More folks than I expected picked up on the Space Quest music used throughout the video... I love the series and here's a playlist of videos I've done on just about all of them: kzread.info/head/PLdGtTWqCEvuKuqPe7DaELT7mzUhswdsfd

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

I have not seen the AVGN movie and it's been a loooong time since I've been that deep in the back catalog of episodes so I didn't remember him having them in the Halloween episode.

@NinjaNezumi

3 жыл бұрын

These controllers never worked that well. It's why I still don't trust wireless controllers.

You have to take into account that back in 1983 there probably wasn't a lot of extra radio, cellular or Bluetooth signals floating around to cause interference.

@bengrogan3620

4 жыл бұрын

I can see why this didn't sell 9 v battery every time my toys need a battery back in the 80s it took my mom like a month to get more.

@DementedCaver

4 жыл бұрын

@@bengrogan3620 Back then you could get the Radio Shack batteries free from the battery of the month club, but they kind of sucked. The bright side is I got to see what happens if you plug two 9 volt batteries directly into each other.

@NinjaNezumi

3 жыл бұрын

Naw, dude, they just sucked. They always did and always will. RF radio signals are terrible and lag from transmissions always will and always have made radio control arcade sticks a bad idea.

Just seeing that big antenna sticking off of the end of the controller makes me extremely nostalgic for the time before the internet.

I had one of these when I was little, got it on discount when 2600 stuff was being liquidated. They worked, but there was always a little lag to it. Not to mention that they went through batteries like crazy. We quickly went back to the regular joysticks.

@fredfuchs3573

4 жыл бұрын

My homie had a different brand they used Lazer like a remote control they sucked ass

It was great idea. But, at least for me, it didn't catch on until I got a PS3. The other day I was playing the PS2 with a non-wireless controller. Got up to nuke some Gino Pizza Rolls during a lengthy cut scene and ended up dragging the PS2 and half the contents of the shelf with me.

@shaggydee8845

4 жыл бұрын

Ahahah word I feel ya on dat....same here didn't catch on till I got my xbox 360

@attackofthetheeyecreatures3472

4 жыл бұрын

Slatch36 there's the Wavebird.

@Clay3613

4 жыл бұрын

I have a MadKatz wireless controller for PS2. Works flawlessy even after discoloring over 14 years.

@Lightblue2222

4 жыл бұрын

I had them for ps1. They worked fine but fealt cheap. And stuff could block the signal if it got in the way. Didn't enjoy them much till 360

Got that Kay Bee sticker on the box. The memories came back hard seeing that.

Could it be that the Joystick is broken? I had two CX40 with broken inner stick. The white thing would have broken ring so that up/down would not work.

F N ARCADE NIGHT! I stumbled upon your channel about 6 months ago and I quickly found myself blowing through your playlists. I really enjoy the content you provide. Thanks for that! Up there with likes of CGQ CGQ+, frankie1080p, LGR, Techmoan, and there is a golden nostalgic quality to the title of Friday Night Arcade. It's just awesome. Also in reference to your focus text (getting the hang of your camera?) I probably don't have a clue but that one segment I noticed lots of dark area when camera would not focus.... you think maybe it's a lack of lighting causing it to appear blury? Just a thought. Anyway.... Cheers! and thanks again. I look forward to the next video

Loved Cosmic Ark. Loved how when you set it for Black & White the stars disappeared. River Raid was one of my 2nd favorite games.

I remember looking at these in the Atari catalogs that were packaged with every game. I thought it was an interesting idea but the thickness of the controller looked awkward and uncomfortable so I never bothered trying to get them.

Bad contacts probably. Try cleaning the contacts inside the controllers.

I had a set of these as a kid, they always worked fine for me. The only problem I had was the thickness of the controller's base, it was at least twice as thick as a standard Atari controller. I had trouble fitting my little thirteen-year-old hands around it.

I have these with the original box! I used them on my Commodore 64 too. I bought them for $10.00 new.

I remember the wireless controller for the nes. Never worked just like the powerglove. Shows these ideas were ahead of its time.

Love how your Atari still works and the PS3 kicked the bucket... its why I also tell people that the Atari was built like a tank. As for these controllers, they are a neat concept and ahead of their time

That's one video game oddity I've not seen Aaron. Nice try to see if they worked. Great episode, man. 🤘

Very interesting, these actually seem like a step up from all the wireless controllers from the 90s.

So basically you'd need to test this in an isolated location like Alaska or Amish country to remove most variables, and even then nobody is making new tech for the Atari when the base controller isn't that great in hindsight.

