The new Atari 2600+ w/HDMI out and 2600/7800 support

[akator]

^ That's kind of tough considering the 2600+ description is vague and no one has one yet.

 

The R77 seems to have some production issues where some units have bad memory.  I'm not sure my experience is related to that, but the first R77 I received wouldn't fully boot.  I bought it from Stone Age Gamer, so they promptly replaced it with a new one.  That second one worked.

 

The R77 as it arrives has an older version of Stella.  It has a cart port and micro SD slot.  By installing community firmware, then Stella 6.6, the R77 is much upgraded into a better emulation device.  I haven't had any issues loading games from the micro SD card.

 

Original controllers and paddles are compatible, which again I haven't had any trouble with.  However, some users have reported problems with paddles.  There are Stella settings adjustments for paddle sensitivity which I only tweaked slighting to get it working how I wanted.

 

Hyperkin also sells a Ranger combined paddle and gamepad.  Some users don't like it.  I do and have also used it with my 2600 and 7800.

 

I'm sure someone else can chime in about the R77, but we'll have to wait and see how the 2600+ really compares.

[Dionoid]

I own a Retron77 (with Stella 6.6 running on it), but I rarely use it. I don’t really like the looks of the Retron77  and the fact that you have to insert the cartridges the other way around. To me, the Atari 2600+ would be a much better looking alternative.

But I think I would also rarely use it, as I prefer an original 2600.

 

I think Atari made a deal with Hyperkin and the Atari 2600+ dumper code is an improved version of the Retron77’s dumper code.

Hopefully they will support more bankswitching types, so more games will be compatible with the Atari 2600+. But I don’t expect Pitfall II to be supported.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Dionoid

[82-T/A]

2 hours ago, ledzep said:

 

I'm not sure I'll buy one due to the various homebrew/latency concerns previously mentioned but I'm with you 100% on the excitement and the nostalgia.

 

I think this is the thing that irks me the most about some of the comments in the thread. A lot of people are saying this, but how do they know? No one here has one yet... or has played it. Everyone is making assumptions. How do they know that the 2600+ won't play homebrews... has Atari stated this on their website? I looked and didn't see anything that suggested this (maybe I'm just missing it).

 

 

I'd mentioned it before, but it says that it fully supports the Atari 7800 BallBlazer game, which as many of us know, is a specialized board that has an additional Pokey chip (for graphics or sound, I can't remember):

 

 

 

So, if it supports this game, why then do we think it won't support basic homebrews?

 

 

I did read the rest of what you wrote, and agreed with a lot of it, I was just responding to this one thing because I'm wondering what others think. A lot of people are saying it won't support homebrews, but I'm just not seeing where that's actually been stated anywhere. Again, I could be totally wrong, maybe they said "DOES NOT SUPPORT HOMEBREWS" and I just didn't see it.

 

[BillDMatt]

1 hour ago, toddtmw said:

Okay. I don’t have an R77. But they seem to be about half the price as the 2600+. 
 

can anyone give me a brief list of differences and/or pros and cons between the two?
 

Thanks

the most obvious difference would be the fact that this plays 7800 games and the Retron 77 doesn't.   

[+splendidnut]

2 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

How do they know that the 2600+ won't play homebrews... has Atari stated this on their website?

Hardware specs indicate that it's running a software emulator.  In which case, typically, those types of systems DUMP the data of the inserted cartridge into the system before running the game.  They don't run the game from the cartridge itself... which is something that ARM-based games kind of require.  Or they would need something that can interface with the ARM chip to dump the data, as not all the data is readily available with twiddling of some memory addresses.  So, ARM-based games probably won't work unless they allow ROM files to be downloaded into the system from a PC and included support necessary for running the ARM code.  Is it possible that they've done that?  Sure.

 

So, it will probably run most homebrews.  It'll most definitely run the ones that use the original Atari bank-switching schemes or schemes of games that they've indicated they currently support.

