Atari THE400 Mini's First Firmware Update: Will My Wishes Be Granted?

Atari brings the computer age home. Again! Welcome back to the Atari 8-bit world of computing! The powerful Atari 400 set a new standard of capability with its release in 1979, and along with its subsequent models, has been loved by gamers and computer enthusiasts for decades. Now Retro Games and Atari have collaborated to create THE400 Mini. A half-sized version of the distinctively styled Atari 400, emulating the whole 8-bit Atari range from the 400 to the 800XL, and the Atari 5200 home console. Also included is a recreation of the classic Atari CX40 joystick, with an additional seven seamlessly integrated function buttons. Play one of the 25 built-in games, including: Lee, Berzerk, Millipede, Miner 2049er, M.U.L.E, Star Raiders II, and save your progress at any point in one of four save slots per game, or even pause and rewind gameplay to help you through the most difficult parts - a feature new to THE400 Mini. The multi-region THE400 Mini features HD visuals output via HDMI and with five USB ports, you can connect additional controllers or a standard PC keyboard. And as with all Retro Games' releases you are free to play content you own via a USB flash drive, and learn to program in BASIC. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the world of retro computing, THE400 Mini has something to offer!

In this video, Jon walks you through his wish list for fixes and features for THE400 Mini he hopes to see in the next firmware update.

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00:00 THE400 Mini
01:13 Pre-Loaded Game Audit
02:24 File Extensions
03:03 USB Favorites
04:06 Artifacting
04:59 Analog Control
05:54 5200+ Controller?

[TheJeremyHolloway]

Totally on-board for a CX52+ 5200 joystick that could be used with a real 5200. Old Atari Inc did create a self-centering CX52J joystick but never released it due to Warner forcing them to discontinue the console. The late Curt Vendel had prototypes of it. He said the mechanism is very similar to what Sony and Microsoft perfected 2 decades later with their analog sticks. One of the problems also is getting potentiometers in the range native to the 5200… they aren’t exactly common. We could also use CX52+ Paddles. And that’s before even mentioning a CX53+ Trak-Ball controller!

[atarileaf]

One of the reasons i didnt pull the trigger on the 400 is because i knew there would be firmware updates needed. I am still waiting for a final firmware update on the 2600+
Yes, there are unofficial beta updates, but there are still a lot of problems

[jayme]

Agree with everything on your wish list Jon and I'd add better compatability as around 25% of the games I've added via the memory stick don't work no matter what setting I try. Also the way multi-disk games over three disks are handled via scripts would be ok, if I could get it to work and there's been numerous others with the same issue. It's problematic at best and broken at worst. Still love my 400 mini and have more games that work than I'd ever have the time to play. Keep up the awesome work!

[IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Nice work, Jon! I certainly hope they listen. I still like this device, but it was delivered with a few slight problems. Thanks for the shout out, They actually removed an entire part of 7 cities of Gold that would be nice to have -making new worlds randomly. It's still a good game as delivered though.
Oh yeah, one more thing they should add if they are reading and watching...Switchable PAL/NTSC in the options menu for each game

[diehlr]

Hell yes to the modern 5200 controller!!!!

[TheJeremyHolloway]

Atari and Playon should also bring out Mini accessories. Like a Mini 850 that serves as a USB Hub. Heck release Minis of both versions of the 850 with the OG sporting USB A Ports and the sleek black model having USB-C ports. And once they’re connected, they offer more licensed ROMs. They could do that with Mini 810, 815, 1050, and XF551 - and XF351 - “disk drives” that are cute little Micro SD card readers. And you know they’d sell!

[jodycarr]

Yes please re-release a new version of the 5200 controller! I bought the 400 mainly for 5200 emulation. Love to play some Super Breakout the way it was intended!

[mopster]

So many times I would accidentally press those side buttons only to take me back in a menu or something. I had to even readjust how I held the CS Stick to avoid hitting that sensitive corner button. I totally understand.

[curiousottman]

Hi Jon

Bought The400 based on your recommendation and videos. It’s fantastic! My kid and I love playing all of the built in games especially Yoomp.

Thanks for the recommissions. Please post a video when there is a firmware update!

[adm]

Double thumbs-up for the modern 5200 controller idea. I'd like to see it support old school 5200 consoles (via pin adapter) modern Atari VCS and 400 mini. Atari is reproducing the 7800 joypad, they can do the same thing with 5200 controllers.

[lorensims]

Hey Jon,
I'll totally second your entire update wishlist.
Favorites used to me a matter of keeping my favorite cartridges, cassettes and diskettes on the top of my stacks,
but in a folder full of files, or even a menu selection of preinstalled games it would be great to highlight the ones you like to access the most.
As much as I complain about that CX joystick I would sure appreciate full support for alternate controllers.
It's nonsense that you can attach the Classic joystick from the new Atari VCS to reveal Castle Crisis and Super Breakout, but you still have to have the CX joystick attached just to serve the ball!
And M.U.L.E. is a disgrace as installed. I'm glad they've published a fix, but there's clearly more than that they still need to fix.
Hey, could we get a few more games? Maybe some of those that were released in THIS country?
I'm no fan of artifacting. That's the trick the Apple ][ used to say it had more colors.
The Atari games that actually depended on it were clearly Apple ports (I used a black & white TV as my display back in the day so artifacting wasn't a thing for me).
Let me know when the firmware update is released. I'll get my 400 Mini out of its box again.
Until then, I'll stick with my old Atari 400 now that I finally have it back.

[nysavant]

They need to allow wider vertical adjustment of the screen size so all of a games playfield can be displayed.

[robanderson]

The title screen for 0:01 7 Cities of Gold was amazing for the time. An animated hand writing "Seven Cities of Gold" in cursive letter by letter while a theme song played.

[Alpha]

That last idea of recreating a modern 5200 controller would be so awesome. I would jump on that if it ever happened . And they can even make money on selling reprints of the overlays . It would making playing 5200 so good both in emulators and the original console .

[jonathanwhiteside]

I don't know if it does or not yet, but I'd like to see the mini 400 support RAM configurations up to 1MB & Stereo POKEY for some demo action.

[thorstenguenther]

My wish list would include: - 50/60 Hz toggle switch per game/program, since certain games are glitching/crashing when run at the wrong screen refresh rate. - emulate more than 128KB of RAM to allow for certain homebrew software to run - 1088 KB seems to be the sweet spot that would even allow Space Harrier and AtariBlast to run from RAM (i.e. as .XEX).

[RacerX-]

I hope all of these get ticked including a USB 5200 controller done right. That would be fantastic. Thanks for sharing and great list.

[revlayle]

I remember from the review that you can map up to 3 disk images quickly swap thru. I would like to see 4 disk images, if possible. A lot of double disk rpgs used both sides of both floppies, usually, so having 4 disk images sounds like it could satisfy a lot of rpg players.

[TomBortels]

Two things I'd like to see in a new firmware update: First, how about some simple USB stick file management? Let me delete, rename, and maybe move files around on the mini without having to unplug the drive and move it to a computer. Second - support for language carts other than Basic. I was a big fan of Action! in the past, and I don't see an obvious way to do "what you did with the BASIC cart, but with Action!" (or BasicXL or a bunch of others).

[DawezyDRK]

Got nothing to add, solid list of things mentioned there Jon. 👍