cimerians Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Thank god my Uncle bought this instead of me, he wasn't even into Atari back then like I was but he digs it. I just want to let people know about this thing before dropping 40 huge dollars on a piece of crap. Here's what I think: This is probably the worst thing I've ever seen. The emulation is utter garbage. What the hell is Atarigrames thinking? Holy crap does it suck. The "system" is as big as your hand and not only do you have to sit there and plug in silly joysticks and power cords. You also are served up a fresh bash of VERY poorly transaled games. The joystick doesn't even twist like Jaak's for paddle games. So your stuck with using a joystick for every game. The games do not respond well with the joystick either. In adventure for example, if you push in any diagnal direction, your little square moves at half the speed. The sounds are also completely remade, not even one bleep or bloop sounds the same as the originals. I could go on and on but it really makes no difference, if your even remotely an Atari enthusiast this will utterly disappoint you. Enough to make you want to puke all over it. Truly horrifying and truly awful. I even hate to say that the TV hook up games are better.... Do NOT waste your money. Buy a real Atari on EBAY instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=60516 Yep, we already know. Infogrames apparently waited until the last minute, and wanted the console out in a short period of time, so instead of fabricating the real technology, which would take too long, they used Famiclone technology, and had someone port all the games over to the NES-on-a-chip hardware. They ported 20 games in 10 weeks. That's why Battlezone isn't nearly as colorful as the original, or the enemy shots curve past you as you drive away from it. That's why Desert Falcon and Food Fight look like hell compared to the originals. And on and on the problems go. But Curt Vendel was apparently part of the project, and he has some insights on the reasons the Flashback turned out that way. And he says that another piece of hardware will come out next year that will have the authentic technology inside it, and we just have to wait. I hope it turns out better than the Flashback did. Maybe a tiny 6-switcher with an SD card slot instead of a cartridge slot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted November 21, 2004 Author Share Posted November 21, 2004 Thanks for the link to the other thread, I'll be reading through that. Its truly a disaster, and that explains a lot. I think this might kill the casual consumer though for next years product be we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Maybe a tiny 6-switcher with an SD card slot instead of a cartridge slot? Nifty. The shell alone would make for some sales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosDN Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 How about this? Akor super TV Boy. 127 atari 2600 games in a nintendo-like unit. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/comput....asp?st=2&c=825 I don't believe it was ever mentioned in this forum.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 What the........... I assume this thing was functional, and if so, I have grown to amaze even myself in regards to discovering even less personal respect for grames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 they used Famiclone technology, and had someone port all the games over to the NES-on-a-chip hardware. So like I said. This isn't emulation. These are PORTS to NES hardware! So if Nintendo is going after the Famiclones.. wouldn't they go after this as well? yeah yeah.. I'm just drunk and stupid trolling ; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Thanks for the heads up, I wasnt set to buy it, but now I'm deffianetly not getting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIeric Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Thanks for the heads up, I wasnt set to buy it, but now I'm deffianetly not getting it. im definately not buying one either, the only thing that was making me itch for one was due to the company name on it, but now id haveta say no way jose and besides i just bought atari anthology for xbox. im very happy! maybe if they wind up at big lots for 20bucks i might buy one then. "friggin itches" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxglove9 Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm glad I read about this before I actually saw it in the stores. I'm a sucker for packaging and if I saw the box in a store I probably would have bought it just on the packaging alone. Frustrating they tease us with garbage like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIeric Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm glad I read about this before I actually saw it in the stores. I'm a sucker for packaging and if I saw the box in a store I probably would have bought it just on the packaging alone. Frustrating they tease us with garbage like this. thankgod for atariage and the internetage, if they didnt exist, alot of us would be buying it on a whim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike OC Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'd like to see the internals of the system. Does anyone know of anyone who has one and is willing to open it up and post pics? My guess is that it will be just a pcb with a couple of epoxy blobs, but who knows? It would be cool if it is hackable. If it's NES-on-a-chip, it may be able to run NES roms if there were a way to hack in a slot or other interface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 So like I said. This isn't emulation. These are PORTS to NES hardware! So if Nintendo is going after the Famiclones.. wouldn't they go after this as well? I don't think Nintendo could go after them for this one. The Famiclones that are all over malls this Christmas are in Nintendo's gunsight, because they're containing Nintendo software. The NES/Famicom used a Motorola 6502 and a couple of other fairly common processors that are being pirated and condensed down for these Famiclones. Nintendo probably doesn't own any of those processor copyrights, so they don't care about that. It's their trademark characters and software that they're wanting to stop. It's hard to sell GBA e-Reader cards and GBA Classic Series games when they can all be had cheaper on authentic hardware that's available at pretty much any flea market in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 How about this? Akor super TV Boy. 127 atari 2600 games in a nintendo-like unit. