DuckandCover

I'm of the opinion that Ebay has been pretty positive for the hobby for the most part. I really think it has enabled 2600 enthusiasts to get theri hands on games that would be very difficult for them to locate otherwise. For me, there are only a handful of thrifts in my area, and most of what I've found in them has been fairly common, in terms of rarity. By default, much of my collection has had to come from Ebay, but overall I've had good experiences there. I agree that bidding wars do break out, which isn't good for anyone. I've often had to be patient to get certain items I've wanted at a reasonable price.

I'd have to say that my favorite Apollo title would be Space Cavern. Infiltrate would be a close second. I like Final Approach, but it took me a while to develop some skill at it (see also: I spent a lot of time frustrated). Mythicon? I'd say Star Fox. I've never played Fire Fly (although, since I've played Star Fox, on some level I have), and Sorcerer has ticked me off since I discovered what a lousy game it was when I was young.

Being a longtime fan of fighting games, especially the Street fighter series, my vote would be for the completion of Fu Kung. Barring that, my second choice would be the DDR clone. Oh, and I too would love to see the tutorial completed.

Well, I honestly used to love Activision's Ice Hockey for the 2600. The fact that you could "check" opposing players (sort of) was a hoot. It's still a great two player game. But my favorite classic system hockey game would have to be Blades of Steel for the NES. NES Ice Hockey was a great game too, but being more of a fan of arcade action, I always favored Blades of Steel.

This is a very timely subject for me. Several months back, I got married and due to financial considerations, we had to live in a small two bedroom apartment. Between her belongings and mine, space was at a premium. One of several things that I had to cull down was my fairly large video game collection. Coupled with those circumstances were the fact that I had to assume new duties at work and that I was beginning work on a Master's degree. Needless to say, time became a bit of a premium for me. As a result, my interest in gaming has shifted somewhat. Originally, especially with regard to 2600 items, my focus was on finding every cart I could get my hands on, both games that I had fond memories of and games that I'd never had the opportunity to play. But in reviewing my collection to get rid of some of it, I realized that there were only a few games that I consistently played, while the rest sat and collected dust. Mind you, I'm not downing collecting. But the shift in my circumstances and the limited time I have for gaming has made me place a higher priority on those games that I really consider quality. My wife and I recently purchased a house, so space is not as much of an issue. Nevertheless, in replacing some of the 2600 and NES carts that I parted with (in some cases, without proper consideration), the few items I've purchased have been bought because they were games that I truly wnated to invest time in. Fortunately, that also means that a majority of them haven't been on the extremely rare side. Like I say, I have a great respect for collectors. It's just that my own priorities have had to change. In all honestly, because of the changes, I really find myself enjoying the games I play much more. But to each his own.

Nice thread, but a tough choice. Star Wars RoadBlasters Asteroids Major Havoc I just recently played Major Havoc on MAME and was pretty disappointed. The original controls make all the difference. I only wish I could find a Major Havoc cabinet in my area.

One of several things that confirmed to me that I had chosen the right girl to marry was when my (then) fiance saw my Atari collection for the first time. After discussing it for a moment, she said "I'll play it with you." Keystone Kapers is a good title to try with the ladies. And yeah, Frogger is always a hit. My wife really digs Star Wars:ESB, but she's a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Having never tried 2600 Commando in emulation, I had the wrongful idea that it would be a lousy port. Later on, I finally got my hands on a Commando cart and was very pleasantly surprised. It's a great deal of fun to play. For some reason (possibly nostalgia) I've always liked 2600 Front Line a bit better, but Commando is a blast!

Seems like the point has been well made. If you're in a second hand or antique store of any kind, you never know what they might have sitting in box somewhere. *Dashes off to look up area antique stores in the phone book*

One solution to the Windows compatibility problem I've found is the DOSBox DOS Emulator. Being stuck with Windows ME, running DOS games was a problem, but the emulator seems to run most of my old titles fairly well. There's a list of compatible games on the website that being constantly updated by users. Of course, buying a pre-Pentium IBM compatible is a pretty inexpensive proposition these days. I've seen several at garage sales and thrifts that were extremely cheap. Definitely a worthwhile investment if you still play a lot of early 90's/late 80's DOS games. I don't know that I'm a collector of such games per se, but I have shelled out some cash for a few titles that I really enjoyed back in the day (and unwisely parted with). I agree that the Infocom titles are quite collectible. The packaging and extras were a big part of the experience of those games. I'm still trying to play through some of the Infocom titles that I never got around to back then...

