2600+ vs retron 77?

[tradyblix]

10 hours ago, Maztr_0n said:

Also i'd say for the short jist

 

I'd say you can make a case right now that the 77 is a decent enough choice if you dont have the desire to play 7800 games and just wanna play a handful of carts and a couple roms off SD Card

 

But i imagine, hopefully with time the 2600+ will just be in a league of its own as it seemingly already is looking to be, especially once public updates launch for all operating systems and hopefully, more re-releases and new titles release for the 2600/7800 to offset the... overwhelming demand for more supply to say the least about the second hand market, i can see why right now some may be hesitant to jump on it now, even if its on sale.

 

But i feel like in 1-2 years it might just be the 2600+ unless you really want that ambidextrous joystick...

It already is. Try playing Omega Race with a 7800 controller on a 77 lol 

[acidbottle]

On 8/7/2024 at 2:52 PM, MrChickenz said:

You should get one! You won’t regret it. I guess everyone has different preferences, I see your point. For some, if you don’t already have an existing library of games It makes sense to want the card slot. But you can find so many physical copies for just a few dollars. In my case I have a local game store that’s stocked with 2600 games most are $1.00 so no shipping costs. Myself I like it the way it is I’m able to use my physical games again. If it had the card slot I wouldn’t be using them.

Not gonna lie, I am envious of Americans having such easy and cheap access to retro games, especially Atari carts. 

 

In the UK the very second a retro system becomes "collectable" the prices go through the roof. Since the 2600+ released prices have doubled or even tripled here. In the event you ever find a store with Atari games, say a battered up Centipede with box, you can slap $25 on the starting price and add another "store fee" of $10-15 dollars. The abundance of titles in America does mean it is almost cheaper to buy a copy from the states and have it shipped across.

 

Anyway I digress, the 2600+ over the 77, mainly because of 7800 compatibility and for looks. It is not without it's issues however, especially PAL related ones unfortunately.

 

Edited August 9 by acidbottle

[MrChickenz]

1 hour ago, acidbottle said:

Not gonna lie, I am envious of Americans having such easy and cheap access to retro games, especially Atari carts. 

 

In the UK the very second a retro system becomes "collectable" the prices go through the roof. Since the 2600+ released prices have doubled or even tripled here. In the event you ever find a store with Atari games, say a battered up Centipede with box, you can slap $25 on the starting price and add another "store fee" of $10-15 dollars. The abundance of titles in America does mean it is almost cheaper to buy a copy from the states and have it shipped across.

 

Anyway I digress, the 2600+ over the 77, mainly because of 7800 compatibility and for looks. It is not without it's issues however, especially PAL related ones unfortunately.

 

I wasn’t aware of this. I considered myself fortunate to have access to these retro games. I enjoy reading everyone’s posts on here about the 2600+ and games.

I guess that’s all the more reason for a way to add roms. 

[Maztr_0n]

10 hours ago, acidbottle said:

Not gonna lie, I am envious of Americans having such easy and cheap access to retro games, especially Atari carts. 

 

In the UK the very second a retro system becomes "collectable" the prices go through the roof. Since the 2600+ released prices have doubled or even tripled here. In the event you ever find a store with Atari games, say a battered up Centipede with box, you can slap $25 on the starting price and add another "store fee" of $10-15 dollars. The abundance of titles in America does mean it is almost cheaper to buy a copy from the states and have it shipped across.

 

Anyway I digress, the 2600+ over the 77, mainly because of 7800 compatibility and for looks. It is not without it's issues however, especially PAL related ones unfortunately.

 

 

 

Dont worry, i am very jealous of how common some PAL games are compared to NTSC, you do have better prices with some titles...

[Maztr_0n]

9 hours ago, MrChickenz said:

I guess that’s all the more reason for a way to add roms. 

I am also for this for when there are games for which i cannot afford, which is sadly a lot of the games that are at the top of my list.

[r_chase]

I'll be honest and say that I might prefer the RetroN 77 only because:
1. It can run A2600 roms
2. I don't know if I'll ever get any 7800 carts anyhow
3. Save states so you can play games like Mr. Run and Jump with little worry for losing progress

But if I was more of a cart enthusiast (and maybe not suck at Mr. Run and Jump), I would pick the Atari 2600+ over RetroN 77 any day of the week.

[MrChickenz]

Anyone thinking of getting a Retron 77 might not be able to update to custom Firmware. You might be stuck with the Factory Firmware. Looks like the custom Firmware for the Retron 77 has been removed. I would check into that before making a decision. Factory Firmware only allows for 8 roms on the sd card at one time.

If that’s the case the Atari 2600+ would be the best choice!

