New Guy Needs Some Help

[NightDriver]

Hi,

I'm new to the boards, I have been an Atari fan since me and my brother shared our first console, the Atari 7800 in 1987. I loved the Pole Position 2 game that came with the Atari 7800, I had no idea how to play it (I was only 5) and I would just crash and burn on the practice course all the time but that was my first gaming experience and I just thought it was so cool that I could control the car on my TV. After that we collected tons of games and accessories for the Atari 2600 at garage sales for dirt cheap because most people only carried about Nintendo or where still skeptical of the video game industry after the major crash. Also one of my fondest early memories where our clothes shopping trips to the Sears Outlet Store where I picked up Atari 7800 games like Double Dragon, Rampage, Mrs Pac-Man and also few Atari 2600 games like Off the Wall all brand for 2 bucks a piece in between the years of 1989-1991. Then I got my own game system for Christmas 1991. It was a Sega Genesis and I did love it. But my brother on the other hand only saw it as making the Atari 7800 look outdated. And it also didn’t help that we where down to one, sometimes working sometimes not working Atari 7800 controller. Well he saw those two things as a reason to throw out the Atari 7800, the 4 Atari 2600 we collected (all had working controllers too), all the odd ball accessories like the game carrying suitcase and the 4-5 beer box sized or bigger boxes filled with game cartridges only (no boxes to take up room). The sad part was that I saw the systems in the trash when I was going to school that one day but when my Mom asked me if I wanted to go get them out of the trash I said no because I didn’t want to look bad in front of the girl next door who we carpooled with. It’s funny the dumb things we do to impress girls. Anyway that day I ran home from school in hope of getting to my beloved Atari collection out of the trash but it was too late the trash man already came. It wasn’t until 2001 until I would have an Atari again. I got an Atari 2600 from my best friend who was tied of hearing me whine about how much I missed my Atari. I paid 70 bucks for it and it came boxed with 50 games they’re where some of my favorites in the collection like Defender (I like the Atari 2600 version of Defender better then the Arcade version because it took place in a city and it made more sense to me). I also got some games from an online site new for really cheap but they are no longer in business. Well after that I didn’t buy anything else for the longest while for my Atari but then when helping the same friend in 2004 that sold me the Atari 2600 I found an Atari 7800 at the flea market that he was working at for 15 bucks so I bought. It didn’t have any games with it but I bought about 21 games off of ebay in different lots for under a hundred bucks.

 

Well that’s my story here are my questions.

 

Do the Atari 2600 Driving Paddles work with any of the Standard Paddle games?

 

I have a copy of Warlords (text label) but the spring loaded dust shield no longer works and I have to use a pare of pliers to pull the dust shield shut. Is there any way I can remove the dust shield without damaging the label or the cartridge?

 

Does an Imagic circuit board fit into an empty Atari brand cartridge? And is there any way I can safely remove an Imagic’s game label and repast it to an empty Atari brand cartridge? I realize I have to cut the Imagic label down some and I’ll need to make a custom end label but I would like to keep the front label from the original Imagic’s cartridge onto my new empty Atari brand cartridge so I can play my Imagic games on my 7800 and have them at least look somewhat decent.

 

Do Atari 2600 Joystick Repair kits show up often on ebay? I was just wondering because I need a new joystick interior stem but I think it might just be cheaper to just buy a new set of Joysticks. What do you guys think?

 

Thanks in advance for any help,

Tom

[+SpiceWare]

Do the Atari 2600 Driving Paddles work with any of the Standard Paddle games?

Nope, they're electronically different.

 

I have a copy of Warlords (text label) but the spring loaded dust shield no longer works and I have to use a pare of pliers to pull the dust shield shut.  Is there any way I can remove the dust shield without damaging the label or the cartridge?

If it stays open I'd just let it be. Third party games came w/out a spring loaded dust shield and survived just fine.

[Rob Mitchell]

Welcome! What we throw away .. Live and learn.

 

It is hard to remove a label intact. Most people make a new one.

 

It is a challenge to keep some controllers working. Save all your parts when you fix one.

 

Now you can have a special cart that can play all the 2600 and 7800 binaries on your 7800 console. It is called the Cuttle Cart2.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA