It's BAAACCCKKKK - The Atari 2600+ with a HDMI output?

I'm curious why. So far I've seen more nay sayers. I'd like to get a balanced public view.
Well, In my game ive got a big screen tv hooked up and have the mini NES, SNES, and GENESIS hooked up. Ive got all those real consoles in the house somewhere too. But for convenience sake i find that sometimes its just as easy to pull that out and up. I had been meaning to buy a Retron 77 forever but never pulled the trigger. This does what that does and plays 7800 games. So for me it scratches a itch in a place where i know it will get touched a bit. I think it looks pretty good. And Im certain mods will come out right behind it to make it a better machine.

I also enjoy playing with stuff like this to get a informed opinion. See how close or far off it is from the real deal. KLOV is always going to have the purists. But when people that don't have time, and patience to fix old games ask me about what they could buy i like to be able to weigh the pros and cons.
 
Well, In my game ive got a big screen tv hooked up and have the mini NES, SNES, and GENESIS hooked up. Ive got all those real consoles in the house somewhere too. But for convenience sake i find that sometimes its just as easy to pull that out and up. I had been meaning to buy a Retron 77 forever but never pulled the trigger. This does what that does and plays 7800 games. So for me it scratches a itch in a place where i know it will get touched a bit. I think it looks pretty good. And Im certain mods will come out right behind it to make it a better machine.

I also enjoy playing with stuff like this to get a informed opinion. See how close or far off it is from the real deal. KLOV is always going to have the purists. But when people that don't have time, and patience to fix old games ask me about what they could buy i like to be able to weigh the pros and cons.
Good response. Thanks!
 
Out of the box, you really can't play ALL the 7800 games either. Some require two buttons to play properly (ie: Commando, Scrapyard Dog, Dark Caverns) and the included joystick is one button only.
 
Out of the box, you really can't play ALL the 7800 games either. Some require two buttons to play properly (ie: Commando, Scrapyard Dog, Dark Caverns) and the included joystick is one button only.
OOOH. That's a fail right out of the box.
Or maybe clever sales tactic? (that's worse)


Sales guy: "It plays the 7800 games too! It's cool!"
Sumguy: [after buying it] "Commando isn't working!"
Sales guy: "Mmmm...yeah. You need the 7800 controller add on for that one. But they're only 40 bucks! And they'll be released real soon now!"
 
The site has a list of games it works with and it's huge.

The compatibility list on Atari's site lists a lot of 'untested' titles. Guess what? Those titles are the same titles that don't work on a Retron77, which is basically what this 2600+ system is. It's an emulator box that uses an identical processor. How these boxes work is, they dump the cartridge to the system's memory; they don't actively 'run' the cartridge like a real system does. Why those untested carts won't work is because they can't be dumped. Those games either use a unique bank-switching method, contain extra hardware (ie "super chips" - https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/longevity/longevity.html#superchips), or are flash carts (such as the Harmony). Most of the newer homebrew games sold by Atariage are flash carts (using either a Melody or Aria pcb), and like the Harmony, they contain an ARM7 microcontroller, and the Retro77 and 2600+ can't dump those, either. This makes Atari's "No Cartridge Left Behind" campaign a cruel joke.
 
So PRE-ORDER pricing on Amazon is,

.com $129.99US
.ca $149.99CAD

This item will be released on November 17, 2023.

Product Description

The Atari 2600+ is designed to look and feel like the 4-switch Atari 2600, which launched in 1980. This modern version also plays Atari 7800 games, has a wide screen mode, easily connects to a modern TV, and includes a 10-in-1 game cartridge of classic Atari titles. The included CX40+ Joystick Controller has been recreated with the same size and layout as the original 2600 Joystick Controller, so you can relive the gameplay experiences from the beginning of home console video gaming. Games Included:• Adventure • Combat • Dodge 'Em • Haunted House • Maze Craze • Missile Command • Realsports Volleyball • Surround • Video Pinball • Yars' Revenge
 
I'm curious why. So far I've seen more nay sayers. I'd like to get a balanced public view.
People generally tend to look for the faults in things and people in general. Without a doubt in my opinion its a great option for someone who wants that nostalgia but doesn't want the headaches. What I really don't understand is why the collectors get upset. The reality is that those collectors are still able to get those vintage games at a reasonable price. Imagine if all the people who bought one of these were looking for vintage games and consoles. The prices would go nuts but that would just give those folks one more thing to complain about when they should be happy because they can still buy the vintage stuff at reasonable prices. I feel the same about all the 1up stuff but that's another discussion :)
 
People generally tend to look for the faults in things and people in general. Without a doubt in my opinion its a great option for someone who wants that nostalgia but doesn't want the headaches. What I really don't understand is why the collectors get upset. The reality is that those collectors are still able to get those vintage games at a reasonable price. Imagine if all the people who bought one of these were looking for vintage games and consoles. The prices would go nuts but that would just give those folks one more thing to complain about when they should be happy because they can still buy the vintage stuff at reasonable prices. I feel the same about all the 1up stuff but that's another discussion :)

The technology is there to finally make a proper VCS recreation. However, like everything else, the new Atari decided to release this iteration with some rather baffling design choices. Even the included pack in cart has dipswitches to change between the games. I mean come on. Yes, there'll always be a collector or fanboy that thinks this is good enough, but the rest of us see it as a half hearted effort.

