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schuwalker

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Posts posted by schuwalker

  1. Posted

    I used to have this game as a kid.....I know, I know this game is horrible! Regardless, I remember I couldn't figure out what was going on. Fast forward till recently, still don't know what's going on! I find it kind of weird you just shoot enemies but no score display? Is there something I'm missing here as far as a goal to reach? I know back then this was a budget title but still Wtf.......

  4. Posted

    Yes though not as rare as Chess and Melody Chase.....

     

    I just picked up another complete in box Melody Chase for an obscenely low price... I almost feel guilty about the deal I got, but I really wanted one that was not factory sealed so I could play with it :D

     

     

    You Suck!!!! :) Must have been through a private transaction???? I've been scouring ebay everyday for these and zilch. I think the collectors across the pond are hoarding them!!!

  6. Posted

    This Mattel Aquarius auction (not mine) eBay Auction -- Item Number: 3004690035331?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=300469003533&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER] has a Burgertime cart!! :lust: It is worth the $90 alone, even though it is missing the controller overlays. So if anyone needs this rare gem for their Aquarius collection, this is your chance. :)

     

    EDIT: njb12287 pointed out that the Burgertime cartridge doesn't work, so that makes it pretty worthless except for the box and manual. But definitely not worth $90 now.

     

     

    I saw that too..... Was thinking about it for the Burgertime alone but with it non-working and the box not in the greatest shape, I'll wait....

  9. Posted

    Thanks for all the ideas on podcasts guys.....

     

    Just listened to wastedseconds one and I'll pass...Too much drivel!

     

    They gotta keep the Retronauts going! To me, it's one of the best ones out there as far as games go... If the main host doesn't want to do it, see ya! I definitely think the other guys(Kohler & Frank) can keep the show rolling!

  11. Posted

    I'll chime in.... I was too young to see Star Wars at the theater or even remember it, I was 4. So the first time I was introduced to Star Wars was watching it on CED disc, anybody recall that format? I believe this to be around 79' 0r 80'....It was before Empire came out. I saw Empire that same week it came out along with the re-releases in 81' and 82'. I have to admit I thought they were cool bit the mania didn't hit me yet! Now when Jedi was released in 83', I didn't probably see till that 2nd week it had been opened. When I saw it, hook, line and sinker! Now I got Star Wars hype! I collected everything imaginable with "jedi" on it. Had all the figures, ship, books, everything!

     

    No here is my list to fist to worst...

     

    Empire What can I say?

    Return of the Jedi

    Star Wars Special Edition of this SUCKED!

    Attack of the Clones

    Revenge of the Sith

    Phantom Menace Sorry Jar Jar and that kid KILLED this movie!

     

    Alot of the bashing to Return of the Jedi stems from alot of people thought it was too "Puppety" and the Ewoks...

    Now I don't have a real problem with either two. Jedi has also one of the best action sequences ever!-Skiff Battle...

    My only complaint was I know this was the "closure" movie but it seemed like too much was crammed into one movie! Some examples: Darth Vader dying, Empereor dying, Yoda dying, Jabba dying, Super Star Destroyer destroyed and Death Star destroyed! Way too much for a 2.5 hour movie!!! Also editing on this movies was horrible!

     

    Now what I think what made Empire so good? Easy, Lucas didn't direct it! But you say he didn't direct Jedi? Not true Marquand was a puppet, Luacas was watching over his shoulder constantly!

     

    And the new ones....Sorry way too much CGI, plotholes and my main beef was they were way geared for the kids! Evident of this-Phantom Menace....

  15. Posted

     

    Great story! I wish I was a little bit older to remember the B&w games more; I did miss out on that part! I do remember going to some bowling alley(had to be late 70's) and playing some Em rifle games-now those were cool!

     

    I was talking to another gamer one time who commented that "all the b/w games are 5h1t." This person did not begin gaming until 1983. Because of that, I find it easy to believe that people who were not playing video games in the early-to-mid 70s (like I was) just do not have an appreciation for those b/w games.

     

    And the appreciation is in the same vain that I discussed in my previous post. I can remember when Sea Wolf came out (1976) and what a huge hit that was locally. Although it was a take on the EM Sea Raider, this was something different from the pong and racing games that were so prevalent at the time.

     

     

     

     

    A common practice, back then, was one player plunking their quarter down on the game glass, which meant "I'm playing this game next." Kind of rude, to think about it now, but it was just normal then. Sometimes all the machines were being played, and cutting in was the only way to get to play anything.

