I repurposed an old phone into a portable Atari 2600 for my mom
The phone is pretty old, running Android 6. It has 2600.emu on it with the entire catalogue of 2600 games. She remembers playing on her friends' Atari as a kid and some of the games she played so I added those as shortcuts.
I tried several emulation apps: 2600.emu, droid2600, and MAME4Droid. The modern versions of all refused to install. 2600.emu and droid2600 both had an older version that installed. Overall I liked 2600.emu for its better onscreen controls & better paddle control on these specific versions.
It feels nice to repurpose old tech for something "new". It wouldn't be possible without a dedicated community.
11 replies
You should get a controller for her.
https://atari.com/products/wireless-cx40-joystick-atari
It'll need an otg adapter but they're cheap.
It says it's wireless, but I'm not sure what it's using - I'm guessing something custom enough that the dongle is necessary.
Thanks for the suggestion.
How well do you think it will play? Two hands on the controller mean none for the phone. Maybe it would need a phone stand too?
I've had a hard time finding information on controller compatibility. Do you know for certain that 2600.emu will work with the CX40+ Wireless via OTG?
Nope, I don't know for sure it would work. The VCS ran Linux though which is what android is under the hood so there's a good chance.
It should play well if it works with that app. A phone stand or a case with one would be good.
The controller is almost certainly an HID compatible controller that will work with any application that supports controllers.
As for a stand, I recommend a pop socket-style thing, as it permenantly attaches to the phone.
That's super sweet and awesome of you!
Thanks!
Came here to say that
Awesome. And cool that your mom is into old Atari games. Did she play them back in the day?
If she existed in the 70s or 80s then it's almost guaranteed. Society was categorized into the Atari haves and have nots who made friends with the haves.
Yep!