Otaku-flash; flashcart for Atari 2600+/Atari 7800+

[chubsta]

I am not affiliated with this in any way but having just got myself a flashcard for my Atari 7800+ I feel its worth letting others know... (wasn't sure whether it should go in 'for sale' but I am not actually selling, just passing on info that such a thing is available as there doesn't seem much online about it)

Works great on the 2600+ and 7800+, its a single-game cart where you just need to flash the game to the cart - just plug the cart into a pc or Mac via a micro-usb cable with the button on the cart pressed, copy a game file over to the cart, it will unmount, then just switch the console on and you have the game, the memory is persistent so you can switch the console on and off and the game will still play. You do need power to the cart when playing but I just leave it connected to my Mac, but I also tried it with a usb power bank and that worked fine too.

Great way to play all the old and most new releases (some like the champ games ones use non-compatible bank switching I believe), and I feel it is a positive to have to choose a game to play and put it on the cart, helps stop the usual scrolling through millions of games and only playing each one for a minute problem that I seem to have with other flashcards.

Anyway, if anyone is interested I got mine very quickly and for an absolute steal from the forums on atariage at this link:

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/387028-atari-26007800-otaku-flash-carts-for-sale/#comment-5770246

 

[grobda]

plans are open source so you could get pcbway or jlcpcb to make the boards;
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Otaku_Flash_Cart_for_Ataru_2600_7800_2600_17c45951.html

£3 for 5 pcbs from JLCPCB, waiting on review for cost with SMT parts added. pi picos are ~£1.50 from aliexpress. I've not looked in to cost of 3d printed cases as I make my own. I'd say there's about £20 margin on those carts though. Seems a bit of a cottage industry and I guess £30 is reasonable if you CBA with the hassle. I'm a cheapskate

 

[chubsta]

To be honest I am thinking about making my own and then just flashing a game to it for keeps.
The only problem is getting the right resistors, there is a bom file on pcbway for it but it makes no sense to me!
I thought £30 delivered was a good price though, particularly as the 3d printed case is really solid and the guy sends all the games already converted which saves a lot of hassle!

 

[Fantazia2]

I just got some of these made up a while ago, only work for 4k ROMS, but you can get 16 on a single PCB, no need for external power and pretty cheap to make.

(DIY) ATARI 2600 MULTI GAME CARTRIDGE - Share Project - PCBWay

(DIY) ATARI 2600 MULTI GAME CARTRIDGE You can make your own custom Atari 2600 Multi Game Cartridge. Hello, This is a simple,DIY multi game Atari 2600 cartridge. It has 16 games capacity each 4 kilobyt...

www.pcbway.com

Still havent gotten round to building them yet though.

 

[grobda]

To be honest I am thinking about making my own and then just flashing a game to it for keeps.
The only problem is getting the right resistors, there is a bom file on pcbway for it but it makes no sense to me!
I thought £30 delivered was a good price though, particularly as the 3d printed case is really solid and the guy sends all the games already converted which saves a lot of hassle!

you can get pcbway to handle the smt components or 'birdseed'. JLCPCB are ususally cheaper for that but I havent figured how to generate the extra placement file they require. I went ahead and ordered 5 bare PCBs from JLCPCB plus 5 colecovision pi pico based multicart PCBs and it cost under a tenner including postage. I'll probably use through hole resistors/diodes and just solder them to the smt pads.

another option for 2600 carts is
https://grandideastudio.com/portfolio/gaming/pixels-past/
including designs for bankswitched carts. I made my own juno first cart from one of these ages ago. OSH park weren't that cheap so id use JLCPCB if i was ordering more.