Possibly a new 2600 w/ Homebrews embedded.. "Any intere

[Whisper]

That would be so cool! Ok, that was not a reply that had any actual content, but it's good for the developers to know that there's actual interest in their plans, right?

[mos6507]

Actually, it is possible to release some information.

 

We have two lines of products, one focussing on the pre-'84 systems, the other one based on an original hardware design.

 

The classic consoles are custom hardware with identical characteristics (vs, an emulator or rewriting the software) which means that, unlike the competition's, our units can play all the games and will let customers do so (for the 2600, all common bankswitching modes are supported)

 

We are still looking for new Atari 2600 titles to license. Ken is currently swamped with work, so please allow some time for the answers. Developers can contact us directly if they want to apply for the NDA, but, please, no general questions.[/b]

 

It would be really cool to see something like this with Homebrews on it in store shelves. That would be a lot higher profile than the homebrews in Anthology ever were because these hardware items stand out a lot more in the stores than the average game title does.

 

The Jakks things are red hot because Toys R Us, Best Buy, and Kay Bee has them set up hooked into monitors all the time and they really attract a lot of attention.

 

At Kay Bee they actually have two monitors set up, one with the Intellivision one and one with one of the 2600 one. It was like being in a timewarp other than the fact that the sound on the 2600 one was off.

[gulag picture radio]

Little carts of some kind would be really cool. I always dreamed of a company like Basic Fun (they make keychain versions of classic toys; viewmaster, Twister, Lava Lite, etc.) making a mini 2600 about the size of a deck of cards, and then selling miniature multi-carts.

 

In addition to the portability issue that someone here already brought up, there is also the issue of retail shelf space. What makes the Jaaks stuff so appealing is that you just pick up the attractvie package and go. COnsumers don't have to worry about buying other parts, nor do retailers have to figure out a way to display all the little extra carts.

 

I would love it if it could work similarly to the e-reader, with trading cards each containing a classic game (each stripe on the e-Reader holds about 2K), but again... who is going to display all those classic gaming cards?

 

In my mind it would still be a deck of cards sized model of a classic Atari with a USB connection letting you download roms into it. S-video output would be important to me, but I can see where a thing like that could be left out. Even cooler would be if a hidden LCD screen could flip out so you could play on the road.

 

And of course it would get product in the next James Bond movie when 007 whips it out to have a few rounds of Kaboom.

[Dolt]

I like the idea-I'd imagine that you could probably pre-load all the games on to the unit itself and then just use the "carts" as keys to unlock the games.

[Brad2600]

If this unit ever includes homebrews, you need to include Elk Attack. This game is easily addictive and it would win over folks who like those kinds of games.

[TheRedEye]

If I ever have a very simple question, remind me not to ask it here. Jesus.

[raindog]

Since I referenced this thread in another one, here is some news which appears to be relevant to this project:

 

http://protectedfromreality.com/2600OnAChip/

 

(formerly http://www.mindspring.com/~2600onachip/ )

[Rob Mitchell]

Will the real modern 2600 please stand up and be recognized!

 

The winner is .. the 2600-on-a-chip!

 

After two years of work, this will be my final post:

 

This project is now owned by RetroGames LLC, which mean I will not release any source files anytime soon.  As the 2600 is now part of their coming lineup, you will soon be able to buy a real Atari 2600 in a joystick that can play all the games while the competitors do not run original roms.

I am looking forward for this to happen since it would fulfill one of my goals of having a low-power 2600 with features like game pause, multi-game selection, etc.

 

About RetroGames LLC, you can contact them through dev-relations@protectedfromreality.com

 

http://protectedfromreality.com/2600OnAChip/

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[ianoid]

Yes it must have a cart slot. I'd be very interested in it if it did.

 

 

When you're talking about low costs ($30 price point) and large volumes, every trimmed cent is crucial. I doubt any of these companies will add a cart slot to please us diehards. Really, there is no justification. I would love to see a rerelease of carts and a cart system that is pin compatible- you could sell it like a collectible or something (get all the rereleases like the Classic NES for GBA), but I don't know if that's what people want- and you'd have to sell the carts for $5 or something.

 

Anyway, a cart slot is probably impractical given the walmart price point of these systems.

[mos6507]

--

Anyway, a cart slot is probably impractical given the walmart price point of these systems.

--

 

How much do you think this REALLY affects the price? It's got to be almost negligible. It's not like it's 1976 all over again with Atari engineers sweating over whether to expose the read/write lines et. al.

 

I mean, the Space Invaders stick went to the effort of having buttons on both ends of it for those who prefer to use the stick with either their left or right hand. That was a "needless expense". The amount of extra R&D, plastic, and metal necessary to support something like that is no more than exposing a cart slot, I think.

[mos6507]

Will the real modern 2600 please stand up and be recognized!

 

The winner is .. the 2600-on-a-chip!

 

After two years of work, this will be my final post:

 

This project is now owned by RetroGames LLC, which mean I will not release any source files anytime soon.  As the 2600 is now part of their coming lineup, you will soon be able to buy a real Atari 2600 in a joystick that can play all the games while the competitors do not run original roms.

I am looking forward for this to happen since it would fulfill one of my goals of having a low-power 2600 with features like game pause, multi-game selection, etc.

 

About RetroGames LLC, you can contact them through dev-relations@protectedfromreality.com

 

http://protectedfromreality.com/2600OnAChip/

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

 

 

 

This is really cool and I'm not complaining but I will still hoping for an LCD model. But if it's got a cart port then maybe it will be hackable enough to add an LCD and not suck juice as much as the VCSp does.

[Curt Vendel]

Yes it must have a cart slot. I'd be very interested in it if it did.

