Jesse's new find

[Atari-Jess]

So I'm sleeping and my Mother phones me,

 

"I found some video games"

 

and so I'm like:

 

"hih?"

 

You see, I was asleep and had just been woken up.

 

"I found three Atari games, and a genesis"

 

I groaned a little about the Genesis, but I was tired so I didn't

say anything

 

"Its only a dollar, so I'm gonna buy it."

 

And so I told her okay, and gave my brother the phone.

 

When I finally met up with my Mother, she hands me the bag of stuff

and a Genesis was not in the bag, but this was...

 

If AA wants to use it, thats fine Its a Canadian Gemini with a

Note To Customers sticker and all labels in both English and French.

 

And thats right, I got it for a dollar.

[Mindfield]

Congrats, nice score. Cheap as it is, I still have a special place for the Gemini. It was my first video game system back in '82. (My father bought it for me when it first came to market -- before Coleco started getting desperate and including more than just Donkey Kong in the box. :-))

 

I bought a CIB one a while back just for that nostalgia factor alone. The cheap and flimsy construction and components don't make it a very good test unit, so it's just a showpiece. Mind you, I paid a fair but more than a buck for it. :-)

[Atari-Jess]

Oooh good news (for me)

 

It works! I'm glad. I had good doubts on it being that they were so cheaply

made.

 

I have to say I love the coleco 2600 joysticks though. The built in

paddle works even though it feels gritty. no jumps in it at all.

[Ze_ro]

Awesome find. The Gemini is definitely one of the nicer 2600 clones out there.

 

Its a Canadian Gemini with a

Note To Customers sticker and all labels in both English and French.

I've found ColecoVisions with a similar sticker across them... I just peel the sticker off though, since it's ugly looking, and I doubt it really adds anything to the value at all (it's probably a bit of a rarity, but American collectors are unlikely to care).

 

I have to say I love the coleco 2600 joysticks though. The built in

paddle works even though it feels gritty. no jumps in it at all.

The Gemini controllers are a favorite of mine too. The paddle uses a different mechanism than the stock Atari paddles which makes them essentially immune to jitter no matter how old they get. They're not perfect though... The range is slightly different than stock 2600 controllers which can lead to problems in some games (although from what I can tell, the problems are also dependant on the system, since they aren't as pronounced on my Heavy Sixer as they were on my 6-switch), and since you have one paddle on one connector, you're kind of screwed when you try to play two-player games, and there are a handful of games out there that try to use the "other" paddle and will just not work at all. I wrote a huge long thread a while back that documented some of the troubles here, but it's probably not of much interest.

 

--Zero

[Mindfield]

The Gemini controllers are a favorite of mine too. The paddle uses a different mechanism than the stock Atari paddles which makes them essentially immune to jitter no matter how old they get.

 

Oh, they can get jitter. It's still a potentiometer; it's just not small and shielded like Atari's, instead being large and open. (probably cheaper to manufacture that way) I've had to clean a few up before they functioned properly. Also, the way they were designed, the contact comb is stiff abrasive, and has a tendancy to wear through the resistance strip over time, so they can die. (That's the "gritty" feel mentioned above -- the comb running over the strip)

 

They're not perfect though... The range is slightly different than stock 2600 controllers which can lead to problems in some games (although from what I can tell, the problems are also dependant on the system, since they aren't as pronounced on my Heavy Sixer as they were on my 6-switch), and since you have one paddle on one connector, you're kind of screwed when you try to play two-player games, and there are a handful of games out there that try to use the "other" paddle and will just not work at all. I wrote a huge long thread a while back that documented some of the troubles here, but it's probably not of much interest.

 

The Gemini originally came with a Y-splitter for two player paddle action. I think the splitter also rewired the paddle trigger lines so they weren't mapped to joy left/right.

[shadowdoggie]

I have an auction going on right now that includes two of these units, one American version and one Canadian version like the one above, but I think my Canadian unit has one additional sticker on the front. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=8163435616

 

I never had one of these growing up, so I'm just looking to unload them. Both units turn on but they somethings have trouble with their joystick ports, as many of these do apparently. Anyway, I describe them more in my auction.

 

Some collector may love these for $5.00 plus shipping.

[Atari-Jess]

but American collectors are unlikely to care)

 

My friend asked me that just yesterday and I gave him the same answer

as you've said. I've always considered the canadian releases to be nothing

special, but the canadian ONLY releases were

(some spectravideo, ktel, zellers etc)

 

Thanks to everyone who helped describe the gritty feel, I didn't think they

were broken or anything but I was curious to why.

 

Sadly video olympics is one of those titles that wants the other stick

oh Atari, why did you have to go do that!

 

And whats wuth pressing right to use the button?

(I know why, I'm just complaining)