@@ctrlaltrees There is a video about it. It's not hard to do, but will be tedious, if you want to switch games a lot. I'm still waiting for a delivery date for my 2600+ to test, because it's been stuck at label created since 11/30. There is also a video about creating your own cartridge board with DIP switches, but that's beyond my soldering skills.
it has to be 4k or under tho. just go get the carts while you can they are being snapped up fro this as we speak. so many cheap deals on great games out there.
I have just completed testing all of my 2600 & 7800 games. Tested 55 Atari 2600 games which all worked. Also tested 13 Atari 7800 games. I am in PAL region. The games that failed were Xevious, Food Fight, Crossbow, Ms Pac Man, Choplifter & Joust. The games that passed were Alien Brigade, Centipede, Desert Falcon, Dig Dug, Galaga, One on One Basketball & Pole Position II.
I have to say, I really appreciate your take on this. I watched several other reviews and most of them were a bit dismissive of it, and it just felt like they didn't quite "get it". I gave my 2600 away to a friend recently, so I'm not the world's biggest fan, but I love the 2600+. It's cute, a little silly and loads of fun. Atari have obviously put a lot of thought and work into making it so accurate, right down the logo on the plugs. It's clear that somebody there genuinely cares about it, and that's awesome. Also think your review is better for having bought the retail versions. Great job!
The Driving controller is NOT the same as the Paddle controller! They look the same on the outside, but the Paddles have a top and bottom stop on the dial while the driving controller free-spins forever in either direction. We had both when I was a kid; the paddles got almost no use but we used the driving controllers with Indy 500 all the time.
@@ctrlaltrees The correct definition is "PADDLE CONTROLLER vs SPINNER CONTROLLER"... they are two very distinctly different controllers, and not at all the same function. Spinners literally can be spun continuously in 360 clockwise or counterclockwise... spinners are used for games like Tempest or Indy 500... Paddles have a stop and can only go so far left or right, used for games like Kaboom or Pong.
I really liked this new format on your video, I watch a lot of long videos on youtube so that was not a problem for me. just "more quality content is more quality content", which is good!
Thanks for the thorough rundown. I've been thinking about picking one of these up and think I may take the plunge. Will probably wait until the new year (unless someone gets me one for Christmas!) but this will certainly make a nice replacement for my charity shop 2600 Jr!
Purchased the 2600 when it first came out for my son and he never played with it. So I went back and bought the 7800 for myself and he played with that one. My question is do you think the cartridges for the newa game set will work on the old set. Plus I have 40 games from the old model. Some games were never opened so now I have something to keep me busy for the winter months.
Have that same JVC bvm, one of my favorite crt's I own. I would like to see more 7800 games though, never knew anyone who had one or seen them while game hunting. Not sure what we missed out on for 7800.
Incredible job as always, Rees. One note, the Paddles are a gated potentiometer and the driving controllers are a separate signal no-gated potentiometer and are not compatible. Basically the driving go 360 degrees and the paddles seem to only go about 180.- Jeff
Haha, thanks Jeff! TIL. You're not the only one to have pointed this out (although I'm not sure what order the comments came in, so maybe you were the first!) Definitely going to get my hands on a driving controller so I can test. Thanks again for the info. 👍
Great review as always. I can't see the reason why not, but I would test if the CX40+ and paddles that ship with 2600+ work with 2600 and Atari XL/XE? Also, I am curious if 32-in-1 cartridge work in 2600+? It was switching to next game upon power up, rarher than using dip switches.
The joystick and paddles work with the original hardware, and the 32-in-1 cartridge works on the 2600+ the same way as on the original 2600. I have it in my humble collection.
Until recently, I had a CRT HDTV with HDMI input. If I still had it and an Atari 2600+, that might be a better test of the light gun, but I'm quite certain it would still give the same result.
I have a Sony Wega CRT with HDMI in, and it doesn't work with an original NES + lightgun connected via the composite input. I suspect that it has the brains of an early LCD TV, so there's probably a bit too much processing or buffering going on.
Does the joystick port output +5v like an original 2600? Could the lightguns and button controllers use a +5v supply from the port? You could make an add on port/box thing with +5v if that's the case?
