Bally Astrocade

[FlightSuit]

Any fans here? I've never owned one, but I've always been fascinated by the system for numerous reasons:

 

a) The combination pistol trigger/joystick/paddle controllers are very cool, and a brilliant design.

 

b) The Astrocade was an underdog, enjoying a much smaller market share than its competitors, despite being a much better system.

 

c) The fact that its built-in, numeric keypad, BASIC cartridge, and ability to save and load programs to tape cassettes enabled dedicated fans to keep gaming alive on the thing long after it was discontinued.

 

d) The fact that arcade ports on the Astrocade were much better than on many other systems. Wizard of Wor and Galaxian come to mind, as well as their Pac Man clone, Muncher.

 

I've only ever played the games using MacMess, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for this system, and I've certainly been tempted to splurge and get one on the rare occasions when I've seen complete ones on eBay.

[BassGuitari]

It's awesome. Find one that works is difficult, but it is an awesome system, as you seem well aware of.

[y-bot]

I totally love it, one of my favorite systems for sure. Have you checked out http://www.ballyalley.com yet? There are tons of games that you can load on to a real Astrocade with the BASIC cartridge and a cheap cable. Also a Japanese friend of mine once said that his mother looks like the guy from your avatar. I think she had a haircut that looked like his head.

 

y-bot

[+swlovinist]

Great system, one of my favorites. An odditiy for sure, but it does have its followers

[Lord Helmet]

I've always been intrigued with the Astrocade. It's one of the few classic consoles that I've never actually played.

[FlightSuit]

Also a Japanese friend of mine once said that his mother looks like the guy from your avatar. I think she had a haircut that looked like his head.

 

y-bot

 

Damn, his mom needs a make-over! My avatar image is from the Japanese series, Giant Robo, which was known in the US as Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot. If you'd like to see a funny short film I created by re-editing an episode of the show, click here:

 

Canada's Agriculture Nightmare

[Polybius]

I have always wanted one, even though I dont really know much about it. I also would like a Fairchild Channel F

[IceCold]

I had one years ago. Got it for $2 at a garage sale. Cartridge slot didn't work quite right, we bent the pins a bit to get better contact and it helped a little, but it definitely had issues.

 

Still regret selling it(actually thinking I traded it).. then again I'm thinking I got Sega Saturn + controllers and games for a somewhat functional astrocade, so I guess I did ok.. was like 6 years ago, though, so I'm not real sure. Cool system, I'd like to own another in the future.