CrossBow

Well, I got my first 2600 back in Christmas '82 and it came with Space Invaders, and Defender along with the included combat of course. Over the course of a few years I added to it a little here and there but it required me to use my allowance money. I know that I bought Kangaroo, Ms. Pac-Man, and quite a few others. By about '86 I had about 20 or so 2600 games for it. Then sometime around '88 I found a pawn shop about a mile from my home at the time that had about 100 Atari games. Many of them were games I already had, but most of them were games I didn't have or had never heard about. And all of those games were only like $1 or $2. So I mush have bought about 20 or so more games during that time. It was also around this time that I did get a few 'new' games during the 2600 revival 'The Fun is Back' and also got my 7800. Initially I only had the Pole Position 2 it came with. But it wasn't long before I built up a small collection of 7800 games as I was now mowing lawns and able to do other things around the neighborhood for money here and there. So I know that I had the following 7800 games during the 7800s time frame:
Joust, Food Fight, Xevious, Galaga, Super Skateboardin', F-18: Hornet, Double Dragon, Dig-Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Choplifter, Donkey Kong, and...
Crossbow.
I didn't have anything for the 7800 beyond that until the early 2000s when I got back into retro gaming and consoles again.
BTW most of my 2600 games in the early 80s came from stores like TG&Y and ToysRUs. When the 7800 came out, there were only 2 stores near me that sold them. ToyRUs again, which is where I got a few of them, but also Service Merchandise became the main location where I picked up the newer released 2600 games like Midnight Magic and Solaris along with a good chunk of the 7800 games. Later on, it was through local retro game stores where I picked up the rest of my 7800 and 2600 games. Other than maybe about 3 or 4 times, have I ever found Atari related stuff at Garage sales. Mostly Sega and Nintendo at garage sales.
 
 

Well, I got my first 2600 back in Christmas '82 and it came with Space Invaders, and Defender along with the included combat of course. Over the course of a few years I added to it a little here and there but it required me to use my allowance money. I know that I bought Kangaroo, Ms. Pac-Man, and quite a few others. By about '86 I had about 20 or so 2600 games for it. Then sometime around '88 I found a pawn shop about a mile from my home at the time that had about 100 Atari games. Many of them were games I already had, but most of them were games I didn't have or had never heard about. And all of those games were only like $1 or $2. So I mush have bought about 20 or so more games during that time. It was also around this time that I did get a few 'new' games during the 2600 revival 'The Fun is Back' and also got my 7800. Initially I only had the Pole Position 2 it came with. But it wasn't long before I built up a small collection of 7800 games as I was now mowing lawns and able to do other things around the neighborhood for money here and there. So I know that I had the following 7800 games during the 7800s time frame:
Joust, Food Fight, Xevious, Galaga, Super Skateboardin', F-18: Hornet, Double Dragon, Dig-Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Choplifter, Donkey Kong, and...
Crossbow.
I didn't have anything for the 7800 beyond that until the early 2000s when I got back into retro gaming and consoles again.
BTW most of my 2600 games in the early 80s came from stores like TG&Y and ToysRUs. When the 7800 came out, there were only 2 stores near me that sold them. ToyRUs again, which is where I got a few of them, but also Service Merchandise became the main location where I picked up the newer released 2600 games like Midnight Magic and Solaris along with a good chunk of the 7800 games. Later on, it was through local retro game stores where I picked up the rest of my 7800 and 2600 games. Other than maybe about 3 or 4 times, have I ever found Atari related stuff at Garage sales. Mostly Sega and Nintendo at garage sales.
 
 

I believe is only works correctly in the A7800 emulator and requires you to select the 7800 type with XM module present. That will also allow the FM audio to be heard over the TIA. It has been a while since I fired it up in emulation but I do recall that only the A7800 emu was able to play it correctly.
 

I believe is only works correctly in the A7800 emulator and requires you to select the 7800 type with XM module present. That will also allow the FM audio to be heard over the TIA. It has been a while since I fired it up in emulation but I do recall that only the A7800 emu was able to play it correctly.
 

I never knew that Evie had a sidecar 32k expansion available? Would it still require the internal modification to use it with a speech module between it and the Ti?
I really like Evie's stuff so I'm quite likely to go this route although I would really need a case for it.
 

When it comes to the Colecovision console, there really hasn't been that many different controller options that were available and some of the more recent ones that do exist are either quite expensive or only a couple buttons which limits the controllers ability and would require having to use a standard controller to start you game and then swap out back to a new one to play. This is actually quite bad for the controller logic IC chips as they are susceptible to ESD damage that can be caused by plugging controllers in the console while powered on. 
ITC#86 will show you a new controller option from Jimmy over at Ruggers Customs that uses the Sega 6 button controller common to the Genesis/Megadrive model 2 that has quite a few of the most needed keypad buttons mapped to the controller. As it uses an already great controller design and mixes it with a new PCB designed to work with the Colecovision, the Rugger Pad might just be the affordable controller you have been looking for when playing Colecovision games.
 

