We’ll NEVER Get Another Atari Flashback like This

[@SamuelHicks8237]

1:59 They probably didn't feel like recreating ninja golf considering how they couldn't even get asteroids right

[@pojr]

True. I was thinking that. Can't imagine it would have turned out well.

[@BretMix]

Great video as always. As others have commented, the Flashback 2 is unique amongst all the others due to its ability to add a cartridge port... You should take it apart and look at the board. Not only can you add a port, but (at least on the one I have) the connection points have silkscreened labeling to tell you where to connect the wires! They went through a few revisions, so your mileage may vary, but definitely worth a shot. On a different note, something that might have been good to mention is that Curt Vendel tragically and unexpectedly died in 2020. He was only 53. I hate to see anyone with that kind of passion go away, particularly when it comes to the games I love. RIP Curt...

[@pojr]

@@BretMix I appreciate that! It's really cool that you can add a cartridge port to it, it really shows that it truly was the real Hardware on the chip. Sorry to hear about Curt Vendel.

[@theyeeter5171]

Fun Fact: The original Flashback is a Famiclone

[@larrylaffer3246]

It's also the only one to not be 2600-shaped. It's 7800-shaped, it even came with 2 NA Atari 7800 Controllers.

[@CallousCoder]

@@larrylaffer3246exactly they are NES controllers.

[@larrylaffer3246]

@@CallousCoder No if they were the EU Atari 7800 Controllers then I'd agree with you. Those ones were setup similar to an NES Controller.

[@pojr]

@@theyeeter5171 indeed lol

[@CallousCoder]

@@larrylaffer3246 what I mean is these joysticks operate exactly like an NES joystick with the serial communication. Hence also the pause and select buttons. If you make a converter you can actually attach these to your NES and have a terrible time playing it 🤣Because the flashback one is just an NES. As the guy told very late on 😝

[@Badspot]

Incredibly short development cycle? Shortsighted compromises in hardware? Rushing to hit Christmas? The first flashback sounds like the embodiment of classic Atari.

[@pojr]

@@Badspot absolutely lol.

[@ghostbombl8034]

You can mod a slot to play most real Carthage but there's a catch that theres one pin missing so you can not play all Carthage but most after mods on flashback 1 and 2.

[@AlphaZeroX96]

Yep. Atari being Atari as always.

[@theblindbluebomber1666]

I remember reading on an old O'Reilley Hacks book that the Flashback 2 had a header on the board you could attach an actual cart port to and play arbitrary 2600 games. Don't know if it's true but it sounds like something he'd do.

[@poni_poki]

I used to play the Jakks Pacific one when I was little and that was my introduction to Atari games!

[@pojr]

@@poni_poki same here. The Atari 10-in-1 was actually how I was introduced to Atari.

[@ferndog1461]

8:16 Quad Run, if there is no digitalized voice in the opening demo, the flashback is counterfeit batch that was sold via Kroger's supermarkets.

[@GlensRetroShow]

Atari flashback 2. If you were so inclined, you can actually put a real Atari 2600 cartridge connector to play real game carts in here and it would play it. You needed a switch to go between the internal 40 games and the new cards disconnect you put on there but the flashback 2 is definitely the best of the bunch

[@JustinEmlay]

It doesn't support bank switching so over 50 Atari carts wont even work.

[@eyevou]

Thanks for being awesome, pojr!!

[@pojr]

@@eyevou thank you for being here!

[@tschak909]

I was a long time friend and colleague of Curt Vendel, who was Legacy Engineering, and Westchester Technologies. He passed away in 2020. He developed the first two Flashbacks for Atari. The first Flashback, was an NES on a Chip (we call them NOACs), with the software development happening via a small contract team in Japan. Curt wasn't very happy with the design (it wasn't his choice, the turn-around had to be extremely quick.) and managed to convince Atari to fund the development of a complete implementation of 6507 + TIA + RIOT on a single ASIC. Atari agreed, and roughly half a million USD was funded into doing prototyping on FPGA, and ending up as a final mask on high speed CMOS process. Roughly a million chips were made in that run. (and yes, as others have noted, Curt left solder pads for a 24 pin edge connector, for a cartridge slot.) The success of the Flashback 1 and 2, lead to Atari tapping Curt for future projects (e.g. Guitar Hero, Kiss Edition), but after a tumultuous amount of drama with Atari management (they ran off with his guitar prototype and had a factory in China knock it off, without paying Curt), Curt declined further contract work, so the future Flashbacks were done as emulations, as Atari did not want to finance another run of ASICs. Don't ever do work for the toy industry, fellas. Curt was one of the last of a dying breed. He had no problem digging down into gate level design when needed, and knew exactly how to make a million of something. None of the current generation of engineers can do what he did, and that's why all of these later Flashbacks are just emulators on garden variety ARM boards you can pluck off a shelf in Shenzen.

