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Miss 2600

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Posts posted by Miss 2600

  4. Posted

    If the point is to provide an opportunity for folks who couldn't afford to purchase the game (or didn't want to spend the asking price) a chance to play it, charging a lot out of the gate (even if it were to be refunded a couple weeks later) seems to be defeating the purpose. $200 can be a lot of money out of an account even if it is temporary.

  5. Posted

    Come on, Classicgamer and Miss2600. You can both roll Pac Man! Once you reach the fastest level, you only have to find a pattern. Then all it takes is persistence. See Sbaz's and my tips from this season's Pac Man contest.

     

    Ask Vocelli beforehand which score he would consider a roll. It takes several hours of tedious repetition to get close to 100k - but basically, you have maximum lives and can't die at around 25k once you figured out a working pattern.

    Doubt I could ever get to that level, and don't really want to spend that much time on it.

     

    4260

     

     

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    • Like 1

  6. Posted

     

    I hear you on the Activision 2600 cartridge label art.

     

    What really cheeses me off is when stores like Dimple proceed to slap their price tags on top of the Activision [or Atari] labels which totally screws them up if you intend to remove them. Is it so hard just to put the price tag on any other part of the cartridge that doesn't have any labeling or artwork? Sheesh.

    Wow, Dimple Records! I haven't thought about that store in years. I used to go there every time I was in the Sacramento area (was it in Roseville?). Is it still around? I remember them carrying all sorts of music memorabilia like vintage posters, buttons and magazines like Kerrang! I'm sure some of my Atari cartridge collection is from there. They had so many games at one time. I think I remember their games not being that cheap, but I'd splurge if they had something I didn't have.

  11. Posted

    I saw an Activision patch on eBay called "Toy TroubleShooters." I was racking my brain as to what game that was for. I did some research and see it was for a game called "Toy Bizzare," but can't find any info on it. Was that a more recent game? Any screen shots or ROM available?

  13. Posted · Edited by Miss 2600

    I purchased the CD Rom version back when it came out. I'm glad I did as, checking Amazon, it is going for a lot more money now. I wrote a review. I've pasted it below:

     

     

     

    "A blackness battles / A blizzardly channel ends / Curiosity"--Machined Haiku

     

     

    "A Slow Year" is a disc and book set where videogames meet poetry. Ian Bogost is a videogame researcher and designer and a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. For this unique package, Bogost has created four games based on the seasons made for the Atari Video Computer System (later known as the Atari 2600). A limited run of an actual Atari cartridge was also made for these games, but this set includes a computer disc in a plastic sleeve attached to the back of the book. In the first part of the book, Bogost describes similarities he sees between videogames and poetry, what inspired him to design "A Slow Year," and instructions on how to play the games. The main part of the book is filled with haiku that were formed from a computer program he designed. There are 256 haiku for each of the four seasons. The title of this review is one such haiku. He explains that 256 is 8 bits, which was the largest value the microprocessor of the Atari VCS could manipulate. Multiplied by 4, 256 also equals one kilobyte.

    The instructions for the games are rather vague; in fact, they are written in haiku form. These games are not your typical Atari shoot-'em-ups, racers, adventures, or mazes; they are games of patience and observation. Those who are not familiar with Atari, will probably laugh at the games' graphical simplicity and lack of action. Fans of the 2600, however, will notice the impressive details in the visuals and the uniqueness of the game play. In the game Spring, for example, the screen is filled with shades of gray. The houses look tiny and insignificant as the rain beats down. It looks gloomy and miserable. So much rain falls that I almost expect the houses to float away any moment. Then, there is a flash of yellow...lightning. Your goal is to try and anticipate the thunder's roar. In the Autumn game, you are greeted by a giant tree. It seems like a clear, peaceful day, but the winds pick up. Lines across the screen give the feel of how hard the winds are blowing. Sometimes it seems like a hurricane is coming, but the tree stands strong and, occasionally, a leaf dangles down seemingly not affected by the winds at all. Then comes the point when the leaf is ready to drop. You control a leaf pile ready to catch it, but where it falls is often a surprise. The games for Winter and Summer take even more patience and experimentation. For me, the Summer game is the most difficult to grasp. The only keys used to control the games are the space bar (red button) and the arrow keys (joystick). The Tab key works like the Game Select switch.

