What are my 7800 controller options for 2600+?

[Mothdevil]

Hello! I've begun playing around with my 2600+ and realized there's some 7800 games I have (Dark Chambers, PP2) that need that second button. I THOUGHT my mothballed 7800 controllers were working decently, but no dice... What are my options? Does anyone know if those Flashback Mini 7800 controllers work with the 2600+? Is Atari going to be releasing a repro 7800 controller? Is there some third party stick (not pad) that won't cost me a ton more cash? Just trying to figure out what everyone else is doing in the wild with their 7800 games...

[MysticSword]

I seem to recall reading that the Flashback Mini 7800 controllers don't work with the 2600+ console.

Also that Atari may have a plan to make some new 7800 joystick controllers that would be 2600+ compatible (though I don't recall seeing a possible release date).

Maybe someone else in the know can confirm the above info.

 

For 7800 joystick controllers, I don't really see many options other than perhaps trying to find an old one for sale on something like Ebay (and even then, from what I've seen, there's not many options and for some reasons the 7800 joysticks that do show up tend to be listed as fairly expensive, or you'd need to buy as part of a whole console lot).

 

There are some other 3rd party options, like ones from Retro Game Boyz (which this one looks like a nice thumb-stick option, which I think the stick can be removed if one prefers it as a d-pad style): https://retrogameboyz.com/products/copy-of-atari-7800-controller-2600-joystick-control-pad-gamepad-rainbow

 

Though where I live (Canada), after currency conversions, shipping, duties / taxes, it's an expensive option for me. So I'm opting to try a less expensive way to use an old Genesis gamepad with a 7800 Mega Controller Adapter from the AtariAge store:

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1295

 

For another post I did on that (and some other posts in that thread that talk about similar idea);

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by MysticSword
Added info.

[tradyblix]

21 hours ago, Mothdevil said:

Hello! I've begun playing around with my 2600+ and realized there's some 7800 games I have (Dark Chambers, PP2) that need that second button. I THOUGHT my mothballed 7800 controllers were working decently, but no dice... What are my options? Does anyone know if those Flashback Mini 7800 controllers work with the 2600+? Is Atari going to be releasing a repro 7800 controller? Is there some third party stick (not pad) that won't cost me a ton more cash? Just trying to figure out what everyone else is doing in the wild with their 7800 games...

Everything would still have been fine if they'd not swapped the 7800 buttons. That doomed everyone. 

 

You can wait for them to fix or just go get a 7800 two button controller. Retrogameboyz is good. Ask him if he has the wood panelled version available yet

Edited December 16, 2023 by tradyblix

[+LS650]

On 12/15/2023 at 1:52 PM, Mothdevil said:

Hello! I've begun playing around with my 2600+ and realized there's some 7800 games I have (Dark Chambers, PP2) that need that second button. I THOUGHT my mothballed 7800 controllers were working decently, but no dice... What are my options? Does anyone know if those Flashback Mini 7800 controllers work with the 2600+? Is Atari going to be releasing a repro 7800 controller? Is there some third party stick (not pad) that won't cost me a ton more cash? Just trying to figure out what everyone else is doing in the wild with their 7800 games...

The Proline sticks seem to go for a pretty penny on eBay.  I used one once and thought they kind of sucked, so I went looking on eBay for a joypad instead.  These were sold in Europe, so I did a search on some of the different eBay sites: ebay.co.uk, ebay.fr, ebay.it, and finally ebay.de

 

I found one in allegedly good shape on the German site for a price that was reasonable, and ordered it a couple of weeks ago; I'm still waiting for it to arrive, and will post my comments about it when it gets here.

[DEANJIMMY]

Often said, Mega7800 adapter + a wireless Genesis receiver and you connect what you want.

Any modern pad is better than these 7800 pads (have them for reference only) and an arcade stick always is the best choice😉

[MysticSword]

5 minutes ago, DEANJIMMY said:

Often said, Mega7800 adapter + a wireless Genesis receiver and you connect what you want.

Any modern pad is better than these 7800 pads (have them for reference only) and an arcade stick always is the best choice😉

Ninja Golf? Wow! I've not seen it before. It looks quite interesting and really cool. What you think of it as a 7800 game? Maybe I'll put it on my wish-list.

[DEANJIMMY]

4 minutes ago, MysticSword said:

Ninja Golf? Wow! I've not seen it before. It looks quite interesting and really cool. What you think of it as a 7800 game? Maybe I'll put it on my wish-list.

It is a classic! And I use it to test A/B butons on controller solutions, as in PAL land Commando and others don't work😉

[ChrisKewl]

7 hours ago, MysticSword said:

There are some other 3rd party options, like ones from Retro Game Boyz (which this one looks like a nice thumb-stick option, which I think the stick can be removed if one prefers it as a d-pad style): https://retrogameboyz.com/products/copy-of-atari-7800-controller-2600-joystick-control-pad-gamepad-rainbow

I would love to see if this can be confirmed, I was looking at getting one of their game pads.

[Mothdevil]

Thank you, everyone! Seems silly, but I realllllly want the "authentic experience," so I was hoping to find something pretty similar to the proline. I may try cracking mine open again to see if I can fix. The connections mostly seem to work, they're just intermittent and sluggish. Does anyone have any recommendations beside hitting the thing up with some contact cleaner? (something that doesn't involve soldering...)

[tradyblix]

On 12/16/2023 at 6:38 PM, DEANJIMMY said:

It is a classic! And I use it to test A/B butons on controller solutions, as in PAL land Commando and others don't work😉

It's not that exciting if you ask me. I'd much rather have like, actual Shinobi on the 7800, that would be cool. 

 

It's one of those "cult" games that's silly that people on the internet have hyped up post 2010. 

[SuperZapperRecharge]

On 12/17/2023 at 11:29 AM, Mothdevil said:

Thank you, everyone! Seems silly, but I realllllly want the "authentic experience," so I was hoping to find something pretty similar to the proline. I may try cracking mine open again to see if I can fix. The connections mostly seem to work, they're just intermittent and sluggish. Does anyone have any recommendations beside hitting the thing up with some contact cleaner? (something that doesn't involve soldering...)

Get a Best Electronics upgrade kit. You'll have to order by mail.

Here's the page:

https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/joystick.htm

[+LS650]

The joypad finally arrived from Germany.   I can finally play Pole Position II..!

At first I thought the thumbstick felt quite flimsy and loose.  I thought it would be awful, but I was pleasantly surprised.   I tried it with both PP2 and 7800 Ms Pacman... and it worked very well with both.

I also received a couple of loose carts from eBay fairly inexpensively - Laser Blast and Mario Bros.  

[ToddUGA]

On 12/16/2023 at 9:04 PM, ChrisKewl said:

I would love to see if this can be confirmed, I was looking at getting one of their game pads.

It comes with two types of pads...one that you can screw in a thumb stick like the euro pad and another that is more like the NES d-pad. I tried both and in the end chose the NES style d-pad. It's a great controller.

Edited December 19, 2023 by ToddUGA

[scifidude79]

1 hour ago, ls650 said:

The joypad finally arrived from Germany.   I can finally play Pole Position II..!

At first I thought the thumbstick felt quite flimsy and loose.  I thought it would be awful, but I was pleasantly surprised.   I tried it with both PP2 and 7800 Ms Pacman... and it worked very well with both.

I also received a couple of loose carts from eBay fairly inexpensively - Laser Blast and Mario Bros.  

That's a great haul, especially that controller. Pole Position II is one of my favorite racing games, so I'm happy for you.

[tradyblix]

5 hours ago, ls650 said:

The joypad finally arrived from Germany.   I can finally play Pole Position II..!

At first I thought the thumbstick felt quite flimsy and loose.  I thought it would be awful, but I was pleasantly surprised.   I tried it with both PP2 and 7800 Ms Pacman... and it worked very well with both.

I also received a couple of loose carts from eBay fairly inexpensively - Laser Blast and Mario Bros.  

The cx78 is good looking. But I do not wanna pay beacoup bucks for a 30 year old one.

Edited December 19, 2023 by tradyblix

[scifidude79]

Retrogameboyz.com seems like a high class operation. I ordered one of their controllers off of Ebay, and they sent me a message about it shipping today and even images of the controller and the packaging.

I'm pretty excited to get this. I opted for this plain one with the wood insert because of the fact that it doesn't come with the little joystick. If I'm going to use what's essentially an NES controller, I want it to feel like an NES controller.

 

I also ordered the 7800 Mega Controller Adapter from AtariAge, which will allow me to use one of the several Sega Genesis controllers I have on the 2600+. I remember being a teenager and being delighted when I tried my Genesis controllers on my family's 7800 and found out they worked. The Proline joysticks were a vast improvement over the 5200 joysticks, but they still wore out faster than D-pad controllers.

Edited December 19, 2023 by scifidude79

[Flyindrew]

6 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

Retrogameboyz.com seems like a high class operation. I ordered one of their controllers off of Ebay, and they sent me a message about it shipping today and even images of the controller and the packaging.

I'm pretty excited to get this. I opted for this plain one with the wood insert because of the fact that it doesn't come with the little joystick. If I'm going to use what's essentially an NES controller, I want it to feel like an NES controller.

 

I also ordered the 7800 Mega Controller Adapter from AtariAge, which will allow me to use one of the several Sega Genesis controllers I have on the 2600+. I remember being a teenager and being delighted when I tried my Genesis controllers on my family's 7800 and found out they worked. The Proline joysticks were a vast improvement over the 5200 joysticks, but they still wore out faster than D-pad controllers.

I ordered a 5200 controller from Retrogameboyz. One thing to keep in mind, as they custom build your controller, it may take a month or more from the time when you place your order until its received. Im not complaining in any way shape or form, it just is what it is. You will not be receiving your order immediately as if it were eBay.

