Atari Harmony Cartridge Review
Believe it or not, there are some people out there that prefer to play their Atari 2600 games on real hardware, rather than using emulation. Knowing this, yeah you could insert the specific game cartridge you are interested in playing directly into the console, then swap it out with another cartridge and so on. Up until fairly recently, that is what you had to do. Over time this can create a lot of wear and tear on both the cartridge and the console. Enter the Atari Harmony cartridge. With this cartridge, all you have to do is load up the SD card with the ROMs you are interested in playing, and technically you may never need another physical cartridge again. Originally released in 2009, the Harmony cartridge has gone through a couple of revisions. The latest version is titled the “Harmony Encore”. This version boasts of 100% compatibility with all Atari 2600 games, or at least that’s their goal. The Harmony Encore supports game ROM sizes all the way up to 512K, which is truly amazing especially considering the earliest Atari 2600 games were a mere 2K in total ROM size.
Reading from the Atariage harmony website:
” The Harmony Cartridge is a simple, affordable, time-saving, space-saving, hassle-free way to play hundreds of games on your Atari 2600 console. Using a Harmony cartridge is easy.
Just insert the Harmony cartridge into your console slot the same way you would with any ordinary Atari game cartridge. Put your favorite game binaries on an SD card, pop it into the Harmony Cartridge and you’re ready to go. Turn on the console, select the game you want to play from the list and start having fun.”
From <http://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Harmony.html>
The standard edition includes just the cartridge and a plain paper manual. You supply your own SD card and USB-mini B cable for programming and BIOS updates.
From <http://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Order_SD_version.html>
The deluxe edition includes a color printed manual, a USB-mini B cable, and a 2GB (or larger) SD or SD-HC card. On the card are the programming software, drivers, online manual, and homebrew games that you are encouraged to try such that you may one day purchase them from the AtariAge store.
From <http://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Order_SD_version.html>
Currently, Harmony Encore is only available in a Standard Edition, in either SD or microSD versions. This includes just the cartridge, a plain paper manual, and an addendum that highlights the new features. You supply your own SD card and USB-mini B cable for programming and BIOS updates.
From <http://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Order_Encore.html>
When you visit the site to purchase the Harmony cartridge, you are presented with a couple of options. You can purchase the older version in both SD and Micro SD varieties. You may also purchase a used Harmony cartridge for just $49 while supplies last. My recommendation would be to go with the “Encore”, which is a more future proof variety of the Harmony cartridge which supports up to 512K ROMs. Yeah at $85, it is a little more expensive, but I believe it’s well worth it.
Youtube Description:
This is my quick review of the Atari Harmony Encore cartridge.
Vendor website:
http://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Harmony.html
Youtube Original Post Date: 03/17/2017
