+-^CrossBow^- Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Yeah I actually like these VFD like units. I have the full color Centipede and Q*bert from before and I have the blister pack version of Frogger as well. I do kinda want the full LCD rom version of Frogger, but not sure just yet. Either way I'm on board for Asteroids if I can find one locally. Odd though that Wal-marts website only lists the older titles and doesn't seem to list the newer asteroids one at all but yet they are being found in the stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Portable video games using segmented or fixed pattern LCDs were obsolete in 1989 when the Game Boy and the Lynx were released. I am well aware of that. Cheap LCD units continued to be sold throughout the 1990s, typically sold in blister packs, often cheaper for the whole system than actual Game Boy carts. As late as 2007 I recall seeing portable Soduko and Poker games, as well as other segmented LCD units being produced. They still use segmented LCD displays in pocket calculators, wrist watches, gas pumps, and other goods, so I fail to see how the LCD technology itself is "obsolete". It is still very economical to manufacture cheap LCD displays for a variety of uses. So the LCD technology is cheap and affordable to mass produce, unencumbered by patents, and every year at Christmas time, cheap handheld units which likely cost no more than $5 wholesale get sold for $20 at a variety of stores across the country. I bought my Pacman and Space Invaders minicabs at Bed Bath and Beyond last year. They even brought back a cloned version of 1977's Mattel Electronic Football of all things, which IIRC sells for $14.99. Notable early handheld games included Waco's Electro Tic-Tac-Toe (1972), the Mattel Auto Race (1976), and Mattel Electronic Football (1977),[1] which featured very simple red-LED displays; gameplay involved the player pressing buttons to move his car or quarterback icon (represented by a bright dot) to avoid obstacles (represented by less bright dots). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_electronic_game#History You could argue vinyl records were obsoleted and gradually phased out by the CD, and while many brick and mortar retailers are now trimming back shelf space for CDs which have continued to decline year after year throughout the 20-teens among increased demand for downloads or streaming services, vinyl records have made a comeback growing steadily in sales since 2008 with boutique outlets and specialty shops everywhere dedicating shelf space to record sales. Nostalgia has a powerful and marketable presence in consumer minds, so no surprise these little forgotten handheld LCD gems, vinyl records, and who knows what else are making a comeback. Buy them up now while they are still en vogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Basic Fun's products are aptly named. The company behind the products, The Bridge Direct, doesn't seem to put much effort into marketing them online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Kosmic, it's neat that you like them, but I think LCD games in this style are beyond lame -- especially when they aim no higher than (badly) recreating arcade games from 35 years ago. Show me a game with some "legs" using this technology and I'd happily open my mind to it -- a rogue like RPG or a text adventure would work -- but this crap that was old when it was new? Hard pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 (edited) It is rather hard to find a complete list of Basic Fun Arcade Classics, so I put one together : Game Title Display Type Box Number Pac-Man Monochrome Fixed 1 Space Invaders Monochrome Fixed 2 Centipede TFT Color Backlit 3 Q*bert TFT Color Backlit 4 Asteroids Mono Back-Lit Fixed 5 Frogger TFT Color Backlit 6 Pac-Man Color Backlit Fixed 7 Frogger Color Backlit Fixed Q*bert Color Backlit Fixed Centipede Color Backlit Fixed Essentially when the games come in a blaster pack, they should be unnumbered. Edited August 19, 2017 by Great Hierophant 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 @Flojo, I grew up with games like these so I may have a bit of nostalgia bias. I still think they can be fun for what they are. It is rather hard to find a complete list of Basic Fun Arcade Classics, so I put one together : Game Title Display Type Box Number Pac-Man Monochrome Fixed 1 Space Invaders Monochrome Fixed 2 Centipede TFT Color Backlit 3 Q*bert TFT Color Backlit 4 Asteroids Mono Back-Lit Fixed 5 Frogger TFT Color Backlit 6 Pac-Man Color Backlit Fixed 7 Frogger Color Backlit Fixed Q*bert Color Backlit Fixed Centipede Color Backlit Fixed Essentially when the games come in a blaster pack, they should be unnumbered. How are the "color backlight fixed" Pacman compare to the LCD Pacman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerSpaceFan Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 ..... just wish you could buy them in Canada 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good_Times Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 I grew up with games like these so I may have a bit of nostalgia bias. I still think they can be fun for what they are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Look I love LCD *G&W/Tiger* style stuff and also the VFD like Coleco/Tomytronic stuff too but I think and it is a fair beef to have too, is that the maker giveth, then taketh away basically. The original set of 2 Arcade Classics which were Pac-Man and Space Invaders were actually fairly solid quality stuff and with the