[fluxit]

43 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

Retrogameboyz.com seems like a high class operation. I ordered one of their controllers off of Ebay, and they sent me a message about it shipping today and even images of the controller and the packaging.

I'm pretty excited to get this. I opted for this plain one with the wood insert because of the fact that it doesn't come with the little joystick. If I'm going to use what's essentially an NES controller, I want it to feel like an NES controller.

 

I also ordered the 7800 Mega Controller Adapter from AtariAge, which will allow me to use one of the several Sega Genesis controllers I have on the 2600+. I remember being a teenager and being delighted when I tried my Genesis controllers on my family's 7800 and found out they worked. The Proline joysticks were a vast improvement over the 5200 joysticks, but they still wore out faster than D-pad controllers.

I hope you don't get any splinters

 

But, seriously though- that's a cool pattern.  If I didn't already have too many NES type controllers kicking around, I'd have to consider one of those.

 

[DEANJIMMY]

20 hours ago, tradyblix said:

It's not that exciting if you ask me. I'd much rather have like, actual Shinobi on the 7800, that would be cool. 

 

It's one of those "cult" games that's silly that people on the internet have hyped up post 2010. 

Well, Shinobi would be great but from the original library it is in my top 10.

 

It is always  just personal taste😊

I am not a Pac Man Fan, Ball Blazer is in my opinion over rated, etc.

 

As the original library is not so strong, I hope we can run homebrews soon.

They will kick out at least half of the originals from top 10, Ninja Golf included. 

B*nQ, Beef Drop, Space Invaders,  Popeye,...

 

And I hope to see more homebrews for the 7800, as they could run on the 2600+, while cool stuff for the 2600 uses an ARM cpu and fails on the 2600+.

[+sramirez2008]

2 hours ago, scifidude79 said:

Retrogameboyz.com seems like a high class operation. I ordered one of their controllers off of Ebay, and they sent me a message about it shipping today and even images of the controller and the packaging.

I'm pretty excited to get this. I opted for this plain one with the wood insert because of the fact that it doesn't come with the little joystick. If I'm going to use what's essentially an NES controller, I want it to feel like an NES controller.

 

I also ordered the 7800 Mega Controller Adapter from AtariAge, which will allow me to use one of the several Sega Genesis controllers I have on the 2600+. I remember being a teenager and being delighted when I tried my Genesis controllers on my family's 7800 and found out they worked. The Proline joysticks were a vast improvement over the 5200 joysticks, but they still wore out faster than D-pad controllers.

That one is pretty cool. I’m certain you’ll be happy with your controller. I’ve purchased a couple of their controlpad controllers (for my 7800 and ColecoVision) and they are excellent. 
 

Congrats on your purchase. 

[scifidude79]

10 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

I ordered a 5200 controller from Retrogameboyz. One thing to keep in mind, as they custom build your controller, it may take a month or more from the time when you place your order until its received. Im not complaining in any way shape or form, it just is what it is. You will not be receiving your order immediately as if it were eBay.

This listing actually says "Ships immediately."

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266560828619

 

Their other listings say they're built to order and there will be a delay in shipping. They must already have some controllers of this design built. I ordered it Saturday and the package is already in the hands of the USPS. That picture I posted is one they sent me in a private message on Ebay of the actual controller they're sending me. They also posted a pic of it in the package and the shipping label on the package. Like I said, they're clearly a high class operation.

Edited December 20, 2023 by scifidude79

[+Intellivision Master]

21 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

One thing to keep in mind, as they custom build your controller, it may take a month or more from the time when you place your order until its received.

I ordered the 7800 gamepad the last week of November.  It arrived 2 weeks later.  I thought it was going to take longer.  Mine is the black/white gamepad.  I like how it looks.

[+Intellivision Master]

20 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said:

And I hope to see more homebrews for the 7800, as they could run on the 2600+, while cool stuff for the 2600 uses an ARM cpu and fails on the 2600+.

This would be great.

[chad5200]

Are there any two button controllers for the 7800/2600 that are essentially a clone of the original Atari 2600 CX40 but with two buttons for 7800 games?

 

I was raised in the 2600 and I do NOT like gamepads. 
 

I need a joystick. And I like to be able to hold it with my right hand and press the button(s) with my left thumb. 
 

Is there anything out there like this but with two button functionality?

 

[suspicious_milk]

1 hour ago, chad5200 said:

Are there any two button controllers for the 7800/2600 that are essentially a clone of the original Atari 2600 CX40 but with two buttons for 7800 games?

 

I was raised in the 2600 and I do NOT like gamepads. 
 

I need a joystick. And I like to be able to hold it with my right hand and press the button(s) with my left thumb. 
 

Is there anything out there like this but with two button functionality?

 

I feel your pain.  Purchase a custom modded joystick; or learn to mod.

 

That's where it's at right now.