I didn’t know about some games needing a 2 button controller.. I’ll have to pick one up now! Maybe I can pick up Alien Brigade too.. thanks for the review!
You said the original controllers with the 7800 it was not the NES Style... At least not in America. You mentioned PAL so I assume that could have been a default controller in a PAL region. Could you about the ambidextrous joystick or was it exclusively the NES style pads? And if I was 18 when the Atari 7800 came out I would have submitted a concept for a reversible joypad so that you can play left or right handed. To either Atari or Sega, depending on whether I met my Master System owning friend or my 7800 owning friend first.
He specifically mentioned in the video the US got different 7800 controllers than in Europe... he pointed it out quite clearly... I don't know how you missed that.
@@wolfshanze5980 I wrote it after the first mention. I did see a few minutes later he did mention the difference between the US and the Europe controllers. But technically he only tested the European pads. Will it work with the American Sticks? I'll assume yes since electronically they are the same PCB just in different physical formations
@@jackofallgamesTV From what I understand, it's SUPPOSED to work with ANY joystick that was used for the original 2600+, including 3rd-party joysticks of which there were countless versions. Note I said "joysticks" since apparently Atari had an asterisk exception next to "digital pad controllers". Also, since it has built-in 7800 support, and the original 7800 controllers used the same input, that should be a yeah (Atari says they are remaking the 7800 controllers for the +).
I have the 2600+ (and a 2600) I have Pole Position II for the 7800 that is supposed to play 7800 games... Do you know if I would need a 7800 controller to play said game.
What is the point in releasing a console that does less than the original and then have the audacity to call it a plus. It just seems stupid that you have to keep the old console hanging around plugged in to play the games that don't work on the new one.
I mean the 7800 is relatively hard to come by, the 2600 with 100 or so games has been re-released at least 10 times over last 20 yrs, plus hdmi for people with modern tvs, the price is high for 1 controller, should have 2 controllers and paddles for 100 bucks or less. But I'm not selling it
IMO, this is a mini console done right. I know the NES Mini was supposed to be a one-and-done kind of deal, but it seems like SUCH a missed opportunity to treat them as proper retro consoles, like an alternative to the "e-Shop" model. Put an actual cart slot in them, and open up a market for classic _and original_ games! The only thing that would make it better is if it used an FPGA or ASIC for hardware-based emulation, but with support for modern niceties like upscaling, save-states, etc. Maybe even a direct composite out, so that it _could_ even work with light guns... but at least CRTs. What a love letter to the retro community that would be.
Love your video. I was 8 years old when the Atari VCS first came out. Question, just how long is the game controller cord? People don’t sit infront of their tvs as close as they used to back in 1977
I have just started testing some 7800 games on my 2600+. I also have PAL games (Australia). MS Pac-Man 7800 PAL does not work. I have tried Centipede & Galaga for 7800 and they both work. However the colours on Galaga don’t seem correct.
I have just watched a 38 minutes video about a console that I had not even heard of it before. Great video, I really liked that you focused into the little details instead of just saying it looks great, it is modern, bla, bla, bla...
Oh no! The Commodore guy has to correct the Atari guy! The "Driving" paddles were very, very different. The regular paddles turned a particular distance and then stopped. The driving paddles turn a full 360 degrees and never stop. The driving paddles are also individual, not paired together.
Always happy to be corrected as long as it's polite! I've had a couple of comments about this. Definitely going to grab some of those driving controllers to try out - thanks for the info!
The Driving controller is not identical to the Paddles. It has infinite spin on the knob, rather than a ~340° rotation stop. Only a few games require it... Enduro ?
Enduro uses a joystick. I believe the only game that uses the Driving Controllers is Indy 500. So now I’m curious if those controllers will also work on the 2600+.
Do the paddles work with Atari Flashback siftware on the Switch, Xbox One/Series, and PS4/5? Also can the 2600+ let you play head to head online vs remote hunan opponents?
Hi! I also have a PAL copy of Ace of Aces and it does work for me! Maybe give the contacts a little clean on your cart? Sadly my copy of Karateka also failed to work on the 2600+. Also I'd be interested to know what happens if you try Demon Attack because when I try to play it the graphics get stretched vertically and you can't actually see your character at the bottom of the screen anymore!
