I can only play Dig Dug.....

[godzillajoe]

I suppose I could look this up but I just got a 5200 from a guy and tried it out. The only game that seems to work is Dig Dug. The top left button is used for the pump. I tried Joust and Centipede and I can't fly and shoot. Do those games use a different button? It's been a while since I had a working controller so I don't know.

[JagFan422]

yes, i had this problem too until i got a new controller, Centepede uses the bottom action button, my first controller only the top action button worked. So i was out of luck for Centepede, and i'm pretty sure Joust is the same way. Oh and don't bother with Star raiders either until you fix your joystick or get another one.

[godzillajoe]

Crap, so I just paid $40 for a 5200 a handful of games and another busted stick. Nice. What's the URL for that gold stick place again? I have it somewhere, I think it's time to invest in one.

[Paranoid]

 

Look at it this way, it is good to have a spare console. We must have been buying our systems from the same people. I bought two 7800s recently and ended up with 3 out of 4 busted Proline sticks, and the one that works doesn't work THAT well.

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/cx52.htm

[Atari-Jess]

It's not all bad, Dig Dug is a really good game!

[Tempest]

Before blowing money on yet another controller, try this. Take apart your controller, and look at the flex circuit pad underneath the fire buttons. Take a pencil eraser to them and rub carefully. This will remove about 20 years worth of carbon dust/gunk from the circuit and make the button work again. The reason they usually stop working in the first place is that the metal contacts get covered in crud so the carbon disk on the underside of the button doesn't make contact anymore. I've fixed 90% of my controllers this way.

 

Tempest

[JagFan422]

yeah it's not that bad, when i bought my 5200 from ebay, i got Jungle hunt, Pac-man, real sports baseball, Moon patrol, Star Raiders and Centepede. Only Star Raiders and Centepede were unplayable. I ended up throwing that 1 controller away, and now i'm down to 1 75% working controller, only thing i wished that worked would be the * button since that is usually used to change the difficulty on most games.

[Paranoid]

JB and I actually refered 'zillaJoe to the 5200 stick repair page in another thread, I believe.

 

A good cleaning usually does bring back a 5200 stick as long as the flex membrane hasn't been damaged by people using their thumbnails or some other object to REALLY depress failing buttons. My first 5200 included 3 sticks and all of them were dead, and in pretty bad condition, and I managed to resurrect one stick to the point where it was at least workable for the majority of games. My wife actually prefers that stick to my gold-dot stick from Best Electronics, still.

 

If you've got the extra cash, a gold dot stick is a good investment, anyhow.

[godzillajoe]

Well I'll try cleaning the stick and when it ends up in a pile of parts with my other sticks, I'll buy I gold stick

 

So a 5200 with Pac Man, Ms Pac-Man, Kangaroo, Dig Dug (2 copies) Realsports Football, Pole Position, Space Invaders, Centipede, Super Breakout, Joust and a half working stick isn't so bad right?