Atari Flashback X

[VideoGameCritic]

After endless iterations of fun but flawed Atari 2600 action, it looks like they finally got it right. This thing has switches, HDMI output, and even some third party games like Frogger and Pitfall.

https://www.atgames.us/products/atari-flashback-x

Thoughts? Anybody psyched about this, or are you all Flashbacked out?

[Voor]

I don’t quite understand why new versions come out so often. Feels like every year. Do they really sell that many?

[txsizzler]

Have you noticed that every single product they sell is supposedly sold out? Call me skeptical..

[TheEagleXIII]

I have some fun memories of the 2600... but I was 4 or 5 when my family finally put that thing in the loft and replaced it with a Mega Drive. It just doesn't hold enough nostalgia for me to make it a must have and even if I ever did get one I'm not sure if the novelty would wear of quick.

It looks pretty cool. Though, I'm guessing it's a little on the small side for the switches to make that good old fashioned CHUNK noise

[VideoGameCritic]

Have you noticed that every single product they sell is supposedly sold out? Call me skeptical..

Its available from Amazon.

[Atariboy]

The Flashback X has one significant issue though.

The SD slot from the internally identical Atari Flashback 9 is absent here. So to load your own Atari 2600 roms to expand the game library, you have to open up the FBX. Inside apparently is a USB port or something of the sort and you can attach a drive to it. Nothing complicated, but certainly not as easy as sliding in a SD card into the side of the Flashback 9.

Critic, are you aware of Hyperkin's Retron '77? I know you liked your Retron 5 from them and the AtariAge community generally prefers this over the Flashback X. And as one that owns a Flashback 9 and recently got a Retron '77 for Christmas, I tend to agree.



The open source Stella developers that produce that cycle accurate 2600 emulator have done a lot of work on the Retron '77 to get the latest Stella emulator working on it, where as the Flashback X (And out of the box, the Retron '77) have a very old version of Stella that isn't as accurate and lacks a lot of bells and whistles.

And lastly, it has a real Atari 2600 cartridge slot for original cartridges (Although you can of course drop hundreds of 2600 roms into the mini SD card that comes with the system after updating it to the newest build of Stella, and insert that into the rear of the system).

[djc]

I came so close to buying myself a Retron '77 for Christmas this past year - it was in my online shopping cart and everything. At the last moment, I held off because I wasn't sure how much I was really going to use it.

I am more than likely going to pick one up eventually as it seems like a pretty convenient way to play the 2600 games I own.

[VideoGameCritic]

Holy cow I was not aware of the Retron 77!! I'm intrigued. Please tell me more!

[bluenote]

This looks cool, but I think I'll stick to my original console. I actually just recently modded my 6 switch for rgb output and the picture looks perfect! I then purchased 2 new upgraded joysticks and 2 sets of upgraded new paddles from best electronics and I'm good to go! These are amazing and guaranteed for life.

Last week, my 7 year old son saw my small 2600 collection, so we tried some games. He loved warlords, and we then played 4 player warlords with my wife, son and daughter. Loads of fun!

[Gentlegamer]

This looks cool, but I think I'll stick to my original console. I actually just recently modded my 6 switch for rgb output and the picture looks perfect! I then purchased 2 new upgraded joysticks and 2 sets of upgraded new paddles from best electronics and I'm good to go! These are amazing and guaranteed for life.

Last week, my 7 year old son saw my small 2600 collection, so we tried some games. He loved warlords, and we then played 4 player warlords with my wife, son and daughter. Loads of fun!

Introduce him to Tank Pong aka the greatest game ever made.