johnny_boy

Gingerbread Man is a nice classic Jumpman-esque single screen platformer. I quite like it. Makes good use of the limitations of the single-button Atari joystick.

Woo, merci à slydc pour le lien vers ccjvq.com On dirait qu'il y a bien des Coleco-fans au Québec, ou peut-être sont-ils juste plus présents et vocaux sur AtariAge? Peut-être que l'ancienne usine Coleco à Mtl a influencé le marché dans le coin? J'avais un ami d'enfance avec un Colecovision et le "freak of nature" qu'est le Super Action Controller. Étant largement exposé au NES alors, le Coleco était plus une curiosité qu'autres choses.

Good memories eating poutine and playing Ms. Pac-Man between stints of skiing at a ski resort. Even after being exposed to all those NES games, this arcade cabinet had a strange attraction for me.

The developer of "Alien Space Retro" for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad has received a similar letter from Atari. Thread on TouchArcade forums.

I guess you could say Venture shares some of the same traits as Berzerk. Too bad you're limiting the topic to the 2600, else I'd say Space Dungeon for the 5200. Also, as most of everyone here knows, Robotron was directly inspired by Berzerk, except with the tension level turns up to eleven, plus an extra dose of crack. Williams' most intense game, to me anyway. Too nerve-racking for my tastes.

Crackdown on emulators? Anyone care to brief me on this one? I have very little idea of what this constitutes of. Would it be related to the US legal system working more actively against software "piracy" and all that hoopla? About Stella, I'm always glad to hear news about active work being done on it. It's already in great shape, and the new TV filter will only add to the overall polish.

The GameBoy sequel to Balloon Fight, Balloon Kid also has a corresponding Famicom version, with a graphical makeover, as "Hello Kitty World". Here's a .

I think it would be funny and kinda awesome to see a "downport" of Pac-Man CE DX for the good ol' 2600. Why not, right?

Random Terrain, you are a very patient man. Kudos to you.

All Strider 2 packages were mislabeled that way, mixing 1 and 2. Great game though. I still keep it close by, with a few of my favorites for PS2. I have trouble finding a suitable difficulty level though. I'm by no means talented, but the game itself seems overly generous.

Obviously, I never knew him, but this is a ridiculously young age to pass away. Absurd, sad and tragic.

I remember when simply having a Final Fantasy game to play on car trips (FF Legend III) was something to behold. Most companies did a great job of porting their titles to the inferior monochrome hardware. Killer Instinct plays pretty good, so do most of Capcom and Konami's output (well, maybe not Castlevania Adventure, but nobody minded at the time.) Nintendo turned out great titles, though I personally believe the Super Mario Land games to be somewhat of a letdown. Maybe Shigeru Miyamoto's lack of involvement hurt the quality control process. The development team seems to have found its voice only with Wario Land, going forward. Perhaps they identified themselves better with Wario's anti-establishment persona.

JamesD and AtariLeaf, My last comment seems to have been interpreted as a denigration of the Coco port. I tried to show it proper respect, but on the other hand, I was indeed a bit ticked off by the way it was so quickly categorized as a port on the same level as other computer platforms. It should not remove any of the proper merit it deserves. It simply plays by different rules. The flexibility of the Coco hardware deserves special mentions for enabling such a flawless port. I don't think there's anything wrong in expressing a feeling of annoyance, as long as it is done with the necessary articulation of opinion, and proper civility. It becomes a problem when emotions flare up into intense arguments and personal attacks. This forum has had too many potent threads ruined in such a juvenile fashion in the last few months. I do not wish to be a part of this problem.

How 'bout a pube or two with a considerable amount of ol' dried "glue" on those Mystique porn carts huh?

