RickR

Great job and write up. I love a story with a happy ending!

Having had this thing for an additional day, my opinion is changing a bit.  The cons seems smaller now.  There are some limitations here, sure.  Paddle games are pretty much hopeless, for example.  Complaints about this game or that not working seem petty, though.
 
For ~$30, this machine is simply amazing.  There are literally hundreds of great games to play and enjoy.  It's so tiny -- it will fit in a pocket easily.  It just plain works.  We've all been clamoring for a 2600 clone that could use SD cards for ages, and this thing delivers in spades. 
 
My suggestion for those that get it is to download the zip file full of ROMS on the Atari Age forum, unzip them onto an SD card, and enjoy. 

I absolutely love mine.  
 
My Sega handheld is great too, but some Sega games just don't work as a portable game.   The Atari is perfect for it.   Simple, fun games you can play on the go.  

By the way, the entire ROM collection from AA takes up a little less than 10mb.    I'm using a 128mb SD card and its perfect.

I agree with your pros/cons. 

One cool thing -- the Space Invaders "double fire" glitch works just fine on this thing. 
 
In any case, it's just plain awesome.  Get one if you can. 

Hints
I have the day off work and a space heater going in the garage. Greenween needs a new joystick  

Great job and write up. I love a story with a happy ending!

Great job and write up. I love a story with a happy ending!

I agree with your pros/cons. 

One cool thing -- the Space Invaders "double fire" glitch works just fine on this thing. 
 
In any case, it's just plain awesome.  Get one if you can. 

Great job and write up. I love a story with a happy ending!

I know some here enjoy reading things like this so I hope you enjoy something that happened to me this evening.  
 
Well.  Had a nice surprise today.  Around 5:30pm CST I get a knock at my door.  There is a friend of ours on the other side when I opened the door holding a Nintendo 64.  He said he found it in a dumpster at his apartment complex and thought I would like to have it.  Naturally I can't turn down another console even if I already have the same model.  I bring it in with him in tow and plug it up.  No power.  I get the power supply to my wife's Grape N64 and...no power.
 

 
So I begin the task of cleaning it up and hoping that might solve something.  But, I don't have the "special" tool required to open these things up.  Curse you Nintendo for using those stupid security screws!!  After two hours of trying a few tricks I finally managed to get all the screws out and the top shell off.  Inside I find...BUGS!!!  Most of them are dead but a few are still kicking around.  I rush immediately to the shower and begin spraying everything down with Totally Awesome spray cleaner.  
 

 
Only after that do I begin to really remove all the other screws to remove the main board and all other parts.  After seeing all those bugs everything will have to be sprayed off in my book.  Those are my rules.  Yes...the main board too.
 

 

 
Bath time!  I'm not going to show one of the pics with the bugs in it.  Those things are just nasty and I can't stand roaches.  I don't mind any other bug usually but those things ... why did God create such a creature?  If there ever is an Armageddon those things would survive it! 
 
Whoops...guess I got sidetracked.  Most will probably say that water and electronics don't mix.  As long as it doesn't have any power going through it, is not in operation when it gets wet, and if it is allowed time to dry completely then any electronic circuit board can get wet.  Which I drenched everything and used the shower to spray off anything that was not suppose to be there and to help remove the chemical I used.  
 

 
I think the guys who designed this must have liked jigsaws puzzles.  I dried everything off, using a hair dryer to help dry off the main board and other electronics like the cart slot and other areas, then re-assembled everything.  At first there was no power again.  Using my wife's N64 as a guide I reworked the metal plates which I got the few for the memory expansion slot mixed up.  Once corrected I tried the system again.
 

 
And the results are actually impressive...
 

 
It works!  Another console saved from a landfill.  This is my trade and I love fixing these things.  I just wish I could make a living at it haha.  It does score me some consoles once in a great while so that's a plus for me.
 
I hope you enjoyed this rescue.  Now I just need to get a controller and something besides Dr. Mario 64...that's the only 64 game we have and that one is my wife's game.  Oh...and I forgot...which is why I'm editing this...those screws got replaced with regular Philips-head screws and the N64 ones got pitched.  I despise those things.

I agree with your pros/cons. 

One cool thing -- the Space Invaders "double fire" glitch works just fine on this thing. 
 
In any case, it's just plain awesome.  Get one if you can. 

GOOD NEWS!  All 4 controllers are now fully functional.  Defender is indeed a good test cart. 
 
These 4 are in really nice condition and they feel/work great.  I have one going to GW, one for myself...that leaves 2 for trade/sale.  Hit me up if you need one.
 

AT Games Atari Flashback Portable
everything you ever wanted to know about it............

left side - AFP unit with "Pre-production box" (was to include Space Invaders - licensing w/ Taito fell through)
right side - AFP unit with production box
 
Produced by: AT Games
Model Number: AP2632
Officially released: November 29, 2016
MSRP: $69.99
AT Games website price: $49.99
http://www.atgames.us/Atari-Flashback-Portable-Game-Player-AP2632.htm;jsessionid=DF3242557B2EF76FB0B25166418B08B8.p3plqscsfapp001
 
**If you were early and ordered it thru the AT Games website, you received one of the "Pre-production" units along with Space Invaders pictured on the box.
 