 

Edited August 10 by MrChickenz

[Thomas Jentzsch]

19 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

Anyone thinking of getting a Retron 77 might not be able to update to custom Firmware. You might be stuck with the Factory Firmware. Looks like the custom Firmware for the Retron 77 has been removed.

What makes you think so?  

 

Link

Edited August 10 by Thomas Jentzsch

[+bent_pin]

I like the 2600+ because it supports Atari directly and I think that's great for the A8 ecosystem. There's a million ways to play roms so I'll probably skip the 77

[MrChickenz]

17 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

What makes you think so?  

I’m not seeing it anymore. All I see now is Retron 77 custom snapshots .

[MrChickenz]

5 minutes ago, bent_pin said:

I like the 2600+ because it supports Atari directly and I think that's great for the A8 ecosystem. There's a million ways to play roms so I'll probably skip the 77

If I didn’t already have one before I purchased my Atari 2600+. I wouldn’t bother getting a Retron 77 either.

The 2600+ is the way to go!

Edited August 10 by MrChickenz

[Thomas Jentzsch]

8 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

I’m not seeing it anymore. All I see now is Retron 77 custom snapshots .

What are you missing there?

[MrChickenz]

Ok Thank You! I stand corrected! Maybe it was just a link that was removed.

Edited August 10 by MrChickenz

[+splendidnut]

I think the confusion lies in all the different terms and phrases used to describe the software that runs the system.

 

The Retron 77 is upgraded with an SD card that contains a custom snapshot with the software updates.  It's called a snapshot because it contains a filesystem that must be directly written to an SD card instead of just copied.

 

The 2600+ is updated via a USB cable using firmware.  It's referred to as firmware because it gets download directly into a memory chip in the system.

[MrChickenz]

12 minutes ago, splendidnut said:

I think the confusion lies in all the different terms and phrases used to describe the software that runs the system.

 

The Retron 77 is upgraded with an SD card that contains a custom snapshot with the software updates.  It's called a snapshot because it contains a filesystem that must be directly written to an SD card instead of just copied.

 

The 2600+ is updated via a USB cable using firmware.  It's referred to as firmware because it gets download directly into a memory chip in the system.

R77 custom snapshot.zip is Additional snapshot files including box art for use in ROM launcher/ROM Info Viewer. 

Firmware update for the Retron 77 is called an SD image file.

Edited August 10 by MrChickenz

[+splendidnut]

Ok.  That's not the snapshot I was looking at (sdcard.img below):

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

2 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

R77 custom snapshot.zip is Additional snapshot files including box art for use in ROM launcher/ROM Info Viewer. 

Confusion theory proven  

 

I never liked the term snapshot as used in Stella. But it was long there when I entered the project and I am no native speaker. 

[MrChickenz]

Thank You @Thomas Jentzsch and @splendidnut for your help very much appreciated!

[r_chase]

There has to be a way to upgrade the R77 firmware one more time at least. I'm surprised that the custom firmware didn't turn into a distant fork of Stella.

However, maybe I should grateful be that it's 6.6.0 rather than anything lower than that.

Edited August 10 by r_chase

[Thomas Jentzsch]

16 minutes ago, r_chase said:

There has to be a way to upgrade the R77 firmware one more time at least. I'm surprised that the custom firmware didn't turn into a distant fork of Stella.

However, maybe I should grateful be that it's 6.6.0 rather than anything lower than that.

Unfortunately our time is limited too, so we have to concentrate on core Stella. But everyone is welcome to help. 

[r_chase]

2 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Unfortunately our time is limited too, so we have to concentrate on core Stella. But everyone is welcome to help. 

Fair enough. I would love to help, but I want to create games for it; not just the emulator of the system that the games are on.

Admittedly, I do have an Atari 2600 Jr. now so I can maybe playtest some other people's homebrews...when I get a good enough flash cart of course. Thanks for the hard work anyway though.

EDIT: On a more bittersweet note, I had sold my 2600+ this morning for some money I really needed. I kept the 10-in-1 cart (and the new controller, but that's rather unrelated) because I feel it's the only way for me to play Yars' Revenge and Adventure at the moment. I also sold 2 older controllers as well...and a melodica. Yeah...it got $40, but at least I have laundry money now.

Edited August 10 by r_chase
An additional note.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

15 minutes ago, r_chase said:

Fair enough. I would love to help, but I want to create games for it; not just the emulator of the system that the games are on.

I have the same problem.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

<double post>

Edited August 10 by Thomas Jentzsch

[r_chase]

2 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

I have the same problem.

Yeah.

Also I notice that you made a double post. I think the Invision servers are shitting the bed again.

[WishItWas1984]

I own an R77 and really wish the 2600+ worked for me, as I love the original look.

 

Bottom line is that they are both emulation. If you don't care about 7800 compatibility and don't want the added cost of collecting carts ($$$ and space), go R77 all day long.