dgrubb

Yes!  Just this last weekend I finally got this system working.  I was in the market for the 1.8mH inductor but was warned away from thinking that was the issue from Best Electronics.  They mentioned I should try replaicing the the two polystyrene sound capacitors on the board which I ordered and replaced.  Didn't solve the problem.  The problem morphed from having only static and not being able to play the games to having good video and sound after performing that short.  But then on games like PacMan Ms. Pacman and Jungle Hunt, etc., the game would perform a sound glitch and freeze or in Jungle Hunt's case would start the game at the aligators but you couldn't play.  So, I then decided to try swapping out chips but they were all soldered down on the main board, sigh!   I chose to pull all the chips and socket them for ease of use in the future and it paid off since it ended up being the last chip I socketed, the RIOT chip.  Now the system plays great, although I get a little buzzing noise every once in while during gameplay.  Not sure why that's happening?  I tried adjusting the sound coil and the rf modulator and it makes a little difference but the buzzing just sort of slips in now and then.  Overall, I'm happy the results!  I'll post a pic soon of the finished product!
 
~ Trellot

I just got my Atari Lynx back after using an eBay modder.  I got the McWill LCD screen update, re-cap, and a new speaker (mine was blown).  It's a very impressive upgrade.  In many cases, it's like playing the games for the first time.  Games like Pinball Jam with lots of motion go from "meh" to "Wow!" status. 
 
Here's a few pictures of my collection.  There are numerous videos on youtube showing before/after that really tell a better story than any picture I could take.  I suggest checking those out.
 
So for anyone else interested, here are my pros/cons:
 
Pros:
Amazing picture quality.  Very bright and easy on the eyes.  I'm told battery life goes way up.  But I haven't tested this.  I just use an AC adapter on mine.  I will not risk battery leakage in my Lynx.  For anyone doing YouTube Atari Lynx reviews -- the McWill with VGA-out is a must.  Cons:
Spendy.  Difficult to do.  I sent mine out to an ebay modder, which was nerve-wracking and took a long time.  But in the end, it worked out just fine.  
Was it worth it?  For me, absolutely yes.  It turned a dim screen with obvious lines into something much much better.

He would most likely have something better that At I and nvidia ever did.

Very nice!
 
I've always felt re-implementing the TIA would make a great undergrad project, considering it largely boils down to repeatable clock and latch stages which are very easy to handle in modern design tools. I can only imagine what Jay Miner would have come up with if he had access to today's synthesis tooling.

Very nice!
 
I've always felt re-implementing the TIA would make a great undergrad project, considering it largely boils down to repeatable clock and latch stages which are very easy to handle in modern design tools. I can only imagine what Jay Miner would have come up with if he had access to today's synthesis tooling.

You know, for a machine that was only suppose to have tank and pong type games, the VCS has proved to have a lot more potential.

Is cutting edge modern research possible on the Atari 2600?   Yes, the TIA chip has such open ended arcitecture there is still room for experimentation and discovery; my research on Atari 2600 Motion Blur Reduction technology parallels modern research with advanced display technologies!   Unintentional discoveries:   This technology was discovered while the researcher was working on advanced 3D displays. Similarly, I was working on an advanced blitter chip for the Atari 2600 that would be capable of high FPS output when I encountered the effects.   The researcher and I are having an interesting discussion on the technology here, and the Atari community has been invited to participate:   https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4135   There are both Atari examples (3 fun games!) and tons of examples from the researcher to try out and experience the effects with really clear explanations of the technology. The potential to enhance modern 60 FPS animation for gaming on 120 Hz monitors and produce perfectly clear 60 FPS animation on 480 Hz monitors is amazing.   Hope everyone enjoys!    

Hm, Amiga games! I have a bunch of good memories!
 
1. North & South
A strategy game about secession war, based on a french comic. Highly recommended.
 
2.Defender of the Crown
Conquer England in less than half an hour. I still love the graphics done by Jim Sachs.
 
3. Wings
Great game about WWI.
 
4. No greater glory
Again civil war. Great strategy game made by SSI.
 
5.The Chaos Engine
Gauntlet styled game by the Bitmap Brothers and brutally difficult.
 
6. Fightin ' Spirit
Ok, a Street Fighter II clone, but look at Street Fighter games in their Amiga Iteration! Sad story!
 
7. Lionheart
Brilliant plattformer with epic audiovisual presentation.
 
8. Lords of the rising sun
Defender of the Crown sequel, settled in medieval japan with a more elaborate gameplay.
 
9.Flight of the Amazon Queen
Very funny Point&Click-Adventure not done by LucasArts.
 
10. Populous
Very good RTS game.
 
I could name many further titles, especially the games of Cinemaware or others, which were also published on PC or consoles.

I have a little way to go before getting to the big 5-0, but the last decade of aging has had a huge effect on my gaming experiences. Specifically, I got married, started a real career and had children so the time involved in a game has become a huge consideration. I'd love to play through Symphony of The Night, for instance, but there's no way I'll make any reasonable progress in the small amounts of free time I can snatch!
 
 
 
A'yup.
 
It's mostly the reason why I find retro-computing/gaming far more interesting.

