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@@VideoJamesNZ I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Be great if it was the Jag port which I remember being excellent, but I don’t know how feasible that would be. I would imagine the PS port wouldn’t be too bad. Duke Nukem is okay, I just need to spend more time with them. Definitely prefer the 2D ones 😁

I got that email yesterday and had a look, but sadly mine is below 2600…😢

You’re right there’s no way to calibrate the trackball in the menu. It does sound similar to my issue, which was although movement of the ball itself didn’t seem restricted, it was clear that the games and menu weren’t detecting motion consistently. It’s certainly worth having a look. Opening up the trackball won’t necessarily be super easy. I know I ended up breaking one of the clasps on one side, but I was using a screwdriver which isn’t necessarily the best tool: a thinner tool like a spudger, I think they’re called? - used for breaking the seal on small electronics - might work better. Just remember you only want to lubricate the ends of the rollers that sit in the brackets; not the rollers themselves! After that the action on the trackball was noticeably improved and it worked way better than before. You could also try to see about a replacement, but the aftermarket arcade trackballs are much larger from what I’ve seen, so it wasn’t something I seriously pursued.

@@seanraaronGreat tips, I will consider the options. Overall it seems well manufactured, such a shame they didn't QC these better. The spinner ain't bad, but the trackball is unusable. Thanks for the information as there doesn't seem to be much online on a tear down style guide. I wonder how many of these sold had this particular issue!? I really appreciate your help Sean.

@@Mindboggle100At least two 😉. If it wasn’t for the fact the trackball is used in the UI I might have accepted the wonky trackball and not played those games, but being able to sort it with a screwdriver a q-tip and a can of WD40 was worth it!

@@Mindboggle100 Firstly, cheers for the feedback 😊 The Couchcade spinner is almost certainly not as precise as a quality arcade spinner, but given the price compared to getting a custom cabinet I think it’s worth it and definitely better than using analogue or digital controls on a modern gamepad. The Atari 50 Arcade 1UP cabinet may have a better quality spinner, though I’ve not researched it so might be worth looking into if you have space for it. As far as the trackball goes, I think I had bad luck and got one that wasn’t well-lubricated, but I’m pleased with the results after opening it up to do it myself: very precise, which you need for Major Havok! If I had the space I’d probably fork out the dough for a quality custom cabinet with trackball, spinner and paddle controls. I find it quite annoying that unlike the PSOne which had the NeGCon, there are no decent analogue options for later generations of PlayStation for paddle-controlled games. At the very least it would have been nice if Atari 50 supported arcade control decks as the PC version appears to - that might be another option to investigate depending upon your home setup.

@@seanraaron Thanks Sean, coming from you I'm thinking the controls are decent at that price point? I had thought about trying to do a DIY trackball/ spinner but alway knew I needed a commercial version of some kind. LOL "if I had the space", I hear you... I hardly have space to stand up at home myself, so like you I can't fit a arcade cab of any size anywhere at home. I'd like a virtual pinball but apart from the cost, I'd need it to double up as a bed, my limited space is choka already! Well thanks for the prompt response, I appreciate the comment sections in TH-cam immensley when people bother to respond. I'm thinking if I can source a Couchcade it would be worth it, the only gripe I have is Missile Command is hardly a stess buster!! :)

@@Mindboggle100I have no regrets. Don’t play it all the time, but it’s the only way I can play Tempest with a spinner at the moment so when I get a jones it’s nice to have proper controls 😁

@@seanraaron Yea its definitely a niche item , I think it was partly made from NOS from the Projector system A1UP had. Its definitely pricey, but then again as you point out unless you got for high end ready made control decks, what else is there other than a DIY build? Honestly I'd rather spend the time earning the cost of the Couchcade, than trying to build something similar. It works well for a minority of people like me, and a few years ago this probably never woud have come to market. Everything Old is New Again, it seems! Thanks very much fo your opinions, I value the insights greatly :)

I have both Duke Nukem carts and I’m planning to do a video on them in the near future 😉 I’m an old-school arcade guy and the cart that was my “killer app” is Toaplan Arcade Collection 1, which contains Snow Bros, one of my favourite arcade games of the 90s. I also like all the love they give indie developers - it’s a great little system. If you ever take a holiday to the UK you could pick one up then!

​@@seanraaron Awesome! Looking forward seeing that. Yeah, definitely worth picking up I think. I actually dabble a bit in indie game making, myself. So that's pretty awesome!

Cheers, I thought that had some comeday value, though it was driving me nuts 😂. First one is a lot more playable, but I’ve not completed it. Too many games, not enough time!

@@seanraaron old games are keepers especially when you grew up with them They do make me laugh though I had this freind that would come over and play video games his reactions to the games were hilarious

@@alexander2685 I’m hopeful we’ll get a trackball and updated games on the 2600+ to use it properly as well 🤞

@seanraaron Having a issue I bought another one but the game console is always on red will not turn off when I press it off. Any solutions I turned my TV off but does not turn off.

@@alexander2685 If you’re referring to the Couchcade that’s a bit odd, but I’d say unplugging it should work?

