The Atari 2600+ is live for preorders!

[donjn]

3 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

I honestly think that some people don't appreciate this device. I mean and that's fine - it won't be for everyone.

 

It's gotten me playing and collecting carts again for the first time in 40 years. I'm a person that already has had, for 20 years, aacccess to roms, just like everyone else.

 

I'm loving the ease of use and setup and how it looks. And I'm using my preferred controllers and not some emu-devices controls. 

 

I'm enjoying the hunt and bargaining to not overpay for some cool carts "the best 2600 and 7800 games ONLY".

 

Does it make a ton of sense financially ? Well, not *really* but then neither did spending 3,000 on my last vacation to Florida, after which I had nothing but the vague feeling

of was that actually worth it ?

 

It makes me happy. It may not make others happy - then don't do it. Pretty simple equation to me. Want a rom device ? get one. Want this ? Get it. I don't regret it. 

 

I would actually like more carts to be compatible with it, I would love to pay for and play some of those games.... so I hope developers think about that, I can't be the only one. 

 

There's people out there actually calling me an "Atari Shill" for just feeling this way, it's ... sad.

I 100% support every thing you said there.

At least you are nice about it and not name calling.

But lets not forget, I have also said the following about the Atari 2600+ in this thread:

• The 2600+ is a nice machine.
• Packed well, does not feel cheap at all.
• LOTS of positives.
• I do support the 2600+ and hope it does well for sure.
• I appreciate @Ben from Plaion and @Albert tremendously for their tireless work and answering all of our questions!

I am a bit harsh because I, just like all of us, want the best for the Atari brand.

[protomank]

Just to clarify one thing I only noticed later. I wanted to wrote "guyS" and not guy. The reply was generic and not directed to anyone in particular. Sorry for the type and if someone got directly hit by my answer, it was not the objective at all.

As tradyblix well put, way better than me, this machine is not meant for playing roms, so no need to pick one if that is your goal

[eCockpit89]

Hey everyone, newcomer to AtariAge.  Got a decent-sized Atari 2600 collection, and Definitely gonna get a 2600+ sometime in December.  Love seeing @Ben from Plaion interacting with and answering fan questions. 

Speaking of, any chance that the upcoming Firmware can patch in Sega Genesis controller support?  I saw on some video reviews that is an issue.  Thanks ahead of time for answering!

[Brad_from_the_80s]

The buying public, mostly gen-X and some younger retro gaming fans and the just curious, are probably not going to dissect this thing as much as the hard-core Atari enthusiasts who tend to gravitate here.  They are mostly going to see it as an old-school Atari 2600 for modern TVs - which is what it effectively is.  Granted with some flaws, but substantial hope for improvement.  When I say it recreates the 2600 I mean substantially the experience of the 2600.  That is worth something to some people, and apparently not as much to others.  That's fine.  I don't think this device can just be dismissed as another Flashback with a rom dumper.  It's not "just" a rom dumper, it is a rather nice and sophisticated 7800-compatible cartridge slot piece of hardware that happens to dump physical roms for play on the console's emulator - that's just an implementation detail.  And that's something a Flashback doesn't have, because this is not a Flashback.  This may be semantic to some, but it's all in how you choose to think about it.  Yes a Flashback and some other devices run a subset of similar/same software on very similar underlying hardware - they COULD have created another device to play roms and connect all manner of controllers, sport menus, etc.,  but they didn't.  You can do rather different things with similar/same hardware you know and it's perfect legit.  I'm sure we can all imagine a premium device that fully reiimplements original hardware, but then it is hardware that was never designed to work with modern displays, power envelopes, etc and so you would need further integration and enhancements.  Maybe something like that will come later, although I don't know that it would necessarily be miles and miles better.  I think the approach taken here is pragmatic and sensible and the experience it creates is what matters.  And it appeals to you or it doesn't.

 

The Flashbacks and even the GSP don't really generate this much attention.  Maybe it's just down to the cosmetics, but I'm not sure that's all it is.  Those are nice enough devices for what they are, and I like them, but the 2600+ gives a clear sense of Atari's direct involvement and support for the first time in forever, whereas Flashback consoles distinctly do not.

 

Anyway it's nothing to be unpleasant or defensive about.  I think the 2600+ is a winner regardless, and there may be more exciting things in store for Atari yet.

[Ben from Plaion]

52 minutes ago, eCockpit89 said:

Hey everyone, newcomer to AtariAge.  Got a decent-sized Atari 2600 collection, and Definitely gonna get a 2600+ sometime in December.  Love seeing @Ben from Plaion interacting with and answering fan questions. 

Speaking of, any chance that the upcoming Firmware can patch in Sega Genesis controller support?  I saw on some video reviews that is an issue.  Thanks ahead of time for answering!

Its a physical limitation. The pinouts on a Genesis are different to the Atari 2600. So to get it to work would need an adapter to rerun the pins in a different configuration.

 

 

[Ben from Plaion]

Also 100 pages!

[eCockpit89]

2 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Its a physical limitation. The pinouts on a Genesis are different to the Atari 2600. So to get it to work would need an adapter to rerun the pins in a different configuration.

 

 

Ah, I see.  Thanks for the Response!  Can't wait to get my 2600+!

[donjn]

2 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Its a physical limitation. The pinouts on a Genesis are different to the Atari 2600. So to get it to work would need an adapter to rerun the pins in a different configuration.

Yes but how is the pinouts so different on the Atari 2600+ vs the original Atari?

Genesis controllers worked on the original Atari. Were the pinouts changed for the 2600+? Just curious.

