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The Supercharger! (or your favorite Atari peripherals)


Rowsdower70

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How many of you guys have a working Supercharger and games?  

 

I had one as a kid, and Dragonstomper was one of my favorite games of all time.  It's one of those things I've meant to add to my collection, but haven't found in my price range yet. 

 

I love that the Supercharger not only added the load from cassette feature (if you can call it a feature...load times), but it boosted the available ram, making the games more intricate.

 

What were some of your favorite peripherals for the Atari?

"For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid."  ~ Atari Adventure Square

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Never had one, but I was (and still am) really curious as to the functionality and results.

The ads in Electronic Games magazine really piqued my interest.

 

Yeah, after the crash lotsa carts became cheaper but peripherals for the 2600 became rare, in my neck of the woods.

Would've loved to have been able to super-charge my gameplay!

 

As a modern retro Atari gamer, this would be a must-have item.

Looking forward to more on this.

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How much RAM could you add to a 2600 and make much of a difference since it can only address 4k at a time? The way the 2600 adapter bypasses the 5200 almost entirely, I'm wondering if that's possible with a 2600, say if someone were to build something like a supercharger or 7800 XM all wrapped up into a cart. There are lots of what ifs and hypotheticals, I'm just wondering if it's possible at all. More memory would mean incredible games.

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I have a Supercharger.  I got it right around the crash in 1983.  I can't remember what I paid.  I want to say $15, and then several games for $3 each.  From a store at a mall here in Portland called "Stereo Super Store". 

 

I still have it, and it is awesome.  Nowadays, you can put the game files on an MP3 player and load them using that.  Tapes and tape players are just too unreliable.  It's really unbelievable how good the games are.  Frogger on Supercharger is just about perfect.  Communist Mutants, Dragonstomper, Escape from Mindmaster.  All excellent games. 

 

It's cool and all, but it really was kind of a niche idea at best.  Kind of like the 32x for Genesis...yes, it had good games, but a new console would have been better at that point. 

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loved the supercharger I got mine from Jays online place(don't remember if thats the actual name)

the reason why I got wasn't for programing its because I got stella got a new brain cd from cyberpunks.

I still have both but don't use it because of harmony cart have every homebrew and other game on sd card to load to

cart.

I'm going keep my supercharger and cd,though its great add on for the 2600.

sega frogger and escape from mind master two great games.

there are some people who modified the supercharger to work with bank switching.(I didn't)

AVC Online:atari-video.club

VGS website: http://videogamesummit.net

 

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I noticed in a video recently that there are still folks making some homebrews for the Supercharger.  I'd be curious about those too.   

 

Until I find one reasonably priced, I can emulate the games fairly easily.  It's just not the same.

"For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid."  ~ Atari Adventure Square

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How many of you guys have a working Supercharger and games? 

nope.....but i'm looking to get one in the future

 

 

I had one as a kid, and Dragonstomper was one of my favorite games of all time.  It's one of those things I've meant to add to my collection, but haven't found in my price range yet. 

i've found one.....but whats your price range?

 

 

What were some of your favorite peripherals for the Atari?

I have the Omega Race "Booster Grip" which is awesome for that game and I've left it on and played others with it. I also have the Star Raiders "Video Touch Pad" which is ok and replacement Radio Shack (beige colored) Coleco controllers after my 1 Atari joystick stopped working in the late 80's and this was the only replacement Radio Shack had at the time.

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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Rowsdower70, get yourself one of these.  It's a Genesis converter that allows two joysticks or two gamepads to be hooked up to a computer via USB.  It makes emulation much much better. 

Where is that available at?

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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I have a Supercharger.  I got it right around the crash in 1983.  I can't remember what I paid.  I want to say $15, and then several games for $3 each.  From a store at a mall here in Portland called "Stereo Super Store". 

 

I still have it, and it is awesome.  Nowadays, you can put the game files on an MP3 player and load them using that.  Tapes and tape players are just too unreliable.  It's really unbelievable how good the games are.  Frogger on Supercharger is just about perfect.  Communist Mutants, Dragonstomper, Escape from Mindmaster.  All excellent games. 

 

It's cool and all, but it really was kind of a niche idea at best.  Kind of like the 32x for Genesis...yes, it had good games, but a new console would have been better at that point. 

You have the "Official" Frogger?? COOL.....that is the one I'm wanting to get if (and when) I get a Supercharger. But they are so high right now.

 

Do you know if you dubbed an Arcadia cassette to a blank one and then try loading the copy, would it work? I did that with TRS-80 COCO cassette programs all the time back then without any issues - kinda like a backup copy. Just wondering.

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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Where is that available at?

I got mine from Amazon about a year ago.  They also sell an Atari only version (doesn't support multiple buttons of the Genesis controller) that is red instead of blue.  I think the brand was retro-bit or retro-link. 

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You have the "Official" Frogger?? COOL.....that is the one I'm wanting to get if (and when) I get a Supercharger. But they are so high right now.

 

Do you know if you dubbed an Arcadia cassette to a blank one and then try loading the copy, would it work? I did that with TRS-80 COCO cassette programs all the time back then without any issues - kinda like a backup copy. Just wondering.

You can dub the cassettes.  It will work for sure on the "slow" side.  But honestly, just get the files in wav format, put them on an MP3 player, and forget the cassettes.  It's scary to even touch them these days. 

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 It's cool and all, but it really was kind of a niche idea at best.  Kind of like the 32x for Genesis...yes, it had good games, but a new console would have been better at that point.

 

There was a new system, Rick: the Saturn was released on the same day. The 32X was just a "discounted" way into the new 32-bit scene without having to give up your existing library of Genesis games to get there. Of course, like almost every Sega console, there was never enough support.

Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.

 

Franz Kafka

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As for peripherals, I have a Booster Grip that's pretty neat & a couple of aftermarket Wico joysticks. Need a dang Video Touch Pad with overlay for Star Raiders...

Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.

 

Franz Kafka

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As close to $20 as possible.

did you order it yet?

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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No, I haven't had the funds.  I missed out on a bid on one.

The link I sent you- they still have it available......FYI

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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