Lynx popularity now

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

I find it fascinating that Zaku on the Lynx has sold 1000 copies, there's been sales of more than 800 flash carts (sainT kindly shared the info http://atariage.com/forums/topic/250637-lynx-multi-card-preorders/?p=4004805),and Wyvern tales already has 400 people when counting sold + the buyers list. In comparison Sam's Journey, a new praised release on the Commodore 64 (possibly the best selling computer of all time 12.5 – 17 million ) has sold 1500 copies, which seems to be the best selling 'homebrew' on the c64 so far.

Obviously both Zaku and Sam's Journey are exeptionally polished games/releases/final products, but I find it quite jaw dropping, and of course great, that the 'underdog' Lynx can reach such impressive sales in comparison. The c64 scene seems so alive at the moment with new hardware, books, magazines, new games, new shell molds, youtube videos etc.etc. (not that the Lynx scene doesn't seem quite lively too).

It seems Zaku even beats most recent NES projects. And we know the insane exposure that console has everywhere. Probably the common Lynx release doesn't reach nearly these kinds of numbers though.

 

 

Twin Dragons' KS (NES) had 329 backers, and they've sold carts afterwards too.
Sydney Hunter KS (NES + SNES) had 406 backers, and additional sales.
Eskimo Bob, 264 backers, plus sales.
Haunted Halloween 86, 318 backers, plus sales.
Full Quiet, 509 backers.
Tower Defense 1990, 117 backers

 

Some theories how this can be (please add yours too / discuss):

- There's overlap in the 'retro enthusiasts' scene(?) Personally I've got a few old systems, but only bought new releases for the Lynx and the C64 (so far at least)

- Lynx interrest and popularity has grown over the years, int part thanks to the internet and youtube, and in part thanks to an interresting design and unique / slightly quirky but fun game library(?)

- The Lynx did sell a bit better than the most conservative estimates think, especially in europe in the countries where the ST and Amiga had some foothold(?) I think 500k like some wikipedia page probably is a little low estimate but 2-3 million might be pushing it?(According to some estimates even the Amiga 500 and ST didn't sell much more than that):
https://amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=131

- There's a culture of cracking and copying games on the c64(?)

- I found this in a lemon64 thread: " You can simply not compete against free games and an enormous (free) back catalogue." It's true that in contrast to the c64, the Lynx only has a small catalogue of games that leaves us hungry for more, and it's more fun to try and develop something when all genres and ideas aren't already taken yet.

- Lynx fans are like metal fans and never change allegiance(?) ;D

 

- Obviously this post only takes new games into account, I guess it's the love for the machine and old games that bring the retro communities together. New games come out of that.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Turbo Laser Lynx

[power]

the flash cart and mcwill mod have revitalised the lynx scene imo. but it's still pretty niche, i'd say it's old fans coming back to relive their faves. mcwill screen cannot be undersold it's just that good.

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

Ah, somehow I forgot to list those as reasons! I guess Zaku was a revitaliser at the time too, selling 600 in the first batch (since it was released many years before the mcwill screen and the multicart). I guess all "retro-gaming" scenes (whatever you want to call them) are pretty niche, but yeah I always thought the Lynx scene is even more niche, that's why I find it fascinating that the Lynx scene seems to be almost as big as some of the big name old micro computers and old consoles. Maybe that's only for the new releases though?

[+karri]

One attractive thing for the Lynx is the possibility to release small games as binaries. Like "Shaking, not stirred" and "Always, winter, never Christmas". There is zero costs involved in developing them or distributing them.

 

The latest version of "Shaken, not stirred" is completely re-written from the 1st release in the 7DRL contest. But I feel that the game was not easy enough as nobody got the point. So this year I added some tutorial data, a manual, some poker chips for better visualization of the clues you get from the girls. I hope the game is enjoyable. It should also be short. 5 - 15 minutes. The Lynx is on its best with fast paced short games like Flappy Birds, Reiko's Robot Run and Sylvester. This could contribute to the popularity of the Lynx.

[Grumpmeister]

I've had a Lynx during my childhood and still have some fond memories of it. For instance, Lynxing up for Rampage, Xenophobe and Todd's Adventure in Slime World, but also my masochistic attempts through Batman Returns, breaking my childhood brain over higher levels in Chip's Challenge or raging at Bill & Ted.

 

It is pretty niche, especially if you'd compare it to the Gameboy crowd. For me it started living again earlier this year. I've been (more seriously) speedrunning since... March or so, where I was picking up other niche titles (the CDi Zelda games). At one point I was just going over my childhood games and ran into the Lynx games. As my mother actually carefully stored pretty much everything, I had access to 2 Lynxes (my brother doesn't want his) and quite some games. So I started looking into whether it'd be possible to somehow stream the Lynx.

