Severe Defects with my Flashback 2

[JayC]

I have just picked up an Atari Flashback 2 from Walmart and I have found a lot of the games on it do not work. It seems all the unreleased games either do not work(Lunar Lander, Yars Return, and others just come up as scrambled screens or just a black screen) or come up as other games (Adventure 2 loads up a Chess, Asteroids Deluxe loads up Missle Command, etc). Do you know if this has been found in a run of them or if just this one unit is defective.

[Zwackery]

So messed up, it's super-collectible!!!

Seriously, return the buggy unit (where'd you buy it?), let the manager know, let the company know. I have yet to buy one - and I really want one, plus I'm going to send one to my friend in Austria - because I'm waiting for one that works properly.

[Zonie]

/Soapbox on

 

Sounds like "Made in China" rings true with this thing too. Hmm... Lemme see:

 

Quadrun with no voice - "Oh it's a bad lot"

Rolling screen on Yars return - again with the bad lot

Two different versions of Millipede.

 

Then the problem listed in this thread.

 

Yep. "Made in China" still means "This product sucks"

 

So we pay $300K for homes that went for $100k less than five years ago, but that shit quality peice of Chinese made electronic gear is only $29.95.

 

Frankly, I'd rather pay $100k for a house and $500 for a game console made in good 'ole sunnyvale, CA. I need my home, I want the game console. If I cannot afford the console, so be it. I still have a roof over my head.

 

What will happen when we cannot afford what we need anymore? I'm lucky that I have a salary where I can afford a house these days. What about those that do not? What about my kids?

 

Oh yeah, I have to finish this post before my chinese-made computer power supply dies and reboots my computer again.

 

/soapbox off -- Putting on my American Made NewBalance Sneakers and taking my dog for a walk.

 

And no, I have never been in a labor union, and Fuck Walmart.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Zonie

[Feralstorm]

Good luck finding much not 'made in China' nowadays.

 

Then again, many, if not most 'Made in China' things are decent to good nowadays. Hey, 'Made in Japan' used to be considered a mark of low quality (and low cost) as little as thirty years ago, but it sure ain't today.

 

Back on topic - JayC, it sounds like you got a fluke bum unit (more than the already known stuff anyway) since I'm sure if there was a whole run of them that screwed up, we'd have heard something already.

[CaptainCaputo]

dude youve got there the crappiest FB2 released return it and get another

[spikey911]

dude youve got there the crappiest FB2 released return it and get another

925920[/snapback]

 

 

Bad idea !!!

 

You can sell it on Ebay and call it " Rare"

[Flojomojo]

So we pay $300K for homes that went for $100k less than five years ago, but that shit quality peice of Chinese made electronic gear is only $29.95.

925822[/snapback]

um ... you see a causal chain there? if so, please explain it to me ...

 

Manufacturing defects can happen anywhere. You don't like the global economy, fine, but to selectively pick on Chinese factories while ignoring the dross we get out of Detroit seems short-sighted to me.

[Zonie]

"Casual chain" Never heard the expression. Please elaborate.

 

 

I'm not picking on Chines, just the crap quality they put out and we as stupid americans accept. The auto industry is only a small segment. Consumer products like TV's and blankets, etc are where the bulk of people used to make their income. Most "foreign" cars are made here too, now, and most "domestic" cars have foreign parts.

 

Stuff made in Japan in the past was cheap, but was of high quality, That's the difference between Japan and China. Japan's quality drove our own domestic makers quality up. Not the same with China's products.

[Zwackery]

"Casual chain"  Never heard the expression.  Please elaborate.

926054[/snapback]

Actually Flojomojo said "causal chain" not "casual chain".

 

A causal chain, simply put, includes all factors which lead up to certain event. In essence, Flojomojo is asking you to illustrate your logic that allows you to progress, step by step, from a problem with a piece of electronic equipment manufactured in China to increasing housing costs in the United States. Generally, the greater the magnitude of comparison, the more complex the causal chain.

 

Note that this is different from synchronicity, or an acausal connecting principle, as discussed by Jung and popularized by The Police in their last studio album. Synchronicity here indicates a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved.

 

A casual chain would probably be something like The Gap or Old Navy.

[+johnnywc]

I wouldn't call this it a severe defect but I bought an FB2 for my friend's son - he played it with his cousin for a few hours on Saturday before coming downstairs to tell me "the joystick was broke". After investigating, the joysticks were fine, but it seemed like the system thought player 2 was pushing right all the time (this was evident in Outlaw and Maze Craze, where the player moved right even without a joystick plugged in). And so ended the night of FB2 playing for them...

 

On a positive note, they did return the system the next day - I'm sure this one will be fine. Before things went down they were enjoying it immensely (these kids are big PS2 freaks), with mulitple games of Maze Craze, Outlaw, Millipede, Combat, and Adventure. The two-player option is key!!!

