> I just joined the list. I'm not a 2600 programmer at all, but I am
> interested in the hardware and transfer of software itself, which is widely
> Now my question. We have the Supercharger that can transfer 2k & 4k games to
> a 2600 console, but us there any way to transfer 6k and up? I know there was
> some discussion of "boosting up" the Supercharger to handle the extra k, or
> is there a way to hook up a PC to download the larger file sizes?
> Let's face it, there are some games out there I'll NEVER find on cart
> (prototypes) but I'd love to be able to play the ROM on a real 2600! Any
> other ideas on how to do this?
By 'interested in the hardware' do you mean that you are an electronics
hobbiest(or better), or that you are just interested in things such as the
supercharger?
People into electronics have constructed various things capable of
transfering games from a computer to be played directly on the VCS. I
believe there was something called the 'happy cart'(? does someone have
more info on this, or a link to it?) that is capable of getting a game
from the pc, including games above 4k. However, no one who has made such
a thing has offered to make such a device for sale to others who don't
have the skills to make one themselves(am I wrong on this point?). This
is because these things are either to expensive(such as the happy cart),
or take to much work to make in mass.(such as the one I made) A simpler
alternative is to make a single copy of your favorite 8k+ game by burning
it to eprom, and using a small(and inexpensive) pld to handle the
bankswitching. There has been some discussion of people programming
bankswitched games; is there currently someone who is making the hardware
to do this bankswitching? Most of these options require electronics skills
of some level.
I tried to get a mass release of my sram cart, but it turned out that the
way I made mine would have been way to much work to produce, and it only
would be capable of 2-4k games. I've been tossing around the idea of
creating a sram cart that would be capable of being mass produced(two
chips), and would be able to talk to the pc via serial(as opposed to
parallel), and handle any bankswitching, or ram plus scheme. However, I'm
not convinced yet that it could be done for much less than $80 USD. And I
don't think that too many people would be willing to pay that much. Is
there someone who is working on a sram cart of some such? Is there
someone interested in designing one for sale?
So, if you don't have electronics skills, you are kinda out of luck for
now. I suppose that you could ask the happy cart people if they would
sell you one... If you do have those skills, the technical data is
available on the web to understand how the cartridge port works, and how
to interface it, and how the bankswitching schemes work so that you could
create your own.
Mark
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