8 replies to this topic

[MrBeefy]

So was kinda looking at the XM thing...go look at my 7800... no Expansion slot.... So I can't use the XM or the games that come out for it can I?

[GroovyBee]

If your cart slot is blocked you can't use the XM . The XM sits on top of the 7800 and plugs into the standard cart slot. 2600/7800 and XM games then plug into the top of it.

[AtariNerd]

Yep, the XM works on all 7800, whether they be NTSC, PAL or SECAM, with the auxiliary port or not. If it is a 7800 with a cartridge slot, it will probably work.

[MrBeefy]

... lol I thought the XM was going to be using the expansion slot?....

[atarigal]

MrBeefy, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:23 PM, said:

... lol I thought the XM was going to be using the expansion slot?....

That's what I thought, too. I'm glad you asked.

[kool kitty89]

MrBeefy, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:23 PM, said:

... lol I thought the XM was going to be using the expansion slot?....

The expansion port was pretty useless. It was sort of a pipedream that was mainly intended for use with a laserdisc player and not good for much else.

Luckily, GCC also thought ahead and added some nice provisions for expansion on the cart slot with the irq, audio input, phi 2, read/write, etc. (on top of all 16 address lines, 8-bit data, 5V DC power, ground, etc)

Actually, there's very few systems that add useful things on the expansion port compared to the cart slot.
The PC Engine and maybe Colecovision would be among the few exceptions. (both of those squandered the potential though: the PCE bared luned the expansion port -no use of the video expansion support, VRAM bus, etc, etc- and the CV had the super game module dropped and an incredibly wasteful "add-on" version of the Adam which didn't make use of the CV hardware at all, but just passed through audio/video -rather pointless really, they probably should have just offered trade-ins for CVs to normal Adams -of course the Adam was a mess anyway)

Edited by kool kitty89, Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:12 PM.

[HammR25]

So I guess now it's a happy day.

[DracIsBack]

MrBeefy, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:23 PM, said:

... lol I thought the XM was going to be using the expansion slot?....

There's not enough of those out there to make that approach viable. If I remember right, only the very first 7800s off the line have them.

[kool kitty89]

DracIsBack, on Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:37 AM, said:

MrBeefy, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:23 PM, said:

... lol I thought the XM was going to be using the expansion slot?....

There's not enough of those out there to make that approach viable. If I remember right, only the very first 7800s off the line have them.

Plus that slot is totally worthless for that sort of expansion . . . or almost any expansion for that matter.

The cart slot is a REAL general purpose expansion port, the "expansion port" is a very specific and limited multimedia interface for analog video and audio with a few digital control lines. (specifically intended for a laser disc player interface for analog audio and video as well as control signals to drive the LD player -or middleman interface- via the 7800 CPU)

There were similar considerations with the colecovision that never reached fruition. (that also led to the later work of Tom Zito with FMV game development, the formation of Digital Pictures, the Nemo Projects followed by a partnership with ATT for a proposed streaming cable TV derivative of the concept, and finally all that getting dropped and 5 years going by before the 1987 Night Trap was finally converted to the Sega CD -along with the 1989 Sewer Shark )

Edited by kool kitty89, Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:28 PM.