Atari introduces NEW CARTRIDGE-BASED ATARI 2600+

[RickR]

A theory I heard elsewhere:  The release of the 2600+ may increase the value of 2600 and 7800 carts. 

I guess it all depends on how well it sells, and to who.  New users will def want to buy a lot of carts I would imagine.

 

[CrossBow]

8 minutes ago, Sabertooth said:

Here's my use case for the 2600+. On certain games, particularly GCC titles, I lose signal on my HD sets. This is on about 10 different 2600 and 7800 consoles on two 4K sets. All accessible processing on the TV is turned off.

The Retron77 mostly worked for this but is incompatible with certain legacy carts, homebrew, the XP line and 7800 carts. While I would have preferred an FPGA solution for homebrew/SD cart compatibility, I appreciate the effort here.

Sure, I can emulate my entire retro library on the modern VCS, but I like pulling out my boxes, looking at the art, the manual, and plugging in the cart. This is the same reason I prefer vinyl over streaming and MP3s.

 

 

Apparently the Tink5x Pro with its triple buffer mode corrects for a lot of this on 2600 games. I'm not aware of any 7800 games that exhibit this issue as it is caused by those 2600 games not adhering the proper scanline counts that NTSC signals use. On TVs they were much more tolerant of these slightly out of spec signals, but modern displays and the scalers don't expect these changes and so they either can't process when this happens (Blank screens), or they take a sec or two to adjust to the new sync. 

I actually don't have these issues on my UAV upgraded consoles because I have them all going through my Extron multi av selector. It converts all of the composite and s-video inputs as a standard VGA output. So in my case, my Extron is cleaning up these out of sync issues. The ONLY game I have that still gives me issues on my setup is Buck Rogers on the 2600. The title screen and level number screens are a wavy scrambled mess, but the actual game itself will play without issue. 

Should also note that even some CRTs will exhibit issues with composite and s-video upgraded consoles, because again, through RF it was expected to have some odd sync  issues within the signal. But the CRTs expect a perfect scanline signal on composite and s-video which, just does not exist on some of these games created back in the day.

So, yeah, apparently a Tink5x Pro can handle these issues and my setup seems to work okay. I think there are also some modified ROMs for some of these problem games to correct for these issues that can be found. 

 

[CrossBow]

9 minutes ago, RickR said:

A theory I heard elsewhere:  The release of the 2600+ may increase the value of 2600 and 7800 carts. 

I guess it all depends on how well it sells, and to who.  New users will def want to buy a lot of carts I would imagine.

 

Who will these new users be exactly? Other Gen x types like myself that grew up with the system but unlike us, they forgot about these systems and want to relive that past history? New generation of gamers that might think these old games are hip and cool? I'm genuinely curious to know because I feel that while this is a great step towards what most of us would have really liked in a console like this, I do think it will be a 'fad' that once the anniversaries have all come and gone, it will be back to them just publishing old IPs as new versions for modern consoles with a few possible new games here and there.

 

[Sabertooth]

5 minutes ago, CrossBow said:

Apparently the Tink5x Pro with its triple buffer mode corrects for a lot of this on 2600 games. I'm not aware of any 7800 games that exhibit this issue as it is caused by those 2600 games not adhering the proper scanline counts that NTSC signals use. On TVs they were much more tolerant of these slightly out of spec signals, but modern displays and the scalers don't expect these changes and so they either can't process when this happens (Blank screens), or they take a sec or two to adjust to the new sync. 

I actually don't have these issues on my UAV upgraded consoles because I have them all going through my Extron multi av selector. It converts all of the composite and s-video inputs as a standard VGA output. So in my case, my Extron is cleaning up these out of sync issues. The ONLY game I have that still gives me issues on my setup is Buck Rogers on the 2600. The title screen and level number screens are a wavy scrambled mess, but the actual game itself will play without issue. 

Should also note that even some CRTs will exhibit issues with composite and s-video upgraded consoles, because again, through RF it was expected to have some odd sync  issues within the signal. But the CRTs expect a perfect scanline signal on composite and s-video which, just does not exist on some of these games created back in the day.

So, yeah, apparently a Tink5x Pro can handle these issues and my setup seems to work okay. I think there are also some modified ROMs for some of these problem games to correct for these issues that can be found. 

 

Thanks for the explanation. I've thought about upgrading to a 5x, but aside from the 2600, all of my consoles work fine through the 2x Pro. Good to know that the 5x can handle these issues!

[CrossBow]

Just now, Sabertooth said:

Thanks for the explanation. I've thought about upgrading to a 5x, but aside from the 2600, all of my consoles work fine through the 2x Pro. Good to know that the 5x can handle these issues!

Again there are threads over on AA that go into more detail about this and I think a few games even through the Tink5x might still have on occasional hiccup here and there. I do notice that when I've played ESB for instance, that while my screen doesn't go completely blank when I blow up an AT-AT, it does shift down one pixel for a second and then comes back up. Odd but you get to where you don't really notice it with the rest of the color cycling taking place at that time and the screen doesn't blank out so it doesn't jump out at me. So I do see a few things here and there, but at least with my fairly cheap AV setup, it handles it well.