Haven't been watching long was wondering what you look like keep up the good work

I remember seeing this on an episode of AVGN however, the nerd never really went into as much detail so I appreciate this video you made Aaron. Thanks, as always, for the hard work placed into this video. I never knew about these controllers. Probably because I never owned a 2600, I had the 7800. Very cool premise just executed poorly. Way ahead of their time too. Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

As the problem is the same with both controllers it seems likely that the problem resides in the receiver unit. Try opening it up and see if there are any electrolytic caps in there. If so then first thing I would do would be to replace them with new ones. It's likely that the controllers also have electrolytic caps in them and they should be replaced too.

Cool vid. I wasnt expecting a controller review. Keep ur the good work man. I wish u made vids more frequent thou.

Great find for the nostalgic value and to add as a display piece on your shelf! Even working properly, I think your hard-core gamers would shy away from RF controllers because of response time. The up/down just might be old or dirty contacts, with the bite marks, it was definitely not unused!

Awesome. I have never seen those either. I bought a atari flashback gold series 6 months and love the wireless controllers. I play it every day

I'm digging the Space Quest III music in the background.

Wow...I never knew that this existed! Awesome find and review, Sir.

Those controllers are definitely used. The contacts for the directions on the joysticks are clearly broken. This was a common problem with the standard joysticks. I bet if you fixed the contacts, this would work perfectly.

I glad you finally afford this controller after 36 years 👏😉

I got a set from my uncle in the 90s of that model. They still worked then, and I did use them a bit for awhile with our 2600. They had spent a good while in the attic after that, and had the antenna mount broken when I retrieved them earlier this year. I may get them out and give them a try at some point to see how they behave today for me. Certainly it could be both sticks are worn and not working well. I restored our 2600 a number of months ago, the joystick were all being flaky. I would expect these ones to be built similar inside as far as the contacts go. I had to clean the contacts on all of the sticks to get them to work properly. There were several cracked domes, one with a bad cord, and one with a broken inner stick. I managed to get 3 of the 4 in full working order though. I didn't do such a thing with the Wireless sticks though at the time. I found the broken plastic around the antenna, and didn't feel like working on it at the time.

Sorry that you had problems with them. I had the set when they originally came out. I think I got it for $30. I never seemed to have a problem with them. But that was WAY back in the day before there were any "extra" radio frequencies being used like now. Thanks for the video.

Trolling your neighbor's garage doors with one of these doesn't seem to be a bug to me, but rather a nice feature.

@hugh2hoob668

4 жыл бұрын

In 1993 my friend got his finger caught in a garage door opener ughh so nasty My pal pressed the button when his finger was on the gear never forget the scream lol

@nightisright1873

4 жыл бұрын

Hugh Tahoob was it on the Atari controller

@hugh2hoob668

4 жыл бұрын

@@nightisright1873 nah that just reminded me of a story once real gross

@hugh2hoob668

4 жыл бұрын

@@nightisright1873 Atari was an antique then and not in a retro kinda way either

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

😂

Very neat controller, I didn't even know that existed until now. Thanks for sharing.

First thing that popped into my mind "they must have sucked, my Genesis ones sucked 2 gens later!" lol.

Atari is always ahead of its time

Still, pretty damn innovative for 1983! Cool video.

Sigh...KayBee toys...damn you Mitt Romney!!!! As for the power, it just travels down a secondary winding off the transformer in the wireless unit, which can easily handle the load. If you look at the back of av or stereo integrated amps and recievers, they often have convinience outlets in the back to plug in a tape deck or such, as long as its under the total load rating of the power outlet both are plugged into its no issue at all. Same deal here.

@szr8

4 жыл бұрын

Good point, though the passthrough on those stereos is AC while the Atari wireless unit is dealing with DC (since it's after the transformer) and at a comparitively lower voltage, so I'm kind of surprised that it can be spread like this between the two units.

I found a good deal on a pair of these big rascals brand new on Ebay about 15 years ago. I got them for my older brother for Christmas. He still has them sealed with the rest of his collection.

Don't worry about power running "through" the receiver box. Daisy-chaining was popular in the 1970s/1980s, especially with Hi-Fi systems. The power output to the VCS is probably just soldered onto the other side of the terminals and then passed out of the case.

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

I'm sure it was common at the time - I was just concerned about doing it with tech that contained 40-year old components lol. I'm sure it worked fine in 1983, but I was worried the internals had aged poorly and would somehow cause a short and set fire. My Atari AC adapter already makes a little bit of a buzzing sound when plugged in. That's a thing with older tech sometimes.

Atari sticks are notorious for breakage of the plastic ring that triggers the contacts. I'd take them apart and clean the contacts and check the internals, which should be swappable with those from standard 2600 sticks, and maybe also look at recapping the RF boards if needed.