@seanraaron ty soo much I thought it would turn off but the red light stays on I am going to try to use the TV usb instead of plugging it in the wall outlet maybe that would help too.🤷‍♀️🤷

@@PitfallHarry72 I saw that, so I’ll be getting some regular play with these to see if there’s a degradation in performance over time, but my out of the box experience is better than with the pack in ones so hopefully I won’t be buying a third set 🤞

Among the best of that era to be sure 😁

There are two Duke Nukem compilations and the first has Duke Nukem 1&2 and Duke Nukem 3D, so I think that has what you’re looking for there. It’s the first time a classic game has been ported to Evercade rather than emulated as well, so it’s a different experience from their other collections.

​@@seanraaron That's really cool! Did you get any of the Duke Nukem compilations? 😯 Are they only a limited run? That's so cool that they did that!

I have both of them. I’m still playing Duke Nukem 1 - it’s a long game 😅. Unlike other Evercade carts the normal in-game menus aren’t available so it has its own save/load system. It’s pretty impressive. I haven’t tried Duke Nukem 3D yet, but a homebrew FPS on Home Computer Heroes used left and right for turn instead of strafe like you’d expect and you cannot remap controls to correct this which is disappointing. I contacted support to note that every FPS under the sun going back to Wolf 3D used A and D on the keyboard for strafe movement so they should change that at a minimum and they said they’d pass it on. Haven’t popped that cart in again to see if there’s an update, but fingers crossed. Otherwise I need to learn to play with up, down and L/R triggers 😅

As far as availability goes I don’t know how big their production runs are, but I’ve never had difficulty finding carts on EBay or Amazon. I tend to pre-order from Funstock.co.uk and I’ve bought games at Argos and Game in the past - all of those are in the UK; no idea about sources outside, but the Evercade website has links to retailers so that’s a good place to look.

It would be interesting, though I suspect one limitation would be what processor is inside the box and the emulators available. Duke Nukem Collection 1 is interesting because they actually had the games recompiled to run natively rather than using a DOS emulator, so clearly if they feel the title will garner returns they’ll do a lot with it.

Noth8ng post-84 arcade-wise - I would like to have seen Atari Games titles post Atari Corp. spinoff, even as paid DLC, but Warner Interactive (IP owner) doesn’t seem to be doing anything with their classic arcade portfolio, sadly. There are Jag games for the first time in any collection, sadly not including Iron Soldier or Defender 2000, but Tempest 2000 is in there 😁👍

@@seanraaron It would of been nice to have a few of the later Arcade games. Maybe Area 51, Primal Rage, T-Mek, Pit Fighter, Guardians of the Hood, any of the Rush games. Maybe if they do a part two.

Yeah for a mid-80s arcade game it’s kinda basic, but very colourful and with a novel concept so I don’t mind 😊

It’s a really good port and that was the one I originally wanted, but I was gifted the one that came with Pac-Man 🙄😂

I can remember playing it somewhere, so I’ll add it to the list of stuff to look out for on my next trip Stateside 👍

I actually think it’s more random chance; if it hadn’t worked I’d have done another clean, but I thought it was a fun wee moment 😅

I’ve been told I look like Tom Cruise, but only when I look in the mirror 😉😂

Coming soon!

@@seanraaron WOOT! 🥳🎉

That depends on where you are I suppose. I got some at retro game shops on a trip to Chicago in October as I said in the video. I’ve also ordered from a shop in the States called Retro Raven and of course there’s eBay.

Yeah they did a good job. Next firmware update should sort a lot of issues. Really hoping Video Touch Pad support gets added so I can play Star Raiders like it was meant to be played!

@@seanraaron How do you update the Atari 2600+?

@@Mayhem_CubeHasn’t been revealed yet, but presumably some kind of software loaded from a personal computer. The USB-C connection on the machine can be used for power and data so you’d plug it into another machine. Hoping Mac and PC for whatever mechanism is used 🤞

@@seanraaron ok excellent I will check back with you real soon buddy

Better still go to the source: forums.atariage.com/topic/357384-when-will-there-be-a-scheduled-firmware-update-for-the-2600/page/8/

A firmware update is in the works that will address the PAL 7800 and homebrew cart issues.

Thanks for this, because I’ve seen pictures of the all-black and I was pretty sure I didn’t have one of those. Difficult to find photos of boxes for the 2600 - keep getting pics of just the console or games!

Yeah I just can’t remember if mine was that one or not. It came with Pac-Man and Combat and was a four-switch model, but I cannot fine the box art online to confirm if it had the wood-effect panel…

In my country (in EU) Vader was the most common version. I guess just as common as Jr. Never seen any sixers other than few US imports.

A firmware update is apparently being worked on to address 7800 and CBS game support, Robot Tank (non-working Activision title) as well as (hopefully) support for controllers like the Video Touch Pad and Trakball (CX-80?). So it’s not just being put out there and abandoned, which is good news. I also understand 2600 PAL colour issues are largely down to bad colour conversions on the original releases, so I’m not sure if there’s a fix for that or not 🤷‍♂️

Or take pics of my screen 😂

I also got my Quarter Arcade of Space Invaders Friday which is modeled on the “deluxe” release that had the image reflected onto a planet backdrop, so the licensing here seems not so complicated. Godzilla movies is a whole other story!

Yeah once I downloaded the manual I realised that 😂. Also forgot some ganes (like Breakout) will indicate number of players as well as game mode and I didn’t realise Breakout was a 1-4 player game 🙄