 

 

[BillDMatt]

8 hours ago, M-S said:

Well, the console you mentioned is the only one in existence and less than 10 people have used it, it's not impossible to think some games and accessories have been left out of tests because they wouldn't work 1:1 or they needed some workaround. And if it was made as a passion project and not for sale why hasn't the author made it open source so anyone can build one?

 No one can be sure, but I think it's pretty safe to assume it would go past 500U$ if Atari uses the same pricing logic as the 2600+, to the point in which it's not worth it.

 The motherboard for the 2600 has already been reverse engineered, but the one that's complete hasn't been released to the public and the creator is also not at Atarigage, but there's also a prototype coincidentally called 2600+ which is a redesigned board and it has a thread in this forum. Almost the entire thing is done, the TIA is the only component that would need some work, some of the AV and the RGB mods already replace some of it's functions, but no one has thought about how to fully replace it.

So I'm confused,  everyone who is hating on this because it doesn't have the FPGA etc,  would they be willing to be north of $400?    Then you start getting into the whole   " just buy an XBox or a PS5" talk.    So  I don't understand,   the hate seems to be based on unrealistic expectations.     

 

Don't get wrong I would love for it to play homebrews especially the more complex carts from Champ Games etc  but not for $400 to $500.   I do love the fact it can play 7800 games though so for my use it'll be a nice complimentary addition to my original modded Atarti.  plus  it'll play some games my retroTink doesn't play nice with like Empire Strkes Back,  Asteroids, War Lords and Battlezone .   

Edited August 24, 2023 by BillDMatt

[akator]

I think there are a lot of valid things pointed out in this thread, the most valid being that original hardware with an AV mod can be purchased for the same price.

 

The issue of FPGA is complicated.  The 2600 and 7800 aren't a complex device requiring a lot of logic, so in theory a much smaller and cheaper FPGA could be used.  It would definitely be more expensive than the ARM board in the 2600+, but the real issue is developing those 2600 and 7800 cores.  To my knowledge, most of the work done for FPGA is open source with profit limitations.  That would mean new cores would need to be developed for a commercially sold device, and that's costly.  (For examples, look at the prices of the CollectorVision Phoenix and the Analog consoles.)

 

Another thing about FPGA is that it isn't perfect, the hardware emulation is only as good as the developer makes it.  While I like my MiSTer, unlike many others I don't feel it can replace original hardware.  That's especially true with systems like the 2600.  I'm in no way knocking the amazing developers that have created these hardware emulations, just saying that even the currently most developed FPGA solution (MiSTer) is still not 100% compatible with games, controllers, and it obviously doesn't do carts.

 

Despite the popular opinion that software emulation sucks, software emulation has progressed by leaps and bounds over the last few decades.  While this is anecdotal, my recent experiences are that good emulation is virtually indistinguishable from the real hardware I own.  There are, of course, exceptions, but for the most part 99% of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between software emulation, FPGA, and original hardware.

 

Our preferences for original hardware are because we want 100% accuracy and 100% compatibility, which is unlikely to occur — ever — without using original hardware.  We can choose the 100% of original hardware or the 99% of emulated (software or hardware).  It's unreasonable to expect Atari or any other contemporary manufacturer to make 40+ year old hardware, so if we want modern hardware we have to accept that 99%.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:35 PM, Dionoid said:

I think Atari made a deal with Hyperkin and the Atari 2600+ dumper code is an improved version of the Retron77’s dumper code.

What makes you think so? All information we have clearly indicate that the dumper is no better than the R77's (EDIT: For now, but it seems it can be updated). The only thing they might have improved is the "cart inserted" detection.🤞

On 8/24/2023 at 2:35 PM, Dionoid said:

Hopefully they will support more bankswitching types, so more games will be compatible with the Atari 2600+. But I don’t expect Pitfall II to be supported.

Detecting F6 and F8 is dead simple: Hash the initial visible 4K (or a part of it) (skipping $1ff6..1ff9), then trigger $1ff6, if the hash is different it is F6. Else trigger $1ff8, if the hash is different it is F8. Else it is 4K (incl. 2K). That's about what the r77 dumper does (comments are mine).

