Mindfield

If it's Atari-released titles only, then yes, the Swordquest games (both of them) are pretty horrid. Boring, really -- despite the fact that I bought them both back in the day. I suppose the concept could have been interesting but the implementation was so damnably obfuscated and you spent so much time running about to no interesting purpose that the whole thing just ended up a wash.

There are still BBSes in Toronto? Seriously? I'm impressed. I haven't called a real BBS since 1997. You should see if you can find an SX212 modem. It's crap, but it's 1200 baud and it's direct-connect.

I can't recall where I got that Busy Police to be honest. I do know it was one of the last ones added to my collection though -- for whatever reason I had a harder time finding that one than most of the others. However, I'd think they might be a little more collectible to people outside Canada just because Canada's where they were sold in the first place, thus making them harder to get elsewhere. Thanks for the pimp though.

I find women can be quite amenable if you promise them the right things.

Later than planned, but pretty much everything is all now on eBay. (Boxed stuff will be going up tonight if you don't see it yet)

Um ... hello? Skeet Shoot? Froggo's Karate? Double Dragon? Creme de la Crap, the lot of them. In fact, I understand forcing prisoners to play these games was the real reason detainees complained at Abu Ghraib. The naked horse whippings and electrified nipple clips were entertainment by comparison.

I have a boxed ADAM, and I can well agree; that thing takes up more than half the floor of my closet. Amazingly, I had that thing shipped all the way from BC. Fortunately I put it on the company's courrier dime that I worked for at the time, since we got such great rates. But good lord if that thing didn't arrive looking like a cardboard minivan for midgets. The ADAM datasettes are sort of custom though; the top of the shell is keyed a little differently than ordinary cassettes in that IIRC the holes ordinarily associated with write protect are placed a little differently. (I don't feel like pulling that tank out of the bedroom to check just now. ) I think you can use regular cassettes on them if you poke holes in the right places, but use shorter cassettes (30 mins if possible). The mylar on those tends to be thicker and more apt to be able to handle the ADAM's high speed drive.

Added the rest of the loose carts/bundles tonight. Tomorrow, all the boxed stuff gets listed (or as much as I can get listed; whatever's leftover will go up the next day)

Traditionally these consoles show up on VHF channel 3, though there is a switch in the back of the Atari itself (usually in a small recessed hole) where you can toggle it between channels 2 and 3. Basically, the order of operations should be thus: 1. Universal power adapter plugged in (set to 9V, tip-positive polarity - should be indicated by a "+" next to the polarity switch, if your adapter has one) and connected to the Atari. The adapter should be rated for at least 300mA; 500mA to ensure complete compatibility. 2. RF cable plugged into the coax adapter. 3. Coax adapter plugged into TV's cable input. 4. Television and Atari both tuned either to channel 2 or 3, depending on how the Atari is set. 5. Cartridge plugged in, Atari turned on. Generally that's all you should need to do. If you are still getting no picture at this point then the problem probably isn't related to how it's all hooked up.

Well, Immies went quick.

Well, frankly I don't expect the BINs to stick around. This is eBay, after all. Home to a world full of people who'll kill a $1.00 bin so they have a shot at getting it for $0.99.

More like 5 or 6. Seriously? I thought you did a run of those like you usually do? Or did you do a run but only ended up selling 5 or 6?

And here I was thinking of posting my own auctions. I shoulda known someone would be watching. Got a crapload and a half more to list tomrorow; I just listed the single loose carts this evening.

I did it quite a bit back in the day when I "discovered" it. I think I tried it on pretty much every game I had just to see what frying it would do. (I didn't know it was a known phenomenon back then, much less what it was called) Some games produced pretty fascinating effects. Most of them were mildly interesting but largely useless.

That site (and the "2600 web server" gag) has been around forever as a sub-level of the Human Clock website. It was a funny read though.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...dpost&p=1032878

A couple of minor things here. 1) Hitting "Reply" instead of "Quote" to a PM doesn't carry over the PM's original topic; you have to enter a new one. 2) Any chance of moving the "Quote" button next to the "Reply" button below a private message? Kind of odd/confusing to separate the two, especially when the forums already have it right.

"Okay. You sold it for $25. I originally paid $24.99. You get 25% of the profit. Got a hacksaw?"

Actually, there is only supposed to be one cord. It is intended to be connected to an RF modulator switchbox or F-Type coaxial adapter. (I reccommend the latter as it provides a much clearer picture) I would pick up one of these before going any further with diagnosing potential problems. One question though: What's rattling around inside, does it sound like plastic or metal? If it's plastic my first guess would be the screw posts inside the bottom shell of the unit. I've had a few that were very brittle and tended to break with the slightest provocation. Hopefully that's all that's wrong with it.

Not everyone regrets it. I don't. (I did keep my favourites and a small assortment of hardware, of course, so it wasn't complete and total) Mind you I had a valid purpose for doing so, and it wasn't because I was forced to, so the fact that it was a conscious decision I made for myself probably assisted. I mean sure, I do kinda miss having that huge-ass collection with some nice rarities and collectibles, but it's not something I can't (or for that matter won't) get again down the road. Heck, half the fun was the hunting and the scoring. It is, in its own way, a game in itself, and it had gotten a little boring the few months before I sold because there wasn't a whole lot left I needed, and what remained was mostly stuff that would have far exceeded what I could afford to spend on any one game. I say it's really up to how much the collection means to the individual and how much they feel they'd miss it if they did sell, and how much of a chore they feel regaining that collection would be.

All things considered, 16 square miles isn't that large -- a square four miles to a side. That kinda strikes me as small. Not that I still wouldn't want to get this game to try out. Morrowind -- what I played of it -- was pretty good, but it ran like crap even on a midrange system (I'm talking GF 6800 here). Hopefully Oblivion will run decently on a higher end system. At least I'm all set for that part this time around. Not a new concept though. This was tried in an older game (ca. 1994 or so) -- can't recall the name but it was AFAIK the first 3D texture mapped game on the Atari ST at the time. The characters were supposed to have their own jobs, their own lives, etc. Functionally it didn't really seem that way, but it made for interesting ad copy.

"Sealed in bag, ready to boil."

Maybe it was a combination of Mangia and Malagai. Wait. That would be Pac Man.

Congratulations. That was a fairly hard one to complete just because of the number of titles in Activision's stable.

I noticed the "Member Blogs" forum. Except every post in it is by "RSS Import Bot."