[@10p6]

Interesting video. I am amazed you did not include that the Flashback 2 can be hacked to use real 2600 Cartridges.

[@GiuseppeDmusic]

I'm a big Atari guy, I had the first Flashback and gave that away a while back since getting the 9 and then getting the VCS (the new onyx 800 as well as owning an modded original Darth Vader). The facts on this compelled me to find and grab one. Thanks!

[@metronome8471]

RIP Curt. Your contribution will not be forgotten. Also all of the Flashback 1 ports work in NES emulators.

[@MadsterV]

this is what I was wondering, thanks!

[@techdistractions]

My little flashback 2 is sitting in the display cabinet. The detail and game selection was pretty good but it would be nice if Activision licensed some of its content without charging the earth. Those titles really make the vcs sing

[@FeralInferno]

These Flashback systems are on a quest for identity in the United States

[@PhilipMarcYT]

MAGA - Make Atari Great Again

[@FeralInferno]

@@PhilipMarcYT we will make Asteroids great again.. we will make Centipede great again.. we will even make Crystal Castles great again. And we will Make Atari Great Again!!

[@Indyizzy2300]

I always liked how the original Flashback had it's own unique look. Even if based on the 7800, but goddamn those later ones are ugly with the big plastic buttons. I get why they did it but tbh they didnt need to, the first looked unique and stood out

[@ajboomer1347]

The only thing I can praise about Return to Haunted House is that short rendition of the famous Mysterioso Pizzicato tune that plays as you boot up the game (though one part of it is a bit out of tune)!

[@BrainSlugs83]

I love how confused Pojr always looks during the intro... Like, "This is Pojr... Coming at you with another video?" Never change bro.

[@aytviewer2421]

Maze Craze was awesome back in the day. We used to play it for hours!

[@dereketnyre7156]

My Atari 2600 was always connected to a black and white console TV - so seeing them in color is odd ….. lol

[@metronome8471]

Play in monochrome and vibe with a 70s playlist.

[@UnprofessionalFlip]

Ah man. Super interesting to learn about the Flashback 2, but now I’m in a predicate. I bought an Atari 7800 and the Atari Flashback 2 on Facebook Marketplace for $20. The 7800 had broken controller ports and I didn’t have interest in the Flashback, so I disassembled it. Sure enough, the controller ports on the Flashback were nearly identical to the 7800 ports. Pulled them from the Flashback and installed them on the 7800. Now my 7800 works great. Well then I watch this video and now I’m interested in checking out the Flashback 2… I guess I’ll need to find another broken Flashback and keep swapping ports indefinitely.

[@eDoc2020]

Atari joysticks are based on standard D-Subminiature ports. I'm sure standard DE-9 ports will fit with only a little modification.

[@MadMan3498]

You missed the best part, the Flashback 2 could be modded to play original cartridges, alas in never had the technical know how to do something like that but it was a cool feature. It's also disappointing that neither Atari or At Games never made a model with a cartridge port already built in.

[@Earths1stgamer]

The first one was suppose to be a 20th anniversary (1984-2004) 7800 tribute im not sure when they made it they ever intended to make another one.

[@TBustah]

The shell of the first one looks good, at least. I’m not much of an Atari fan, but if I found one of those in a thrift store, I might use it as a retro Pi case.

[@ShinGoukiSan]

The best part of Flashback 2 was they sold a kit to add a Cartridge slot to it.

[@PitfallHarry72]

That was nice, but I found the best part to be that it was just like an original system. There was no controller lag and the two hidden paddle games didn't have movement jitter, both of which occur on consoles that use emulation.

[@KeithPhillips]

"Babe, wake up. A new POJR video just dropped." 😄

[@Funnyguy-cq7rg]

the code for the 2 games is 1971 in the flashback 2 (up 1 down 9 up 7 down 1) just so you know.

[@waynerowlinson6177]

I have all of the Flashback consoles up to 9, and the Flashback Blasts. I haven't opened the Blast units as I've already seen how bad they are from online reviews. I got them for $6 each at Walmart, so figured why not. As for the regular Flashback consoles, the only one I didn't like was the original. I thought it was neat when it first came out, but don't think I played any of the games for more than a couple of minutes. You are right, Asteroids was a huge disappointment. Thanks for the video.

[@metronome8471]

Kept a blast unit in my workbag.

[@AaronC143]

I have Atari Flashback systems 1 and 9. I also have the plug and play joystick.