While accurate, I don't know if anyone needed the power and HDMI leads to exit the top of the console. I imagine they decided this because it was a little cheaper to do, as everything is installed under the cartridge slot.
Yes, I've since done a teardown on my second channel (Rees Rambles if you'd like to look for it) and everything apart from the HDMI plugs into one board.
The classic Atari joystick. I went through 3 of those back in the day (used them with the 2600 and Commodore 64). We won't talk about all the time spent playing Track and Field. 🤣 I don't need to rive my childhood but darn it, I want to. So this may be in my future.
You bought an emulator in a box. You fool. You could have got the Retron 77 that does the same thing cheaper and add your own games. Next time tell not Atari to make a FPGA system stupid.
A handful of 3rd-party off-brand controllers also don't work, similar to the Light Gun and Star Raiders pad. I imagine it's an issue with port pinouts.
Thanks for testing PAL and NTSC, I picked up a load of NTSC carts when I was in the states and had no idea about the palette changes till I got home. Knowing the plus can play my pal and ntsc carts is exactly what I wanted to know 🙂
Indeed likely. As the 2600+ doesn’t fully implement the controller port - as seen by the Star Raiders special controller not working , it could be that issue - if the fire button causes the games to fire but you cannot aim that is a strong indicator the controller isn’t supported at all. If however the trigger works ( causes gun in game to fire) but the aim is wrong or unresponsive , that would be because of the HDMI to composite conversion. The way the light guns work is they can sense the vertical blanking intervals that are not seen by the eye and via that get an x,y location of where it is pointed in the screen , to be reported back via the game port analog (paddle) or digital (joystick) pins. For that to work the timing is critical between when a 1/2 frame is displayed on the crt and the location reported back to the console. With all of that additional hardware created lag what is shown on the CRT at the time the emulator generates the video frame, will be substantively off of what the old 2600 software is expecting.
Rees - thank you for the excellent video, I've just taken delivery of a 2600+ too and it's certainly a well-designed machine and I'm very impressed. However, I am finding problems with its PAL performance, especially on my two favourite VCS games, Dodge'Em and Space Invaders. Do you have original PAL cartridges to test them and compare t9 an original VCS to see if you can see what I see? I'm finding the aspect ratio is wrong. Even when set to 4:3, it's still too wide and looks squashed. The Invaders look flat. I think I noticed this too with your Video Pinball test. It's not square enough. Also, the colour is wrong, especially the ground colour in Space Invaders. Lastly, I'm getting jerky graphics, especially in Dodge'Em. The car motion is really jumpy, on an original VCS it's not like that. You can compare this with the NTSC version on the 10-in-1 cartridge which is silky smooth. I also thought I noticed this in your Frogger test. I have sourced PAL versions of these games and loaded them into a desktop version of Stella and they exhibit the same symptoms. However, I managed to alleviate the problems by tweaking some Stella settings: Switch Correct Aspect Ratio off and increase Vertical Size by 5%. This solves the aspect ratio issue. Change the colour palette from Standard to z26. Switch Adapt Refresh Rate to on. This causes Stella to swtitchthe desktop to 50Hz for PAL games and solves the jerky graphics issue. I have already contacted Atari with these comments but would love a second opinion just to make sure it's not just me! BTW with the PAL 7800 games like Ballblazer that you found wouldn't work, the flashing that you appeared to be getting is exactly the same symptom in Stella if you set the TV system wrongly. So again, this all just points towards the 2600+ not setting the right options in its emulator for PAL cartridges. [EDIT I have since found the AtariAge forums where Plaion is actively participating, and they appear to have the refresh rate and colour palette issues in hand for the first software upgrade. Not sure if the aspect ratio issue has been taken on board.]
Thanks so much for the comprehensive feedback. I will try to test this, I think I do have a PAL copy of Space Invaders somewhere. Good to hear that they're on the ball, I suspected that this might be the case. Looking forward to testing the new firmware once it's released!
You know, I’m enjoying these videos. By the time I get my 2600 plus I PRE-ORDERED THE SAME TIME PRE-ORDERS went live… by the time I get mine I’ll have see at least a 100 videos. Did you order direct from Atari? I sure… you know I bet I don’t even want to know.
