The 7800GD (New 7800 Flash Cartridge?)

[Shawn]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:58 AM, -^CrossBow^- said:

@SainT I believe the accuracy of the lightguns also varies from game to game. I remember my XE lightgun not being very accurate to me as compared to joystick controls on Crossbow for instance. But with Alien Brigade it was much more accurate and I was able to finally beat the game using a light gun whereas I never could with joystick control. 

 

So I can't speak for the SMS modified light guns, but my XE lightgun does vary on the accuracy depending on the game it is used with.

 

 

Ya, no matter if it's the atari or sms gun, they are inaccurate. On both 2600 and 7800 games.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Shawn

[+sramirez2008]

23 minutes ago, Trebor said:

 

That cart shell & label look great! 

[Trebor]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

Ya, no matter if it's the atari or sms gun, they are inaccurate. On both 2600 and 7800 games.

This looks to be a significant difference maker:

 

 

[+sramirez2008]

Guess I need to pick up a 3050.🙂

[Greg2600]

 

Product pages on Retro HQ and Stone Age Gamer.

[+thanatos]

Yes after seeing that tweet this morning I added myself to the notification list.  Hope I'm fast enough to get one!

That would make my 3rd @SainT cart!

[Shawn]

21 hours ago, Trebor said:

This looks to be a significant difference maker:

 

 

 

That is fantastic news.

[+DrVenkman]

I put myself on the notification list too. I already have a Concerto + HOKEY, a Dragonfly w/Dual POKEY + YM2151, and my own custom-made LightPhaser adapter, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this hobby, it’s you CANNOT HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS!

[+thanatos]

2 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

I put myself on the notification list too. I already have a Concerto + HOKEY, a Dragonfly w/Dual POKEY + YM2151, and my own custom-made LightPhaser adapter, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this hobby, it’s you CANNOT HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS!

Nice.  The only thing I have for my 7800 is that the video was modded by Longhorn Engineer himself.

[KrunchyTC]

How do all of it's extra features work? Save states and whatnot.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

10 minutes ago, KrunchyTC said:

How do all of it's extra features work? Save states and whatnot.

Magic...

[KrunchyTC]

6 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Magic...

*mind blown*

[SainT]

1 hour ago, KrunchyTC said:

*mind blown*

Haha, it may as well be magic. 😆

it’s just some very cunning hardware and software engineering. 😄

[Trebor]

*UPDATE*

 

Retro Gaming Banter Too!

 

 

[+Stephen]

Sure hope to get in on the first run of these.  I've already got a Lynx and Jag GD drive.

[SainT]

There will be more following a few weeks later. The initial run is deliberately smaller just so I can make sure there are no hidden issues I've not been aware of which crop up. It's been well tested across a large variety of 7800 machines of all different types, but working with 30+ year old hardware there is always the possibility of issues.

 

I had one weird issue recently on my NTSC machine which meant I was getting button presses on controllers when they weren't plugged in. It's like the buttons would get stuck on when you removed the controllers. I later tracked this down to a faulty TIA chip on the board which was floating the button inputs high! So you can get all sorts of weird problems arise with partially broken consoles.

[+DrVenkman]

5 minutes ago, SainT said:

I later tracked this down to a faulty TIA chip on the board

On that note, I’m currently working on diagnosing and repairing a Taiwan-manufactured Heavy Sixer and it looks like it’s come down to the TIA. Brad at Best Electronics wants $50 for NOS TIA’s these days. Hopefully one of you hardware gurus can come up with a DIP40 drop-in FPGA/CPLD replacement sometime soon. 

Apologies for the diversion - we now return you to your regularly-scheduled anticipatory drooling …

[SainT]

With the MiSTer TIA core it may be possible to create a drop-in replacement. I basically have that already in the 7800GD, other than it's write only from the system point of view, the CPU never reads from my version, it's just a mirror. Definitely an interesting project for someone. 😄

[Guitari]

Hello Saint, is there a notification list I can be added to for obtaining this in the UK? I think lynx, neogeo and Jag I got direct from you. 

Cheers. 

[SainT]

40 minutes ago, Guitari said:

Hello Saint, is there a notification list I can be added to for obtaining this in the UK? I think lynx, neogeo and Jag I got direct from you. 

Cheers. 

There will be Retro Gamer Stuff and Retro Towers in the UK stocking the 7800GD. Retro Towers currently have the 7800GD and Mega7800 listed with a wish list option.

[Guitari]

Many thanks Saint. I'll head over to retro towers now. 🙂

[KrunchyTC]

10 hours ago, SainT said:

Haha, it may as well be magic. 😆

it’s just some very cunning hardware and software engineering. 😄

I really appreciate what you guys do! The Jaguar, and 7800 are consoles that really need a lot of love 😀

[SainT]

1 hour ago, KrunchyTC said:

I really appreciate what you guys do! The Jaguar, and 7800 are consoles that really need a lot of love 😀

It’s the best of both worlds for me, I get to do something I enjoy and at the end of it all there’s something everyone else can enjoy as well. 😄 

[+thanatos]

1 hour ago, SainT said:

It’s the best of both worlds for me, I get to do something I enjoy and at the end of it all there’s something everyone else can enjoy as well. 😄 

I'm glad you have been able to stick with it.   Can't believe this thread is almost 7 years old, since you were working on the Jaguar Gamedrive first, and it was definitely worth the wait for that one!

[+sramirez2008]

3050 Light Phaser and Mega Drive 2 AV Composite cable ordered! This is going to be fun. 🙂