VIDEO: An Atari 2600 Turned Into a Rockin Rave Machine
Here's a good way to make use of that old Atari 2600 console collecting dust in the garage.
So you have an old Atari 2600 game console and you're tired of playing the same old 8-bit titles over and over. Why not turn it into a rockin' electronic guitar that will be a huge hit at the next rave?
That's what "chiptune" artist cTrix has done, creating his cTrix Gatari 2600 out of the classic console, three effect pedals for an electric guitar, and a joystick. It's all complied into a guitar-like form factor which he used during a performance at the 2011 Blip Festival in Tokyo. The only aspect of this makeshift instrument that isn't usable is the head stock with was added purely for decoration.
As seen in the video below, the "guitar" uses an EQ pedal, a flanger pedal, and another pedal for whammy, holding notes and more. The joystick is used to switch tracks already programmed onto a custom EPROM-mounted daughter board that’s jammed into the cartridge slot.
This device would be perfect for your New Year's Eve party Saturday night, no?
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How many people here even remember the 2600. Back in the day of one joystick and one fire button. Games were simple and it was fun. I had one and about 40 games by the time it ran its course from 1979 to about 83 good times.
This is the beginning of digital jazz : )
I had Atari 800XL, had improved Pokey sound chip, great tunes.
OMG I'm bleeding out of my ears!
That's not music.
That crowd was blind and hard of hearing.
what a waste of time.
KOOL! I had an Atari 2600 a long long time ago. I spent entirely too much time playing games.
Original idea of making an Atari 2600 into an Atari synthesizer. I don't think I could rock out to this, but it has an eerie familiarity. I think I can identify most all of the tones generated from my childhood in the 70s.
This is the beginning of digital jazz : )
Are you kidding me? It sounds like 8-bit dubstep.
Haha. That's a pretty creative way of using Atari 2600!
Ill give him an A for effort.
Atari 2600s still sell for a pretty good chunk of change on eBay.
A few weeks ago I got a never used one for only $135 on eBay. I guess no one believed him (I didn't either, but I bid anyway for some reason). But, it's really new.
There's definitely still a market for them for just the reason there was originally. They are simple and fun. Just like life used to be :-P .
This is the beginning of digital jazz : )
Having just watched Tron Legacy again just the other day, I heard that comment in Jeff Bridges' voice. It amused me, at any rate
How many people here even remember the 2600. Back in the day of one joystick and one fire button. Games were simple and it was fun. I had one and about 40 games by the time it ran its course from 1979 to about 83 good times.
Spent way too much time on one myself - wore out joysticks, ended up getting a third party one (with button on top,) two (up to four) paddles, the keypad (with Star Raiders) and *lots* of games... had to leave it behind in a limited-space move. Greatly regretted.
all im saying is that if F********* amazing, love what you have done, and like your music alot.
By the way, Atari 2600 has seen another commercial release in late 2010, being nothing else than the legendary Boulder Dash :-)
Had mine second-hand and loved it. Got damaged after a few years, and it wasn't until I took the machine apart that I realized just how small the control logic was. The build quality on those machines was nice. I bet I still have the imprints from that joystick lol..the thing could have flown space shuttles, it was so strong. The one thing that got me though was that the games weren't that cheap at the local super store (Amazon then was nothing more than a huge river), so we had to get them second-hand or wait until Christmas. I remember having Pac-man and driving the folks crazy because we were always playing it too loud, same for that game called Berzerk.
The sound was cool at the time but I am not too keen on this mod. Nice that he is keeping the machine going (and it looks like he's an Amiga fan, another awesome piece of kit, one that was waaaay ahead of it's time).
Collaborate with a ZX Spectrum! Imagine the opportunities.. probably sound 10 times better than Justin Baby-face Bieber.
We played the heck out of ours... got it with space invaders for Christmas the year it was released and I don't think we did anything else for a week.
Still have all my systems and games
Ah the memories. Did my first assembler baby steps on that one.
Peek and Poke had a different -innocent- meaning then :-)
Funky ;-)
Where is C64 when needed?
Now that's pretty cool, even for a guy that never used an Atari.