SiLic0ne t0aD Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Hello Everyone, I have a special announcement! Exciting News!!! The ColecoVision Revolution is evolving! As some of you may or may not know, the website has been down for a little while now... No worries though. I happily volunteered to take on the site and maintain it and make try expand on some things. (A big thanks to Rev for allowing me the opportunity!) This also means keeping the CV Serial Number Database will be back up and running.. New submissions can be added and are welcomed. I have many ideas but I feel some new additions, a "135 Club" or something similar would be way cool. Buttons! Videos, Reviews, Blogs and new Podcasts would be great and of course, links to all the sites to buy these games. I hope to help out and inform anyone who's not sure about a new release, as I was when I first started collecting Homebrews. Hopefully I can ease the load.. I really want to showcase these games and help promote the wonderful publishers we're lucky to have, as well as all the great CV programmers out there! Education and preservation is my goal and I just really want to make a great ColecoVision website for the fans, collectors and enthusiasts such as I. Us CV guys need to band together and try to keep up with the those... other guys MuHaha just kidding... but seriously, the ColecoVision does need a lot more love and attention! Especially considering all the New Titles being released this year as we speak!!! 2014, It's going to be a great year guys! I'm very anxious to get his going and I've been slacking a bit but I have so many projects and other hobbies that I'm involved in. I Will make time for this though and need to get started right away. So in the end, I hope that its the be all-end all of ColecoVision websites... not a cometetion or anything but right up there with ColecoVision.dk and colecovisionzone.com. I also hope to see colecoindustries.com up and running soon as well. That site will be the best, no doubt. So, as soon as I get DreamWeaver back, I can probably cruse through this. I have a degree in webdesign and graphics but haven't used it or done anything with it in 6 years or so.. I'm a bit rusty on things but it wont take long to make it happen once I get my software straightened out and all the content/hosting figured out and graphics made.. I should be set. I'm still digging through old disks from school and trying to extract data on a hard drive that crashed, which contained everything I used to use back then. If there are any good free programs that anyone recommends to hold me over, please let me know. The main point of this thread is to see what all of YOU, the ColecoVision fans out there want to see in a website.. I'd love to hear some ideas, feedback, suggestions, comments, concerns, etc.. Please feel free to post them here and let me know whats on you're mind! With that being said, Fire Away! Thanks everyone! Cheers, Todd. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 The only thing I expect out of a "definitive" ColecoVision web site is a full software catalog. Not just a simple list of games with a few screenshots for decoration, I want THE WORKS: Each game gets its own full-page section of the catalog, which contains: 1) A one-peek description of the game (I would be willing to volunteer the icons from my trading card project to that end) 2) Name of the game's programmer, when that information is known and verifiable (i.e. actually mentioned in the game manual) 3) A list of all regions where the game was released (North-America, Europe, Australia, Taiwan, South-America, etc.) 4) Box pictures (or better yet a direct link to the corresponding section of colecoboxart.com, just so there's no needless content competition). 5) A downloadable PDF of the original game manual, just like the PDF manuals found on Digital Press 6) Fan-submitted manuals, as sometimes the original manual of a game is so crappy and uninformative that fans can write a much better one. 7) A picture of the included controller overlay (regular or Super Action) when applicable 8 ) A full description of the in-game story (according to the game's manual and other sources) 9) Several screenshots 10) An extensive description of the gameplay, detailed enough that someone who doesn't know anything about the game will find out everything there is to know about it. 11) Gameplay tips and hints, submitted by fans 12) YouTube videos of the gameplay embedded into the web page. Perhaps whoever maintains this ColecoVision site should record his own individual YouTube video of each game, to have a consistent general presentation. I recommend plain gameplay videos without any voice commentary. If multiple people end up working on creating such videos, all videos should all be given to (and regrouped under) a single YouTube member. 