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/comput....asp?st=2&c=825 I don't believe it was ever mentioned in this forum.. The sad thing is that, that thing "emulates" the games better than the atarigrames flashback. Interesting and sad all in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 I thought that Akor Super TV Boy was the genuine hardware, though. No emulation involved. All those pirated 2600 consoles were made in Brazil, along with add-on modules for the Colecovision and Intellivision consoles. They used off the shelf parts to make it work like a real 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Considering the Akor unit uses a 6507 clone, I'd say that it's probably as close to the original hardware as possible. That unit's French, but I wouldn't doubt it got its inspiration from the many Brazilian clones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Speaking of such articles, there's a guy with an indie booth at my mall selling a big weird N64-ish batarang for 40 bucks which is crammed with around 70 or 170 (can't remember) vintage arcade games. I played Popeye on it and Pac Man, and aside from Inky and the rest having different names, the thing plays well. Let's hear it for the Chinese grey market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Why are you guys bitching and pissing so much? Be happy they threw us some scraps and be excited for whats to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 I'm not trying to piss on you in particular Ferris, but that's not a fair attitude to take in any way. Suppose Chevy licensed somebody to remake their classic cars from the 1950's, and instead of a functional car that looks and feels like the original they released a Cobalt with a 58 Impala body slapped on the top, only the dashboard fell off when you got inside, the seats were made out of plywood, and the wheels came off the axle when you pulled out of the lot. Would you really say, "Hey at least they remade a 58 Impala, maybe they'll get it right next time!" Bullshit. You'd be mad they told you it was a remake of a 58 Impala when really it was a Cobalt masquerading as one and not even doing a half-decent job of that. I had such high hopes when Curt Vendel first PM'd me about this thing, but boy the reports coming out are drastically bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 I've been following this debate on several posts, so I'll throw in my two cents worth. The reason I still play Atari thirty years later has nothing to do with nostalgia (ok, maybe a little ), and more to do with gameplay. I play classic games because they're, umm, you know, FUN. If a copied game doesn't have the proper timing or responsiveness that the original has (and if a classic game doesn't have gameplay, it ain't got jack), then it's probably not worth much. In my book, if you are going to put atari games on nes-on-a-chip hardware, fine, but at least take the time to make sure they actually PLAY well. The problem is that Atari/Inforgrames, Jakks etc just want to make a quick buck. They figure (usually correctly) that most folks won't even notice the difference. It's only the people who care that do. Ah well. I guess I'll just have to suffer and go and play the real thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 ... Suppose Chevy licensed somebody to remake their classic cars from the 1950's, and instead of a functional car that looks and feels like the original they released a Cobalt with a 58 Impala body slapped on the top, only the dashboard fell off when you got inside, the seats were made out of plywood, and the wheels came off the axle when you pulled out of the lot.... Actually if it were cheap enough I'd buy it anyway. You can replace all of those inferior items you talked about with better parts from other cars. However, as it appears right now the Flashback may well be unhackable, so it's an unfair comparison. I expect I'll buy one anyway, but only to take it apart and fiddle around with it's little guts. Hey, I just like tinker. -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Sure, there's nothing wrong with buying a Flashback if you want to hack it up and fiddle with the insides. Hell there's nothing wrong with buying one period. The only caveat is that if you EXPECT better emulation than the 10-in-1 stick, it's not even going to come close - and that's not really a good tradeoff when you consider Saboteur got pulled off AA for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Sure, there's nothing wrong with buying a Flashback if you want to hack it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Thanks for the link to the other thread, I'll be reading through that. Its truly a disaster, and that explains a lot. I think this might kill the casual consumer though for next years product be we'll see. Doesn't seem that way from my neighbor across the street, he daughter who owns every one of the all in ones loves the Flashback, Centipede and Warlords with her brother apparently are their favorites. My wifes friends works a childrens hospital in New Jersey and the kids there are having a ball with the unit they set-up and the parents have been asking about it to buy one for home. Lets face it, its not a system for the hardcore gamers who scrutinize every facet of the units down to the most minute detail, this is for the casual consumer, the Jakks 10 in 1 was and still is a playable disgrace, the games on the flashback that were also on the 10 in 1 are far better visually and playable wise, and yet the 10 in 1's are still selling strong dispite them being the worst of any of them out there, thats because casual consumer gamers like them for what they are and they keep coming back for more. The markey is reaching its peak with these all in ones and in two years this niche market will have exchausted itself and these inventories will dwindle away as other products move in to catch the spotlight... I don't see people bitching over the Coleco mini arcades, the gamewatch lcd gaming devices and the pocket keychain games that they are so horrible as they are so far from the originals as they make 2600 Pac Man look like it was spot on Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcrowe Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I don't see people bitching over the Coleco mini arcades, the gamewatch lcd gaming devices and the pocket keychain games that they are so horrible Well, this is 2004, the games are from a console which debuted in the 1970s, and the product was produced by what is officially regarded as "Atari." It's only natural for the unit to be vigorously derided on a hobbyist's forum, as we would have appreciated a good product more than any other section of the market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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