tyranthraxus

An Apple II GS version of U6 would be great to see and more GS ports in general would be nice too. I think the GS is one of those fascinating dead ends akin to the Commodore 128, the heart was there but they just couldn't get the software. I'd also love for someone to leak the code and docs for "Meantime" the game being developed with the Wasteland engine that was abandoned when it was determined that the Apple II market had eroded too badly to be worth the effort.

I don't see one as really being superior over the other. I think a combination of nostalgia and brand loyalty tips one system in favour of another. The truth is the CV and 5200 are really great complimentary systems. Between the two you have the best assortment of the 80s arcade scene up to 1984. Each system requires a bit of effort to really get into. The Coleco controllers are bad but for most games I use a Coleco controller in port 2 and use a 7800 gamepad. The 5200 is kinda like a European sports car, looks flashy, has more of a sense of quality to it but you need a lot of money to get it up and running at its full potential. Its a shame each company abandoned these systems so early. I can only imagine what games 1985 would have brought.

I accidentally raised from the dead an older thread on this topic attempting to link to it but there is some good info on the topic there. I would speculate that Atari couldn't get enough supplies together for a wide Christmas '82 campaign and concentrated on the U.S and Toronto for those initial months and then once the crash started in 83 they decided not to risk a full expansion into Canada as Coleco had scooped them. Unless someone can find some Sears or other catalogs from 82-83 that prove otherwise, I think its clear that the 5200 never had anything more than a test launch in Southern Ontario.

Ah! Messed up quoting for the other current thread!

Well I came to my senses and realized that I was debating opening an E.T. cartridge! That 1st catalog looked tempting to leaf through some 30 odd years later so I broke the seal. Had that nice 1982 smell to it! The catalog it came with was this 49 game one from 1982: http://www.atarimania.com/catalog-atari-atari-usa-co16725-rev-e_5_2.html Which kinda makes sense since its a release from late 82. But what made it worth it for me was getting this flyer for Raiders of the Lost Ark: http://www.atarimania.com/list_ads_atari_publisher-language-soft-_6-2-6911-_2.html All in all opening the box was more fun than I ever had with actual video game.

I've got an Atari Inc. E.T. that I'm considering opening up, either that or I will bundle it into an eBay lot that I'm putting together of sealed commons. I've never been into collecting boxes & manuals but I'm curious if there are there any cool posters/catalogs to find?

IIRC, in its 100th issue, Computer Gaming World said that 1987 was the peak year for cross platform releases. After this year the PC became more and more dominant and fewer platforms received ports.

Landing on a waiting passenger in Space Taxi and he crys "Hey!" The tribbles in Elite. Stumbling onto the first warp zone in Super Mario Bros. The strippers in Duke Nuke'em I 2nd the Metal Gear Solid opening, later in the game I experienced unexpected laughing fits as the game's absurd plot & character connections were revealed

No, unless its really unique & famous, where the use of the location is a selling point, they like creating their own set from scratch, either in an existing building or in a studio. An existing business interferes with their 'vision'. With a custom built set you can have all the arcades & other logos passed through clearances, the set laid out & painted exactly as you want, build cool custom lighting (like the neon) and fly out walls and windows on a whim to do snazzy crane and dolly shots (or build secret doors behind a Tron arcade game). Its possible they shot that building and then built the interior with the cool apartment on a stage. Its pretty common practice to shoot exteriors on location and then build what they need on stage after the illusion is set.

I hesitated on buying this for a long while and bought it last December, I was only into BBSs from about 1994-1995. Watching the DVD made me wish I'd tried it sooner. They cover a lot of topics, some more interesting than others, and its quite a no-budget, crude, DIY effort. But there is some amazing stories by some very interesting people. Learning about first the BBS, Fidonet (which I used heavily before being seduced by Usenet), piracy, and the ZIP-ARC war. There is plenty of stuff there to keep anyone interested in early computing & BBSs entertained. IIRC the author put the whole thing himself on bit torrent. Buying the physical set if you want to support the author but the author has said he has only a few copies left and won't make another run for quite sometime. Not surprising given the shift between digital and physical sales in recent years. But while the filmmaking is primitive, the packaging & DVD is quality.

