Things Not To Do with a Gemini #36...

[Mindfield]

...try to play a US Games title. I tried inserting a beveled-case Piece o' Cake and ended up getting a Piece o' Plastic snapped off the side.

 

Apparently these carts do not fit in a Gemini.

 

As an aside, I also learned that you can't play Tac-Scan on a Gemini because they wired the paddles wrong.

[Stingray]

...try to play a US Games title.  I tried inserting a beveled-case Piece o' Cake and ended up getting a Piece o' Plastic snapped off the side.

 

Apparently these carts do not fit in a Gemini.

 

Noted. Thanks for the heads up.

 

-S

[homerwannabee]

There are quite a few titles as well that are hard to get in the atari 7800.

[AtariLeaf]

The Imagic games come to mind as being very difficult to fit into a 7800.

[Mindfield]

The thing about a Gemini though is that the cart slot is plenty wide enough for the cart. It's the sheild around the connector where the cart's edge connector fits through that's the problem. It appears to be perhaps a quarter millimeter too wide -- or US Games carts are a quarter millimeter too narrow, whichever. Either way, one or the other, Gemini and US Games don't get along.

[Ze_ro]

As an aside, I also learned that you can't play Tac-Scan on a Gemini because they wired the paddles wrong.

 

Don't blame Coleco, blame Sega. Tac-Scan (stupidly) uses the 2nd paddle in the 2nd port. You should be able to play this game on a Gemini or an Sears Video Arcade II if you use the fourth port instead.

 

--Zero

[Mindfield]

Actually, that would make sense. Paddle 2 on port 2 doesn't exist with standard Gemini controllers unless you hooked both controllers to a Y-adapter on port 2. Why the heck would Sega do that? It's retarded.

 

It's still a good game mind you, but did someone at Sega think it would be a good idea to use the very last paddle in the chain to play?

[video game addict]

Actually some of the paddle games themselves are backwards, I don't think there's a real pattern to it. While we were playing Circus Atari in the HSC I also pulled out Kaboom & Demons to Diamonds, D2D uses the opposite paddle for 1 player games as well. I think alot of times you may not notice it, but if you play them back to back and keep one paddle marked, in this case I had pennies under one knob which was heavier, and I knew immediately. Alot of times I probably wouldn't recognize which paddle I grab since they look the same and both funtion about the same. I just pick one up and give it a twist, if it works I start, if it doesn't I pick up the other. But in the case of the Gemini combo deals I guess you don't have that option if the game's coded backwards.

[Stingray]

[You should be able to play this game on a Gemini or an Sears Video Arcade II if you use the fourth port instead.

 

My Gemini only has two ports.

 

-S

[video game addict]

But the SVAII & 2800 do have 4 ports, he's getting them confused,

 

I'm wondering now, I never messed with the Gemini much two-player paddle games work fine most the time with 2 combos & the 2 ports, but would it be possible to play 4-player Warlords or something at the same time with spliters?

[Stingray]

Do regular Atari paddles work with a Gemini? I suppose I could just give it a try and find out.

 

-S

[+Nathan Strum]

Actually, that would make sense.  Paddle 2 on port 2 doesn't exist with standard Gemini controllers unless you hooked both controllers to a Y-adapter on port 2.  Why the heck would Sega do that?  

 

The reason given in the instructions, is that you could leave a joystick plugged into port 1 for all of your other games, and leave the paddle plugged into port 2 for Tac/Scan. So, no controller swapping.

 

Unless, of course, you needed to plug a joystick into port 2.

[Ze_ro]

Actually some of the paddle games themselves are backwards, I don't think there's a real pattern to it.

 

I summarized some of this in a previous paddle-related thread... I really don't understand why some of these companies (which includes Atari themselves) seem to randomly choose which paddle to use. As far as I can tell, even the Atari programming reference labels the paddles as 0, 1, 2, and 3... so you'd think it would be very obvious to people that they should use paddle 0... unless some really lazy programmers started using paddle 1 without realizing their mistake, and then never bothered to fix it.

 

But the SVAII & 2800 do have 4 ports, he's getting them confused,

 

Whoops, my bad... I thought the Gemini had four ports with a switch for paddle/joystick mode. I have a nice set of Gemini paddle/stick controllers, but I have yet to find an actual Gemini system.

 

--Zero

[Rob Mitchell]

Actually some of the paddle games themselves are backwards, ... Demons to Diamonds uses the opposite paddle for 1 player games as well.

 

Last year I was making a paddle for the 5200 .. and I had a spare 2600 paddle .. Just for fun I wired the pot and the button to both paddle inputs. So when I plug in .. either into the 2600 or the 8-bits .. I don't have to be concerned about which paddle is functional and which is not.

 

And this custom paddle makes for interesting Video Olympics games!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Mindfield]

As far as I know you should be able to use standard Atari paddles on a Gemini, and they should work the same. The main problem with using Gemini stick/paddle units is that there's no switch to toggle joystick or paddle mode, so one paddle in port 1 means that while the paddle works, fire is mapped to stick 1 right. This is the same behaviour as a paddle game on an SVAII in joystick mode with the stick in port 1.

[Bad Panda Bear]

I'm wondering now, I never messed with the Gemini much two-player paddle games work fine most the time with 2 combos & the 2 ports, but would it be possible to play 4-player Warlords or something at the same time with spliters?

 

Yes. I got a splitter with my Gemini and I was able to control all four players in Warlords using it. (But not at the same time because I only have one splitter).