arcade audio clipped into it was a bonus. They did this huge blow up about the #3 and #4 going into using a real screen and went all out going on and on about it and we got Centipede and Q-Bert. Fast forward to a toy trade show they show what appears confusingly to be both style. Then one side says one thing exists, then the other talks up just using the segmented style with the audio. This infuriated a lot of people as it looked like tightwad cheapass bean counting. Then when it really happens and stuff appears, we find out Walmart appears to have brokered an interesting deal where only they get it, and you see their Asteroids and their Frogger. To cement that #3 and #4 re-release as segmented like the old coleco/parker bros originals and they also re-issue #1 in color so it's seemingly more like the old coleco tabletop. That's why people get grumpy about it. IF they were better producers of PR and being clear about things instead of having some talking heads be cloudy and others say NOTHING at all other than the segmented is it, it caused some annoyance. My history of such things before there was Gameboy I had a few garage sale goodies like the old Mattel Electronics Hockey for one, but barely before and definitely after too I've had Tiger games, love quite a few, plus a friend around 91 gave me a DK Coleco which was awesome. They are simple in design but some can be deep enough to actually be pretty fun. G&W I got into in the back half of the 90s, never had my parents buy me one sadly even if I drooled over the old counter at them. I've had at least a dozen of them. I enjoy the old stuff as it's hard, but stupid, yet stupid in a fun way. I've gone through plenty of them in the last 30 years and I've retained a few coleco tabletops, g&w's and tigers among a few other things. I can't get enough if I find them local, cheap, as they're a blast. Somewhat recently a lost one I hated my dad destroyed when I was a kid in the late 80s I found at the flea here for just $10 in amazing shape -- it has not been unpowered or removed from my work/fun desk since -- tomytronic pac-man. While I'm probably going to offload my CIB Zaxxon Coleco and my tabletop Popeye, Pac-man, PM(tomy), DKjr and DK coleco are going to stay as are the tigers I have (cv2, karnov, mm2, baseball, sub war), mattel electronics hockey, g&w smb and club mario ball and a nelsonic black zelda watch, and a cib wildfire LED light pinball game. I've retained them as I value them. I'll add these new mini arcades as I have Q-Bert and CEntipede, Asteroids likely and Frogger is a definite. Not looking to get Pac-Man yet again but that Space Invaders is still tempting. KOSMIC: The Color Pac-Man #7 it's bright, quite colorful, reminds me much of the old Coleco tabletop but a cleaner image as it's not a 35 year old VFD that dims a little with motion. Also that Asteroids listing needs correction. There are TWO of them. All stores got a basic LCD version, Walmart got the backlit. The list also lacks the LCD(TFT) Frogger which appears to be a conversion of the homebrew 7800 game FROGGIE. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 IMG_2870.JPG You posted that pic before. I now have one of the Ms Pacman units curtesy of a garage sale I visited last week. 50c ain't bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good_Times Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 You posted that pic before. Several times, probably. In this instance I posted it because you mentioned having a fondness for various handhelds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartfox Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Does anyone have the current sales figures for these titles? I can only assume they took a step back with Frogger and Asteroids because their sales numbers didn't justify using more expensive tech? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 I doubt they're published. Not sure they'd even tell you if you asked. But if they were trying to scale back, why are they a year later still making the TFT(LCD) versions because they still are showing up in good numbers at Walmart along side the cheapskate older school knockoffs of their own product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 (edited) I had a couple segmented display games growing up, I do have nostalga for them today, but only as a footnote in history, and I never played any of them unless we packed up the family for a road trip ... much like Garfield books and mad magazine I would never indulge myself to such garbage, unless it was that, or a 13 hour trip in the car with nothing but a knockoff walkman, or less Edited August 20, 2017 by Osgeld Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 @Flojo, I grew up with games like these so I may have a bit of nostalgia bias. I still think they can be fun for what they are. How are the "color backlight fixed" Pacman compare to the LCD Pacman? I understand from watching two reviews of the color LCD Pac-Man is that it is the same game as mono Pac-Man, but the joystick is now on the left instead of the center. The color game reminds me of the Coleco mini-arcade I had when I was a child. One reviewer opined that the joystick was not as responsive on the mono unit as it is on the color unit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 I understand from watching two reviews of the color LCD Pac-Man is that it is the same game as mono Pac-Man, but the joystick is now on the left instead of the center. The color game reminds me of the Coleco mini-arcade I had when I was a child. One