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fiddlepaddle

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Everything posted by fiddlepaddle

  1. You're not the only person who feels that way...
  2. 40 years...my goodness. I recently added an Edladdin Super Combo Arcade Controller. which has significantly stimulated and improved my game play. Favorite original carts: Pepper II (probably my single favorite game on any system), Frenzy, Mouse Trap (the new Edladdin controller really improves this game), Q*bert (just a tad slugish, but still a very good adaptation of the coin op), Lady Bug, Oils Well, Zenji, Carnival (a simpleton game, but I like it), Miner 2049er (press 6453# for level select for this extremely difficult game), Donkey Kong (press up-up to climb ladders faster), Venture (I wish it didn't freeze when you change directions) Favorites I play with my Atarimax: Steamroller (is this a "completed" prototype? not sure, but it seems complete). Right up there with Pepper II...it gets quite challenging in later levels. I'd love to have a level select for this one. Mr Dos Wild Ride Tutankham
  3. The NES was sold in US in 1985, more widely in 1986, and easily found in 1987 at flea markets, albeit usually higher price but "broken" units were possible to find in dumpsters, even then. That said, I can't say exactly what year I found what, but I did look at sellers every weekend who picked through dumpsters and often got stuff very recently released, including NES units.
  4. Well, flea markets can be dirty places, especially when a seller sources from dumpsters, and people sometimes sell systems with missing parts really cheap, even relatively recent technology. I was using unverified 3rd party/second hand power supplies, which didn't help. I didn't follow the new stuff coming out. My thrill was accumulating lots of mysterious game equipment and piecing together working systems, and getting lots of carts to try out, of course.
  5. At that point, I was already buying all my games at the flea market (used), so... both. I remember getting really frustrated with the NES units I was picking up used. I had a terrible time getting one working the first time with the flaky cart connector and AC power supply and no instructions. Eventually bought a new one, then figured out nothing was wrong with the units I already had, just had some cleaning to do.
  6. So, to summarize, in Germany the NES sold like French Toast, and in Australia it sold like Brussels Sprouts.
  7. I just wrote a review of my Edladdin controller on the Atariage store, but I thought I'd also post it here also: I've had my eye on an Edladdin controller for several years, and was recently, finally able to pull the trigger in the budget department. I was pleasantly surprised to see the new Super Combo Arcade Controller available with ambidextrous control, plus it allows playing a 7800/2600 as well. I also ordered a couple of extra DB9 extension cords. I had it in my hands about three weeks after ordering. Very professionally packed and shipped. It's working great and I've had loads of fun playing Q*bert, Frenzy, Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger and several other games that always seemed to be a bit frustrating with the standard controllers. Scores are higher and many fewer mistakes with the joystick. It's also great being able to press two fire buttons side by side rather than the cumbersome standard arrangement. Playing Mouse Trap is a real pleasure, and I must say it's the first time I actually enjoyed playing Defender on the Colecovision. Most importantly, Pepper II and Steamroller, my two favorite games on the system, are fantastic. At first, I had trouble getting the buttons to work in Colecovision mode (there's a switch on the back that switches between Colecovision mode and 7800/2600 mode) and in debugging my problem, noticed that most of the DB9 extension cords I received had been slightly modified by slicing about 1/16 inch off the end of the male connector (slightly extending the conductors), so that these fit a little bit deeper into the female connectors on the back of the controller. One of the DB9 extension cords I received had not been modified and apparently the buttons were not connecting electrically. Once I figured this out, rather than return the cord for replacement, I just used my trusty rotary tool to fix the issue and it works fine now. My next task was to test out the 7800 side. Some of those 7800 games are far superior with this controller, including Xevious, Desert Falcon, and Asteroids. And my favorite 2600 games play much better also, including Jr Pac-man, Turmoil, River Raid, Moon Patrol, Berzerk, and Galaxian. One thing I noticed is you can't keep the controller connected to both the 7800 and Colecovision at the same time. Even when the 7800 is turned off and unconnected to the TV or power outlet, the joystick does not work correctly on the Colecovision unless you physically disconnect the cord to the 7800, regardless of the position of the Colecovision/7800 switch on the back of the controller. Interestingly, however, it DOES work in 7800 mode with both consoles connected. I also included a couple of Seagull 78 Controller Adapters and have tested these with various Genesis game pads and they've all worked flawlessly. I'm particularly interested in an auto-fire function provided by some game pads and joysticks. This is one feature that might be nice to include in a future Edladdin controller. To summarize; I've been playing every day now for a couple of weeks and I'm really happy with the Super Combo Arcade Controller. Highly recommended!
  8. I remember seeing those "engravers" (low quality/high price battery-operated rotary tool) advertised on late night TV. I always thought they wanted you to go around your house and write your name and phone number on everything.
  9. They just announced Friday (in the US) that inflation is running about 8.6%; that cuts your dollar in half in about 7 years. But average salaries should mostly keep up, so it shouldn't really affect supply and demand for video games much. The largest impact is demographics. Who is collecting these day, how much do they buy/sell, and how many collectors are releasing their collections (by choice or by death). More and more, actual game players will be using ROM images rather than cartridges and original equipment, so focus on those who cherish physical cartridges for collecting sake. This means the rare items will likely keep going up and the common stuff will come back down.
