fiddlepaddle

I think I got mine in 83 or 84, maybe $200, and I know the price came down after that. I seem to remember seeing $99 at Gemco at some point before they closed up and Target moved in.

Actually, it's "programming well" that's hard; it's easy to make a program that doesn't work, for example.

I don't mind; this is mindless fun.

I was just thinking about this thread, and nothing came to mind.

One more thing is that the Nintendo64 is physically a very solid, well-built unit. I even had one that had been driven over by a car...the case was cracked top and bottom and it still worked. Also, since there isn't one, there's no possibility of the disc mechanism breaking like the Saturn, Dreamcast, Playstation, etc.

You're all just ignorant.

All NES today: Kiwi Kraze, platformer, kept me going for awhile Kid Kool, platformer, really tough, easy to die, similar to Super Mario Lolo, puzzle game (pretty good game) Pipe Dream, puzzle game where you lay out the path for water flow

Where you are and the competitive environment there may make a significant difference in what a store can get for various types of games. Also, some stores are going to be friendly and others more business-like/structured. I would choose a stack of maybe 10 to 20 various games, price them on Price-charting and ebay-solds, and have a minimum price in mind before you go to the store (or even a few stores to see what you might get). Might allow them to pick and choose what they want, but stay firm on your price, realizing they must be able to make a profit that pays for their overhead. Be flexible, but know the value of what you are selling, and let them know you know. Also realize that condition can have a huge impact on value. If you are willing to trade a bit for whatever they have too many of, you can also come out ahead. If you visit several stores with several lots over a few months, you'll naturally develop a rapport and affinity for certain store owners and their ways of doing things. I've been doing this with my collection for a couple of years now and am really happy with the (ongoing) results.

You could make a version of Mission Impossible that you can only play once: "This game will self-destruct in five seconds."

Right now, I'm buying DVDs and CDs at very low cost, lots more that I can keep up with. These days it really makes me feel like I did back in the 80's and 90's when I was buying video game cartridges for dirt cheap. These are great times for physical media (collecting). I know DVDs and CDs will eventually become more scarce, but I'm not so sure physical media will disappear. Sure, I watch the occasional Youtube video, but in general streaming just seems so ephemeral; I am the kind of person who enjoys touching and holding and feeling the things in my life. I just get so much more from listening to an album if I have a cover to look at and hold in my hands. CDs and DVDs aren't quite the same, but a physical copy still just feels better. Am I the only one?

I use virtually only physical media.

A few years ago, when finding something interesting, I started saying "I don't remember this one" instead of "I don't have this one". That way, I'm not lying to myself and I don't feel stupid when I realize I already had a copy.

Technically, he was talking about cutting off peoples bodies.

Tortillas are good for all kinds of leftovers, as long as it's not too runny. But even then, you can sometimes fix that with more cheese.

Good point Austin, and that's also true of any headset game or simulation. Although very engaging with the game itself, plus the interaction with other in-game characters or players, it is, by it's nature, actually very isolating of the real world. If anything, it discourages use as a shared experience. I think originally, the Virtual boy was designed for two-player capability (Mario Tennis has a hidden ability to support two players), so it ended up being even more isolating that Nintendo wanted it to be.

I saw "monkey" also! It seemed strange to me so I looked it up and "Smokey" is actually a persons name (Smokey Robinson, Smokey the Bear), whereas "smoky" refers to lots of smoke. The brain sees lots of similarities between the two words "smokey" and "monkey". They are both six letters, with only one letter removed and inserted, similar to and only slightly more complex than a simple transposition (s)mo(n)key

I'd even suggest working a few extra hours and getting a 7800.

ignore this post

The Vectrex had 3D (maybe in 1983?) There were also arcade coin-ops that had 3D.

I think there are several Genesis and Atari controllers that work OK on the Colecovision with a Y-adapter (so you can use the keypad), but some, at least under certain circumstances, can cause damage to the controller chips in the Colecovision if you insert or remove them with the power on.

Anyone who knows about this is paying too much attention to the wrong things.

I'd guess the average atariager might be about 200 lbs, so a ton/200 is about 10. I bet the actual weight of visitors is perhaps thousands of tons or more.

Organizing and promoting retro game shows, toy shows, collectible shows. Covid shutdowns killed this business, but it's probably a good time to get back into it. Be a journalist covering the hobby. But you'd have to market yourself like crazy, I think. Get a job with one of the online resources, maybe supporting web software (for example, price tracker sites, review and cheat sites, etc.) The thing to think about, in my opinion, is that it might be a shrinking market from here on in...

I've thought a lot about this as I've watched creative works in popular culture diminish over at least a couple decades. I think there is still a lot of creativity going on, but not being elevated into mass distribution, maybe mostly due to all the censorship/self-censorship and fear of offending someone. It's much harder to make money with music and films now that everything is filtered so strictly. Comedians complain that stand-up is dead because audiences get offended so easily. Music is bootleged so easily, it's almost impossible to get payment without performing live. The only real exceptions occur through sponsorships and commercial force-feeding to the mass media. Even live music was so much more available 20 or 30 years ago. The homebrew game scene for Colecovision and Atari has been pretty amazing to see flourish, but I don't think it's any kind of a gold mine, and I don't think many programmers are doing it for the money, either. Where there's no money, there's is no marketing. At the same time, many artists see it as all about the process and expression. Once the piece of art itself is "finished", it is put away. Unless there is someone around to promote it, nothing ever happens and nobody else ever finds out about it. Social media seems like the natural way to promote these days, but there's such a sour taste to it all right now.

This question reminds me of a question I used to ask myself back in the days when I would be playing pinball or Space Invaders at the pizza take-out restaurant waiting for my name or number to be called... "Should I finish the game or just go get my food?" I eventually decided this way, and my correct decision has only been reinforced even more in the console age: real life is always more important to me than a video game, and so real life always takes priority. Incidentally, in a waiting area, like the pizza place, people often jump in and finish my game as I leave. There have been exceptions, of course (to my wifes chagrin), but that's my rule today, even at home. I mostly play the old stuff anyway, so I never really finish games, and actually rarely play any game for more than an hour either, and usually average 20 or 30 minutes on old favorites.