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VectorGamer

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Posts posted by VectorGamer

  3. Posted

    When I bought my arcade cabinet from TNT Amusements, the owner there said that arcades are dead. "A quarter is still what it was 30 years ago - a lousy quarter." He went on to say that the only arcades that will be around are ones that are already around and own the building.

     

    I'll be hitting two arcades this summer - the one at Hersheypark and the one on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. I'll jot down a list of classic games that may still be in service at the respective arcade. At one time there were at least two arcades on the boardwalk at Ocean City and I don't recall if there is one at the Jolly Roger out there but I will check on our obligatory annual visit for the kids.

     

    Also, I will be at the TMG expo soon and I'll grab some photos. There's a classic arcade about ten minutes away that I'm going to visit in between our early morning extravaganza and the Warlords Tournament.

  4. Posted

    LOL, I like them both (5200 and ColecoVision). As I said numerous times, it comes down to an issue of personal preference and they both have their strengths and shortcomings -- easy solution is to have both!

     

    I pretty much agree with your list on the 7800. Some of those 7800 games are real stinkers. I don't see Ace of Aces on your lists -- avoid it. Nothing like a flying game at 1fps! They sure did get some things right with the 7800, and I agree with your assessment hardware-wise. Also, should have had better sound at least, and better animation. Software-wise, they let a golden opportunity slip by if simply due to bad timing. I have yet to try any 7800 homebrews, but hope to whenever the holidays sale happens.

     

    Oh, and last time I had my 7800 out a few weeks ago, I played Crack'd, and I don't have a light gun. Sure not saying it's any fun playing with a joystick, but I know I did.

     

    I'm with you on owning a 5200 and Colecovision. Fact is, I am a rabid classic arcade nut that has to have access to as many quality arcade ports I can get my hands on. Doesn't matter what system, there are always duds.

     

    I wasn't able to get Crack'd to work. I was using a 2600 joystick - maybe I was doing something wrong.

  5. Posted

    <<<SNiP>>>

    2) Not sure that ever went away. It's just in different forms now with "better" graphics.

     

    My question was vague - more in the sense of another "Pac-Man Fever" sweeping the nation and gamers preferring these more simplistic games over the graphically superior counterparts (for whatever reason - economics or "been there, done that").

     

    Wouldn't it be cool - maybe for just a year and some people taking the risk and opening arcades as we used to know them?

     

    Maybe in higher place, eh?

  6. Posted

    When you say 'history repeating itself' does that mean that some kind soul (with megabucks) will buy ATARI and bring it back into an industry it knew well (hardware NOT software)

     

    That would be sweet if the goal of the hardware was to create a large number of arcade ports up to 1984, that are true to the real thing and is backward compatible with the 2600 and 7800 carts. Add to that updating earlier titles from the 2600, 5200 and 7800 library that could use a boost in graphics and enhanced gameplay.

     

    I think this would be more suitable for hobbyists like the ones found here on AtariAge. If I had the know-how, this would be something I personally would undertake.

  7. Posted

    The global recession could have a big impact on video game sales. People can't afford to spend £40/$50 on a game when they're struggling to pay the bills.

     

    This is my personal preference, but owning a console no later than the Playstation allows me to purchase games for no more than $5 on average. I have no desire to purchase any of the latest systems. Most of them seem to be RPGs which I never had an interest in. I cannot see myself doing repeat plays on these systems.

  8. Posted

    There will be arcades if they can give us what we can't have at home. More than an interactive motion simulator that just jerks you around, you'll get into a big ball-shaped thing, strap in and feel like you're really flying a space ship or driving a car. For example, if your vehicle spins around, you'll actually spin around and you'll have a full hemispherical view of the game world where you can see all around you. Arcades will need to be like mini-amusement parks if they want to keep people coming in.

     

    Although the vision I have of the spinning vehicle is humorous, you are exactly right. On top of that it kills the idea of charging a quarter regardless of the fact that nobody charges a quarter anymore.

  9. Posted

    Additionally, I'm also working on my Colecovision collection at the same time. While this thread is about the 7800, I have to say that the Colecovision is my favorite console. There is an active thread "5200 vs. Colecovision" and there seems to be more in favor of the 5200. I question if popular opinion may be biased given that "Atari" is in the name of this site.

     

    With all due respect to Mirage, as it seems that he and I have common interests or at least I have interests common to him in a lot of topics on these boards (and he has been very helpful I might add), one of his favorite topics (and I say that tongue-in-cheek) was the "The One Console to Have For Arcade Ports" where I proclaimed the Colecovision the "king of the arcade ports" based on higher quality as well as quantity native to that system.

