Most liked posts in thread: ATARI 7800 EMULATOR AND GAMES

This is most appreciated @nysavant , while I prefer using a 7800 emulator on my Dreamcast (for the controller), I am sure this .zip file contains some games I don't have, that I can transfer to CD and play on my DC 7800 emulator. Thanks!

 

I picked up a 7800 last year with one 7800 pad. I did a composite mod on it so it doesn’t need to use the RF anymore. Though the only game I have for it is Ballblazer apart from the in built Asteroids. There was talk of a 7800 game drive on AA but I’m not sure what is happening with that. I keep meaning to pick up some more games for it but other stuff keeps getting in the way.
Is this the emulator that the 2600+ uses?

I agree with Al on the Asteroids comment, it really is very good and my favourite version, though I do have a soft spot for minesweeper on the Vectrex

 

Hi Richie

The composite mod is just about essential I would say, RF output is really poor on the 7800.
I think the 2600+ uses the same emulator.

I have been keeping my eyes open for an original 7800 at a reasonable price but haven't found anything yet that has the required composite mod.

And the 7800 GameDrive is now available. It comes with a built in RGB connection as well which is pretty cool and they also have an adaptor that lets you use a Megadrive controller with the console. Can't remember the price off hand, but think it works out nearer £200 by the time you add both drive and adaptor together.

p..s Vectrex in a class of its own with those awesome vector graphics!

 

The only problems with real hardware are parts / repairs and space. It's ok if you have a mansion like Lord Andy, but us ordinary folk sometimes must live in a flat, and flats these days are NOT spacey (nor are new houses to be fair, we were looking at a place back then and the front room was smaller than my bog (really)).

My man cave is the bedroom and even with most of the consoles simply stacked up (ie not setup) it takes just under half of the room. My desk has my C64 and Atari800XL on one side and my mini PC, broadband box and PS5 on the other side, there's hardly any arm room on the desk. Thankfully the new PC gave me a good chunk back but then had the PS5 added.

I love the real hardware but it has it's woes...

PS, badly wanted a Vectrex back in the day but it never happened and now the prices are just silly..Emulation wins again...How do you like the BigPemu Al, even on my old PC it was like a rocket and the emulation is stunning, Rich has done a stonking job, just hope his cancer is on the mend..

 

Damnit. Sitting in Gregg's having a coffee and I browsing eBay when I bought an original 7800 'by accident'. Oops lol

 

Accident....Involuntary Ebay buys, could be serious...See a Vet quick..

 

It's so sunny in Scotland I'm going for a walk along the beach after I have lunch

You'll be glad to hear I'm not ignoring my second home though. Just booked up for two holidays down Scarborough way in 2024

 

Joking aside, you have to nail that Visa down asap. I can't have credit cards after the house went, but the truth is that I don't want them, I like to know exactly what I have, and a flexible friend easily turns in to a stiff enemy. Oh, guys, be warned of a scam doing the rounds. There a debt company called Lowell who keep sending out threat letters re debts with 3 Mobile. I got one on Saturday, told me I owed 206.86 for my contract with 3 Mobile not being paid. Now that's weird for 2 reasons, one, none of us have ever used 3 Mobile and secondly, because of my credit history the only phones I can get is pay as you go.

Now I researched it straight away and there's a LOT of people being threatened by them, even BBC Watchdog did an episode on them (shows how long it's been going on). SO I rang 3 Mobile, game them the details from the letter and they said "we can't find you on our database" and when asked about the apparent account number for the contract they responded that it's not a contract they recognise.

So come the morning, there will be a very stern phone call...The daft thing, even if you had a debt, they have no powers to ask for a bailiff or the like (something the letter threatens), all they can do is bombard you with letters. You can combat it by asking them for proof of the debt, and they have 30 days to provide that, if they don't then they are breaking the law.

