Mindfield

There's a guy outside the main doors to the imperial city (market district). Exit through the doors and head right along the wall. There's a guy lurking there against the wall that sells them. He seems to carry about 30 at a time.

Actually, I didn't really mind Blood 2 all that much -- except that it was horribly, horribly buggy and not nearly as amusing. The original Blood was great, though. Love the one-liners. <looks in mirror> "Aaaah!! Aahh -- oh. It's just me."

Most do not. I worked in the software department of a retail chain when GTA3 game out, and the number of parents who bought it for their kid was apalling. I tried to warn a few of them but gave up when I realized if any of those kids go and do fucked up things and blame it on the game, I know where the influence really came from.

After you've played with 'em for a few hours on end, repeatedly, over a period of a week or two, then come back and tell us how much you like them. If the blister isn't too painful, anyway.

What, no one cross posted this?

Kids that are screwed up enough that a video game can incite them to perform illegal activities clearly doesn't need a video game to make him to such things; he's messed up. Period. He'll do them regardless. The video game just happened to be the thing that inspired him. A movie, song, or comic book would have done the same.

[NE146] Beat 'em & Eat 'em! [/NE146]

Ah, now I see it. Hard to imagine that this is NOS. NOS is still "new" and "new" doesn't have smudges from sitting on top of something while still in its plastic.

Hey ... it's Wii Willy...

The simple fact that one has to excuse the name by playing up its features and/or games is proof enough that there's trouble ahead for the, erm... wee Wii.

It was meant to be over the top, but the underlying point was there. And like it or not a video game system is a part of what's going to make a kid popular or not. Only a part mind you, but it still plays a part, and what's more is that it's not at all unusual to the extent that relying in whole or part on one's video game system as a means to popularity requires psychiatric help. Peer pressure extends to all points of a kid's life -- choice of video game system, music, hobbies, movies, grades, other friends -- you name it, it's all the currency of popularity, and the further outside the bounds of "normal" (and thus popular) a kid goes, the more he's painted a geek. Not that the Nintendo's new appendage is going to single-handedly ostricise a nation of children but let's face it -- ain't many kids gonna want to admit to owning something named Wii. That's as may be, but you won't find many kids sophisticated enough to understand that. It's not just the US -- I think that's pretty universal in just about any urban center in North America.

It was sort of intentionally unrealistic -- I kinda assumed the <sarcasm> tag wouln't be needed in such a case. And the "faggot" remark was just exemplifying the way kids these days still insist on using it as a pejorative in spite of significant advances in humanity wherein homosexualiy is supposed to be much more acceptable than it used to be. I imagine that's another discussion entirely however. Overweening sarcasm aside though, the basic idea of the post is true. To put this in a light aimed more squarely at our demographic, would you feel entirely comfortable driving a Honda Wii? Eating a hearty bowl of Wii Puffs? Upgrading to the latest and greatest GeForce Wii card? Despite the fact that these are not game consoles as has been pointed out numerous times already, we're talking strictly about the name and its ultimate effect on the marketibility of that which it is attached to. Wii is not a name that inspires pride. One will never excitedly exclaim "I've got Wii!" nor attempt to pursuade their friends with "You gotta get a Wii, guy!" The name is just embarassing. Far likelier will it be that kids will say "I've got the new Nintendo console" in order to avoid having to say its true name. The concept behind the name -- that of family time and cooperation and all that rot -- is completely moot, and I daresay the kids would think it's "ghey" if they even cared. Viral marketing indeed. This one needs antiibiotics.

Am I blind? I'm just not seeing it in that pic.

Is this becoming a trend? First Intel with the silly VIIV (which, being a trend-bucker, is pronounced with a long "I" sound) and now Wii, which makes VIIV look downright pithy. And the name will make a difference when it comes time to market it to the unwashed masses. The childish nature of such a name combined with the urine/phallus/size jokes is going to make it the sort of thing a kid is going to be embarassed to own. Kid 1: "Yeah, what game game system do you have?" Kid 2: "Wii." Kid 1: "Faggot." Kid 2: "Am not! You're just jealous because I have a Wii and you don't." Kid 1: "You're dead." [ scene of incomprehensible violence ] You know this scenario will take place. Repeatedly. Just like you're going to get the kids who can't pronounced it properly. Kid 1: "Yeah, what kind of game system do you have?" Kid 2: "Wii." Kid 1: "Coz I wanna know!" Kid 2: "Wii!" Kid 1: "Are you retarded? I asked what game console you have!" Kid 2: "Wii!!" Kid 1: "Stop asking me that or I'll kick your head in!" Kid 2: "No, I have a Wii!" Kid 1: "Faggot. You're dead." [ scene of incomprehensible violence ] See where this is going? Wii will make your child a social leper and a regular at the emergency room, and nobody wants that. Except Nintendo. Bastards.

