The Atari 2600+ is live for preorders!

[T.A.P.]

I hope Realsports Boxing is eventually fixed, I like that one quite a bit.

[Bakasama]

2 hours ago, PacManPlus said:

Hopefully the 7800 version of Berzerk / Frenzy will work just as well  

So is there going to be newer version of that game eventually?

[PacManPlus]

Not sure what you mean by a 'newer version'?

 

Having said that, I'd like to do two things to it eventually.

- I want to make it play more like my NES port, meaning in two player simultaneous games the first person to leave the level ends it (instead of waiting for the second person).  That solves a lot of issues.

- Work on relaxing the collision detection a bit.  I've seen cases where vertical shots pass through the skeleton on the right.

[Robert1972]

I am new here and all I can say as I am so excited. As a 50 year old I grew up playing this and more importantly my 85 year old mother played it with me and LOVED it. Cant wait to see her expression  when she opens up the Atari 2600+ for Christmas complete with her favorite games. Happy times.

[BIGHMW]

I'm still holding out in favor of getting my 2600 Jr. Short Rainbow repaired UNLESS somebody can confirm that she'll work with ALL of the Champ Games titles (including the ARM-based ones) and also Ruby*Q.

 

...or at least work with my Harmony Encore.

[Shawn]

22 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

I'm still holding out in favor of getting my 2600 Jr. Short Rainbow repaired UNLESS somebody can confirm that she'll work with ALL of the Champ Games titles (including the ARM-based ones) and also Ruby*Q.

 

...or at least work with my Harmony Encore.

 

You didn't bother reading anything in this thread and are just shitposting at will I assume?

[+jgkspsx]

28 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

I'm still holding out in favor of getting my 2600 Jr. Short Rainbow repaired UNLESS somebody can confirm that she'll work with ALL of the Champ Games titles (including the ARM-based ones) and also Ruby*Q.

 

...or at least work with my Harmony Encore.

Better fix your 2600 Jr.

[Tavi]

16 minutes ago, Shawn said:

 

You didn't bother reading anything in this thread and are just shitposting at will I assume?

... or just stating a fact?

Quite honestly, I do not have much interest in buying a 2600+ either as it is currently.

I have an original 2600, a 7800, several versions of Flashbacks, the Atari game collection on Steam and a Retron 77.

I probably would have been tempted to add a 2600+ to the lot, but that a lot of modern releases will likely be incompatible with it and likewise there is no ability to load them in ROM format is a dealbreaker personally.

I can already play my original cartridges and classic games in more ways and formats then I ever really need as is, adding another one is not a burning priority.

I am sure a lot of people will be interested in the 2600+, but for myself it is not offering anything I don't have a system that will already do and in some cases do better then what is offered by this unit.

That is not being rude, or shitposting; but just a fact.

[fluxit]

The case of the 2600+ looks great.  I'm glad that Atari is working on cart compatibility, and apparently trying to release a product that people will want to buy.

 

On the other hand, shipping it with only one controller seems chintzy.

 

My first memories of playing the 2600 VCS are of Air Sea Battle, and Combat.  Flashbacks came with 2 controllers, and generally cost less

 

I understand that there are plenty of 2600+ buyers who will probably never even play a two player game on the system, but the fact that it can't manage that simple feat out of the box, with no preexisting or added hardware just seems wrong in 2023.

[MittyOz]

Regarding the USB-C port and updateable firmware.  Is it possible that someone could create a firmware that will run games via an SD card plugged into a dock plugged into the USB-C port (which would also supply power).  Forgive me if I'm asking a question that's already been asked/answered!

[DEANJIMMY]

On 9/27/2023 at 8:29 PM, Ben from Plaion said:

There is no change to the release date of November 17th.

 

All launch day stock has been manufactured and is on route to distribution centers in US, Europe and Australia right now.

 

There is additional stock being manufactured for the US market currently which is landing in early December in time for holidays.

 

The launch day machines hardware design and software version was locked many months ago. We are now taking the feedback posted here and elsewhere, continuing our internal testing and having discussion with the likely result being a future software update to improve the experience.

 

 

@Ben from Plaion

Hello Ben,

many thanks for sharing your test results with us🤙

I hope you get a 7800 cartridge of Commando and Xevious for testing, soon.

I tested some games on the lr-prosystem emulation, which should be based on the 1.3e.