     

     

     

    That's a standard practice here in MA/RI at the local bars for pool tables and arcade games.

    Yeah, that was, and still appears to be, standard practice. I never considered it rude, just the cost of playing the good games.

     

     

    The practice of lining up quarters on the monitor glass, from what I can remember, started with Pac-Man. My local roller rink had a game room with about 4 pins, Pac-Man and Frogger. It was a joke trying to get on Pac-Man and the unwritten rule was that you only got one play and had to return to the end of the line.

     

     

    Honestly I was never a big Pac-Man fan, I thought Mouse trap and Lady Bug improved the gameplay immensely.... Which was a plus for me while the Pac and Mrs.-Man were tied up I played the lesser well know games like Phoenix, Front Line, Zoo Keeper and Looping, et al.

  16. Posted

     

     

    A common practice, back then, was one player plunking their quarter down on the game glass, which meant "I'm playing this game next." Kind of rude, to think about it now, but it was just normal then. Sometimes all the machines were being played, and cutting in was the only way to get to play anything.

     

     

     

    That's a standard practice here in MA/RI at the local bars for pool tables and arcade games.

    Yeah, that was, and still appears to be, standard practice. I never considered it rude, just the cost of playing the good games.

     

    As many quarters as I dropped into those machines, I'm sure I could have bought any new arcade machine of my choice.

     

    It's a pity. In my area arcades are a thing of the past. There is only one that I'm aware of in one of our local theaters. But it only has about 10 machines, and none of the classics. AND they charge at least 75c to play. I rarely see more than 1 or 2 players in there, and they are usually 8-12 years old, begging coins off their parents.

     

     

    I remember when Double Dragon first hit the arcades.... That marquee had quarters stretched the entire length!

  17. Posted

    By the way ... thanks to a generous Aquarius collector, I have received a Chess cartridge and manual on loan, so I'll now be able to provide the full text of both the Melody Chase and Chess manuals with the multi-cart.

     

    Awesome! Will you be making scans of the manual available for download on the Aquarius Group on Yahoo?

     

    EDIT: LOL I guess I should have looked first... you already have it there :D

     

    Cool I have to join this site!

     

    I love all the Aquarius talk...... I remember my folks picked up a Aquarius at K&B toy stores for like twenty bucks(somewhere around there.) I also got a couple the following games: Astrosmash, Deadly Discs, Nightstalker and I believe the other one was Snafu. I didn't program or anything on the Aqaurius; was just used for gaming. Fast forward, we move, I believe the system was sold in a garage sale and yada yada yada. In the early 2,000's I started collecting vintage stuff I used to have. Priority one was the TI, Priority 2 was the Aquarius! Picked a boxed "complete version" Aquarius and some games like D&D and Biorythyms...So it began! Till oh I what say about 5 years ago didn't know the existance of Melody Chase, Chess and Burgertime-NEVER recall seeing them at the stores...so the quest begins for these guys!

  18. Posted

    Wow, I just read this thread for the first time. I feel compelled to share some of my memories of the golden age of Atari/Arcades/Coin-ops.

     

    Being 49, I almost feel like a grandfather here.

     

    The first video game I ever played was a coin-op Pong. It was just out in the middle of the mall walkway.

     

    In the early days of Atari, my uncle bought a game (I think it was Snafu) at a department store. He didn't like the game, so he got his receipt and went back to the store. He said he wanted to exchange it for something else, because he didn't like the game. (It's still hilarious to think about, now). "Yeah, I wanna return this game." "What's wrong with it?" "It's just not much fun." "So you want to exchange it." "Yeah, 'cause it's not much fun." The crazy part is, the store actually did exchange it. That's something that will never happen again.

     

    The arcade at college was a room about the size of a small McDonald's. There were about a dozen pinball machines along one wall. Arcade machines pretty much lined the other walls. Asteroids, Phoenix, Battlezone, Super Pacman, Tempest, Galaxian, Galaga, and on and on. It's a wonder I ever graduated.

     

    In Michigan, the arcade was an Aladdin's Castle. It was in a mall about a mile from home. They always had these discounts on token purchases. A dollar would get you four tokens, but ten dollars would get you like sixty. I think I still have the token pouch here somewhere.

     

    When I moved back to PA, I worked part-time at an arcade called Spaceport. So, I remember playing the sit-down After Burner, and wiping it down after closing time. Spaceport used quarters, not tokens. We had these red quarters that were used to start a game whenever someone would complain about a machine that "ate their quarter".

