ARM-based games and the Flashback 9 - when will AtGames offer a firmware upgrade for those???

[BIGHMW]

I am quite frustrated that I can't play any of the ARM-based titles from @johnnywc John Champeau and the fine folks over at Champ Games on my Flashback 9, in fact I have to use my 2600 adapter for my 5200 and a Harmony Encore multicart just to play them, so knowing this (and I'm sure they do know this but they choose to ignore us) when will AtGames offer a new firmware upgrade for the FB9 so we can play ARM-based games too???

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

I don't think AtGames cares enough honestly to bother to cater to a small minority request like that, they simply pump out Flashback after Flashback and clearly do this enough to keep pumping out more. By all means though feel free to contact AtGames and harass them about it ?

[rra]

Maybe the Flashback 9 hardware isn't capable of emulating both the 6507, specialized 2600 chips, and an Arm processor.  So it probably isn't as simple as a firmware upgrade to incorporate the latest Stella emulator.  It may require a faster processor on a future Flashback device.

[timdu]

A few months ago, I installed the community NEXUS build for my Flashback 9 from this forum. It has since been removed because it contained many ROMs.

A barebones version without the ROMS is in the works. 

 

The demo ROM of GALAGON and the demo ROM of WIZARD OF WOR ARCADE by Champ Games is included and they play on the Flashback 9.

 

I am not 100% sure which version of the Stella emulator the community build is using, but it is a version that seems to play the ARM-based game ROMs.

 

-Tim

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by timdu

[Atariboy]

On 5/31/2022 at 8:30 PM, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

I don't think AtGames cares enough honestly to bother to cater to a small minority request like that, they simply pump out Flashback after Flashback and clearly do this enough to keep pumping out more. By all means though feel free to contact AtGames and harass them about it ?

They don't even do that anymore. They've largely been driven out of the plug and play marketplace (along with their short lived appearance on consoles with the Atari Flashback compilations ) and have retreated largely to their high end niche Arcade1Up style arcade cabinets. 

[BIGHMW]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:08 PM, timdu said:

A few months ago, I installed the community NEXUS build for my Flashback 9 from this forum. It has since been removed because it contained many ROMs.

A barebones version without the ROMS is in the works. 

 

The demo ROM of GALAGON and the demo ROM of WIZARD OF WOR ARCADE by Champ Games is included and they play on the Flashback 9.

 

I am not 100% sure which version of the Stella emulator the community build is using, but it is a version that seems to play the ARM-based game ROMs.

 

-Tim

 

 

 

 

Where can I find those ROMs at?

[timdu]

On 6/2/2022 at 5:46 PM, BIGHMW said:

Where can I find those ROMs at?

You already have the ROM files. They are the same ones that you are using on your Harmony cartridge.

All of the DEMO versions of the ROM files are available for download at the CHAMP GAMES web site:

 

https://champ.games/downloads

 

Please re-read my original post. 

 

What you are missing is the community NEXUS build for the Flashback 9...

This build runs from as SD card and updates the emulator used by the Flashback 9 and adds the Colecovision emulator,
Intellivision emulator, Odyssey2 / Videopac emulator, Atari 5200 emulator, Atari 7800 emulator, and
many, many more. Too many to list.

 

As I stated, this build is no longer available for download here on Atari Age.

 

I would be willing to sell my Flashback 9 unit with the updated community NEXUS build and the 2 joysticks and power cord and SD card

and HDMI cable.

If anyone is interested in it, please send me a PM.

thanks,

Tim
 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by timdu

[BIGHMW]

Hopefully the bare build of NEXUS for the FB9 will be available soon, I already have the ROMS for the games as I play them on my Harmony cart on my 2600 adapter for the 5200, I'd rather play them on a more convenient basis through the FB9 as opposed to through the adapter on Big Sexy.

Edited June 4, 2022 by BIGHMW

[BIGHMW]

7 hours ago, timdu said:

You already have the ROM files. They are the same ones that you are using on your Harmony cartridge.