Smaller and lighter. A similar width and length, but lower profile. Not exactly -- there's a lotta electronics in there, and the hacked-up 2600 hardware isn't even half of it. The Sears Video Arcade is pretty much the same thing. Different name, and a more burled-looking faux-woodgrain finish. Sears and Coleco made the only "major" 2600 clones (though the Sears model was manufactured by Atari; Sears just slapped their name on it. This includes the Atari 2800, which was marketed as the Sears Video Arcade II in North America, since Atari never released that model here) There are a ton of pirate 2600 clones from Brazil and Europe though, in all sorts of eclectic sizes and shapes.

Gemini controllers are a really cheap design. Completely open pot under the paddle knobs and bare contact switches instead of membranes for the joystick. On the plus side it makes them rediculously easy to clean and fix if you don't mind being really careful that the trigger springs don't fly out and disappear forever when you open them. The contact strips and pot comb are fully exposed so you don't need to disassemble anything other tha the joystick itself to get at them. Of course that really detracts from the smoothness of paddle movement. It always felt too rough. The sticks and paddles have a serrated moulding too -- for grip, presumably -- but after a few hours of play you'll realize why this was a really bad design decision. As for the connection -- as others have pointed out either reflow the solder that's already there, or if you're feeling particularly frisky (and are handy enough with a soldering iron) lay down some fresh solder. You'll have that port sitting solidly again in no time.

Bump

The only released RealSports title with a red label is RealSports Boxing. The rest are silver. Er... right. Now I remember. (Didn't much care for the game m'self. ) Damn, that's cool! If they picked runners-up then they must have picked a winner, too... is it known who won the jeep, and therefore had the winning design?

Quite interesting. - Since when was Philips/Magnavox going to release anything under their own name for competing systems? The only game I know of that saw the light of day was for Colecovision and was released under the Probe 2000 name. - Telesys Monkeys & Bouncing Baby? - Studio Games? Who were they? And what's with A-Team? Wasn't that a Fox license that was eventually turned into Saboteur before being scrapped entirely? - That's a lotta Tigervisions that never saw the light of day -- Intuition, Super Crush, Sky Lancer and Changes. Were they working on any of these during or after Espial? - Fox: M*A*S*H II? Wonder what that would have been about... - CBS: Kickman - wonder if that was gonna be the same as the C64 game of the same name? - Coleco: Rocky ... wonder if that would have been like the Colecovision Super Action game? - Broderbund: This would have been really cool if they'd really done anything. Choplifter 2600 anyone? - Commavid: Rush Hour, Kickapoo and Stick 'Em? - Sirius: Heh... more Intellivision ports.

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I dunno. I don't have much trouble seeing it go that high. Crazy Climber, Sir Lancelot (single), Spike's Peak (single), 007, Star Wars Arcade, Mr. Do, Inca Gold, Cosmic Commuter, Pitfall II, and some other popular but not-so-rare titles... lotta nice titles in one shot right there. The convenience and the rarity combined is more than enough to justify the price.

Bugger. I'm stuck on a side quest in the Imperial City. Seems I have to find out about a corrupt city guard who took money from some people in a shop. But in order to do that I have to do a small quest for the shopkeep whose store the corrupt guard did his deed in. That requires me to case another merchant suspected of selling stolen merchandise at prices that undercut everyone else. Fine. So I waited 'til the guard down the street from said suspect merchant to wander off and broke in. Problem is I can't find any kind of proof of his misdeeds in his shop. Where am I supposed to be looking, and what for? I checked in all the chests (even the locked ones), checked all the books in case there were some ledgers hidden away, looked underneath plates 'n stuff in case there was a hidden note... nothin'. What the heck am I looking for?

Probably. Midnight Magic (properly called David's Midnight Magic on computer) was probably too busy for the 2600 to handle, so it got stepped down to fit in the narrow parameters of the hardware. They might have been able to ramp up the graphics if they made a larger ROM.