MovieCart for Atari 2600 -- plays full-length movies!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Was casually browsing on Youtube today, 3-09-2024, and lo behold, came across a YT video of a guy demoing a new-fangled homebrew cart called "MovieCart for 2600". It's listed on the Tindie website with a pre-order price of $24.99 usd https://www.tindie.com/products/lodefmo ... tari-2600/ -- as of March 6th, 20024, the creator of the "Moviecart for 2600" has mentioned that he is getting the first batch of it together to sell as he's based out of Canada. I signed up on the waiting list for a copy. Apparently, it runs on a stock "unmodified" 2600 console (i.e. the original "Heavy Sixer" from 1977, the "Darth Vader Four Switcher" variant from 1983 and the Atari 2600 Jr. from 1986 as well as the Sears Video Arcade I & II variant consoles).

More info from lodef YT poster: https://www.youtube.com/@lodefmode/videos

Note: it's best to use a non-modded 2600 console hooked up to a CRT-based TV monitor for best results with this new MovieCart setup. You can change the overall brightness and volume in addition to the playback speed with fast-forward, pause, etc. Quite cool nevertheless.

The output resolution is at 80 x 192 and has impressive sound/audio with the FMV playback capability. As a bonus, an included micro sdhc card with the public domain release of George Romero's 1968 classic zombie film of "Night of the Living Dead" full-length movie to showcase it's awesome & jaw-dropping movie playback functionality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkBAaoBeMXE Who would've thought that the Atari 2600 8-bit gaming console could play such movies (in addition to playing 2600 games in general)? Of course, this MovieCart project has been worked on since it's inception back in 2017 and finally in March of 2024, it's very soon slated for general mass consumption to 2600 gamers/fans worldwide. Even Atari Corp. sold the 2600 under the Atari 2800 console namesake for the Japanese gaming market back in 1983 with the appearance of looking quite very much like the Atari 7800 console itself (and later sold through Sears under it's "Sears Video Arcade II" moniker for the 1983 Christmas shopping season as Atari wasn't sure if it'd fare well, sales-wise, under their own official console offering).

On another VT video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy7IAoh6PeQ&t=1430s a demo of the original 1977 theatrical version of "Star Wars: A New Hope" was showcased playing on a MovieCart for 2600 setup -- to think that a lowly 2600 console to have movie playback capability from the get-go is truly impressive/mind-boggling at it's best. The entire MovieCart cartridge pcb fits easily within the confines of an original Atari VCS "Combat" cart setup with the "old-school" auto-retracting cart covering mechanism -- just need to file down a slot for easy access to the micro sdhc slot and you're good to go in that particular department for swapping out cards to play your favorite FMV shorts, full-lenth movies and home videos (and even anime also). How cool is that?

I'm sure the original Atari VCS console designers didn't think (or foresee in the future for that matter) that it'd be able to play movies on it back in 1977 but in 2024, it's all possible nowadays. What will they think of next in regards to the homebrew scene with the 2600 console?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Josh128]

Thanks for the post, but this seems utterly ridiculous!

Can you post any photos of what 8 color 80x192 FMV looks like?

[orange808]

It relies on the unique glow of a CRT and looks best on a proper consumer set. I don't think pictures do it justice.