jimid2

I've got one of these little monsters in our handhelds cabinet. (ignore the Atari ref - the cabinet is painted with all kinds of characters and company names on the back, and systems can land on any shelf) Anyway, it's a very simple system - the LCD is 16x16, and the "pixels" are rather large LCD blocks (squares). You need good lighting to see the screen well, and the ghosting is a real issue, but that being said, many of the games are quite fun (if simple). Most use the mylar buttons in the facing "cartridge" as well as the paddle knob for control, and due to the fact that the LCD is so limited, most have a graphics overlay on the screen as well. I know that it's hard to find one in good shape - they suffer from LCD rot due to impurities introduced during the manufacturing process used back then, and they are really sensitive to ESD. I'm lucky, mine's in excellent condition; I picked it up NOS on Ebay. I can tell you that I think they're well worth having if you love handhelds - they're historically important (the first handheld with changable cartridges) and they are a lot of fun in a retro-arcade way...

I was interested until you got all isolationist on us... Maybe you could put this qualifier in your first post so the rest of us foreigners don't waste time browsing your collection before we find out we're disqualified?

Sounds like the connections for those lines on the LCD are toast - I've seen the problem before back when I worked in a small video game store; it was fairly rare in GB's, but screen problems always translated into a whole line gone blank on the LCD, never a single dead or stuck pixel. Anyway, I doubt you'd be able to fix it for less than an original GB is worth... You should be able to grab another Game Boy for $10 or so pretty easily... (Aside: I recently decided to pick up a copy of Tetris for the Game Boy, and it cost me less to grab a GB + the game than it would have to just buy the cart )

I use Energizer 2500 mAh rechargeables, but I have noticed that with some rechargeable batteries I have (including some DigiPower ones), the positive pole isn't long enough to make firm contact with the connector in the battery bay, so I can't use them at the positive end of the three battery chain in the Lynx I or in the Lynx II.

Thanks for the review Smeg! I've looked and wondered at that auction a couple times; I think I'll steer well clear now, as I actually do want a GAME for my hard earned samoleans, but it's nice to know...

I picked up a genuine Atari Lynx AC Adapter from Ebay for $7 + shipping - I think it came to about $12 total. You're not likely to pay less than that at Radio Shack, and having a "matching" OEM adapter is cool...

Do tell where oh where you found it!

Now that's an interesting handheld... I've heard of it before, but I more-or-less forgot about it; there's not much info out there on this thing that I've ever seen, and I've not seen one on Ebay... I'd love to find one someday!

...won a Milton Bradley Microvision last night... The Microvision was the first handheld that used cartridges... actually, it was more like "system modules" or "CPU modules" since the actual processor was on the cartridge, not in the main body, but anyway, it was the first handheld videogame with interchangable games. Released in 1979, it preceded the Gameboy by 10 years, and was almost as great a flop as Nintendo's portable was a success. This unit and games are NOS from a collection that sold off on Ebay last night - can't wait to get it!!

Sheboygan? Sounds like something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I refuse to believe there even is some place called Sheboygan... clearly this was a Photoshop job to spoof would-be ID thieves... You guys should try buying guitars on-line... I've been lucky but I've seen pics that can bring a grown musician to tears...

My son and I were out retro game shopping yesterday and we came across a copy of Todd's Adventures in Slime World as a Sega Genesis cart. Now I knew Epyx had done California Games for the Genesis but had no idea that this existed. Needless to say we picked it up, but we haven't had a chance to play it yet (we bought about a dozen games, and spent most of yesterday evening with Aero Blasters on the TG16). Has anyone else tried this? Is it a direct port or is it a reworking for the Genni? Here's a pic I swiped off E(vil)bay:

So we're looking at what? 6 - 7 million units? That's pretty respectable for a handheld system that doesn't have the Nintendo name attached to it... Even the PSP has only managed about double that over the last three years...

I love the detail in Zarlor Mercenary - some of the levels in that game are pure eye-candy!

I get "Unreal!!!" "360!!!" when I do five or more... well, when I do five anyway, I'm not really sure if I've managed the 6th - I think I did it once but I didn't really catch the score jump so I can't be certain... ...I do know I've never done more than six revolutions, though...

Here's my ranking... 1-California Games - I love this game and play it to death! 2-Blue Lightning - sure it's simplistic and repetitive, but I love blowing shit up! 3-Zarlor Mercenary - a good, solid old-school shooter that really shines as a two player co-op experience 4-Todd's Adventures in Slime World - big, clever, and fun alone or with others... 5-Chip's Challenge - I always enjoy this when I plug it in, then I go away again for a little while... 6-Gauntlet the Third Encounter - a great game lynxed up, but I get tired of it pretty quickly solo... 7-Gates of Zendocon - putting this at the bottom of the list says a lot about the quality of the other titles, because it is a good shooter - but the duller-than-dishwater no-scroll backgrounds get to me after a while... I've completed it a couple times though... 8-Electrocop - ya, it's cool, but it never really grabbed me, though I did push through and finish it back in the day...

Not to me it isn't...

