Warzard Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I wish they would make these with cartage slots on them. Be a real special edition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjchamp3 Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I had a dream about something coming MINI flashback like with min re releases of carts and stuff HOPE it happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warzard Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Maybe AtariAge could make their own version of the Flashback with some of the home-brews on it with a cartage slot? Just an Idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 That'd be a trick, given that apart from the first two Flashbacks, none of these has even had VCS chipsets in them. And then there's the licensing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 That'd be a trick, given that apart from the first two Flashbacks, none of these has even had VCS chipsets in them. And then there's the licensing. Only the second Flashback (2 and 2+) had the chip. The first Flashback was a horrible NOC. AtGames has a Genesis-on-a-chip, which is why they can do cartridge-based Genesis products, but they don't have an Atari-2600-on-a-chip. Frankly, they're not going to license or create it, either, so no, it's out. It's also highly unlikely Atari would sublicense for a similar product to anyone but AtGames, who is coming out with the next Flashback in 2014. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warzard Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Oh yeah, I forgot about the terrible first one. I was thinking of the 2 and 2+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 If I understand correctly, the FB4 uses an ARM processor to run a VCS software emulator. If so, they could have put non-Atari ROMs on here, but don't have the licencing. It's too bad. I would consider buying one of these if there were a way to load a ROM or a cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Why not just spend 40 bucks on an Android stick, then? They're ARM-based too, and there are a couple different Stella ports which are probably more faithful than whatever Atgames came up with (unless they're using Stella and violating the GPL). Any of them have enough flash to put every Atari game, homebrew, demo and WIP on them, many times over, though I guess you'd need a Stelladaptor to use real controllers with them. As a bonus, you can also play almost every NES, SNES, PS1, N64, C64 and arcade game ever made too, plus the subset of Android games that have mappable controls. Yes, they're HDMI and not composite, but then, a real VCS only has an antenna output (and you can get a used one cheaper than any of these licensed ones, and it has a cartridge slot and all the terrible image quality a nostalgic purist can ever crave). To be honest, owning two VCSes and two Android sticks and an array of control options, the only things about the Atgames Flashback units that intrigue me are the games that are significantly different on them or don't exist outside of them -- I could easily imagine that portrait mode Space Invaders screenshot being representative of what's on the device, which would destroy the nostalgia value for those of us who grew up with the 2600 but might be an interesting variation nonetheless. But I'm not interested enough to spend 70 bucks on it, especially when I already have the FB2 for stuff like Return to Haunted House. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Why not just spend 40 bucks on an Android stick, then? Good idea. What device and setup do you you use and recommend? Is there a web page that I can visit that will help me set that up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Good idea. What device and setup do you you use and recommend? Is there a web page that I can visit that will help me set that up? You could try a Raspberry Pi with Chameleon, a Linux distro that has a bunch of emulators preconfigured. Stella runs well. The RPi has both HDMI and composite video output, so it will even work with retro TVs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyd97 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Only the second Flashback (2 and 2+) had the chip. The first Flashback was a horrible NOC. AtGames has a Genesis-on-a-chip, which is why they can do cartridge-based Genesis products, but they don't have an Atari-2600-on-a-chip. Frankly, they're not going to license or create it, either, so no, it's out. It's also highly unlikely Atari would sublicense for a similar product to anyone but AtGames, who is coming out with the next Flashback in 2014. Any chance the next flashback will have SD slot? I am still disappointed Curt's Flashback portable system never got released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Any chance the next flashback will have SD slot? I am still disappointed Curt's Flashback portable system never got released. I've strongly advised that it should have it, but it's not looking good right now. I suspect it's tied to licensing issues. I'm still amazed Sega has been so wonderfully liberal with that kind of thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 You could try a Raspberry Pi with Chameleon, a Linux distro that has a bunch of emulators preconfigured. Stella runs well. The RPi has both HDMI and composite video output, so it will even work with retro TVs That would actually be a far better option than my Android sticks, even though its hardware is weaker. The Pi has a huge community around it that no Android TV device does. Also, Linux emulators generally perform better than Android ones, and there