CrossBow

Well, I think if you want to impress new comers to the 5200, showing them some of the common games and how they compared to the 2600 is one way to do it. After all, that is exactly what Atari did in their marketing for the 5200 back in the day. The difficult part of this will be to convince them on why they should with a 5200 over one of the 8-bit computers since they share much of the same hardware and games between them look nearly identical in most instances. But if you want to wow them here are few suggestions: - The Last Starfighter (Never released for the 5200 although the game was completed.) It became the basis for what would become Star Raiders II for the 8-bit line. - Blaster (Also completed but never finished.) It would have been an exclusive in the 5200 library and it is a shame this didn't get released. It is really impressive and fun. - Star Raiders (Playing this in emulation is what made me want to get a 5200 because the 3D effect of the explosions is crazy impressive for the hardware.) - Tempest (Although I don't own it, I hear this is great conversion of the arcade classic. Especially with the trackball controller.) - Rescue on Fractalus (Another game that made me want to get a 5200.) Visually amazing then and still impressive now. - Motion video (Yes there are motion video demos that can be played through the AtariMax Ultimate SD version). There is the usual Bad Apple Demo and my favorite being Dragon's Lair videos.

Let me know what games you plan to film as a before, and I can get you direct captures from the After through my AV setup.

I got it and will get you the estimate invoice out later when I'm home from work. And I was serious above about shipping it without the top half of the shell. If you have ever removed the top cover of the 5200 before, you will find that 75% of the entire main board is pretty much within a large RF shield. So if you remove the top cover, it is easy to just use some painters tape or other masking tape to tape it all down from the RF shield and then around the sides to the bottom of the console to help keep it all in place and then wrap that up in bubble wrap. This way, the controller cover and front controller cover plastics aren't at risk for getting damaged in shipping. And in the case of these older consoles, softer padding using material that can absorb shocks is best. I've had a few clients send me their 5200s and other consoles using stiff Styrofoam, and then wonder why the consoles arrived in pieces.

@- Ω - I will send you a PM on this with the specifics of requesting services. Thanks!

My guess on this is that these controllers were not part of the system originally. There ins't any difference between the controllers of the SVA and the standard 2609 other than the cords themselves. But those are EASILY swapped out. So I'm sure these are standard 2609 controllers that someone put the sears cords into. As for the diagnostics failing...hehe. The actual SVA units have a slightly different rom and character set in them. As a result, the fonts are a little different on the title screens and games that used the font characters. And the Mattel presents... portion in most of the title screens doesn't appear on the SVA units. Point is, a standard MTE-201 test cartridge will show failures on two of the rom chips in the SVA because of the differences. To properly test the SVA you need to use a newer version of the Rom diagnostic. I can't recall which one, maybe v3? I have an actual v1 MTE test cart and my SVA fails that test. I have a rom image of the v4.1 test cart and all variants of the Intellivisions will pass in that test as it knows the difference between the various models.

You know what is really strange though about every single SVA I have come across? They all..and I mean they ALL seem to have a section of the brown scraped away in nearly the same pattern and place on them on the back behind the player 1 controller? Why is that I wonder? I've wondered if it was due to the controller cable being left unwound and laying ontop of the back section there and interacting with the plastic over time? But yeah, I've got two other SVAs and they have nearly the same scruff marking in the same place along the back grill behind controller 1. So strange... That SVA is actually nicer than my other 2. The other two don't have much brown paint left on the Super Video Arcade wording in the lower left of the top case shell or they have warping forming around the power and reset buttons on the woodgrain vinyl sticker they used there. If I could get another pair of matching SVA controllers, I could kick out another one for the masses.

Man the lighting doesn't do the SVA justice. I cleaned that sucker as well as I could before offering it up. Then again, we keep it on the darker side of lighting in my house so the yellowing is likely accurate since that wouldn't stand out as much here.

This is pretty cool actually. It basically is like having an old AA redemption adapter and 5200 keypad in one box. I currently use my AA remdemption adapter with a 3 button Genesis pad when I want the digital control. However, I actually attach my Wico keypad command control into the redemption instead of a 5200 controller as the keypad on that is built like a tank and can fit the overlays. But those keypad command controls for the 5200 along with getting a redemption is difficult and would cost more than this alone. So this is an excellent thing to see!

One option for the 5200, is to sent it without the top half of the console shell. The way I do the UAV I would only need the mainboard and the lower portion of the case. That is what Al did when he sent me his 5200s to get the old AV upgrade in them redone as the original wiring had some loose in a few places. He also wanted me to power convert them so they didn't need the switch box anymore. The point was to reduce the weight slightly in shipping, and make it less prone to breaking since the top half is what is usually most a risk. Al used some painters tape to hold the mainboards in place of the lower case shell during shipping. Although I don't like the idea as much. If you just sent the mainboard and the expansion plate, I could fully mod up that much and it could be reassembled into the case plastics after. But the expansion plates once removed, tend to pop out really easily after that and I usually apply some epoxy inside around the edge of the plate to make sure it doesn't come loose afterwards. And @- Ω - you do know about the Sophia upgrade right? While not VGA, it does provide a DVI digital output and you could use a DVI to VGA adapter or whatever you needed at that point. The Sophia is expensive though. And while I haven't installed one, it doesn't look to be that bad. Worse part is where to route the DVI connector. Most seem to route it through the center back through the controller storage area but I' don't like that idea at all and would rather route it to the expansion plate or something.