Kinda like the Atari Gamestation Pro... it comes with two controllers, a set of paddles, Combat, and about 120 more Atari games, plus an SDcard slot to add every other game, including support for Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800, and all for LESS than the 2600+... unless you already own a huge collection of Atari cartridges, I see no reason to waste money on a 2600+ when the Gamestation Pro is a clearly superior and cheaper product.
I was selling TVs at the time and here in the UK at least 1080P was marketed as "Full HD" while 720P was marketed as "HD Ready". I think the US had had 720P for quite a few years by this point though. It's certainly a big upgrade from SD either way!
Was working in broadcast TV and also running satellite uplinks during the transition to digital HDTV. The broadcast HD 720p and 1080I modes still in use today go back to the '80s when analog HDTV was being developed by Zenith and AT&T. Between 2008 and 2009, local television stations adopted either the digital 720P or the 1080I format pretty much in equal numbers. ESPNHD, FOX, ABC all went with 720p nationwide, the rest were 1080i. I got an ATSC/QAM tuner card for my PC that year and hooked it up to my huge SONY CRT data projector for a 10' HDTV image on my wall. Fun days! Thinking about buying a $4000+ laser projector to try and equal that picture quality which was stunning.@@ctrlaltrees
@@ctrlaltrees It's also, arguably, the "correct" resolution for this. The OG hardware uses something close to 240p (although, of course, the vertical line count isn't set in stone by the hardware itself), so you can scale 3x to 720p. Out of all the retro consoles, the Atari 2600 might be most appropriate for a 5x scale. But whatever. It's close enough. A little bit of filtered fractional scaling will just add some fuzziness to the edges of the giant pixels, which probably adds to the authenticity more than anything.
Great video Rees. I would have thought you'd be receiving a review copy. A couple of review videos I've watched were not comprehensive at all. Rubbish, in fact. Thanks for the review copy - here is my minimum requirement video, cheers easy.
Hi Rees enjoyed the video like most of your videos but was surprised that you said the controler with the car on was the same. The driving controller doesn't have a potentiometer in it and it rotates all the way around, it will be interesting to try it on the 2600+ I'll have to wait until Christmas when the Mrs opens hers 😁
I was involved in the very earliest days of Atari 2600 emulation (most emulators today run Stella, which is a very complete emulator -- I wrote an alternate one called PCAE, which stood for PC Atari Emulator). I can't think of a single reason why the Star Raiders video pad wouldn't work. It simply closes contacts exactly like a second joystick would. As a sanity check I almost want to recommend testing it on an original VCS console. If the 2600+ is running Stella, it absolutely should work (and there's no excuse to run any emulator other than Stella -- it really is the best).
Even though the 2600 was very dated by 1989, the 2600jr was a fine repackage and a great first system for most sub 10 year Olds. By 89, the Genesis, Megadrive, tg16, and the snes within a year or so we're hitting the street. By 89, used Atari 8bit, C64 computers could be had cheap, or secondhand Sms, nes consoles as gamers upgraded
Awesome video mate. I'd be very interested in your 7800 plus review when it launches this year especially with regards to it using flashcards. I purchased the 2600 plus based on your in-depth look into it. New sub here keep up the interesting and awesome work.
9:45 Doom is okay but how about my old 'Custard's revenge' ? which I'll understand if you don't mention at all. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. You KNOW what I mean. But if you're collecting, check every label. You never know what the seller does not. That's how I came across my copy, here at a Canadian Boot Sale. Come to think of it. Did they make Pal versions of the naughty titles? And since it's been years since I was on Atari Age. Does it make a difference with Atari's. I saw your box had the green rating sticker bottom left but your older items look exactly the same as North American, official releases. Very Curious. Please let me know, anyone who would like. Many thanks. Cheers.
Let's deep dive in the feeling about the objective fact that modern videogames are not fun anymore and they basically sucks, and overrated so much. And this is the REAL fun, the classics, the origin of the feeling and it's so cool to play with. Yesterday I played with hard core gamers, a super long 4 player warlords game and everybody was crazy about that! We had TON of frantic fun. It's not just a nostalgia obsession.
