204 replies to this topic

[Scrabbler15]

hhwolfman, on Fri May 7, 2010 10:07 AM, said:

Because of your helpful hints I got 5.89 one time, but can't do it again. I keep getting 6.11 everytime now.

Spectacular! I always say, it's the little victories...

[ZIMM]

Doug, welcome to Atariage!
you seem like quite the gamer.
you should join Twin Galaxies and start submitting scores.
http://twingalaxies.com/

here are the Twin Galaxies scores (times) for Dragster:
http://www.twingalax...5&gi=57&vi=2390

if you ever need the money and want to sell that Atlantis 2 cart, I think I saw it going for $80,000 one time on ebay.

[ZIMM]

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 12:02 PM, said:

Goochman, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:14 AM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:22 PM, said:

Hey everybody (again).

Thanks for all the welcoming messages. I appreciate it. It feels really good to be back.

I may even come out of Dragster retirement.

I'm gonna do my best to answer all of the questions as soon as I can, so hang in there.

I can hook you up with Todd Rogers if you want to go against the current world record holder

Cool. Maybe, eventually. I can take a video game beat down same as the next guy.

I read somewhere that he was considering getting a 5.51 run on video. Now that would be awesome. Even if I couldn't match it, at least I could see what my game is missing.

at a show I was at he was playing Dragster backwards.

[Scrabbler15]

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:05 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 12:02 PM, said:

Goochman, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:14 AM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:22 PM, said:

Hey everybody (again).

Thanks for all the welcoming messages. I appreciate it. It feels really good to be back.

I may even come out of Dragster retirement.

I'm gonna do my best to answer all of the questions as soon as I can, so hang in there.

I can hook you up with Todd Rogers if you want to go against the current world record holder

Cool. Maybe, eventually. I can take a video game beat down same as the next guy.

I read somewhere that he was considering getting a 5.51 run on video. Now that would be awesome. Even if I couldn't match it, at least I could see what my game is missing.

at a show I was at he was playing Dragster backwards.

I couldn't ever get the thing to shift into reverse.

[Scrabbler15]

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:02 PM, said:

Doug, welcome to Atariage!
you seem like quite the gamer.
you should join Twin Galaxies and start submitting scores.
http://twingalaxies.com/

here are the Twin Galaxies scores (times) for Dragster:
http://www.twingalax...5&gi=57&vi=2390

if you ever need the money and want to sell that Atlantis 2 cart, I think I saw it going for $80,000 one time on ebay.

Thanks for the invite and for your sober and realistic assessment of the A2 cart.

[homerwannabee]

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:23 PM, said:

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:02 PM, said:

Doug, welcome to Atariage!
you seem like quite the gamer.
you should join Twin Galaxies and start submitting scores.
http://twingalaxies.com/

here are the Twin Galaxies scores (times) for Dragster:
http://www.twingalax...5&gi=57&vi=2390

if you ever need the money and want to sell that Atlantis 2 cart, I think I saw it going for $80,000 one time on ebay.

Thanks for the invite and for your sober and realistic assessment of the A2 cart.

God, I wish this was the case.  But $80,000 grand is not sober, nor realistic.  And this literally is coming from the biggest freaking homer for this game the world has ever seen.  Anyways, good luck on your upcoming auction, and with the prices the way they have been I am quite sure you will do very well, but sorry, not that well.

[Scrabbler15]

homerwannabee, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:36 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:23 PM, said:

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:02 PM, said:

Doug, welcome to Atariage!
you seem like quite the gamer.
you should join Twin Galaxies and start submitting scores.
http://twingalaxies.com/

here are the Twin Galaxies scores (times) for Dragster:
http://www.twingalax...5&gi=57&vi=2390

if you ever need the money and want to sell that Atlantis 2 cart, I think I saw it going for $80,000 one time on ebay.

Thanks for the invite and for your sober and realistic assessment of the A2 cart.

God, I wish this was the case. But $80,000 grand is not sober, nor realistic. And this literally is coming from the biggest freaking homer for this game the world has ever seen. Anyways, good luck on your upcoming auction, and with the prices the way they have been I am quite sure you will do very well, but sorry, not that well.

