What is this Atari switch thing?

[funkrusher]

Hello all. First post. I'm just wondering if anyone knows anything about a piece of 2600 hardware that I recently ran across. It looked like a device that would allow you to plug around 5 or 6 cartridges into and then it had buttons next to each cartridge slot so that you could just push a button to determine which game you would play. Sort of like a cartridge switch or cartridge changer. Sound familiar to anyone? I actually saw the thing at a flea market, looked it over and passed it up. I went back a few minutes later to buy it and it was gone. Any info is appreciated.

thanks,

fun

[Breakpack]

Was it this?

[Swingtown]

Those are called Video Game Brains. I found one a while back at Game Exchange. They are fun to have, but I never end up using it too much

 

-Jen

[Breakpack]

I remember an advertisement of something like that for Sega Genesis.If it was ever released,Id like to try to hunt one down

[Rob Mitchell]

I have another of these that is more complex .. It has a keypad and you load whichever by pressing the number on the keypad. I think it can access about 8 different carts. It connects to the Atari via a ribbon cable / cart.

 

Not all games are compatible with these multicart selectors. Does it have to do with missing edge connections?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Godzilla]

i use my video game brain all the time. it seems to help my coleco modules compatibility too...

[Video]

Video Game Brain is what that would be. Plug it into your Atari, plug in 6 games, and push the switch in front of the game you want to play and turn it on. It's an interesting little thing. But you have to have a perfect picture on your atari to begin with, because this will degrade the picture quality slightly. Possibly the cable running to the system isn't shielded and it's more sensitive to radiowaves floating around?

[CPUWIZ]

Here is a pic of some of my other game selector units.

[sku_u]

Does the Romscanner actually sit on top of the 2600 without tipping it over? It looks awkward in the picture on the box.

[CPUWIZ]

Yep, if you look carefully in the picture, you can see that it hooks all the way underneith the system. The VCS sits in it so to speak.

[Breakpack]

And what was the Genesis selector version called?I do'nt feel like thumbing thru my stack of old mags

[bjk7382]

Yeah, I have a game brain too, I found that it does degrade the picture a little bit and I have mine in storage. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but found them to be pretty impractical. Since you need to turn the system off each time you switch a game anyways.

[Video]

Hey CPUWIZ.. In your opinion, which of those works the best? I'd think the picture of the one with the keypad, as it's probably digital, and mechanical switches wouldn't be a factor in degrading the signal.

 

Though the rom scanner is awesome looking IMO. I'm going to see if I can find one.

[CPUWIZ]

I like the one with the rotary knob the best, it's built like a tank.

[funkrusher]

thanks for the pic and the info.

peace,

fun

[sku_u]

I'd love to get my hands on this one:

[+Nathan Strum]

I like the one with the rotary knob the best, it's built like a tank.

 

Can any of those multi-game things be daisy-chained for more cartridges? Seems to me there was one model that could, but I don't recall where I read about it (it was 20 years ago...).

[CPUWIZ]

I am not about to find out, I think they'll draw too much current.

[bjk7382]

It looks like the one with the knob uses a thru power supply like the wireless joystick reciever. the game brain uses power from the cartrige port. I don't even use one, due to quality loss, let alone what the picture would look like with two of them hooked together.