That said, I did spring for a joystick. Hopefully that's done well.
 
A company called Analogue has been making modern versions of Nintendo and Sega consoles, but they use FPGA and tend to be a little more pricey. Maybe they'll do a 2600 unit one day. The one area where I've noticed the most difference is, on the Sega Genesis, the sounds can be a little more gritty (think GOOD distortion). The sounds on the Analogue Mega SG are cleaner. I suspect this new 2600 will suffer from the same phenomenon.
 
Who makes an s-video mod? I'm having problems googling it...
I used to make them. To this day it's the best performing one that ever existed. (*) But I don't do it anymore.
I can show you how, but you'll have to build it. How are your construction skills? Can you do SMD soldering? Through hole?

Or you can order the CleanComp which @VectorCollector mentions below. Reviews of that one are mostly positive, but a few buyers have had issues with it.Mostly on bad/missing colors IIRC. His design approach was correct, through there were some weird choices made. Schematics are not available as far as I know. I meant to buy one and check it's actual electrical performance vs. the last (unreleased) CyberTech reference board from 10 years ago, but I'm busy on another project and I forgot all about it.

(*) Excepting CleanComp which I haven't personally tested. Pretty sure the CyberTech is better though; Based on his posted screenshots I can identify a couple of video issues and I know the root causes.
 
The technology is there to finally make a proper VCS recreation. However, like everything else, the new Atari decided to release this iteration with some rather baffling design choices. Even the included pack in cart has dipswitches to change between the games. I mean come on. Yes, there'll always be a collector or fanboy that thinks this is good enough, but the rest of us see it as a half hearted effort.

That said, I did spring for a joystick. Hopefully that's done well.
From a business standpoint this is the logical choice sure they could have made as an updated version of the original. If they could sell 100k consoles at this price point but make it a updated reproduction but at a higher price point and sell 30k units. It all about profit and I'm glad that the company is in business in one form or another. Sure it isnt what the purest what but do you really think that your part of that demographic? The amount of people willing to pay a higher amount to have the exact copy is low compared to the amount of people that would be happy with the offering they are currently offering
 
I used to make them. To this day it's the best performing one that ever existed. (*) But I don't do it anymore.
I can show you how, but you'll have to build it. How are your construction skills? Can you do SMD soldering? Through hole?

Or you can order the CleanComp which @VectorCollector mentions below. Reviews of that one are mostly positive, but a few buyers have had issues with it.Mostly on bad/missing colors IIRC. His design approach was correct, through there were some weird choices made. Schematics are not available as far as I know. I meant to buy one and check it's actual electrical performance vs. the last (unreleased) CyberTech reference board from 10 years ago, but I'm busy on another project and I forgot all about it.

(*) Excepting CleanComp which I haven't personally tested. Pretty sure the CyberTech is better though; Based on his posted screenshots I can identify a couple of video issues and I know the root causes.
I'm good at through-hole and OK at surface mount stuff..

The CleanComp looks pretty solid, but I can't find a place to order it from? Should I just message the guy on AtariAge?
 
I'm good at through-hole and OK at surface mount stuff..

The CleanComp looks pretty solid, but I can't find a place to order it from? Should I just message the guy on AtariAge?

The sales webpage is in the Youtube vid description I posted.
Did you watch the video? Did you read the comments? Did you expand the description?
HINT: look for the word "Store" and click the URL associated with this word. Then RETRO, 2600 ... :)
 
I'm good at through-hole and OK at surface mount stuff..

The CleanComp looks pretty solid, but I can't find a place to order it from? Should I just message the guy on AtariAge?
You could do that or search the thread for his website. It was hard to find. And the site was not functional for a while after he posted it so I eventually forgot about it.
 
The sales webpage is in the Youtube vid description I posted.
Did you watch the video? Did you read the comments? Did you expand the description?
HINT: look for the word "Store" and click the URL associated with this word. Then RETRO, 2600 ... :)
Oops. Yeah, what VC said.

I just watched the video. I don't know how much of it is due to the capture card used and how much is actually do to the CleanComp itself, but the image output is pretty lousy in the video...which is a surprise. Early on it looked like he was going down the right path to get good video out. I'm disappointed to see that he abandoned his initial careful engineering approach to the design and resorted to using pots for tweaking the color after installation. "R-mysterious" is not a great value for a final design. :(

Now I'm back to wanting one to play with to see if it's really that bad in person.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom