Atari 7800 Adapter for the colecovision

[craigm71]

Everyone,

 

I Cruz the Atari groups from time to time since I have all the major consoles (2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar) and today I was in the 7800 forums and they were talking about the Harmony for the 7800. I have the Harmony encore myself and use it with the 2600 adapter for the Colecovision and its great. I love my Colecovision and it's always been my favorite.

 

It got me thinking though (always the first problem):

 

IF we were able to fit a 7800 into a Colecovision Expansion Module #1 by some means, such as making a board that is sized for it or maybe even putting a raspberry PI in there to emulate it. I think we could leave the cartage slot and joystick ports in the same place and from a functionality point, that might work (?)

 

However, the question comes down to the expansion port on the Colecovision, would it be able to power it and move that data correctly to be used?

 

I'm in no way saying I can do this, I just think its a fun technical exercise and I know most of you are wicked smart. The nice thing is if it worked, not only would it expand our library with Atari 7800 games it would allow us to store our old 2600 adapters and give them a rest.

 

Think on it and discuss!!!

[craigm71]

I decided to take pictures of my Raspberry PI compared to the Colecovision Expansion Module #1

[Greg2600]

You can pick up a 7800 for like $25 easy, whereas this kind of solution would cost 4-5 times that.

[Tron Unit]

You can pick up a 7800 for like $25 easy, whereas this kind of solution would cost 4-5 times that.

 

This is why I never bothered to get the Atari expansion module for Colecovision. I just don't understand playing carts on other systems. Why not just play them natively on their respective consoles with their controllers?

[Shmup Lover]

I agree with Tron Unit. Back when it was out, an Intellivision adapter would have been cool, but not now.

 

No no need to put wear and tear on a working CV in this day using an adapter. However if you had the Atari one back then and want to recreate that now I understand to a point. When Coleco came out, I sold my original Atari and put it torwards the new system as it was so much better at the time that I had a hard time playing the "old" system.

[+MattelAquarius]

I agree that the vintage motivation for a system adapter does not apply today. Company X could say "Why buy the console from Company Z, when you can play their games, plus our advanced games on our system?! More bang for the buck!..."

 

 

That said, if you can make it happen, I say go for it. It would be cool, no matter what the cost. Just like the old days, such a "converter" would literally be a mini-7800 crammed into a box, that just uses the Colecovision for the audio/video output.

 

However, if you just want to play 7800 games, then you may as well buy one or stick to emulation.

[craigm71]

We'll like I said, it was more a question if we CAN do it on a technical level, not one that we should do. I have a 7800 that I got dirt cheep so I agree.

It would just be interested what type of video would come out of the coleco trying to push out 7800 graphics, and would you need a second power supply connected to the expansion itself our would the cartage port supply the power like the 2600 one does.

 

again, its just a question on a technical point. Thanks!

[+5-11under]

You could build pretty much any kind of expansion module that provides composite output. I've considered it, but then thought... who cares?

[Pixelboy]

My vote goes to an NES Expansion Module!!!

[NIAD]

My vote goes to an NES Expansion Module!!!

Pretty damn close with a CV system featuring an F18A and SGM as well as games using the MegaCart or Activision bank-switching PCB.

[Greg2600]

 

This is why I never bothered to get the Atari expansion module for Colecovision. I just don't understand playing carts on other systems. Why not just play them natively on their respective consoles with their controllers?

 

You mean nowadays? Back then the 2600 expansion made TONS of sense, and they sold well individually for Coleco as well as boosted their console sales.

 

My vote goes to an NES Expansion Module!!!

 

At this time about the only expansion I'd have any interest in might be MSX-II. Given the outlandish prices even for modern clones/homebrew recreations of the hardware, it would likely be far cheaper if a SGM-type expansion were sold. Obviously the development costs would be sky high.

[VectorGamer]

 

This is why I never bothered to get the Atari expansion module for Colecovision. I just don't understand playing carts on other systems. Why not just play them natively on their respective consoles with their controllers?

 

I have the Atari expansion module for the CV but I don't actually recall how I acquired it. I will use it from time to time but mostly I'll use the 7800 to play the 2600 titles.

 

Anyway, it just doesn't make sense to create these expansion modules for older systems. As others have said, you can't justify buying an expansion module when it's going to cost more than having the console itself.

[Noah98]

You can pick up a 7800 for like $25 easy, whereas this kind of solution would cost 4-5 times that.

I keep hearing that you can pick up a 7800 for cheap, but where? Haven't seen any that cheap on the marketplace, ebay, or local game shops. If I could buy a few extras for $25, I'm on it!

[ColecoDan]

I think the only expansion module that makes sense is the intellivision one because of the rumors that there was an intellivision prototype. For historical reasons alone just like the SGM it would be awesome. However for practical reasons it just doesn't make sense because you can just buy the other console if you want to play those games.

 

Given the other fact that you would need the blessings from the owners of the property rights it makes it even more impractical.

[Greg2600]

I keep hearing that you can pick up a 7800 for cheap, but where? Haven't seen any that cheap on the marketplace, ebay, or local game shops. If I could buy a few extras for $25, I'm on it!

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Video-Game-Consoles-/139971/i.html?_sop=15&_from=R40|R40&ghostText=&_nkw=atari+7800+-flashback&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc

 

If you can fix one, "for repair" spares are fairly cheap. Consoles with AC and controller also come up for $30 and less. Might not be the norm, but they do sell for that.

[Geoff Oltmans]

You could make pretty much any expansion module you want for the CV so long as it uses the voltages already present on the system and can output composite video and baseband audio. The video and audio signals are mixed with the CV's, otherwise it completely leaves the CV's circuitry alone.