Spoiler

MAPPER_CHECK:
; detects bankswitching scheme
            MOV     R0,#0X40        ; pointer to checksum results
            MOV     STAR_ADDRL,#0XF6; first hotspot 1ff6
            MOV     STAR_ADDRH,#0X1F
            MOV     R5,#4           ; 4 hotspots to check
XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP1:
            MOV     R6,#56          ; first and last 256 bytes skipped
            MOV     CHKSUMH,#0X00
            MOV     CHKSUML,#0X00
            ; trigger hotspot
            MOV     ADDRL,STAR_ADDRL
            MOV     ADDRH,STAR_ADDRH
            CALL    ADDR_SET_SUB
            CALL    DELAY_10us
            CALL    DELAY_10us
            ; start reading from 0x0100
            MOV     ADDRL,#0X00
            MOV     ADDRH,#0X01
            CALL    ADDR_SET_SUB
            CALL    DELAY_10us
            CALL    DELAY_10us
            ; start calculating checksums for this bank
XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP2:
            MOV     R7,#64          ; read in chunks of 64 bytes
XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP:
            CALL    ADDR_SET_SUB    ; set address to read from
            CALL    DELAY_5us       ; wait 5µs
            MOV     DPTR,#rGPIOC_DAT; read byte
            MOVX    A,@DPTR
            ; update checksum
            ADD     A,CHKSUML
            MOV     CHKSUML,A
            JNC     XXCHKSUM_NOT_OVER
            INC     CHKSUMH
XXCHKSUM_NOT_OVER:
            ; increment address by 1
            INC     ADDRL
            MOV     A,ADDRL
            JNZ     XXADD_OVER_256
            INC     ADDRH
XXADD_OVER_256:
            DJNZ    R7,XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP
            DJNZ    R6,XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP2

            MOV     A,CHKSUML       ; store low byte into
            MOV     @R0,A           ;  0x40, 0x42, 0x44, 0x46
            INC     R0
            MOV     A,CHKSUMH       ; store high byte into
            MOV     @R0,A           ;  0x41, 0x43, 0x45, 0x47
            INC     R0

            MOV     R6,#56          ; (again) first and last 256 bytes skipped
            INC     STAR_ADDRL      ; next hotspot (1ff6, 1ff7, 1ff8, 1ff9)
            DJNZ    R5,XXREAD_EEPROM_LOOP1 ; loop hotspots

; compare checksums
            MOV     A,0X40
            XRL     A,0X42          ; 0x40 XOR 0x42 (lo 1ff6 vs 1ff7)
            JZ      F6L_EQU         ; if equal, try high
            JMP     MAPPER_F6       ; else F6 (16K)
F6L_EQU:
            MOV     A,0X41
            XRL     A,0X43          ; 0x41 XOR 0x43 (hi 1ff6 vs 1ff7)
            JZ      F6H_EQU         ; if equal, try F8
MAPPER_F6:                          ; else F6 (16K)
            MOV     A,#0X02         ; 2 = 16K
            JMP     MAPPER_OK

F6H_EQU:
            MOV     A,0X44
            XRL     A,0X46          ; 0x44 XOR 0x46 (lo 1ff8 vs 1ff9)
            JZ      F8L_EQU         ; if equal, try high
            JMP     MAPPER_F8       ; else F8 (8K)
F8L_EQU:
            MOV     A,0X45
            XRL     A,0X47          ; 0x45 XOR 0x47 (hi 1ff8 vs 1ff9)
            JZ      F8H_EQU         ; if equal, 4K
MAPPER_F8:                          ; else F8 (8K)
            MOV     A,#0X01         ; 1 = 8K
            JMP     MAPPER_OK
F8H_EQU:
            MOV     A,#0X00         ; 0 = 4K (or undetected)
MAPPER_OK:
            MOV     CART_MAPPER,A
            RET

 

Detecting extra bankswitching requires some thought and quite complex dumper code. Detection is much more tricky than e.g. for Stella, because Stella has the full ROM. The dumper can only see the current 4K address space with more or less random banks. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Thomas Jentzsch]

2 hours ago, toddtmw said:

Okay. I don’t have an R77. But they seem to be about half the price as the 2600+. 
 

can anyone give me a brief list of differences and/or pros and cons between the two?