[@SamuelHicks8237]

I love the 7800 but i don't think i've held a single vertical game controller that felt good Well maybe the guitar hero controller but other than that

[@instantlymeatified]

That flashback is just nes hardware because they said it was close enough to 7800 hardware

[@KayoMichiels]

6:06 Except... genuine Atari Controllers.. had a hexagon shaft, not an octagon...

[@Oysterblade84]

Awesome video! Shame Atari chose the software emulation route in the end with ATGAMES.

[@MadsterV]

so you're telling me they PORTED all those Atari 2600 games to NES, and there's unique variations that run on original hardware for Flashback 2?

[@anon_y_mousse]

I can't quite agree vis-à-vis real hardware, but only as it compares to emulators done properly. If it's a lazy job, then yeah, an emulator will always suck by comparison, but if done well, you get extra features. Higher quality displays, more input options, save states and rewinding. Real hardware can't compete with that.

[@ghostbombl8034]

11:20 If its nes chip I wonder if you can mod it to play or put on nes roms? You can put a real working cart slots in flash back 1 and 2 but theres a catch,its missing one pin so you can not play all carts but most.

[@techdistractions]

Not really - nes-on-chip is usually found underneath those big gobs of epoxy (the big black round dots) and theyre designed to be sealed shut unfortunately

[@Riz2336]

I still think Atari 50 is the way to go especially now since they’re going to release a new expansion version

[@urbanknish]

Another great video. Thanks Pojr!

[@seansretroverse9082]

I am surprised you didn't mention that the Flashback 2 was designed to be able to mod in a cartridge port to play real cartridge games.

[@JustinEmlay]

Because it's not worth mentioning. Tons of carts wont work with it.

[@BeefJerkey]

I had a Flashback 5. Poor quality. Joysticks started to have issues, some games slowed down, and now the machine doesn't even work (not exactly sure why, though there is a chance someone killed it with the wrong power supply). I had fun with it years ago, but now, I stick to an original console.

[@scottishcomedian1769]

This console is older than me

[@CallousCoder]

Edit: oh he got there. The Flashback “one” isn’t an Atari and the games aren’t Atari games they are remakes on basically an NES. That piece of shit is just an NES on a chip with rewritten games. I’m actually going to hack mine to put a pi zero in it.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

I have a Flashback 3, I tried plugging in some original paddle controllers, and they did not work properly, also for some reason a Sega Genesis controller doesn't work either. I guess the internal hardware or something in the software is different than in an original Atari 2600 or 7800. 😭😭😭(i guess because it's emulated, which is what i had suspected) 😡 edit: also, the joysticks that come with the Flashback 3 are not the same material quality as original controllers, the joystick will snap off with hard use, although you can still use it without the stick like a giant d-pad. it can probably be re-attached with a big wood screw and some epoxy, but...meh.

[@HaakonAnderson]

AtGames has a perfect record of never releasing anything good.

[@jwsimms42]

What were the differences between the Flashback 2 and the Flashback 2+?

[@JustinEmlay]

Different games. Activision backed out.

[@PhilipMarcYT]

Hey, will you review Atari Mania? Seems an interesting game.

[@pqsk]

I guess they wanted to recreate why Atari never stayed king of the hill. 😹😹😹

[@PitfallHarry72]

The original Flashback was garbage, but the Flashback 2 was great. My only complaint is the buttons. They should have been switches, like on the original system and the latest flashbacks. I wish I still had my Flashback 2, but in a series of unfortunate events involving my "always wanting to be helpful" cat, I ended up cracking the system board while opening it up to check the board revision for the sake of modding. It's unfortunate that they didn't go a similar way with the Atari 2600+, as in replicating a 7800 system on a chip. Don't get me wrong, I like the 2600+, but it would have been so much better than using emulation. Not as upgradeable, but the gameplay would have been more like the original system, not having the controller lag and paddle jitter that's inherent to emulation.

[@JustinEmlay]

Saying it's original hardware is not correct at all. Think of it as a single core FPGA. Not only that but the core sucks and needs a lot of work. If you install the cart mod, prepare to be disappointed because the last time I checked over 50 carts don't work. If I remember right, I believe the cart part of the core doesn't support bank switching so it wont even work on anything but 4k carts.

[@ChrisKewl]

I call them Shatgames

[@burleighking7143]

Great job POJR Great video!!

[@CadenPiper-f3e]

What Atari 5200 was better 2 port or 4 port

[@madmax2069]

Whichever one that doesn't have the TV adapter that has the power port on it. But regardless, the 5200 joysticks are highly problematic.

