Intellivision Gen2 games in App Store

[Flojomojo]

These look like the remakes on Playstation Mobile (and Vita). Not bad for what they are, and for a dollar each.

 

Astrosmash

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/astrosmash-gen2/id874433151?mt=8

 

Shark Shark!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shark!-shark!-gen2/id874443574?mt=8

[Flojomojo]

Actually I posted that before I tried them. They are not scaled to the screen and the controls are terrible. Avoid until fixed.

 

They're good (enough) on Vita though.

[+DZ-Jay]

What I want to know is, why don't they release more games for the Intellivision emulator on the iPhone? They released the app with just six games with the promise of releasing more, but they never did.

 

-dZ.

[Flojomojo]

Probably because you and I were the only ones who bought them. I just re-downloaded that old app (it's no longer in the store, but if you bought it previously, it's still available to fetch) and was able to grab all six semi random games. It seems that VH-1 was sponsoring it so maybe funding dried up.

 

The Shark! Shark! remake is okay, with its oddly squared off fish and despite its janky virtual D-pad. The Astrosmash remake just seems lazy, it's not centered on the screen and the touch controls don't make sense.

[Intymike]

Probably because you and I were the only ones who bought them.

 

Together we are three!

[Rev]

[Intymike]

Screenshot_2014-06-14-09-27-21-1.png

 

Is a Robocop game for the Inty in the making?

[catsfolly]

Here's progress for ya -

 

The original Astrosmash rom was 8 kilobytes in size (4k decles) including the disabled code for "Meteor".

 

The Gen2 Astrosmash App is 5.8 megabytes - that's 725 times bigger!

 

The Icon image that you press to start Gen2 Astrosmash is probably 4k all by itself.

 

Maybe Apple's library files just take up a lot of room. I wonder how big a "Hello World" App program would be?

 

Catsfolly

[mckafka99]

I still have the Original VH1 App on my Ipad; wish they had released more. The two new ones are ok I suppose. The controls on Astrosmash are too big I found so I prefer Shark Shark; but to be honest, although this may be 'Gen 2' I prefer the original graphics for Shark Shark at least.

[+Lathe26]

 

Is a Robocop game for the Inty in the making?

 

No, but there is a Robocop for Detroit in the making.

 

http://metrotimes.com/news/take-a-look-at-detroit-s-robocop-statue-1.1629190

[+nurmix]

Intellivision Productions is working on improvements to the iOS Gen2 games, as well as revamping it's original Intellivision app. We will have more about this in an upcoming Intellivisionaries Podcast episode (you'll be hearing from Keith Robinson himself).

[Flojomojo]

Intellivision Productions is working on improvements to the iOS Gen2 games, as well as revamping it's original Intellivision app. We will have more about this in an upcoming Intellivisionaries Podcast episode (you'll be hearing from Keith Robinson himself).

I wonder if we'll get credit for the in-app games we already bought? Hope so!

 

How about Gen2 Night Stalker? I guess I should reinstall Home and see what's going on there. Last I checked, there wasn't a Vita or iOS version yet.

 

I would adore a Gen2 Dreadnaught Factor!

[onmode-ky]

These look like the remakes on Playstation Mobile (and Vita). Not bad for what they are, and for a dollar each.

The Intellivision Gen2 games that debuted in PlayStation Home are available on the PSV as components of the PSV-native Home Arcade App; they aren't PlayStation Mobile releases.

 

How about Gen2 Night Stalker? I guess I should reinstall Home and see what's going on there. Last I checked, there wasn't a Vita or iOS version yet.

I'll save you some time and let you know that Night Stalker Gen2 ended up as vaporware. Despite being the subject of a nice video interview I saw last year, the project subsequently went silent and never resurfaced, as far as I know. At the least, even if it did not get canceled, it definitely hasn't reached PS Home yet.

 

You should still reinstall Home so that you can get the second-wave Home Arcade games, that still aren't available for the PSV's app. Four Konami classics came last December, Scramble, Super Cobra, Pooyan, and Yie Ar Kung Fu.

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

Onmode-- what's the fastest way to get to these in PS Home? Seems they're buried under multiple layers of slow-loading menu and dollhouse crap. I can't figure out a way to play my Astrosmash and Shark! Shark! "cartridges" without spending more money on imaginary furniture in Home.

[onmode-ky]

Well, I don't have either of the Intellivision Gen2 games myself, but I would assume it's the same as with the arcade cabinets. Namely, your purchase adds a new furniture item, of the Appliance type, I believe. If you've never added any furniture in Home before, here's how:

 

1. Go to the personal space where you want to put the games (e.g., your Harbor Studio apartment).

2. Press Start to bring up the Home main menu.

3. Press right on the directional pad until you get to the Redecorate option. I think it's the second selection from the right.

