40 replies to this topic

[Retro Rogue]

theking, on Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:53 AM, said:

I got one the other day of these flashback 3's from ebay included images here:

That's not the release version, it's an earlier pre-release one. The release has the white box.

[svenski]

wgungfu, on Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:42 AM, said:

theking, on Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:53 AM, said:

I got one the other day of these flashback 3's from ebay included images here:

That's not the release version, it's an earlier pre-release one. The release has the white box.

Yes, but that pre-release version has been manufactured in some numbers for a retailer like Argos to import it and have their name on the back of it. Questions are why, and what are the differences if any ?

[ls650]

Has Argos actually sold any in a red box, or are they simply showing old photos of the pre-release?

[svenski]

A couple of people have posted here that Argos have had them for sale in their local stores for the last couple of weeks or so, but personally I haven't seen one and the Argos website has been consistent in showing out of stock which suggests the end of this month release date, however quite a few of the red boxed ones have been on ebay and Amazon.

So, none the wiser really.

[ls650]

So.... has anyone received one of these units yet? I've tried Googling reviews of it and can't find any so far.

[Phredreeke]

DEBRO, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 10:46 AM, said:

I'm curious about the NTSC colors and frame rate timings. I read Curt's post above but I guess I don't totally understand. Unless they did a hack I would expect the colors would be different when plugging this to a PAL television. I assume the timing would be okay as long as the television could do a 60Hz display. I know some of the games didn't adjust for PAL timing originally but I would suspect Adventure II's colors and timing would be off.

Since it's running on an emulator the colors should be the same (someone else could probably explain better, but the reason for different colors on PAL and NTSC 2600s is due to the way the TIA generates a color signal. The emulator probably has a pre-defined color look-up table instead and pass that to a modern video encoder)

[DEBRO]

Hi there,

Phredreeke, on Tue Sep 27, 2011 3:59 PM, said:

DEBRO, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 10:46 AM, said:

I'm curious about the NTSC colors and frame rate timings. I read Curt's post above but I guess I don't totally understand. Unless they did a hack I would expect the colors would be different when plugging this to a PAL television. I assume the timing would be okay as long as the television could do a 60Hz display. I know some of the games didn't adjust for PAL timing originally but I would suspect Adventure II's colors and timing would be off.

Since it's running on an emulator the colors should be the same (someone else could probably explain better, but the reason for different colors on PAL and NTSC 2600s is due to the way the TIA generates a color signal. The emulator probably has a pre-defined color look-up table instead and pass that to a modern video encoder)

I understand the differences between the systems and that is why I didn't understand. I assumed these would not be emulated. So, has it been confirmed that these are emulated vs. real hardware as the FB2?

[GroovyBee]

DEBRO, on Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:54 AM, said:

I assumed these would not be emulated. So, has it been confirmed that these are emulated vs. real hardware as the FB2?

If you look at the large chip in the pictures (Titan 1.0c) in post 19 its a dual core ARM (from what I understand) so they are emulated.

[Spurge]

Is that unit in the pics. the released version or some prototype? The build quality looks appalling! Hot glue blobs all over the place. This isn't a good move.

Tell you what would be a success, a small console that plays the classic Atari arcades, up to Gauntlet. From what I know, the hardware for that would be rather cheap now days.

And for goodness sake, NO EMULATION! Real hardware, and real roms from the original arcades. This would be something i'd buy in a flash!

[nathanallan]

They are officially on sale at Amazon, I made a thread but forgot this one was here. Search for "flashback" and you'll see it in the white box.

If the pics are of a pre-production unit, has anyone gotten a production unit to take apart yet?

http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B005NJ3U32

[Phredreeke]

Spurge, on Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:28 PM, said:

Tell you what would be a success, a small console that plays the classic Atari arcades, up to Gauntlet. From what I know, the hardware for that would be rather cheap now days.

And for goodness sake, NO EMULATION! Real hardware, and real roms from the original arcades. This would be something i'd buy in a flash!

Doubt arcade games + real hardware would be feasable. There are too many different architectures. Frankly even if the hardcore fans could tell a difference, the average customer wouldn't (provided the emulation was decent) and that's what matters.

[Spurge]

Phredreeke, on Fri Sep 30, 2011 5:18 AM, said:

Spurge, on Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:28 PM, said:

Tell you what would be a success, a small console that plays the classic Atari arcades, up to Gauntlet. From what I know, the hardware for that would be rather cheap now days.

And for goodness sake, NO EMULATION! Real hardware, and real roms from the original arcades. This would be something i'd buy in a flash!

Doubt arcade games + real hardware would be feasable. There are too many different architectures. Frankly even if the hardcore fans could tell a difference, the average customer wouldn't (provided the emulation was decent) and that's what matters.

I guess what I meant was a console to play classic Arcade games with the same hardware. For eg: Gauntlet, Indiana Jones, Marble Madness etc. All had the same main chipset. CPU 68010 , M6502 and sound chips.

[TrekkiELO]

nathanallan, on Fri Sep 30, 2011 1:49 AM, said:

They are officially on sale at Amazon, I made a thread but forgot this one was here. Search for "flashback" and you'll see it in the white box.

If the pics are of a pre-production unit, has anyone gotten a production unit to take apart yet?

http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B005NJ3U32

I thought that they had a new low retail price point of $39.99, down from their originally too high $59.99, what happened?!

[nathanallan]

Not sure, but it's starting to look like any other clone of any other system, lots of hype but very short on delivery.

[wood_jl]

The controller cords on the prototype (beginning pics of this thread) look very Ho-Chi Minh. At least on the production version (Amazon link) they look better, but they look VERY short! One of the best things about the FB2 was the sticks. I hope they didn't shorten the cords, and that it's just a photo edit for neatness.

Edited by wood_jl, Mon Oct 3, 2011 2:38 PM.

[DJT]

Looks like it could be a decent product for the average retro gaming fan. Personally...i'll stick to collecting carts and playing on my little toshiba 19 inch...