I love the PSP - we have two in the house and own 78 UMD PSP games!! I'll buy one PSP Lite the day it comes out, and I'll probably have a second by Christmas, knowing me... I hope it ships with the 3.50 firmware - playing PSX games like FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, Dino Crisis, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill on my PSP has made it my number one fave system - and I have a video game collection that is made up predominantly of handhelds, including three DSLites, a DS, four Lynxes, a GameGear, a Nomad, a Turbo Express and a GP2X, innumerable Gameboys, Gameboy Colors, and Gameboy Advances (incl. SPs and Micros)... But the PSP is my fave - a kick-butt little gaming system. I think it deserves a better rep than it usually gets...

AC adapters shorting out is the number one cause of house fires in North America. Never, ever use an AC adapter you're unsure about. I have a number of Lynx adapters - one shorted out and blew a breaker, and the others are silent. Anyway, it's not worth the risk - if I were you, I'd throw the thing out and use NiMH batteries. I use Everready NiMH 2500mAh rechargeables in all my "big drain" handhelds (Lynx, TurboExpress, GameGear and GP2X), and they work great - I get longer life than regular Alkalines, and they last ages with a good charger (I use an Everready trickle charger - it takes 8 hours for a full charge, but it doesn't fry the batteries).

Ya, I was really happy to find Best Electronics after buying three used Lynxes on Ebay - two Lynx IIs, one of which was reasonably described and one that doesn't work at all (the clip on the motherboard that holds the video ribbon cable is broken, so that's that!), and a Lynx I that suffers from the three-band lighting issue and came in an "original box" that looks like it's been chewed on by rats (neither issue was described in the auction). After someone from around here pointed me towards Best, I figured I'd pony up an extra $30 or so and buy a brand new one than continue to play Ebay roulette... Well, I could be wrong, but I thought that this was the "original" Lynx bundle - the way it was first shipped and sold. I bought a Lynx from the very first batch to arrive in my town back in '89, and this was the package I bought, which was why I wanted to get another one now... A little later they offered a package in a similar but smaller box that was just the Lynx and maybe California Games, I think, but there was no AC adapter or Comlynx cable (or something like that, but my memory's hazy... but I'm sure the box it came in was smaller)...

Well, since you ask... Here it is, liberated from an overabundance of Styrofoam peanuts, signed, sealed and delivered... Mostly sealed! ...opened for the first time since 1989! The serial number matches that on the box... and don't forget that the "Warranty will be Null and Void if this label is damaged or removed." ...removing the screen protector... I was afraid it might have dried out and become brittle after all these years, but it came off smoothly without leaving undue residue on the Lynx. ...and here we are booting up it's first game - appropriately, the very copy of California Games it's shared a box with for the last 18 years...

I'm a big fan of Gauntlet - lynxed up with a couple buddies it really is a great dungeon crawl... always liked it... I remember liking Electrocop enough that I'm looking to buy a copy again... Batman Returns, however, is just as lousy as I remember it being, imho...

You can do this with the right software and a big memory card - the only way to rip UMDs is to do it in your PSP to a memory card. You need to be running a Dark Alex OE firmware as well... It's a long way from bog standard if you have an un-modded PSP, and if you mess up you can brick your PSP, but if you want to do it you can find all the info you need to do it all on the Maxconsole.Net forums... I'm running 3.40OE-A myself, and I've ripped and played Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, FFVIII, FFIX and Silent Hill (all PSX games) on my PSP over the last couple months - it's very, very cool.

Well, I just did a quick count... Of the 27 Lynx titles I currently own, 20 of them are complete in box, 2 others have the manual, and there are five that are cart only... So I guess I do prefer them complete, though I don't profess to have a preference.

Man, this was so cool! I got a tag in my mailbox saying I had a parcel to pick up, went down to the post office and grabbed it. The box was big - as big as I expected but it surprised my wife... I got it home and pulled an original, sealed Lynx I box set out of the foam peanuts!! It was indescribably cool to pull the plastic seal off and open the box for the first time! I removed the Lynx from the packaging and pulled off the plastic cover over the screen, just like I was back in 1989 - only this time I took pics! (ya, I'm that nerd-core ) Then I dropped in six NiMHs, slotted in the included California Games cart and booted up! Woah! My wife said I was grinning like a fool, and I guess I was... Anyway, it was a great experience - I'm thrilled to have a brand new Lynx I to call my own; it was definitely worth it. And the guys at Best Electronics were great, very helpful - they took the time to answer all my piddley nerd-detail questions on the phone, and the shipping was reasonable and fast even all the way to Ottawa from California. I did have to cut a small square of cellophane to put over the foam rubber on the battery compartment door - even sealed and unused it had started to deteriorate after 18 years on the warehouse shelf. I've seen them a lot worse though on used machines - the battery compartment on my other Lynx I looks like the Exxon Valdez sailed through it Other than that, this is a spanking new Lynx and it's a blast to go back in time like this...

Don't forget Gauntlet!! and Zarlor Mercenary!!! Both those games kick ass Lynxed up!