13) Fan-submitted reviews: A single game could have multiple reviews, which implies that the review section would be a simple list of sub-links to individual reviews; the links could lead to either plain text or YouTube reviews. The site should have a clear separation between commercial and homebrew games, so that means a separate software catalog for homebrews, but the homebrew catalog would have the same content structure, with a couple of additional pieces of info, like what type of homebrew it is (unfinished demo, finished but only released as ROM file, released as cart-only, released as cart and manual only, or released on cartridge with box and manual). If you want to see a real example of what I'm talking about, have a look at the e-Card Catalog section of my old Nintendo e-Reader site. As you will see, I included every piece of info I could think of about each individual e-Card. http://erzone.caitsith2.net/plain.htm 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Another section which would be helpful to many people on a "definitive" ColecoVision web site would be a hardware catalog, where each add-on and compatible controller would be presented. And speaking of hardware, a section devoted to hardware repair would surely be appreciated. The section would take the form of individual articles: - How to repair a glitchy power switch on the console - How to add sockets to the main console board to have socketed VRAM chips - How to repair stock Coleco controllers - How to repair a CV power supply or how to build your own (do at your own risk!) - How to modify a Champ Adaptor to make it support two-button controllers - etc. These articles could be in plain text format, but I think I would much prefer embedded YouTube videos, because still pictures of hardware components (either camera pictures or man-made diagrams) are usually confusing to guys like me who can't differentiate a capacitor from a diode. With a video, the guy can explain the electronics involved in the repair, explain what the problem is, present the tools he's using to proceed with the repair, give comments and advice concerning said repairs while he's working, etc. When you see someone actually performing a repair (or a mod) in real time, it makes everything so much clearer... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 1. how about a colecovision/adam buy sell area? Exclusive for colecovision/adam related new or old. Atariage marketplace is great but the coleco related posts are few and far between. 2. How about colecovision fan art area, much like he-man.org has. Doesn't have to be good art but just for fun. Could even be comic strips. 3. documentation for programmers/designers/hardware designers. The more info the better. I'm constantly searching for samples for at the moment music/sound programming. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Some great ideas that I will implement on the intv revolution site! I tried to expand my revolution "brand", but alas, time is my enemy! I'm glad silicone toad approached me about making something of it. Viva LA revolution! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 1. how about a colecovision/adam buy sell area? Exclusive for colecovision/adam related new or old. Atariage marketplace is great but the coleco related posts are few and far between. Definitely a good idea, but it would be hard to keep such a sales section updated on a regular basis. It really could get tedious to maintain, and would probably be unused and abandoned after a while, which would be a shame. What I propose is a simple yet clever report system: If you see something ColecoVision-related for sale that you think people will want to know about, either on eBay, in the AtariAge Marketplace, on Craigslist, Atari2600.com, or wherever else, you just log onto the ColecoVision Revolution site, and post a quick report that contains three key pieces of information: A brief one-line description of the item(s) for sale, a direct URL link to where the sale is happening, and also an expiration date for the post (corresponding to the end date of an eBay auction, for example). With such an expiration date, only items actively on sale would be displayed when people consult the sales section of the web site. So it would work a lot like Twitter or Pinterest, but not everyone would be allowed to post, to prevent spamming, and a "mild" moderator mechanism would be present to make sure that users who post irrelevant sales are banned (you know it's going to happen eventually, this is the internet we're talking about). 3. documentation for programmers/designers/hardware designers. The more info the better. I'm constantly searching for samples for at the moment music/sound programming. Yes, a programming section would be great. I see three sub-sections to such a programming section: 1) Programming tools: Would list where to find the latest development tools (by Daniel Bienvenu and Philipp Klause Frause in particular). Would also suggest some good Z80 assembly language compilers for Windows, Linux and Mac. 2) Programming tips: A few articles to help beginners get started (how to use ICVGM, the basics of programming in C, etc.) and perhaps a few fun technical tips for more advanced programmers (like how to setup the VDP to get weird yet possibly useful screen display modes). 3) Emulation: A tour of all ColecoVision emulators available, with the most interesting features described and links to the official sites so that people can be sure to download the latest version of the emulators (stable or beta). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevnaguy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 This a great news! I only have a forum over a colecovisions.com. A full featured website for all things ColecoVision is awesome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 This all sounds tremendous and hopefully it will all come to fruition, but this will be a HUGE endeavor for one person to put together that will basically be a full-time job with lots of overtime. I don't envy the incredible amount of hours you will have to spend just to get to a point to open the site, but I do wish you all the best and truly hope you can accomplish everything you set out to do as well as including all the great recommendations that have been provided in posts here. A couple things that come to mind: - Recruit as many people as you can to help out with scans, pics, videos, etc., etc. Most of the work has been done on these fronts over the years, but has never been completed assembled into one main location. - Don't concern yourself with a Forum on the site seeing as AtariAge is so well established. We are creatures of habit and AtariAge is habit for the largest majority of us. Maybe later on a Forum could be considered, but I would concentrate on all the content that will be the main draw of your site. - Checkout other sites like www.colecovisionzone.com and the Intellivision section of David Harley's site (http://www.intellivision.us/intvgames/dkarcade/dkarcade.php) for some great inspiration. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Wow! Thats a Lot of great ideas.. I like them all! :thumbsup: Thanks guys! I'm not sure where to start.. lol. It's a lot to chew on right now but it can and will be done. All the idea's mentioned will be implemented but it certainly wont happen overnight.. I can get something "barebones" set up for the time being and just chip away at it, bit by bit, whenever I have the time. My job slows things down of course but I may be getting new, much better paying job within a week or two.. with more spaced out free time. I'd be working 12's but I also get a couple days off at a time, every other day and that's nice to have it like that.. Hey, at least I can buy more Homebrews now! If I was still laid off from my current employer, I could plow right through it..However besides work, I play gigs out every Saturday night with my band, the only "sorta" free/full day I have is Sunday.. It's rough at times but I still hop on here every night after I get home from work and "make" time for this hobby. The same goes for the website.. Anyways, I'll try to do what I can but at least getting the old site back up wouldn't be a bad idea to hold people over.. Looks like I have a Ton of work to do! Like I said, once I get some software back and brush up on a few things , I should be good to go. I don't really want to compete with the other CV sites but be up to their standards at least and then some hopefully.. Earlier, When I mentioned having a degree in web design, it's actually E-Commerce and Digital Media Design.. but they go hand in hand. An online store would be cool but perhaps down the road.. who knows? The sky is the limit! I could take my time but I'm pretty anxious/ambitious about this project. Sketching everything out on paper would be a good idea and then rounding up the content itself and figuring out some good hosting options as well. I'd gladly accept any material, docs, pics, etc... whatever you guys got.. good CV web content if you have it. Everything I have is recent, mainly from here (AA) and elsewhere on the web. Please, feel free to PM me and/or email me about it. I'm really looking forward to this! Cheers- WizardsWithMachinery{no_spam}@live{no_spam}.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65Gamerguy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Another section which would be helpful to many people on a "definitive" ColecoVision web site would be a hardware catalog, where each add-on and compatible controller would be presented. And speaking of hardware, a section devoted to hardware repair would surely be appreciated. The section would take the form of individual articles: - How to repair a glitchy power switch on the console - How to add sockets to the main console board to have socketed VRAM chips - How to repair stock Coleco controllers - How to repair a CV power supply or how to build your own (do at your own risk!) - How to modify a Champ Adaptor to make it support two-button controllers - etc. These articles could be in plain text format, but I think I would much prefer embedded YouTube videos, because still pictures of hardware components (either camera pictures or man-made diagrams) are usually confusing to guys like me who can't differentiate a capacitor from a diode. With a video, the guy can explain the electronics involved in the repair, explain what the problem is, present the tools he's using to proceed with the repair, give comments and advice concerning said repairs while he's working, etc. When you see someone actually performing a repair (or a mod) in real time, it makes everything so much clearer... Luc, Don't hold back tell him what you really feel! Just kidding you my friend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65Gamerguy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I am willing to help out in anyway I can. Box scans, game videos, whatever I can do to help just let me know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Luc, Don't hold back tell him what you really feel! Just kidding you my friend! LOL! Well the good thing here is that all my thoughts on the subject are gathered together into two main posts, so if there's a need to revisit those ideas, I can find it all in the same place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Another good site (intellivision) for some game database ideas is: http://www.intvfunhouse.com Toad, have you secured the URL yet? I can try to re aquire it and somehow transfer to you........or have you tried godaddy or something? I guess I shouldnt of let it go! Darn! But my Intv site is work enough all by myself! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 For me, the ultimate Colecovision website, would something like Lemon64 is for the C64. (unfortunaly the site is down since few weeks now... i hope it will be back soon). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 When sourcing scans from multiple sources, please please please specify a standard minimum quality and set of scanner settings. For instance, the quality of the pdf manuals currently hosted over at digitpress varies enormously. Some have horrible colour moire all over them and others are at a very low resolution and just look plain awful. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) Hey guys.. thanks for the comments, I'm really glad I made this thread. I was trying to think of everything I could but you guys really opened my eyes to a whole different level, as far as a design to shoot for. I'll try to reply to everyone the best I can, I'm surprised how many comments and suggestions already. Awesome! I wish I wouldn't have left the scene when I did, it was about the time the Homebrew scene really started.. If I would have stuck with it, I would have already done most of this stuff. I used to "live" over at Digital Press back in the day.. I need to rejoin that site as well but I like AA way more nowadays. Anyways.. Jim, You're right.. this is a HUGE Project. Indeed a full-time "job". I realize now, after sleeping on it..that I'm definitely going to need help on this... if its to be everything that everyone has suggested. Man, this is way bigger than I imagined but it needs done. ColecoVision needs this sort of site at this point, with all the new games coming out I feel it is necessary. Everyone has contributed some fantastic ideas but it will take a lot of time and effort. I'm all in but still need some resources to get going again.. Yep, this could be a full time "job".. it's starting to look like it. LOL I hope someday it could be an actual job but for now im just dreaming. One thing at a time I suppose.. You and Luc really hit the nail on the head (as usual), as far as being realistic and on the depth of this project. Luc's suggestions are awesome, that's what the CV community Needs! thevnaguy, Keep doing what you do best! I like to have ColecoVisions as the podcast. I have no experience in that area so it is up to you, my friend. Btw, I really enjoyed the first one... I hope to see more form you guys soon. I don't have a good camera to do videos.. I have nice Microphones though Shure, MXL, etc.. (for recording music) Rev, The only domain I have so far is RetroRaveGames.com. For whatever reason, I'm still not able to secure colecovisionrevolution.com. I believe its still tied up at the moment. I really like the Revolution brand you started and if we all decide to keep the "Revolution" part of it, the domain name problem needs to be corrected and secured for sure.. There is .net, .org, etc.. but .Com is really the way to go on anything IMHO. The ColecoVision Revolution brand has already been established and is widely recognized.. therefore, I think it would be in our best interest to try to keep that name alive.. Unless somebody comes up with a better idea/name but I really, really like ColecoVisionRevolution.com. What do you guys think? Doh! I forgot all about Go-Daddy.. lol That is what I will do, I'll look into having them as a host but not sure what I'd be looking at money wise. I'm sure it's not cheap and I'm (sorta) in between jobs at the moment.. in a couple weeks. If you can try to get that domain back up and usable, this should go somewhat smoothly.. I hope. See what you can do, maybe get in touch with the Host if you can.. You're had access to it last so it's up to you I would imagine. If you still want to keep it going, I'd be happy to partner up with you if you want and help reduce the workload. I certainly need some kind of "team" as NAID mentioned if you fella's want to take this to the next level. 65Gamerguy, Sure! I'd be happy to accept any good scans and/or pictures of whatever you have.. I could use a hand. Although I'm sure the CV vets and Publishers here have everything and more when it comes to good, quality material. Scans, pictures, video's etc.. should be as high quality as possible but should be watermarked perhaps, to prevent any funny business. There's been enough of that already so we must be very careful there. Otherwise, Scans that the Publishers demand are usually 600 dpi IIRC... At least 300dpi. The higher, the better.. then again that also means some pretty large files.. A programming section is really needed if we all want to keep new games coming, from new programmers. That would help everybody out, a trickle down effect.. Overall, I think a Mods section is what I'd really love to do more than anything. There are no solid CV sites out there when it comes to this, everything is really spread out and you really have to search to find good information. Lately I've been going back in time, reading lots of old threads.. Stuff posted years ago but it's really great information and I've already been collecting as much information as possible. A DIY Mods page would be awesome! We also have to respect Yurkie and other modders out there.. Business is business and I do not want to step on anybody's toes in that department. Then again, the information is.. mostly out there, if you know where/how to look. Back on the main topic, Great ideas guys, hit me with some more if you got 'em, don't hold back. Like I said before, if anyone is interested in contributing and/or working with me, please.. by all means, feel free to PM me. We can discuss details there or through email. I will give you more contact information if necessary and I'd also be open to chatting with some of you on Skype or via Phone even... It's tough to put things into words sometimes and I'm sorry for usually being long winded. Lol In other news, I did get THIS in the mail