 

[T.A.P.]

I canceled the rest of my still unshipped pre-order with Amazon and ordered directly from Atari instead.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

9 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Its a physical limitation. The pinouts on a Genesis are different to the Atari 2600. So to get it to work would need an adapter to rerun the pins in a different configuration.

The Genesis (and the BoosterGrip too) use a paddle pin for signalling the extra button.

[Albert]

9 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Also 100 pages!

And that's just this one thread in the 2600+ forum!

 

 ..Al

[Ben from Plaion]

11 minutes ago, donjn said:

Yes but how is the pinouts so different on the Atari 2600+ vs the original Atari?

Genesis controllers worked on the original Atari. Were the pinouts changed for the 2600+? Just curious.

 

No, I posted a image of the pinouts of both the original controllers earlier in this thread iirc I think power and fire button are different. They were different back in the day.

 

I see comments about this compatibility and I want to look into it, I just need time.

 

 

[Ben from Plaion]

9 minutes ago, Albert said:

And that's just this one thread in the 2600+ forum!

 

 ..Al

Imagine next year, what a company Wade is forming, imagine his vision with Digital Eclipse, Nightdive, Atari Age, Plaion etc etc pumping out product! Hoo boy! 

[protomank]

45 minutes ago, eCockpit89 said:

Ah, I see.  Thanks for the Response!  Can't wait to get my 2600+!

The Master System controller seems to work, by the way. Not the best controller, but has two buttons.

[Ben from Plaion]

3 minutes ago, protomank said:

The Master System controller seems to work, by the way. Not the best controller, but has two buttons.

I believe the master system gamepad has an identical pin out to 2600 hence why it works fine

[protomank]

I know Megas Drive/Genesis controller has a different 5V (power) pin than the Atari 2600, that is why 8bitdo adapters won't work. But it works on a real Atari VCS, probably because the 5V is not needed bby the console, just the closure of the contact between other pins, but the adapter needs the power to feed the bluetooth circuit.

I was planning to get an extra 8bitdo controller and rewire an extension I have to make it work, but I saw some information that it is not that simple, you need a circuit with some resistors also.

[Jake67]

1 hour ago, T.A.P. said:

I canceled the rest of my still unshipped pre-order with Amazon and ordered directly from Atari instead.

Interesting. As someone who pre-ordered from Atari and still waiting for anything to ship, I certainly wish you the best of luck with your plan.

[Jake67]

1 hour ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Also 100 pages!

Many of them actually related to the topic of the thread, too! 

 

(This thread has gone a bit off the rails at times. Such is forum life.)

[dancero]

Can someone tell me if the sprites of the PAL version of Space Invaders look red?

[Lord Thag]

2 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Its a physical limitation. The pinouts on a Genesis are different to the Atari 2600. So to get it to work would need an adapter to rerun the pins in a different configuration.

 

 

Has anyone tested if one of the Seagull SEGA -> 7800 adapters for sale on Atariage (here)  works on this thing? My 7800 controllers work fine on the 2600+ so I would assume one of these will adapt sega stuff as well?

[DEANJIMMY]

1 hour ago, Ben from Plaion said:

I believe the master system gamepad has an identical pin out to 2600 hence why it works fine

But it should work only work with one button.

I have no such pad anymore but used it on an Amiga for 2nd button and built a joystick from its schematics, which gives me one button on the 7800 and the 2600+

You connect Pin 6 or 9 to ground via the buttons.

 

The 7800 pad connects Pin 6 via a resistor to Pin 5 and 9 via buttons. This is to feed some voltage (close to 5V?) on the paddle pins 5 and 9 when a button is pressed.

 

A C64GS joystick connects 5V to the paddle pin 5 and 6 when button 2 or 3 is pressed.

This might work on a real 7800 too, as the unijoysticle2 C64 adapter works on it with two buttons, doing the same. But it fails on the 2600+ (rapid fire activated).

 

I have no Mega7800 and don't know why it fails too (only one button reported to work).

 

As Atariage sells the Mega7800, could you please make the 2600+ make to work with it?

On this adapter you connect a genesis pad or a 8bitdo genesis receiver to connect almost any pad.

 

So far only a 7800 pad, Proline joystick, or an arcade stick built like it provide two buttons.

[tradyblix]

3 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

I canceled the rest of my still unshipped pre-order with Amazon and ordered directly from Atari instead.

I'm not sure that was a good idea.... the wait will he the same only amazon has better logistics. Gotta wait for second batch either way.

[John Stamos Mullet]

53 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

I'm not sure that was a good idea.... the wait will he the same only amazon has better logistics. Gotta wait for second batch either way.

I’ll dunno about that. Amazon delivery date promises vs. actual seems far less consistent lately here compared to USPS/Fedex.

 

Currently I am still waiting for delivery of some parts I ordered on Amazon to install my new car stereo to replace the crappy stock Nissan unit in my truck, over a week even though when order they said 2 days. 
 

my 2600+ and My Berzerk cart showed up earlier than expected after ordering from Atari.

Edited November 29, 2023 by John Stamos Mullet

[tradyblix]

Well on the other hand I have my 2600 plus for a week now. and people that pre-ordered it from Atari in August didnt, or had to cancel their order and start over and get it from Amazon.

 

 

[Electric-Dreams]

2 hours ago, dancero said:

Can someone tell me if the sprites of the PAL version of Space Invaders look red?

Some users have reported problems with the Atari 2600+ concerning the rendering of colors in PAL games :