'Nother NewB Q: Best Trackball?

[kencrisis]

OK,

 

So 5 days back into the 2600 world I'm feeling like further reclaiming my youth and getting all the crap my parents would never, ever buy me.

 

My next idea is getting a trackball for Centipede and Missile Command. I've seen the Atari CX80 and the WICO one for sale. Are there others I can look for, and which one is the best? And why do you think it's the best (longevity, real-arcade feel, etc.)?

 

Also, what other games are trackball-friendly?

[ATARIPITBULL]

I think they are all about the same, but of the 2 Atari corporation track balls, I like the one with the big triangle buttons, they are easier to fire. I belive there are 6 track ball units in all.

 

[kencrisis]

Hmmm ... I haven't seen the one with the triangular buttons. Can anyone point me to a link that shows this.

 

Also, I apologize for not searching this forum before posting this. From what I read, it looks like Missile Command doesn't really work with a trackball? There's some kind of hack? Is this a separate cartridge that's available? Sorry for the stupidity, but as the title of my original post states, I'm a totally ignorant newbie.

[Mindfield]

Hmmm ... I haven't seen the one with the triangular buttons. Can anyone point me to a link that shows this.

 

Also, I apologize for not searching this forum before posting this. From what I read, it looks like Missile Command doesn't really work with a trackball? There's some kind of hack? Is this a separate cartridge that's available? Sorry for the stupidity, but as the title of my original post states, I'm a totally ignorant newbie.

 

The "big triangular buttons" is the CX80. It is essentially an updated version of the CX22, but where the CX22 had round buttons located a couple of inches in from each of the top corners, the CX80 expanded the buttons into roughly trangular shapes to reach the top corners, and made them flush with the unit making them harder to miss and rather more aesthetically pleasing.

 

Keep in mind that, with only one exception, 2600-compatible Trak Balls of any stripe will only work in "joystick mode" -- which means they only emulate a joystick. That means that whatever you're controlling on-screen still moves in a linear fashion just like a joystick, rather than relative to the speed you're rolling the ball as you might expect. (The exception I noted is Thomas Jentzsch's Missile Command TB in which he hacked the source code to Missile Command to add in real Trak Ball controller movement)

 

Having said that, however, even in joystick mode the Trak Ball really makes a marked difference in how many games -- even ones you wouldn't expect -- play. Obvious titles like Crystal Castles and Centipede do play much better with the Trak Ball, but I've found that many others, such as Spitfire Attack, work even better with it, and I don't think it's just the psychosomatic effects of simply using a ball for moment. The level of precision in control actually feels tighter.

[BONEMAN]

I always used the trackball to play Vanguard.

[StanJr]

I just had my own little Trak-Ball experience a few weeks ago. If you run a search for Trak-Ball posts by me in this forum, you'll find a list of games I had Trak-Ball fun and woes with when I got mine.

 

Welcome to the hobby and have fun!

[Danno]

So why then does the "Trak-Ball" movement switch on the CX-80/22 exist at all, if it was never used? Is it just another piece of abandoned hardware, or is there some vaporware/prototype floating around out there that it was designed for that never saw the light of day?

 

I had a CX-22 back in the day and loved it for a great number of games. I'm thinking about picking up a CX-80 for old times sake. Here's a question -

 

My old CX-22 had a problem where the guides for the fire button had broken, so the button itself actually flopped to one side when not being used and floated a bit more than they should The button still functioned, but it was seriously distracting. Are the CX-80 models with the redesigned fire button susceptible to this problem?

[+Mitch]

So why then does the "Trak-Ball" movement switch on the CX-80/22 exist at all, if it was never used? Is it just another piece of abandoned hardware, or is there some vaporware/prototype floating around out there that it was designed for that never saw the light of day?

 

Atari 800.

 

Mitch

[kencrisis]

Checked out the old posts... good info. But I still don't see any opinions on Atari CX80 vs. the WICO one.

[Mindfield]

I've never tried the Wico model, but the CX22 and CX80s are quite nice. The ball doesn't float quite as freely as I would have thought (slightly higher resistance than I expected) but it's still very responsive and plays very well indeed.

 

The CX22 and CX80 weren't made specifically for the 2600 -- they were designed for use primarily on Atari 8-bit computers (hence the XL styling) but they included the switch for games that didn't support the Trak Ball, which just happens to also include the entire 2600 library (as well as any other console or computer with a 9-pin DIN port capable of using Atari joysticks).

[Danno]

I had a Wico back in the day as well. I never liked it. The ball was small, and the case always seemed rather cheap, and it's boxey, so it's not comfortable at all. And the Fire button is considerabley smaller on the Wico, which always made Centipede and other Quick fire games rather difficult.

 

The CX-22 I had, even with the eventual button alignment problem, was alway better, IMHO.

[SS]

Hmmm ... I haven't seen the one with the triangular buttons. Can anyone point me to a link that shows this.

 

Get the CX80. Looks great and feels great.

 

 

The buttons on a CX22 tend to wear out easier and are harder to hit when you're heavy into an action game like "Millipede". The Wico trackballs are OK but they just don't have the arcade-like feeling to them that the Atari ones do.

[SS]

So why then does the "Trak-Ball" movement switch on the CX-80/22 exist at all, if it was never used? Is it just another piece of abandoned hardware, or is there some vaporware/prototype floating around out there that it was designed for that never saw the light of day?

 

Atari 800.

 

Mitch

 

Other than "Missile Command" what 8Bit games use the native trackball setting?