip (also known as SARA)? It's an additional chip that some later Atari 2600 games have that contains an additional 128 byte of RAM, effectively doubling the memory available to Atari 2600 programmers. Well this is good news! Cave in is a great game. Can't help with your search though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammingcowz Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Do those red carts have everything the superchip carts need? They're a lot slimmer. Are you referring to the picture of the PCB's I posted? Yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Do those red carts have everything the superchip carts need? They're a lot slimmer. Are you referring to the picture of the PCB's I posted? Yeah Those are just my boards, which is why Al needs donor carts, so he can extract the SuperChip (SARA) from them and use them on these boards. Here is a comparison shot between Atari's board and mine: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) ... Edited January 26, 2009 by Shawn Sr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Al, May I make a suggestion? How about offering the cart for sale with a lower price for those who send in their own donor superchip cart for the title? I think this would make things easier on you and put the burden on the potential buyer to save a few bucks for those who wish to. I'll look and see if I can scrape some together for you in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapetino Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 How about offering the cart for sale with a lower price for those who send in their own donor superchip cart for the title? I think this would make things easier on you and put the burden on the potential buyer to save a few bucks for those who wish to. I like that idea too. Though it would elongate the time between ordering and receiving the game, right? That being said, I have a Crystal Castles that can be used. Are you interested in single carts like that, or just people who have multiples? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 How about offering the cart for sale with a lower price for those who send in their own donor superchip cart for the title? I think this would make things easier on you and put the burden on the potential buyer to save a few bucks for those who wish to. I like that idea too. Though it would elongate the time between ordering and receiving the game, right? That being said, I have a Crystal Castles that can be used. Are you interested in single carts like that, or just people who have multiples? Right now it's a bit expensive to ship just a single or small number of carts. I'm looking to acquire a number of these carts so they can be worked on all at once, instead of in small spurts. And this will just be for the initial batch of Cave-In carts. Ultimately I'll end up using a new board that will make things a bit easier. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Al, I, too, have 1 duplicate Crystal Castles. In fact, I've already stripped the board out of the shell (and removed the label) so I'll throw that in along with the carts I'm going to send to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewman21 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Will Cave In and I guess by default Superchip games work in a Flashback 2? Its my only machine right now and it does have the cart slot mod. Thanks for any info! I'm thinking about getting the game as it does look sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornpipe2 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Will Cave In and I guess by default Superchip games work in a Flashback 2? Its my only machine right now and it does have the cart slot mod. Thanks for any info! I'm thinking about getting the game as it does look sweet! http://kennedy.greg.googlepages.com/fb2compat.html Unfortunately all of the Superchip games Al listed above are shown on this list as "not working". Too bad as I only have the hacked FB2 and was planning a Superchip multicart... ah well, saves me the trouble of building the darn thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Forgive me for asking a stupid question, but is Solaris not a Superchip game? I kind of thought it was. The reason I ask is I have a dead Solaris cartridge I could contribute to the cause, if there was a chance it could be stripped for parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Forgive me for asking a stupid question, but is Solaris not a Superchip game? I kind of thought it was. The reason I ask is I have a dead Solaris cartridge I could contribute to the cause, if there was a chance it could be stripped for parts. nope its not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Forgive me for asking a stupid question, but is Solaris not a Superchip game? I kind of thought it was. nope its not. Oh well. Makes its accomplishments all the more impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san-d-2000 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Why not sell the chip and stickers as a set for a lower price, so people can put their own cartridge together at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchysuperman Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I should have a bunch. I'll dig around when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Those are just my boards, which is why Al needs donor carts, so he can extract the SuperChip (SARA) from them and use them on these boards. Here is a comparison shot between Atari's board and mine: Okay, daft question time here perhaps, but why not just remove the game chip from the old boards and solder the newly burnt homebrew to them instead? Rather than extract the SARA, solder it to the new board AND then solder the homebrew chip to the new board. Edited January 26, 2009 by Mayhem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Those are just my boards, which is why Al needs donor carts, so he can extract the SuperChip (SARA) from them and use them on these boards. Here is a comparison shot between Atari's board and mine: Okay, daft question time here perhaps, but why not just remove the game chip from the old boards and solder the newly burnt homebrew to them instead? Rather than extract the SARA, solder it to the new board AND then solder the homebrew chip to the new board. I don't think that's totally daft, but I'd venture to guess that reusing old boards may present somewhat of a quality control issue (assuming the various circuit boards are 100% compatible with Cave-In). And in this day and age of flakey buyers and their whining, you'd want to keep your liability to an absolute minimum. NOT heating SARA up twice though to remove and re-install her would reduce the risk of accidentally overheating the poor gal. But I'm sure their soldering skills are tip top :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 If I were given the choice, I'd want everything soldered onto a nice minty fresh board with fresh solder, rather than a new game chip soldered onto a 30ish year old brittle board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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