McCallister

The End: 50,740

I was able to trigger the immobile ibots bug again and can confirm that it definitely happens on level 8.

The end of The End: 47,410 Tower O' Rubble: 187

It's happened to me at least four times. Unfortunately, I am not playing on Stella and didn't think to grab my camera for it. I am using a Harmony Encore with whichever version is posted here in the high score club. So, the first time this happened, it was a one off and yes, I could kill both ibots, which was honestly kind of fun, since they weren't hunting my helicopter. This happened around level 8 or 9, because I lost my last life on level 12. In this case, the two left most ibots froze. On another run through, around the same level 9, the two right most ibots froze. Shortly after I noticed, I was killed by one of the others and when I started again, the rightmost ones were unstuck and left most ones were now frozen. This time, they could not be killed, because the right one was facing towards my helicopter and the other one was in the corner. The ibot did not shoot when I approached it. The only way to proceed was to lose a life, so that's what I did. After losing that life and starting again, the two left most ibots were still frozen, but this time facing away from the helicopter. I was able to complete the level and proceed along without incident the rest of the game. That last time was three times in row of frozen ibots. I thought perhaps it had something to do with a joystick input as the level starts, but I honestly have not been able to replicate it since and I've played multiple games. Hope this helps!

7773 - Robot City: the strategic strategy game. The laser effects from the ibots are excellent effect. Very memorable! I noticed on some of my other runs that there were certain times that two of the units would not move. Mostly, the two left ones, but once it happened to the right ones, too. I did kill an ibot in the top right corner and was going to report it as a “flaw”, but seeing it in the list above will just say: strategy. Yeah, don’t do it, especially after playing for 30 minutes.

Bump, new old stuff.

I believe it's this one, just not the enhanced one.

Fun game! Like the black and white color scheme and the way the asteroid belts move. That movement is so smooth and relaxing, once I pass a few asteroids, I can really get into the zone. The controls take a little getting used to, but once you get used to them, the game present a nice one button challenge. Your games are highly enjoyable. Thanks for posting this one.

Bump, still looking.

Wow, can't believe it's been almost two months since my last guess. Nothing like waiting until the last day to get a guess in . Anyway, thanks for doing these secret code names for games. They are, and have been, an enjoyable little puzzle to try and reason out your thinking and I hope you keep them coming. So, Historical Documentary? My first thought is always to break your clue down into one of two types: direct reference or secondary reference. For example, Ambidextrous directly references the gameplay in Robotwar, while Lightman references a movie character who plays Galaga in once scene. After trying out Oregon Trail (too direct) and Paper Boy (which fit much better with the clue, but was still wrong), I only had one guess left that might fit the title: Castle Wolfenstein. It seems quite possible to do on the 2600 and also has the bonus of voices, but it just didn't seem to fit. Much like Oregon Trail, it still felt too direct a reference to the clue. Exhausting those possibilities, left me thinking the clue must be a secondary reference, most likely a movie. A 70's or 80's movie and not an actual documentary. Hmmmm, I thought (only with one less 'm'), what movies could possibly be referenced as historical documentaries and do they have video games in them? The only two that popped into my head were Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Real Genius. Ferris Bueller's Day off shows the side art of Karate Champ. Real Genius shows off the side art for Food Fight. Now, of the two, clearly Ferris has more going for it. Not only does the movie fit the clue better, the game is an intriguing one. It's a fighter, which is almost non-existent on the 2600. It has voices, so could utilize the AtariVox. Most interesting though, is that in the player uses two joysticks two control the fighter, which would now be possible to do with use of the Quadtari. Also, this control scheme has been implemented in upcoming Robotwar by John Champeau, so there is some precedent. On the other hand, Real Genius might not fit the clue as well, but it does have one thing going for it: Food Fight. Though it does not use voices or special controls, much like the upcoming Robotwar, it has many things moving on the screen at once, so it can be done. Plus, it was talked about a ton last year during the last mystery game release and I believe you (Nathan Strum) are a fan. All positives, but then there's that clue not fitting as neatly. What to do? That's where I was this morning when I woke up (yes, this was what I was pondering when I awoke.) I knew I had to make a guess and didn't want to list them both or flip a coin and then another movie randomnly popped into my head and I couldn't figure out why. It's not associated with video games and there are none to be found on a single frame. In fact, it's set well before video games came out. So, why did Animal House pop into my head? One, to a certain generation, if you say 'college', they will probably respond 'Animal House'. Two, this iconic scene: Therefor, I'm going with Food Fight!

You'd have to discount the nineties, but it could be paired with Stella at 20 and be called Homebrew at 21. @ZeroPage Homebrew After catching the show on YouTube last night, just wanted to chime in that I am another "listener." I save the Tuesday show for Wednesday nights and end up listening to it like a podcast. So, there's at least two of us who do this, though I can safely say that I've never fallen asleep while listening.

Tested multiple Level L's on the following: 2005 Phillips 27" : works 1998 Sony 13": works 1987 Toshiba 13" w/tube starting to fail: works 1970's Panasonic 19": works Apple Monitor III: works great in glowing green 🙂

Like the set-up! In regards to the coupler, does it stay in place on it's own or do you secure with something?

Yes, I thought about this as well. I only wish to make one more guess anyway, so let's just agree you will reveal nothing until the actual reveal time. You are probably right about that, though I imagine that's only because your mind works at a much sharper clip than mine.