So guys, be careful out there, there are so many scams going on, and they rely on scared or old people to pay up because of the threat of bailiffs and court....Pretty shitty scumbags

 

It's an unfair comparison, the 7800 was marketed as a console when it's main guts were that of a computer but with mild upgrades. The NES on the other hand was sold as a console and that is exactly what it was, a gaming console. The problem here is Atari trying to reinvent items as something else.

They paid the price for all this..

 

i think the problem was the 7800 was sat in limbo while Atari was bought out.If it had come out earlier it might have had a better reception from the VCS owners. They just missed the window and when it came out it was outdated compared to the NES and Master System.To be honest a lot of the 7800 games weren't fantastic aside from Ballblazer.

That said I use mine as my default VCS machine once I had calibrated the TIA properly, I only have Ballblazer for the 7800 and I don't plan to get anymore for the forseeable.

 

I've spent some time today playing about with a 7800 emulator on the PSP handheld. A lot of the PAL images didn't seem quite right, but NTSC worked perfectly so I now have a 'handheld 7800'

 

Took your time Andy lol.
7800 is a great machine. Best versions of Asteroids and Centipede anywhere

 

The GSP is a great alternative Andy, especially with the price of some of the harder to obtain 7800 titles. The Trebor rom collection gives you everything you need in the one place. I still want a 7800 though, because it would like nice next to my other Atari stuff lol. Also got my eyes on a VCS 800 and a Sega Saturn at some point then I think I am all set with a complete original hardware collection. Everything else I'm happy to emulate. In fact I've just downloaded the latest BigP Jaguar emulator as well

 

Fair dos, Al - you like to have the real McCoy hardware and display it, enjoy it, play it etc but I've found in the past that what I thought I might like to have retro micros-wise... just ends up being unloved and I never have enough time to play em all so some lovely systems...ie. Atari 800 and 1200XL have come, been admired - for sure - but then gone again as that special chemistry (yep, just like with our exes) just aint there and it always comes down to those first loves - the machines we had back in the day - being the deepest and most cherished loves which stay as they have the most meaning in our lives.

I saw a lovely 7800 the other day for £50 with 9 carts and a controller but no PSU... I was tempted, but I've now let it go and will get a GSP real soon. A replacement PSU alone was gonna cost me anything between £20-30 so forget that.


Just £50 - available over at:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1371988156744752/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:c7d2eebb-0a49-40fe-86ac-a6446c133ee2

Looks like 8 of the carts are for the 7800: Ace of Aces, Ballblazer, Skiing, Kareteka, Xevious, Joust, Desert Falcon, Food Fight... bloody good value for the games alone, guys?


I'm not too sure what a VCS800 is (I know, I should stop being a lazy get and look it up!) but I certainly know about Sega Saturns and I know a couple of you guys on here (Matt, Robofruit, Manu?) also enjoy to play this system. If I see any bargains around I'll let you know, mate.

 

I saw that one earlier Andy. Always wary when no PSU is included though. But yes pretty good value for the games. If it was local I'd go and pick it up just for them maybe.

The VCS 800 is the retro looking PC in a 2600 style case (Matt has one). I just like the look of it and fancy it as a Steam and Atari Vault gaming system, and of course something to tinker with.

As for original hardware, I've got to have my 800XL and ST (or two) but happy to use Amiga and C64/Vic under the mini/full size consoles. Also have my tank like 800 which I just think is an awesome piece of physical engineering

 

True Paul. I'm lucky enough to have a second bedroom that doubles as my man cave / office. It's filled with all sorts of retro bits these days, but if I had to use the living room I'd need to restrict myself to what would fit on a desk so probably the PC and 800Xl.

 

I'm very accident prone today, just purchased a Gameboy game from CEX as well and I still haven't been to my pals retro warehouse yet....

 

And get yourself to Scarborough sometime mate. We could have a forum meetup with Andy.