[Zonie]

Causal. Oops. Misread that. Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway, the chain is such that we as Americans continually expect our toys to be cheaper and cheaper. This forces the mfgs to go offshore and find cheaper products. Of course this is not directly the cause of our real estate values, low interest rates and rampant speculation cause that. The rampant speculation is of course a result of investors looking for a better investment than the traditional stocks, such as those in manufacturing companies. Those stocks are flat, due mainly to the lack of growth because the walmarts of the world are giving us what we want: cheap stuff. This moves good paying jobs offshore. Thus the people that depended on those factory jobs have two thngs working against them: eroding income and increasing housing costs. slow or stop the tide of cheap chinese, india, etc. imports and mfg in-country picks up. Sure as incomes rise, so do housing costs, but the investors will now have the alternative so speculation driven housing increases will ebb, and the folks making your new Atari in Sunnyvale will have more income to purchase the house.

 

It's hard to fully explain my point in the forum, but "we're all in this together" and a little pain now will buy us a better future.

 

Most folks don't see the next step... Chinese mfg's are eying the walmarts, etc, and studying our buying habits and the distribution chain. Their next victim is the middleman. when the middlemen are all out of work, they will then go after retail. their goal is direct to retail. when China owns our retail, there will be NOTHING left. Our economy is dead.

 

I'd rather be able to afford a house and not a new TV set rather than the other way around, as an alarming amount of folks in this country are finding themselves. Just drive by an apartment complex these days. New high content cars in the parking lot. Then drive by single family homes. Not so many new cars.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Zonie

[Red 5]

My first one had the select button stuck.

Returned it.

Second one is working okay.

[Bruce Tomlin]

dude youve got there the crappiest FB2 released return it and get another

925920[/snapback]

 

Bad idea !!!

 

You can sell it on Ebay and call it " Rare"

925977[/snapback]

Nope.

 

You want to call it haunted. And start the auction in the second week of October.

Edited September 7, 2005 by Bruce Tomlin

[sidcrowe]

Zonie: All true, but the real culprits are the banks.

 

Go here, and download parts 1 and 2 of the Money Masters:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res7dhyg/slaverevolt_finance.html

[+batari]

Note that this is different from synchronicity, or an acausal connecting principle, as discussed by Jung and popularized by The Police in their last studio album.  Synchronicity here indicates a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved.

926080[/snapback]

Obviously a butterfly flapped its wings in Brazil, which disrupted the Qi flow in the yin-yang and misaligned the chakras in your FB2.

 

Or maybe this one was made on the friday before a three-day weekend.

[Zonie]

Note that this is different from synchronicity, or an acausal connecting principle, as discussed by Jung and popularized by The Police in their last studio album.  Synchronicity here indicates a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved.

926080[/snapback]

Obviously a butterfly flapped its wings in Brazil, which disrupted the Qi flow in the yin-yang and misaligned the chakras in your FB2.

 

Or maybe this one was made on the friday before a three-day weekend.

927355[/snapback]

 

Nahh, that only happens in GM plants in Michigan.

[JayC]

I exchanged the defective unit and the new unit works just fine. The only downside is that it is 1st run version with the old version of millipede and quadrun doesn't have the voice synth, but I am just glad the system as a whole works.

[Atari_Jaguar]

/Soapbox on

 

Sounds like "Made in China" rings true with this thing too.  Hmm... Lemme see:

 

Quadrun with no voice - "Oh it's a bad lot"

Rolling screen on Yars return - again with the bad lot

Two different versions of Millipede.

 

Then the problem listed in this thread. 

 

Yep.  "Made in China" still means "This product sucks"

 

So we pay $300K for homes that went for $100k less than five years ago, but that shit quality peice of Chinese made electronic gear is only $29.95.

 

Frankly, I'd rather pay $100k for a house and $500 for a game console made in good 'ole sunnyvale, CA.  I need my home, I want the game console.  If I cannot afford the console, so be it.  I still have a roof over my head.

 

What will happen when we cannot afford what we need anymore? I'm lucky that I have a salary where I can afford a house these days.  What about those that do not? What about my kids?

 

Oh yeah, I have to finish this post before my chinese-made computer power supply dies and reboots my computer again.

 

/soapbox off -- Putting on my American Made NewBalance Sneakers and taking my dog for a walk.

 

And no, I have never been in a labor union, and Fuck Walmart.

925822[/snapback]

Gosh darn it, i was going to say all that but ZONIE beat me to the punch. Well put, Zonie. "Made in China" ---- ugh

[HP Atari King of Michigan]

So far, I haven't had any problems with my FB2 (besides the Quadrun voice problem, but we all know about that).