The Pokey sound for Commando was not very good but Ballblazer music was fine🤔

Xevoius did not detect the 2nd button joystick, hopefully this won't be the case on the 2600+

Other games worked with 2nd button, so it is related to Xevious.

Homebrew Popeye gave me graphic errors and was unplayable. I could only test the beta, as I have no equipment to dump my cartridge with the final rom.

So on current release some 7800 games might have issues with Pokey sound, 2nd button and graphics, so an update after shipment would be great.

 

Many thanks for your test efforts in advance🤙

[Dionoid]

13 hours ago, PowerDubs said:

Amazon Germany has run out of 2600+

 

I assumed it was a temporary hiccup at Amazon.de, but the 2600+ is still not available there anymore. I think Atari didn’t expect the amount of preorders that they got.

[Ben from Plaion]

21 hours ago, Dr Karnov said:

Games looking really sharp.

 

Are there plans to release footage of the new Berserk?

 

[Ben from Plaion]

13 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

@Ben from Plaion Can you post a picture from that glitch? Maybe we can spot something.

 

 

See video attached, version missmatch?

[Dionoid]

10 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

See video attached, version missmatch?

Did you double-check the cartridge on an actual Atari 2600? It could be that this cartridge actually has a damaged ROM.

[Ben from Plaion]

5 minutes ago, Dionoid said:

Did you double-check the cartridge on an actual Atari 2600? It could be that this cartridge actually has a damaged ROM.

Yes, first thing I do on a fail is try it on an original 2600. And it does work fine on the original machine.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

8 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Yes, first thing I do on a fail is try it on an original 2600. And it does work fine on the original machine.

@Ben from Plaion Do you have access to the dumped ROM? If yes, can you post it?

 

Nevermind, I think I identified the problem. The cart is dumped as 8K, with only the 2nd half being dumped. The attached ROM shows the same result.

RealSports Boxing (1987) (Atari).002.bin

Edited September 29, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Dionoid]

2 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

@Ben from Plaion Do you have access to the dumped ROM? If yes, can you post it?

 

Nevermind, I think I identified the problem. The cart is dumped as 8K, with only the 2nd half being dumped. The attached ROM shows the same result.

RealSports Boxing (1987) (Atari).002.bin 8 kB · 2 downloads

Wow, you're showing some black-belt problem solving skills, @Thomas Jentzsch! 👊

[+swlovinist]

What OTG cable would be best for the 2600+?   Anyone have a link to the proper one?

[Blinky]

3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

The cart is dumped as 8K, with only the 2nd half being dumped.

And the reason for that is because banks 0 and 1 (and 3) of this game only access FFF8 and FFF9 hotspots making the dumper believe it's only an 8K rom. However FFF8 and FFF9 select bank 2 and 3 respectively on a 16K cart. The other games work since they access other hotspots as well (in those banks).
 

Dumper firmware needs a fix.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Blinky

[Thomas Jentzsch]

26 minutes ago, Blinky said:

And the reason for that is because banks 0 and 1 (and 3) of this game only access FFF8 and FFF9 hotspots making the dumper believe it's only an 8K rom. However FFF8 and FFF9 select bank 2 and 3 respectively on a 16K cart. The other games work since they access other hotspots as well (in those banks).

Right. It looks like FFF8 and FFF9 are tested before FFF6 and FFF7. It should be vice versa.

26 minutes ago, Blinky said:

Dumper firmware needs a fix.

Definitely! Currently we are just lucky that no more tested games fail. Or unlucky, because else the bug would have become more obvious much sooner.

[Ben from Plaion]

39 minutes ago, Blinky said:

And the reason for that is because banks 0 and 1 (and 3) of this game only access FFF8 and FFF9 hotspots making the dumper believe it's only an 8K rom. However FFF8 and FFF9 select bank 2 and 3 respectively on a 16K cart. The other games work since they access other hotspots as well (in those banks).
 

Dumper firmware needs a fix.

Thanks for this info.

[Ben from Plaion]

Here are the upcoming changes to the 2600 compatibility list from last couple of days cartridge testing.

 

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

15 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Here are the upcoming changes to the 2600 compatibility list from last couple of days cartridge testing.

I had hoped FA (Omega Race, Tunnel Runner and Mountain King) would work now.

[Ben from Plaion]

2 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

I had hoped FA (Omega Race, Tunnel Runner and Mountain King) would work now.

I'm testing on launch day software. The software developer is on holiday and he is back next week, so we'll start on the first update build from then.