My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek, but it seems not firmly enough. It's okay. You're gonna get to know me better and after awhile you'll know that Scrabbler is just being his usual, crazy, off-the-wall self. Maybe I should have used the eye-rolling smiley...

[CPUWIZ]

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:18 PM, said:

My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek, but it seems not firmly enough. It's okay. You're gonna get to know me better and after awhile you'll know that Scrabbler is just being his usual, crazy, off-the-wall self. Maybe I should have used the eye-rolling smiley...

I saw that, but you are right, a better emoticon is good for people who aren't so good with sarcasm.  The ponder emoticon is probably what I would have used, it's less offensive IMO.

[Scrabbler15]

CPUWIZ, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:30 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:18 PM, said:

My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek, but it seems not firmly enough. It's okay. You're gonna get to know me better and after awhile you'll know that Scrabbler is just being his usual, crazy, off-the-wall self. Maybe I should have used the eye-rolling smiley...

I saw that, but you are right, a better emoticon is good for people who aren't so good with sarcasm. The ponder emoticon is probably what I would have used, it's less offensive IMO.

I'm still new. I'm still learning. And thanks for the advice [insert sincere, non-offensive emoticon here].

[ZIMM]

homerwannabee, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:36 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:23 PM, said:

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:02 PM, said:

Doug, welcome to Atariage!
you seem like quite the gamer.
you should join Twin Galaxies and start submitting scores.
http://twingalaxies.com/

here are the Twin Galaxies scores (times) for Dragster:
http://www.twingalax...5&gi=57&vi=2390

if you ever need the money and want to sell that Atlantis 2 cart, I think I saw it going for $80,000 one time on ebay.

Thanks for the invite and for your sober and realistic assessment of the A2 cart.

God, I wish this was the case.  But $80,000 grand is not sober, nor realistic.  And this literally is coming from the biggest freaking homer for this game the world has ever seen.  Anyways, good luck on your upcoming auction, and with the prices the way they have been I am quite sure you will do very well, but sorry, not that well.

oops.  my bad.
it was $1,750,000
http://playsquad.com..._for_1_750_000/
back in 2006, which sounds right.

[ZIMM]

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:20 PM, said:

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:05 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 12:02 PM, said:

Goochman, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:14 AM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:22 PM, said:

Hey everybody (again).

Thanks for all the welcoming messages. I appreciate it. It feels really good to be back.

I may even come out of Dragster retirement.

I'm gonna do my best to answer all of the questions as soon as I can, so hang in there.

I can hook you up with Todd Rogers if you want to go against the current world record holder

Cool. Maybe, eventually. I can take a video game beat down same as the next guy.

I read somewhere that he was considering getting a 5.51 run on video. Now that would be awesome. Even if I couldn't match it, at least I could see what my game is missing.

at a show I was at he was playing Dragster backwards.

I couldn't ever get the thing to shift into reverse.

yeah, backwards and blindfolded.  and he was getting around the same times as his record.

[CPUWIZ]

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:57 PM, said:

oops.  my bad.
it was $1,750,000
http://playsquad.com..._for_1_750_000/
back in 2006, which sounds right.

http://www.atariage....for-over-a-mil/

MeanGuns nonsense.

[Scrabbler15]

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 9:01 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:20 PM, said:

ZIMM, on Fri May 7, 2010 7:05 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Fri May 7, 2010 12:02 PM, said:

Goochman, on Fri May 7, 2010 8:14 AM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:22 PM, said:

Hey everybody (again).

Thanks for all the welcoming messages. I appreciate it. It feels really good to be back.

I may even come out of Dragster retirement.

I'm gonna do my best to answer all of the questions as soon as I can, so hang in there.

I can hook you up with Todd Rogers if you want to go against the current world record holder

Cool. Maybe, eventually. I can take a video game beat down same as the next guy.

I read somewhere that he was considering getting a 5.51 run on video. Now that would be awesome. Even if I couldn't match it, at least I could see what my game is missing.

at a show I was at he was playing Dragster backwards.

I couldn't ever get the thing to shift into reverse.

yeah, backwards and blindfolded. and he was getting around the same times as his record.

I was curious about this whole playing-backwards-not-looking-at-the-screen thing. So I tried it.

