2600, 7800, colecovision compatibility

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:12 pm

since i won an atari 2600 game from jeffslot's contest, i'm gonna have to get something to play it on

. i could just get an atari 2600 but i also heard that colecovision and atari 7800 can play 2600 games. can somebody confirm this? i also heard that 2600 can use genesis controllers, which i have. can colecovision and 7800 also use genesis controllers?

Post by **Sparkfist** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:03 pm

Yes the 7800 can play 2600 games, I don't know about the other system you mentioned. Also you don't want to try and use a genesis controller, they're not the same. The Atari sytems use serial ports, the Genesis used something else, I don't remember the name but it's not a serial connection.

Sir Games-A-Lot · Post by **Sir Games-A-Lot** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:53 pm

The colecovision can only play 2600 games with a special expansion module.

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:03 pm

bummer. is that something i could make or does it involve ICs that i don't have?

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:43 pm

Actually, the 2600 uses DB-9 connectors for controllers. These are also used for the serial ports on computers, but the 2600 does not use a serial connection. 'Serial' refers to the interface used to connect it to the processor. As far as I know, the 2600 uses one pin for each button on the controller.

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:28 am

Yup - both the Sega Genesis and the Atari 2600 have one pin for each button. You could hook up just about anything you wanted to (I hooked up a dual shock joystick to my Atari a couple of months ago just for kicks - works great!).

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:40 am

When you hook a Genesis controller to an Atari (or an Atari controller to a Genesis) the action button is B.

Colecovision used some wierd controllers. There's a 4-button fist controller that was popular. Don't hook that to a Genesis, the Genesis gets very upset.

toby dawg · Post by **toby dawg** » Mon May 01, 2006 5:08 pm

coleco controllers work on a genisis

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon May 01, 2006 9:25 pm

toby dawg wrote:coleco controllers work on a genisis

Um, well, when I tried it, the joystick provided all four directions, but the four finger buttons did not provide anything worthwhile. The number pad input caused the Genesis to freeze. Overall, I recommend not letting the Colecovision super fist controller anywhere near your Genesis, even though it looks totally rad.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon May 01, 2006 10:58 pm

Yeah cause the old membrane phone keypad is just about the coolest thing scene sliced bread.

Also I'm really suprised that those controller would work. Both of those controllers use a different IC(s) to relay information back to the system to tell it what to do.

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon May 01, 2006 11:33 pm

The super fist is awesome, whether it works on a Genesis or not.

Gateway · Post by **Gateway** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:14 pm

I've got a couple of those "Super Action" fist controllers for my Colecovision. They are indeed awesome!

As for 2600 games, most will work on a 7800 directly, or on a 5200 using a conversion module you plug in between game and console( not sure of the actual name ), and yeah, the Colecovision Expansion Module #1 is a cumbersome unit that plugs into the front of a Colecovision( have to open the little door first ). it has a receptacle for 2600 games and 2 Atari controller ports on the front, and difficulty switches... essentially, it IS a 2600, but without the power supply.