 

And that was the point for me where things took off. I ran into an article about Wyvern Tales, which was just released at that point. As someone who really enjoys (J)RPG's, I was really intrigued by this title, so I ended up here and I'm on the waiting list (hoping I'm part of the upcoming batch). From there I ran into the McWill mod, which has been applied by McWill this summer (thanks again!). Using that, I've worked out a setup which I can use to stream the game to my PC so I can record or stream it. So basically it became a small hobby project to get this going. Because this is now possible, it opens up a basically untouched goldmine of speedrunnable games. Emulators are generally a bit frowned upon for in-person marathons, but using the McWill mod + the setup I've created, these become possible as well. For instance, I'm currently planning to do a speedrun of Zaku in November and / or maybe the Easy adventure of Todd's Adventures in Slime World (I think that can be finished within 10 minutes, would have to time it). But bigger would be the speedrunner Janglestorm who will run Gordo 106 at AGDQ (start of January), which is the biggest speedrun marathon worldwide. He'll use my Atari / setup for it, so my Lynx is going to get world fame

 

I'm hoping this will also lead to some more exposure to the library of the Lynx. Sure, not all of it is good, but there definitely are some gems in there. But for me, the staying power are definitely the homebrews that are being worked on and the games I haven't touched yet. I still want to play Ninja Gaiden III for instance, so I'll order that one soon. Likely add Fat Bobby to it, etc. As a speedrunner I'm also really enjoying Karri's 'Shaken, not stirred' in combination with the challenge. The main downside would be the initial costs to get into it. Getting a working Atari may proof difficult for some people (depending on country / region), you'd have to hope it's still working and if you really want to get the most out of it, a McWill mod would be great to have. However, the Everdrive-esque solution of the Multi-SD card will also really help revitalize the scene, I'd wager.

[+davidcalgary29]

1. The Lynx has one of the smallest libraries that I've seen for a system that sold in the millions. That was certainly true during its commercial life, and, up until the last two years or so, maybe only one finished game was finished per year...and let alone put onto cartridge and sold. There's definitely a hunger for new product.

 

2. Success breeds success. The Zaku team has done an excellent job of promoting not just their game, but the Lynx as a whole.

 

3. The three Lynx products you've listed -- Wyvern Tales, the McWill mod, and SainT's cartridge -- are unique for the Lynx. There's simply no competing product to cut into sales.

 

4. The Lynx has an excellent reputation even among people who don't like or play Atari systems, and people will play it if they're given a reason to do so. I think people still get more excited about new product development than they are about discovering brilliant, but dated product, now matter how wonderful experiencing Klax for the first time might be.

 

 

 

I still want to play Ninja Gaiden III for instance, so I'll order that one soon. Likely add Fat Bobby to it

 

Er, these are not two of those gems.

[sirlynxalot]

Is there an easy way to take video of an emulator? I'd like to upload long plays of lynx titles and would prefer to do it through emulation for good video quality and maybe save states if needed.

[Grumpmeister]

Er, these are not two of those gems.

 

Haha, I'm fully aware

 

There's a reason why Fat Bobby is used in 'kusoge' (bad game) tournaments, that's a big part of why I want it.

 

 

Is there an easy way to take video of an emulator? I'd like to upload long plays of lynx titles and would prefer to do it through emulation for good video quality and maybe save states if needed.

 

Depends on what you'd find easy, but using OBS you can capture the window of the emulator and just record that. It's pretty easy to set up

 

If I'm correct, the output is a .flv which (I guess) can be uploaded to Youtube. I haven't done much with Youtube myself, everything I do ends up on Twitch.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Grumpmeister

[Igor]

2018 had a number of developments in the Lynx scene to get it to the larger audience. Mark's Handycast has certainly been successful and from what I'm hearing my website is getting out there and being read by people. The number of great looking home brew projects have also been tremendous. There are a lot of factors to why the Lynx is making at least a small comeback.

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

That's true, sorry for not realizing to mention your fantastic site finally pulling together info about the Lynx in one place and the great, high-quality handycast!

[Lost Dragon]

Well looks like someone at i.D was a  fan:

 

John Carmack: I can’t believe there is going to be another gaming device that still has the concept of ’’tiles”. I am really quite shocked.

 

The Atari lynx showed how it should be done YEARS ago: a memory mapped 
framebuffer, a reasonable CPU, a blitter coprocessor, and unified mem ory (large form factor and short battery life were it’s problems).

 

 

Several more backwards handheld systems have unfortunately been produced since then. 

[power]

not surprised he was a fan, it was a great handheld. the price point is how nintendo won the day (and that cracker of a killer app).

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

12 hours ago, Lost Dragon said:

large form factor and short battery life were it’s problems).

I find it somewhat fascinating that  now 30 years later the switch is a massive success with a large form factor (ok the screen is a little bit bigger) and from what I've understood, quite short battery life.

 

Quote

Several more backwards handheld systems have unfortunately been produced since then. 

[Lost Dragon]

3 hours ago, Turbo Laser Lynx said:

I find it somewhat fascinating that  now 30 years later the switch is a massive success with a large form factor (ok the screen is a little bit bigger) and from what I've understood, quite short battery life.

 

Industry is a funny old thing.

 

Did the Atari 5200 not get critiscm for it's sheer size at the time? 

 

 

Then when M.S enter the console market with their first console,  it's huge ?

 

PSP battery life was the subject of ridicule as well.

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

The hivemind should move in predictable ways, yet it doesn't? ?

[Video]

I'd say the popularity of homebrew may be as much, or more to do with people want to like the lynx, but the games selection is rather lackluster over all. C=64 and nes may have a huge numbers bonus over the lynx, but they both also have far more amazing games to choose from. Literally, many new lynx owners are like "ok, I got a lynx, where are the Mario's and Tetris type games?"