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Jerry Cotton posted:Would a Pong work on a modern TV? If you have coax on your TV and use a 300ohm-to-75ohm converter, maybe! Most of those old Pong console used 300ohm flat antenna leads. edit: antenna adapter snype https://www.amazon.ca/Fancasee-Matching-Transformer-Converter-Connector/dp/B07FXJBT1Q
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Dec 3, 2019 20:27
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And if your TV doesn't have any sort of tuner built in, you can plug the console into something that does have a tuner like an old VCR and then hook that up to the TV. For consoles like the 2600 that put out RF over a single cable with an RCA connector on the end, you want an adapter like this. https://www.amazon.com/Ancable-2-Pack-F-Type-Adapter-Commodore/dp/B06XSL31B3/
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Dec 3, 2019 20:37
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stevewm posted:Moon Raiders (Moon Attack?, I forgot... it was a almost space invaders like game).
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Dec 3, 2019 20:42
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There are also a ton of cheap kits on eBay (like $10 or less) that let you convert older RF only consoles to composite output. (Just an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-2600-7800-Composite-Video-Audio-Mod-AV-Kit-Assembled/174074922741?hash=item2887ac86f5:g:oGUAAOSwRSBdsRvd) The 2600 and 7800 both have readily available kits to do so.
stevewm has a new favorite as of 20:54 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Dec 3, 2019 20:42
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Dr. Quarex posted:Moon Patrol seems most likely maybe? though I also instantly thought of Demon Attack when specifically thinking about a game being more like Space Invaders. Demon Attack is it! It just kept getting harder and harder as you went on.
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Dec 3, 2019 20:43
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:And yet I played the poo poo out of it. It was so so bad. And I'm pretty sure half my gifts that year were ET themed. It was kind of a big deal that year. But it's ok because I like Reese's Pieces As long as you don't say "reesees piecees"
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Dec 3, 2019 20:48
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Cojawfee posted:As long as you don't say "reesees piecees" So would you say you hate reesees to piecees?
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Dec 3, 2019 20:54
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Reesees feces
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Dec 4, 2019 02:01
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https://mobile.twitter.com/lazygamereviews/status/1201561434343329795 I honestly look forward to this all year.
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Dec 4, 2019 02:13
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AVGN had a pretty good "pong consoles" episode years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvT8jG1OVdI
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Dec 4, 2019 04:59
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What's the explanation for why so many of those ran on batteries by default? Was it really as simple as screwing people into buying more things separately? Were AC adapters expensive things back then?
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Dec 4, 2019 05:24
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Actually, yeah. These days everyone uses switched‐mode power supplies (SMPS) which use a handful of “jellybean” circuit components. Back then, they would have used linear power supplies with relatively bulky and expensive transformer. The Apple II was pioneering in using a SMPS in 1977, but I don’t think it saved them any money, just bulk. The necessary components are much cheaper now, thanks to miniaturisation, economies of scale, and maturing manufacturing technologies. The modern equivalent in penny pinching is not including a power supply at all and expecting the customer not to be too upset because they own numerous USB‐compatible supplies already. IIRC Amazon did that with the four‐hundred‐dollar Kindle in 2007.
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Dec 4, 2019 05:38
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stevewm posted:Demon Attack is it! It just kept getting harder and harder as you went on.
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Dec 4, 2019 05:40
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Platystemon posted:Back then, they would have used linear power supplies with relatively bulky and expensive transformer. Thanks, that makes sense and now I'm probably going to spend all night reading about how power supplies work.
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Dec 4, 2019 06:29
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Platystemon posted:Back then, they would have used linear power supplies with relatively bulky and expensive transformer. Raise your hand if you've ever carried a cheaply made linear power supply outside by the cord as they internally went into nuclear meltdown. Spitting and sputtering and stinking of burned PCB until you tossed it on the driveway so it could cool off so you didn't set the dumpster on fire. 99% of them were bulletproof, but man, that 1% of cheap garbage...
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Dec 4, 2019 06:39
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RC and Moon Pie posted:AVGN had a pretty good "pong consoles" episode years ago. Clicked on this thinking it was lgr That was a rude awakening
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Dec 4, 2019 07:18
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Lotion Tester posted:What's the explanation for why so many of those ran on batteries by default? Was it really as simple as screwing people into buying more things separately? Were AC adapters expensive things back then? Didn't need to be approved by the electrical things authority. 3D Megadoodoo has a new favorite as of 09:49 on Dec 4, 2019 |
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Dec 4, 2019 09:47
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rndmnmbr posted:Raise your hand if you've ever carried a cheaply made linear power supply outside by the cord as they internally went into nuclear meltdown. Spitting and sputtering and stinking of burned PCB until you tossed it on the driveway so it could cool off so you didn't set the dumpster on fire. 99% of them were bulletproof, but man, that 1% of cheap garbage... I just had to do this about a month ago.. The cheap eBay soldering station I bought 9 years ago finally went up in smoke.. literally.. As I was soldering a large wire onto a battery tab, copious amounts of smoke started pouring out the back. I grabbed it by the cord, ripped it out of the wall, and threw it out in the front yard. Later examination revealed the transformer had went into meltdown.
