The Atari 2600+ is live for preorders!

[Dr Karnov]

I'm probably the exact audience for this. I've got 2600 and 7800 carts and accessories but no way to use them (on my modern TV). It's all been boxed up for literally years with my 7800, but I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into it.

 

I think it will sell well. Already on Amazon UK it has 600+ pre-orders. By comparison the Super Pocket with 12 built in Capcom games, a cartridge slot and at half the price of the 2600+, has only had 50 pre-orders in the last month.

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

On 9/13/2023 at 10:46 PM, Albert said:

 

Also, since you are kindly reading my message, here's a nice photo of the dip switches on the back of one of these new cartridges: 

 

 

 ..Al

I have a weak spot for DIP Switch cartridges. Is it separatly available?

[Albert]

Just now, Al_Nafuur said:

I have a weak spot for DIP Switch cartridges. Is it separatly available?

Not at this time as far as I'm aware, but it would be nice if it these were made available separately at some point!  And there are two of these carts, the pack-in that contains 10 games, and then the one bundled with the paddle controllers that contains four games.

 

 ..Al

[kevtris]

11 minutes ago, Albert said:

Not at this time as far as I'm aware, but it would be nice if it these were made available separately at some point!  And there are two of these carts, the pack-in that contains 10 games, and then the one bundled with the paddle controllers that contains four games.

 

 ..Al

what happens if you select the other 6 combinations on the 4 switches?

[Albert]

1 minute ago, kevtris said:

what happens if you select the other 6 combinations on the 4 switches?

Hopefully there are hidden games!  But in all likelihood nothing will happen.  I will try that out and see what happens!

 

 ..Al

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, kevtris said:

what happens if you select the other 6 combinations on the 4 switches?

It prints the message, "Loading Game Failed" on the screen.  I tried a few different invalid combinations on both carts.

 

 ..Al

[kevtris]

maybe they are empty slots full of FF's.  thanks for testing, been super curious since I saw it had 10 games. lol

 

eta: maybe if they haven't produced them yet, they should just duplicate some of the games to fill all 16 slots so you can't ever get a "Bad" combination that makes someone think their cart doesn't work

Edited September 15, 2023 by kevtris

[+bent_pin]

Sounds like an opportunity to add something there.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

It prints the message, "Loading Game Failed" on the screen.  I tried a few different invalid combinations on both carts.

 

 ..Al

So there are hidden ROMS (6 times the same) but no games on the cart.  

[+batari]

I'd try the dip switch cart on a real 2600 to see if any different games come up

[Thomas Jentzsch]

4 hours ago, Albert said:

It prints the message, "Loading Game Failed" on the screen.  I tried a few different invalid combinations on both carts.

@Albert Can you post a screen shot, please?

[Blinky]

3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

So there are hidden ROMS (6 times the same) but no games on the cart.  

Not neccessary. The emulator could just display that message when no cart is detected.

 

Since the dipswitch combinations are in sequence (LSB left) I think it is highly likely that that the 'ROM' is just programmed with the 10 games and the remaining space of the rom is empty. I think it is very likely the dumper determines cart presence by checking the reset vector and a reset vector of 0xFFFF (unprogrammed rom) is seen as no game loaded.

That the rom is partially programmed seems to be more likely to me then a padded rom with 'no game loaded' banks. Because it is less work and programming the rom will be much faster

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by Blinky

[Thomas Jentzsch]

54 minutes ago, Blinky said:

Not neccessary. The emulator could just display that message when no cart is detected.

Yes, but that might require a change of Stella's source code. 

54 minutes ago, Blinky said:

Since the dipswitch combinations are in sequence (LSB left) I think it is highly likely that that the 'ROM' is just programmed with the 10 games and the remaining space of the rom is empty. I think it is very likely the dumper determines cart presence by checking the reset vector and a reset vector of 0xFFFF (unprogrammed rom) is seen as no game loaded.

And that's another option.

[+remowilliams]

Having DIP switches on a modern mass produced cart is ridiculous, and the two reasons it's been done are not positive ones.

[Albert]

16 hours ago, batari said:

I'd try the dip switch cart on a real 2600 to see if any different games come up

I tried this just now, and you simply get a black screen or the typical random stuff you see when a cart doesn't fire up properly. 

 

 ..Al

[Defender_2600]

On 9/13/2023 at 10:46 PM, Albert said:

 

I do think they are cool, only because I'm old now and dip switches were used for many devices back in the day (you were certainly familiar with them if you owned any arcade games!)  Heck, we have dip switches today in the AtariVox+. 

 

 

Also, since you are kindly reading my message, here's a nice photo of the dip switches on the back of one of these new cartridges: 

 

 

 ..Al

 

I love them, just like some of my cartridges were back in the day. Here they are:

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Giles N]

On 9/12/2023 at 4:43 AM, Albert said:

I just grabbed a bunch of 2600 homebrew games that I have built, including three PAL games and one PAL60 game.  They all ran.  This includes:

 

- Juno First (PAL60) (32K F4)

- Star Fire (PAL) (8K F8)

- L.E.M. (16K F6)

- Lady Bug (16K F6)

- 2005 Minigame Multicart (32K F4)

- AStar (PAL) (4K)

- Go Fish (PAL) (8K F8)

- Colony 7 Trak-Ball (32K F4)

- Drive! (4K)

- Cannonhead Clash (4K)

 

The PAL games all ran with the proper colors, which was nice to see. 