When it comes to the Colecovision console, there really hasn't been that many different controller options that were available and some of the more recent ones that do exist are either quite expensive or only a couple buttons which limits the controllers ability and would require having to use a standard controller to start you game and then swap out back to a new one to play. This is actually quite bad for the controller logic IC chips as they are susceptible to ESD damage that can be caused by plugging controllers in the console while powered on. 
ITC#86 will show you a new controller option from Jimmy over at Ruggers Customs that uses the Sega 6 button controller common to the Genesis/Megadrive model 2 that has quite a few of the most needed keypad buttons mapped to the controller. As it uses an already great controller design and mixes it with a new PCB designed to work with the Colecovision, the Rugger Pad might just be the affordable controller you have been looking for when playing Colecovision games.
 

@RickR I just mean it is great when you can get actual snow, but it isn't something we get that much of where I live and instead we get more ice storms than anything. As a result I'm NOT a fan of this time of the year and never have been. Now several years back I spent about 3 months in the Denver area in the winter and was surprised because while it did snow quite a bit and it did get cold, it didn't feel nearly as cold as it does where I live. Additionally, cities and other locations that get a bunch of this weather throughout the year more are also much better prepared for it. The roads and parking lots were totally clear the whole time in the winter when I was there. 
 

We ended up getting about 3 inches of sleet all over and around the Ivory Tower. As such my driveway is now a death trap and while we closed the offices at my work Monday, the rest of the week has been worse since it melts a little during the day and then refreezes at night into something more solid and smooth. Ugh... Snow is fine, but we tend to get more sleet and ice in these parts.
 

We ended up getting about 3 inches of sleet all over and around the Ivory Tower. As such my driveway is now a death trap and while we closed the offices at my work Monday, the rest of the week has been worse since it melts a little during the day and then refreezes at night into something more solid and smooth. Ugh... Snow is fine, but we tend to get more sleet and ice in these parts.
 

@RickR I just mean it is great when you can get actual snow, but it isn't something we get that much of where I live and instead we get more ice storms than anything. As a result I'm NOT a fan of this time of the year and never have been. Now several years back I spent about 3 months in the Denver area in the winter and was surprised because while it did snow quite a bit and it did get cold, it didn't feel nearly as cold as it does where I live. Additionally, cities and other locations that get a bunch of this weather throughout the year more are also much better prepared for it. The roads and parking lots were totally clear the whole time in the winter when I was there. 
 

@RickR I just mean it is great when you can get actual snow, but it isn't something we get that much of where I live and instead we get more ice storms than anything. As a result I'm NOT a fan of this time of the year and never have been. Now several years back I spent about 3 months in the Denver area in the winter and was surprised because while it did snow quite a bit and it did get cold, it didn't feel nearly as cold as it does where I live. Additionally, cities and other locations that get a bunch of this weather throughout the year more are also much better prepared for it. The roads and parking lots were totally clear the whole time in the winter when I was there. 
 

We ended up getting about 3 inches of sleet all over and around the Ivory Tower. As such my driveway is now a death trap and while we closed the offices at my work Monday, the rest of the week has been worse since it melts a little during the day and then refreezes at night into something more solid and smooth. Ugh... Snow is fine, but we tend to get more sleet and ice in these parts.
 

Not that they looked awesome or anything, but they held up for as long as I needed and used them. I made my own 5200 overlays about 20 years ago by reverse printing onto transparency film. I then used a hobby knife to cut out the overlay. From there I used a coat maybe 2 of white spraypaint on the printed back side of the overlay. I followed it up some clear coat to lock it in better. The end product was pretty durable as I recall if maybe a bit stiffer than the originals but did the job well. Ahd it was cheap to do at that time. i would think something similar could still be done today.
And, there is a guy over at AtariAge that creates custom overlays for the 5200 and Jaguar I believe on request. I've got a pack of his 5200 overlays he was selling a few years back and they look great!
 

Not that they looked awesome or anything, but they held up for as long as I needed and used them. I made my own 5200 overlays about 20 years ago by reverse printing onto transparency film. I then used a hobby knife to cut out the overlay. From there I used a coat maybe 2 of white spraypaint on the printed back side of the overlay. I followed it up some clear coat to lock it in better. The end product was pretty durable as I recall if maybe a bit stiffer than the originals but did the job well. Ahd it was cheap to do at that time. i would think something similar could still be done today.
And, there is a guy over at AtariAge that creates custom overlays for the 5200 and Jaguar I believe on request. I've got a pack of his 5200 overlays he was selling a few years back and they look great!
 