If you are into the 2600, get the R77. If you are also into the 7800, the 2600+ might be better for you.

[BillDMatt]

11 minutes ago, akator said:

I think there are a lot of valid things pointed out in this thread, the most valid being that original hardware with an AV mod can be purchased for the same price.

 

The issue of FPGA is complicated.  The 2600 and 7800 aren't a complex device requiring a lot of logic, so in theory a much smaller and cheaper FPGA could be used.  It would definitely be more expensive than the ARM board in the 2600+, but the real issue is developing those 2600 and 7800 cores.  To my knowledge, most of the work done for FPGA is open source with profit limitations.  That would mean new cores would need to be developed for a commercially sold device, and that's costly.  (For examples, look at the prices of the CollectorVision Phoenix and the Analog consoles.)

 

Another thing about FPGA is that it isn't perfect, the hardware emulation is only as good as the developer makes it.  While I like my MiSTer, unlike many others I don't feel it can replace original hardware.  That's especially true with systems like the 2600.  I'm in no way knocking the amazing developers that have created these hardware emulations, just saying that even the currently most developed FPGA solution (MiSTer) is still not 100% compatible with games, controllers, and it obviously doesn't do carts.

 

Despite the popular opinion that software emulation sucks, software emulation has progressed by leaps and bounds over the last few decades.  While this is anecdotal, my recent experiences are that good emulation is virtually indistinguishable from the real hardware I own.  There are, of course, exceptions, but for the most part 99% of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between software emulation, FPGA, and original hardware.

 

Our preferences for original hardware are because we want 100% accuracy and 100% compatibility, which is unlikely to occur — ever — without using original hardware.  We can choose the 100% of original hardware or the 99% of emulated (software or hardware).  It's unreasonable to expect Atari or any other contemporary manufacturer to make 40+ year old hardware, so if we want modern hardware we have to accept that 99%.

I wonder what the cost is of using original hardware vs. emulation?  

 

While I agree you can buy and AV mod of an original atari, I have one myself, for a similar price,  but that does come with some risks of  getting a quality mod,  picture quality and then if you do want to hook it up to an hdtv and get the better clarity then you are making an additional investment into a RetroTink like device which cost starting at $130 and to $300.   And also like my concern all the time about mine is the fact it's still a 40 + year old console,    but I do love the fact it's an original and that is great.  

 

I also have a Retro- Bit Trio ( Sega, NES, SNES)   and I don't think that's  emulation and reads directly from the cart, I could be wrong, but if not I wonder what type of system that uses.  

 

 

[akator]

10 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

If you are into the 2600, get the R77. If you are also into the 7800, the 2600+ might be better for you.

Beautifully said.

 

Despite the questions that so many of us have about the 2600+, I think it's a good sign that we will finally have something that plays an Atari system besides the 2600.  After all, that's what so many on these forums have been wanting for years.

Edited August 24, 2023 by akator

[King_Salamon]

19 hours ago, polyex said:

I did not know it came with paddles , I thought it came with one wired joystick

There's a set of paddles with a 4 in 1 cart that will be released with the system as a separate purchase.  It's on the Atari site... there's also additional joysticks and new cart releases that you can purchase.

[m.o.terra kaesi]

with all that discussion about "what system it should/could have been"...

...is it from a technical perspective even realistic that you could develop such a system for under $200?
I don't mean FPGA, but an emulator powerful enough to play ARM, >4K homebrews, SD-carts and ALL old carts?

[+5-11under]

2 minutes ago, m.o.terra kaesi said:

with all that discussion about "what system it should/could have been"...