On the good runs I was consistently getting 5.77 and a couple of times I got 5.74.

This is making more sense to me, now. I didn't realize that the auditory clues, that I talked about in my previous Dragster tips post (countdown beeps, engine noise, shifting noise) give a player enough information to make a successful run, based on just sound alone.

If you're already a world record holder, like Todd is, I can see how you could hone your non-visual scores, so that they are similarly something special.

[ZIMM]

Scrabbler15, on Sat May 8, 2010 5:19 AM, said:

I was curious about this whole playing-backwards-not-looking-at-the-screen thing. So I tried it.

On the good runs I was consistently getting 5.77 and a couple of times I got 5.74.

This is making more sense to me, now. I didn't realize that the auditory clues, that I talked about in my previous Dragster tips post (countdown beeps, engine noise, shifting noise) give a player enough information to make a successful run, based on just sound alone.

If you're already a world record holder, like Todd is, I can see how you could hone your non-visual scores, so that they are similarly something special.

pretty cool, isn't it?
you can play the game without even looking at the screen.  just using the audio cues.

[Atari2600Lives]

Scrabbler where is the millipede coin op now?
As far as playing backwards, I used to "dazzle"  the arcade crowd back in the 80s and could do most screens of Dragon's lair facing away, nowadays it's hard for me to do it looking right at the screen unfortunately.

Edited by Atari2600Lives, Sat May 8, 2010 9:37 AM.

[Crazy Climber]

Atari2600Lives, on Sat May 8, 2010 9:36 AM, said:

As far as playing backwards, I used to "dazzle"  the arcade crowd back in the 80s and could do most screens of Dragon's lair facing away, nowadays it's hard for me to do it looking right at the screen unfortunately.

Ah, you were one of those guys. I remember every once in a while somebody was at the local Chuck e Cheese (the only place that had DL in my area) and they would just dominate Dragons lair, play the entire game on just 50 cents and even have a conversation while doing it. As a kid I was just amazed! and extremely jealous....     

[Scrabbler15]

Atari2600Lives, on Sat May 8, 2010 9:36 AM, said:

Scrabbler where is the millipede coin op now?
As far as playing backwards, I used to "dazzle" the arcade crowd back in the 80s and could do most screens of Dragon's lair facing away, nowadays it's hard for me to do it looking right at the screen unfortunately.

I don't know, probably in Michigan somewhere. For a long time, we had it in the house. Then it was in a country store that my uncle had. Then we had it back home for while, again. Finally, I used it as barter for a new living room suit that we needed. I found that moving it from place to place or room to room was sort of like moving a fridge around all the time. It would be great to still have it now, but, at the time, we needed to sit down.

I'm still looking for a picture that I have somewhere of my oldest son (who is now 25), when he was a still a baby, playing the game with me in the living room. He worked the trakball with his feet while I held down the shoot button. We were quite the Millipede team.

[homerwannabee]

I am wondering Scrabbler, do you have a specific date in mind when you will auction off the Atlantis II?

[Scrabbler15]

homerwannabee, on Sat May 8, 2010 11:42 AM, said:

I am wondering Scrabbler, do you have a specific date in mind when you will auction off the Atlantis II?

Planning to start it tomorrow. The auction will last seven days.

[Crazy Climber]

Scrabbler15, on Sat May 8, 2010 12:00 PM, said:

homerwannabee, on Sat May 8, 2010 11:42 AM, said:

I am wondering Scrabbler, do you have a specific date in mind when you will auction off the Atlantis II?

Planning to start it tomorrow. The auction will last seven days.

I have personally had horrible results with auctions that end on Sundays. This is a high profile item so it might not matter but Sunday seems to be the worst day to end an auction for sellers but the best day to purchase for buyers. Not sure why, people probably just have better stuff to do on a Sunday than sit in front of the computer. You can make it a 10 day auction for only a few cents more, worth mentioning at least.

[Scrabbler15]

Crazy Climber, on Sat May 8, 2010 12:47 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Sat May 8, 2010 12:00 PM, said:

homerwannabee, on Sat May 8, 2010 11:42 AM, said:

I am wondering Scrabbler, do you have a specific date in mind when you will auction off the Atlantis II?