  10. I just played Front Line with my new Edladdin Super Combo Colecovision controller with all four buttons and it's actually quite fun! The rotation aiming is kind of weird, but I got used to it pretty fast. By the way, the grass is yellow on mine with this controller.
  11. In any of the games or movies or TV series, was there an Addams Family Computer? Maybe the heirs of Charles Addams, creator of The Addams Family cartoons could get richer by suing Nintendo? or maybe Coleco should have sued Ocean Software? No, I don't think so. Lawsuits are expensive and you must prove damages (or get real lucky).
  12. I recently received an Edladdin Super Combo Controller (switchable between Colecovision and Atari 7800 game play), which so far is excellent, although I haven't tried using it yet on my 7800. I've gone through quite a bit of my collection of Colecovision games and the precision is a vast improvement over the originals and the Super Action Controllers as well. I also really like the ability to use all four buttons more easily, even though none of the games I've played so far USE the extra buttons. In the (distant) past, I always really enjoyed playing the Coin Op Defender, but never really liked this game on the Colecovision due to what I considered was a crippled control scheme, like most, if not all, home game console versions. This is a game that pretty much requires a full (or substantially similar) arrangement of the coin op, in my opinion. However, I was actually enjoying playing it on my Colecovision, for once, until my unit started displaying some disturbing behavior. Intermittently, the joystick would not move the ship left or right or up or down. It would work for a bit, then not for a bit, then work, then not work. I've been using mostly real cartridges, so I decided to test the game using my Atarimax Ultimate SD cart and it seems to work beautifully, so there must be something wrong with my Defender cartridge. I'm going to be cleaning it, but this led me to two questions: 1) Is there a known issue with Defender, or with Atarisoft cartridges going bad? I don't want to buy a replacement cartridge if there's a good chance of bit rot. 2) Has anyone ever hacked Defender to allow control with all four buttons to allow game play more similar to the arcade game layout?
  13. Depends on the label. Some inks are affected differently than others by water, alcohol, goo gone, whatever. Same for the glues. You might be able to put together some rules of thumb based on manufacturer, but even then, there are probably variations since they may have used different vendors at various times. Good luck.
  14. One way to evaluate how well hotcakes sell: Nobody says syrup sells like hotcakes; but it must, right? In fact, because there are probably more additional applications for syrup than just for hotcakes, syrup likely sells faster. So, "sells like syrup" describes something that sells at least as fast as something that sells like hotcakes. Conversely, maybe something that does not sell as fast as hotcakes but still sells fast we could say it sells like biscuits. So, for example, if the NES sold like hotcakes, Nintendo-approved games sold like syrup, and Tetris sold like biscuits. R.O.B. sold like parsley since it's often left on the plate, maybe missing pieces.
  15. I like it. I have several (my first in 1983), a fairly complete selection of games, and I've cleaned/repaired controllers many times over the years. On the other hand, I haven't played any 5200 games in several years now, and when I do, it seems I run through my stack of games pretty quick and go back to my favorite 2600/7800, Colecovision, N64, NES, SNES, Genesis, Master System, and Game Boy games for my regular menu.
  16. I've always collected things that are new to me that seem interesting that are dirt cheap. I play with them and figure them out, then I store them for a while, while I decide if they are worth keeping. Eventually, I choose to eliminate the big, heavy, least "interesting" (subjective, I know), especially if they are fragile or broken (and uninteresting to repair) or just stupid to keep for various reasons. I got rid of my laserdisc collection because they were heavy, and some were losing coherence, plus equivalent DVDs are available (dirt cheap now). Similar mindset for most Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2, xbox games because I never played them and I could see they had drifted to the bottom of my "play it next" pile.
  17. Once upon a time they all lived happily ever after.
  18. So I finally found a way to sell all those Combat carts with no label...
  19. Reminds me of when I bought me a Badge-a-Minit and shortly changed my mind.
  20. I've never heard of cow letters before today. Very interesting idea. At first reading, I assumed it meant cows lining up like a marching band at half time to spell out something. It also brought to mind the image of cows writing notes and mailing them to each other. Sounds like it just means bigger letters. Perhaps cows need bigger print because they have bigger eyes? Or maybe cow letters refer to big letters because cows are big, but if that's true, there should also be mouse letters and elephant letters. I remember as a kid standing outside the fence of a roadside cow pasture and calling for one to come closer so I could pet it, which did not work. I heard that tapping on an aquarium makes fish nervous, so I bet banging on the fence makes cows nervous too. To my knowledge, I've never been able to attract the the attention of a cow, but I've never tried really big letters on a sign. Are cows who live under big billboards more interested in the item being advertised than those who don't have big letters to read? Cow letters are very interesting.
  21. It all boils down to marketing, my friend. Tech specs only very rarely make or break a product.
  22. Haven't I seen this before? Yes, yes I have.
  23. Not sure about the fire button affecting sound, but just going to mention a couple things you can try. Use a different controller to make sure it's not just a dirty button (or take that controller apart and clean the contacts). Checking continuity of controller wires with a multimeter is pretty straightforward. Check the controller plug and socket with a flashlight to see if any of the connector pins are bent or misaligned. You might be able to straighten bent pins out with small needle nose pliers or tweezers. Could also take the console apart and begin testing continuity with a multimeter. If you have the patience, you can start looking for and testing for bad solder points, broken traces, and bad chips.
  24. I bet latency would make most games unplayable in this manner, unless the two access points were very close, electrically speaking.
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