60 Games Included (Built-In on "Production" units):
Adventure Adventure II Air Raiders™ Aquaventure Asteroids® Astroblast™ Atari Climber Black Jack Bowling Breakout® Centipede™ Circus Atari™ Crystal Castles® Dark Cavern™ Demons to Diamonds™ Desert Falcon Dodge’Em Double Dunk™ Fatal Run Frog Pond Frogger (new port specific to the Atari Flashback Portable hardware) Frogs and Flies™ Fun with Numbers Golf Gravitar® Hangman Haunted House™ Human Cannonball™ Millipede™ Miniature Golf Miss It! Missile Command® Night Driver™ Pong (Video Olympics) Radar Lock Realsports® Basketball Return to Haunted House Saboteur™ Save Mary Secret Quest Shield Shifter Slot Machine Solaris Space Attack™ Star Strike™ Starship Stellar Track™ Strip Off Submarine Commander Super Breakout Swordquest: Earthworld Swordquest: Fireworld Swordquest: Waterworld Tempest® Video Checkers Video Chess Video Pinball Wizard Yars’ Return Yars’ Revenge  
games not on Pre-production units (on all production units):
DESERT FALCON
DODGE 'EM
SLOT MACHINE
SUPER BREAKOUT
 
games on Pre-production units:
FRONT LINE
JUNGLE HUNT
POLARIS
SPACE INVADERS (Arcade)
 
 
All units have:
3.2" LCD screen Audio/Video out port (cable not included) Rechargeable battery included (built in) USB recharger cord included SD slot for downloaded games Headphone Jack "Low Battery" red status light Green "Power" status light an actual "Pause" button  
Available at:
GameStop $49.99 http://www.gamestop.com/electronics/atari-flashback-portable-ultimate-classic-portable-player/133612
 
Toys R Us $49.99 (with free shipping) was on sale for $29.99 (12/13/16 to 12/17/16) in stores only http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=96047666&prodFindSrc=search&cp=
 
Bed Bath and Beyond $39.99 (20% off coupon for one item, available thru website and/or in your "snail" mail = $31.99) **BEST DEAL** https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/atari-flashback-reg-portable-handheld-gaming-system/1047144446?skuId=47144446
 
QVC $69.96 ($5.50 s&h) includes Headphones and A/V Cable (QVC exclusives) - WARNING: ships with wrong A/V Cable http://www.qvc.com/Atari-Flashback-Portable-with-Headphones-and-AV-Cable.product.E290485.html?sc=SRCH
 
Sam's Club includes AC Adapter & A/V Cable (Sam's Club Special Edition)  
 
Notes:
Pre-production units have a bigger screen inside them. Possibly the same screen used for the AT Games SEGA Portables. Some have had complaints about the sound not being 100% accurate. Some have received units with a scratched screen - Note: there is a protective film placed on the screen which needs to be removed. SD Card must be 8GB or smaller to work with the unit. Some SD cards under 1GB have not worked properly. The SD Card must be FAT formatted. Try using: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/eula_windows/index.html ROMs/bin's must be in a folder entitled "Game" (first letter must be capitalized) and all games inside the folder must be in .bin format. (NOT .rom, .zip, or .a26)  Each title must be first letter capitalized - no other capitalized letters within the file name or the unit will not recognize the bin. (I.E. - Combat.bin) You can use periods, commas, etc. within the file titles too. If you're on a mac and having trouble with ._ files messing up your SD card layout, another way to fix it is to use this program: http://pixelchimp.net/blog/pixel-chimp/clean-invisible-mac-files Paddle games do not work accurately with the D-pad, such as Kaboom!, Warlords, Breakout, etc. Two player games can't be played since there are no "Player 2" controls, such as Combat, Outlaw, etc. The SD card menu tops out at 103 pages x 10 titles per page = 1030 possible games to add. To sort them on the SD card try using: http://www.anerty.net/software/file/DriveSort/?lang=en No Supercharger games work on the unit. Contains some built-in homebrews games from Good Deal Games. No known protective cases for the unit. (Yet?)  Buttons:
"P" - Pause button! "L" - Left difficulty switch "T" - TV color/black & white switch - Note: Does not stay on black & white if the button is released. "S" - Select switch "R" - Right difficulty switch "A" - Fire button  
Homemade modifications owners have done already:
One has been modified with a larger speaker on the back of the unit. (Same unit above) modified to use a Bluetooth speaker for clearer sound One has been modified with an actual Atari Joystick 9 pin port in the bottom of it  
Atari Flashback Portable Compatibility List for ROMs can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dN1l_iw3N4lJ69Wq2cqoLGKAxbo-gHLMohrhlSHwYNI/
(I have been testing homebrew ROMs for the AFP and adding them to this list)
 
ROM/bin Modifications:
1st known ROM modified: Crash Course (homebrew game) - removed title screen so that the game would play 2nd known ROM modified: RealSports Tennis (court color changed so that the tennis ball can be seen better on the screen)  
To run a hardware test:
    Hold down buttons: S, R, & A, while turning on the unit.
    Then a menu appears to test any of the buttons on the unit.
 