Folks should calm the heck down and check the facts about the Coco 3 DK port. It basically re-uses a bunch of the original logic code as much as it can. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing feat, and the machine code conversion must've demanded a fair amount of skill, but it's not 100% original programming, like for example DK for the Atari 800 is. You simply can't compare it to other computer ports. The 80's port authors didn't have access to the original arcade code either, plus had to do with the more limited public knowledge of their platform's hardware capability as known at the time. http://www.axess.com/twilight/sock/dk/index.html

Quick addenum: After some thinking, I came to realize that Sega's mascots, Alex Kidd and Sonic, originated as explicit reactions to Nintendo's Mario. I don't think they would have even existed in any recognizable form if not for SMB. As for game substitutes, Zelda and SMB both are (exceptional) recipes that have been assembled from pre-existing ingredients, plus some inspired artistic direction. Another important player that would have entered the arena even earlier than our timeline is Sony, with a different incarnation of the Play Station project.

For Spinal Tap, we'll have to introduce a special stage with a tiny Stonehenge in the center and delirious smoke machines.

Nukey's involved? That's cool. For the name, how about a simple synonym to "Adventure"? Synonyms for "Quest" (from Mac OS X thesaurus): Sir Galahad's quest: expedition, journey, voyage, trek, travels, odyssey, adventure, exploration, search; crusade, mission, pilgrimage

It would most probably have been a Sega Vs. NEC duality. They seemed to be the most dedicated companies aiming for the home market. Alliances would have shifted considerably from our timeline. No Nintendo lock-in means that 3rd party heavyweights are free to negotiate with others. Perhaps Capcom would have been warmer towards Sega, as their arcade titles convert nicely to the Genesis. Or maybe not -- the best Street Fighter II CE port has been for the PCE/TG16. Sonic would still have come to life - I don't think Sega would be foolish enough to stick with the dorky Alex Kidd for the US market. SMS could have been #1 if marketed skillfully. When factoring its early release, it could have cashed-in on an eager market. If successful, Sega would be wise to delay the Genesis console until full saturation, and take advantage of more mature tech developments. Important questions still must be asked though: 1.How would the retail deadlock have been tackled? 2.Who would have most probably introduced the essential multi-screen rich-world/simple mechanics gameplay that Shigeru Miyamoto so expertly produced with SMB and LoZ? 3.Which companies gain more in such a setup? I still think the japanese would have taken the market, however it would have been more progressive than aggressive. I have little faith in Tramiel Atari's capacity to show any serious competition, though. 16-bit generation could have been slightly delayed, offering a window for serious introduction of CD medium and thus richer audio-visual experience, but negatively affecting loading times. edit: grammar correction plus late addition

What is the law? Not to waste spoiled topic, that is the law. Are we not men? Are we not men?

That's some inspired packaging, seriously. They might have had the best visual design of the three 16-bit consoles at the time.

I'm sure many consumers bought a DS (lite) like me expressly for the purpose of playing New Super Mario Bros. It was like a small slice of heaven, the controls are so fluid. It reminds me that the first time I played New Super Mario Wii, I felt a curious annoyance towards the controls - they felt slightly different to the DS's game. Not awful, just different, in that Mario's response was somehow tweaked. When Super Mario Land (1st) for the original Game Boy came out, I was very curious by it. It was already feeling archaic by the standards of SMB3, but the style reminded of the original SMB which emanated a strong positive feeling linking it to the NES game's authentic pleasure of the first few hours of play. So, even withstanding the game's limitations and flaws, I felt compelled to play all the way through it. The shooting levels were a pleasant surprise for a Mario game at the time. The same kind of surprise could be told of Link's Awakening side-scrolling screens. I'm sure that spawned a smile on many a gamer's face.

A Colecovision clone could also possibly offer MSX and Sega SG-1000 compatibility, without much trouble. With a decent gamepad and modern video output, it could be pretty neat. I know there's already an MSX-on-a-chip, but I don't think it replicates the Coleco's sound chip if I recall correctly.

... and the Activision Asteroids remake ... and the original GB Mr. Do and Lock and Chase remakes ... and ... and ... and ... the super mysteriously secret unknown protoype of Shaq-fu 3 : Evil Armpits of Darkness (my cousin's neighbour has the single unique copy!)