Atarivox+ Speech Synthesizer Review
I wanted to take a few minutes to discuss the Atarivox+ add-on unit for the Atari 2600. This is really a nifty little device, which lets you save your high scores and provides advanced speech synthesis and sound capabilities.
According to the website, the Atarivox+ is compatible with the Atari 2600, 7800, Vectrex, and other consoles with compatible controller ports. The AtariVox+ is the successor to the original AtariVox, with the main difference being the addition of Vectrex support.
In order to use the device, you have to plug it into the second controller port of your console. This means of course it will not function for two-player game modes.
The main benefit of owning one, is having the ability to save your high scores and game configurations, whether it be your game state or user configurations. For example in the recently released Homebrew for the Atari 2600, “Super Cobra Arcade”, the game remembers your currently selected skill level, and saves up to 10 high scores PER skill level. So, for example, it will save up to 10 scores, in Novice mode, up to 10 scores in Advanced mode, etc.
Getting a bit more technical, according to the website, the Atarivox+ has “32K of non-volatile memory which can be used as a memory card. The flash memory will retain data without power for 200+ years.”, incredible!
The Atarivox+ also has built-in speech synthesis and preset sounds, supported by a variety of games. To take advantage of the speech synthesis, however, you must supply your own set of speakers. I happen to have these beauties, which are small but pack a punch. I love it. Every time you power on your Atari with the Atarivox+ plugged in, a quick tune plays and the words “Atarivox” are spoken. When playing a supported game like “Fall Down”, you will hear many phrases such as “blue wins!”, “red wins!” or “new high score!”
The website states “The heart of the unit is the SpeakJet–an amazing chip with phonetic speech, preset sounds, and a five-channel music synthesizer”.
Physically the front side of the Atarivox+ has a DB9 serial interface that plugs into the joystick port. The rear side has a headphone jack for plugging in external speakers. Hiding just behind the headphone jack tucked away inside the box is a small white dial. This dial adjusts the speaker volume and can be adjusted through the use of a small flathead screwdriver, left, lowers the volume, and right increases it.
Now, one of the questions I had regarding its speech synthesis, is why buy this hardware contraption when some games already have speech syntheses built-in, such as Quadrun, Open Sesame, or the 2002 Berzerk Voice Enhanced hack? This question has a couple of answers. Yeah, some basic speech can be simulated through the use of complicated sampling software, though it is expensive in terms of memory and processing power. In fact sometimes in order to play a sampled voice, the screen goes black, and the gameplay is temporarily paused. The Atarivox+ solves this problem by offloading this work to a special chip called the “speakjet”, which produces rich retro sound and speech while freeing up ROM space on the game’s cartridge. The other reason to buy this device is for its flash memory saving capabilities.
Earlier I mentioned the Atarivox+ is also compatible with the Vectrex gaming system. It has three main modes that can be toggled via the dip switch setting inside the box. The available modes are:
• AtariVox – for the Atari 2600 and 7800 (default setting)
• VecVoice – for compatibility with earlier Vectrex speech synthesis – mainly for the speech-hacked version of Berzerk (Verzerk) and Y.A.S.I.
• VecVox – for the Vectrex.
At launch the games supported for the Vectrex were:
• Boulder Escape Terror Hazard
• Color Clash
• Pythagorean Theorem
• Space Frenzy
• Spike’s Circus
• V:hockey
• Vectoblox
• Y.A.S.I.
For more information regarding the Vectrex, including how to set those DIP switches, check out VectrexRollis excellent video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bPXK8nHfos
For me purchasing one of these devices was a no-brainer. The high score save feature alone makes it worth it. But with the added speech synthesis feature, built-in sound effects, and compatibility for the Atari 7800 and Vectrex, you cannot go wrong. Right now Atariage currently lists about 20 homebrew games as supporting this device, which seems to be rapidly growing as new homebrews are released. In the last twelve months, five new titles supporting the unit have made their way to the Atariage store.
It is currently available for $45. For your money, you will receive the device and instruction manual, which has all the dip switch diagrams.
Highly recommended.
Youtube Description:
This is my review of the Atarivox+ Speech Synthesizer.
Purchase Link:
https://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1045
Supported Atari Games:
https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_list&c=98
VetrexRoli’s Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bPXK8nHfos
Youtube Original Post Date: 05/16/2018