I understand the "urge to acquire". It can be pretty tough to deal with, especially when faced with a bargain. I've definitely lowered my gaming spending of late, primarily becauase I am trying to be more disciplined and finish playing some of the titles I have before buying more. This means deliberately avoiding "hot spots" like EB Games, Best Buy, the thrifts, and (online) Ebay. The good news is I've had more time for quality gaming. For some reason, I've been on an interactive ficition kick, trying to conquer some of the old Infocom titles that I never played back in the day. I just finished The Lurking Horror. Pretty spooky. Still, every once in a while I find myself surfing through the Ebay listings or drifting into the local Circuit City...

Stampede

I have a lot of good memories associated with Bruce Lee. Me and my friends spent hours with the C64 version. The two player mode was a blast. I loved playing the Green Yamo and smacking Bruce into some nearby spikes. Mark Rosten's remake for PC's is pretty cool. This thread has made me want to fire that program up again and see how far I can progress.

Yeesh. I'd forgotten about Sea Hunt. Truly one of the most miserable gaming experiences I've had on any system.

Personally I've always thought that Karate was pretty horrendous. I've got something of a grudge against Mythicon as well, since I can remember as a kid being very excited when I got a copy of Sorcerer...until I played it.

I received my first 2600 as a birthday present when I was eleven. It came with the Combat pack-in, and my parents also bought a Superman cart, which remains one of my favorite 2600 games to this day.

Adventure Space Invaders Dodge Em Superman Prizes: Star Wars:ESB Montezuma's Revenge These contests are addictive! Thanks for another cool one, Osmeroid!

Hmmm...the only 2600 title that I can think of offhand is G.I. Joe. In two player mode you can be the Cobra and lay waste to your buddy's troopers. I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them right at the moment... Oddly, my favorite "bad guy" game was Bruce Lee, which I played on the C-64. In that one, you could play the Green Yamo (which I always did) and do your best to impede your friend's progress on the quest. Laying the smackdown on Bruce was always a blast!

I knew I was in trouble when I started having to consider how I was going to rearrange my small apartment to accomodate my gaming paraphanalia. Although I'm still working on expanding my growing 2600 collection, I have to admit that once I had accumulated most of the best playing carts, I started branching out into other systems, like the Atari 8-bit computers and the Odyssey 2 (I know, I know...a lot of folks hate the Odyssey 2, but hey, I really dig some those old Magnavox games. ) Good games remain my priority, but I still find myself hunting for any 2600 carts I don't have. And yeah, some of those bad games can be a hoot when friends drop by...

Mastermind happens to be one of my all-time favorite board games as well. I recently scored a set of keyboard controllers at a local flea market for a couple of bucks, and this past weekend snagged a Codebreaker cart on Ebay for a measly dollar. I'm eagerly awaiting that cart's arrival!

It may sound strange, but for some reason I always really liked some of the 20th Century Fox carts, especially the labels that featured original artwork, such as Bank Heist, Crypts of Chaos, and Spacemaster X-7. I always though the appearance of those carts was particularly cool. As far as the blue label/color label question, I guess I've always preferred the color labels, fading, actiplaque and all. The blue labels are nice, don't get me wrong, but it's the color labels I remember from back in the day, and when I think of Activision titles, the color labels are what immediately spring to mind.

Tron?

Air-Sea Battle, Blackjack, Flag Capture, Human Cannonball...I still find them all quite absorbing. Funny how I've appreciated the simple elegance of these (and other) early titles more and more the longer I've been gaming.

Thanks cvga for creating such an ingenious and fun game! Congrats to oesii and Scooterb23! *Hears Big Player's booming voice. Scurries off to play Double Dunk.*

My favorite part of the game is the challenge of trying to trap one of the guards between two doors. Playing it, I found myself becoming more focused on trapping guards than finishing levels. It is a pretty shameless rip-off otherwise. Still, it is pretty fun to play once in a while. Of course, I liked Alien, which was another Pac-Man clone...