This item has now Sold! For sale is a Mattel 2609 model 1 Intellivision but in Sears clothing. Yes, this has the standard 2609 rom sets in it that I installed about 20 years ago when the Sears unit was first given to me dead. At the time I had a spare standard 2609 Intellivision but liked the Sears look and controllers more. However after actually getting a different legit Sears Super Video Arcade unit nearly a year ago and finally.. FINALLY getting it working. I decided to put this one up for sale. This is NOT a display piece as it has nicks, scratches, some yellowing on the case, etc. It is for playing games and shows the years and age of love having provided that to previous owners in addition to myself. Information on this old SVA: - Power supply has been recapped and a new 12Ω power resistor installed - Power ribbon cable was replaced with a new one about a year ago - Main board is an older revision with the white colored PCB and fully exposed trace layout through the board - New 3906 transistors installed as originals are prone to failing - Yannick's v2 RGB installed. (First of this revision I installed actually) - RGB board has hardware fixes in place for better compatibility with OSSC, Retrotink2x SCART, and Retrotink 5x. Works with cheap SCART to HDMI converter and the Framemeister as well (so I've been told on the FM) - RF is still fully intact and working as an additional video output or fallback if needed - 9-pin mini din AV out wired up in Sega Genesis model 2 has been installed Includes the following: - SVA console itself (of course) - 2 working Sears style controllers - 1 Insurrection Industries Genesis 2 RGB SCART cable (New) - 1 Original RF output cable (Repaired recently by ITC) The RGB cable is brand new and being provided so that the new owner doesn't have to worry about finding or having a cable to use it with. It does still require you to have the ability to use SCART for RGB. So either a scaler/converter with SCART input is needed such as the Tink2x SCART like I primarily use for testing RGB consoles as an example. I've attached a lot of pics of the console but feel free to ask any questions. I've also attached a link showing example RGB video output direct captured from this actual Intellivision sometime back when I was first testing the new Yannick RGB boards. I've already got the console and cables boxed up and ready for its new home and owner. I will be posting this in other groups and like FB as well. No Games are included with this console. I'm asking $175 for this SVA shipped in the lower 48 continental United States. Here is a video I took from this exact RGB board and SVA sometime back:

My condolences as well. I lost my father a few years ago, but he and I weren't ever that close. Still, even with the troubling issues he had in his life, I can't help but feel sorry for him and wished that in my adult years, that I had tried to spend a little more time with him. It wouldn't have changed the outcome of his passing as it was a health related issue that was going to get him anyway. Still, it would have provided him and myself some better memories. He would totally be interested in the stuff I do these days also with the game console service work stuff. As for grilling, this was something my wife and I did quite often throughout the year. Heck more than once she would grill up some steaks with snow outside on the ground! LOL. But, she let a grease fire get away from her one day and it basically cooked the grill too badly. I was able to repair the ignition starter and replace the thermometer. But too much of the protector layer on the metal was burned and it started to rust almost immediately. We have never gotten rid of it as it rusts away on the porch and haven't replaced it either. Likely still has half a tank of propane still on it too.

My last video on the Yannick' RGB was installed into an SVA version. Heck that is what I use as my daily driver Intellivision. Ugly duckling of a console, but man I just like it. But yes, the Sears Intelly is just a standard model 1 2609 that has a different controller tray and wire harnesses for the controllers. The rest of the guys are nearly identical. The Sears units due feature different main ROM chips which is why the fonts on the games look a little different on the Sears system and why some title screens are missing the Mattel Electronics Presents on them. But aside from those differences, the Sears units are 100% the same board layouts and designs. In fact, I will soon have an RGB modded Sears Intellivision for sale. It actually has a standard Mattel 2609 board in it, but the rest is all Sears aesthetics.

Yes both of the RGB boards I've featured work with either model. Not sure about the INTV III and super Pro systems as I think those use an wired up add on board in place of the U10 color chip, but I would have to crack my INTV III open to see. I honestly just leave it in the box because to me, it is a cool looking system in the black and silver trim, but the controllers seem to be worse and it has an overall cheap feel to it compared to the original models. In the case of the Intellivision 2, due to how little space there is inside the console, about the only option I have that I can do, is to remove the RF modulator completely and install the 9 pin mini din in place of where the RF was. But that does limit it only the RGB output at that point. Also...this is very important and I only recently learned this.. All of these RGB upgrades only work for Intellivision games through the console. It will NOT work with a system changer for playing 2600 games. As a result, if you were to have the RF removed, the system changer would not longer work as it wouldn't provide you with any video output. So like a lot of other consoles with AV mods that have expansion devices for playing 2600 games, it will kill that feature in the process.

