Atari 5200 Guy

I’m sharing the link to the Atari U.S. site where the 400 Mini can be located: https://atari.com/products/atari-400-mini
I have to say I’m a bit mixed about this one.  I’d have chosen the 800 personally.  And even when this does emulate it I would have rather seen a stand alone 5200 recreation than have it a part of another system.  I know the 5200 was a consolized 400, I get it, but still.
The price is much higher than I would have expected, too.  $80 would have been average. At $110 that keyboard better work.  Some games used that keyboard to access some features.
Regardless of my feelings of this I like what Atari is trying to do and I like how they are returning to their roots.  Just as long as they don’t mess up the open source development that helped make the A8 machines so popular.

I would like to see a cartridge port for both A8 and 5200 so that everyone feels covered. There's going to be someone out there like you, with very fond memories of the 5200 - except they never got into the A8, etc. It would be nice for them to be able to play their cartridges and homebrew releases on a new system with HD output.
I feel like if Atari is going to do this the right way - the way they did the 2060+, that's what they would need to do.
I also hope one day we will see an FPGA-Based 2600+ in a 7800 shell. They could call it the Atari 2600 Pro.

I'm a little underwhelmed that this doesn't have a cartridge port the way the 2600+ does. I've been hoping to see Atari develop an "Atari XE+" with a 4/5 or 3/5 scale Atari XE that incorporates two cartridge ports into the top of the machine - one for Atari 8-Bit Computer cartridges, and the other for Atari 5200 cartridges. I would love that.
Otherwise this looks like a nice product and I hope Atari does well with it.

Thanks for posting the US link!

I’m sharing the link to the Atari U.S. site where the 400 Mini can be located: https://atari.com/products/atari-400-mini
I have to say I’m a bit mixed about this one.  I’d have chosen the 800 personally.  And even when this does emulate it I would have rather seen a stand alone 5200 recreation than have it a part of another system.  I know the 5200 was a consolized 400, I get it, but still.
The price is much higher than I would have expected, too.  $80 would have been average. At $110 that keyboard better work.  Some games used that keyboard to access some features.
Regardless of my feelings of this I like what Atari is trying to do and I like how they are returning to their roots.  Just as long as they don’t mess up the open source development that helped make the A8 machines so popular.

Ok.  Just for this I now want a Switch.  Not good. 😞

I love the Lynx and one of my nephews has found Warbirds and Blue Lightning to be his favorites.  
 
BITD the only reason why I wanted a Lynx was for Hard Drivin’.  I found a Lynx but never have found Hard Drivin’.  I found the game for the Genesis but my word it was sluggish.
I’m still after a few titles.

Not that anyone should have to, but did you try cleaning the cart? I saw someone reporting similar issues with Mr. R&J that were resolved by cleaning and repeated inserts.

My junior model only had a LED change.  Everything else in it is factory.  I tried two junior models, four switch, and 7800.  Same thing happens. Rest assure the junior model in the picture has not been modded beyond changing the power light.
No matter what console I put the game in it is not working.

My junior model only had a LED change.  Everything else in it is factory.  I tried two junior models, four switch, and 7800.  Same thing happens. Rest assure the junior model in the picture has not been modded beyond changing the power light.
No matter what console I put the game in it is not working.

Here’s what I get…
 

Waking up and going outside to see what the day looks like only to find a bunch of electronic goodies dropped at your front door literally. I was still trying to wake up and waiting on my coffee when I saw all that.  What I found was posted on a recent pick up post here but…here’s a recap.

Everything works. It was found in the trash by one of our maintenance guys and he collected what he could grab and literally dumped it at my doorstep.

I was hoping I would get to participate with the Enhanced Edition but my copy of the game does not work.  I just opened it today, got a game screen for a few seconds, then a few bars, and nothing but black screen. I’m not sure who to get a hold of since it was a prize I won. I didn’t purchase it.

I was hoping I would get to participate with the Enhanced Edition but my copy of the game does not work.  I just opened it today, got a game screen for a few seconds, then a few bars, and nothing but black screen. I’m not sure who to get a hold of since it was a prize I won. I didn’t purchase it.

