Difference between revisions of "Using Atari 2600 Controllers"

Latest revision as of 00:05, 24 January 2013

Atari 2600 joysticks, paddles, driving controllers, and keypad controllers can be plugged into a media director USB port with the 2600-daptor II adaptor from Hafner Enterprises.

Features

• Functionally similar to the old Stelladaptor, but all new design with improvements:
• USB 2.0, runs at full speed (12 Mbit/sec), backwards compatible with USB 1.1
• Compatible with Windows/Mac/Linux - any O/S that natively supports USB HID joysticks, which would about any O/S released in the last 10 years
• Special attention has been given to the Paddle response to make it on par with a real 2600
• Data transmitted every millisecond (1000 times a second) for minimal delay
• Internal terminals for connecting extra buttons. Note 2600 games cannot make use of extra button inputs. You can’t, say, add a button and assign it to smart bomb in Defender. But you can add buttons in parallel with controller *buttons. Or depending on the emulator, assign functions like select, reset, start, coin insert, etc. to the extra buttons.
• Lead free board and solder. RoHS components as available
• Made in the USA

The 2600-daptor can be purchased for $33 from Hafner Enterprises

Installation

To use with LinuxMCE, simply plug into the USB port.

Configuration

While playing a 2600 game, select Options on the nearest orbiter, and go to the Categories menu. You can then specify the type of controller: Joystick, Paddles, Driving, Keypad, etc. to use with the currently playing game.