Atari 5200 Guy

The holidays were always a special time for my family.  The smells of my aunt's food cooking which she always made enough to last us a week in leftovers.  Decorating my grandmother's artificial white Christmas tree with ornaments all of which was older than me.  The aroma of the coffee my aunt, uncle, and grandmother would throwback to help them stay awake so they could finish up last minute details.  And my aunt always decorated her house with lights, garland, and a musical carousel.  That was my Dad's side.
And Mom always going shopping with me right there with me.  I don't know how she managed to do it but a few times she snuck gifts for me in the car I never seen until Christmas day.  My best friend in the world, always entertaining and silly when her asthma wasn't in the way.  Always find odd things in odd places that turned out to be more memorable than that NES game unwrapped on Christmas day.  
Then the time finally arrived.  My gift unwrapping always started on Christmas Eve at my grandmother's.  Christmas morning was with Mom and then we were off to my grandparents' house (mom's side) 60 miles away for dinner.  Many times their house was overcrowded and with those family members that always managed to get under your skin.  Most visits grandpa and I would go off for a bit, saying we were going hunting, just to get away.  Sometimes we actually did, other times we just went in the deer woods and took a nap in his little Datsun truck.
Those times are more precious to me than any gift under the tree.  If I could get one gift it would be to have them back for one day since I no longer have them...just one day.  Since that can't be done I thought I would find a few things to share that my family either watched or listened to together.  I can't take anyone hunting since I gave out up when my grandpa passed.  It just didn't seem right to do so after he left.
With that said I want to wish everyone here a very Merry Christmas and blessings.  You guys have been awesome and, in a way, became part of my family...my Atari family.  Please enjoy these findings with your loved ones, family, and friends.  Make memories that will last a lifetime.
This one is in three parts.  More to come!

I have no shame at all when I say I've downloaded roms off the internet. If that makes me a thief, so be it. At least I'm a thief who's actually enjoying myself. 
I downloaded roms of the entire Wii Virtual Console library when I learned the WiiShop was closing. No shame. My only problem is I hate playing classic console games on a computer with a keyboard. It's a right pain in the neck.

My grandmother and I had a tradition during the holidays.  When national broadcasting channels would air shows like Rudolph and Charlie Brown we watched/recorded them.  We had a hard time trying to get The Grinch but eventually got it.   We always watched Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas on CED followed by Muppets Christmas Carol.  She also had some Christmas themed CEDs Disney produced of which I can't remember the name of but it had snippets of cartoon shorts combined into about an hour program.  As time went on and channels started airing more holiday specials they got recorded and became part of our holiday entertainment.  Music, cartoons, live action, a wide variety.  Great memories for sure.  
 
 

I first discovered emulation in the early 2000s.  I picked up MAME and a few ROMs.  It was fun to discover.  Since then the emulation world has exploded.  Some good, some not so good.  I liked them because it gave me an opportunity to explore games I couldn't find or never heard of.  It also allowed the exploration of games other regions received that never made it to other parts of the world.  
But emulation is used so much that, in my opinion, has become overkill.  Arcade systems made with MAME are awesome but the smaller things like AtGames stuff have below par emulation.  One emulation will never do is replace customs developed hardware.  Jaguar has never been emulated properly, Atari computer and 5200 emulation still have color issues, and Genesis sound has never been as good as the real thing.  On XBOX arcade Wolfenstein 3D the sound and music plays back at a much lower pitch, making it sound like a tape dragging.
I use emulation just to try before I buy games.  Other than that, for me, emulation will never take the place of real hardware.  The real thing will always be top dog.

I improve but not by much. Hahaha
 

This is it for me for now.

Just a small FYI.  I updated the post with online resources selling DD and HD floppies.  If you use them please give feedback.  Thanks!

The only thing to keep in mind is if there was any sort of copy protection schemes used they may still be present.  So you may still need original code disks, instructions, or any other printed materials used to get pass the copy protection.
You are very welcome.  I highly recommend setting up a dedicated Windows machine just for doing this.  And I would suggest keeping it offline to avoid hacks, attacks, and other mishaps.
And, RickR is right.  The only thing separating DD and HD disks are a single hole.  Cover the hole up on an HD disk and it will be a DD disk.  The disk material in both types of disks are identical.  Brings back old memories of needing a HD disk and only having DD disks.  Drill a hole a viola!  Instant HD disks! 
I will add a tip in the tutorial.