So I hinted about this in another thread elsewhere, but though it might be good to give it is own post.
So a new challenger has emerged online under the website AtariRepairParts.com and as the name implies they provide replacement parts for Atari stuff. However, as they are very very new, the parts available is basically limited to just a few things. But, perhaps the most interesting is their replacement mylar and membrane buttons for the standard OEM 5200 controller (CX-52). Similar to another well known vendor, AtariRepairParts has created their own mylar and button replacements that are also gold plated.
The main difference here is that they cost for a complete set is about 50% less of the other well known vendor. They also don't have any limits on the number of items you can order and have PayPal so payments are easy to make. 
I ordered two sets of these replacements for just under $50 shipped. That might seem like a lot for something so old, but again for the price of 2 sets to install into one controllers from AtariRepairParts compared to that same price for just a single controller from the other vendor, it is a good deal.
I received them in yesterday and only ordered them a few days prior, so they arrived very quickly! Here is my initial impressions of these new replacement rebuild kits..
First lets talk about how everything arrived. It was delivered in a bubble mailer using a section of card stock and envelope to protect and prevent bending of the mylar flex. The membrane buttons were just loose in the padded envelope but as this is all very light weight and small, I don't have any issues with this packing.
The first thing you notice is that the mylar is a very matte black finish in color overall. But you can still see the traces etc. Ever contact point on the flex is gold plated including the fingers that insert into the controller wire harness connector. Additionally, it could have been the way it looked, but I believe that section with the fingers is a tad longer than the stock mylar so they seat in further and more secure as a result. The mylar overall is also a little thicker than the stock mylar and more rigid as a result. But I don't find this to be a negative at all since it means it should be able to withstand the flexing and bending it has to go through much better over time. The mylar also has preaffixed adhesive pads so that it can attach to the keypad support plate, and each of the arms for the fire buttons on the mylar will attach to the vertical supports on the controller properly. In the past I've had to keep double sided tape on hand with replacements so this is a welcome thing to have! I do think another strip should be included for the top row buttons as it doesn't have one for that part. But if you consider the fact that the membrane buttons sit on top of that section, I guess it isn't as critical.
The membrane buttons appear to be new and look and feel like the originals. This is good and bad because a lot of folks don't like the mushy feel of the original buttons and these will retain that original feel. However, similar to the mylar, each contact on the membrane has a gold plated disc that is secured to the buttons. So gold on gold contact will minimize any corrosion over the years from occurring.
Installation is a breeze since everything is of the same size as original parts so it just all fits in place where it should. Even the small holes on the keypad to line it up on the support tray are present and in the correct location. So yeah provided you know how to take the original controller apart properly, installing a set of these should only take a few minutes time. 
I played a few games of The Last Starfighter to break it all in and I have to say that everything worked great! My only criticism is that the top row membrane buttons seem to sit a little lower than the originals and as a result I found them difficult to actually press and make contact. But they do work it just requires a little more direct pressing than I'm used to with my older buttons and foil taped contact pads hehe. Still, the quality of these replacement parts are very nice and I imagine the controller will not require much if any maintenance in the future since the only real failure point now would be the cabling or potentiometers inside the controller itself of which, there aren't any replacements for yet at this time.
AtariRepairParts.com
 

I don't think we ever saw a news report from Atari headquarters before from back then. It's cool to see this now, I just saw the first few mins I'm going to watch it all the way through

That is very entertaining and interesting.  They really dug deep into the industry and for 1981 that was pretty deep.  I liked hearing about the bug that was in Galaxian.  I so wanted to jump in on the 2600 product line.  I would have loved to have helped assemble those.

Welcome!  We love Atari!  

Oh! I forgot. I did win a copy of Berzerk Enhanced Edition at AtariAge. I am not home right now but I have been told the game is there waiting for me.

Waking up and going outside to see what the day looks like only to find a bunch of electronic goodies dropped at your front door literally. I was still trying to wake up and waiting on my coffee when I saw all that.  What I found was posted on a recent pick up post here but…here’s a recap.

Everything works. It was found in the trash by one of our maintenance guys and he collected what he could grab and literally dumped it at my doorstep.

Sweet!  I get to break in my new Berzerk Enhanced Edition cart! I’ll try to join in on both versions to see the differences.
I was going to mention before I posted how I think the original was great. It didn’t flicker like some 2600 games suffer from. 

Sweet!  I get to break in my new Berzerk Enhanced Edition cart! I’ll try to join in on both versions to see the differences.
I was going to mention before I posted how I think the original was great. It didn’t flicker like some 2600 games suffer from. 

Ok @RickR.  No more using new controllers mister. 😉

Congrats, guys!

Nice!