Planning to start it tomorrow. The auction will last seven days.

I have personally had horrible results with auctions that end on Sundays. This is a high profile item so it might not matter but Sunday seems to be the worst day to end an auction for sellers but the best day to purchase for buyers. Not sure why, people probably just have better stuff to do on a Sunday than sit in front of the computer. You can make it a 10 day auction for only a few cents more, worth mentioning at least.

I don't know why, but I was thinking it would end on Saturday, not Sunday. If I got it up today, do you think that would be better? It would end Saturday, then, right? I was just thinking that I didn't want it ending in the middle of the work week.

[Scrabbler15]

Scrabbler15, on Sat May 8, 2010 1:17 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Sat May 8, 2010 12:47 PM, said:

Scrabbler15, on Sat May 8, 2010 12:00 PM, said:

homerwannabee, on Sat May 8, 2010 11:42 AM, said:

I am wondering Scrabbler, do you have a specific date in mind when you will auction off the Atlantis II?

Planning to start it tomorrow. The auction will last seven days.

I have personally had horrible results with auctions that end on Sundays. This is a high profile item so it might not matter but Sunday seems to be the worst day to end an auction for sellers but the best day to purchase for buyers. Not sure why, people probably just have better stuff to do on a Sunday than sit in front of the computer. You can make it a 10 day auction for only a few cents more, worth mentioning at least.

I don't know why, but I was thinking it would end on Saturday, not Sunday. If I got it up today, do you think that would be better? It would end Saturday, then, right? I was just thinking that I didn't want it ending in the middle of the work week.

The A2 cart is up on Ebay now. The auction will end on Saturday. The link is in Marketplace Auction Central.

[user42]

Great story, good luck on the sale.   

[Shantai]

Scrabbler15, on Sun May 2, 2010 3:49 PM, said:

Miss 2600, on Sun May 2, 2010 1:28 PM, said:

Scrabbler15:

In the Centipede championships, how was the overall winner determined between you and the 5200 division winner? Did you guys play a certain amount of time on both consoles?

It was determined by each player playing ten minutes on the 2600 and then ten minutes on the 5200 and adding the scores together.

I don't remember the total score, but I do remember building a lead of about 11,000 in the 2600 portion which was first. Neither one of us made it the entire ten minutes on the 5200.

I also remember losing my last ship and having a moment of "Aw, he has two ships left and he's gonna just keep playing and chew up my lead". But while I was starting to have that thought, the bonus for damaged mushrooms was being added on my game and that bonus gave me enough points to get an extra ship. (It was music to my ears, pun intended.) So I added a couple more thousand. When I lost that ship, he lost a ship at the same time and had one left. At that point, it was kind of like playing golf, in that there is no defense. All I could do is stand there and watch him build on his score.

When he lost his last ship, I did some quick math and realized I was still ahead in the combined score by about 7,000 points. Inside, I'm sort of bouncing up and down on the stage, because I knew I had it. But I'm not sure if anybody else had figured it out, yet.

Something else happened that was kind of funny, too. Since neither of us made the ten minute time limit, when the game ended, one of the Atari judges was like "What happened?". He reached out like he was going to restart the game and I jumped in with my arm stretched out going "No, no, that's it. The game's over." (I think that is an accurate direct quote.)

Another interesting thing about the whole deal is that I had never played the 5200 version of Centipede until a week before the finals. I didn't own a 5200, but we found out (by accident) that someone we knew had a 5200 and Centipede. He let me borrow it (thanks, again Pepe Crawford, wherever you are) and that's what I practiced the week before the finals. Without that, I could have been playing for the U.S. Championship on a game I had never played. Scary thought, in retrospect.

I LOVE reading these stories!!!

Nice touch thanking your friend with the 5200

Classy guy all around!!

[Shantai]

Atari2600Lives, on Sun May 2, 2010 6:07 PM, said:

You know scrabbler, you could probably write a book about this stuff...seriously. I could just see the title, "Lord of Atlantis" or "King of Centipede" A brief history of the games, your role in that history  and stories about how you fell in love with gaming, then stories how you became a competitor and champion...I would buy it!

This?? lolol Sorry, Im a MTG player and could NOT resist!!

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