Atari 2600 Joystick To USB Adapter Announced

TheAlchemist writes "AtariAge and Pixels Past have announced the creation of the Stelladaptor 2600 to USB Interface. This new hardware product allows you to connect standard Atari 2600 joysticks, paddles, and driving controllers to modern Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers. They have worked closely with the authors of the excellent z26 Atari 2600 Emulator, and an updated version of z26 for Windows will be released that automatically recognizes when the Stelladaptor is plugged in and allows you to play joystick, paddle, and driving controller games without any additional configuration. You can also use your Atari 2600 joystick and paddle controllers with the popular MAME arcade emulator, and standard Atari 2600 joysticks will work with any emulators that support standard USB controllers. The Stelladaptor will debut at the upcoming PhillyClassic 5 gaming expo later this month."

Comments

Hmmm

[Predathar]

The joystick was awful, I always found it hard to use and that it lacked buttons (only has 1). The paddle however was cool.

But if you wanted some nice controllers, Coleco had them, the wheel and the pedals rocked, the super sized controllers for the sports games were great (although I kept getting blisters with them) with the little roller, the 4 buttons, and when you used it, it looked like a killer glove to hit someone with, not that I ever did, mind you :)

Re:Hmmm

[zonker]

for the most part the coleco controllers were good, the only problems were that it was sometimes hard to do and ^ instead of a as you had to be a little precise about how you pushed the knob. also i found that i lost most of the command inserts for the controllers early on.

but yeah, the steering wheel with sega's turbo was awesome at the time.

Atari 2600

[BladeMelbourne]

My parents were cheap - we only had 3 games:
* enduro (car racing)
* donkey kong (only 2 levels that repeated)
* tennis

I would have killed for that centipede game!

By far tennis was the most lame. We had two joysticks - whoever had the more expensive one (that form fitted the hand better, had more buttons) always won in a 2P game. The cheap joystick was literally like a chopstick sticking out of a box, it didn't even have suction pads to stick to the table surface.

Most people do not know that inside an Atari 2600 is a variable pot. Soldered onto the PCB is a component with a groove for a flat-head scredriver. It fine-tunes the RF being sent to your TV - if only I had known about it ~20 years ago!

http://www.mikeskinner.net/

Can make your own...

[baywulf]

With some resistors and DB9/DB25 connectors.

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/joystick/pc_c ir cuits.html#fake

Re:damn 30 bucks

[TheAlchemist]

While the various controller units with built-in games are cool, you are limited to the few games built into those controllers. And with the ones I've tried so far (the Atari and Activision 10-in-1 units), the games aren't quite identical to the original versions. Also, the base of the one based on an Atari joystick is a bit thicker than a real 2600 joystick, so it's not quite as comfortable to hold (in my opinion).

Additionally, being able to use 2600 controllers with your computer means you are not limited to just playing 2600 games, but can use any emulators that support USB controllers.

Re:And don't forget...

[TheAlchemist]

Yes, any joysticks that are electrically equivalent to the original Atari 2600 joysticks will work fine with the adapter. We've tested several different types, such as the great Epyx 500XJ joysticks.

not only atari joysticks.

[Gadzinka]

Back in the day, when the world was young there was only one standard for joysticks, the Atari joystick. It was one button and four directions (plus four semidirections).

So if you have a joystick from your old C64, Amiga, Spectrum (connected via interface), Amstrad, Atari (XL, XE, ST, or any Atari console), you can use it with this controler on your PC.

There were other joysticks using this same plug, but different wiring (Sega, MSX, afair Nintendo), so if the interface doesn't have switches you can't use them.

Some of them were really cool, and 10 year old Quickshot joysticks are still working fine, in contrary to my overpriced badly designed joysticks bought a year or two ago.

Robert