death to atari

[tantone56]

I was thinking today and heres what I came up with. Atari is about 26 years old now, electronic things dont last so long so in ten years atari will be 36 years old that means that theres a real possibility of atari going extinct in the near future. please tell me my scientific calculations are off I just cant bear to be right on this.

[Greg Zumwalt]

What scientific calculations?

 

As a former Atari repair technician, I can tell you that no part of the Atari 2600 was designed to last over a decade.

This means that the systems are already approaching their 3rd time over death expectancy

 

No one can really know how long the carts will hold.

Some failed almost out of the box

I saw a Star Master dropped from the back of a train and ran over by a yard truck. The case was shattered, but the board and electronics survived such that I simply plugged it in and it worked

 

As for the future... who know?

That is after all, what emulation is REALLY about.

The preservations of, not so that PC users can play.

 

And as for the company itself...

do some research. Atari has probably folded and rebounded more so then any other company in history.

And with every renewal, it seems to take on a different persona.

 

Personally, I think the Atari will outlast the US as a nation.

[rasty]

As for the future... who know?

That is after all, what emulation is REALLY about.

The preservations of, not so that PC users can play.

Right!

 

Plus, there's always the "2600 on-a-chip" project which I truly hope is going to see the light of the day soon!

 

Regards,

Rasty.-

[Spirantho]

Fear not, there's enough Ataris out there in the hands of people with soldering irons that we'll be using them for decades to come.

 

The only problem is the TIA, but they're very simple and judging by the Coleco and Mattel Atari clones, pretty standard too.

 

Be thankful we're not in the same boat as the Commodore 16/+4 - they have CPUs which are not only *impossible* to get hold of, but also very prone to static. I have more dead C16/+4s than anything else and I can`t do anything about it as nobody uses the MOS8501 chip apart from them!

 

If my Atari breaks down - I`ll fix it!

[mos6507]

Older computer hardware is simpler, slower, and generally cooler. (there are exceptions, the Z80 in the Astrocade gets pretty hot).

 

Heat is probably the worst enemy of ICs over time. I've read that over time the individual traces on the chip can burn away from the heat over the course of years.

 

Since the Atari's chips are simpler, the traces are bigger to start out with, so they should be more durable over time even if there is some kind of internal degradation.

 

Now, the electrolytics, the caps and resistors and such, those might need to be replaced over time, but that's all stock stuff.

 

The most common cause of a 2600 "breaking" is the power supply. If your 2600 won't turn on, get a replacement power supply from Radio Shack and see if that does the trick.

 

If that doesn't work it's probably the power switch, which can also be replaced.

 

I would always think twice before claiming a 2600 is down for the count.

 

If enough moisture gets in I guess the metal components could rust/oxidize. Once the 3 main chips can't make proper electrical contact with the motherboard, when the pins are completely corroded, that will be when you can't keep the 2600 going any longer.

 

Certainly by then there will be some kind of drop-in replacement solution like an ultra-cheap Mame cabinet sort of deal where you could swap out the motherboard with some kind of miniature PC that acts as a completely compatible stand-in for the original hardware.

[Dolt]

I'm sure this has been gone over elsewhere at some point, but what's the life expectancy of a cart? From what I always understood, the program is basically kept in the cart by a charge of static or something? Ever since I heard that, I'm hesitant to put a cart on my carpet while switching between various game, lest static electricity screw up my cart.

[Room 34]

Don't worry Dolt, what you're talking about is the way EPROMs are stored, and they ARE susceptible to static electricity, but regular ROMs are a lot more durable than that. (I would get into the specifics, if I knew them!)

[sku_u]

Fear not. The original Odyssey is 31 years old and still going strong. These older systems will last as long as there are people out there willing to take the time to repair them.

[tantone56]

hey rasty I saw the 2600 on a chip site but i dont really get it. Is he making another version of the 2600 with preloaded games or is he just making a duplicate of the system in a new format?

[Hulsie]

I wouldn't worry about too many cartridges going bad. Check this out: http://videogames.org/html/2600Stuff/Durability

 

I think the funniest part of that article is picturing the guy outside, in public view, violently and repeatedly beating the sh*t out of this cartridge as if it had just screwed his wife or something... I wonder if any neighbors witnessed this blatant act of cart-abuse!

[rasty]

Hi!

 

hey rasty I saw the 2600 on a chip site but i dont really get it. Is he making another version of the 2600 with preloaded games or is he just making a duplicate of the system in a new format?

The latter!

It looks like progress was really advanced, but we haven't had any updates for a while (afaik). I truly hope it will eventually be released!

 

There are several threads about it here on the AA boards anyway!

 

Regards,

Rasty.-

[JB]

Don't worry Dolt, what you're talking about is the way EPROMs are stored, and they ARE susceptible to static electricity, but regular ROMs are a lot more durable than that.  (I would get into the specifics, if I knew them!)

Actual ROMs have the data ETCHED into the silicon. And being completely encased in epoxy, the chips are protected from anything you can throw at them. They aren't going anywhere.

 

 

The only real danger(aside from the cart being poorly engineered) is that a good static shock fries something.

And this applies to ANY electronic device. Static electricity is NOT your friend.

 

 

So if you've been popping sparks off on your door handles recently, it's a good idea to touch something before you muck with your electronics, so you don't fry anything if you touch the contacts.

...

It's also a good idea not to touch the contacts.

[Nostalgic]

When I was a kid, my Atari 800 XL was hooked up to a TV in the basement. The arrangement was unfortunately directly underneath a leaky toilet in my parents' bathroom. One day the darn thing left a gusher of water all over the computer. It didn't work... or so we thought.

 

My parents bought me a 130 XE to replace it. However, I discovered about a month later that the 800 XL still worked! The only permanent damage was to the Reset button, which had to be pressed in a certain way to make it work.

 

(Come to think of it, my 2600 also has a reset switch problem...)

 

Anyhow, the moral of this story is that Atari parts survive!

[AtariDude]

If there was a nuclear war, the only things that would survive would be the cockroaches, microsloth, and the Atari 2600

 

Atari built them to last and I think they will outlast the PS2, Xbox, and the Gamecube items since they have moving parts (The CD/DVD players).

[ApolloBoy]

What about the 2600 Jr? Would that stand up to a nuclear attack like the older 2600s?

[ATARIeric]

What about the 2600 Jr? Would that stand up to a nuclear attack like the older 2600s?

 

 

it depends, did your atari2600 jr come in a red or silver box ? mine is still new in redbox if that matters i think the red would absorb the nuclear radiation, but i do believe the silver box would shield it, not sure though

[Brad2600]

2600jrs aren't durable enough.

 

But I bet my Sears heavy sixer could survive a nuclear war.

[rasty]

2600jrs aren't durable enough.

Yup.. that plastic band that runs underneath the console switches will likely disintegrate in a few decades...

But that can still be replaced somehow!

 

Rasty.-