Mirage

Oh, thanks, I didn't know that... wow, drama and intrigue.

I bought my Arcadia Supercharger sealed. It didn't have a manual per se, just the Phaser Patrol manual that was bundled with it. If you look on the first two pages of the Phaser Patrol manual (maybe the other games' manuals too? I haven't thought to look at them), you'll see instructions for using the Supercharger itself. So, just look for the Phaser Patrol manual. I'm pretty sure scans of that are out there. If not, I'll try to get a good square photo of the first two pages of PP and post it.

I'm confused, did I miss something? Did someone contact the original programmer and now they're starting up again? They (he?) still programs the 2600 apparently, or is picking up on it again to maybe create 5 more games? And has the company been around this entire time doing something else, or are they just starting it up again in name to make the new games? Any info? Anyone, anyone?

Thanks! I found them. Click on "WAVs and MP3s" then at the top click on "Video Game MP3s", then it's down a little ways under "Kid Stuff Records".

Holy cow! I never knew about those records. Since they're probably hard to find and/or expensive, I'd settle for hearing them. Are there mp3's available anywhere?

Atari artwork has always been my favorite part of the original Atari company. All of it (covers, arcade, etc), but I have a special place in my heart for the early catalog artwork. It's simple and cartoony, but has a special feel to it. Also the earliest games' cover art. Just beautiful.

Morgan stereotyped a bit, but it was an insightful theory. In any case, I think that guy should dump the chic he's with and go out with someone like Morgan. Until Morgan said that he should play a little less, she looked really bored and almost angry. It's at that point that she should go take a hike.

First by company, then alphabetically within company. But companies are not alphabetical. They're by image/size (?) of company. Atari is first, followed by Activision, then Imagic, then CBS, Fox, and so on. The little one- or two-off companies are at the end, along with the crap like Mythicon.

I never had the patience to deal with the "adventure" (!?!!) part, but I liked the "action" bits of the game, and remember messing with those quite a bit. They seemed more colorful than most of my games at the time, like the rainbowy waterfalls and such. Now, I think they pretty much suck. It was pretty exciting seeing the contest details in AtariAge magazine though. They really knew how to spark the imagination!

M-Network. I probably don't even play them as much as they deserve because I don't think of them, off by themselves. Now that I have nice storage drawers for all my carts, they don't even fit well in there... falling all over, sliding out of their spots... annoying!

omegamatrix just made it Oh, I see... I thought you were saying you had an AtariAge Excel... nevermind. I like yours, too, that opened in Numbers. Not sure if it was supposed to, but it works in Apple Numbers for me. Both are useful. Thanks (back to lhurk mode).

Huh? Where did you get the original AtariAge Excel document that you started with. I've never seen that, and just looked, and can't find it anywhere on the site.

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm just going to let all the comments speak for themselves.

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm just going to let all the comments speak for themselves.

Did anyone use the word gouging? I don't think it's gouging at all. The market decides all prices. At $75, you will sell fewer than you'll sell at $50. That's fine. It's up to you, and the market will pay what the market will pay. No one should take any offense either way. But implying that people can't seriously appreciate your work because they may not be able to afford your asking price... well, that's a little different. I think I've made my point several times now, so I'll stop. Needless to say, I'm not going to be getting an Actionauts. EDIT: Okay, just saw your previous post. That's fine, and best of luck to you, Rob, really... and thanks again for all the memories

A lot of people don't make as much money as you apparently do. I think that's the part you're missing here. I don't own any super rare and expensive games (or anything) for the same reason as I can't pay you more for your cart. If you can't understand that, then I'm sorry, Rob, I really am. I'm just not good enough, rich enough, to be able to play your games I guess.

"Profit greatly"??? At $100 per copy, my wage from making this thing available to this community comes out far FAR less then 50% of my living wage. Profit greatly? C'mon! I just want to make this something that I can remotely justify, ok? What I think is happening here is that homebrew authors make 2600 purely for the fun of it .. thus the market has an expectation that all authors should do the same. And that's just not the reality. Making games like this is my job, always has been .. always will. I certainly understand that this market is small, and unable to compensate people like myself for the effort involved. Thus there are very few new releases. This makes sense. But it's really weird to me that you use the term 'profit greatly' when talking about somebody asking $4k a month for their time. How much do you charge for yours? Charge whatever you want, Rob. Whoever can buy them will buy them, the rest will not, end of story. I sure do appreciate your work, both past and present, despite the fact that you seem to think that I cannot sincerely appreciate your work because I cannot afford your asking price. But... I do appreciate it, so again, thank you, sincerely, if you'll accept the thanks.

