The Atari 2600+ Is A New Way To Play Your 2600 & 7800 Games

I didn't see this coming, but I'm glad it did. That price point is honestly not too bad, though I will probably end up grabbing the VCS instead once it drops down to that level.

Might be worth a look. Is this an emulation machine or does it use FPGA (Kevtris anyone?)?? I would love DF to do a deep dive on the 2600+ and Time Extension to do an article on the best 2600 and 7800 games.

I like the approach here, but that price feels a little given that we've had these same games through other packages multiple times. Nice to have the HDMI, but that doesn't feel like it's enough to justify the price point.

Surely everyone who likes Atari 2600 games now owns a modern way to play those games.

@UK_Kev There's a nostalgia factor for having the 2600 box sitting on the floor in front of the TV (using HDMI, lol) and a traditional joystick instead of a gamepad. I think of this more about the experience than the games themselves which can be found in other packs.

I'd like to know if this is FPGA or otherwise, but I'm still probably going to get it regardless.

@Daggot
Anyone nostalgic for the authentic Atari 2600 experience will have already invested in one of the Atari Flashback consoles or the new VCS.

Ironically, when the VCS was renamed the Atari 2600, it stopped selling because everyone who wanted one, already owned one. This is History repeating itself.

@UK_Kev I wasn't alive yet, but I understand the VCS was renamed the 2600 after the 5200 came out (and the Intellivision and ColeoVision would've been out or coming). Those also sound like reasons for the 2600 sales to reduce. Never mind, you know, Atari's failure to meet their expectation of selling Pac-Man to 120% of all 2600 owners (only obtaining a mere 70%).

From what I understand, the one Flashback that became desirable was version 2, because it was the one specially designed for knowledgeable enthusiasts to (hardware) mod it to take original carts. It was designed with Atari clone hardware.
From what I understand, the first (and maybe subsequent) model was actually Famiclone hardware running NES ports of the games. So, not exactly the same.

@BLAZINOAH I would hope it's an FPGA system at this price point. We've already had an emulation machine that takes carts with the Retron 77 at about half the price, although the Retron is 2600 games only.

It is really cool that this plays the original cartridges

@KingMike You are correct about the Flashback 2. It is essentially an "actual" 2600 in terms of the programming, and the programmers/designers of that model actually made it so if you open up the system there are spots ready where you can very simply solder a cartridge port to the board.

The first Flashback was the NES on a chip based system as you mentioned, as i believe some of the versions after the 2nd. Eventually they changed to a more "proper" 2600 emulation (which is better, but still off, especially if you're used to the actual system).

The 2600+ is definitely an emulation-based console. The CPU that powers the device is listed on Atari's website, and it's pretty comparable to what's in the RetroN 77 based on the discussion about the device over on the Atari Age forums. (One of the people that posts there works on the 2600 emulator, Stella, so they're pretty knowledgeable.) That said, the official compatibility list for the 2600+ is concerning because many of the "untested" games use the same bank-switching method. (Think larger cartridge sizes.) There's also the matter of homebrew support. Many homebrew cartridges feature additional chips which can't be dumped into a ROM image. They'll have to be emulated, and it's unclear if that'll happen or even if the device can be updated.

EDIT: Since posting, I've learned about a few promising developments. (Again, all through the discussion on Atari Age.)

1.) The 2600+'s firmware can be updated via the USB-C port.

2.) The device will use the latest version of Stella, v6.7, for 2600 emulation.

3.) The new Berzerk port is a 32K game which means the ROM dumper in the 2600+ is more sophisticated than what's in the RetroN 77.

And I also misspoke on 2600 carts with extra chips. They can't be dumped, and unless the cartridge reader functions like an actual 2600, they can't be emulated either. The RetroN 77 is only able to play them because you can load ROM's from the SD card. I'm hoping the same will be true of the 2600+ with its USB port, but nothing's been announced so far.