What do we think of the ATGames portable consoles?

[homerj]

All I know is that it could certainly be better but I'll have my GUP with me this weekend at my daughter's rodeo for the down time in between her rides.

[+GoldLeader]

I love mine...

 

That is all.

[+wongojack]

It's the newer model.

 

And let me just say, it's beyond absurd that the community has to hack individual games to get them to work on their emulator. I'm a grown man and the Atari 2600 released a full 13 years before I was born. There's no excuse for this shoddy emulation.

 

Bad emulation, bad battery life, and a screen worse than my Game Gear's. You can download free emulators on your phone that actually work, then just use a bluetooth gamepad. You're already carrying a phone anyway, and the gamepad is smaller than the Flasht Portable. Plus the screen on your phone is presumably visible.

 

I thought this was a pretty good rant. You laid out a lot of the "Cons" of the device perfectly. Now we know you may have a defective screen. Mine also has a weird issue where I get an unwanted directional press sometimes.

 

I still think it is worth it. Its not like I need a new mortgage to afford it, and it is so small that I can put it away easily. Plus, I like to support AT Games. They've improved their emulation and product features steadily and are responsible for a huge influx of new joysticks and paddles into this world. I wish they'd gotten the pinout correct on the Intellivision controllers, but I thank them for the effort they put in there too.

[wolfy62]

I like my at games consoles!!!

[moff000]

I have just bought the 70 games 2017 version and for the price i'm more than happy. I was a little worried with the comments about the screen viewing angle but mine is spot on. The MAIN problem i have is getting out my 6yr old sons hands! I do have to put my reading glasses on to play it where as my son can play with no problems.

Now where are my glasses so i can read through this to check for misstackes?

[famicommander]

I decided to try to exchange the unit again. This time I opened the units in the store before paying. I tried 10 different units and all of them have the same issue as the first two I had. Some are worse and some are better. Of the 12 total, I did find one singular one where you can see the screen from straight on but if you tilt it just slightly to the left (I'm talking a matter of a centimeter from center), the discoloration returns. On all 12 units the screen looked fine tilting it right (left side closer to my face) but that's the only way.

 

This makes me question whether my store got a bad batch. 12/12 with bad screens is pretty tough. I am tempted to open up a portabke Genesis to see if they are also affected.

 

This is pure speculation on my part, but is it possible the high altitude (over a mile above sea level) could be contributing to this issue? I am not sure if that would cause the issue on an LCD but I do remember early generation plasma televisions having a lot of video problems and audio buzzing here at altitude.

Edited January 23, 2018 by famicommander

[Bill Loguidice]

I decided to try to exchange the unit again. This time I opened the units in the store before paying. I tried 10 different units and all of them have the same issue as the first two I had. Some are worse and some are better. Of the 12 total, I did find one singular one where you can see the screen from straight on but if you tilt it just slightly to the left (I'm talking a matter of a centimeter from center), the discoloration returns. On all 12 units the screen looked fine tilting it right (left side closer to my face) but that's the only way.

 

This makes me question whether my store got a bad batch. 12/12 with bad screens is pretty tough. I am tempted to open up a portabke Genesis to see if they are also affected.

 

This is pure speculation on my part, but is it possible the high altitude (over a mile above sea level) could be contributing to this issue? I am not sure if that would cause the issue on an LCD but I do remember early generation plasma televisions having a lot of video problems and audio buzzing here at altitude.

 

Please email info@atgames.net with this post and other details as applicable and see if they can help you out. You can CC bill.loguidice@atgames.net so I can keep track of the thread. It may very well be as you say, a bad batch.

[famicommander]

I will do that this evening.

[famicommander]

I just sent the email.

 

For those curious, I did test one of the Genesis units. I only looked at one because I have no interest in buying it and I didn't want to peel off the plastic screen cover on all of them.

 

The Genesis unit is much, much better than any of the Atari units but it does still have the same issue. If you tilt it to the right, even a bit, there is noticeable discoloration. No discoloration tilting it in the other direction. If you hold it perfectly still and look at it straight on, it is pretty playable.

[Asaki]

This is pure speculation on my part, but is it possible the high altitude (over a mile above sea level) could be contributing to this issue?

Technically it is a defect, since they used vertically oriented screens instead of horizontal. Try holding your unit at a 90° angle and you'll see what I mean.

[famicommander]

Your statement would seem to imply that this is a normal thing, but most other users here don't seem to be experiencing this issue. Just myself and a handhful of others in this thread. Unless everyone on this board is walking around with these things tilted at an angle while they play. Or their eyesight is so poor they don't notice that half the screen is the wrong color entirely.

 

I did get a response from AtGames via email, but it was just a sales rep saying sorry and that they'd try to do better next time.

 

Oh well, that's about all the effort I'm willing to put into this endeavor. Hopefully this doesn't happen to whomever decides the buy the 2018 version.

[zylon]

I've only had one portable flashback, a green/black Sega version. Major control lag when using AV-out on my TV. Response is less than ideal on built in screen, but much better. Also it wouldn't play Double Dragon for me. I've had worse, but at least it was a gift. I leave it at work in case of a slow day or power outage. Attempts to give it away failed locally, lol.

Start button takes some getting used to and screen worked Ok.

I've had a few of these retro things by various mfg over the years:

 

AT Sega clone w/wireless controls- cart slot worked fine, but built-in games died after completing Alien Storm. I guess you're not allowed to win maybe. Bad sound, but played Ok. Worked with real 6 button pads, but not real 3 button pads.

 

AT Atari Flashback 8- not bad really, just paddle issues.

 

1st Atari Flashback- this was just terrible in so many ways

 

Atari Joystick w/10 games built in- this actually played spot on, but only had 2 games I liked, lol

 

Intellivision30 controller- Just plain bad all around.

 

For their market position, I'd say AT Games is overall, not that bad and far worse could be and was sold. Really not meant to replace the original, but fine for a quick game or two in the style of days past. Just try some of the other clones, lol. For handhelds, I stick with a PMP4 MP5 player that runs NES,GB,GBC,GEN,GBA,SNES that I paid 25 for awhile back. Has same response delays, but is perfect for RPG's and it saves.

Edited February 10, 2018 by zylon

[Jinks]

Horrible. Its going back. The controller makes it unplayable. I would wait till they or someone else makes a better quality one that you can enjoy.

The dpad should never been made. It is pure junk. I rate it a 0 out of 10.

I have trouble believing people are playing these. Maybe the 2016 model was playable? I sense some collectors and people that dont know any better. But maybe they got a one off.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Jinks

[thetick1]

Horrible. Its going back. The controller makes it unplayable. I would wait till they or someone else makes a better quality one that you can enjoy.

The dpad should never been made. It is pure junk. I rate it a 0 out of 10.

I have trouble believing people are playing these. Maybe the 2016 model was playable? I sense some collectors and people that dont know any better. But maybe they got a one off.

 

Which one are you specifically talking about as there are lots of mixed reviews for most of the AT Flashbacks. I pretty sure some batches had serious issues and it's pretty obvious AT games has a pretty wide range of quality (from decent to terrible) in their manufacturing.

 

I have AFP 2017 and am pretty happy with it other than the obvious paddle games that are impossible to play with a dpad.

Edited February 28, 2018 by thetick1