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Dec 4, 2019 14:41
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Jerry Cotton posted:Didn't need to be approved by the electrical things authority. Do you mean Underwriters?
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Dec 4, 2019 16:40
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It still blows my mind that the NES used AC power and had some huge loving device inside it to convert it to DC instead of just using a DC power brick.
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Dec 4, 2019 17:54
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It's the same circuitry that would have been in the power brick. It doesn't really matter where you put it.
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Dec 4, 2019 18:00
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Chumbawumba4ever97 posted:It still blows my mind that the NES used AC power and had some huge loving device inside it to convert it to DC instead of just using a DC power brick. ..... Not sure where you get this... The original NES uses a 9VAC power adapter and has a bridge rectifier with a 17805 (yes, 17805, not 7805, but a common repair is to replace it with a 7805) 5v internal linear voltage regulator to drop it down. In fact it will actually work on a DC power supply as well.
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Dec 4, 2019 18:07
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Yeah, the biggest part was the transformer, which was actually in the (fairly large) NES brick. Except for the small rectifier that was already mentioned, they didn't move much else to the console itself.
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Dec 4, 2019 19:56
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Neito posted:Do you mean Underwriters? IDK? There's an authority in the 70s, 80s, and 90s in every market that had to approve everything that was plugged into mains power, but if you did a thing that was battery-powered then they had no say in the matter.
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Dec 4, 2019 20:53
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Jerry Cotton posted:IDK? There's an authority in the 70s, 80s, and 90s in every market that had to approve everything that was plugged into mains power, but if you did a thing that was battery-powered then they had no say in the matter. Probably these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UL_(safety_organization)
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Dec 4, 2019 21:58
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Ughh, I have bad memories as a kid of those C and D size batteries never knowing which one if any had charge. When they did they only lasted an hour. Ni-Cd were so bad, "Rechargeable" was more of a suggestion.
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Dec 4, 2019 22:09
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oohhboy posted:Ughh, I have bad memories as a kid of those C and D size batteries never knowing which one if any had charge. When they did they only lasted an hour. Ni-Cd were so bad, "Rechargeable" was more of a suggestion.
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Dec 4, 2019 22:33
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"batteries not included".
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Dec 5, 2019 00:11
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I have memories of shoving in a random mix of whatever AAs, Cs, an Ds were available (usually the dogshit grade non-alkaline "heavy duty" type that died in 5 minutes) and shimming as needed with aluminum foil. Then upgrading to "rechargeable" batteries that would lose 80% of their charge from sitting on a shelf for a day.
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Dec 5, 2019 00:31
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Fond memories of finally upgrading to ni-cads as a kid. Even if they were poo poo it owned so hard playing the gameboy or walkman without fear of running out. Being thread-appropriate I, of course, bought my first ni-cads and charger using Beenz vouchers 
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Dec 5, 2019 01:38
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Eneloops were the poo poo for a few years between the proliferation of battery‐powered devices and lithium ions trickling down from cell phones.
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Dec 5, 2019 03:55
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Eneloops are still cool and good.
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Dec 5, 2019 03:57
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Getting a big box of Pro Cell AAs as part of Christmas in the 90s was a glorious thing.
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Dec 5, 2019 05:35
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rza7rxmfOrw
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Dec 5, 2019 08:02
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What's really hosed up is that I grew up with the energizer bunny. Energizer's thing was the energizer rabbit that kept going and going. A few weeks ago, I saw a Duracell ad that had a pink bunny on it. I thought "wtf is that" and looked it up. Apparently Duracell used this pink bunny as a mascot in the early 80s to show off their batteries. Then Energizer copied the ad with their own pink bunny and then kept using it.
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Dec 5, 2019 08:18
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Cojawfee posted:What's really hosed up is that I grew up with the energizer bunny. Energizer's thing was the energizer rabbit that kept going and going. A few weeks ago, I saw a Duracell ad that had a pink bunny on it. I thought "wtf is that" and looked it up. Apparently Duracell used this pink bunny as a mascot in the early 80s to show off their batteries. Then Energizer copied the ad with their own pink bunny and then kept using it. I was in the uk a few weeks ago and saw the duracell pink bunny, I thought it was a uk thing. Real admiral crunch moment
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Dec 5, 2019 08:23
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvHtKcS1POk The only true blue energizer ad
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Dec 5, 2019 08:55
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Or this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxafIhYFOr0
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Dec 5, 2019 09:06
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The Atari 2600 had an impressive life span. Launched in 1977, with the last official games coming out in 1992.
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Dec 5, 2019 12:10
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axolotl farmer posted:The Atari 2600 had an impressive life span. Launched in 1977, with the last official games coming out in 1992. A lot of things lasted way longer than you think they did. The C64 wasn't officially discontinued until 1994, for example. I wanna say like the Dreamcast or something just halted accessory production.
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Dec 5, 2019 14:21
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