So I thought I was being clever and crafty....

[KAZ]

I was wrong.

 

Well I purchased a Wico Command Control with Y adapter from someone on this message board for use with my Atari 5200.

 

I tried it with Pitfall! for the Atari 5200 and it worked just fine, tho for some reason I couldn't go up or down the ladders too easily. But that's not why I wrote....

 

I looked at the plug to the Y adapter, and it looked awfully familiar. Yeah, like the plugs for Atari 2600 controllers. So in my infinite wisdom I thought, hmm, I'll try plugging a genesis controller into it (it works on my Atari 2600), but that didn't work.

 

But then I'm like, hey wait a second! The Wico Controller had a plug that looked just like an Atari 2600 controller. And it fits like a glove into the Atari 2600, so I stuck it in, and fired up Pitfall! for the Atari 2600. I pressed left and the whole screen went wacky, and the game was like: "**** This!"

 

Ok, so I don't want to fry my Atari 2600, but seriously this is just ****ed.

 

Why would a third party make the cords to so closely resemble Atari 2600 controllers, and yet it looks like they actually could DAMAGE an Atari 2600???? The Atari seemed to be having an allergic reaction to the Wico.

 

I don't get it. Sometimes Atari is just ****ed up, but I like it still.

 

Anyone know why Wico Controllers do this to Atari 2600's? Has anyone's system been wrecked by this? Mine looks fine, but it did wacky things to the Pitfall! game(while it was still in the system). Probably the same effect as when you intentionally FRY the system turning it on and off fast (which I'll never ever do) When I reset it, everything goes back to the way it was.

 

****ed used 8 times, but I like the word.

[Noble Kale]

quote

 Why would a third party make the cords to so closely resemble Atari 2600 controllers

Actually, that's just a standard plug. A lot of other systems use that plug and aren't compatible with the 2600. As for damaging the 2600, there was probably a warning on the box..

[calamari]

quote:

---

Why would a third party make the cords to so closely resemble Atari 2600 controllers, and yet it looks like they actually could DAMAGE an Atari 2600????

 

I don't get it. Sometimes Atari is just ****ed up, but I like it still.

---

 

Actually, you're right. This was all part of an evil master plan by Atari (who didn't even make the competing WICO brand sticks). If they could destroy enough consoles, maybe that would boost sales and they could stay afloat.

 

Atari proceeded with its plans and had some success, making it as far as the home computer market before their efforts were discovered and the company was shut down.

 

However, the damage was permanent... Look at the back of your computer. There is an "Atari" port right there, enticing you to plug in your Wico stick! You must resist the temptation to do so for your sanity's sake.

 

calamari

[MrRetroGamer]

First, the WICO stick is analog, which is a requirement of a 5200 controller. Most all of the 2600 compatable sticks are digital. The 5200 controller port (15 pins) is wired differently from all other consoles, and only a controller that is wired in the same way will work. The wico Y cable isn't really a converter, the WICO 5200 joystick is wired properly, but only for the 5200. When you plug this into a 2600, since each pin does something other than what the console expects it to, imagine the console is getting a crazy input from the controller that it doesn't know how to interpret. That is why your screen gets wiggedy-whack!