DamonicFury

I recently picked up a huge lot of video game consoles. Among them were 3 original Xbox's that all seem to have failed hard drives, failed mods, or broken AV connectors. I harvested some of the working parts in case anyone is interested... (3) CPU and GPU heat sinks - $5 per set plus shipping (2) working power supplies (the internal supply, not the power cord) - $10 each plus shipping I was planning to e-cycle the rest of the systems, but if you're interested in sticky cases, questionable motherboards, failed hard drives, flaky DVD drives, etc. I can toss them in if you order any of the above items. :-) Also, I have both Model 1 (1602 - for Master System, Genesis 1 and Sega CD) and Model 2 Sega (2103 - for Nomad, Game Gear, 32x, and Genesis 2) power supplies. - 7$ each Finally, I have some SNES Super Scope receivers that I can't test due to a lack of a Super Scope, 5$ each. (plus shipping)

Hey, cool! Thank you very much! I can confirm it works on real hardware (cool new splash screen!) Haven't found the other new tweaks yet. :-)

It took a few days of mediocre scores, but I finally had a really good run at this game: 100,650

I only recently picked up a 5200 Wico, but it's quickly become my favorite 5200 stick. Unlike the Competition Pro (my 2nd favorite 5200 stick), the Wico is analog, but unlike the standard CX52, it's self-centering, which makes a huge difference. Other reviewers (like Prodos8 above) haven't cared for the 'feel' of the stick, and still others have reported reliability problems, but I've personally had no problems on either count. For me, the only disadvantage to the Wico was the cost, but I've found it to be well worth it considering just how good the stick is. As doctorclu reported, you need a Wico Y-cable to use the Start/Pause/Reset buttons of a standard controller OR you can pick up a Wico keypad which makes the Y-cable and the standard controller unnecessary. The keypad is even rarer than the standard Wico stick, unfortunately.

Had some time to play these this weekend. Beef Drop : 55,850 Mario Bros : 96,430

I'd really love to see a commercial product like this, even though I've built my own MAME machine. As Lucifershalo suggested earlier, it would be great to be able to collect a library of legal classic arcade games, especially those never ported to the consoles, or made available in recent compilations. My ideal product would consist of multiple components: 1. A base console that accepts that carts and can use standard USB controllers. 2. Optional control panel with dual joysticks and arcade buttons. 3. Optional trackball, spinner and analog stick add-on's 4. Optional bartop sized cabinet with montior and marquee that attaches to the console and control panel components. 5. Optional base to set the bartop assembly on to create a near full-sized arcade game This way, you could take it as far as you like (or as far as your budget will allow.) The initial investment should be pretty low for a basic console that can play all the 70's, 80's, and early 90's games. The real trick, of course, would be getting licensing from all the rights holders. It's safe to say you'd never get Nintendo to buy into this, but just about every other company has licensed their games out to one modern project or another. It would take a company with some means to get this off the ground and make it affordable. With most potential customers already being satisfied with the current options (classic console ports, modern console compilations, downloadable games, plug n plays, MAME cabinets) I doubt it will ever happen, But for me, it's the dream project that I would most like to see happen.

105,170

The rules were changed (before the contest started) so that zylon created a pool of 13 games (based on our picks and suggestions), assigning a number to each one that only he knows. The player with the 2nd lowest score each round (the lowest score player having been eliminated) then picks one of the remaining numbers. Zylon then reveals which game is next based on the number picked. Doing it this way means no-one knows what's coming up next... keeps us all on our toes!

Got a great Intellivsion package from GonzoGamer. I couldn't be happier with it. Thanks so much!

Here's Best Electronics instructions for opening up the CX52... http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/cx52_j.htm The key is to get the front bezel (the plastic bit with the Start/Pause/Reset buttons) off first. If you don't, the underlying flex circuit may get bent up during disassembly, and if that gets bent-up, those buttons may not work so great in the future. (If there's a way to fix that kind of flex circuit damage, I don't know what it is, other than replacing it with a new one.) Best would obviously prefer you to buy their gold-plated replacement parts, but many of us have had good luck just crazy gluing bits of aluminum foil to the carbon dots of the fire and S/P/R buttons. As for the 2600 adapter, it should work fine given that you have a 2-port system. Sounds like your 2600 carts may just be a bit dirty. Clean 'em off with the good ol alcohol and Q-tip method and see if you have better luck.

Congrats on mastering easy level 5200 Defender! I'm really glad there's no need to fight for first place.. we might have been playing this game a long, long time! :-)

Really good tips, there! Going slow, generally to the left, and taking out enemies at long range is indeed a big part of this game. I would add the following... Smart bomb use is indeed a major key to the game. However, I don't adhere to the "one smart bomb" per level rule... instead, I tend to use them whenever I can both A) get a LOT of points out of them and B) when I'm almost certainly going to die otherwise. If I can get through a round without using one, great... more bombs to use later! But if a round is especially tough, I'll certainly use multiple bombs to clear it. I'd certainly agree that when you're running low on bombs you want to be EXTREMELY cautious with them, but I think often people do poorly at this game because they aren't using their bombs enough, rather than using them too much. I personally never use Hyperspace. Cafeman's advice about taking out the landers first is dead-on correct, as is his advice about defending the last men. My personal strategy for Baiters is to try to outrun them and end the wave before they can catch up. If not possible, I'll try to stop on a dime when they're about to catch up to me and zap them... doesn't always work, though.

1,196,800

I'll second that! Also, where's Cafeman? He's been kicking a lot of a** lately with these games.

Just some suggestions for popular, multi-platform games that we haven't already picked: Pitfall, Pac-man, River Raid, Frogger

I'm fine with mixing it up.

Nice homemade coupler, Cafeman! Here's my best scores from last night's play. 2-sticks: 371,975 1-stick: 71,100

How about Defender?

Robotron with 1 stick? Ugh. Oh, well, should make for an interesting challenge (and probably some pretty short games.) Here's my first stab at the normal two-stick version... 279,625

Thanks, guys! I really had a blast with this one!

Sure, I'm definitely up for more River Raid-ing. :-) The rest of the list sounds good as well.

Thanks! You really set a high bar... I've been playing this pretty regularly since you smashed your own record earlier, and it was a hell of a challenge to beat it! Here's my 2600 score... 97,620. The game seems so sparse now compared the the 5200 version. Here, all the challenge seems to come from avoiding running out of fuel, as depots become EXTREMELY scarce as you get to the higher levels.

147,250!!! This took a whole lot of practice, but I thoroughly enjoyed it... River Raid has long been a huge favorite of mine, and it's been great spending the past two weeks really trying to get good at it. A couple tips I can add to Cafeman's list: Go slow except for when you need to speed up to avoid obstacles or get to a fuel tank. Going slow gets you more points as you can nail more targets. And nailing more targets makes it less likely that you'll run into them. Also, I always go for the left channel when in doubt... in my experience, there are fewer tight spots going left than right. Love this game!

Yeah, you'll need something stronger than Elmer's... tried that once, and it didn't last long. Yep, just every day aluminum foil works fine. I also tried a conductive paint pen once but found that it would flake off with lots of use. I've come around that gluing foil to the carbon dots is the best way to go (short of the gold dot buttons, but that's a seriously more expensive solution!) Also, note that you probably don't need to glue foil to the keypad dots... for whatever reason (lack of use?) they don't usually seem to get worn out the way the other buttons do.

Had a good run over the weekend, but failed to beat the record: 96,110