 
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My review....
 
Pros:
 
Atari in my pocket is awesome!
The price is awesome too!
SD card feature is amazing, though finding an SD card less than 8GB in stores today is hard. No problems loading them onto the card.
Most of the ROMs I really wanted to work, do.  Ice Hockey, Chopper Command, River Raid, Frogger, Pole Position, Ms. Pac-Man, etc. and alot of the homebrews do too!
Rechargeable battery > 2 AA batteries. Not sure on the battery life yet, only had to recharge it once so far.
Haven't tried the A/V out, but that's a nice feature. Still need to get the cord.
Pause button for any game, is a plus.
 
Cons:
 
LCD screen is pretty tiny..... or are we getting older (hard on the eyes).
Its odd playing Atari without the classic joystick, but the D-pad shape makes it a bit too easy to inadvertently move left or right when the intended direction of movement is up or down, when you're not use to a D-pad controller.
Sound can be off from original, though headphones do help.
Not sure why the ROM files aren't sorted alphabetically when I pull up the SD card browser on the unit.
Would be great to be able to make ROM subfolders. (Action, Sports, Arcade, etc.)
Would be awesome to be able to hook up a paddle controller for paddle games.

Thanks for all the recommendations guys! I went to one of my favorite local retro shops and dropped about 30 bucks today on a bunch of loose carts:
 
Demon Attack
Atlantis
Beauty and the Beast
Locomotion
AD&D (Cloudy Mountain)
AD&D Treasure of Tarmin
Vectron
Locomotion
Night Stalker
Burgertime
Ladybug
Lock N Chase
Mission X
Bump N Jump
 
Treasure of Tarmin and Burgertime were both about 6 bucks, and Beauty and the Beast was 5 bucks, Demon Attack was 2, Atlantis was 3, and the rest were all a buck a piece! I'm going to post pics of my collection as it stands now in another thread.

Just thought I would share some pics of my Christmas present plus the games I now have for it:
 

 

 
All the boxed games came with the bundle my wife got me, plus the console box and "The Stickler" (I laugh every time I read/say that). I had a few of the loose carts lying around (Pitfall, Swords and Serpents, Checkers, Boxing, NBA B-Ball, and Tron Deadly Discs), and the rest I purchased today at a local used game shop I frequent a lot. 

Congrats on getting a new system to collect for.  INTV is great and a lot of fun.
Space Battle is my favorite. 
 
Demon Attack (all Imagic games belong here)
Burgertime, as you mentioned.
Any Atarisoft game (Pac Man especially)
Shark! Shark!
Lock N Chase
Night Stalker
 
(PS - I have Microsurgeon and Beauty & The Beast for trade)

PS - Emulation notes --
 
For C64, I use "VICE", which is really really really good.  It emulates all of the Commodore machines, automatically fast-loads and types the load command, has a quick button press to switch joysticks.  Just an excellent emulator.
 
For Atari, I use MESS, which I really like, but it's kind of a pain to set up.  Altirra is also good. 
 
(My real machines are put away -- grandmas is using our extra room during the holidays).

OK, and just as I remember it...the Atari version is HORRIBLE.  The parallax scrolling is gone.  Blood when you die is gone.  The aiming is even harder.  And the music is....well....at least they kind of tried, 

OK, I just tried the C64 version, and Rowsdower70 is right on.  The music is incredible.  Graphics are pretty unique.  It's really hard to aim...but also makes you want to come back again to try to master it. 
 
I made it to the frog level. 
 
I'll try the Atari version next. 

I found the manual here:  http://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Commodore_64/manual/Formated/Forbidden_Forest_-_1983_-_Cosmi_Corporation.pdf

I'm going to need it. 

PS - Emulation notes --
 
For C64, I use "VICE", which is really really really good.  It emulates all of the Commodore machines, automatically fast-loads and types the load command, has a quick button press to switch joysticks.  Just an excellent emulator.
 
For Atari, I use MESS, which I really like, but it's kind of a pain to set up.  Altirra is also good. 
 
(My real machines are put away -- grandmas is using our extra room during the holidays).

OK, I just tried the C64 version, and Rowsdower70 is right on.  The music is incredible.  Graphics are pretty unique.  It's really hard to aim...but also makes you want to come back again to try to master it. 
 
I made it to the frog level. 
 
I'll try the Atari version next. 

OK, and just as I remember it...the Atari version is HORRIBLE.  The parallax scrolling is gone.  Blood when you die is gone.  The aiming is even harder.  And the music is....well....at least they kind of tried, 

That, my friend, is a SWEET deal.  I love the DS, and it looks like you got a nice one. 

Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf (which has no fighting!) and a pretty nice digital camera (that came with a 2 GB memory card and a case).  10 megapixel.  Now I can take Centipede high score pics that aren't so blurry!