Not that they looked awesome or anything, but they held up for as long as I needed and used them. I made my own 5200 overlays about 20 years ago by reverse printing onto transparency film. I then used a hobby knife to cut out the overlay. From there I used a coat maybe 2 of white spraypaint on the printed back side of the overlay. I followed it up some clear coat to lock it in better. The end product was pretty durable as I recall if maybe a bit stiffer than the originals but did the job well. Ahd it was cheap to do at that time. i would think something similar could still be done today.
And, there is a guy over at AtariAge that creates custom overlays for the 5200 and Jaguar I believe on request. I've got a pack of his 5200 overlays he was selling a few years back and they look great!
 

Hopefully it works better than their previous controllers have? I've got their Dreamcast and combo Genesis/Saturn controller. The Dreamcast one nearly works properly but on some games, I've found it doesn't register all the way to the left as it should. As an example in the game Gauntlet legends, when you move the analog to the far edges, your character will run. But with their DC controller I wasn't able to get that to work in the left direction. 
Their combo Genesis/Saturn controller gave me similar issues with the Saturn functionality. It works fine for Genesis use but I've relegated that controller to the work lab instead.
 

Hopefully it works better than their previous controllers have? I've got their Dreamcast and combo Genesis/Saturn controller. The Dreamcast one nearly works properly but on some games, I've found it doesn't register all the way to the left as it should. As an example in the game Gauntlet legends, when you move the analog to the far edges, your character will run. But with their DC controller I wasn't able to get that to work in the left direction. 
Their combo Genesis/Saturn controller gave me similar issues with the Saturn functionality. It works fine for Genesis use but I've relegated that controller to the work lab instead.
 

After almost 4 months to the day from my original shipping notification...these finally arrived just today.

After almost 4 months to the day from my original shipping notification...these finally arrived just today.

After almost 4 months to the day from my original shipping notification...these finally arrived just today.

After almost 4 months to the day from my original shipping notification...these finally arrived just today.

After almost 4 months to the day from my original shipping notification...these finally arrived just today.

I know...I know... you hear it everywhere that everything in excess of so many years needs new capacitors and that will fix everything. Well, that isn't always the case as there are many electronics that date from much longer than 40 years ago whose caps while not perhaps quite within their original spec, are still working and doing their job. However, in the 90s there was an issue where most capacitor manufactures essentially had to start over with the formulas they had been using and as a result of this, many of the capacitors of that era have NOT held up well over time. One of the best examples of this, is in fact the Sega Game Gear. For those that don't know the GG actually uses standard radial through hole style capacitors just like most things. But, in an effort to keep costs low and have capacitors of that size fit in the small space of the GG. Sega used some very low quality capacitors that were then housed into a squared plastic housing. The leads of these caps were then folded under and trimmed so they could be installed onto SMD surface mount pads vs through hole. They did this so that the caps could fit flush against the PCB and be held into place with lite epoxy during assembly.
Well again, over the past 20-30 years, those capacitors are not just dead, but decaying and leaking out over the PCBs. This causes not only the connections at the capacitor leads to no longer register contact, but can leech through the rest of the trace work and start to cause issues eating away at other places in the system. If you want to see exactly what I mean...here you go.

If you look closely at the base of the capacitors where they are attached, you can see how the shiny silver of the solder is actually brown and almost dirt like in appearance. This is the tell tale sign of electrolyte leakage and corrosion having already begun. Also turn your attention to the green looking spots on the copper disc near the bottom of that picture? That is electrolyte that has leaked out over the board and started to interact with the copper of those discs turning green. It is like a syrup substance that has to be cleaned off.
Want to see something really nasty but also quite typical of the GG capacitors? Well here is C1 and it is the main bypass capacitor for the power in the GG. This is what 30 years of crap quality looks like and what it does...

That brown crud is the old electrolyte having eaten at and corroded most of the solder joints. That black color section to the right of it, is the epoxy they used to hold down the caps during the assembly process and is NOT an issue. In fact, it is best to just leave that be as trying to scrape it off the board can result in breaking traces in the process that are under the epoxy. So yeah...it all needs cleaned up and neutralized so no further damage continues.
Here is the same C1 section and pads after I removed that cap and cleaned up the mess getting it ready for a new capacitor to be installed.

This game gear is fully back to stock working condition now and will be set aside while waiting for the new LCD screen to come in as the owner of this GG has requested.

So...yeah... get your Game Gear recapped if it hasn't already been done!

It isn't too difficult but it is more time consuming than most other cap jobs given the small spaces to work and having to reform the leads of the new caps to follow suit of the originals. If the caps are small enough you can get away with just bending the leads down and attach them down. But some of the spacing does require the caps to be installed in the same manner as the originals. Here is a shot of the left side of that same GG above with the new caps I installed last night. You will see examples of where I have the leads out and soldered down an some that are folded back down under the cap.