My first thought when you said up and down don't work well was 'What about River Raid?' and there it is! Although, up and down are more important than you might initially think in that game...

Back in the day I had a portable radio receiver which had the exact same antenna as those wireless controllers, cool video anyways, didn't know such things even existed 😀

i had them as a kid and used them all the time. flawless. and yes no noise. we didn't even have tone dialing rotary only. no tv remotes. no auto garage door no nothing to interfere

These remotes had issues with response time even when I found a set brand new in the box 25 years ago. The RF in my environment at the time was fairly clean too. These remotes worked within the 49 MHz band and my tests of the remotes included testing the range of the signal for fun using a radio scanner. The signal had drop out issues even from 20 feet away and it coincided with some of the lag issues. So yes, as awesome as these looked they still sucked.

I doubt that you would need a fire extinguisher for the 12 volts that come from the adapter.

Kay-Bee Toys -- brings back so many memories... sad they are no longer around.

These never worked. Cool to see them again tho!

I think it could be the pins on the receiver. Or maybe the game. Sometimes I have to start frogger a couple times to get him to move up.

I liked the solemn and tense music when you were setting it all up

I remember seeing these...probably in the Atari Age magazine...or maybe some other video game magazine from the 80s. BTW, I love the Space Quest music!

I usually replaced the metal dome switches with micro switches and cut some of the plastic knobs of the direction stick, after that modification, it works much much better, even than the new China made from AliExpress.

I just got my Atari Flashback 9 in the mail. So far I'm digging it.

Love the SQ3 music... Took me a bit to remember what it was from! Also a massive fan, MT32 sierra music is awesome.

I tested out a set and was having the same issue, was thinking signal was bad. After some investigation I ended up finding that the two screws holes in the bottom were a little stripped causing the top of the controller to be slightly loose, this made it harder for the stick to activate the buttons on the circuit board. I replaced the screws with thicker laced screws to make it tight and bingo, controllers worked without issue.

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

Nice - thanks for the tip. I'll have to check that out. Makes sense.

Wow! You should do a poll to see who actually knew about this tech! Question: Despite experimenting with distance, did the manual suggest a minimum/maximum range for best performance? Btw, love the music in the background when you were detailing how the unit will plug in and operate. I will still load SQV and wander around the promenade looking at the pop culture references of the time, enjoying the tune. 🤓 P.S. You’ll get the focus sorted out so don’t sweat it! All in all, enjoyable and informative!

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! The box says "play up to 20 feet away" though I can't imagine a scenario where you'd need to be that far.

Speaking of controllers, where is the best place to get a good wired controller for the Atari 2600? I’ve been looking for a couple of new sticks to keep with mine as well as one paddle

Kaybee sticker:) who used to go diving in their clearance bins for games?

That pass-through power is a nice design, though. Too bad Sega didn't learn that lesson when they decided that every accessory/add-on needed a power supply of its own... that would turn into a mess quickly...

Just in time for my FNA fix !

The old atari's were practically indestructible.

Hey, that's the music from Space Quest 3: The Pirates of Pestulon in the background! One of my favorite games and the second adventure game I played (after Zak McKracken)

@KryptonianAI

4 жыл бұрын

root42 Space Quest V 🤓

@root42

4 жыл бұрын

Never! The music at the start is definitely from SQ3, on the junkyard ship. The later parts: maybe SQ5. Haven't played that in a loooong time.

@KryptonianAI

4 жыл бұрын

root42 Indeed! Yet, once you get past the SQ3 intro, you will hear the looping SQV music. Space Quest passion FTW!

Sega could have learned a few things about how to power attachments from Atari eh? The CD and 32X definitely could have taken some q’s.

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

No kidding. You end up with three AC power bricks by the time it's said and done.

@Lightblue2222

4 жыл бұрын

@@FridayNightArcade 4 if u had Sega channel too. ;)

Not making fun of the sound comforter. 😄

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

We operate on a bit of fixed income here at Friday Night Arcade 😁

@YouSuperJ

4 жыл бұрын

It adds a certain charm

Fun video! Also, is this the first time you've made an on-screen appearance for your channel? It was cool seeing the host!

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks, Aaron! I've popped in a few times but not many -- I have a face made for radio :D

@orinanime

4 жыл бұрын

@@FridayNightArcade LOL so do I. That's why my KZread video only shows my hands.

@moviemetalhead

4 жыл бұрын

@@FridayNightArcade heh I heard that radio host saying from Tom Leykis lol

I own a pair of those joysticks. I used them with C128 and they worked perfectly but it ran out of battery often. One of the controllers was damaged when using an ac adaptar with the wrong polarity. I wish I could fix it.

And I was excited by Hyperkin's ambidextrous sticks with a twenty foot chord...

