Jump to content
IGNORED

2015 Portland Retro Gaming Expo 7800 Highlights


Trebor

Recommended Posts

Complete album that Al posted for the show is here. The work and pure awesomeness that went into that show is amazing. The captures help to give us a taste of how cool it was to be there. Thank you for providing them, Al!

 

Thanks also to Marco for posting to specific threads for individual games.

 

Some of the games being played in the attached include:

Astro Fighter

Bentley Bear: Crystal Quest
Donkey Kong XM
Dungeon Stalker
Froggie
Ms. Pac-Man Twin
Pac-Man Collection
T:ME Salvo
Additionally we also see:
AtariVox
CPUWIZ's PCB Concerto Cart (Assembling)
Edladdin's Joysticks
Misc. Boxes/Manuals/Posters etc.
XM Expansion Module
:)

post-18-0-07609000-1445344175_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-61814700-1445344175_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-12545300-1445344176_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-61391200-1445344176_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-17318400-1445344177_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-66560500-1445344177_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-12216600-1445344178_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-61226300-1445344184_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-12877500-1445344185_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-61606000-1445344185_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-28250700-1445344186_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-16473900-1445344187_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-62156300-1445344187_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-15048100-1445344188_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-64355600-1445344195_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-14900700-1445344196_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-62927900-1445344196_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-15339200-1445344197_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-67297900-1445344197_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-16773500-1445344198_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-50993100-1445344198_thumb.jpg

post-18-0-43171600-1445344205_thumb.jpg

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My highlight for the 7800 was picking up a copy of Frenzy for the 7800, it only cost my $900 to ship me to Portland first, then back. :)

 

It's older Brother ColecoVision and it's father Arcade welcome it home...it's cousin CX2650 is peeking in from the left...

[Click to enlarge]

post-38229-0-72680500-1445375873_thumb.jpg

 

My friend also picked up a 7800 system with box for super cheap, a bunch of 7800 games and a copy of Frenzy. Can't wait to try it out...

Edited by Tarzilla
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't forget you also get Berzerk with Frenzy. My personally preferred game between the two of them. :)

I played Berzerk on the Berkerk/Frenzy multi cab that was there. I kept trying to shoot the walls and Otto...I had forgotten that Berzerk chatters more than Frenzy.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I played Berzerk on the Berkerk/Frenzy multi cab that was there. I kept trying to shoot the walls and Otto...I had forgotten that Berzerk chatters more than Frenzy.

 

I just got a copy of Berzerk for the 5200 and was shocked/amused to learn that all the action freezes whenever the talking happens. Can the 7800 version run and chew gum at the same time?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Complete album that Al posted for the show is here. The work and pure awesomeness that went into that show is amazing. The captures help to give us a taste of how cool it was to be there. Thank you for providing them, Al!

 

Additionally we also see:
AtariVox
CPUWIZ's PCB Concerto Cart (Assembling)
Edladdin's Joysticks
Misc. Boxes/Manuals/Posters etc.
XM Expansion Module
:)

 

 

 

I cant even properly express how delighted I was to have Al put our controllers in such a fantastic showcase! I was very tickled to see all the pics of folks playing with them. I only wish I could have been there in person!

Edited by edladdin
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I just got a copy of Berzerk for the 5200 and was shocked/amused to learn that all the action freezes whenever the talking happens. Can the 7800 version run and chew gum at the same time?

 

You have to stop the action to play a 'sample', because you need all of the processing time to get any kind of recognizable speech. Otherwise it just sounds like noise.

 

Just so you know, the 5200 version does the same thing. As does the 2600 hacked version. Colecovision version doesn't even have speech.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Today I posted my pickups from PRGE 2015 including several big shoutouts to AtariAge and the awesome home-brews I picked up there including Wall Ninja Jump and Starcastle:

 

 

Thanks for posting the video here, and awesome to see you leading off with AtariAge stuff while wearing your AtariAge badge. Lots of cool stuff in that video!

