Mitkraft
Active member
Opinions wanted: repair an Atari VCS 2600 or mod a Flashback 2?
So I've been meaning for years to refurbish my old Atari system. I've had it since it was new and back in the day things broke and at least once I tried a very bad repair of the joystick port. I finally got around to checking it out and here is where it stands now:
One Joystick port is completely gone. I think I removed it a long time ago. So I will need to buy and solder on a new one. The on off switch is broken and it looks like its missing the little metal bars that go under the slider switch. Not sure if I'll need to buy a whole new switch or if I can find a substitute for the metal contacts. Obviously its old and dirty so it will need a good cleaning but I powered it up and it seems to work. I couldn't start any games because the broken joystick port is player one. While looking for replacement parts I found a Flashback 2 on eBay complete and in-box for $25 so I grabbed it. I'm thinking about going one of two ways and would like to know your opinions:
1. I could clean the original VCS (its a 4 switch woody btw), fix/replace the on/off switch, replace the joystick port (either buy one or use one off the flashback) and use the joysticks from the flashback and backups/replacements for the originals. I would also need to perform the video output mod so that I can bypass the RF modulator and get better signal with composite output.
2. I could do the cartridge port mod on the flashback 2 and just use it (I could use the cartridge port of the VCS or buy a new one). This might be the easiest option but would there be much lost in playing on the flashback instead of the original (heck I could even put the guts in the VCS case for kicks)? I understand the Flashback 2 is "VCS on a chip" but I"m not 100% sure what that means and how true to the original it is or what might be lost. I'm not a HUGE purist and its mostly about nostalgia for me but some of that nostalgia is the physical console itself.
What's the consensus?
So I've been meaning for years to refurbish my old Atari system. I've had it since it was new and back in the day things broke and at least once I tried a very bad repair of the joystick port. I finally got around to checking it out and here is where it stands now:
One Joystick port is completely gone. I think I removed it a long time ago. So I will need to buy and solder on a new one. The on off switch is broken and it looks like its missing the little metal bars that go under the slider switch. Not sure if I'll need to buy a whole new switch or if I can find a substitute for the metal contacts. Obviously its old and dirty so it will need a good cleaning but I powered it up and it seems to work. I couldn't start any games because the broken joystick port is player one. While looking for replacement parts I found a Flashback 2 on eBay complete and in-box for $25 so I grabbed it. I'm thinking about going one of two ways and would like to know your opinions:
1. I could clean the original VCS (its a 4 switch woody btw), fix/replace the on/off switch, replace the joystick port (either buy one or use one off the flashback) and use the joysticks from the flashback and backups/replacements for the originals. I would also need to perform the video output mod so that I can bypass the RF modulator and get better signal with composite output.
2. I could do the cartridge port mod on the flashback 2 and just use it (I could use the cartridge port of the VCS or buy a new one). This might be the easiest option but would there be much lost in playing on the flashback instead of the original (heck I could even put the guts in the VCS case for kicks)? I understand the Flashback 2 is "VCS on a chip" but I"m not 100% sure what that means and how true to the original it is or what might be lost. I'm not a HUGE purist and its mostly about nostalgia for me but some of that nostalgia is the physical console itself.
What's the consensus?
