joesmooth

Here's what I have for trade/sell. I'm planning to bring it all to the show... Miscellaneous games/collectibles: * UNIVAC tape reel (circa 1960) * Berzerk board game (Milton Bradley, complete in box, never used) * Q*bert collectible character (new on card) * Activision "Sky Stars" patch * Weird World 2 (C-64/128 homebrew, autographed, www.oldergames.com) * Popeye Game & Watch Atari 8-bit: * Atari 810 Diagnostic Cartridge FD10006 * Qix Atari 2600: * Stellar Track (complete in box) * Cosmic Swarm (ratty label) Colecovision: * Memory Manor * Sector Alpha * Flipper Slipper * Oil's Well * Mr. Do's Castle * Gust Buster * Wing War * Super Cross Force * Threshold * Campaign '84 I'm mostly looking for hard-to-find Atari 2600, Coleco, Intellivision, and any memorabilia/collectibles. If you're interested in any of the above, let me know so I can bookmark it for you! Joe

I'll be there trying to trade some Colecovision carts + other cool stuff (putting together a list now). Won't have a booth, though, and will probably just be wandering around with a shoebox. Joe

I posted the following message on October 21 in the "Special Guests At VGXPO" thread, but thought it makes more sense here... Seeing how this show has not even been mentioned as part of the "Con$umerfest" on NBC's site (http://www.nbc10.com/consumerexpo/index.html), the apparent lack of promotion, and the dismal responses to the Dallas and DC show, I had decided that it just wasn't worth the risk to go out there, bring a box full of classic gaming stuff, and waste time and money on [a new and unbranded] event. However, it's going to cost me over $250 to cancel the trip and change my other flight arrangements, which is basically as much as my hotel will be, so I'll still be (grudgingly) going to the show. I certainly don't get the warm, fuzzy feeling that I had with previous real PhillyClassic events, and it's not a surprise - none of the original people involved (David, Mark, etc.) are involved anymore, and it's apparent that the VGXPO portion of the show is being handled unprofessionally. With that said, I'm still hoping if nothing else, the show will be a good place to see old friends, hang out, and maybe trade a few games with the few diehards who still decide to go. I have a bunch of rare Coleco titles and other random classic collectibles that I plan to bring with me, so feel free to PM me for a list if you want to try and set something up beforehand. Joe

Lucky for you - I had to book my ticket in October to coincide with some business plans. Seeing how this show has not even been mentioned as part of the "Con$umerfest" on NBC's site (http://www.nbc10.com/consumerexpo/index.html), the apparent lack of promotion, and the dismal responses to the Dallas and DC show, I had decided that it just wasn't worth the risk to go out there, bring a box full of classic gaming stuff, and waste time and money on an unknown event. However, it's going to cost me over $250 to cancel the trip and change my other flight arrangements, which is basically as much as my hotel will be, so I'll still be (grudgingly) going to the show. I certainly don't get the warm, fuzzy feeling that I had with previous real PhillyClassic events, and it's not a surprise - none of the original people involved (David, Mark, etc.) are involved anymore, and it's apparent that the VGXPO portion of the show is being handled unprofessionally. With that said, I'm still hoping if nothing else, the show will be a good place to see old friends, hang out, and maybe trade a few games with the few diehards who still decide to go. I have a bunch of rare Coleco titles and other random classic collectibles that I plan to bring with me, so feel free to PM me for a list if you want to try and set something up beforehand. Joe

Indeed! That article was a lot of fun to write and hopefully it inspires people to create some of their own classic/retro-related case mods and projects. As a blatant plug, my Atari 2600PC article in MAKE was actually based off of Chapter 2 of my Game Console Hacking book (which also includes a few chapters from our own beloved Albert Yarusso!). So, if you're into hardware hacking or are curious about learning, check it out. I haven't received my 2nd issue of MAKE yet, but I'm totally looking forward to it. Looks like this issue has a bunch of other videogame-related hacks, too. Joe

1) Haha! Hmm. But I have to think up another "current project" now 2) Good question. Albert would know, but I'm guessing once we finish up the new manual (ASAP) it will be ready to go! Joe

Everyone will have their own personal favorites, and that's fine. There were a number of personal choices on why I picked #3 versus some of the other submissions - this is one of the benefits of writing a game and hosting a contest. To give you an example, the hard drive label was too similar to our PC3 limited edition label that Albert and I made a few years ago. The hard drive as a cartridge was very clever, as was the spinning hard drive, but I prefer more abstract labels. Basically, many of the entries were excellent and it took about an hour to pick one from my top 6. It wasn't easy, but the decision has been made and I am happy with the outcome. Joe

I must say.. I deffintly stand corrected// of course I never ment to offend. I just couldnt fanthom that size being practical..taht much glass is just going to have ass loads of imperfections as a read write device! I ned to do a better check on the link.. but whatt was the capicity on that drive? I was actually joking around tday with a co worker ( not deligitimaizing the drive. ) but I was saying how I knew of a guy who took a '70s era hard drive platter and turned into a coffee table, and the remebered how my first hard drive was a 2 meg deal.. and compreseed the hell out of the bitch and squeezed 6 megs off of it! the coffee table is Kick ass, and if I get a chance to relicate it.. ya darn toot'n I will I got the segment saved on my Tivo.. I am envius! congrats. and I need to buy that book PJ No offense taken I can only guess that the platter was one of many in the drive (probably with a total capacity of 10MB or something like that). Joe

I sure will! There are a lot of great submissions - even though there can only be one winner, I want to thank everyone for contributing to the contest and spending time working on labels! Stay tuned for the results Joe

Haha! Wasn't I also drinking a chocolate shake and flipping through a DP guide at the same time? Joe

Very cool. Here's some information I found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive: "The first computer with a hard disk drive as standard was the IBM 350 Disk File, introduced in 1955 with the IBM 305 computer. This drive had fifty 24 inch platters, with a total capacity of five million characters. In 1952, an IBM engineer named Reynold Johnson developed a massive hard disk consisting of fifty platters, each two feet wide, that rotated on a spindle at 1200 rpm with read/write heads for the first database running RCAs Bismark computer." And some great information on early IBM hard drives (likely used with your System/34) at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_IBM_disk_storage Joe

They seem to be updating the site here with the next air date: http://www.g4techtv.com/screensavers/episo..._Slamdance.html Looks like 2/6/2005 12am ET / 9pm PT Good, that will give me a few days to answer all these damn e-mails! Joe

I have no idea about all that.. I can only imagine.. in fact..I'm inclined to belive its bogus.. now somewhere around here I do have a early eighties floppy disk.. an 8.5 incher that looks just like the 5.25 floppies.. just...bigger.. I just say its may be bogus becouse I've never heard of a hard rive that big.. but then again.. most people dont realize that they actually made 8 inch floopy drives either. in the 70's the big thing was real to real, or punch card.. and yes .. I had to moretrofit some machines that were computer controled, and when asked to see the original code..they presented me witha filo box of punch cards... this was before I made beer for a living might I add.. I was a industrial control tech before this... my job was to rip out all the old shit, and replace it with new PLC shit. there ant nuthin like geek bliss till you see a big ass bank of relay logic and meet the crusty ass old electrical engineer who put it in. "yes sir.. I'm going to take these five cabinets of controll and reduce them down to ten lines of code, but it's okay..I'm gonna rape all this hardware and make a robot!" amazingly enough.. the line "raping your hardware" still illicited asmile of understanding from the 79 year old nerds ahhh.. geeks never die It is certainly *not* bogus. I've seen other hard drive platters of this size but have no idea which systems they originally came out of. I have some specs on the design here: http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/i...hp?id=1&prod=20 Joe

Hehe.. To Nebraska? Depends how cute the kitty is Joe

Thanks! I heard a few people at the studio complain about the lack of tech now that G4 owns the show. Bummer about that - it was a hell of a lot of fun to be on there! Do you recognize that hard driver platter from a System/34? I haven't been able to identify it and only guessed that it is circa 1970. It would be cool to have a better clue of where it came from! Joe

Thanks to Stan, Albert, Dale, Thomas, and all of the voters for the Stan Awards! I was surprised and honored to have the Stelladaptor voted for the Player's Choice! Very cool. The cartridge award is sitting proudly on my "museum table" along with my Activision patches and other classic goodies. Hmm. Now what to do to top that in 2005? Joe

Well, hopefully tommorrow will be a bit different. I'll try not to talk about World of Warcraft. Joe

Ssshh! Joe

Hey! And maybe if you get it in that format you could rip it and up it for all. I'd imagine a segment like that shouldn't be too outrageous as far as size would it? Yeah, a digital copy would be sweet! I can't even set a VCR, so I won't have a copy at all unless someone smarter can figure it out. From what they tell me, the segment is planned for 5 minutes long (I already have the interview questions) but it might run over if it's "exciting". So, I'll try to make it exciting some how...? Joe

Haha! Oh man, that could be scary. Joe

Absolutely! There are no shortage of excellent ideas out there. Plus, no one knows what I'm really looking for (and neither do I), so any label idea is worth submitting. Joe

Very cool stuff so far!! Joe

Me too! I'm super excited. There are some amazingly talented people on AA that have been involved with label contests in the past. SCSIcide's concept is slightly odd compared to "normal" games, so I'm curious to see people's interpretation of the concept and how they translate that into label artwork! Joe

Actually, the font is called Westminster. Hopefully it attached correctly to this post. Enjoy, Joe westm.zip

Ultra Wide SCSIcide Platinum Plus? can I get that in a clear or colored cart? Man, luckily I know you guys are messing with me! But, in case you were serious, no - it won't be available in colored cartridges and I haven't even started to milk the SCSIcide empire. One update in four years? You ain't seen nothin' yet! Joe