DracIsBack Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I loved my CoCo III, even though it never really seemed mainstream. One thing I always found with the CoCo reading Rainbow Magazine was the sheer number of funny rip-offs on the CoCo! Examples: http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/warriorking.html http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/ganteletii.html http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/questforthelda.html http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/donkeyking.html http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/gems.html Heh heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 A lot of those are actually pretty good ports too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) OK "Quest For Thelda" that is a good one, Like someone with a speech impediment saying ZELDA lol! Edited February 28, 2011 by OldSchoolRetroGamer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 But how do they play? I've seen a lot of CoCo knock off games that look good but play like crap. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Like someone with a speech impediment saying ZELDA lol! There's an ARKANOID clone out there which I remember the ad in RAINBOW MAGAZINE saying, "We can't tell you what it's plays like, but it sounds like ART GANOID" LOL Good times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krytol Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Kron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 The B/W TRS-80 computers have a ton of rip-offs too. Very well done for what they are that play pretty well. These Radio Shack computers from yesteryear seem to have a relatively high ratio of quality software compared to a lot of other competitive systems at the time. One of the perks of *not* being mainstream I would guess. The Coco 3 really piques my interest too. Seems like a very cool retro computer. Wish I had gotten into them when I was younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 The Contras! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQgd5p-Z5DY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-dVMAbmi6s It was able to do some amazing things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Like someone with a speech impediment saying ZELDA lol! There's an ARKANOID clone out there which I remember the ad in RAINBOW MAGAZINE saying, "We can't tell you what it's plays like, but it sounds like ART GANOID" LOL Good times! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3M_QttpEEQ&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Wow, those are some AMAZING ports! How the heck did people make and sell these things and the major companies never noticed? Even for a more 'niche' computer like the CoCo 3? No way in heck anyone could do that now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I cry foul... no way that's the Coco 3 playing Donkey Kong in that vid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Kron This one was better: ELECTRON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 No way that's the Coco 3 playing Donkey Kong in that vid! Yep 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 How the heck did people make and sell these things and the major companies never noticed? Even for a more 'niche' computer like the CoCo 3? CoCo was a weird computer in that it was Radio Shack exclusive. On one hand, it wasn't available in all the chains. On the other, it was available in a boatload of Radio Shack stores so it still got pretty healthy distribution. What made it really interesting was that Radio Shack itself wasn't a great distribution channel for software. People would go into Radio Shack and see only a tiny software selection of Tandy licensed titles. You'd pick up Rainbow magazine and see a literal whole other world of goodies for that computer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 No way that's the Coco 3 playing Donkey Kong in that vid! Yep 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I think the closed distribution channel contributed to the large number of game clones from 3rd party developers. Since the titles didn't show up in Radio Shack, the major game developers didn't care since they didn't really compete with them. I do remember a couple games changed name because they were too close to the arcade. Donkey King became The King, and I think one game was actually called Berzerk for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 CoCo Arcade Clones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxd Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I was really into the Coco back in the day. It had some really good games, not as many as the Atari or Commadore but it was a far superior computer. The games could range from lousy to quite good, but as a computer it was second to none. I took my original Coco to college with me and wrote all my papers on it. If any of my buddies wanted to use my word processor the cost was a couple of pitchers of beer in the campus pub. I had a great word processor and spell checker program for it. Nowhere else on the entire campus was there a better word processing system, including the computer department and administrative office. Needless to say I got plenty of free beer while I was there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 and I think one game was actually called Berzerk for a while. You're right, it was later changed to "Haywire" and it's quite well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I was really into the Coco back in the day. It had some really good games, not as many as the Atari or Commadore but it was a far superior computer. The games could range from lousy to quite good, but as a computer it was second to none. I took my original Coco to college with me and wrote all my papers on it. If any of my buddies wanted to use my word processor the cost was a couple of pitchers of beer in the campus pub. I had a great word processor and spell checker program for it. Nowhere else on the entire campus was there a better word processing system, including the computer department and administrative office. Needless to say I got plenty of free beer while I was there... Was it VIP Writer? I think I had a copy of that for school projects as well. Used to print them out on my old DMP-105 printer. Very nice software Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thanatos Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 No way that's the Coco 3 playing Donkey Kong in that vid! Yep Are you going to the Midwest Gaming Classic? I'll have it running on my CoCo display. Had many reactions like yours last year. "No way, you have something underneath the table running this!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 and I think one game was actually called Berzerk for a while. You're right, it was later changed to "Haywire" and it's quite well done. I found Marlinlee's video of it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Was it VIP Writer? I think I had a copy of that for school projects as well. Used to print them out on my old DMP-105 printer. Very nice software I always thought CoCo Max III and Max 10 were pretty awesome products too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Was it VIP Writer? I think I had a copy of that for school projects as well. Used to print them out on my old DMP-105 printer. Very nice software I always thought CoCo Max III and Max 10 were pretty awesome products too! Yes I remember Coco Max III. Drawing program right? I loved playing around with that thing. I used to make my own Star Trek starship designs with it. . . I'm such a freaking nerd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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