[@CadenPiper-f3e]

@@madmax2069 I just got a 4 port and it seems to be just fine. The controllers are shit though

[@madmax2069]

@@CadenPiper-f3e the controllers are only good for games where analog was the primary focus for the control method, bit even then it's like a thumbstick on a modern controller that has not center return. In games where a D-pad type input of the primary focus like Pac-Man or Ms Pac-Man the analog joystick really blows.

[@linsdudu]

Not NES on a Chip but System on a Chip (SOC).

[@smheath]

No, it really is an NES on a chip. You can even rip the ROMs and play them on an NES emulator.

[@JustinEmlay]

And they are called NOAC

[@HELPMYCAPSLOCKISSTUCK]

OMG I love the part when the female owner came in the locker room and tapped on the dude's jockstrap cup. lol

[@duhmez]

I have the rare and awesome an dsought after minty fresh Flashback 2. 2 fo them actualy hit me up if aynone wants to vbuu

[@heidiadewale7865]

Lazy content stop please 🙏

[@meeiclonn5486]

These ancient "games" should be given away for free because they aren't worth a penny.only jaguar games are actually games

[@turbomario]

This is the most delusional take i’ve ever seen

[@mr-monk273]

No views 0 likes bro “didn’t” fell off

[@TheH454]

The Flashback 2 can be modded to add a cartridge port.

[@pojr]

Very true! One of the best way to play 2600 games

[@JustinEmlay]

Except it's pointless as over 50 carts don't work. It doesn't support bank switching unless you have the last board revision and even then it's hit and miss.

[@IvysChannel-kb9sn]

3:55 I think it's the first time I see Pojr using the isolated track instead of gameplay sound

[@pojr]

I was going to use the gameplay sound, but the isolated track better proved my point.

[@Larry]

I remember when the Flashback 2 came out, people were modding it to accept real 2600 cartridges! There should be a few videos on KZbin still! But porting 40 games in two months??? That means they had only two days per game to port!

[@ghostbombl8034]

The flash back 2 had a missing pin so only certain carts play.

[@JustinEmlay]

@@ghostbombl8034 Nah, the reason the other carts don't play is because the FB2 doesn't support bank switching. I believe a later revision fixed that but it's still hit and miss.

[@ghostbombl8034]

@@JustinEmlay thank you for clearing that up.I read a lot tgey missing a pin but I see what you are saying.🙂

[@georgef551]

Battlezone, and others definitely look like an NES port (note the "No Man's Land" background color areas the Ataris didn't have). I bet there's 2 lines of this at the bottom as well.

[@Danyplaysboblox]

Well, I didn’t knew this till now

[@davidjsauder9569]

The Atari 2600+ actually uses Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 cartridges

[@Kaleidio]

Woah wait ACTUALLY? I had the Flashback 3! I had no clue! That console is long gone now...

[@dansamolewicz3462]

None of them have Berzerk...

[@AaronC143]

That's because it's a licensed game. Atari didn't have the license for it until now. So, they couldn't add it.

[@JosiahGould]

Fun fact about the Flashback 2 - if you get an Atari 2600/7800 cartridge port there are solder points on the mainboard to connect it. Attach a switch or jumper to a point to disable the internal games and you have a legit Atari 2600 with composite out. The original plan was to have a cart port, but they cost way too much to get recreated at the time.

[@TopSpot123]

I came to mention the same. Do you know how many revisions of the Flashbacks 2 there are and if this is true of each of them?

[@Chilling4Shillings]

🧢

[@JosiahGould]

@@TopSpot123 At least two, the original with the Quadrun voice big, and a fix revision after a few months. All of the Flashback 2 boards should have the solder points, but they might not be silkscreened.

[@TopSpot123]

@@JosiahGould I have one of the Flashback 2s, but I'm not sure which revision. I was lucky to get one before I even knew it was original hardware.

[@ghostbombl8034]

.yea but its missing a wire so most not all carts can be played and tgeres a way to switch it on or off

[@AngryCalvin]

I had the 2+ and also the 4 or 5. There was an enormous difference with the controls. The games that were made for the paddle controller worked fine with the 2 version or the authentic hardware. This was not the case on the newer model I had. In fact they sold the paddle controller separately so you would need to buy them for the paddle games. I liked having a bigger library but not if I couldn’t play them decently. It’s also hard to beat the Activision classics even if it’s just Pitfall and River Raid. The 2 was definitely by far the best make for the Atari Flashback because of the original hardware. I’m sure it probably emulated much better also.

