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Homebrew Materials

Now you can simply and effectively design modern games for classic systems! Pixels Past provides a wide variety of products and materials to enable today's homebrew programmers.

All of our printed circuit boards (PCBs) are great for homebrew authors who don't want to go through the hassle of desoldering chips from existing boards. They have all been designed with the hobbyist in mind - they are simple to assemble, have extremely high-reliability, and have been tested on the most stubborn systems. No longer will you have to spend precious time collecting, stripping down and building up cartridges. Now you can spend your time doing what you want to do - writing games!

If you’d prefer not to build your own game cartridges, AtariAge provides homebrew services to build and assemble them for you. They can also design and produce full-color manuals and labels. AtariAge exclusively uses Pixels Past products for their cartridge assembly services.

Atari 2600 2K/4K PCB

2600 2K/4K Rev B Front - click to enlarge

Rev. B Front

 

These brand new boards are used to create 2K and 4K Atari 2600 games. They fit into standard Atari 2600 cartridge cases.

Parts required:

* 2732 4K EPROM
* 7404 Hex Inverter
* 0.1uF Capacitor

Additionally, this board may be populated with a 24-pin Socket, which is useful for game development. However, use of a socket precludes the board's use in a standard Atari cartridge shell due to reduced clearance of the EPROM.

Available Exclusively at AtariAge.com

2600 2K/4K Rev B Back - click to enlarge

Rev. B Back

 

Atari 2600 8K/16K/32K (Bankswitch) PCB

2600 Bankswitch Rev A Front - click to enlarge

Rev. A Front

 

These brand new boards are used to create 8K, 16K, and 32K games (using standard Atari F8, F6, and F4 bankswitching, respectively) for the Atari 2600. They fit into standard Atari 2600 cartridge cases. This design uses a single programmable logic device (PLD) to handle each of the bankswitching routines, reducing overall cost and simplifying the design.

Parts required:

* 20V8 PLD (containing bankswitch routines)
* 0.1uF Capacitor
* 100pF Capacitor
* 2.2k Resistor

In addition, an EPROM is required in one of the following sizes:

* 2764 8K EPROM
* 27128 16K EPROM
* 27256 32K EPROM

This board may also be populated with a 28-pin Socket, which is useful for game development. However, use of a socket precludes the board's use in a standard Atari cartridge shell due to reduced clearance of the EPROM.

Available Exclusively at AtariAge.com

2600 Bankswitch Rev A Back - click to enlarge

Rev. A Back

 

Atari 5200 32K PCB

5200 Rev A Front - click to enlarge

Rev. A Front

 

These brand new boards are used to create 32K games for the Atari 5200(they can be easily modified to accept 16K EPROMs, as well). They fit in standard Atari 5200 cartridge cases.

Parts required:

* 27128 32K EPROM
* 7408 AND Gate
* 0.1uF Capacitor (2)

Additionally, this board may be populated with a 28-pin Socket, which is useful for game development. However, use of a socket precludes the board's use in a standard Atari cartridge shell due to reduced clearance of the EPROM.

Available Exclusively at AtariAge.com

5200 Rev A Back - click to enlarge

Rev. A Back

 

Atari 8-bit computer 8K/16K PCB

8-bit Rev A Front - click to enlarge

Rev. A Front

 

These brand new boards are used to create 8K and 16K games for the Atari 400, 800, XL, or XE computer systems. They fit in standard Atari 8-bit cartridge cases (both the old, brown style with a metal plate and the later XE-style cases).

Parts required:

* 2764 8K EPROM or
* 27128 16K EPROM
* 7400 NAND Gate (not needed for 8K)
* 0.1uF Capacitor

Additionally, this board may be populated with a 28-pin Socket, which is useful for game development.

Available Exclusively at AtariAge.com

8-bit Rev A Back - click to enlarge

Rev. A Back

 

ColecoVision 8K/16K/24K/32K PCB

ColecoVision Rev A Front - click to enlarge

Rev. A Front

 

These brand new boards are used to create 8K, 16K, 24K, and 32K games for the ColecoVision. They fit into standard ColecoVision cartridge cases. This design uses a single programmable logic device (PLD) to handle each of the ROM size configurations, reducing overall cost and simplifying the design.

Parts required:

* 20V8 PLD (containing ROM size configuration routines)
* 0.1uF Capacitor

In addition, an EPROM is required in one of the following sizes:

* 2764 8K EPROM
* 27128 16K EPROM
* 27256 32K EPROM (also used for 24K games)

This board may also be populated with a 28-pin Socket, which is useful for game development. While a socketed board will fit inside a ColecoVision cartridge, the cartridge shell does not fit snugly over the EPROM. However, the cartridge will still fit fine in a ColecoVision system for testing purposes. .

Available Exclusively at AtariAge.com

ColecoVision Rev A Back - click to enlarge

Rev. A Back

 

Atari 2600/7800 Cartridge Housings

2600 Housing Prototype

Exterior Front

 

The Pixels Past Cartridge Housing is a reproduction of the original Atari 2600/7800 cartridge housing. It was designed to allow homebrew authors to create their own video game cartridges without needing to to go through the arduous task of obtaining common 2600/7800 cartridges, stripping them of their labels, cleaning them, and disassembling them. The Pixels Past Cartridge Housing is a 3-piece design (containing a front, back, and bottom insert) that gets rid of the spring-loaded sliding door used in early Atari cartridge housing designs. The bottom insert helps to keep the dust out of the cartridge and has the 2 prongs to open the cart connector door on the system. The cartridge housing design was simplified to make cartridge assembly trouble free. The housings support the original Atari 2600/7800 PCBs or the new Pixels Past PCBs.

The prototype cartridge housing shown here was created with a stereolithography process (SLA), a common process to verify the functionality and form of a three-dimensional model. The final production was to be injection molded, textured ABS plastic like the original Atari cartridges.

Due to the lack of significant market interest and the steep costs required upfront to manufacture quantities of cartridge shells, production never commenced. However, there is always a possibility that such housings will be produced in the future.

2600 Housing Prototype

Exterior Back

 



Disclaimer
AtariAge is the exclusive distributor of Pixels Past products. Please contact AtariAge support (support@atariage.com) for technical assistance and customer service issues.

Pixels Past does not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of any product or circuit described herein. Pixels Past guarantees that the printed circuit boards are electrically tested and meet physical design and manufacturing requirements. Pixels Past warrants to replace any unmodified circuit board proven to be flawed. Pixels Past is not responsible for improper use or placement of components, incorrect soldering techniques, damage to systems, or other assembly or electronics issues. Pixels Past reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any products herein to improve reliability, function, or design.