NoahsMyBro

Wow. I’ve been away from the AA pages for a long time. Came back tonight to investigate the going-away-soon carts for sale, and stumbled upon this VERY EXCITING thread. Hoping the controllers are ready soon, but not too soon as I’m not ready to pony up the cash just yet. August or September would be really good for me. 😉 One question I haven’t seen answered - Lucas, will your controllers fit in the original storage well in the 5200? I understand if they won’t, and of course that’s not a deal-breaker. But if they do fit there that would be a fantastic thing. In any case I’m so glad I found out about these now, before it’s too late to get one or two. Thanks Lucas for putting in the time and effort towards this amazing project.

follow-up - the newsgroup thread I linked to above references a long-gone-away webserver I used to run. If you're interested let me know & I'll power up some older machines & try to find the images. EDIT: Found bits/pieces of the page here: http://web.archive.org/web/20020929142924/http://www.jacobshome.org/ Some of the images are missing, but many are still there.

Don't know how much, or whether, this will be helpful, but I went through a (potentially) similar repair process many years ago. - https://groups.googl...air/LsQJUZWCjBA Nutshell - a previous owner connected an 8-bit power supply to the 5200. Blew the power regulators & the IC connected to the power switch. Don't remember if other components required replacement. The regulators were very common parts and easy to find. I'd expect they are still very easy to find. I'd try Mouser or Digikey. Another possibility would be to just buy an entire motherboard from Best Electronics, assuming they still have them. (Haven't checked their site in years.) And honestly, I don't think they do, but if AA sells the motherboards you should consider buying it from here considering the service they provide the community with this forum. Good luck.

I only ordered my copy of Tempest last Tuesday, and received it on Thursday (!!!!). Awesome turnaround time, Al! For the most part my impressions align with those already mentioned - outstanding packaging - the box, the label, the manual, all first-rate. The game is great as well - sound is out-of-this-world, graphics are pretty good, features & functionality are splendid. I've only got two spots of concern, both of which might just be my own equipment or personal lack of skill, and no fault of the game itself - Control - with the joystick I find the game nearly unplayable. I've always been the staunchest defender of the 5200 joysticks, but with this game I find myself rocketing wildly around the playfield, unable to control myself with any precision at all. WIth the Trak Ball things are much better. Maybe my POKEY needs adjusting? Maybe I just need to practice? The display is very, very dark, and the enemies are almost impossible to see. My 5200 has 8-bit domain's AV mod installed. The composite video is connected to the composite input on a Panasonic DVD recorder, and the DVD is connected to a Panasonic plasma TV via component. In order to viably see the playfield and the enemies, I need to turn the brightness all the way up to 99. I normally watch TV with the brightness set at 50 (out of 100). Given the connections is this something to be expected? Does it suggest I need to adjust something in the 5200? Other than those two issues I think this game is 'radical', to turn a phrase from Tempest's heyday.

I've been away from the board for a long while, so I'm sorry if this was already explained somewhere, but is the screenshot above from the 5200 Tempest, and if so, why does it have a 1984 copyright?

Me too. I like this game a lot. Prior to the HSC I'd never played it, but after spending some quality time with it I found it's a really good, and underrated game.

Man, no time at all to play/practice this round. I just got in a few games, and the best I could do was 10,950. Last time we played this game I scored over 23,000! :-( Put me down for 10,950.

Looks like it must just be me, but I never really liked this game. Just played once, scored 32,550. Still don't like it much, but I admit it isn't as bad as I remember. So, put me on the board for 32,550, and I'll take the single point for playing....

I can vouch for Nick. (Though you might now be wondering who I am, I suppose!) Nick's been around the NJ videogame scene for longer than I have, his store is real. Personally, I bought a used XBox from him 2 or 3 years ago and the last time I turned it on it was still kicking. Nick's a good guy. -- Steve

58,713 Been too busy to spend any quality time with this lately. Hopefully I'll have more time next round.

I received mine today also. Looks terrific. I didn't load anything on to the cart yet, and only played Beef Drop, but I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of my new toy. Thanks Steve!

1800 I still don't like this game. It isn't as bad as I remember, but I don't have any urge to improve. -- Steve

God Kangaroo is SOOOOOO very bad. Can I vote again? If I say I'm from Chicago, then do I get to vote again (Vote early, vote often )? Please?

I guess we can all see where Astrochase stands. I feel a little bit sorry for it. Hee Hee....