Atari Smeghead

Hi all, Well, the time has come. Money is scarce, so I'm starting to part with some of my Atari Jaguar stuff, as well as a Sega Nomad. The big one is the Jaguar Pro Controller, with the box. Also selling World Tour Racing, Black Ice White Noise Rev 23 (Signed as #15 by BJ West), Iron Soldier Beta, Do the Same, Barkley Shut Up and Jam, '95 Arena Football, even a spare Pinball Fantasies. Here's the link to my eBay seller page here. Probably next week I'll start putting up the Lynx collection, 8 bit items (including a couple of 1050 US Doubler drives) and Pong systems. Cheers, Smeg

It is, though I'm finding just how s-l-o-w the movie industry is. Both of the decision makers (the money guy and the script writer) have read and tell me they absolutely love Driving Crazy and want to make the movie. They're currently working on making a Stephen King short story into a movie, and I think they have other projects in the works, so mine is a few years off. But on the plus side, they tell me they plan on using Driving Crazy to branch off into a new genre for them, with a new company name. Friel Films makes horror and dramas, so "Five Laps Films" will be the imprint that creates DC. They haven't bought the rights from me yet, so it's not a done deal by any means, but they have been keeping me in the loop, so I figure that's at least somewhat promising. Oh, and FYI - the eBook version will be 99 cents for one more day (Thur 6/29) and will jump to $3.99 come Fri 6/30 - or so my publisher is telling me. Cheers! Smeg

Oh yes, Tate is (was) a predatory company, bilking many authors out of thousands of dollars. I was warned about them before I signed with them (my current publisher was actually a client of theirs, so she knew just how bad they were). Their first spiel was something like $2,500 to publish me, and I said no. "You publish me for free or I don't sign." They came back with something like $1,500. "Um, no. Free or I walk." Funny how I was dealing with people from Oklahoma (William and Daniel), but when they realized they would not get any money from me, suddenly my rep was Victroni Cuesa from the Philippines, who barely spoke English. I was able to use them to get my book in bookstores across the country, plus I was able to buy copies (that I'm still selling) for $4.20 each. So while I never received a penny from them in terms of royalties or commission, I more than made up for that by selling these copies for $10-20. I have a few friends (authors I met after I signed with them) who are out many thousands of dollars in signup fees, as well as books and merchandise paid for but never received. Two of my friends have a book in limbo - they can't get them back from the company but won't ever be released through Tate. I feel awful for them. Though I'm not owed much, I do expect that the Attorney General of Oklahoma will eventually be in touch - maybe some sort of class action lawsuit. I am definitely happy to be out of there with my book intact, and with a smaller publisher (Blue Deco) who I know personally. I've even been paid royalties for Tell Me a Story! Imagine that - we sell copies and I actually get some of the money! What a business model! My new book (Trac Brothers, which I hope to have out this summer or fall) will also be with Blue Deco.

Hi all! A few things have happened since I last posted. One is that my old publisher for Driving Crazy, Tate Publishing, went out of business after Xerox sued them for $1.7 Million and the Philippine government complained to the state department over bad work practices. Then the owner and CEO were arrested and charged with 12 counts of extortion, embezzlement, and racketeering. So ya know, a fun place to do business! However, I got my book out of there, found a new publisher (who's a lot less racketeery) and Driving Crazy is again live, with a new cover and a much lower pricepoint. If you'd like a copy of the eBook, it's only 99 cents until Sunday 6/25. The paperback is $13.99 for the new cover... or you can still pick up a copy of the old cover/publisher from my website for $9.99, signed, even. Anyway, here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Driving-Crazy-Randy-D-Pearson-ebook/dp/B07196BD34 And here's what the new cover looks like - whatdya think? Cheers, Smeg

Do ya know what I'd like to see CJ work on next? Whatever the bloody hell CJ wants to work on next. I'm overjoyed he puts this much effort into our Jaguar, with both new titles and porting. Rock on, Cyrano!

Thanks Cyrano, for Xenon and for the kind words on Driving Crazy. I'm also sending the winner a fridge magnet and a book mark, cuz why not? I've entered every day but this one (figured it would seem bad if I happened to win). It's been a lot of fun, and extremely cool how much excellent and rare stuff has been given away! I wanted... y'know, all of it, but ya don't always get what ya want. Cheers, Smeg

Hi everyone, I recently received some potentially exciting news about Driving Crazy. A movie production studio based in Mid-Michigan (Friel Films) has contacted me about the possibility of making this funny road trip story into a movie! Nothing has been signed, and it sounds like they have a couple other movies in the queue so they won't become "serious" for another year or two, but just to have been contacted (twice actually - the last time just to let me know they are still interested) is quite thrilling! Oh, and by the way, you can still pick up a signed copy of Driving Crazy from my website for only $9.99 plus shipping. Books (especially funny ones that might be the basis for a movie) make great gifts! Cheers, Smeg

