Atari 2600 Games that don't fit/work?

[Berzerker]

I've heard that the Atari 7800's Cartridge port is rather small, and while most Atari 2600 games fit, some Third Party ones (Because the cartridge design obviously varied back then) simply don't fit. Is there a certain company(s) that made large cartridges, or can anyone give me a list of notable/all games that don't fit? Because that's just a major drawback, I'd either have to open up the cartridge every time I wanted to play it and risk getting it dirty/broken or just send Atariage a rom and have them make a new cartridge for 25 bucks...

 

Also, do some games just not work? I heard that most do, so does that mean some, for whatever reason, just don't start up? There's only one Atari 2600 game I know of that uses an advanced chip to push the system, which brings me to my next question...

 

DOES PITFALL 2 WORK? I just couldn't find an answer ANYWHERE I looked! Also, does it work on the Colecovision Expansion Module 1? I know they made a version for Colecovision, but the 2600 version will always be my favorite...

 

Thanks for helping me out!!

[HammR25]

If you search the forum you'll find all your answers. There's 1 Atari game and 3 or 4 Activision games that don't work depending on which revision of the 7800 you have. I think some of the Imagic carts don't fit properly. You probably didn't find anything about Pitfall 2 working because no one has had a problem with it not working. Mine works fine.

 

If you want to make sure they all fit properly you could always preorder this.

[AtariLeaf]

This is one of the reasons when those discussions come up where someone new is asking which system to get - 7800 or 2600 - my first inclination is always to the 7800 because you can play games for both systems, however this is one of those instances where having an original 2600 has definite advantages. I don't like jamming carts into my 7800 to make them fit, like Imagic games (perhaps M-Network too, I can't recall how those fit off hand) so I end up breaking out a 2600 to play those anyway.

[mimo]

well it is not exactly difficult to trim the cart guide so that all the carts fit

Pitfall 2 works fine

There are timing issues with some 7800's and a very small number of games, but there is an easy fix. However I have had over 10 7800's pass through my ownership and I have not had any issues (PAL and NTSC 7800's btw)

[Berzerker]

If you search the forum you'll find all your answers. There's 1 Atari game and 3 or 4 Activision games that don't work depending on which revision of the 7800 you have. I think some of the Imagic carts don't fit properly. You probably didn't find anything about Pitfall 2 working because no one has had a problem with it not working. Mine works fine.

 

If you want to make sure they all fit properly you could always preorder this.

 

Thanks! But how did you find that info on the forum? Which Atari game and 3 or 4 Activision Games don't work/Which Imagic/M-Network carts don't fit? I'm sorry, but I looked and just couldn't find this information. If you don't know what they are please link me to the right place, thank you.

[Berzerker]

well it is not exactly difficult to trim the cart guide so that all the carts fit

Pitfall 2 works fine

There are timing issues with some 7800's and a very small number of games, but there is an easy fix. However I have had over 10 7800's pass through my ownership and I have not had any issues (PAL and NTSC 7800's btw)

 

Trimming the cart guide? Sounds interesting, but how would I go about doing that?

[BassGuitari]

IIRC, Tigervision cartridges won't fit, either.

[+Mitch]

 

Thanks! But how did you find that info on the forum? Which Atari game and 3 or 4 Activision Games don't work/Which Imagic/M-Network carts don't fit? I'm sorry, but I looked and just couldn't find this information. If you don't know what they are please link me to the right place, thank you.

 

Space Shuttle, Decathlon, Robot Tank and the Supercharger won't work on some later model 7800s. 2600 Dark Chambers and Stargate/Defender 2 may not work on some early model 7800s.

 

Imagic, Activision, some Tigervision carts and the Supercharger may have issues fitting into the cart slot on later 7800s.

 

There are other random games that people occasionally have problems with due to aging/failing hardware but those are fairly uncommon.

 

Mitch

[+Psionic]

IIRC, Tigervision cartridges won't fit, either.

It should be noted that there are two variations of Tigervision cartridges. The earlier cartridges with the spring-loaded dust cover will fit just fine (King Kong, Jawbreaker & Threshold exist in this style), whereas the later cartridges with the inner mechanism reversed will not fit (unless you trim down or break off the plastic prongs).

[mimo]

well it is not exactly difficult to trim the cart guide so that all the carts fit

Pitfall 2 works fine

There are timing issues with some 7800's and a very small number of games, but there is an easy fix. However I have had over 10 7800's pass through my ownership and I have not had any issues (PAL and NTSC 7800's btw)

 

Trimming the cart guide? Sounds interesting, but how would I go about doing that?

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/140286-7800-finally-now-about-that-cartridge-slot/page__p__1696498__hl__cartridge%20slot__fromsearch__1#entry1696498

 

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/83583-a-serious-78002600-question-for-me/page__p__1022628__hl__cartridge%20slot__fromsearch__1#entry1022628

 

http://www.atariage.com/7800/faq/index.html?SystemID=7800#cat3_3

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/73258-finally/page__p__900532__hl__cartridge%20slot__fromsearch__1#entry900532

 

etc,etc,etc

[jimbo_t]

My solution for IMAGIC game cartridges that won load in one of my 7800 is to lightly file the front top corners of the cartridge. Slides right in after that.

[atari181]

My solution for IMAGIC game cartridges that won load in one of my 7800 is to lightly file the front top corners of the cartridge. Slides right in after that.

wish I knew that 6 years ago!

[Osgeld]

also remove the surround of the cart slot and cut off the outer edge, mod the console not every off fitting game

[CMR]

I took apart my 7800, removed the plastic piece for the cart slot, and used a dremel tool with a wood carving bit to grind it out a little. I find the Imagic carts fit the worst. So if you can get one of those to go in, you should be fine.

[Col7800]

Wow, a 6 year bump on this thread

 

Anyway, if anyone is having problems on a PAL system, you can remove capacitor C42 to disable the added timing circuit.

I did this on my system, now Supercharger games work perfectly