We’ll NEVER Get Another Atari Flashback like This

When you hear Atari Flashback, you probably think of AtGames. This makes sense, because they did make a lot of the Atari Flashback plug and play consoles. But the first 2 iterations were actually not. Since AtGames wasn’t involved, were these consoles any good?
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Atari Museum:
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Curt Vendel Interview:
www.escapistmagazine.com/curt...
Curt Vendel’s Response to the Flashback 1 Backlash:
forums.atariage.com/topic/605...
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:51 Atari Flashback 1
2:20 Issues
5:10 NES on a Chip
5:10 Atari Flashback 2
10:12 Atari Flashback 3
10:42 AtGames
11:22 Outtro
Special thanks to the following users from pexels.com for the stock footage:
84LENS, 霍天赐, A frame in motion, Ahmet Akpolat, Andrew Hanson, Anna Hinckel, Anvar Tushakov, Artem Podrez, Caleb Oquendo, Cottonbro, Cristian Dina, Curtis Adams, DAV Grup 1, David McBee, Distill, Drones Scot, Edward Jenner, EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA, Ekrulila, Evgenia Kirpichnikova, Free Videos, George Morina, Glen McBride, Henry, Hirsh Philippe, Hugh Mitton, Italo Melo, Jack Sparrow, Jose Carlos, Joseph Redfield, Kampus Production, Kamrul Chowdhury, Karolina Grabowska, Kelly, Kindel Media, Ksenia Chernaya, Magda Ehlers, MART PRODUCTION, Mikhail Nilov, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Mike B, Monstera, Nazim Zafri, Nicole Michalou, olia danilevich, Pavel Danilyuk, Pete Wales, pickarick, Pixabay, Polina Tankilevitch, Pressmaster, Produtora Midtrack, Rafael Moura, RDNE Stock project, Ricky Esquivel, RODNAE Productions, Ron Lach, Ruvim Miksanskiy, Sam Lastres, Sora Shimazaki, Steve B, Thirdman,Tiger Lily, Tima Miroshnichenko, Timo Volz, Tom Fisk, Tony Schnagl, Vlada Karpovich, Yan Krukov, Yaroslav Shuraev
Special thanks to streambeats.com for the music used in this video.
#atari #atgames #retrogaming

[@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.

[@TheH454]

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

[@pojr]

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

[@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 😝

[@SamuelHicks8237]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="119">1:59</a> 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.

[@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.

[@IvysChannel-kb9sn]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="235">3:55</a> 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.

[@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

[@sydneyw7375]

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

[@pojr]

@@sydneyw7375 same here. The Atari 10-in-1 was actually how I was introduced to Atari.

[@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.

[@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.

[@metronome8471]

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

[@Kaleidio]

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

[@Danyplaysboblox]

Well, I didn’t knew this till now

[@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!!

[@maliciousfry]

Thanks for being awesome, pojr!!

[@pojr]

@@maliciousfry thank you for being here!

[@urbanknish]

Another great video. Thanks Pojr!

[@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!

[@skyymega64]

yay! flashback 1 and 2 video haha, i really like the flashback 2 menu! the fact it also got some homebrews aswell is an awesome thing. the flashback 1 looks pretty nice and i like its form factor, but that and it starting the flashback series is all the nice stuff i can say about it really haha, great video! keep em coming :D

[@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.

[@10p6]

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

[@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. 👏🙏🏼

[@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.

[@BrainSlugs83]

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

[@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.

[@aytviewer2421]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@dansamolewicz3462]

None of them have Berzerk...

[@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.

[@ShinGoukiSan]

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

[@Jessiedoesyoutubee3838]

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

[@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, <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="531">8:51</a> - 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.

[@HMods1991]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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

[@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?

[@instantlymeatified]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@davidjsauder9569]

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

[@VXA1PSTART]

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

[@Sonictheoofhog4]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="515">8:35</a> 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

[@Oysterblade84]

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

[@jwsimms42]

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

[@fluffycritter]

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

[@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.

[@Riz2336]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@PhilipMarcYT]

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

[@KeithPhillips]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@user-bq3sk6ko9u]

What Atari 5200 was better 2 port or 4 port

[@HaakonAnderson]

AtGames has a perfect record of never releasing anything good.

[@user-uh4gd4od9y]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@ChrisKewl]

I call them Shatgames

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@ukchub6633]

Omg accent 😂 😂 😂

[@VEGANVANIA]

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

[@mr-monk273]

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