davidbrit2

There's a nice, easy to use high score chart at the Digital Press web site. http://www.digitpress.com Just look for the link to the High Scores page.

Q-Bert and Crystal Castles do an admirable job of presenting their playfields, but one must consider that they don't rely on a realtime perspective rendering. In other words, they present a static picture, and one which does not have to diminish in size with distance. Oh, and don't forget Congo Bongo. It takes the Q-Bert approach.

Those drill bits can get a bit ugly with flimsy plastic (Radio Shack project boxes,) but they probably fare better with the heavier stuff.

These things can be mounted very easily without an expensive Dremmel tool. There's a special kind of drill bit that's designed for boring out wide holes. It's quite wide and flat, and also has two small little teeth on the sides. I use them all the time when I need to mount arcade buttons.

I think I'm addicted to building arcade style controls. E.g... My arcade console: http://www2.gvsu.edu/~brittedg/photos/Console.jpg It houses two Gravis Gamepad Pro USBs, but it needs a little wiring work. It's great with MAME. My Dance Dance Revolution mat: http://www2.gvsu.edu/~brittedg/photos/DDRMat.jpg Because soft mats just don't cut it! And the ultimate centerpiece... http://www2.gvsu.edu/~brittedg/photos/iMacFull.jpg That's right - it's an iMac mounted vertically in an arcade cabinet, wired up to Happ controls, and the original cabinet speaker! The marquee and coin slot lights work, too. A closeup: http://www2.gvsu.edu/~brittedg/photos/iMacClose.jpg Can you tell I have a severe addiction? :-)

This isn't really a movie appearance, but it's still cool. If you have Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast, try this out. I've done it with Version 1; I don't know if it's in 2. To see what I'm talking about, stand near the item check counter, face the Principal's area, and look at the sides of the buildings in the distance. If you get lined up right, you'll see the Atari logo quite clearly. Now if only I had a way of getting a decent screen shot.

Speaking of huge screens, has anyone ever been to Gameworks in Auburn Hills? They have this weird game that uses FOUR enormous projection screens stacked to a height of about 20 feet in total. The gameplay is even weirder. Four people sit in these seats that move up and down on a big rail in synch with their hot air balloon on screen. It's unbelievable!

The reason I think the paddles would be "reversed" on the 7800 is simply because the controller port faces the other direction. On the 2600, the plug comes out of the back, but the 7800 ports are on the front. It's simply a matter of the plug being turned around. Of course, one could open up the 7800 and swap the analog paddle inputs, but that might cause problems with the CBS Booster Grip.

Of course, on a 7800, this would be reversed, right? I.e. player one on the right, and two on the left.

If you've seen the latest episode of South Park - the one involving the Catholic Church - then you've no doubt noticed the scene that spoofs Pitfall. Basically, the South Park priest goes searching for the document containing Vatican law, during which there is a very amusing scene based on Pitfall. It should be on a few times this weekend if you haven't seen it. Get those VCRs/digitizers ready.

Personally, I like hacks that improve on flaws of the original game. E.g. the moronic graphics of Space Invaders, or the all around pathos of Pac-Man. It's the ones that are more pointless seem like they could have gone without a public release. I've got no problem with anyone tinkering around with an Atari ROM for their own personal benefit. I've been known to play around with an NES tile editor myself. And speaking of the unnecessary releases, what's with Venture II? It's basically Venture with a few more lines on screen. I fail to see how that qualifies as a sequel worthy of a much lauded limited release. (If there's something else really cool that's been added to the game, please tell me so I don't keep sounding like a complete dunce.)

You know, there's a program named something like VCS Sim that simulates the audiovisual capabilities of the Atari, while making programming easier since such tight, low level control of the machine is not necessary. I've never written anything for it, so I don't know how easy it is, but you might want to take a look at it.

With a spinner it would basically be Tempest meets Galaga. . . not that that's a bad thing, mind you.

Actually, I don't think any arcade version of Gyruss was made with a spinner control. Every one I've seen uses a joystick, and MAME doesn't give any hints that a dial can be used for input. Of course, it would still be pretty neat to try it with a spinner, it would just be interesting to see how well it translates.

I think this is a game that demands paddle control. The action is just too fast paced for the inherent sloppiness of a joystick. Of course, if you're REALLY good at Circus Atari, then joysticks might make things a bit more interesting.

He he. The 'newbie' tagline should be reevaluated. Compare my registration date with my post count. I'm just the strong silent type. :-)

Dance Dance Revolution, played on a really loud big screen TV in a dark room. That has a way of leaving a player a bit loopy, especially if you play some of the faster songs.

What's this talk of the Driving Controllers working with Tempest on the Jaguar? That would be awesome. Does one just need to build a little 9 to 15 pin adapter, or something?

Oh, the Fujitsu definitely doesn't have audio output. :-) It's basically an HP 200LX that's the size of a VHS tape, with 2 card slots and a backlight. If one could concoct a sort of D/A converter for the serial port, there's a slim chance it could generate the ROM tones.

Don't worry; I didn't sacrifice any legendary games. I got a Locomotion, which wasn't working to begin with. That's probably why the beautiful cabinet only cost me $50. I had never been happier that my dad has a pickup truck.

An HP 200LX would be awesome for doing that. I wonder if I could achieve a similar setup with my Fujitsu Poqet Plus... The ideal program for loading ROM data to an external cart would be able to apply patches on the fly before loading, so you could have customized versions of different games. That would be cool to have several versions of Montezuma's Revenge with different level layouts. Mmm...

Take the plunge. It's SO worth it! And with the release of MAME for the XBox, it could be really cheap, too. It might also be amusing to take one of those old Coleco mini arcades (Frogger, Donkey Kong...) and mount an iPaq inside the cabinet. Yeah, I know - that's insane.

Just do what I did: get an old arcade cabinet, stuff in an iMac, load MAME over ethernet, wire up the controls, and never sleep again. :-)

Take a look at this hack: http://www.atariage.com/hack_page.html?Sys...ftwareHackID=44 I'll bet the control is amazing. Oh, how I wish I had a Cuttle Cart to try it out.

Hmm, I'll have to find a copy of that program... A PocketPC would be the ultimate multicart. :-)