For the record, if you're including my comments in that... I, for one, am not trying to do anything to keep the price "low", and I don't feel that I'm "lowballing" anything. You asked a question, I'm telling you what I *can* pay, and others are doing the same. Not what I think I would *like* to pay you if money was no object. There may be a few ballers on here who can pay big bucks for games, but most of us are not rich. I'm sure not. We're planning a first house and a child in the very near future, adding to our responsibilities and taking away from discretionary income. I know you'd like to get a ton of $ for your work. Maybe some would pay you what you'd like. Most cannot. That's reality. I have a feeling I've been priced right out of ever owning an Actionauts cart, and I'm fine with that. It's whatever you want to charge... charge it. Those who cannot pay the price can't have it, and that's life, no hard feelings. Some of us aren't cheap, we're just not rich. It kinda feels like you're calling us cheap... the ones who cannot pay your ideal price. Sorry. Not cheap, just realistic.

I don't see anyone who has said that your time is worth $2k per month. I, and a couple others have said the exact opposite. What your time is worth and what you're realistically going to get for it in this particular endeavor are not necessarily going to be in line. I don't think my comments have been selfish. I haven't read any other comments here that seem selfish to me, either. I would not have picked $1k if it were an option. I chose based on what I can pay and still face my wife and still afford the other necessities of life. I also wouldn't be able to buy a Cubicolor for $1000 or anywhere near that. If I could realistically give you $1000 for Actionauts, I would, just to be "fair" to you, but it's just not a reality for me. Is that selfish? I don't think so.

I think PingvinBlueJeans and Nathan Strum have given excellent answers. They both answered better than I did. It may not be what you want to hear, Rob, and I certainly don't think it's "fair", but it's probably reality. For the record, I do definitely want an Actionauts, but would never sell it. I just want one for my collection and mostly to play it, period. For $50, I'm in 100%. For $100, I'd have to think long and hard, and may have to pass, just due to reality and priorities. Thanks for doing it either way though, seriously. It's so awesome and never thought I'd see this happen!

You do realize, that you are suggesting that a 2600 programmer, one with reasonable credentials, should expect this community to pay them no more for their time then they could earn as an assistant manager at Jack in the Box, right? Maybe you are right, and such is how this community truly values people like myself ... I guess we will see based on the result of the poll ! No, I said that it has to be balanced with what people _can_ pay. I think I was pretty clear (or not?) in saying that you _deserve_ more pay than that, but it's just market economics working here. It may just not be reasonable to expect more. I didn't in any way say that your time isn't worth any more than an assistant manager at Jack in the Box. Sometimes what we want or deserve just isn't in line with market economics, sorry. I also think that some professions should be paid as much as a pro football player, but that just doesn't seem to always happen. I hope you're not offended by my, or other people's answers. I'm sure we all appreciate what you have done in the past and what you are doing now. I doubt anyone would want to marginalize that, Rob. I can afford to give you more thanks and appreciation than I can dollars, unfortunately!

I voted $2000/month, but I wanted to say that that's not what I really think the programmer's time is "worth". It's "worth" a lot more. It just has to be balanced with what people can and will pay. Also factor in that anyone choosing to program and release a 2600 game in the 21st century should be doing it primarily because they "want" to, or, in other words, for intangible benefits. I don't think it's possible for you to be paid as much as you (or any other 2600 programmer) should get, or as much as I would "like" to pay you. Now that I think of it, $2000/month with your calculation works out to $50/cart (with box/manual). That should be the low end of what you charge, probably. I'd say $50-$65 would be fair, and you'd easily sell out at that price. Realistically, you'd probably sell out at $100 each, some people just wouldn't be able to buy them. But, that's the breaks I guess.

On this one (my Sears heavy), see how the edges are super thick (compared with a light sixer)... also see how the black trim edges around the woodgrain at the bottom are rounded... those are the two easiest ways to tell a heavy sixer at a glance. Hope this helps. EDIT: Dang, I was too slow.

I have one exactly like that with my TI99/4a, but I've never used it. I always assumed it was for a cassette recorder.

That's of no commercial value. So................... can I have it? I'll pay shipping