Month: August 2018

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My Retro Memories – Giving Dad Control – Gave Me Something as Well

UPDATE – 08/2020: Since I wrote this post – my dad lost his battle with IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis) and passed last year. He will be missed but never forgotten. I know he is proud of my accomplishments.

My controller modding projects and hobbies have evolved into an official side business under the company name RetroGameBoyz. I no longer mod existing older NES controllers. I now manufacture my own brand new patent pending circuit boards (PCBs) and DB9 cables and use mold injected and 3D printed controller cases. I have sold 3000+ controllers to date of varying configurations (Atari 2600 / 7800, Colecovision, Commodore (Push up to jump button mapping), Commodore GS (true 2 button), MSX, Odyssey 2, Vectrex, Amiga, Sega Master System and a new custom Robotron dual D-Pad controller for the Atari 7800).  I maintain a strict level of product quality and personalized customer satisfaction with over 1300 positive 100% feedback on eBay. I have products available on Amazon, Etsy, eBay and just opened a new marketplace on walmart.com.  If you want to learn more please visit RetroGameBoyz.com or look me up on twitter https://twitter.com/retrogameboyz or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/retrogameboyz or YouTube.

The Story
One day I broke out a few of my old video game consoles to show my Dad what I have been collecting. We had just finished reminiscing about the days when we had the Atari 2600 and I thought it would be fun to show him what other consoles I had in my collection. I went up to my office and brought down a Colecovision and a Atari 7800. Both were consoles I never owned growing up. (Hell, only the rich kids had the Colecovision.) However, when attempting to play some games, my Dad was unable to hold the controllers properly due to pain from the severity of his rheumatoid arthritis. A chronic disease that causes joint pain, stiffness, swelling, disfigurement and decreased movement. He has suffered with this for many years. Yet, he has been able to adapt and still attempts to do what he can. However, that night he was unable to play with my son and I. He simply was unable to work or grip the controllers comfortably because of those awkward controller designs. Seriously, even when I attempted to use them, my thumbs ached a bit and I don’t have arthritis,….yet.

Not really happy with what I witnessed and being of an analyst mindset, I was determined to find a solution. Digging through what I call my retrogaming graveyard – a box of busted games, controllers, wires and console parts – I pulled out an old Nintendo NES controller. The wires were frayed, it was a bit yellow and had a few dents – it was the perfect candidate for the job! I brought it to my Dad and I told him to hold it – “Pretend like you’re playing.”, I said. In short, he was able to navigate around the control pad with little to no discomfort. Even his right thumb, which is shaped like a backwards letter L, was able to depress the buttons.  This got me to thinking.

Previously, I was working on an a project where my son and I used an old Atari joystick to control some servos with an Arduino micro-controller. I recall the Joystick circuitry being fairly straightforward and wondered if it was similar to the NES controller. This project inspired me to cut the Atari DB9 cable from the joystick and “crack open” the NES controller and start inspecting. Having a small electronics background with some basic knowledge of PCBs, capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors etc. – oh not to mention a steady hand, mad soldering skills and keen eyesight – I was able to figure out an approach that would transform a standard NES controller into a functioning Atari 7800 controller. I was so excited about my success I captured the moment on video to share with others.

So, the next time my Dad came to visit, he was actually able to play some classic games on the original consoles with my son and I. It was a pretty cool moment and I can see that he was proud of what I did. But… the story does not end there. This experience has allowed me to explore something new. I now actually have a creative hobby for once. I have always been envious of those that would be able to play or talk sports, play an instrument, create fantastic meals, were well traveled etc. as I really was not skilled in those areas or was not particularity interested in any of those things. All I had was my work (which I excel at) and my family-life. That is all well and good of course, but I really never had anything that defines my particular interests or who I am – so to speak. Yes, I like video games and I am content creator (primarily at my job), but what about something that is just for me? Collecting, tinkering, repairing and working with retro games and consoles has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I found a wonderful community on Twitter that shares in the same interests and have even made some new friends. I’ve been able to incorporate my love for retrogaming into some aspects of my job which has also been fun – even in situations where I am recognized by the company for it. Overall, searching for a solution to a particular problem for my Dad had opened a new area of discovery that helped better define who I am, unbeknownst to me.

Since all this transpired, I started exploring more, educating myself, taking suggestions from others whom wanted me to created modifications for them etc. and eventually learned how to create other controller configurations to support other retro consoles and computers. I have also repaired and modded some consoles as well. Replacing capacitors on motherboards, fixing power connectors, replacing video and memory chips. Turning what other people see as video game junk back into fully functional items once again.

All I will leave you with is – if perhaps you have not found your passion yet, it may pop up when you least expect it. Once it does, continue to peruse it and love what you do as you may inspire others to do the same. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

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Humble Beginnings

Below were my first tests and prototypes and are just some examples of the different control modifications:

Like this one that uses the (A) button to replicate pushing up on the Joystick for those games that require you to push up to jump.

I even created one to work with the Colecovision:

Since this video was created I modified the Colecovision version to now include 4 buttons to address another start option and have also created a 2 button MSX controller, a dual directional pad Robotron Controller for the Atari 7800 and various 3D Printed arcade sticks. Visit retrogameboyz.com or my other stores to see what is available.