...is it from a technical perspective even realistic that you could develop such a system for under $200?
I don't mean FPGA, but an emulator powerful enough to play ARM, >4K homebrews, SD-carts and ALL old carts?

Probably. You've got $70 to play with. It wouldn't be rocket science to add a controller to obtain code/data from the cartridge whenever called for.

/it might be rocket science for many of us, but I'm sure there's some of us here who could do it.

[82-T/A]

9 minutes ago, m.o.terra kaesi said:

with all that discussion about "what system it should/could have been"...

...is it from a technical perspective even realistic that you could develop such a system for under $200?
I don't mean FPGA, but an emulator powerful enough to play ARM, >4K homebrews, SD-carts and ALL old carts?

 

Do be clear, the hardware in the 2600+ supports 4k graphics... for whatever that's worth. I doubt that's a concern with Atari 2600 and 7800 games, but the hardware, specifically the chip, are all designed to support 4k resolution as I posted yesterday.

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

20 minutes ago, m.o.terra kaesi said:

with all that discussion about "what system it should/could have been"...

...is it from a technical perspective even realistic that you could develop such a system for under $200?
I don't mean FPGA, but an emulator powerful enough to play ARM, >4K homebrews, SD-carts and ALL old carts?

Such a system already exists, the R77 can play all these games just fine for ~$80.

 

Some games are on the edge, but extra CPU power would be dead cheap.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[zzip]

1 hour ago, 82-T/A said:

I'd mentioned it before, but it says that it fully supports the Atari 7800 BallBlazer game, which as many of us know, is a specialized board that has an additional Pokey chip (for graphics or sound, I can't remember):

It probably doesn't matter that there's a Pokey on the Ballblazer cart,  this machine is likely using an emulator like a7800 / Mame, which emulates the Pokey chip.   So it would just dump the code and use the emulated Pokey and not the real one..   Unless Atari is doing something unexpected.

 

1 hour ago, 82-T/A said:

 

I think this is the thing that irks me the most about some of the comments in the thread. A lot of people are saying this, but how do they know? No one here has one yet... or has played it. Everyone is making assumptions. How do they know that the 2600+ won't play homebrews... has Atari stated this on their website? I looked and didn't see anything that suggested this (maybe I'm just missing it).

We know enough from the specs that it will be running emulation.   Likely Stella.    Stella can play homebrews when they are in the form of a ROM,  the potential issue is whether the ROM dumper portion will be able to dump more exotic bank-switching schemes, because the bank switching logic is encoded in the 6507 game code, and if you aren't running the game code directly from the cartridge, then the way to access bank-switched data would not be obvious.     

 

Now it's possible that Atari implements some kind of cartridge ID database in the firmware that would allow it to identify the game that's been plugged in, and therefore it knows what proper signals to send to dump it,  and maybe this database would get updated as the firmware does,  or they could allow side-loading of ROMs that the dumper can't handle onto the built-in eMMC   but we don't know if either of these is the case.    I think the published compatibility list suggests the more exotic carts may be trouble.

[alex_79]

2 hours ago, 82-T/A said:

Everyone is making assumptions.

No assumpions, the hardware specs are on the official site. This IS an emulation box and not a recreation of the 2600/7800 consoles. The cartridge port is a marketing gimmick that reduces the compatibility compared to a PC emulator.

 

2 hours ago, 82-T/A said:

I'd mentioned it before, but it says that it fully supports the Atari 7800 BallBlazer game, which as many of us know, is a specialized board that has an additional Pokey chip (for graphics or sound, I can't remember):

 

So, if it supports this game, why then do we think it won't support basic homebrews?

The hardware used by a  BallBlazer cart is known (has been for ages), and the rom can be dumped from the cartridge port. Once it gets the rom from the dumper, the emulator can then emulate the game including the pokey chip. Nothing difficult.

 

Now suppose you buy this "console". And also that the day after the console is delivered to you,  a new 7800 homebrew is released using a different bankswitching scheme. Nothing fancy. No extra sound chips or co-processor. Something that could be easily have been produced in the '80s. just different in some way. Will it work with your new "console"?