 

Here are a few photos.  Excuse the mess, we are in the middle of packing as we will be moving soonish.

 

 

 

 

Juno First is a PAL50 game, and it ran fine, but the colors were wrong.  Which makes sense, since it's basically an NTSC game with the wrong color pallet. 

 

 ..Al

Could you also test some 7800 gaames you may have at hand…?

 

- - -

 

The sooner it gets sorted out what works and what doesn’t, the sooner firnware updates etc, can get going.

[Zonie]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:45 AM, JPF997 said:

Is there any chance we could get a 2600+ Vader model, I love the stylish all black look of the Vader model, I think I may even prefer it to the normal one.

Get a can of Krylon

On 9/11/2023 at 11:14 AM, radiohead said:

Speaking as a long-term follower of these forums and an Atari 2600 fan, I have to say I've been chasing this unicorn for years. I bought all those Jakks Pacific Plug 'n Plays and 3 AtGames Flashbacks, plus a Retropie and a Stelladaptor for the PC trying to recapture the fun of playing Atari 2600 games. But there was always something not right, whether it was the emulation, the paddle/controller support, the cheapness of the product, convenience, etc. I shied away from buying the original 45-year-old hardware because I wasn't technically savvy enough to fix it or get a CRT. So this Atari 2600+ console/ecosystem really has me stoked if it can check all the boxes.

 

I'll be more than happy to start purchasing new cartridge releases, and even start collecting old cartridges if the system works as it promises, regarding game compatibility and paddle controller support. But at this stage, the classic Atari 2600 game catalog (the titles licensed to AtGames, My Arcade, etc.) should be released either as affordable multicart collections or accessible via digital files (assuming someone can patch the OS just like the Retron and Flashbacks.) The price point so far on the cartridges is a little steep IMO for a consumer like me looking to start a 2600 library. Most of the homebrew cart prices on AA are more in line with what I would be comfortable paying. 

 

Hopefully, the console will be favorably reviewed, then I'll pick one up. That's my unsolicited take on things.

 

Thx!

I'd like to have the case for my real 7800.

As for wanting reality, Get a used 7800.

On 9/13/2023 at 1:46 PM, Albert said:

While I 

I know, I don't like that logo!  But it was an official logo for a time.  I'm glad the company abandoned that one...

I do think they are cool, only because I'm old now and dip switches were used for many devices back in the day (you were certainly familiar with them if you owned any arcade games!)  Heck, we have dip switches today in the AtariVox+. 

 

 

Also, since you are kindly reading my message, here's a nice photo of the dip switches on the back of one of these new cartridges: 

 

 

 ..Al

That's a nice way to frame the dipswitches.

 

Yeah, the "Bellbottom" logo should be abolished from all old documents. It sucks. I HATE that version.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

7 hours ago, Albert said:

I tried this just now, and you simply get a black screen or the typical random stuff you see when a cart doesn't fire up properly. 

Are you allowed to post a screenshot how this looks with a 2600+?

Edited September 16, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[+sramirez2008]

On 9/14/2023 at 8:34 PM, Al_Nafuur said:

I have a weak spot for DIP Switch cartridges. Is it separatly available?

Me too. I think their too cool for school!

[Video]

Yeah when my tv died a few years back my Atari has sat unused since (it plays poorly or not at all on modern tv, usually the latter) I looked this up and preordered it, extra controllers, carts, the whole thing. I hope its decent, or at least sells well enough to warrant an update. I've always been bummed there's no option for those of us who have this old stuff. Retron 77 was a step in the right direction, but not much has been done since.

 

Bonus props the plus releases on my birthday, must be a sign lol.

[famicommander]

10 hours ago, Video said:

I hope its decent, or at least sells well enough to warrant an update. 

 

This is the most baffling attitude.

You don't know if it's good, but you're going to buy one anyway, and if it's not good you hope they make another one so you can buy it next year and hope it's good?

 

This is why we got horrible AtGames products for 10 years in a row.

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by famicommander

[desiv]

1 hour ago, famicommander said:

You don't know if it's good, but you're going to buy one anyway, and if it's not good you hope they make another one so you can buy it next year and hope it's good?

Worked for the Flashback.  The first one was ...  well... a start...   

Without it, there wouldn't have been a Flashback 2, and some of the others are also well liked for what they are...

[John Stamos Mullet]

1 hour ago, famicommander said:

This is the most baffling attitude.

You don't know if it's good, but you're going to buy one anyway, and if it's not good you hope they make another one so you can buy it next year and hope it's good?

 

This is why we got horrible AtGames products for 10 years in a row.

 

No, he’s saying that if the initial firmware isn’t great, but it sells well the existing unit will get an update, not a new version you have to buy again.

[M-S]

I think that if the 2600+ doesn't sell as well as Atari expects the impressions executives and investors will have is more likely to be "we should stop investing in legacy hardware" rather than "we should improve the technology", they could even stop the new cartridges and accessories thing. But I think casuals are going to buy enough of it.