BigO

I'd forgotten until this recent posting, but I had a 2600 cartridge that was labeled as belonging to a doctor's office. I'm not even sure if I still have that one. Now I'm going to have to hunt for my old post about it...

I think it's a fine idea, by the way. That wasn't meant as criticism. If I were sitting on a hoard of dead Microvisions, I'd be tempted at least. My piddly collection of 3 units including the deconstructed one (that I use for testing and development - never finished) just won't yield much profit. Back when I was spending time looking at every LCD toy in every thrift store for a usable replacement screen, Microvisions were cheap. I found a receipt from 2010 the other day for a dead unit with several games for $15. I expected the introduction of new screens to bump up the value of existing screen rot victims. Maybe that hasn't happened. I see a "parts only" unit on eBay with 4 games with starting bid of $10 so there might still be some margin to be had even if one hadn't cornered the market on dead units a few years ago.

Heh. That's funny. In case you forget? I actually like carts with people's names and labels and such on them. Feels like history. I bought a collection of Odyssey2 carts that had handwritten, masking tape labels on them. Sadly, the adhesive has dried up and many of the labels are gone. But I do have an O2 game catalog with handwritten reviews and comments about some of the games.

Listen kids! That sound could be made only by an adult human sitting on a pile of dead Microvisions. 😜

Back In The Day

The controller ports are also a little bit subject to damage from repeated connect/disconnect actions. I've seen more of those than failed cartridge ports (but a very small sample size). If extension cables are used (with or without a pretty panel), the controller could be connected/disconnected at an easily, externally replaceable junction point. Some might also find it convenient to be able to swap controllers without accessing the back side of the console. As far as how the connectors would be solidly presented at the front, I can think of at least a couple of options so I'm sure that you could come up with something workable. (Side note: I've found some wood-look vinyl plank flooring that makes a passable woodgrain panel overlay. Though not exactly Atari, it's way better than contact paper). Just a thought. Ignore without concern.

If you could work out a way to extend the controller ports to the front of the console with (short) cables and a panel of some sort, that might make a nice companion piece to this product. (Relevance: protecting the console controller ports)

To re-say another way what others have already said, the limit would depend on how you define the rooms in your code.

If there's room, I was wondering if it would richen the game play to have a maybe once-per-level last ditch possible-panic-save feature. Assuming that you don't already use the up/down directions: Since the joystick has 2 dimensions and the normal game play is 1 dimensional, maybe pushing the joystick up could give a brief, temporary speed boost to outrun the ghost when it's just barely going to catch you. - Sorta kinda like shields in Asteroids that deplete when used. - Or, like the for sure lesser-known, Colony 7 which has a once per level panic button that kills all of the enemies on the screen at once (I've only played the 2600 version). - Or, with a bit more complexity, like the Turbo Boost button in Galaxy Quest (movie) where holding the button down too long incurs dire consequences. "You don't hold the turbo down, it's for quick boosts!" Though, I'm not really sure what the Pac-Man equivalent would be for a cracked beryllium sphere. Maybe he is a beryllium sphere... (I suppose in the alternate don't-get-a-C&D-from-Namco version, this feature might be "a hit of catnip". 🙂)

When I first saw the game reveal on the ZPH YouTube channel, it occurred to me that this concept could probably be turned into a 1 Dimensional LED array game with different colors, brightness level, and flashing representing the various playfield elements and their various states: Pac, dots, power pellets, ghost. I'm not much of a Pac-Man player, but I'll have to give this a try.

I imagine that, from an operator perspective, the primary question would be about the cost, and terms, of leasing vs financing.

To quote the great Ralph Malph, "I still got it".

No. And I think I haven't thrown it out yet. I'll check when I get home.

I came here just now looking for the exact same functionality. I was thinking that if there were a filter list of forums to select under the Create Stream screen, that would do what I want. Or, in a more streamlined UI, a filter option for "Forums I follow" on the Create Steam screen.

Interesting.