 

All joking aside Andy, best be sensible with debt. I speak from the experience of spending years in a Trust Deed after letting debts mount after a business venture went wrong. So yes, stuff is nice but you can't put a price on peace of mind and paying off the card(s) will help give you that.

In the meantime we have emulation and this cool little corner of the internet to hang around in and natter with each other so all good.

By the way fellas, would any of you like an introduction to my cousin, he is a Nigerian prince looking for someone to help with an investment....

 

Always had a soft spot for Big Rick, his was the first compact disc I ever bought and think I've seen him live three or four times now! Andy, I'll text you (get a phone that can handle Whatsapp man!) with the dates and see if we can maybe arrange a summit in Bridlington to put the world to rights and share some poptastic 80's tunes over a fish supper

 

It would be nice to think a few of us could meet up at some point right enough. It was good to meet Andy the last time and he is just as friendly as he comes across online

Are you down South somewhere Paul? If I ever venture far enough down that way I'll be sure to let you know!

As for music, I like a bit of cheesy 80's pop now and again even if Country is my main thing these days. In fact the last CD I bought a couple of weeks ago was Erasure Greatest Hits and before that, Paul Heaton's cracker of an album Last King of Pop.

 

I'm just on the outskirts of West London Al, a little place called Northolt. So basically the other end of the country to you and Andy. As for me, I'm what you saw on the video chats, friendly and get on with folk. The old pain gets me down sometime but I'm usually laughing with the wife and daughter.

Musicwise, I'm an old school Jazz Funk person BUT I listen to lots of various types of stuff from the 70's and 80's, can't say I'm very Country but when you had an alcoholic dad who played Johnny Cash records all day and night it tends to put you off (a bit). Not brought music in ages, my spare crumbs go on Blu rays off ebay (MusicMagpie, excellent). I do love a film.

Oh, saw it was the 2600+ that was screwed up, glad I made a mistake as you were so enjoying the GPS (?) 7800 thing.

 

If you are coming down the A1 you should call in and say hello and have a cuppa )

 

Atari's new 2600+ is 7800 compatible with built-in HDMI out. I'd get one myself if I didn't already have the original of both. You get on 2600 joystick with the system and there were only 2600 controllers for sale at Atari separately, but I noticed just now that They just released a CX78 two button controller for it to buy separately. Just an option for something new you know is working and it may be less than a used 7800. It's $30 more than the GSP, but you can use real cartridges, including Atari Age's new Game Drive SDcard cart for the 7800. GSP is a cheaper alternative and it has a micro SD card slot, but it doesn't say much about adding game roms not included. Just another option to think about.

Both are available direct from Atari at their site (And of course the VCS 800 too). GSP $99.99, 2600+ $129.99, VCS 800 $239.99 (All in bundle with classic and modern controllers), VCS 800 base unit $159.99 (All USB controllers & peripherals are compatible as well as 360/Xbox One controllers), VCS base unit w/plug-n-play PC mode USB thumb drive $191.99.

https://atari.com/

 

Unfortunate thing is that here in the UK it's pretty hard to get a hold NTSC cartridges and the 2600+ is having hassle with lots of 7800 carts as well as the 50/60Hz screen refresh. I'm beta-testing the latest firmware still and finding lots of weirdness happening in different games at different stages. It doesn't work with the GameDrive either, just Dragonfly with a single image installed for the time being.

I saw some pre-production photos of the CX78 but don't think it has been released yet. My 2600+ will be going back to Amazon at the end of this week, hopefully around the same time as my EBay purchase of a 7800 gets delivered.

For now, the GSP is doing a sterling job. It's really easy to add new Roms to the SD Card and I have the full Trebor collection just now. The speed different between PAL and NTSC carts can be pretty big, the latter making it difficult to go back to the inferior PAL versions.

The VCS 800 is very tempting, I'd love one if they were easily available in the UK and I had the spare cash. Got an electric bike for sale just now and if that goes then I might treat myself to an import