It is interesting but daft all at the same, as a console release. Surely the best idea is just to revamp the 7800 and put that out? Also as it is running Stella, you can run all these games and more using it yourself. At the current price point there is not much to warrant a purchase. The best Atari games were always the arcade ports, none of which will be rereleased. Also it does not work with Pitfall 2.
TBH, I think this is really designed for people WHO ALREADY HAVE A LARGE CARTRIDGE COLLECTION. I agree, especially at it's price point, it's not a good value if you have to buy an entire collection of cartridges from scratch to get an Atari Library... but the Atari console is over 40 years old and a pain to get to work on modern TVs... so I really do think this was meant for those who already own cartridges but whose' consoles either no longer work, are dying or can't get it to work on a modern TV (at least not easily). For much less money, you can get the Atari Gamestation Pro with full support for adding ROMs to the system... I went that route since I didn't own any cartidges (at least not anymore... I did some 40 years ago!).
Definately not a HEAVY SIXER. :) It does seem light, which is to be expected considering how far we've come since the Vader and 4 switch models were released!
So are we saying that with any 7800 games that I buy for use with the 2600+ I should make sure that they are NTSC or just buy all NTSC game wether they be for the 2600 or the 7800 ?
My 2600+ is powered from my home surround sound amplifier. The hdmi also plugs into that and sends the signal to the 51” display. I love it. I can’t wait for people to crack it so I can play ZX spectrum and other 8 bit games.
Super review. As an old fart who still has his original 4 switch 2600 I got for Christmas in 1981 , this latest release got me exposed to new things. Your video revealed to me the Harmony Encore which I’ve now ordered. But the big question I’ve got for you is, as you have impossible mission there, I assume that it has the same play as ever where the Atari version isn’t solvable due to some of the items being inaccessible, or does there exist a fixed Atari implementation of the game. I’m torn between getting C64 version or the 7800 version , but read the Atari versions have this major bug.
I don't think so, from what I've heard Genesis controllers don't work at all. Unfortunately I sold all of my Megadrive stuff a while back so I'm unable to test. Sorry about that 🫤
@@Ron2600_ You are right. I was mistaken by the fact that the newly released cartridges are in NTSC format and will not work correctly on PAL 2600 systems.
I did initially think this, but the HDMI to composite adapter I use has a PAL / NTSC switch (also the PVM supports NTSC anyway). If you look closely you'll see that the OSD is also black and white, although it only flashes up for a brief second. 🙂
I think this is a neat little piece of hardware. Even cooler that Atari is actively developing new 2600 games. My only gripe is that I do wish it didn’t look exactly like the 2600. I think it should have gotten a bit of a sleeker design maybe a hybrid design between the 2600 and 7800. Also the dip switches are an awesome idea! Very period correct!
Wow. In all my childhood in Spain, back then, I think I saw maximum two Atari systems. That ‘s how little they sold. Both were owned by kids with rich parents.
Very lovingly created mini console. I'm tempted to pick one up even though I'm not even into Atari. I really wish the mini PS1 had been designed with this much care. That would have been amazing.
Yes, Alien Brigade is great! But anyways, too bad Atari seemingly did not test the PAL side of the world too well. Good thing you tested it on a CRT, that's what I would use it with actually (as I even use my Switch on one). Nice video, as always. Cheers!
Lots of info on AtariAge ATM about the progression of the 2600+ for those interested. A firmware update should be out by Christmas (fingers crossed!) fixing a few things such as adding more or fixing games (ie. additional cart formats), fixing difficulty switch mapping etc but particularly adding much better PAL support (colors and games not working) as well as some good enhancements for the 7800 (the emulator really only supports original games and more so NTSC as you have seen). For modern homebrew support is in the works for both the 2600 and 7800. They have also announced a modern joypad matching the original one you showed for 7800 games. The new Atari really do appear to want to make sure this thing works as well as it can. The 2600 emulation uses the almost latest Stella which does support everything so it's a matter of updating the dumper to better validate the cart and it will be great.
Hot-swappable cartridges is an interesting find. I don't know that I'd ever get used to it myself, having grown up back in the day when turning the console off to change games was an almost religious ritual haha