Hi everyone, I recently received some potentially exciting news about Driving Crazy. A movie production studio based in Mid-Michigan (Friel Films) has contacted me about the possibility of making this funny road trip story into a movie! Nothing has been signed, and it sounds like they have a couple other movies in the queue so they won't become "serious" for another year or two, but just to have been contacted (twice actually - the last time just to let me know they are still interested) is quite thrilling! Oh, and by the way, you can still pick up a signed copy of Driving Crazy from my website for only $9.99 plus shipping. Books (especially funny ones that might be the basis for a movie) make great gifts! Cheers, Smeg

Yes, the music is fantastic, and the gameplay looks to be a lot of fun! Old school Atari 8-bit madness!

A couple more really fun-looking ST games on our beloved Jag! Fantastic!!

You're welcome, Cyrano. Thanks for the info. We'll probably stick with Moon Patrol and Joust, then. And Downfall.

So, I'm a little late to the ST port party as it were... though my excuse was that the old (Windows 2000 old) laptop, the one that I used to transfer games to my Skunk, had died a couple years back. I never got around to buying a new laptop, so I just stopped putting the new stuff on the Skunk (played a TON of Downfall though, which I still love, BTW). On a total whim, I plugged said laptop in and it fired right up! So I spent the entire day loading and playing most of the ST ports in this collection. A bit of a long way to go in this story I know, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate you blokes taking the time to port these games over! I had several STs back in the day, and I played nearly all of those games at one time or another. Sure had a fun time today, with Joust, Metrocross, Gauntlet, Barbarian (I remember it as Death Sword), Rick Dangerous (loved AND hated that one!) and got to play some I'd never had the chance to back then, like R-Type. My gaming buddy will be in town next weekend, from across the country, and I'm thrilled to be able to bring out Moon Patrol and Outrun, two of his favourites. (If we only had that Star Trek game too, that would be perfect!) I just wanted to say thanks to the Reboot team, and everyone else who took the time and effort to give us back a few pieces of our childhood. It is so extremely appreciated! Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel like playing just one more game of Downfall. Cheers, Smeg

I didn't get the 'attack' vibe - It's all good. Hopefully, new (and reasonably priced) copies will emerge. Cheers, Smeg

I had no idea where the auction would end, so $275 is what it is. It's more than I paid Eric for it, less than what I needed, but it's fine. At least now I can pay some bills. Worth it or not is kinda of the point of an auction, I suppose. At least a couple of people thought it was worth it, and that's all an auction needs. But I agree that it's a lot of money for a game, regardless of the game. It's the same argument that's been going on in the Jag forum every time a copy of BattleSphere goes for a ridiculous price. EotB is a fun game, but it's not $275 worth of fun. But until Eric or someone else makes more copies, it will continue to be "rare" and will get a higher and higher price on ePay. Cheers, Smeg

Yeah, I'm not a fan of putting BIN prices, especially stupid-high numbers. Started it at $30, figuring it will end up where it's supposed to. Another rare cart is the CGE 5th Anniversary cart Songbird put out years ago. It certainly doesn't have the excitement of a game you can actually play and have fun with, but it is a rare one. Bitchy had only 20 copies, so as rare goes, it's gotta be up there, but as you said, it wasn't released to the public, so... As much as I hate selling off my cool games (especially when it's just to pay bills, and not for fun stuff), I have been wondering what the final bid will be. So, there is that, I suppose.

It is a fun game to be sure... not $1500 fun, or even $500 fun... it SHOULD be more like $50 or $80 fun.

I believe that as of now, you've officially had possession of 'our' BS cart longer than I have.

Well, unfortunately for me, I have to sell off my pre-release version of EotB with the save chip. Here's the eBay auction if you're interested...

Hi all, Times are tough in the Smeghead household, so I'm selling off a couple of rare items from my Atari Lynx collection. Eye of the Beholder - Complete Game with Save Feature. I was one of EricDeLee's play testers for the batch of EotB carts he made a few years back. This is on a green PCB with the two chips. No labels on the chips/cart, no box or instructions. Here is the eBay auction. Ending Tue 6/14 at 9pm EST. Super Asteroids / Missile Command - Prototype cart Another cart I bought from EricDeLee many years ago. It's the prototype cart from Atari Corp, with a "return to Juli Wade" sticker on it. Plays like the regular game, as far as I can tell, but it is pretty sweet looking! Cart only. Here is the eBay auction for SA/MC. Also ending Tue 6/14 at around 9pm EST. Not a lot of bids so far, so you might be able to snag a good deal. Cheers, Smeg