Atari 2600 Plus or My Arcade GameStation Pro?

[calfranklin0598]

I haven't purchased neither the Atari 2600 + or the My Arcade GameStation Pro retro gaming consoles.  I own several vintage original 2600 consoles, along with the 5200 and 7800 original consoles and a very large collection of 2600, 5200 and 7800 game cartridges, so other than the luxury of connecting to newer TV's via HDMI, what's the reason(s) for buying either new retro console?

[Sean_1970]

2600+ draw for me was basically nostalgia and it looked like someone put care into the build quality of the machine and the controllers. The HDMI connection was a big factor as well given past negative experiences with SCART and component video to HDMI converters as well. My current TV has no analogue video input at all, so I’m not interested in messing with converters or trying to find 40 year-old working hardware, so if not for the 2600+ I’d be sticking with the comps on my PS5 and Evercade.

 

I’ll leave someone else to comment on the Gamestation; it’s not something I’ve looked into. It’s a nice-looking unit, but seems to be yet another of those machines that includes games, but no cartridge slot, so no appeal for me.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Sean_1970

[scifidude79]

1 hour ago, calfranklin0598 said:

so other than the luxury of connecting to newer TV's via HDMI, what's the reason(s) for buying either new retro console?

Old components wear out over time and eventually the old consoles will stop working. The 2600+, on the other hand, is brand new. That and the HDMI are the only real reasons, unless you just want to support Atari.

 

However, if you're happy playing on your original hardware and don't really see a point in buying the new unit, I say keep rocking the old hardware. If it's working for you, why change?

[+LS650]

GS Pro is ideal if you aren't interested in collecting games, but simply want a wide variety of games from different consoles and arcade machines on tap.

 

2600+ is for folks who have an interest in collecting old 2600/7800 carts and displaying them on an HDMI screen.

[Recycled]

3 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

Old components wear out over time and eventually the old consoles will stop working. 

This right here. My old consoles wore out years ago. I got to the point were I didn't want to mess with decaying old hardware any more. I kept my collection because I treasure the games hoping that products like the 2600+ (and Retron77) would eventually come to market. Glad that speculation paid off.  On the other hand, if I still had a fully functional problem free original hardware set up, it would be a harder sell. But I'd probably still get the 2600+.

[scifidude79]

4 minutes ago, ls650 said:

GS Pro is ideal if you aren't interested in collecting games, but simply want a wide variety of games from different consoles and arcade machines on tap.

 

2600+ is for folks who have an interest in collecting old 2600/7800 carts and displaying them on an HDMI screen.

Perfect. I don't think I've ever seen a better explanation of who each system is designed for.

 

Though, I know some people own both. Even with a cartridge collection to play, devices like the GS Pro can be a good way to play some of the more rare and expensive games.

 

6 minutes ago, Recycled said:

This right here. My old consoles wore out years ago. I got to the point were I didn't want to mess with decaying old hardware any more. I kept my collection because I treasure the games hoping that products like the 2600+ (and Retron77) would eventually come to market. Glad that speculation paid off.  On the other hand, if I still had a fully functional problem free original hardware set up, it would be a harder sell. But I'd probably still get the 2600+.

The reason I'm having to rebuild a collection of 7800 games to play on the 2600+ is because the family 7800 died ages ago, and we didn't keep the games. In hindsight, I wish I'd just packed them in a box and hung onto them. But, who knew Atari was going to release a new console in 2023 that would play those?

 

Though, the fact that there are so many working 2600 consoles in 2023 just shows how well built they are.

[Sean_1970]

2 hours ago, ls650 said:

GS Pro is ideal if you aren't interested in collecting games, but simply want a wide variety of games from different consoles and arcade machines on tap.

 

2600+ is for folks who have an interest in collecting old 2600/7800 carts and displaying them on an HDMI screen.

My (admittedly limited) research on the GS Pro indicates that the small rotary dials used for paddle games aren’t that great and because they use a potentiometer rather than an encoding wheel like a spinner aren’t usable with Tempest or some of the other included driving controller games. That would potentially rule it out for me, however can anyone say if it’s using MAME for arcade emulation? If so, given it appears you can use modern console game pads connected to the front USB-C ports that might be appealing to me in a way that building a dedicated machine is not, though the use of a windows-only firmware updating binary rules it out for me. The thing has an SD card slot, so why require computer connection at all?

 

Oh and 4xAAs for the controllers? Wow.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Sean_1970

[JetmanUK]

4 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

My (admittedly limited) research on the GS Pro indicates that the small rotary dials used for paddle games aren’t that great and because they use a potentiometer rather than an encoding wheel like a spinner aren’t usable with Tempest or some of the other included driving controller games. That would potentially rule it out for me, however can anyone say if it’s using MAME for arcade emulation? If so, given it appears you can use modern console game pads connected to the front USB-C ports that might be appealing to me in a way that building a dedicated machine is not, though the use of a windows-only firmware updating binary rules it out for me. The thing has an SD card slot, so why require computer connection at all?

 

Oh and 4xAAs for the controllers? Wow.

I have both consoles and have enjoyed them greatly so far. 

 

With regards to your comments on the paddle built into the GS Pro joystick, it works surprisingly well. I had assumed that with it being so tiny it would be junk, but no, it's good!

 

On the subject of four batteries per stick, I was really really surprised by that! However I have used the sticks with a cable as well and that is fine too. Feels more retro authentic! I probably won't put new batteries in when these fail. 

[+LS650]

7 hours ago, calfranklin0598 said:

I haven't purchased neither the Atari 2600 + or the My Arcade GameStation Pro retro gaming consoles.  I own several vintage original 2600 consoles, along with the 5200 and 7800 original consoles and a very large collection of 2600, 5200 and 7800 game cartridges, so other than the luxury of connecting to newer TV's via HDMI, what's the reason(s) for buying either new retro console?

I have 3 old 2600s that are a bit temperamental for connecting to a modern screen; the RF picture out of any of them is mediocre at best.  The Plus lets me play my large collection of old and new carts (with a couple of exceptions) on a modern HDMI screen - AND it lets me play 7800 carts.  

 

I guess I could have done some kind of mod to one of the old systems, but it wouldn't have been much cheaper than the Plus, it would still not have had as nice and crisp an output, and I would still be unable to play 7800 games.

 

I considered getting a GameStation Pro, but I like the idea of plunking 40+ year old carts into a console and seeing them come to life.

[fluxit]

11 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

My (admittedly limited) research on the GS Pro indicates that the small rotary dials used for paddle games aren’t that great and because they use a potentiometer rather than an encoding wheel like a spinner aren’t usable with Tempest or some of the other included driving controller games. That would potentially rule it out for me, however can anyone say if it’s using MAME for arcade emulation? If so, given it appears you can use modern console game pads connected to the front USB-C ports that might be appealing to me in a way that building a dedicated machine is not, though the use of a windows-only firmware updating binary rules it out for me. The thing has an SD card slot, so why require computer connection at all?

 

Oh and 4xAAs for the controllers? Wow.

Yes, the GsP uses MAME for emulation of arcade games. 

 

Examining the updated firmware on the GsP shows that it should have the ability to update via SD card, but they aren't using it for some reason.  Perhaps the shipped version of the firmware didn't include that function, or it isn't currently working.  I don't know for sure.