    "A Slow Year," conceptually, takes the game style of the Atari 2600 to new areas. The limitations of the Atari system (especially in terms of graphics) left more to the imagination of the player. The cover art and text style of "A Slow Year" mimics the illustrations on Atari boxes back in the day that captured the eyes of young players like myself. The box art of games like Missile Command showed images that could not be replicated on the Atari, but did bring life to the dots and block figures that made up the game. Bogosts's games are graphically much more detailed and attractive than the early contributions to the Atari VCS (using the same technological limitations), but the game play of his games are more of reflection and observation--I guess, like poetry. They are nice games to which to kick back and relax. The computer-generated haiku did not do much for me, but I am not a fan of poetry in general. Poetry enthusiasts might pick out certain haiku or discover some interesting patterns that the computer came up with. One thing this reviewer takes issue with, however, is a review excerpt from the back cover by Frank Lantz (Area/Code). He states, "'A Slow Year' resurrects an abandoned platform and excavates from it a series of sad and lovely meditations on perception and time." The Atari 2600 is not an abandoned platform. Homebrew games are still being programmed for the system. Cartridges of common games are recycled for these new additions. Just recently, a Halo game was released for the system and Boulderdash was adapted for the Atari 2600, both in original cartridge form. Still, I am glad I made this purchase as the games are very unique and quite challenging; however, I recommend "A Slow Year" for fans of the Atari 2600, as gamers only familiar with more modern systems will probably not "get it."

  15. Posted

    Cool! That game is one of my best "in the wild" finds! Found it probably 7 years ago. Loose cartridge with complete label (with actiplaque), but the Goodwill worker wrote 1.00 in sharpie on the end label. At least that reminds me what I paid for it.

  16. Posted · Edited by Miss 2600

    1. The manual to Swordquest: Waterworld for free at a thrift store in Fort Bragg, CA.

     

    2. Guardian loose cartridge (with front and end labels) for $1.00 at a Goodwill in Yuba City, CA.

     

    3. Stargunner loose with the color label handle cartridge for $1.00 at a thrift store in Chico, CA

  17. Posted · Edited by Miss 2600

    It might be one of those guy friendly games, where it uses a lot of hand muscle ? I notice I have to really slam my hands into the joystick to get the timing right and elevator. With compared to most 2600 games, it's much rougher.

     

    Maybe a softer control would help, over the bulky standard joystick?

     

    I'm curious if Centiqueen is good at this one, hope she posts a score on the final game.

     

    Well, I have had some difficulty getting into the elevators, but it is more of a centering issue. I don't play long enough to make it a hand strength issue, I'm just not good. How much time is left on average when you catch the crook in the later rounds? It seems to dwindle quite a bit for me which means not many points. It must take hours to get to a million. Then, I think, hand strength would definitely come into play.

     

    I've been utilizing the elevators more in the early rounds to nab the burglar sooner and get more points. Doing this, I was able to improve my score while probably getting to the same level as last time. I'm still having difficulty with the low bouncing balls. I managed to clear them maybe once or twice. The frustrating thing is, I'll keep slowing down and re-positioning myself to jump them and clear two or three only to hit the last one. Then I waste time trying to clear them AND get hit with the penalty. It would be better just to hit the first one, LOL.

     

    25,500

     

     

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    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Edited by Miss 2600

    179,300

     

    I improved my score after I learned to not try to shoot the rocks.

     

    I accidentally deleted my photo but, since it is not a great score, I hope you take my word as a lady that it was achieved. :)

     

    Update: If a photo is required, I played again. I couldn't repeat the above score but did slightly better than my previous high score.

     

    147,400

     

     

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    • Like 2

  23. Posted · Edited by Miss 2600

    Off the top of my head, subject to change:

     

    1. Solaris

    2. Pitfall II

    3. Phoenix

    4. Warlords

    5. Yars' Revenge

    6. Pressure Cooker

    7. Road Runner

    8. California Games

    9.Title Match Wrestling

    10. Spider-Man

     

    -=ShoEboX=-

     

    ShoEboX!

  24. Posted

     

     

     

     

    @all HSC-players: on which machine and with which controllers do you play for the HSC?

     

     

    I usually use a Harmony cart even if I have the cartridge (I don't have Gyruss) because it saves me having to dig it out. I play on a genuine heavy sixer with a joystick I've had since I was a kid (came with my 4-switch Tele-Games unit). I used it so much, one of the pads on the bottom wore down to the adhesive and became sticky, so I put tape over it. The TV is a 1986 Sony my parents bought new. It may have been our first "cable ready" TV (remember that term?). This area of my apartment still looks like I recently moved (since July, LOL). Maybe I should think about getting a TV stand for it.

     

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    • Like 5
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