yesterday, NIB for $40 bucks shipped! Not too shabby I'm debating on opening it or not.. its water damaged on the back so I suppose it wouldn't be too much of a sin.. I been wanting a Roller Controller for years! Cheers - tw Edited April 18, 2014 by SiLic0ne t0aD85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The only domain I have so far is RetroRaveGames.com. For whatever reason, I'm still not able to secure colecovisionrevolution.com. I believe its still tied up at the moment. I really like the Revolution brand you started and if we all decide to keep the "Revolution" part of it, the domain name problem needs to be corrected and secured for sure.. There is .net, .org, etc.. but .Com is really the way to go on anything IMHO. The ColecoVision Revolution brand has already been established and is widely recognized.. therefore, I think it would be in our best interest to try to keep that name alive.. Unless somebody comes up with a better idea/name but I really, really like ColecoVisionRevolution.com. What do you guys think? I know Albert has dibs on colecoage.com (the URL leads to atariage.com at the moment) so perhaps he could let you use it if colecovisionrevolution.com ends up being too much of a hassle to secure. I have nothing against the "revolution", but "colecoage" is shorter and easier to type than "colecovisionrevolution". Like I said before, if anyone is interested in contributing and/or working with me, please.. by all means, feel free to PM me. We can discuss details there or through email. I will give you more contact information if necessary and I'd also be open to chatting with some of you on Skype or via Phone even... It's tough to put things into words sometimes and I'm sorry for usually being long winded. Lol Your main focus at this point should be to find collaborators, before you start any actual work. You can consider the suggestions posted here, but don't think about structure and content just yet. You will find that the number of people willing to help you will greatly affect the way you will tackle the project. In other news, I did get THIS tjwCVrollControl.jpg in the mail yesterday, NIB for $40 bucks shipped! Not too shabby I'm debating on opening it or not.. its water damaged on the back so I suppose it wouldn't be too much of a sin.. I been wanting a Roller Controller for years! Here's hoping the thing actually works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 I know Albert has dibs on colecoage.com (the URL leads to atariage.com at the moment) so perhaps he could let you use it if colecovisionrevolution.com ends up being too much of a hassle to secure. I have nothing against the "revolution", but "colecoage" is shorter and easier to type than "colecovisionrevolution". Your main focus at this point should be to find collaborators, before you start any actual work. You can consider the suggestions posted here, but don't think about structure and content just yet. You will find that the number of people willing to help you will greatly affect the way you will tackle the project. Here's hoping the thing actually works. Agreed! Thanks again, Luc. As I stated earlier, You and Jim always put things into perspective and are straight to the point.. much better than I. I need to work on that! Anyways, Yes colecoage.com would be another great option. I've already thought about it and have discussed it a little with Rev.. just bouncing idea's back and forth. On the Roller Controller though, I'm about to find out.. Here we go! It should be fine.. but if not, I could always diagnose the problem and repair it myself. I think I got the last one from Mike.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Colecorevolution? :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy_Whelan Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Just as this site is named AtariAge with a nod to the magazine, I like the idea of a ColecoVision site named ColecoVisionExperience with a nod to the magazine. Troy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Just as this site is named AtariAge with a nod to the magazine, I like the idea of a ColecoVision site named ColecoVisionExperience with a nod to the magazine. Troy Good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 For me ColecoAge and AtariAge.... is the same 'Age'.... Like Stone Age. I don't like too much ColecoAge, but i agree with Luc , Colecorevolution is too long to type! ColecoExperience too... but i like it. May be something like Colecommunity , Colecorporation , Coleconsole , Colecoliseum ... but some are also too long in fact. Shorter : ColecoFun , ColecoFacts , ColecoLife , ColecoLives , ColecoForce , ColecoRules , ColecoPower , PowerColeco , ColecoMyth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Shorter : ColecoFun , ColecoFacts , ColecoLife , ColecoLives , ColecoForce , ColecoRules , ColecoPower , PowerColeco , ColecoMyth I like colecofun.com, it gives the web site a certain whimsical aspect, which makes it inviting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) Colecorevolution is too long to type! ColecoExperience too... but i like it. Seeing as a LINK will eventually be provided to click on and then all one has to do is bookmark the site... a few mouse clicks is all that will ever be required. So as far as the final website address, even if it is the length of Pie (3.14........) or Infinity, I don't see a problem with whatever length it is. Edited April 19, 2014 by NIAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) how about www.nogirlsallowed.com Edited April 19, 2014 by digress 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.