ATARI 400 Mini Review: Retro Gaming Fun or Frustration?

Рет қаралды 2,431

Күн бұрын

Today we'll check out The 400 Mini ATARI Home Computer that includes the new 8-button CX Stick! This miniature ATARI 400 is a re-creation of the classic 8-bit home computer with 25 built-in licensed games, the ability to add your own via a USB stick and other surprises. Is there more you need to know about it? I think so, details in the video.
The400Mini Manual: retrogames.biz/support/the400...
ATARI Basic Manual: www.atarimania.com/documents/...
Buy The400 Mini (Amazon Affiliate - thank you for your support!): amzn.to/3TU3GV5
Buy The400Mini (Amazon non-Affiliate - thank you for watching!): www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C...
*NOTE - The same ATARI 5200 games shown here played perfectly fine with RetroBat on a Windows 11 PC. Here's how to set it up: wagnerstechtalk.com/retrobat
-As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:32 - Unboxing
04:06 - First Boot & Game List
05:27 - Settings & Options
07:26 - Brief Game Play of ALL 25 games!
11:39 - TheCXStick Issue
12:46 - Additional Features
13:06 - ATARI Basic Programming
13:55 - Virtual Keyboard
15:08 - Add your own Games
16:00 - Button Mapping
16:17 - Galaxian (A800)
16:37 - Pitfall (A800)
17:14 - 3rd Party Controllers
17:41 - ATARI 5200 Testing
19:05 - Outro
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Пікірлер: 33

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

UPDATE: A few have mentioned there appears to be a fix for the issue with the CX Stick on AtariAge and Jon at GenXGrownup also demonstrates this. Check out Jon's video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bbWfmKaI07jHfHk.html This will require opening the stick, adding a rubber piece and closing it back up. Here's more information on that on the AtariAge forums: forums.atariage.com/topic/364310-thecxstick-ultimate-fix .

@yougotthismyfriend3441 Ай бұрын

😊

@houseofno 3 ай бұрын

I remember these. That membrane keyboard turned a lot of people off and many actually preferred its more upscale stablemate the Atari 800 with a real keyboard.

@spidericemidasiosmusicprod1309 3 ай бұрын

I believe the directional issues with the stick are a physical design issue and would not be fixed by firmware updates. There is already a physical hack to improve directional response for those who play more heavy-handed, but it involves opening up the stick and sticking something directly in the middle of the movement area under the bottom of the stick to slightly increase distance between the pressure sensors and trigger points on the round plate under the stick.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Thank you, yes someone mentioned it a little earlier. Looks like this may be the solution to the CX Stick issue: forums.atariage.com/topic/364310-thecxstick-ultimate-fix . Unfortunately, it does involve opening up the stick. Not a big deal for me to try it out tonight, but others may be less interested in modding a new device.

@8-BitErik 3 ай бұрын

There's a community fix for the CXSTICK control issues that can be found on the AtariAge 400 Mini form that involves putting a small rubber pad on the stick's PCB board that offsets movement pressure. ⁠Also, hitting the top ring buttons by mistake can reset a game. I remapped the Top, Left, Right, Bottom, and Shoulder buttons to the Shift keyboard key for games where accidentally hitting the ring is an issue.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Thank you, I'll check it out! I guess that might confirm, it's a hardware and not a software issue. Interesting the issue wasn't caught before mass-production. It was a pretty obvious issue when I started playing the built in games. Same here, I had a few games get reset by accidentally hitting the ring button.

@jeffpearson1863 2 ай бұрын

Got my and love it. Now we need a The Bally Astrocade mini

@Will-ym9jn 3 ай бұрын

This looks fun, thank you for the review!

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching!

@XV250 3 ай бұрын

I bought my 400 Mini with a 2nd spare CX-stick - and I've had zero issues with false diagonals. Maybe I don't use a lot of force on the joystick when I'm playing, but I just don't have a problem with it at all. The Ring buttons, though - I press the Left Ring button all the time, so I have it permanently blanked out in the joystick configuration. How the stick got released as is I don't understand: I'd have thought these issues would have been caught in testing, long before release.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for your feedback! Yeah, definitely had issues here but more obvious with the isometric style games. Would be interesting if you connected it to a PC and tried your controller(s) to see if you see the issue with them or not.

