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Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

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Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#71

Post by DarknessFalls »

You're better off getting an original Atari, and a box CRT set, and enjoying the experience as it was intended without frame delay. (These games are a lot easier to play when you don't have to wait for the on screen response.)

The other thing is the original paddle controls are a lot more fun for games like Circus Atari or Night Driver than a gamepad.

If you don't like the classic joystick, then between the Commodore and Atari extended line of joysticks, you can find a suitable alternative.

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#72

Post by musicale »

snakeyjake wrote: post #59
jmount wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prior to the Internet/Web any sort of pause in software was anathema. Now AppleOS spins for 20 or 30 seconds on file security checks.

Your memory is faulty. Let's take a trip back to 1992. In 1992, unless you were rich you had a $2,000 386SX-33 sourced from parts out of the back of Computer Shopper magazine. Here is a 386SX-33 running Windows 3.1 (1992) launching WordPerfect for Windows 5.2 (1992) a perfect representation of what a normal, typical, average person in 1992 would have as a PC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYjrX2P4iY4 WordPerfect ta…

The original Macintosh (1984) wasn't too bad:

System 1.1 boot: 0:12-0:30 (~18s)

MacWrite startup: 2:10-2:25 (~15s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGz9Zwsz_I

Steve Jobs on Macintosh boot time: https://www.folklore.org/Saving_Lives.html

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#73

Post by rbanffy »

bitwize wrote: post #69
rbanffy wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is because the console snarfs the entire contents of the ROM into RAM first The console itself should never know the cart is not a simple ROM with some bank-switching logic. Since Flash (or an SD card) isn't ROM, the ROM image will always be loaded into the cartridge RAM by the microcontroller software. There were many different strategies back then, so the ROM would need to have a file attached telling the on…

Most flashcarts have a UI that is shown on first boot; when a game is selected, the ROM for that game is loaded into the flashcart RAM, the appropriate bank switching or mapping logic emulated, the ROM banks remapped into the console address space replacing the UI code, and the console reset or told to jump to boot the game. This doesn't work on the Atari 2600+ and 7800+ because those systems attempt to load the enti…

The boot menu uses some form of bank switching to get to the actual game ROMs and their specific switching strategy, if any. The 2600+ and 7800+ would need to know the method (a write to a specific address, perhaps) to get to the specific part of the ROM on a bank-switched game anyway.

I never tried that, so I might be very wrong in my assumptions.

In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI, changing the ROM that’s mapped to the cartridge space with the physical UI and resetting the console without resetting the card controller should do the trick.

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#74

Post by bitwize »

rbanffy wrote: post #73
bitwize wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most flashcarts have a UI that is shown on first boot; when a game is selected, the ROM for that game is loaded into the flashcart RAM, the appropriate bank switching or mapping logic emulated, the ROM banks remapped into the console address space replacing the UI code, and the console reset or told to jump to boot the game. This doesn't work on the Atari 2600+ and 7800+ because those systems attempt to load the enti…

The boot menu uses some form of bank switching to get to the actual game ROMs and their specific switching strategy, if any. The 2600+ and 7800+ would need to know the method (a write to a specific address, perhaps) to get to the specific part of the ROM on a bank-switched game anyway. I never tried that, so I might be very wrong in my assumptions. In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI, changing the ROM…

The bank switching mechanisms in all commercially released games can be enumerated and emulated by the 2600+, but I think they just haven't gotten around to updating the firmware. Many bank-switched commercial games still don't work afaik.

Flashcarts are more of a crapshoot. They use unknown bank switching mechanisms and Atari does not want to support their use.

> In the case of the imaginary cartridge with the UI...

Not so imaginary! This is what the pack-in cart that comes with the 2600+ does, there are DIP switches for game selection on the cart itself. I don't know of any flashcarts that do even this, let alone something more sophisticated with buttons and an LCD readout like a Gotek drive emulator or something. Would be nice though...

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#75

Post by snvzz »

mattl wrote: post #49
tombert wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a substantial difference between the two?

One plays physical games

There's ways to do that with the miSTer as well.

Most don't, just because inconvenient. For most, SRAM savegame dumping is plenty.

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#76

Post by mattl »

snvzz wrote: post #75
mattl wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One plays physical games

There's ways to do that with the miSTer as well. Most don't, just because inconvenient. For most, SRAM savegame dumping is plenty.

True.

MiSTER doesn’t quite have the usability of the Analogue systems.

I use the MiSTER more for computers than consoles.

Re: Atari 2600+ vs. Atari 7800+ – Which Should You Get?

#77

Post by jmount »

snakeyjake wrote: post #59
jmount wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prior to the Internet/Web any sort of pause in software was anathema. Now AppleOS spins for 20 or 30 seconds on file security checks.

Your memory is faulty. Let's take a trip back to 1992. In 1992, unless you were rich you had a $2,000 386SX-33 sourced from parts out of the back of Computer Shopper magazine. Here is a 386SX-33 running Windows 3.1 (1992) launching WordPerfect for Windows 5.2 (1992) a perfect representation of what a normal, typical, average person in 1992 would have as a PC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYjrX2P4iY4 WordPerfect ta…

Once the editor was open- key pressed tended to be instant.
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