[@Sonictheoofhog4]

8:35 this is just donkey kong except donkey kong also has an atari version so this looks like they wanted to put atari donkey kong on the system but had to just make their own game due to nintendo owning it

[@fluffycritter]

It's funny how even now Atari is only giving engineers ridiculously brief time windows to create entire products from scratch.

[@intel386DX]

How the game select menu looks so nice on flashback 2? And from where to download thsie 40 roms for it? Is a menu ROM too?

[@HMods1991]

I was waiting for you to mention the hidden cartridge port on the flashback 2 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Nancy-hy5so]

Seems like At Games would of been better and that's saying something since screwed up the Sega Genesis one, I have Miyoo Mini plus and has 7800 games on it and they seems to be like the original unfortunately I don't like Atari games or any of the consoles so I will never play them except what I played when I got them just to see what they were like. I mostly play PS crash bandicoot 3 and Gameboy original games and advance which plays well.

[@KenHauptfleisch]

I think you do a good job, I like thorough research you seem to do, I like the format you use to lay out your videos, and the charm of you looking like a 5th grader giving a book report is a nice touch, but too many damn Atari videos!!!! Now I'll admit I may have missed where it was laid out that this was your thing and if I did, I humbly foot in my mouth apologize, I may have discovered you in a branching out phase. I just think you are better than always regurgitating 2600 content

[@metal_kitsune]

So basically, I'd be better off getting the original hardware or the Flashback 2. Otherwise I might as well just emulate them with my pc.@games sucks. lol

[@kevinlawson1746]

A Flashback 2+ was also made and most people don't include the system when talking about Flashbacks. I don't think it's an Atgames product.

[@64_three]

I bought the flashback 2 at a thrift store for less than 20 something dollars, still the best purchase I've ever made at thrifting of any kind

[@VEGANVANIA]

This video is inside out clickbait: I'll call it baitclick.

[@ice_cube8302]

The best flashback console is still the tg 16 one. The controllers that came with it are fucking awesome.

[@Clancydaenlightened]

Well I have prototype PCB designs of an "Atari flashback" Doesn't use an asic Actually has a full 6502, and some hardware exploits using the 6502 instead of 6507, and has a display coprocessor similar to antic but with support for display list that can perform memory operations 18x faster than CPU Using the hardware black magic and glue logic you should run stock 2k and 4k ROMs fine Don't need none of of 2600 bankswitch trickery with r/w and a12-a15 Up to 128k of ram and ay8930 mixed with tia for stereo audio that can beat a c64 Effectively an Atari 2600 designed to make sense when you program it to the average noob All them want framebuffers and bitmaps need memory and shit.... I haven't checked bom list You can make asic repros of tia so it can be cheaper If you use real c010444d you talking over 100 per unit However you can fit the expansion circuitry on a daughter board and if you have a socketed 2600 you can remove the 6507 and plug the board in, plug ram, 6502, cpld and sram

[@Clancydaenlightened]

You actually have interrupt driven graphics support and hi res tia graphics modes More than 262lines

[@ukchub6633]

Omg accent 😂 😂 😂

[@RandomHajile-j7z]

The good ol’ days!

[@ultralance]

Came for the Flashback 2, walked away with a newfound respect for the Flashback 1 - it might still suck but my god, it's *astoundingly* impressive how quickly they put that together, especially considering all the games had to be essentially ported to NES. Also, 8:51 - you can use the paddles with the Flashback 2 version of Pong. Just start the game, unplug the joystick, switch to paddles. Only real issue I have with the Flashback 2 is that you can't use the paddles to select games in the menu... like it's an Atari, you shouldn't need a controller to start your games in the first place. lol Beyond that one gripe, it's a rough tie with the 7800 for my favorite Atari console variant; Flashback 2 is 100% the best option if you're on a tight budget and/or like to tinker with things so you can add a cartridge port for 2600 games. Seriously, they're all of like, $20 to $25 used with all controllers, cables, and the built-in 40 games.

[@VXA1PSTART]

I don't think anyone who watched this knew from before

[@visitperaiagreece]

I am so glad you did a video on this! I was lucky enough to get one of these (Flashback 2) when they came out. It would be so great if they could do this with other minis.

[@mixedhairless]

I have these two flashbacks 1&2 still in an unopened box. Thanks to you I now know how they play, as I avoided any mention before. 👏🙏🏼

[@joesaiditstrue]

As someone who grew up with an Atari 2600, I just don't see the nostalgia for any Atari console, Atari was literally the reason why video gaming almost died because the vast majority (over 90% easily) of games for the system were straight cash grabs and trash.

[@metronome8471]

found the Intellivision fan.

[@HosneElJouahari]

fpga power atari 2600 clone system please release it in the next year