Well, the touch pad I don't think was a mistake.  But it really didn't seem like Atari really did too much with it unless I missed it.  The only game I thought that used it was Star Raiders.  It wasn't until I started collecting for the 2600 I discovered other titles that used it.  But I do believe it falls under the same genre as the driving controller...not very much support or widely used.  BASIC PROGRAMMING uses them since the keyboard and kids controllers are the same thing.  The 7800 has one cart that uses them as well which Video 61 sells or use to sell.  
I only wish that Star Raiders on the 2600 used it as much as the 5200's version used the keypads.

Rebul Scuf ??

I don't know why I never noticed this before.  I was adding a manual to my Atari Bowling box and noticed something kind of cool.  Whoever had this box before me wrote down their high scores on the top flap!  The box is pretty beat up, but I think these scores make it pretty neat.
 
 
 
 

He he.  Have this one CIB.  I'm in!!

I would enter but I don't use FB any more.  There was too much drama so I left.  I still have an account but I don't remember my password.  And I refuse to upload my ID to them for verification knowing good and well how easy they get hacked.
As for what I would want/wish for...easy.  It's been driving me crazy.  F-Zero and a SNES controller just so I could play.  Sounds like a lot considering how much Nintendo stuff gets crazy high prices.  But that would be my wish.  Just to be able to play the SNES I have had for a while now without any accessories would be awesome.  If not for RickR trading with me I wouldn't even have a game.  The lack of an AC Adapter I can rig and I have extra AV cables or it can share the one for the N64.

I believe RetroPie runs an OS closer related to Android.  If I am correct then it would be Linux based.  I'm not familiar with RetroPie other than what I have read because I have seriously considered those or a Raspberry Pi.  Neat little gadget.  Cheap, too.

He he.  Have this one CIB.  I'm in!!

I could not keep myself from laughing out loud when I saw this.  That would have been my first few times trying Mute City III.  But draw one line over the edge, jumping into oblivion, and that would have been me.  I don't know how it happened but another craft ran into me at that section and blew up which caused my car to leave the track, like I hit a ramp.  BOOM!  I ended up being a firework show.
I can't express enough how much I love this game!  I think I know what my New Resolution is going to be.  Get this game and get my SNES completed so I can enjoy it.  I could spend days on this game.

I'm unfamiliar with a retropie.  But I'm trying to read anything to see if I can help anyway I can.
I don't know what version of MAME you are running but I found some info on MAME 2003.  Maybe it will help because I don't know if you have tried this or not.
Pointer/Trackpad/Touchscreen support¶
Absolute pointer devices are supported, but need to be turned on via a setting in the retroarch-core-options.cfg file.
mame2003-mouse_device = "pointer"
2 player dial/spinner devices¶
2 player spinner/dial devices can be represented as 1 device with 2 axes. mame2003 can be configured to share this device across both players: Player 1 = X axis, Player 2 = Y axis. This can be enabled via a setting in the retroarch-core-options.cfg file, found in:
mame2003-dialsharexy = "enabled" NOTE: This will disable Mouse support.
Are you using two spinners?

The real Christmas classics 😉

Awesome stuff, guys!  
Creeper, you will like those INTV games.  I didn't care for the controllers much because they cramped my hands pretty good but Burgertime, Auto Racing, Night Stalker, and Lock n Chase were my favorites on the console.

Defender 2 is a blast!  I love that keyring!!  I'll have to try and find one.  That is cool!  Now only if you could get a LCD keyring, joystick, and combat, you'd be good to go. 😉

Merry Christmas Kid A!  Be looking in the mail for your card and I hope to see you in Pixel Vault Games soon!
 

See if there is anything here that might be of some assistance.
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices/
Whoops!  Forgot to add that the spinner section is close to the bottom of the page.

Awesome stuff, guys!  
Creeper, you will like those INTV games.  I didn't care for the controllers much because they cramped my hands pretty good but Burgertime, Auto Racing, Night Stalker, and Lock n Chase were my favorites on the console.

Awesome stuff, guys!  
Creeper, you will like those INTV games.  I didn't care for the controllers much because they cramped my hands pretty good but Burgertime, Auto Racing, Night Stalker, and Lock n Chase were my favorites on the console.

Awesome stuff, guys!  
Creeper, you will like those INTV games.  I didn't care for the controllers much because they cramped my hands pretty good but Burgertime, Auto Racing, Night Stalker, and Lock n Chase were my favorites on the console.