Video Touch Pad not compatible?

[Sean_1970]

I’ve raised a support call with Atari separately about this, but thought it worth going to the community in case others have similar/different experience.

 

One of my all-time favourite games on the 2600 is Star Raiders. I remember getting it as a gift in 1982 when it was released and played it so much I dented the overlay with thumbnail creases.

 

i have three different versions across multiple platforms due to buying every Atari game compilation for whatever platforms I own, but I was looking forward to playing this with the original gear on my 2600+. To that end I recently got a real find in the form of an unopened copy of the game on eBay. It was like Hanukah cane all over again; almost didn’t want to take out the cart due to the Atari boxes back then being glued at the top. So my Video Touch Pad is pristine.

 

Much to my disappointment, however no button presses were recognised on the 2600+, with or without overlay and with difficulty switches in either position. I’ve tried disconnecting and reconnecting with power on/off to no avail and I’ve plugged joysticks into both ports to confirm that the first controller port works. The game loads and plays fine with the joystick, but without access to the galactic map, you can’t really play this game, sadly.

 

I suppose it’s possible that being 40 years old the internal wiring could have corroded or it could just be defective, but the boxes had no musty smell or visible damage so it looks like it was well-stored for all these years. Given I got it for less than £25 I wouldn’t be bothered about having to buy another touchpad, but before I go down that road I just wanted to see if anyone else has tried using one with this system or if it’s just an omission on the part of Atari that will hopefully be corrected in a future firmware update.

[+LS650]

Yes, it's been reported for quite some time that the keyboard controllers aren't currently supported on the 2600+

Perhaps in a future firmware upgrade...

[Sean_1970]

15 minutes ago, ls650 said:

Yes, it's been reported for quite some time that the keyboard controllers aren't currently supported on the 2600+

Perhaps in a future firmware upgrade...

I now realise this, wish I had been reading the forums earlier, but at least I’m ready for when support is added 😅

[THX-1138]

1 hour ago, Sean_1970 said:

I now realise this, wish I had been reading the forums earlier, but at least I’m ready for when support is added 😅

I'm in a similar situation. I love Star Raiders and used to play it on my Atari 8-bit computers.  I recently picked up a pristine video touch pad with a copy of Star Raiders and was looking forward to playing it on the 2600+.  The compatibility list said Star Raiders worked but then I discovered the touch pad doesn't work yet!  I'm not sure it's fair to say Star Raiders works if you can't actually control it.  😂

Oh well, as you say we will be ready when support is added (hopefully before Hanukah)

[Lord Arse!]

I'm reviewing the Atari 2600+ right now over on X/Twitter and just come across the same issue. Worked just fine on my 7800 but not this.
Really hope that Atari stick with this and come up with upgrades when needed. It's a cool device, but I'm still not sure whether or not it'll be a curio, or they'll continue to push new releases and compilations like Evercade have done so well.