Hmm I remember these working OK for us at my uncle's house in the 80s. Maybe your set is just worn out (no wonder considering how old they are). I also suspect there is just so much more radio traffic now and that interference maybe causing the problems. I know you turned your WiFi off, but your whole neighborhood didn't. Cool video regardless.

I got a set back then and they have always been a bit wonky. I got another set 6 months ago and have not tested them yet.

I made a power plug to run my Atari 2600 with a 9 volt battery years ago. I used the kind of power Jack that went into the Atari and a 9 volt battery clip. It ran for quite a while that way. It surprised me!

Open controllers, blast with canned air, then contact cleaner. If they still don't work, give to a 2 year old to chew on.

We had those controllers when I was as a kid , those things eat up batteries.

Thunder Force 4 / Lightning Force review soon?

I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was definitely aliens. LOL.

Is the background music from space quest 3?

I have these. Got them back in the day.

I think you might have gotten a bad stick. I got a pair of these a couple of years ago at a flea market, and they work great. I still prefer the standard controller, as it's like trying to play a game with a Colecovision power brick, but they do work.

@FridayNightArcade

4 жыл бұрын

Standard controller FTW. Always thought it was perfect.

It sounds like the controllers are just worn out.

Didn't know Atari actually put these into production.

and me dreaming abou a ps2 wireless controller in 2004

@Clay3613

4 жыл бұрын

They existed and were very good.

I remember those I use to have a pair I got used a few years ago. Don't remember whatever happened to them.

I remember these eating through batteries very quickly! It would also interfere with electronics!

I bought wireless controllers for my NES, circa 1989. They treated batteries the way Cookie Monster treats cookies. My mom wisely forced me to return them to the store. I bought an NES Advantage and never looked back. 🍪

01:50 I Pre chewed that when I was 3 for your safety.

I actually had 2 other kinds of these controllers and its not the hardware. These controllers where poorly manufactured properly why the didnt have a approval stamp. You are right about the interference of things today cause back then we didnt have much ir interference back then but anything would back then. I was sleepy writing this but you did a great job explaining your interactions with these things cause even though i was very young it was my same assessment! Keep up the great vids you take me back to a time when games where simple!

it's appropriate that he used the scumsoft theme while setting it up

I have some regular wired Atari controllers and one of them sucks with up and down as well.

@Lightblue2222

4 жыл бұрын

Blew my mind when I found out Genesis controllers worked on it hehe. Much better.

Man id love to find a set of wireless controllers with receiver! Hundreds of dollars on eBay is too rich for my blood though

I have a set of these and they do work much better than this... but the big problem I have is if the controller gets interrupted or is off instead of the stick going dead like you would expect it inputs EVERYTHING at once.

At least they weren't using IR. Remember those old IR wireless controllers for the NES? Talk about input lag.

@nysw88

4 жыл бұрын

Ray Ceeya , my nephew and a friend each had the wireless controllers back in the 80’s; I can confirm that they worked really well. Unfortunately, when the battery died during a game, so did you.

I recognize that Space Quest 3 music

Really wish 8bitdo would make a modern wireless 2600 controller (but keep the design reminiscent of the original, like Hyperkin's Retron 77 controller)

And just now, they talk about it?

omg you guys 🤣😆😅i never remember that was that when the snakes walked upright.

If anyone wants to know, they work well in an Amiga 2000, but not so well on an SX-64. On the SX-64, mine anyways, the joysticks aren't responsive. Dunno if its an issue on the SX-64 since a regular Atati joystick works fine.

Keep making great video 😍😍😍😍

Wow. Never knew these existed. Interesting way to get power. Seems backwards.

I was just thinking, “Cosmic Ark” (twitchy gameplay) or “Spider-Man” (diagonal) would be great test games.

Great vid 👍

Have you tried hooking up a xbox 360 controller on the Atari 2600. I think it has same controller port.

I've seen photos of these these, but I swear I didn't know anything about how they worked before watching this video. When you went to hook up the receiver, I was wondering how it would be powered. I figured it would have its own AC adapter and the thought popped into my mind "Wouldn't it be cool if it connected to the console and then you only needed one AC adapter to power everything?" And then that's exactly how it worked! I'm surprised that you didn't take the sticks apart to see if anything was broken internally. It wouldn't surprise me if it was just the standard guts of an Atari joystick connected to a transmitter. And now that I think of it, if that was the case, you could connect a 9-pin cable with a socket on the end and plug in any Atari compatible joystick to it. Although, would that defeat the purpose of having wireless controllers if you had a wired controller plugged into a wireless transmitter? :)

Isn't that space quest music?

@FridayNightArcade

3 жыл бұрын

Yep