     

    A common practice, back then, was one player plunking their quarter down on the game glass, which meant "I'm playing this game next." Kind of rude, to think about it now, but it was just normal then. Sometimes all the machines were being played, and cutting in was the only way to get to play anything.

     

    I remember playing pinball and having four or five people just standing and watching. If I was having a great game (especially in multi-ball play), there would be gasping and whispering about "Did you see that?". That was one of the best parts of the arcades back in their hey-day. There were lots of people and lots of competition between players who were total strangers, except that they both wanted the high score on the same machine.

     

    In '77, I was 15/16, so I was privileged to grow up at exactly the right time to see all of this gaming history first-hand. It's been a marvelous ride.

     

     

     

    Great story! I wish I was a little bit older to remember the B&w games more; I did miss out on that part! I do remember going to some bowling alley(had to be late 70's) and playing some Em rifle games-now those were cool!

  20. Posted

    I dunno if anyone should be jealous. With emulation you can play classic systems and not pay $400+ (About how much 2600 was in wayback dollars). Heck, you can play systems you never had access to. I just recently found out about the Fairchild Channel F. With homebrew development you can play free ROMs. That's like winning a Toys R Us shopping spree. Download the game, play it, no mess of carts on yer floor.

     

    There are triple system Hong Kong clones that play SNES, NES and Genesis with wireless controllers. I'd have given my left ear for such a magical system when I was growing up.

     

    Lastly, we're mostly all on DLP, PLasma and LCD TV's now. Amazingly sharp displays. I remember trying to play on a myopic color TV that got damaged by being in very cold weather for too long. Not fun.

     

    Ahh you were one of those people! Don't take this wrong but emulation does not repalce the real thing! Sorry, it's not perfect! Besides it wasn't the game itself but the damn cool boxart and instructions! *rant off*

     

    I'm 36 years and I can tell you...Yeah I'm an old fart but the time period I grew up in; I loved it! Nothing will repalce that time when you went Sears and stared at all their games in their inventory, waiting for the new Activision games to be released, playing games at a kiosk in Kmart or buying a new game at Jewel-yes the grocery store! My only regret when I look back at it was not being aware of the "crash." I just thought stores was just putting these up for sale! On a side note I'll never forget when KB toy stores was blasting out Waterworlds for $8...Damn it!!!!

     

    The arcade back then were also incredible! I remember my mom used to grocery shop at Dominicks. Well even grocery stores had games! Check this motley lineup they had --- Crazy Climber, Wild Western, Frenzy and a Congo Bongo! Oh and the arcades....How about the dark atmosphere with the 80's music in the background, seeing an Edot in all it's glory, seeing the "new" arcade game hit the streets et al. Sorry nothing will replace that! While it's cool you can get some these games cheap and playing the emulators and such...You're missing the viceral feeling of it all!!! Man I wish I had a Tardis!!!!

  23. Posted

    Topdog posted an item in an earlier thread about Aquarius BurgerTime which might answer your question:

     

    Burgertime was not released in solo form, but only as a pack in cartridge in the "Family Pack" which included the Aquarius Computer, Mini Expander, 16k Memory Cart, and four random games (I have a few :D ). So even if you purchased this Family Pack, you only had about a 25% chance of getting Burgertime. It is very difficult to find, so I'd rank it about a R8. Chess, Zero In and Melody Chase are even more difficult to find and would be more akin to R9 or R10.

    I could be wrong, but my impression is that Chess and Melody Chase were also distributed (by Radofin) only as part of the "Family Pack", which would explain their rarity. I don't believe either of them were ever released by Mattel.

     

    Interesting....So they were never sold individually and didn't sell under the Mattel name.....Does that mean it was only released in European market? They really had to be released in limited numbers! I mean you never see even a loose cart of these two titles.....

  24. Posted

    Well I'm starting to tackle my Aquarius collection again after a lull in collecting.... Keep in mind I just collect boxed items. So... I have the Biorythms, Deadly Discs, and Nightstalker et al. Guess what??? Still missing that damn boxed MC and Chess! Seriously how rare are the these and why? Late in the life cycle of the Aquarius? You don't ever even see them loose! BTW I still you have in mind Topdog if I can't get them. It's just something about the "thrill" of the hunt and then finding them ;)

  25. Posted

    Honestly I think the whole grading is a big sham for dealers/merchants to price stuff 50% markup....

     

    I collect vintage Star Wars stuff and dealt with some clowns that use their system. Sorry I'll pass and you can find stuff as good as condition if not better than the "their" stuff and not cost you an arm and a leg.....

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