62 replies to this topic

[SoulBlazer]

Retro Rogue, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 1:55 PM, said:

Obviously you've never tried the original spring loaded heavy sixer sticks.

Okay, I never USED the original sticks -- what's so great about these? Now I'm curious.

[pimpmaul69]

SoulBlazer, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 4:28 PM, said:

Retro Rogue, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 1:55 PM, said:

Obviously you've never tried the original spring loaded heavy sixer sticks.

Okay, I never USED the original sticks -- what's so great about these? Now I'm curious.

i have tried them. i have 2 of them. the springs are too hard so u have to listen to crunchy springs. i like the clicking sounds arcade sticks make, but this sound makes me cringe. (like scraping a chalkboard)

Edited by pimpmaul69, Tue Jan 3, 2012 4:39 PM.

[Retro Rogue]

SoulBlazer, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 4:28 PM, said:

Retro Rogue, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 1:55 PM, said:

Obviously you've never tried the original spring loaded heavy sixer sticks.

Okay, I never USED the original sticks -- what's so great about these? Now I'm curious.

The original sticks, called CX-10's, only came with the heavy sixer in '77. They're a different design the more commonly seen CX-40's. This goes over the internal differences -



Everything is spring loaded, which gives far more more play and responsiveness in the motion vs. the stiff CX-40's. The rubber grip and boot is also heavy duty and included an inset with the Atari logo -



There are other cosmetic differences of course as well.

These didn't hold up as well over time because of their more mechanical nature and most that you find are also missing the logo since they'd pop off over time. These are also scarce as of course they were only manufactured for the Heavy Sixer run ('77 through early '78).

pimpmaul69, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 4:38 PM, said:

I have tried them. i have 2 of them. the springs are too hard so u have to listen to crunchy springs. i like the clicking sounds arcade sticks make, but this sound makes me cringe. (like scraping a chalkboard)

Then you have a pair with springs that didn't age well, you might try replacing them. I have several pairs and they don't have that problem. The sticks feel far more like the arcade joysticks they were supposed to represent. Like a "deluxe" version of the sticks, as the heavy sixer was more of a "deluxe" all stops version of the 2600 before revisioning and cost reduction began. The FB3's sticks have nowhere near the floating feel of a CX-10.

[atarilovesyou]

Wow, so a Flashback 3 ACTUALLY was released...and YAWN, I don't care anymore. I have the FB2 and the +, good enough for me. I could have even done without the + but I found one cheap.

FB3 looks to be a step back, by all accounts. I'm glad I have mine FB2, which I think was still the coolest one. But when I play Atari, I don't mess around with these: original equipment all the way. Why minimize the experience?

Note about the heavy sixer joysticks: thanks for that great vid comparison. I'm not a fan of 'clicking' fire buttons at all, and the springs look like overkill. I'm totally happy with the standard ones, but even those are tough to find due to the amount of replicas which just aren't as durable as the originals, IMO.

I can't believe that the FB3 came out...who cares. Maybe five years ago, but now?...pffft.

[nathanallan]

atarilovesyou, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 11:08 PM, said:

Wow, so a Flashback 3 ACTUALLY was released...and YAWN, I don't care anymore. I have the FB2 and the +, good enough for me. I could have even done without the + but I found one cheap.

FB3 looks to be a step back, by all accounts. I'm glad I have mine FB2, which I think was still the coolest one. But when I play Atari, I don't mess around with these: original equipment all the way. Why minimize the experience?

Note about the heavy sixer joysticks: thanks for that great vid comparison. I'm not a fan of 'clicking' fire buttons at all, and the springs look like overkill. I'm totally happy with the standard ones, but even those are tough to find due to the amount of replicas which just aren't as durable as the originals, IMO.

I can't believe that the FB3 came out...who cares. Maybe five years ago, but now?...pffft.

Not only was it released years late, but it was farmed to a company that could care less about anything Atari.

[atarilovesyou]

nathanallan, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 5:57 PM, said:

atarilovesyou, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 11:08 PM, said:

Wow, so a Flashback 3 ACTUALLY was released...and YAWN, I don't care anymore. I have the FB2 and the +, good enough for me. I could have even done without the + but I found one cheap.

FB3 looks to be a step back, by all accounts. I'm glad I have mine FB2, which I think was still the coolest one. But when I play Atari, I don't mess around with these: original equipment all the way. Why minimize the experience?

Note about the heavy sixer joysticks: thanks for that great vid comparison. I'm not a fan of 'clicking' fire buttons at all, and the springs look like overkill. I'm totally happy with the standard ones, but even those are tough to find due to the amount of replicas which just aren't as durable as the originals, IMO.

I can't believe that the FB3 came out...who cares. Maybe five years ago, but now?...pffft.

Not only was it released years late, but it was farmed to a company that could care less about anything Atari.

Yeah, it's a bummer. It's sad, but it's true: money makes the word go 'round. I'll stay tuned for future developments from Legacy.

[nathanallan]

atarilovesyou, on Wed Jan 4, 2012 11:51 PM, said:

Yeah, it's a bummer. It's sad, but it's true: money makes the word go 'round. I'll stay tuned for future developments from Legacy.

Oh for sure; there are very cool things to come

[jtoubeaux]

I almost bought a FB3 at Rite Aid on Black Friday for $30 - but I decided against it after reading the box. My FB2 works just fine and has a great selection of games. Glad I didn't waste my hard earned state dollars on the FB3.

[atarilovesyou]

The funny thing is that we'll all truly find out how insignificant we are in terms of market-share if they decide to rehash another Flashback (4,5,6, who's counting?). Throw one out into the marketplace every couple of years to get the impulse buyers and be done with it.

Funny, I actually really looked forward to getting my FB2 when I read about how great it was gonna be, and I think it was. And I went out of my way to order a FB2+ from ebay when I couldn't find it locally.

I don't see myself doing any of that for these newer machines, and it's not sour grapes...it's because they're inferior products, IMO....not to mention obvious cash-grabs.

[Battlezone]

I was excited when FB3 was announced with the SD slot. Some of my best 2600 games were made by other brands.. i'm thinking about Pitfall 2, Seaquest, ms pacman, Space Invaders, jungle hunt, pole position etc. Unfortunately FB3 has not the SD slot as promised... so me and my friends did not buy it. I read in other forums that many other people don't buy FB3 because the sd slot is missing. Flashback is a great product and gives the opportunity to have a sort of new atari 2600, but i want to play to all the 2600 games, not the atari games only. So I really hope in a fast revision!!! I would like to contact the producer. Is there an email address to write my request?

Edited by Battlezone, Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:24 AM.

[Zwackery]

If you didn't get one, but still want one, buy.com has the Flushback 3 on sale for $44.50 + free shipping:

http://www.buy.com/p...llerid=24201435

[atari181]

I got mine for $40, I am more of a collector than a gamer, but figured I would get one. I play once every week or two. Well after my fourth time playing, the piece of shit joystick broke right off in the middle of a game of Yar's Revenge. Fucking piece of shit!

[Fygar13]

TwinChargers, on Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:25 AM, said:

I think that this would be decent for someone who might not care if emulation is used, or never had the original growing up. The hardcore are never going to be happy with something like this...

...And I'm one of those people. I'd much rather have an actual Atari VCS/2600 than a cheaply made knock-off system that runs games in emulation. I know some here will disagree with what I have to say, but it's just not the same as having a real Atari.