 

No.

Again, this is no assumption, it's a fact.

 

To make it "work" you need

1- an updated emulator that can support this new cart type.

2- an updated dumper software that can dump this new cart type. (and, as said, this can be tricky and it might be very difficult or even impossible to autodetect correctly and reliably every bankswitching scheme)

 

 

Pointing out the shortcomings of this kind of  devices is not "hating", but it's helping people to decide if it's something that fits their needs or not, as they might be fooled by the misleading marketing ("plays both 2600 and 7800 game cartridge") to believe this is a replacement for an original console.

It isn't.

 

I don't "hate" this new 2600+. I know what it is and I know I'm not interested in it, as it doesn't do anything I can already do (better) by using PC emulation and real hardware. I think it looks pretty cool, and I'm sure some people will love to own it, but I also think they should know what they're buying.

[m.o.terra kaesi]

37 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Such a system already exists, the R77 can play all these games just fine for ~$80.

 

Some games are on the edge, but extra CPU power would be dead cheap.

I read it can't out of the box. You mean a modified R77?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

6 minutes ago, m.o.terra kaesi said:

I read it can't out of the box. You mean a modified R77?

A simple software update, yes. 

[m.o.terra kaesi]

7 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

A simple software update, yes. 

So chances should be high the same will be possible with the 2600+ right?

[chad5200]

5 hours ago, akator said:

You can buy a pre-modded AFB2 with cart slot at Flashback 2 Central.  I bought one last year from Jimmy and he did a great job.  Works with my Harmony Cart, too.

Does anyone know if the PlusCart works with a modded Flashback 2?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

28 minutes ago, m.o.terra kaesi said:

So chances should be high the same will be possible with the 2600+ right?

Given the fact how much was invested into the R77 by the community, I am not so sure. And the lack of an SD card makes definitely makes it complicated.

 

If you want that, I would at least wait until we know more.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

[M-S]

53 minutes ago, BillDMatt said:

So I'm confused,  everyone who is hating on this because it doesn't have the FPGA etc,  would they be willing to be north of $400?    Then you start getting into the whole   " just buy an XBox or a PS5" talk.    So  I don't understand,   the hate seems to be based on unrealistic expectations.     

 

Don't get wrong I would love for it to play homebrews especially the more complex carts from Champ Games etc  but not for $400 to $500.   I do love the fact it can play 7800 games though so for my use it'll be a nice complimentary addition to my original modded Atarti.  plus  it'll play some games my retroTink doesn't play nice with like Empire Strkes Back,  Asteroids, War Lords and Battlezone .   

A lot of the people buying this haven't played Atari in decades, they will see this on stores, buy it, play it and be happy. And if they want to buy any cartridges besides the 10-in-1 they will buy licensed Atari games that are on the list (either the old ones or the re-releases), not homebrews or flash cartridges. In case they get bored of it they'll just leave it as a collectible. But we are just having a technical conversation with the limited amount of information we have here, and most of us already have an option to play these games, either using old consoles or something like the R77, so wether or not you want to buy this it's up to you. 

46 minutes ago, akator said:

Despite the popular opinion that software emulation sucks, software emulation has progressed by leaps and bounds over the last few decades.  While this is anecdotal, my recent experiences are that good emulation is virtually indistinguishable from the real hardware I own.  There are, of course, exceptions, but for the most part 99% of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between software emulation, FPGA, and original hardware.

 

Our preferences for original hardware are because we want 100% accuracy and 100% compatibility, which is unlikely to occur — ever — without using original hardware.  We can choose the 100% of original hardware or the 99% of emulated (software or hardware).  It's unreasonable to expect Atari or any other contemporary manufacturer to make 40+ year old hardware, so if we want modern hardware we have to accept that 99%.

They did it once, so it's not impossible that they wouldn't do it again, it just didn't happen this time. Besides, you can buy a brand new CPU and a RAM chip with similar specs for under 5$ each, the TIA is the only issue there (and maybe designing a motherboard).