Havn't all topics on decades old machines been covered before? Since this sub-forum is only a year old I didn't notice a similar topic when I scanned the back pages. But if you've got links to the old threads in a different sub-forum please post

I love the computer designs of the early systems. Some look sleek, some hideous while others have a certain charm to the design that you don't get in the industry standard tower case of today. My favorite case design is the Commodore PET. I love how it looks like something from the movie 2001, and since they dubbed the PET the 2001 series I'm sure that was no coincidence. Runner up would be the Apple IIc. What are your favorites?

Well as someone who got a Gameboy in 1989, I'm sure my parents liked the price and I liked that it had Super Mario Land and came with Tetris. It being B&W never really factored as a drawback as I had played many of the primitive Game & Watches which made the GB appear revolutionary. The Lynx and Game Gear looked cool but Nintendo kept rolling out great games so I was never jealous of the other systems.

You are right, there is a lot of creasing on the top for a sealed game. Sealed or not, its a ridiculous price for a box in that condition. There was recently a minty looking CV Q*bert's Qubes that sold for about $160. A DK box is rare but since its more of a packaging variant I can't really value it so highly.

Can't argue with you about the lack of ST development, the ST and Amiga were both coasting on their initial designs but I can wish can't I! However I will debate that the Atari name was mud in 1993. Whether Atari was big in Europe is irrelevant because they launched the Jag in the U.S. The promotion of the 2600 for so many years left the impression of them being yesterdays man. And the much praised Atari Games wasn't anything special by 1993, take a look at the games they produced after 1990. Apart from some racing games they don't have much compared to their mid 80s prime. Who remembers Primal Rage compared to the success of Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter? Atari just had no answer for the proprietary franchise games of their competition, perhaps if they secured a key pack-in exclusive and didn't carry the baggage of the Atari name then maybe it'd have had a chance.

The first thing I would do is go up to Sam Tramiel and tell him to cancel the Jag and reinstate the ST/Falcon line. If Sam won't come to his senses then I'd tell him that I want to release the Jag but not use the Atari name on it because teenagers in the early 90s only associate Atari with that crappy old 2600 and with geeky computers. Then I'd blow the bank getting Mortal Kombat or whatever the next hottest arcade game was as pack-in exclusive.

Just noticed a sealed one on eBay but the price is well...

Nifty. Boxxle was one of my favorite Gameboy games.

Did they do anything for the Famicom anniversary? Is celebrating the 25th of the test launch really necessary? I'd rather they do something to celebrate 25 years of Super Mario Bros, its not the hardware that is important its what's done on it.

I didn't know that the Jr. was released in Europe in 1984, that is good to know, thx. Its long been confirmed that the Joypad never saw release stateside my question is WHY? Its obvious they were made and released as a reaction to the NES and SMS controllers but its strange that a company with Atari Corp.'s limited resources that they would spend the money to develop these controllers and then not release them in their biggest market. Even if they were not bundled with the console and sold separately its pretty clear these would have sold well here. Did Atari have a European subsidiary that worked somewhat autonomously? The Joypads I own don't have any identification marking country of origin.

I have no interest in a complete set. My focus is on primarily on games that I enjoy playing, I have a few duds that are either guilty pleasures or that I have some misguided childhood nostalgia to. I recently just eBay'd all the games I had that needed peripherals to streamline my collection. The fact that most of these games are bad made it an easy decision! There's only a handful of games that are left on my want list left. Probably Burgertime (my cart is dead) and Galaxian are my top wants. I'll pick up boxed games if they are cheap but there is only a handful I specifically want boxed and those are part of a larger theme like a particular manufacturer, etc.

So no one knows?

Why were the Joypads released only in Europe/Australia? It doesn't make sense that they'd develop a new controller and then not make them available in N.A.

What we need is someone to dutifully scan all the Canadian versions of the Sears Wishbooks, the U.S. books are all over the net already. I'm sure it got some kind of release as I have run across 7800 controllers & consoles in the wild. It is rarer to come across than 2600 Jrs so its an indication of its poor sales. The 5200 also seems quite rare compared to the Colecovision in this country.

I love that these two rare print ads are for two of the rarest games! The 7800 was so far of the radar in the 80s that I never new it existed. All I saw were ads for XE and the 50 bucks 2600 campaign.