Overview

Being a pretty huge fan of Atari and owning the 7800 ( also cable of running 2600 games) and the 5200 I have a pretty good appreciation for warn down controllers. Seem no matter what I do paddles just get bad over and over, keybads fail me, and cables connection ware out. In working with the adapters out there, its all junk IMO. 

Why the stock interface is limiting

Of course there is nothing wrong with what Atari did, but it is over 40 years old...Though finding controller to work right is a pain and so many new method have been learned.  IMO, I think its best to merge the new with the old. 

Discovering the Bridge 

In having some experience with Bliss-Box products and reading more about the Bridge I wanted to try it out. There was an output to atari 2600/7800 and 5200 and owning both I figure why not. 

Reverse engineering the ports

 I have to admit for me this is where the fun it. Well other then playing the gamer ;)  I wanted to learn a bit about how this worked.  I know how controller  figures out the lotion of the stick. Good old charge pump! It charges up a cap and then pulls it to ground while it being drawn thru a arable resister (the pot). The Atari runs a timer and counts up, the number it hits when the voltage is 0, is the location. But how in the heck does a digital controller like the Bridge to that?  Its not a real variable resister... After some probing I found out!  It was able to sense then the charge started, then it waits x ms, and flips from 0 to 5 volts. Genius!  And the Bridge has a calibration tool that lets you adjust it. 

How this enables modern controllers

The Bridge does a pretty good job of translating. The thing that makes this work so well I think is that the Bridge emulates the 5200 ( i this case) and the Gamer-Pro does the communication for the controllers. They talk back and forth but are independent. So they both can do things are the same time. So it does not matter if you use controller A B or C, it will work as long as it can be read. It really is the best way to do thing if you think about it.  I think its sports up to 16 controller interfaces inputs but they group them in to these categories. 

• Neogeo to Atari ( Famicon and neogeo )
• Megadrive  to Atari ( just about ever db9 based controller )
• Nintendo to Atari ( Everything but USB)
• Playstation to Atari ( up to ps2 )
• TG!16 / PCE to Atari ( Both TG16 and PCE )
• Sega to Atari (All sega controllers )

About the Gamer-Pro

Bliss-Box also makes another device called the Gamer-Pro Advanced. It is only a USB adapter but you use this with the Bridge. The two are what makes it possible. I already owned the GPA and it supports lots of inputs. Here is the full list.  

• Virtual Boy To USB
• Super Nintendo To USB
• Nintendo To USB
• Dream Cast To USB
• Wii Accessory Port To USB
• DB9 (retro and Atari) To USB
• PlayStation To USB
• Saturn To USB
• TG16 To USB
• PCE To USB
• GameCube To USB
• Atmark Pippin To USB
• Jaguar To USB
• N64 To USB
• NeoGeo/5200/Famicom To USB
• Vectrex To USB
• Gameport To USB

What I did to make this work

1) Using the Bridge and the correct cable to connect to my 7800 or 5200 console I was able to instantly use any controller on my console. Although I was not interested in a replacement for my atari stick, I did find it rather pleasing to use for the 7800 two button games. Though if that is your goal, I'm happy to say that is all you need but I was after something I bit more. I wanted to use other types of devices. 

Operation

There is a switch on the db9 connector, took me a bit to figure that out. (Tip reading the manual helps). Its a way to change modes. In one operation its a two button 7800 controller the other is a signal button, and this cable also work on the sega master system. 

Paddles

First up, I wanted to test about Kaboom!  I used my arkanoid paddle and...