     

    Anyway, the 7800 carts I intend to keep that I listed in the previous post are very good ports. Given the circumstances regarding the timing of the release of the 7800, it is disappointing in the low number of ports available. Thankfully, there are home brews available and I hope that more are on the way.

     

    Hardware wise, the form factor of the 7800 is nice compared to the behemoth 5200. The return to the DB-9 controller ports is welcome along with the ability to play the 2600 carts (although not all of them - e.g. Stargate) without an add-on product.

  10. Posted

    Well, I think I pretty much spit my wad as far as collecting for the 7800 goes. I guess that isn't hard to do.

     

    Here are the titles I currently have:

     

    Asteroids

    Ballblazer

    Centipede

    Choplifter

    Crack'ed

    Dark Chambers

    Dig Dug

    Donkey Kong

    Donkey Kong Junior

    Food Fight

    Galaga

    Hat Trick

    Jinks

    Joust

    Ms. Pac-Man

    One-On-One Basketball

    Pole Position II

    Robotron 2084

    Summer Games

    Tower Toppler

    Winter Games

    Xevious

     

    Of those, I'm going to ditch the following:

    Crack'ed

    Dark Chambers

    Hat Trick

    Jinks

    One-On-One Basketball

    Summer Games

    Tower Toppler

    Winter Games

    Donkey Kong

    Donkey Kong Junior

     

    I have no reason to play the last two games. I have them on the Colecovision and the 7800 versions are just plain bad. I don't do sports games on the classic consoles since they just don't compare to what I can play on the Playstation. Believe it or not, the only exception I would make is Basketball for the Atari 2600. This is a case where game play makes up for the graphics.

     

    The only carts I have left to collect are the following:

    Midnight Mutants

    Pac-Man Collection

    Scrapyard Dog

    b*nQ

    Space Duel

    Asteroids Deluxe

    Beef Drop VE

     

    The TMG expo is only a week-and-a-half away, and I will see what I can pick up there.

  11. Posted

    :mad: :mad: :mad: I hate this thread, but I love to see what you finded! I just hate the fact that there's never anything good here in omaha!!! everything goes to gamers, and sometimes goodwill, and both are way overpriced. :_(

    where'd you guys get all that luck?

     

    I'm with ya on that! It's similar to having the score run up on you in a lopsided football game...

     

    I did however, find a Nintendo 64 and some PS games at a Goodwill, but I do not consider either of those "Classic Consoles." A Classic Console is one that focuses on arcade ports from the late 70s to 1984. Having said that, that would include the 7800 but not the NES.

     

    I did find some carts for an Atari computer at Salvation Army two weeks ago, but the fact remains that I have not been able to find any for my consoles.

  12. Posted

    I brought that up before and everything from him should be removed. I messaged him a few times got 1-2 responses. Sounded like he was going through tough times maybe? Regardless, if he's busy just pull them down and when he gets back on track let him repost them

     

    I agree. Although I received responses from him regarding a couple of games, I never received responses when it got to the stage of actually shipping the games out. As you said, if he is busy, remove his items from the list and he will notify us when they can be added back.

     

    Also, ClassicGmr has not updated the list for almost a month. Maybe he's too busy as well or perhaps that every offer has been matched with a claim therefore not requiring any modifications to the list.

  13. Posted

    :mad: :mad: :mad: I hate this thread, but I love to see what you finded! I just hate the fact that there's never anything good here in omaha!!! everything goes to gamers, and sometimes goodwill, and both are way overpriced. :_(

    where'd you guys get all that luck?

     

    I'm with ya on that! It's similar to having the score run up on you in a lopsided football game...

  16. Posted

    Dumb question - what exact material are video game cabinet marquees made out of and where can I purchase this material to make a custom marquee?

    I found a vector graphic on the Internet for my MAME cabinet and had it printed at Kinkos on Mylar and put that in between two pieces of clear plexiglass.

     

    post-22122-1240350786_thumb.jpg

     

    Nice game being displayed there!

  17. Posted

    It was said that one of major contributors to the crash of 84 was that a lot of releases were getting a "been there, done that" response from gamers. Is there any reason to believe that this will not happen again? Is there much of an improvement in gameplay (besides updated rosters) between e.g Madden '08 and Madden '09? Is there a plethora of cookie-cutter RPGs being released for the latest systems?

