To Buy, or not To Buy........Harmony Encore

[deadone]

Ok, here goes this is MY VERY FIRST POST, so lets see if I can make it a good one.

 

 

 

I'm thinking of buying a Harmony cart..( ENCORE ) edition since it's been said, that it will play/hold all the homebrews/hacks/downloaded games.

 

 

 

my questions are......

 

1. Once you buy the cart do you have to pay $ for the roms?

 

it seems they're free here at .....http://www.atarimani..._2600_roms.html

 

 

 

2. I tried downloading these roms but I cannot "open" them for some reason. (or is it, that I need the cart first with a s/d card...and to download the firmware ect. in order to play them?

 

3. Is it easy to " download the games" alphabetize them, and are there any Atari 2600 COMPLETE library downloads out there?

 

 

 

4. as most people would say I'm a very big noob who is not very computer savy and am wondering if I buy the cart, that it wouldn't be worth it

 

because you need to have a working knowledge of downloading/transfering/ and renaming files which I'm sad to say I cannot do.

 

 

 

5. If I could get the same library download as this guy........https://www.youtube....h?v=lDwVo5j8gOA

 

that would be awesome!

 

 

 

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.

[+nanochess]

1. You found them, you downloaded them, don't ask more

2. You need an emulator like Stella for playing in your PC.

3. Yep, just go to the site you cited in 1

4. Unless you have lots of money, the cartridge pays by itself (BUY IT NOW!)

5. Sorry I cannot see youtube at this moment

[tokumaru]

1. Once you buy the cart do you have to pay $ for the roms?

All commercial games from back in the day can be easily downloaded for free. That's probably not legal, but the companies that made the games don't seem to care much.

 

As for homebrews, some are free and some cost money, that's up to the person who created the game. Some don't even have their ROMs officially released, in which case you have to buy the actual cart as opposed to playing it in your harmony.

 

2. I tried downloading these roms but I cannot "open" them for some reason.

Just like your computer can't open Excel spreadsheets without Excel installed, it can't play Atari games without a program that can interpret them. This program is called an emulator. The best Atari 2600 emulator currently available is Stella. Google it, download it, install it and you'll be able to run the games in your PC.

 

(or is it, that I need the cart first with a s/d card...and to download the firmware ect. in order to play them?

The cart is only necessary if you want to play the games on a real console. On the PC you only need the emulator.

 

3. Is it easy to " download the games" alphabetize them, and are there any Atari 2600 COMPLETE library downloads out there?

Downloading is easy, renaming is something you do for your own convenience, it isn't mandatory. I believe some people have posted their own collections arranged to their liking in this very forum.

 

you need to have a working knowledge of downloading/transfering/ and renaming files which I'm sad to say I cannot do.

The setup isn't complicated at all for anyone who can use the basic functions of Windows Explorer. If you really have trouble with that, you can get a friend to help you set everything up, since you only have to do it once.

[deadone]

I pulled the trigger and bought the Harmoney Encore last Saturday, Now I'm just waiting for it to get here so I can hopefully do all the

things that have been messaged to me ( it seems easy enough ) Thanks to all that have replied so far with all the helpful info.