 

 

When you're talking about low costs ($30 price point) and large volumes, every trimmed cent is crucial. I doubt any of these companies will add a cart slot to please us diehards. Really, there is no justification. I would love to see a rerelease of carts and a cart system that is pin compatible- you could sell it like a collectible or something (get all the rereleases like the Classic NES for GBA), but I don't know if that's what people want- and you'd have to sell the carts for $5 or something.

 

Anyway, a cart slot is probably impractical given the walmart price point of these systems.

 

Ian,

 

Its not cost, its customer support, it'll be a nightmare to the company as a whole, if that put a 6 foot neon sign on the unit that said "Plugging in original Atari VCS carts will void your warantee" People would still call the main 800 number, still return the units as faulty and so forth, why?

 

Because unlike classic gamers and hobbyist, we for the most part all know a few minutes with some alcohol, and pen eraser will fix most carts, however the layman, the guy who goes and buys this new "Atari with a 2600 slot" will go dig out their old musty, dusty, damp, nasty-ass cart out of whatever box its been rotting in for the last 15-25 years and go to plug it in, and it:

 

Doesn't work

Sorta works but locks up all the time

doesn't work and damages the console...

 

 

Customer Support is ringing, returns are high and its a disaster...

 

 

So... If you expect Atari or some other firm to make a system with cartridge slot in the future, expect it to be a cartridge slot, but not one that'll accept an original Atari cart.

 

 

Sorry to put a damper on this, but I'm just pointing out the reality of this issue.

 

 

 

Curt

[Rob Mitchell]

Its not cost, its customer support, it'll be a nightmare to the company as a whole,    ....    Customer Support is ringing, returns are high and its a disaster...

 

OMG! That's the truth! Well the instructions should have a FAQ prined in the instructions. Need help .. .. go to

 

Atariage.com/forum/hobbiests_who_know_about_cleaning_carts

 

Do not call Ken Love!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Mock]

yeah maybe they will make a little handheld that uses little mini carts...

 

oh wait.... GameBoy

 

This whole thing makes me

[bjk7382]

...the layman, the guy who goes and buys this new "Atari with a 2600 slot" will go dig out their old musty, dusty, damp, nasty-ass cart out of whatever box its been rotting in for the last 15-25 years and go to plug it in, and it:

 

Doesn't work

Sorta works but locks up all the time

doesn't work and damages the console...

 

 

Customer Support is ringing, returns are high and its a disaster...

All that would take is one paragraph and a couple of pictures in the instruction book on how to clean an atari game and there would then be no responsibility on the company to take them back if the directions were not followed.

[gulag picture radio]

I would think that part of the difficulty would be in the fact that Infogrames would have to face supporting a legacy product without any real reward for it. Supply chains for Atari games are obscure to the regular buying public (When I'm talking to my friends, their reactions remind me that going thrifting isnt'a commonplace way to shop for things), and even those games that you can still get new are from out-of-the-way sources.

 

I think that the idea of a future version of the Flashback console having an optional adapter (as has been intoned here before) is a great idea. The only other way I can think of it working is if their new cartridge-based games were slot compatible with the Atari 2600 spec, but I can't see that happening.

 

I'm sad to see so much vitriol aimed at Infogrames over this product. I guess it's only natural since we've all had 25 years to dream up our ideal console, and they've gone and done it a year after obtaining the rights. I'm not saying that Flashback is perfect. I'm just glad that Infogrames is acknowledging Atari's past beyond CD-rom collections.

 

A console with the Atari brand on it made in 2004? I'm there...

[NovaXpress]

Please Atari! Take a shit in a box and put a Fuji logo on it! I'll buy!

 

Why should they offer a good product if people like you will buy any turd that they offer?

[mos6507]

I think that the idea of a future version of the Flashback console having an optional adapter (as has been intoned here before) is a great idea.   The only other way I can think of it working is if their new cartridge-based games were slot compatible with the Atari 2600 spec, but I can't see that happening.

 

What you do then is have a backplate on it and have the signals all be there but in mineaturized form. THis would require some kind of ribbon cable adapter so that the average joe would not be able to hook up carts but 3rd parties could offer the adapter and assume responsibility for support. Kinda like what Atari did with the PBI bus on the Atari 8-bit. Atari left it to 3rd parties to provide support for PBI peripherals other than the RAM adapter for the 600XL.

 

Laying out the PCB so that the cart signals terminate on the edge this way is no extra expense.

 

But again, this is assuming a hardware compatible product which Flashback probably won't be.

[gulag picture radio]

Please Atari! Take a shit in a box and put a Fuji logo on it! I'll buy!

 

Why should they offer a good product if people like you will buy any turd that they offer?

 

I'm not as naive as you make me out to be. I wouldn't buy it if it were a totally nasty ripoff. If the final price comes down a bit from what I've seen (seems just a tad high at this point), I'll likely pick one up for the novelty and portability of it.

 

I'm not so much of an Atari loyalist that I'll buy anything with their name on it. If Flashback fulfills the actual goal of videogames i.e. being fun, then I'll be interested. Atari legacy support is just gravy in these days of modern times, and I won't endict Infogrames for not making a console that conforms to my collector's arcane fantasies.

 

But again, this is assuming a hardware compatible product which Flashback probably won't be.

 

A valuable point, mos6507. I also like yoiur idea about third party support for adapter hardware, and since there's a precedent for it that sounds like the best way.

 

Though it does make me wonder why those sorts of adapters don't exist here in America. Japan is littered with hardware adapters for playing old games - you can play Game Boy games on an N64, Master System on Game Gear, even classic Famicom on GB-SP. I wonder why that stuff never made it here?

 

Flashback aside, I will be doing huzzahs and handsprings if the next rendition of Flashback has some sort of thingy to let you hook up Atari carts. As I am very fond of saying... "The icing on the steak".