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My Retro Memories – The Atari 2600

Let’s Reminisce

It was March of 2018, my Dad and Mom came over for a visit and we were sitting around talking as we always do, usually over coffee and a ton of desserts that could feed a small army. For crying out loud, we’re 7 people – do we need pie, ice cream, cookies and a tiramisu?!?! <sigh> Eventually, my Mom went off on another discussion with my wife – and my kids decided to take advantage of the situation and took off to do their own thing. Dad and I started talking yesteryear and the subject of old video games came up. He knew I was involved in this retrogaming-scene and wanted to know what ever happened to our old Atari 2600?  Something he bought for us years ago as a Christmas gift. We started to reminisce.

The Memories

I still have memories of Dad and I actually opening the Atari 2600 box and playing it BEFORE Christmas! Dad wanted to “test it”.  I recall my Dad getting it from our neighbor, Jimmy, whom used to sell stuff out of his garage – no, no it’s not what you think, it was a legal business. Dad set it up on the coffee table in front of the old wood panel, Sylvania TV. Attaching the “devil’s pitch forks” to the back of it.  The family room was dark and all that lit the room was the bright glow of the Combat game screen. I was the big pink plane, he was the 3 small green ones. I was playing my first video game console. Man! I had to be about 5 at the time.

 

 

The memory fast forwards to my Mom playing Space Invaders and her almost having a heart attack as those little guys moved across the screen faster and faster with each shot. Her voice getting louder until that little bastard made it to the bottom. Shit!

There’s a memory stuck in my head where my brother is playing Asteroids, thinking he was Han Solo navigating the asteroid field  — we recently saw The Empire Strikes Back. We’d play PacMan, Defender, Adventure, Mazecraze, Combat, Adventures of Tron, Megamania, Frogs and Flies, Laserblast and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I recall my Dad taking pictures of the scores on the TV from Activision games and then sending them in to get patches. I don’t know where those patches are today, but I still have the Atari windbreaker he was going to put them on.

 

The Surprises

My parents would always surprise my brother and I with an occasional video game.  One Saturday night before they “went out dancing” – yes this was a thing – as soon as the babysitter arrived – they surprised us with Donkey Kong. I think we stayed up until 2Am playing it. (Yes those same two levels over and over.)  Another time we were in the Massapequa Mall on Long Island – and while we were walking we saw a man in a safari outfit, standing outside of Sam Goody – with a green box in his hand, Pitfall – it was Pitfall Harry! “Oh Mom, Dad please can we get that? No? Why? Oh come on, please!” <whining and carrying on like a spoiled brat>. Dragging our feet, heads down – my brother and I would not be playing Pitfall that night. That same night, which happened to be Saturday, was the night they “went out dancing” with Uncle Nick and Aunt Claire. Dad and I sat watching Star Trek on WPIX channel 11 NY – something to do as he waited for Mom to finish getting ready. The smell of Paco Rabanne was heavy in the air. Star Trek had ended and Aunt Claire and Uncle Nick were walking their way up the walk. My father calls for my brother to meet us in the family room. Joey walks in with my Mom following and she is holding something behind her back. You guessed it, it was Pitfall. They had purchased it earlier on another occasion and meant to give it to us later that night. Boy I felt bad for about 2 seconds for acting the way I did in the mall, but that faded fast and this rush of sheer joy went over my face. Joey and I played that all night, it was a crazy feeling.

The Friends

Our neighbor, Jimmy, the guy with the garage business, would always have Atari games for sale and my “Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim”, our friends “Loretta and Dick” and my Mom and Dad were his biggest customers. We all lived near each other and the families hung out together, but to me nothing was more exciting than seeing what other Atari games they all had. I would shuffle through their games like they were decks of cards.  “Awww man – Circus Atari, cool – Dragster, no way Starmaster – mint, Haunted House?– Yes, “mint” was a word too.  “Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim” and  “Loretta and Dick” always seemed to have better games and more of them too. They had the fancy keypads, the single paddle racing controllers, tons of Joysticks and bigger TVs. However, there was never any jealousy, we were just one big family that would share the games with each other. The more Atari games the better.

End of an Era with a New Beginning 

As I got older, eventually the Atari 2600 took a back seat and finally went into storage somewhere in our musty, creepy basement. I found a new fondness for computers such as the Atari 800, the Commodore VIC- 20, and the Commodore 64. I would not see another game console again until the late 80s when I discovered the Sega Master System while living in a Nintendo world, but that is another story.

The Answer

“So, whatever happened to that Atari?” – he asks. I struggled for an answer. “Dad, I have no clue, I think you thew it out when we had the flood in the basement. I remember the Atari box was all destroyed and falling apart. Funny thing is, I have most if not all of the original games so somehow those made it.” Dad replied, “That’s right I threw almost everything out, the water destroyed everything.” I gave him a sneer, “You know you could have probably saved it, those things are practically bullet proof. There is not much to them – I have an original 4 switch upstairs, in working condition! Let me go get one, I’ll show you, maybe we can play something like old times?”