I had a buy whose 7800 I did complain because on Battlezone on his CRT through both composite and s-video, the entire gameplay field would move up and down as he moved his tank. It didn't do this through RF so he blamed the UAV causing this, but in reality Battlezone also has incorrect scanline count issues and as I stated before, the other inputs are much less tolerant of this so it was being shown on his TV with a slight jitter up and down that moved with the tank. 

 

[Sabertooth]

7 minutes ago, CrossBow said:

Who will these new users be exactly? Other Gen x types like myself that grew up with the system but unlike us, they forgot about these systems and want to relive that past history? New generation of gamers that might think these old games are hip and cool? I'm genuinely curious to know because I feel that while this is a great step towards what most of us would have really liked in a console like this, I do think it will be a 'fad' that once the anniversaries have all come and gone, it will be back to them just publishing old IPs as new versions for modern consoles with a few possible new games here and there.

 

I think going back to the vinyl analogy - which Rosen used too - there are always younger folks that want to explore and collect what came before. It's probably a small market, but combined with we aging GenXers, may be enough to sustain premium reissues like the XP line in the way folks buy Deluxe edition reissues of classic albums.

[RickR]

I think HDMI output is going to make it a lot more accessible to many.  How many times do we see that basic question "How do I hook this up to my flat panel TV??" 

 

[Sabertooth]

Here's updates to cart compatibility from the massive thread at AA. Looks like a number of previously untested and some previously failed carts now pass.

[Chubbz]

 

[TrekMD]

Thanks for sharing.  I've saved it for later watching.  Gosh, I need to get caught up!  LOL  I think I'm going to download a lot of these videos to my tablet so I can watch them on my flights to Portland!  🙂

[Chubbz]

 

[TrekMD]

There are some of these in the Atari Age booth at PRGE!  I will be posting pictures...

[Sabertooth]

The special packaging looks really neat, however I think that a product is better served when the retail package is featured in "unboxing" videos and press reviews.  It's what the rest of us will be getting, after all. 😉

[Sabertooth]

Here's another video. It appears that the review embargo gets lifted on Wednesday.

 

[- Ω -]

I only have one question... how much does it cost?

[TrekMD]

Saved the videos for watching later.  Gotta say, though, love the look of that open box with four carts in it!

[RickR]

2 hours ago, - Ω - said:

I only have one question... how much does it cost?

From post #1 in this tread:

The console is $129.99 with a CX-40+joystick and 10-in-1 cart. Additional joysticks are $29.99. The CX-30+ Paddles are $39.99 and comes bundled with a 4-in-1 cart.

If I recall, shipping adds $12.  It is possible the 2600+ will be available at retail locations, maybe even for less (or more).

Edited November 12, 2023 by RickR

[Sabertooth]

The press packages really bother me.  I mean, I get it.  At the same time, watching Retro Dodo say "I imagine this is what the original must have felt like..." several times makes me feel like they sent it to the wrong folks.  😉

I would much rather see something from John Hancock, CGR (Mark is back!) or even Metal Jesus.  At least those folks wouldn't have to imagine what the original felt like. 

I guess those of us who ordered will find out soon enough!

[TrekMD]

Watched the videos.  Only unboxings due to the secrecy for the moment.  The boxes do look cool.  I'm with @Sabertooth, though.  I would have preferred a retro YT personality get these. 

[sramirez2008]

Only unboxings, so I'd rather they just ship these out. There's really no reason to watch an unboxing video, especially when the packaging doesn't align with what we will receive. 

On another note, I did play Berzerk Enhanced at PRGE and really like the CX-40+. Time will tell how durable they are, but I can't wait to try them with my OG consoles. I may purchase another pair.

[quebecker]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:54 AM, Silver Back said:

https://atari.com/products/atari-2600-plus?_kx=7lRozU30jIey-o4ovZSu1DO34JBlBOjqiOzYYvXS_RwM1nrYB3utgKB2FOEVEDur.Vvtdy7

HDMI out, SD card, widescreen support, plays 2600 and 7800 cartridges and most importantly... The Atari logo lights up. 

 

I guess it runs games under emulation though?  Any thoughts on this development?  Anybody been waiting for an easier way to hook these up to modern TVs like this for 7800 games?  Honestly I think 99.99 would've been a sweet price 129 isn't bad but not great either. 

it cant use sd card as far i know. the gamestation pro on the other hand does have sd card.

[Sabertooth]

What's the over under on the preorders shipping this week? 🤔

[TrekMD]

I've not received any email notifying of shipping of this system.  I did get notified that the GameStation Pro was shipped, though.

[sramirez2008]

13 hours ago, TrekMD said:

I've not received any email notifying of shipping of this system.

Same. 

[Smell Dawg]

Nothing here - but I cancelled my day-one order and re-ordered much later... so if there's a FIFO queue, I'm at the end 😅

However, one UK member on the VCS discord announced he received shipping and tracking information for his 2600+ et al order this morning.