reviewer opined that the joystick was not as responsive on the mono unit as it is on the color unit. The joystick on mine (monochrome) is pretty ratty. Thanks for the heads up. I may try and find the color one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BydoEmpire Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I picked up Pac Man at Walmart for $17 yesterday. I haven't had a chance to play it other than just power it up to verify it works, but seems like a reasonable Coleco tabletop-style color LCD version. Looking forward to giving it a play through. I really liked the Q*Bert, although that was either a NoAC or emulated version much closer to the arcade game. I do with the joysticks were on the right side, though, but that's not a dealbreaker. I'm not going to these machines for hardcore, high score-chasing gaming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I really liked the Q*Bert, although that was either a NoAC or emulated version much closer to the arcade game. It's a confirmed copy of the Konami(Ultra) made game of Q-Bert for the NES. Load up the game on youtube or a rom side by side. Copyrights/names changed. The pre-playing of the game screen shows this stereotypical nerdboy there with a NES controller filling the screen and you are shown how the d-pad works because it's not diagonal like the arcade. On the tabletop the nerd is removed with a Loading... screen, but they did retain something Konami -- pause it, it's that same jingle in all their games (contra, gradius, etc.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I tried both my local Target and Wal-mart and could not find any of the Basic Fun mini-arcades, color, mono or TFT. I am not sure how good Basic Fun is when it comes to keeping these things in stock. The color fixed-image units are actually interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Walmart had them today in the back, got them brought up. I've got Frogger and Asteroids now to go with Centipede and Q-Bert. Good stuff. I'd say they're pretty good about it, at least at Walmart. Anytime I've ever been in there they have most/all of them and today they did have like 5+ of Centipede and Q-Bert (TFT style) and #7 color Pac-Man. Only one lacking would be Space Invaders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) Anytime I've ever been in there they have most/all of them and today they did have like 5+ of Centipede and Q-Bert (TFT style) and #7 color Pac-Man. Only one lacking would be Space Invaders. Total opposite here.. any time I've gone to any Walmart I take a look and they have ZERO of any of these. Regarding the whole "fixed" displays I don't mind them at all, but I have to be honest that the Pacman (from the original post) is such total shit. Let's face it the thing is borderline unplayable. And we know this as many of the versions from the friggin 80's (e.g. Entex Pac Man 2) did such a better job with the same fixed display limitations. You figure with it being so cheap now they could at least match the quality ones from back in the day we grew up with. I mean e.g. something like Firefox F7, Hyper Olympic Challenge 5, Tomy Scramble, among many others were such awesome games and you didn't feel cheaped out even with the fixed display. They simply don't much care anymore is all I can think. Edited August 21, 2017 by NE146 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 (edited) I've considered buying that Firefox before, so wants to be a star wars game right down to some looks and sounds. And you're right my beef with Pacman 1(or 7 to a lesser degree) and the other non TFTs Space Invaders aside they're just garbage against what people sold nearly 30 years ago. I've got a Tomytronic pac-man and the coleco that's far more entertaining than that ratty LCD pac-man ever will be. It's surprising to me they just didn't make #7 a TFT too as a choice using the Namco release from the NES as there's be no Atari/Tengen dual licensing deal there. Edited August 21, 2017 by Tanooki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Before anyone pushes a raspberry pi conversion of these again..... Has anyone ever seen the electronics for a NOAC with an sd card? AT games has offered them up on the Atari and Sega handhelds so it's obviously doable. I just wanna toss something in these to support one system with a decent library of arcade classics. 2600, nes, colecovision or 7800 would do. Shouldn't have to spend more than another $30 at most to do it you'd think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I think the NES would work marvelous within the Centipede or with a new screen Asteroids cabinet. They have the buttons requires with the stick, 2 buttons on top, then your on/off+volume you could re-wire to start and select and just install some kind of switch for the power and another something for the audio in back. Given what people have done with similar sized screens there's no reason to think it couldn't be adapted and work fairly well. The only issue maybe needing to modify the stick so it's not stuck just doing a + shape groove as enough NES games did allow for diagonal motion that it would just destroy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeroOfTraps Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 (edited) https://youtu.be/Iuo0njOI-qE?t=22m14sIs anyone doing a homebrew for this device? Are there any schematics of the board of this device? Edited September 19, 2017 by HeroOfTraps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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