Never successfully googled or had someone test for me but finally found out what the paddle behavior is for 4-port 2600 consoles like the Sears Video Arcade II or presumably the 2800

[RockLobster]

Since the SVAII and 2800 used individual paddle controllers instead of the normal dual paddles, I always wanted to know how dual paddles were treated in 4 player games.  I don't have a 2800 so if someone can validate the below, that'd be awesome.

 

It turns out there is a joystick / paddle toggle button on the console.  

 

• When it's in joystick mode, ports 1 and 2 behave just like a regular 2600 variant.  That is, both sets of dual paddles are recognized as players 1-4.
• When it's in paddle mode, only one paddle per set is fully recognized (there's some weird behavior on one inactive paddle if moved) in each of the 4 ports allowing presumable for the single joystick/paddle combo controllers.

 

Now my remaining deathbed question is this:

 

Is there a definitive list of all 4-port 4 joystick games for the SVA2 and 2800 consoles like there is for the 5200 4-port and Atari8bit line of computers?

[Lord Thag]

My main Atari 2600 is a SVA2.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, there is no need for a comprehensive list. All 4-player paddle games that work on a standard VCS also work on the SVA2/2800 with the single port specialized Joystick/Paddle devices. It just depends on how you set the Joystick/Paddle switches on the console.

 

The 8-bit line needs the list because no Atari after the 800 could take advantage of those 4-port games, because the hardware no longer existed on later models. Here, all the games work on any Atari 2600 compatible system, it's just a matter of setting the Joystick/Paddle buttons on the SVA2 depending on whether you have standard paddles or the fancy joystick/paddle combo sticks.