aren't many good Android front-ends. (Yes, Android uses a Linux kernel, but doesn't run Linux apps natively due to all the missing GNU stuff. On the other hand, I don't think the Pi will be playing any N64 games, but most of us here probably don't care about that.) And while Android sticks all look kind of like the old RF switch box we all know and love, with the Pi you can get cases like this: http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pibow-raspberry-pi-case or more seriously, http://www.fuze.co.uk/product/the-fuze-for-raspberry-pi-everything-but-the-pi/ or maybe most appealing to 2600 fans, http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pibow-timber I got ours in a hurry when one of our laptops died suddenly and we needed a cheap, quick way to browse the web and edit documents, or I probably would have gone for the Pi myself. Wish Chameleon supported other devices -- there's an Android ROM called Chameleon, but it's unrelated, and making things like accelerated video work on cheap Chinese kit is often a lost cause. If you do go the Android route, installing emulators is a little easier than it is on a desktop computer, and XBMC makes an okay "big picture" style launcher that also plays music and video. I'd also recommend getting your emulators from the F-droid app store, because everything in it is free and open source. There are a lot of opportunists on Google Play, both the kind who want your money (which is fine, I've bought 60 or 70 commercial games myself, though many are better on a tablet than a TV) and the kind who want to spy on you or worse. I know, this is getting pretty tangential, but to me, unless you're getting something like the FB2, you're essentially using emulators anyway so you might as well get something that can do more. (Says the guy with a 6-foot-shelf full of plug-n-plays.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warzard Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Or you could get an OUYA. it has lots of emulators and other games, apps too. https://www.ouya.tv/game/2600emu/ https://www.ouya.tv/game/Mupen64Plus-AE-N64-Emulator/ https://www.ouya.tv/game/Atabee/ Just a few. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 The Ouya's controller sucks (despite its touchpad being a nice idea) and many of the emulators available for it, unless you figure out how to sideload regular Android apps, cost money even though the straight Android versions are free. It's notoriously brickable as well, due to its lack of a proper recovery mode, making it a lousy device to hack despite its hype. I'd definitely choose either a Raspberry Pi or one of the better-supported generic Android sticks over that. I still have hope for its next iteration, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Even though it's $250, I can highly recommend the Nvidia Shield, particularly if your PC desktop configuration also works with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Even though it's $250, I can highly recommend the Nvidia Shield, particularly if your PC desktop configuration also works with it. You don't feel a little silly holding that contraption? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 You don't feel a little silly holding that contraption? It's actually rather well balanced. Heavy, but well balanced, and they got the controls as right as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony usually do, which is a rare feat with these types of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyd97 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Or you could get an OUYA. it has lots of emulators and other games, apps too. https://www.ouya.tv/game/2600emu/ https://www.ouya.tv/game/Mupen64Plus-AE-N64-Emulator/ https://www.ouya.tv/game/Atabee/ Just a few. Do you know if the usb Atari joystick works with the OUYA emulator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconhood Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 This system is $30 at Wal-Mart...enough of the FB for Atari, we have like 5 now, I want to see one for 5200, 7800, XE, or something NOT Atari: Intellivsion, Colecovision, TG16... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I would love to see an Atari Flashback "Arcade Edition." Give us the arcade originals, even the vector games. That was what we all wanted back in the 80s, anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 This system is $30 at Wal-Mart...enough of the FB for Atari, we have like 5 now, I want to see one for 5200, 7800, XE, or something NOT Atari: Intellivsion, Colecovision, TG16... You'll see another Atari 2600 Flashback (and more Sega stuff), as well as Intellivision and ColecoVision, in 2014. For the reasons mentioned elsewhere, it's extremely unlikely most other platforms will ever be targeted, at least by AtGames. There's an outside shot we may see some arcade and Commodore-themed (C-64 and Amiga) products, but I know of nothing else that's being actively considered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconhood Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 There's an outside shot we may see some arcade and Commodore-themed (C-64 and Amiga) products i have an Commodore one, it's a PNP Joystick styled system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 i have an Commodore one, it's a PNP Joystick styled system. Yes, I have a few myself. I did a review back in 2004. That was a proper simulation of the hardware like the Flashback 2. We almost certainly won't be seeing that again, at least from AtGames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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