 

..Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I just got a copy of Berzerk for the 5200 and was shocked/amused to learn that all the action freezes whenever the talking happens. Can the 7800 version run and chew gum at the same time?

 

That's a general 8bit problem. The processors aren't powerful enough to render the speech and play the game typically. On the NES, for example, the "Blades of Steel" line is on the title screen.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's definitely true, however I think the NES is unique, compared to most of the 8-bit game consoles, as its sound generator has a dedicated digital sound channel (a.k.a. the "DPCM channel"), so as far as I know (and I might be wrong about this), the NES can actually play sound samples, without having to stop everything. Konami games are great examples, as they usually have snare and kick drum samples, among others. And, in the case of Blades of Steel, like you mentioned, there's also the other speech samples, like "Face-off!", "Fight!", and the garbled mess/"With the pass!"/"Lick the pole!" (according to Wikipedia, it's saying "Get the pass!"), when you pass the puck, on certain occasions.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's definitely true, however I think the NES is unique, compared to most of the 8-bit game consoles, as its sound generator has a dedicated digital sound channel (a.k.a. the "DPCM channel"), so as far as I know (and I might be wrong about this), the NES can actually play sound samples, without having to stop everything. Konami games are great examples, as they usually have snare and kick drum samples, among others. And, in the case of Blades of Steel, like you mentioned, there's also the other speech samples, like "Face-off!", "Fight!", and the garbled mess/"With the pass!"/"Lick the pole!" (according to Wikipedia, it's saying "Get the pass!"), when you pass the puck, on certain occasions.

 

Interesting! Most games I've seen do it very carefully where they discretely stop the action

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I posted my pickups from PRGE 2015 including several big shoutouts to AtariAge and the awesome home-brews I picked up there including Wall Ninja Jump and Starcastle:

 

 

Metal Jesus, thanks for always being so positive about retro collecting for Atari systems in general. Now if we could just get you into collecting for the 5200 - the premiere retro console for Trak-Ball gaming - and the 7800! :) The new 5200 game that is/was for sale is Xari Arena, an unreleased Atari title. This version supports the Trak-Ball which is always a good thing.

 

Atari did release a 2600-compatible "Atari 2800" in Japan. Sears had the North American exclusive to it and re-branded it as the "Sears Video Arcade 2". Its case was later reused for the 7800's case. The controllers were both joysticks and paddles.

 

Bob "Pac-Man Plus" DeCrescenzo, the home brewer responsible for a lot of the 7800's homebrew titles recently took one of those Xoxon double ender cartridges, modded it slightly, and was able to install 2 7800 cartridge PCBs into it. He used CPU Wiz's enhanced home brew 7800 cartridge PCBs. He's posted a pic of it in one of the other threads here in the 7800 section. For the record, CPU Wiz is a genius and he really shows what post-1984 Jack Tramiel-owned Atari Corp could've done with 7800 hardware back then - making the carts on par with NES and SMS carts RAM & ROM wise - had they spent more than a few of their own bucks on it.

 

Atari originally had the home rights to Star Castle. It was assigned to Howard Scott Warshaw. After deciding a faithful adaptation was impossible - at the time - for the 2600, he adapted and changed it into what became Yar's Revenge.

 

There were a couple of working SX-64s for sale in the Bay Area on Craigslist back in the early summer for around $150.

 

Sal rules! I wish we had a decent retro gaming group here in Sacramento but at lead we have the mostly annual Atari Party in Davis [which Sal attends]. Come on down next year especially if it's held in Atari's home turf [sunnyvale] again. :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

 

You have to stop the action to play a 'sample', because you need all of the processing time to get any kind of recognizable speech. Otherwise it just sounds like noise.

 

Just so you know, the 5200 version does the same thing. As does the 2600 hacked version. Colecovision version doesn't even have speech.

No - there is actually a timer based method of playing back samples with full resolution, without slowing gameplay. The Space Harrier homebrew for the A8 is the best example of this.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...