3a. If you're in the Harbor Studio, I think there's an extra step now: choose the selection about furniture (the Harbor Studio has a second Redecorate capability, changing the wallpaper, which you can't do in other personal spaces).

4. I think 2 options come up at this point, adding new furniture and rearranging existing furniture. Choose the former.

5. The next screen should be a table consisting of a few categories for furniture types. I would guess that the games would count as Appliances, which is one of the selections in the lower right corner.

6. The next screen will have the Intellivision consoles somewhere in it. Scroll around until you get to the one you want to add to your space, then press X on it.

7. The console will spawn, and then you can use the left stick to put it where you want it to go. Right stick is camera; L2/R2 are raise and lower; L1/R1 are rotate, I think. Use X to commit the position, then X again to confirm.

 

If you want, you can go crazy and add dozens of consoles to your space by repeating the above process. Of course, there is a limit; when you're in the furniture-choosing screen, there's a diagram on the left side made up of gray squares and white squares, with a number below and a number above it. One number is how many gray squares you have, which is the number of furniture slots you have available in the space. The other number, the white square count, is how many slots you're already using. I think the game consoles would be only 1 slot each, so dozens in your space is possible. Not hundreds, though. If you come up with some whacked-out console arrangement, save a screenshot to your hard drive (press R1, choose Camera, press L2 if you want first-person view, press Square to snap) and share it with us later. It will be under the XMB's Photo section, in the "PlayStation®Home" album.

 

To play the console, walk your avatar up to it, press X when the prompt comes up, and then choose Play. The actual game will then download and load (if it's still in your Home cache, it won't need to download). To exit the game, press Start and choose to exit. Note: if your TV has significant latency, you'll definitely feel it in comparison to playing the games on your PSV. PSV = quicker startup + no need to be online + lower latency -> preferred platform for this. You can't build a fort out of Intellivision consoles on the PSV, though. . . . You know, I was just making a joke, but now that I think about it, I'd like to see that. Please do that and post a screenshot here!

 

Disclaimer: I'm not actually logged into Home right now, so I might have gotten some of the details wrong in my directions above.

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

Thanks, I will give that a try. I think I need to spend at least a few bucks to have something to play the virtual "cartridges" on. Maybe I'll get the cocktail arcade cabinets.

 

The Gen2 apps have been updated. Astrosmash is noticeably improved. Shark Shark was pretty nice already. Grab these tiny games before you update your iThing to 7.1.2.

[onmode-ky]

Thanks, I will give that a try. I think I need to spend at least a few bucks to have something to play the virtual "cartridges" on. Maybe I'll get the cocktail arcade cabinets.

If you can't find any Intellivision furniture items under your Redecorate menus, then before you spend any (further) money, check your Home purchases list to see what exactly you did get from buying the games on your PSV:

 

1. Press Start to bring up the Home main menu (doesn't matter what space you're in when doing this).

 

2. Press right on the directional pad until you get to the Personal option. In North American Home, I think this is the fourth selection from the left.

 

3. Under the Personal dropdown menu, go down until you get to the Home Rewards option.

 

4. Opening up Home Rewards should result in a (none too quick in loading) table of free items that you've gotten in Home. Switch to paid items instead, by pressing L1 and picking Purchases. You can change the table's sort method with the R1 button (e.g., oldest first).

 

Your Intellivision Gen2 purchases should show up in that purchased items list, with pictures, and then you'll know at least what you've already paid for.

 

onmode-ky

[mdoerty]

I got the Gen2 games for the iPad.

They are a great argument for real controllers.

[onmode-ky]

4. Opening up Home Rewards should result in a (none too quick in loading) table of free items that you've gotten in Home. Switch to paid items instead, by pressing L1 and picking Purchases. You can change the table's sort method with the R1 button (e.g., oldest first).

My skills of observation are so spectacularly good that I did not know you can choose to examine your purchases directly from the Personal dropdown menu--as would, you know, make perfect sense. No need to go to Rewards first and then switch to Purchases. I'm just used to ignoring it, I guess, since I almost never make Home purchases.

 

Anyway, if you see no record of your Intellivision Gen2 purchases in the Home history, I think you should call up Sony and complain. If it's explicitly described as a two-for-one deal in the PSV PS Store, then you shouldn't have to pay again to get it in Home.

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

Long dead!

 

never let it be said I'm an apologist for digital distribution