got a woody the other day

cleverlyj

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a 4 switch atari vcs, that is. i started out with the 5200, that my dad got christmas of '82, and then about 10 years later got a 2600. that's long gone, but i've been jonesing for some vcs love lately, so i picked one up, plus 12 games, and a wico joystik, for $40.

finally fired it up tonight. looks pretty sweet on a 42" tv.

question, though. for those of you that have warlords, does only about a 1/4 turn of the paddle turn control the whole movement from one side of the wall to the other in warlords? seems like mine moves pretty quick, if you just turn it a little. it doesn't have the jitters at all, but i haven't had a vcs in so long that i've kinda forgotten if they're real responsive or not.
 
Cool on the 2600 pick up. That's my favorite home system. I'm sure it's awesome on a 42" TV. What format are you using for video outputs? And yes, the paddles are very responsive...the reduced turn is normal. Done for ergonomic reasons. Try turning the pot from stop to stop rapidly and ask yourself "is this really comfortable?"
 
Also, try the other paddle. If they both work the same then odds are they're working correctly.

I have a suggestion for you. Buy a Harmony cart (http://harmony.atariage.com/). It has an SD card that you can load with cartridge roms with whatever directory structure (organization) you want. You can easily download a full set of roms (I like the simplified set with dupes, prototypes, etc removed) and categorize them by company, name, etc. and of course you can make a "favorites" directory. You'll never buy another cart again (unless you're into it for the sake of collecting). It is well worth the $60 or $80 (2 different versions).

Once you get the Harmony, you MUST check out the homebrew game "Medieval Mayhem". It's basically a remake of warlords but is much more fun IMO. I've only checked out a few homebrews but each one of them has been as good as any commercial vcs game.

Oh, and on the subject of paddle games, 2 more awesome paddle games are Atari Circus and Activision Kaboom.
 
Yeah I remember not having to turn the dials to much to move the cursor on Warlords. WOW, Berzerek, Adventure and Haunted house was my favorites.
 
Try turning the pot from stop to stop rapidly and ask yourself "is this really comfortable?"

yeah, i figured that, although it would be nice if they were a little more responsive. maybe like how on tempest for example you can spin slow and move slow, or spin the spinner fast and haul ass around the tubes. i just seem to have difficulty making short moves in warlords.

and re: kaboom. yeah, i used to have it. fun game, looking for another copy. problem is, 2600 carts are somewhat hard to find around here. commons are really easy, but anything that's a good game is scarce. the only activisions i find are the first games they did, had to look hard to find river raid. no one in town has a kaboom, although i haven't tried the flea market yet.. i did get lucky and score pitfall 1 and 2 for a buck a piece.

and i gotta say, the shitty graphics but excellent gameplay are really what makes the 2600 great. i got tired of playing my 5200 and eventually sold it cause all the games i had i also had standup arcade games of, and the graphics were close enough that there really wasn't a point to playing it.
 
I also have a woody, Jim.
 
I have every woody except for the heavy sixer, anyone got a spare laying around?

I'm betting your paddles are jittery, almost all of mine are. 30 years of dust tends to work its way into the pots. Try some contact cleaner, and if that fails I'd replace the pots.
 
I have every woody except for the heavy sixer, anyone got a spare laying around?

I'm betting your paddles are jittery, almost all of mine are. 30 years of dust tends to work its way into the pots. Try some contact cleaner, and if that fails I'd replace the pots.

His is a later 4-knob, actually...
 
i actually passed on a heavy sixer when i was looking... they had one at a local game shop, and the guy had no idea what it kind of atari it was, and had to describe it to me over the phone for me to figure out what it was. they wanted only $25 for it, but that was with no joysticks, power supply, or rf adapter, and the case was beat to shit. so i drove an extra 20 miles out of the way and got mine complete with a set of paddles for $40.
 
would you be interested in a huge box full of atari 2600 games for an extremely cheep price, sayy..... oh 20 bucks plus shipping?
 
hahaha no its nothing like that there is a big variety here. nothing rare of course but a bunch of great fun games.
 
Found my old box of 2600 games today. Actually, this box is from fewer than 10 years ago as I sold off my original VCS many many years ago :(

It's got a 2600 Jr in there as well but I'm thinking it doesn't work, though I need to find a video cable to test it with. It looks like the carts won't stay though...one of the little tabs seems to be missing. Oh well.

The pic below on Wikipedia is really making me want to try and find a super nice woody, though.

800px-Atari2600a.JPG
 
i just took my woody apart and cleaned the switches and tightened up the power switch, as it would shut off if bumped. power slides and is tight now, and i washed the case with soap and water and hit the switches with some steel wool to clean them up. looks very nice now.
 
oh, and here's a question for this separate post.

does anyone have aftermarket joysticks, like the wico ones? i have the wico bat command control and it isn't that responsive. i took it apart and the leaf switches were all good, but my regular atari joystick is actually better than this.

oh, and shawn, thanks for mentioning seaquest. i haven't played that in years and pretty much forgot about it. hit up or called every vintage game store in town and no one has a copy of it, so i've got one coming. btw, there is a boxed seaquest on ebay for around $17, i think.
 
I've got one of almost all the aftermarket joysticks that were produced for the Atari 2600. The Wico's were extremely well built, in fact they were touted as "arcade quality" when they came out, but they have too long of a "throw". Which makes them less responsive then the original 2600 controls. I do love their trackballs though. I even modded one to use with a computer in place of a mouse.

The only problem with the 2600's joysticks is the bubble switches eventually fail. But there are replacement parts available. Pricey but nice.
 
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