5200 Top Games Question

[Starbuck66]

I don't know if I mentioned it already or not...but if you ever get a chance to grab a digital third-party stick for the 5200 -- do it.  Most games come to life with a better stick.  Especially the arcade games like Pac Man, Ms Pac Man, Dig Dug, etc.   OH, and also Berzerk, which is the best game for the system IMO. 

 

I'll keep my eyes open for one, but when I have seen them they are usually big bucks. I wonder how difficult it would be to build a 2600 joystick adapter?

[RickR]

I'll keep my eyes open for one, but when I have seen them they are usually big bucks. I wonder how difficult it would be to build a 2600 joystick adapter?

I'm not sure how hard it would be.  For sure you'll need to make a "Y" cable so that the original stick is still hooked up (for the start button and keypad).  I may have to open my digital stick up to see what circuitry is needed (if at all).  But we should definitely explore this idea.  If we could do it, many 5200 owners would be interested in buying such a thing.  

[Starbuck66]

I found this while Googling; looks like they're not being made anymore, but the schematic is available for use by anyone?

 

http://www.grandideastudio.com/redemption-controller-adapter/

 

Willie (Arcade USA) did a video on an adapter he picked up from someone on eBay a couple of years ago, but I don't see them available on eBay anymore.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU6h6jWcMFw

[RickR]

I found this while Googling; looks like they're not being made anymore, but the schematic is available for use by anyone?

 

http://www.grandideastudio.com/redemption-controller-adapter/

 

Willie (Arcade USA) did a video on an adapter he picked up from someone on eBay a couple of years ago, but I don't see them available on eBay anymore.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU6h6jWcMFw

Great info.

 

This doesn't look hard.  It does look to be somewhat costly in materials and time.  I'm going to give some thought to giving this a try.  And if I try, it won't be for just one....

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I wonder if it would be possible to make one of those with 4 2600 controller ports?  The reason why I ask is one port could be used for the 2600 joystick and the other for the 2600 keypad.  Just a thought.

 

Believe it or not, trying to score a top 10 best 5200 games of all-time has not been easy.  The way I am scoring each game from this post alone caused a LOT of game titles to be tied.  Even the polls I created generated ties between games.  Games that did make it to the polls got voted out so I'm still working on it and have not given up.  I just want to make sure what I post is based on what games have been mentioned here and is as honest and true as I can get.  

[CrossBow]

Everything I would have picked is already been mentioned. But yeah I sought out the 5200 for two games alone! Interesting, both games were available on the atari 8-bit computers, but still I wanted the 5200 for these two games:

 

Star Raiders and Rescue on Fractalus

 

I would also argue that while the controls aren't the best, that Pitfall II is a must have for the extra second map alone

And I have to agree with the user Ballblazer in that Blaster on the 5200 SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED!! I always play a round of Blaster on my 5200. (I too have a cart that Al from AA made for me sometime back).

Though impossible to get for any kind of reasonable price, but Bounty Bob is excellent as well.