Atari 2600+ Beta Update 1.1 REV2

[ewokmic]

Thanks, yeah the NTSC generally always the best option, I just wondered if it was negated somewhat by the 2600+, plus the pink gums in the game on the PAL looks better 😅

[m.o.terra kaesi]

any chance there will be a revision Atari2600+ off the shelf (firmware updated) by the end of year? I'm still waiting to buy one.

[swiller]

On 4/24/2024 at 1:52 PM, Ben from Plaion said:

Absolutely not.

 

In fact I've been quiet recently on AA cause I've got confidence it whats happining with software and generally with product pipeline for the 2600+. Its just that at launch and shortly thereafter I was hectic in posting on AA cause there was so many fires to put out. But now taking stock, its been a success and all parties involved are planning software updates and new products. Think about it, my bosses want me to outperform the 2600+ launch in FY23 next year, and only way to do that is to present product to market that you guys actually want to buy.

 

All of your three bullets points are things we have been working on. As soon as the software devs are comfortable with a software build I'll release it. Same with new product, soon as the deals are done and the assets are made, we'll announce. I wish I could do it all tomorrow but it rarely works out like that.

 

It's a blasphemous thought, but would a "pause" button be possible on new hardware? A groundbreaking feature on the 7800. My nose was itching like crazy during a good run in Seaquest last night.

Edited May 14 by swiller

[TornadoTJ]

I'm curious to know if we will get a notification here if there is a new release, or do I have to watch the forum for a new thread?

[daorriss]

On 5/14/2024 at 9:04 AM, m.o.terra kaesi said:

any chance there will be a revision Atari2600+ off the shelf (firmware updated) by the end of year? I'm still waiting to buy one.

 

I think all of us are still waiting to hear from @Ben from Plaion on this.. 

[Ben from Plaion]

On 5/14/2024 at 5:04 PM, m.o.terra kaesi said:

any chance there will be a revision Atari2600+ off the shelf (firmware updated) by the end of year? I'm still waiting to buy one.

I've already shipped a thousand machines recently to the US with updated dumper 1.1.0.9 and firmware exp version 3.

 

However, there is a much improved dumper and firmware version coming soon. There has been some movement today on it as we've been stuck for a few weeks on regresions that couldnt be explained, but the guys have just figured out whats gone wrong. 

 

On a daily basis I think about three main areas of improvement for the 2600+.

 

1. Close dialogue with raz0red and friends on improving the firmware and dumper. We've seen big improvements here with beta releases and the latest is a doozy, we hope to get this out soon.

 

2. Work with the factory on a redesign of the IO PCB to update the dumper and controller MCU into one MCU and also change the socket design

 

3. Recently I've got someone looking at the re-writing the whole update process from scratch with the view to make it a more seamless, more professional branded process including Windows, Linux and MAC platforms. He says its all theoretically possible and has looked through everything, reported back deep feedback and made progress in compiling, but till I go through it and do it myself its all theory and ideas.

 

If only I could just wave a magic wand and have these things resolved I would. I always think about what the hell I can do to make things better as quickly as possible...then I realise the guys Albert kindly introduced me to... Chris, Mike and Fred, these guys have no peers in their fields, have improved everything they have touched with the 2600+ and I just need to encourage further co-operation.

 

Kind of the same story with the factory that makes the hardware and the guy looking at the update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[larsvonhier]

On 4/25/2024 at 10:15 PM, tradyblix said:

Well, I'm not super sure why I thought that because probably that's not anything close to how it actually works.... I think I might have been thinking that because I couldn't get their free demo roms for these games working on stella on my emulation handheld either, they all crash.

...they all run fine on Stella on i.e. macOS.

[+mksmith]

3 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Chris, Mike and Fred

Champions and amongst the best people in our community 👏👏👏 Thank you gents 😀

 

And thank you Ben (and colleagues) for continuing to keep the 2600+ train moving forward 👌

 

[Bitsized]

5 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

more professional branded process including Windows, Linux and MAC platforms.

Wow, this is just fantastic.  This went from, "not likely" to the above quote and I appreciate it.  Thanks for the inclusion!

[Sean2112]

Hello Folks. I'm so sorry to be a noob...but I am, and if I'm breaching proper forum etiquette I apologize for that too. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this whole Firmware thing for me? I have been emailing Atari.com, and asking them about a firmware update for the 2600+. The answers I'm getting are incomplete at best, and they keep referring me here...which...seems odd to me...since as far as I can tell, this site is not apart of Atari.com. Regardless, it's been 6 months since I purchased my 2600+, and I'm rather surprised the bugs haven't been worked out yet. I saw what appears to be a firmware update here on AA, but not from Atari???

 

Thanks to whomever takes the time to respond. Much appreciated!

 

Sean

 

 

[MikeM_]

10 hours ago, Bitsized said:

Wow, this is just fantastic.  This went from, "not likely" to the above quote and I appreciate it.  Thanks for the inclusion!

I have no problem being proved wrong on that front. Ben is a machine and doing great work. 
 

All improvements are appreciated and I can’t wait to test out the latest rev on my two. 

[daorriss]

20 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

I've already shipped a thousand machines recently to the US with updated dumper 1.1.0.9 and firmware exp version 3.