That put me off a lot of really great stuff for years. I enjoy a lot of 8 and 16-bit era platformers but it seemed like so much time and work to make any progress, just to have it scrubbed at the end of each play. Those games didn't become viable for me until emulation allowed save states.
 
 
 
I really begrudged the first PlayStation back in the day. At the time I perceived it as a force for corporate power overwhelming creativity, where Sony were using their massive resources to swamp a market and drive out a lot of innovative players. At the same time wider consolidation in the industry meant many smaller game developers were being bought out, home micro-computers stopped being viable platforms, bad/early 3D muscled out really great 2D styled games and the rising cost of development led to commercially safe games being the ones which received the funding and marketing attention. Basically, I blamed Sony for all the problems of the modern gaming industry by starting those trends.
 
In retrospect I was being very unfair, especially now I know a lot more about the internal management problems at Atari, Sega and Commodore. Now I'm revisiting the library a little bit and am discovering just how good the port of Doom was, and how good Symphony of The Night is, for instance, I can't attribute the console's success to corporate bullying. There's a lot there which earned success.
 
 
 
The economics are definitely in the collectors' favour. Running for so many years, selling so many units, and getting such good developer support has resulted in a flooded second-hand market.

I was a big Amiga fan in the late 90s, right after Commodore imploded and PCs took over the world entirely. As this was prior to the retro-scene explosion old Amiga kit was perceived as worthless and very easy to find at car boot sales, junk shops and the like for next to nothing. Consequently, I was able to get my hands on a bunch of 500s, 500+s, a 600 and a 1200 (sadly, sold off when I moved to the US).

Stunning machines, even back then. True pre-emptive multitasking OS on a consumer mid-80s machine was practically unheard of, for instance.
 
My favourites, in no particular order:
 
Syndicate
Civilization
Worms
Zool
Ruff N' Tumble
Elite (and its sequel, Frontier)
Alien Breed
Secret of Monkey Island II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Historyline

My first book "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion: Volume 1" just went LIVE this morning via Amazon.com (plus 6 other countries)! The paperback is printed in black & white on creme paper, just like the 80's video game digest books. It covers 34 homebrew titles for the Atari 2600 in 182 total pages. Homebrews spanning from 1995 to today! 
 
Amazon Kindle version will be available in a couple of days for $3.99. If you purchase the paperback and want the kindle too, the kindle version is reduced to $1.99.
I'm also going to upload a color version of the same book, since I've had numerous requests for color pictures (though it will be pricey due to the color printing costs of Amazon). 
 
There are some preview pics of selected pages (by Amazon) on the webpage. Just click "Look Inside" right above the picture of the cover to see them. If you'd like to see a sample title, I can post one here, since Amazon only shows the beginning few pages and none of the actual homebrew titles. The game list is in the table of contents which is one of the preview pages.
 
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1980969396/
 
 
If you purchase a copy, please let me know what you think. How did I do for my first book? Anything you'd like to see added for Volume 2?
 
Thanks!
Brian

?????
 
Name a single Atari console or computer that wasn't based around a 6502-derivative or 68000. The closest you'll get is the Jaguar.
 
EDIT: You could argue the Transputer workstation, which was an amazing experiment, but I'm not sure that counts as it was canceled immediately.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/30/atari-vcs-pre-orders-start-may-30th
 
This is actually quite interesting. It will come with the Atari Vault.
 
People are looking at this like its a retro console and a competitor to the NES Classic and stuff when it's clearly supposed to be its own thing and a modern console.

Coming soon...

Compared with DOS and early Windows, the AmigaOS was lightyears ahead. Even rockhard PC-Users i knew in that time had agreed about that.

Similar to the Tetris effect which has had the benefit of being clinically studied, perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect#Place_in_cognition
 

Similar to the Tetris effect which has had the benefit of being clinically studied, perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect#Place_in_cognition
 

Similar to the Tetris effect which has had the benefit of being clinically studied, perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect#Place_in_cognition
 

You're welcome. One more VCS saved from going into a landfill. They are simple machines but one thing wrong can screw up the whole system. Glad it is working or close to working. Post pics when you can of it working. Would be nice to see.

The ones you indicated were?
- 78F1R8K-RC-ND
- M8172-ND
 
Yes, I will send Best a note on this.  Thanks Kamakazi20012, I really appreciate your time!
 
Regards,
 
~ Trellot

Actually, removing that tag has always been OK to remove once you buy it and it is in your home. Lol. Those come off first thing in my house. They are so annoying. 
Compaq made great computers before HP bought them. I still remember the Apple clones by Laser. Those were in one of the schools I attended.
 
And, yep, remember the Atari vs. Nintendo when Atari reverse engineered the NES lockout chip. I understand they were trying to do to get around Nintendo's exclusive contracts but that wasn't the way to do it. EA reverse engineered Sega's Genesis and got away with it.

I have a little way to go before getting to the big 5-0, but the last decade of aging has had a huge effect on my gaming experiences. Specifically, I got married, started a real career and had children so the time involved in a game has become a huge consideration. I'd love to play through Symphony of The Night, for instance, but there's no way I'll make any reasonable progress in the small amounts of free time I can snatch!
 
 
 
A'yup.
 
It's mostly the reason why I find retro-computing/gaming far more interesting.

Normally there's only two. Normally.

Normally there's only two. Normally.