36 minutes ago, BillDMatt said:

I wonder what the cost is of using original hardware vs. emulation?  

 

While I agree you can buy and AV mod of an original atari, I have one myself, for a similar price,  but that does come with some risks of  getting a quality mod,  picture quality and then if you do want to hook it up to an hdtv and get the better clarity then you are making an additional investment into a RetroTink like device which cost starting at $130 and to $300.   And also like my concern all the time about mine is the fact it's still a 40 + year old console,    but I do love the fact it's an original and that is great.  

 

I also have a Retro- Bit Trio ( Sega, NES, SNES)   and I don't think that's  emulation and reads directly from the cart, I could be wrong, but if not I wonder what type of system that uses.  

These Retro-Bit systems all use modern clone chips, the SNES part is composed of three chips replacing each part of the hardware, but the others are all reduced into a single chip, which is why they aren't as faithful to the hardware, although good systems on a chip exist. Then there is an upscaler chip, some of them are cheaper than others, it depends on the resolution, 720p, 1080p and upwards, and the input lag, I think most people would want less than 1 or 2 frames. I have never found many lag tests involving these consoles, so I can't guess, but I know a chip that costs 15$ with many resolutions and half a frame of lag, don't know if they would actually use it.

Anyways, this'll be my last post in this thread until we get the reviews, and hey, even if it ends up being a terrible console, we still are going to get new controllers, games and cartridges to use anywhere.

[82-T/A]

1 hour ago, alex_79 said:

Pointing out the shortcomings of this kind of  devices is not "hating", but it's helping people to decide if it's something that fits their needs or not, as they might be fooled by the misleading marketing ("plays both 2600 and 7800 game cartridge") to believe this is a replacement for an original console.

It isn't.

 

I don't "hate" this new 2600+. I know what it is and I know I'm not interested in it, as it doesn't do anything I can already do (better) by using PC emulation and real hardware. I think it looks pretty cool, and I'm sure some people will love to own it, but I also think they should know what they're buying.

 

Respectfully... I think this must be a personality thing (not you specifically). But there are people who seem to really get off on trashing something because x / y / z. If I see someone creating something, and I'm not particularly interested or it's not for me, I don't waste my time going on and on, multiple posts, trying to tell people how crappy said thing is. Again, I'm not pointing out you in particular, but just general theme I've seen here. I can recall doing such a thing back when I was in my early 20s. Good example was comparing the Pontiac Fiero to the Toyota MR2, or then again the Mazda Miata to the new Pontiac Solstice. At my age... 45 (we seem to be a year apart based on your "79"), if someone has something they like, or someone else makes something that's different than what I like... I'm totally OK with it. Why would it bother me?

 

Again, in general... if the Atari 2600+ is not for you, then why so many messages complaining about how it doesn't do this or doesn't do that. This doesn't feel like a product Q&A session... it feels like people who have an axe to grind and want to shit all over it. I ask, what kind of benefit would there be if this fails miserably and Atari goes completely out of business, for good? Some of you would revel in the "I told you so..." and to what benefit would that be for everyone else? Is it so important that people view your vast intellect on such things as FPGAs and ROM dumping that it bears multiple repeating to every new post so everyone knows?

 

I'm here initially because I was super-excited about it (I already bought one, and as I said, I clicked "add-to-cart" on every single thing that wasn't a t-shirt or coffee mug that popped up on the left). I could not manage to get my credit card information in fast enough that I almost clicked submit before I realized that I put my rental property address in the shipping location. But now I'm here because I WANT Atari to do well. I am sorry if it does not have a built in PS5 and costs $50 bucks like some would desire. Being totally honest, if the difference between $77 and $130 dollars is that big of a deal for you, you shouldn't even be buying video games anyway. I want Atari to succeed... and for whatever my opinion is worth...

 

LEAVE BRITTANY ATARI ALONE!!!

 

 

Also... re-adding... proverbial "you," not crapping all over you Alex_79.