 

Oh man.. if I had waited I'd have gotten newer firmware by default?  Serves me right being an early adopter... 😭 🤣

[m.o.terra kaesi]

1 hour ago, daorriss said:

Oh man.. if I had waited I'd have gotten newer firmware by default?  Serves me right being an early adopter... 😭 🤣

in the history of console releases there has always be a tendency, that the 2nd revision is the best one (happened so with the super famicom or playstation 1). the first revision usually lacks of field experience and later revisions (close to life cycle end) are usually the downgraded (cost save) versions. You see: nothing changed throughout the decades. 

[JetmanUK]

On 5/14/2024 at 6:18 PM, swiller said:

It's a blasphemous thought, but would a "pause" button be possible on new hardware? A groundbreaking feature on the 7800. My nose was itching like crazy during a good run in Seaquest last night.

As I've mentioned a couple of times on here before, I think the 16:9/4:3 switch should change aspect ratio AND pause the console.

 

This way we have a pause function for all games. Keep the new aspect ratio or flick it back to the first one if desired. Touch the stick or press the fire button and the game continues. Whilst paused Game Select opens a new menu with various options, Game Reset makes a quick save. This is obviously after all the important stuff is done.

[shane857]

1 hour ago, JetmanUK said:

As I've mentioned a couple of times on here before, I think the 16:9/4:3 switch should change aspect ratio AND pause the console.

 

This way we have a pause function for all games. Keep the new aspect ratio or flick it back to the first one if desired. Touch the stick or press the fire button and the game continues. Whilst paused Game Select opens a new menu with various options, Game Reset makes a quick save. This is obviously after all the important stuff is done.

Would be useful to have some kind of save state function in a future update. Not really necessary with 2600 games thou more so for 7800 games like Midnight Mutants, Impossible mission...

[JetmanUK]

51 minutes ago, shane857 said:

Would be useful to have some kind of save state function in a future update. Not really necessary with 2600 games thou more so for 7800 games like Midnight Mutants, Impossible mission...

Mr Run and Jump says hi. 😋

[NicodemusLegend]

A pause function that you have to reach behind the console to activate... seems less than useful for pausing a game in mid-action.

[JetmanUK]

3 hours ago, NicodemusLegend said:

A pause function that you have to reach behind the console to activate... seems less than useful for pausing a game in mid-action.

Well I don't recall any other new buttons on the console... Plus that's the VCS, you have to start a new game in many titles by reaching for the console, some games require you to use the switches too, you are supposed to be sat near it. 

[NicodemusLegend]

1 hour ago, JetmanUK said:

Well I don't recall any other new buttons on the console... Plus that's the VCS, you have to start a new game in many titles by reaching for the console, some games require you to use the switches too, you are supposed to be sat near it. 

Starting a game isn’t a problem. Reaching back for a switch I can’t see, in the middle of a game? Entirely something else.

[+OLD CS1]

No pause was good enough for me and my dad, it was good enough for me and my daughter, and it is good enough for me and my grandson.

[JetmanUK]

3 hours ago, NicodemusLegend said:

Starting a game isn’t a problem. Reaching back for a switch I can’t see, in the middle of a game? Entirely something else.

The switch is at the top/back, easily reached. The same as the difficulty switches. Yes, it is not the best ever position for a pause button, but it would be perfectly fine, and the only option. If you take a look down at your CX40 it only has one button. What do you suggest?

 

The 7800 used a switch for pause, so there is a precedent for it. It really isn't hard to flick. Perfect? No. The only solution? Yes. You could simply ignore the function if you didn't like it, you would lose nothing and be exactly as you are now.

[Zoyous]

5 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

What do you suggest?

Simple. A pause dongle that plugs into the controller port, with a female port on it that can receive and pass through signals from the actual controller. And then a cord of the same length goes to the dongle, which has a base about the size of the CX40 but just one giant rubberized button on it that is fist-sized, so if you need to pause, you've got your pause dongle next to you and you can just smack down your fist on it without even having to look at it. It could be called the Atari Pause Dongle+.

[Sean_1970]

Later gen 2600 games used the B&W switch for pause, but given other games assign that a different in-game function (again, as noted by others it was assumed players were within arms-reach of the machine; optionally at least), the new aspect-ratio switch seems like the best candidate. Also arguably sensible if players wanted to see the effect mid-game 👍

[chad5200]

Can someone explain, in detail, how using the aspect ratio switch would work to pause a game?

 

So I am playing a game and I want to pause the game.  I flip the aspect ratio switch and the game pauses (and the aspect ratio changes?).  Then then I flip it again when I want to unpause it?

 

But later I am playing a game and I just want to switch the aspect ratio... so I flip the aspect ratio switch and the aspect ratio changes but the game also pauses?  So how do I unpause?  If I flip the aspect ratio switch to unpause then I am back to my original aspect ratio.

 

How would this work and function properly with both pausing and switching aspect ratio separately?

 

[shane857]

1 hour ago, Zoyous said:

Simple. A pause dongle that plugs into the controller port, with a female port on it that can receive and pass through signals from the actual controller. And then a cord of the same length goes to the dongle, which has a base about the size of the CX40 but just one giant rubberized button on it that is fist-sized, so if you need to pause, you've got your pause dongle next to you and you can just smack down your fist on it without even having to look at it. It could be called the Atari Pause Dongle+.

What a fcukn great idea!