All of the DEMO versions of the ROM files are available for download at the CHAMP GAMES web site:

 

https://champ.games/downloads

 

Please re-read my original post. 

 

What you are missing is the community NEXUS build for the Flashback 9...

This build runs from as SD card and updates the emulator used by the Flashback 9 and adds the Colecovision emulator,
Intellivision emulator, Odyssey2 / Videopac emulator, Atari 5200 emulator, Atari 7800 emulator, and
many, many more. Too many to list.

 

As I stated, this build is no longer available for download here on Atari Age.

 

I would be willing to sell my Flashback 9 unit with the updated community NEXUS build and the 2 joysticks and power cord and SD card

and HDMI cable.

If anyone is interested in it, please send me a PM.

thanks,

Tim
 

 

 

PM sent

[+MrZarniwoop]

13 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

I'd rather play them on a more convenient basis through the FB9 as opposed to through the adapter

NEXUS is amazing. Kudos to the team that pulled it all together.

 

But

 

If you're used to playing on vintage consoles, you may find the slight bit of lag in gameplay on the Flashback 9/X (or other software emulation on low-end hardware like RetroN 77) unsatisfying. You can get used to it, and then it's ok, but playing the same games back and forth with real consoles becomes irritating because of the slight delay in response of controllers.

 

I don't have a MISTer, yet, but I understand that it runs Atari 2600/7800 games in hardware emulation with comparable performance as playing on real-time vintage hardware.

[akator]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:33 AM, MrZarniwoop said:

NEXUS is amazing. Kudos to the team that pulled it all together.

 

But

 

If you're used to playing on vintage consoles, you may find the slight bit of lag in gameplay on the Flashback 9/X (or other software emulation on low-end hardware like RetroN 77) unsatisfying. You can get used to it, and then it's ok, but playing the same games back and forth with real consoles becomes irritating because of the slight delay in response of controllers.

 

I don't have a MISTer, yet, but I understand that it runs Atari 2600/7800 games in hardware emulation with comparable performance as playing on real-time vintage hardware.

I have an AFB2, AFB9, RetroN 77, and MiSTer.

 

My gameplay experiences between devices:

• AFB2 has no lag.
• I know that technically there is lag on MiSTer but I cannot detect it.  My gameplay is unaffected.
• I know that technically there is lag on the R77 but I cannot detect it.  My gameplay is unaffected.
• AFB9 OEM and Nexus both have detectable lag that affects my gameplay.

My video experiences between devices:

• AFB2, because it has the same video timing changes as original hardware, has video signal drops (black screen) on all of my digital displays even with upscalers including the RetroTink 2X pro.
• MiSTer, because it has the same video timing changes as original hardware, had video signal drops (black screen) to my digital displays.  I don't have any CRTs left, but according the others that do the video drops don't happen when using MiSTer's analog output to a CRT.  When there are no dropped signal issues, MiSTer has a wide range of video filters to recreate a more "authentic" experience on digital display.
• The RetroN 77 displays perfectly on my digital displays because the emulation compensates, so there are no video issues.  It doesn't have as many video filters as the R77, but the filters are solid and look good.
• The AFB9 displays perfectly on my digital displays for the same reasons as the R77, however the only video filter I've been able to find is scanlines on/off.

I love all of these devices, but the R77 is my current go-to for 2600 gaming.

 

I also have a RPi 3 Lakka "console" that handles 2600 emulation well.  With latency mitigation features turned on, there is no detectable lag during gameplay.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by akator
More info...

[orange808]

AFAIK, MiSTer doesn't play ARM enhanced games. I'll stop there.

[akator]

^ Yeah... and paddle issues, etc. — which all contribute to why I've been enjoying the R77 with Stella 6.6.0 for 2600 more than the other systems.  I haven't had any of the issues people complained about when the R77 was first released, even my original 2600 paddles work great.  I bought the R77 on a whim for Christmas 2021 and have been pleasantly surprised at how well it has worked.

 

That said, I haven't tried using or dumping modern ARM-enhanced carts with the R77, I've only run the ROMs of modern ARM games off the micro SD.