I repurposed an old phone into a portable Atari 2600 for my mom
from Wolfizen@pawb.social to retrogaming@lemmy.world on 02 May 22:06
https://pawb.social/post/23887902

The phone is pretty old, running Android 6. It has 2600.emu on it with the entire catalogue of 2600 games. She remembers playing on her friends’ Atari as a kid and some of the games she played so I added those as shortcuts.

I tried several emulation apps: 2600.emu, droid2600, and MAME4Droid. The modern versions of all refused to install. 2600.emu and droid2600 both had an older version that installed. Overall I liked 2600.emu for its better onscreen controls & better paddle control on these specific versions.

It feels nice to repurpose old tech for something “new”. It wouldn’t be possible without a dedicated community.

#retrogaming

threaded - newest

cRazi_man@lemm.ee on 02 May 22:18 next collapse

Awesome. And cool that your mom is into old Atari games. Did she play them back in the day?

Wolfizen@pawb.social on 03 May 00:39 next collapse

Yep!

Homescool@lemmy.world on 03 May 02:07 collapse

If she existed in the 70s or 80s then it’s almost guaranteed. Society was categorized into the Atari haves and have nots who made friends with the haves.

DmMacniel@feddit.org on 02 May 22:20 next collapse

That’s super sweet and awesome of you!

Wolfizen@pawb.social on 03 May 00:39 collapse

Thanks!

db2@lemmy.world on 02 May 23:38 collapse

You should get a controller for her.

atari.com/products/wireless-cx40-joystick-atari

It’ll need an otg adapter but they’re cheap.

Deebster@infosec.pub on 03 May 00:12 next collapse

It says it’s wireless, but I’m not sure what it’s using - I’m guessing something custom enough that the dongle is necessary.

Wolfizen@pawb.social on 03 May 00:43 collapse

Thanks for the suggestion.

How well do you think it will play? Two hands on the controller mean none for the phone. Maybe it would need a phone stand too?

I’ve had a hard time finding information on controller compatibility. Do you know for certain that 2600.emu will work with the CX40+ Wireless via OTG?

db2@lemmy.world on 03 May 01:04 next collapse

Nope, I don’t know for sure it would work. The VCS ran Linux though which is what android is under the hood so there’s a good chance.

It should play well if it works with that app. A phone stand or a case with one would be good.

refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org on 03 May 12:52 collapse

The controller is almost certainly an HID compatible controller that will work with any application that supports controllers.

As for a stand, I recommend a pop socket-style thing, as it permenantly attaches to the phone.