NovaXpress

I always wanted a Mr.Natural game

One could also burn Journey Escape and never speak of it again.

Data Age polled arcade fans and found that the most popular band was Journey. They must have polled a lame arcade. When that game flopped there was no more talk of licensing bands. I wanted a Led Zeppelin game myself.

After looking that thread over a few times I have a pretty good theory. Mr. Fulop had a little something that the Atari community might have fun with. He wanted to find the best way to share it and graciously asked the board. He made it clear that he wasn't looking to put out any great deal of effort or money to it, just something he had in a box to offer to the world. Okay. So now look at the responses. Here is an example of the typical reply: "Hey, you need to spend the next three months finishing the game without any pay while you neglect your real job. You should just make Demon Attack 2. That would rule!" "You need to release 30 different customized versions. We need a CGE exclusive with 3D boxcover in a special edition of 20, you gotta send me a copy though. Then an extra special edition autographed with your blood. Then a special AtariAge addition, then one that's produced by my cousin. You'll be paying for all of this yourself, of course." This is what he gets, over and over. The guy was trying to do everyone a favor just so they can have fun ENJOYING the hobby and he gets slammed with a bunch of people who only care about COLLECTING special editions. The thread is barely started before Fulop stops posting. The fun was taken out of it so why should he bother? The next time a classic programmer is good enough to offer something, let's take it easy on the poor guy. Okay? And if Rob still would like to release the ROM for any real Atari lovers to enjoy, I'll be grateful.

He was talking about releasing one of his old 2600 unfinished attempts last year but as far as I know, nothing came of it. Does anyone know about this project?

I always felt that Bermuda Triangle was underappreciated. I think Raft Rider looked lousy just from the screenshots.

You actually thought Raft Rider would be great? I don't remember having any expectations about US games crap back in the day. I've played a lot of unspeakable games like Bugs, but I wasn't expecting anyhting so no big disappointment.

All the marks are finally starting to quiet down. It's been fun. Best of all, we've learned absolutely nothing.

The ET thread got me thinking on this subject Pac Man? I wasn't a fan of the arcade game, so the differences didn't bother me. The game was good enough for its time, although Jawbreaker would later blow it away. I grabbed this one from Sears about a week before it hit the shelves and i was very popular for a breif period. The Pac man fans thought it sucked. I was much more into . . . Defender? I didn't expect it to be as complete as it was. The gameplay was good and I was accustomed to flicker. Does anyone remember the screenshots that Atari showd before it came out? It looked really ugly, with oversized aliens and the player's ship a series of thick pink lines. Good marketing, because the actual game looked great by comparison. ET? I didn't buy it at the time. I got a Colecovision that year. I only knew one kid who had ET the first Xmas. Everyone liked the opening screen at least. I just thought the game was weird and went back to Zaxxon and Lady Bug. I didn't care about ET so I wasn't disappointed. Swordquest:Earthworld. This is the one. I was a D&D fan. I was salivating for this game. The contest made it even cooler. I got the game on the first day, ready to get into the adventure. Within minutes I was ready to play some Pac Man. The gameplay flat out sucked and I could tell the the contest was only winnable by accident. Once again, Atari was saying "Ha ha, you stupid kids will buy anything." This game actually drove me to the Colecovision because I felt that Atari had screwed me. That's the one that burned me the most.

A fairly funny article is up at Something Awful. http://www.somethingawful.com Here's a sample I liked:

Let's all just hope that companies such as Namco and Taito never find out about AtariAge. We already lost the Activision games.

The games which have spent the most time plugged into my system: Missile Command Megamania (999,999 every time baby) Battlezone

My favorite version is for the 5200, beautifully smooth action. I remember the 2600 version as having better play value than the Coleco, but the graphics are abysmal. I'd rather play Moonsweeper if I want that sort of game.

I would bet that the homebrewers could easily meet this challenge, as long as they have the same advantages as well. Can the homebrewers rip code right out of Raiders of the Lost Ark as HSW did (according to my understanding, can a real programmer confirm?) Even more important, will someone pay the homebrewer enough money for them to devote every waking minute of their life to making a game?

E.T. really is an interesting game in many ways. Too much falling into pits but it's a good adventure game. Superior to offerings like Superman for sure. It just wasn't what people expected. It's also not the sort of game to sell 20 million copies. If the same game had been released without the license, it may have been a modest but respected hit.

My top three: 1. Bugs 2. Skeet Shoot 3. Karate

The guy I knew who got the Vectrex said that some employees do grab a hot item, pay the customer from the till, then claim thet the money was for some other item and pocket the goody. For example: some yokel brings in a Tengen Tetris. The clerk knows whats up and he has a Duck Hunt cartrige in his backpack. The Duck Hunt value is maybe a buck (I'm bein generous) so the customer gives them the dollar and drops Duck Hunt into the case. As far as Gamers can see from their records, all that happened was another Duck Hunt hit the shelves. Gamers pays the money and the clerk has just traded a common for a rare straight-up. Whether guilty or not, they all get fired before raise time.

That's it exactly. I believe that point is detailed in their new hire paperwork. Of course no video store employee would ever be expected to grab a special item for themselves? Why you never see that behavior among people like comic book clerks and thrift store workers would you? If I was working a store and someone wanted to get rid of a Quadrun for 25 cents, then I WOULD BE KEEPIN THE GAME. I can get a new job.

After the weekend I had, I no longer remember anything before the N64.

That's how it always happens. If an employee buys a customer's item and keeps it for themselves, that is considered stealing. A year from now you'll see an entirely new sales staff.

I've known a few people who worked for Gamers, here's how it goes: They fire everyone every year or so, before they become elligible for raises. The store nails them for making personal trades, which everyone does of course. I know one cat working there who snagged a Neo Geo Pocket for $20 and a Vectrex w/ 6 carts for $40. Criminal, but I woulda probably made the same deal in his position. I kind of miss Game Doctors beacuse they occasionally had some scores. They got nailed for PS mod chips and the owner did 6 months in a halfway house.

I saw a rumor in Electronic Fun mag that Led Zeppelin and the Stones talked to Data Age about doing games. Stairway to Heaven for the 2600, ohhhhh . . .

But they made thair new video at a prison. See, that proves they're hardcore! Right? But they now have group hugging sessions before they recors so that's totally hardcore! Cliff is rollin in his grave. We could easily hack Journey Escape into a Metallica game.

I've only rarely seen anything hafway interesting at the thrift stores, did score a Coleco Wico controller somehow a couple years back as well as a 5200 Star Trek cart. A local store called Gamers sells a lot of 2600 and Intellivision commons. I can't stand the place. Don't even think of doing trades with them, you will get screwed.

It's three letters that show up. The ad is on atarihq. At least a few people had to have ordered it.