ITC#76 went public this morning and goes through the process of installing another RGB solution for Intellivision systems. This one is from a cool French designer by the name of Yannick. He approached me back in November of last year to test his RGB board design and I was happy to do so. Since then, some changes have been made to the design to improve compatibility with scaler devices like the OSSC and newly released RetroTink5x. Since then I've installed a few of these in not only my own Intellivisions but also a few of my clients as well and have gotten good feedback. The installation isn't that difficult as it is just soldering wires from the RGB board to the Color IC chip to tap the needed video signals and then soldering your wiring to whatever RGB output jack or connection you want to use. I have a few of these boards on hand that I can sell for those looking to do this themselves and can get a pre-order list started to have another batch of them made up later if needed. I've attached my basic install PDF guide as well for those that prefer to have something they can print out to have handy for reference. Like myself... Yannick_RGB_Installation_INTV1.pdf

I'm all over this, but of course when you try and click on the Pre-order button, I just get an error that pops up on the Best-Buy website. ugh... what a cluster as usual with these releases LOL!

Has anyone ever figured out if there is a way to tell the difference between the two rom variants of this game? And do we know if the one with the ability to turn off the star field is a newer or older release over the one that does not allow this?

I do not know the current status but the way it would operate is exactly as you stated. It would be present for games that need it and games could be programmed so that if it isn't present, then obviously they could still work but with reduced sounds. Additionally, Batari (Fred Quimby) just posted a demo of his new HOKEY chip in action playing Commando. His chip is to be a pokey replacement for a fraction of the cost but also have the ability to include additional sound engines programmed into it so that it could emulate FM and other audio chip sources as well. Even talk of Quad Pokey which, the options that could bring would be amazing. But his is more of a chip on cart solution, same as what is done now on 7800 home brews that need pokey in them.

I never owned any of the board game adaptations or card games on any console growing up. My parents were actually heavy backgammon players and played a few games nearly each night when I was kid. But getting it for the 2600 was never a thought or blip on the scope of things. It was the same way with checkers. My friends and I would just use an actual checkers board an play. I own these games now but it was strictly for adding to the collection and never for actual play. But, in the early 90s I did own the first release of Hoyle's book of games that Sierra released and my mom especially really got into playing several games of Hearts on it nearly every night. Now, she mainly plays Mahjong games on her computer. But that is because it is so much easier to just click a few buttons to start a new tile set vs what the real deal would have required LOL.

Can't forget how lazy Activision was on their 5200 ports? Pitfall! II being the standout, but many of their ports didn't look or sound that different from the 2600 versions either. I wonder if Imagic, and Activision did this on purpose so as to keep the games essentially being consistent in look and play regardless of platform? But I'm sure that if both of those companies had enhanced their game ports on the 5200 and 8-bit line better, that it would have possibly helped more 5200s get sold?

I'd never really seen the 8-bit version of Xenophobe before. It is basically the same as the 7800 version but with slightly more detail added to the background and a lot less color. And I'm more surprised how it still basically sounds the same as well minus the begin and end level tune. I know the colors are more limited vs the 7800, but it could have sounded far better and had more options given the larger memory and storage medium available to the 8-bit line?

Although it was designed as a 7800 game, T:me Salvo's title screen music is available as a separate download to be played on the 2600 through a Harmony cart and that is pretty impressive as well! There are quite a few other examples available in the demo scene that have made stuff for the 2600 over the past few years as well.

A passthrough cart is being developed by the same guy that created the Dragonfly cartridge. It will specifically be for the YM2151 but the idea is to have it essentially always remain plugged into the console and all games will plug into it. That way, it works as both the required sound expansion for games that use the yamaha chip, and as a standard passthrough for all other games. It could help with making 3rd party 2600 games be more easily played and allow things like the Supercharger to be used on the 7800 as well. Not sure the status on it, but I know the dev has began working on it.

The answer is yes... There is the Dragonfly flash/expansion cartridge that includes a YM2151 module as an add on and there is at least one game programmed for the 7800 that uses it. Pac-Man Collection 40th Anniversary. Additionally the game Rikki & Vikki features a custom soundchip on that cartridge called the Bupchip. So yes, there are at least two other carts that exist now that have different sound chips other than Pokey.

I had to deal with this last night when capturing footage from my Intellivision. I noticed in post edit that the audio was behind the video by several seconds?! No idea how it happened. Worse was that once I aligned it up at the beginning of the video, it would eventually drift and start to get behind again. In the end, I had to grab small bits of what I wanted to show, crop both the video and audio for it separately, line it up for the section I wanted to show and repeat the process further down the video. Next part I recorded, didn't do this and everything was in sync and remained so through the recording? So yeah it can bite you in odd ways.