@MashTec 3 ай бұрын

Great machine! Brings back memories to when i started programing in my first programing language Visual BASIC (on a PC). Thanks for the flashback :) I also appreciate the brief hands on to the installed games 👍🏻 i wish i had this device in the past, maybe i‘d also be a heart surgeon today 😂

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

LOL, it's funny when I was a kid that's what I thought I wanted to do (surgeon). Then realized it's easier to put computers back together rather than people and it changed my career direction. Then again, maybe it was the Atari 400/800 that was lacking in my life. Who knows 😀 Thank you for watching MashTec, it was definitely fun seeing more of what I missed out on back then.

@chriswheatley3146 2 ай бұрын

Receied mine through a pre-order on Amazon since I have the rest of the mini consoles. Love the console, hate the controller. I even did the suggested mod to address accidental angle presses. While it helps, the stick is still super stiff and the ring buttons constantly get pressed. Also it seems the controller lags/ is unresponsive at times; especially playing Lee. Kind of sad that they have a tendency to fumble on the controllers like this. I plan to try my c64 and amiga mini controllers soon to see if they work any better. I wasn't that impressed with the C64 one either though when I used it on my C64 mini.

@WagnersTechTalk 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for your feedback and sharing your experience. It is unfortunate that the controller issues weren't identified/resolved prior to mass production.

@PapaBradsGaming 3 ай бұрын

ATARI is my jam! Great video! Loved it!

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching and commenting Papa Brad! The ATARI VCS was my first-ever game console, I'm right there with you on the nostalgia factor. I didn't own the 400 mini, my first computer came several years later, the TI-99/4A. Have a great day sir!

@carlo1132 3 ай бұрын

I passed on it but I wanted it, esp since I had an Atari 400 as a kid. Hopefully they will address the issues, seems to be better than the c64 and amiga 500 mini from the same company. Sideloading makes it a nice pick up for sure, thanks for showing it off Jon.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

A childhood buddy owned one, we didn't have the $ for much when I was a kid. I do have fond memories of the machine and those early days of computing. Thank you for watching CarlO!

@user-tz4bt5bt6x 3 ай бұрын

How is it better than the C64 & Amiga which emulate much better games?? I do think it is a lot cooler looking hardware than those other minis but as far as the games, the C64 & Amiga 500 seem to have much better built in libraries. The Amiga 500 also includes a mouse and game pad.

@UltimateTechHub 3 ай бұрын

I never owned the Atari 400 either. My closest programming console was the Texas Instrument TI-99/4a. I learned Basic on that bad boy. The games seem so just ok but not great. Missile Command is probably the best game. Great review Jon!

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

We started out on the same machine, I owned the Ti-99/4A and loved it! I followed a similar path with basic/extended basic. The game list is just ok on the mini, agree! Want to see something pretty amazing on the TI, check out Dragon's Lair here: wagnerstechtalk.com/retro-computing/#Dragons_Lair_for_the_TI-994A_Home_Computer-_NEW_in_2019_FULL_Play-through_in_practice_mode . In the early days of this channel, there was a lot of TI stuff out (TIPI, FinalGrom99 and DL). DL on the TI totally blew my mind, in the description is a link to a document from the developer of how he pulled it off. Interesting read (imo).

@walterg74 5 күн бұрын

Console... FFS...

@theoldar 3 ай бұрын

Did you ask KZfaq to limit your number of subscribers? I can't figure out otherwise why you don't have a million.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

Very kind of you to say, thank you and have an awesome day!

@vaf51361 3 ай бұрын

I returned mine. Too many hoops to jump through to play Atari 8bit games. How people aren't more disgusted with the fact that after paying 120 for this unit only to have to tear apart the joystick to modify it. Totally unacceptable.

@WagnersTechTalk 3 ай бұрын

I don't blame you. It's unfortunate that it's shipping to customers with a rather serious flaw in the CX Stick. If I review a product, I don't return it. I may mod the stick on this one.

@ridiculous_gaming 2 ай бұрын

I have the Atari Game station released last year and it works, but I prefer plugging in the multi arts and such into my actual Atari computers. However, this is a great unit when without an original unit. I will pick one up, but not right now.

@walterg74 5 күн бұрын

"Too many hoops to jump through"..? This could not be simpler... Guess we found tje reason why shampoos have instructions...

@ridiculous_gaming 5 күн бұрын

@@walterg74 I have not grabbed one yet, for I have so many Atari 8 bit computers, including an original 400, which still work great. However, I'll pick up one of these units probably this fall.