2600-on-a-chip

[TandyMan100]

Hello everyone!

Well, for christmas, my ever-observant grandmother picked me up an interesting bit of technology: an 'Atari Flashback 2'. It appears to be an incredibly small 2600 lookalike that plugs into a TV via RCA. After some googling, it appears that this is in the same vein as the C64 DTV, which is a C64-on-a-chip. It also appears that with some cheap parts and a steady hand (as well as some more flux), I can add a 2600 cartridge port to this. But why stop there?! I might get some NiCADs and make it battery powered, find an old dvd player, and hook up the screen for a portable Atari 2600!
</pipe dream (yeah, like I'll have money for that >

Anyways, has anyone here messed around with these before? The included games are pretty nice, and the inclusion of Pitfall! means I'll be spending a WHOLE lot of time with this thing and it's two (really well-built) clones of the original joysticks (!!!).

 

[Raven]

I had one, but I sold or traded it. I didn't know it could be modded like the 64DTV, or I may not have (though I'm terrible at soldering, so..).

I did keep the controllers, though - newer build, slightly different, but still nice quality when compared to the original A2600 controllers.

 

[saundby]

The ones I'm familiar with aren't actually a 2600 on a chip, but a Nintendo on a chip that's been programmed to play 2600 games. Therefore it's not possible to add a cartridge port, it's only emulating a 2600.

Yours may be an exception, but all the ones I've seen have been the Nintendo act-alike.

 

[shawn510]

The ones I'm familiar with aren't actually a 2600 on a chip, but a Nintendo on a chip that's been programmed to play 2600 games. Therefore it's not possible to add a cartridge port, it's only emulating a 2600.

Yours may be an exception, but all the ones I've seen have been the Nintendo act-alike.

I think you are thinking of the original Flashback, which was modeled to look like a miniature 7800.

 

[Bill_Loguidice]

Exactly, the original Flashback was a NOC and played bad versions of 2600 and 7800 games. The Flashback 2 is a genuine 2600 implementation and extremely accurate. As was stated, even the two joystick ports are basically the same, and you can use the joysticks it came with on original systems or use other controllers on the Flashback 2. It's a shame it wasn't the Flashback 2 that was first. Honestly, though, unless you were desperate for a project, I wouldn't bother putting a cartridge port on the Flashback 2. You're better off getting a real Atari 2600 or 7800 and adding composite or s-video out.

 

[TandyMan100]

Exactly, the original Flashback was a NOC and played bad versions of 2600 and 7800 games. The Flashback 2 is a genuine 2600 implementation and extremely accurate. As was stated, even the two joystick ports are basically the same, and you can use the joysticks it came with on original systems or use other controllers on the Flashback 2. It's a shame it wasn't the Flashback 2 that was first. Honestly, though, unless you were desperate for a project, I wouldn't bother putting a cartridge port on the Flashback 2. You're better off getting a real Atari 2600 or 7800 and adding composite or s-video out.

But then it wouldn't be as small and easy to make portable. Remember the Picodore 64? It was a C64-on-a-chip turned into a large gameboy-advance-sized portable. That's sorta what I'd like to do with my Flashback 2...

 

[Maverick1978]

Best Electronics has a guide for the cartridge mod on this.

I suspect that it would be possible to implement this as a portable, however, the size of the portable would be questionable. It's been awhile since I looked at my unit, but it's about the size of my 2600Jr version (the redesigned model that looks like a miniature 7800). I'd guess that the motherboard in this unit has pieces that we can't cut off (if anyone's looked at Ben Heckendorn's mods, he ends up cutting off about a third of the 2600Jr's motherboards for his portable 2600's). If we can't reduce the size of the motherboard, we're looking at a larger system.

Is that a problem? Not necessarily - I personally like the width and height of my Lynx-II, and this board is about that wide. I do wish it were a bit thinner, however

Oh, and for portable DVD screen... do you really want to go there for a portable? - those are kinda large So long as you can get NTSC composite video and audio out of this thing (don't know, haven't looked at mine nor researched it - an electronics genius I am not), but I would suspect that the lcd used for upgrading a Sega Nomad's screen would suffice (so long as you didn't want a screen larger than 3.5"). That board has clear solder pads that will provide your ground, power, and composite video.

(I was just looking up Sega Nomad screen upgrades a little earlier today)

 

[TandyMan100]

Oh, and for portable DVD screen... do you really want to go there for a portable? - those are kinda large So long as you can get NTSC composite video and audio out of this thing (don't know, haven't looked at mine nor researched it - an electronics genius I am not), but I would suspect that the lcd used for upgrading a Sega Nomad's screen would suffice (so long as you didn't want a screen larger than 3.5"). That board has clear solder pads that will provide your ground, power, and composite video.

(I was just looking up Sega Nomad screen upgrades a little earlier today)

Since handheld 2600s have been done to death, I was going to make it a 2600 laptop, with a 6 or 7 inch screen.

Also, I'm too much of a n00b to solder traces to shrink the board enough for a pocketable device

 

[NathanAllan]

Make sure it's an actual one, this past Christmas there was a rash of counterfeit FB2's sold not by Atari but by some pirate company.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/173494-original-flashback2-sighting-2499/

That is the thread discussing the fact that they are pirated and the differences to look for.

 

[martyg]

Best Electronics
I suspect that it would be possible to implement this as a portable,

Already done a while ago. Ben did one as well.

Oh, and for portable DVD screen... do you really want to go there for a portable? - those are kinda large So long as you can get NTSC composite video and audio out of this thing (don't know, haven't looked at mine nor researched it - an electronics genius I am not),

It's a composite based plug and play.

but I would suspect that the lcd used for upgrading a Sega Nomad's screen would suffice (so long as you didn't want a screen larger than 3.5"). That board has clear solder pads that will provide your ground, power, and composite video.

Why on earth go that route when you have places that sell composite based LCD's like this?

http://www.aeicomp.com/search_result.asp?MANUFACTURER=LCD Modules&CATEGORY=LCD Monitors

 

[Maverick1978]

Why on earth go that route when you have places that sell composite based LCD's like this?

http://www.aeicomp.com/search_result.asp?MANUFACTURER=LCD Modules&CATEGORY=LCD Monitors

Price. The unit used in the link I found runs $50 shipped, all you have to do is remove it from its case and solder your wires. A quick glance at the link you provided (which seems to have some very nice and possibly higher-quality screens) runs $68 and only does 320x240. Eh, to each his own I'll be book-marking that site you linked just to have it - thanks for sharing.

 

[martyg]

Price. The unit used in the link I found runs $50 shipped, all you have to do is remove it from its case and solder your wires. A quick glance at the link you provided (which seems to have some very nice and possibly higher-quality screens) runs $68 and only does 320x240. Eh, to each his own I'll be book-marking that site you linked just to have it - thanks for sharing.

Understood. Please keep in mind though, if it's a pirate of one of our units the mod will not work. All the ones sold in stores (via Krogers) in the last two years are pirates.

 

[Yokuto]

Greetings,

I have the Flashback 3 and it is nice. I like it! I also have several of the original wood-grain atari 2600 units and every do often would hook one up to an old tv (not these days though but MIGHT try it here with a HDTV just to see what happens).. I have a large game collection as well. I seem to remember that many people were trying to make a portable version as you mentioned in the original post but no idea if it was done or not. There are also emulators out there that do a decent job for the pc.