     

    Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have lots of cash, but are there any software companies out there that would not be able to survive a "correction" in the video game industry? This would undoubtedly be impossible to answer not knowing the magnitude of a correction. I would think that there would be some M&As going on if that situation presented itself.

     

    I agree that the dedicated arcade will never return. You would have to be selling another product like a Chuck E Cheese, Dave and Busters or dare I say a bowling alley to dedicate the space to the stuff.

     

    I also believe that the dedicated Internet Cafe will soon be a thing of the past. I just can't see a use for supplying Internet and danishes.

  19. Posted

    http://www.klov.com/images/11/118124215870.jpg

     

    That angled piece between the top back edge of the control panel and bottom front edge of the monitor with the swirly gold things & purple inlays?

     

    Anyone know what the original piece was made out of. I'd venture to say even wood might have been a possibility.

     

     

    Anywho.... Light. That's a very visible location, one that points up towards the player. Even if it was dim, I personally think a light there would be distracting when trying to play. Unless you plan on mounting whatever you're going to put there completely different then how that cab originally had it. If it was perfectly vertical so the light only came straight out towards your mid-section, it wouldn't be an issue. But then that also might look sorta funny breaking the flow of the lines not to mention it would be mostly right up against the monitor frame out and not leave you much room to do anything behind it. :ponder:

     

    Yes, one of the considerations I recognized was that if there is a light in that space it must be a soft glow light that will not distract the player. As you suggested, I suppose this may have to be angled similar to how Satan's Hollow was.

     

    Once I have the monitor in place, I will know more how this can be achieved, if at all.

  21. Posted

    Wow, that's looking pretty rough...I can see where we need this on a Colecovision!

    Graphically it may not be much, but it plays really well. Remember, this is the 2600 we're talking about. The 8-bit version is MUCH better though and hopefully will be released soon.

     

    You can read my reviews here:

     

    http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/s...ar/sinistar.htm

     

    http://www.atariprotos.com/8bit/software/s...ar/sinistar.htm

     

    Tempest

     

    Unfortunately I'm starting to play my 2600 carts less and less in favor of more faithful arcade ports found on the 5200, 7800 and Colecovision. I still play Space Invaders, Space Invaders Arcade, Galaxian Arcade, Pac-Man Arcade, Stargate, Medieval Mayhem and even Circus Atari on the 2600 - as you can see some of the better titles as far as graphics go.

  22. Posted

    I've seen acrylic at Home Depot. Not sure if they offer cutting services for it. I remember seeing 1/8" there, but not sure what all they carry.

     

    It's that vertical gap between the bottom of the display area and the control panel? And you're wanting to put transparent material there? Would this typically be a solid piece?

     

    I know you can get smoked acrylic, that's something you might look into.

    I've seen some translucent paints that you might be able to use on the back side of clear acrylic to achieve your color effect. Are you planning to put the light directly behind it? I think I'd want to put a solid panel some distance behind it and reflect the light off that panel so the light source isn't directly visible through the acrylic. (Assuming I'm in any way understanding what you're doing)

     

    I don't know the color scheme of the game, but violet or blue neon behind slightly tinted acrylic might look good.

     

    The gap is the horizontal gap between the monitor and control panel.

     

    Actually, I was at mikesarcade.com and stumbled up a "light shield" for a Pac-Man cocktail cabinet. This is similar to what I want to do although I plan on having a cover of sorts over the panel that will transmit the glow through a linear hole for a more "sleek" look.

     

    The cabinet is going to be for Galaga, so I chose to go with a blue glow (green was also a consideration and actually may be better - I'll see). One of the challenges will be mounting the light so that it is positioned properly as you said but also accessible for maintenance.

  23. Posted

    What platforms is Sinistar available on?

    There's a prototype for the Atari 2600 and 8-bit. The 2600 prototype has been released, and the 8-bit version will be released soon. There's also a Sinistar-like game hidden in the Genesis games Tyrants I believe.

     

    Tempest

     

    Where has the prototype been released? Is it one of those Expo promos?

    The 2600 rom is available everywhere including here on AA: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html...wareLabelID=812

     

    The 8-bit version has not been released yet as I said.

     

    Tempest

     

    Wow, that's looking pretty rough...I can see where we need this on a Colecovision!

  25. Posted

    If it's something that will be touchable, I'd go with polycarbonate for the additional scratch resistance. If it will be inaccessible, cheaper acrylic would be fine.

     

    I'm not quite able to visualize what you're describing, but there are some cool edge lighting effects that can be done with plastics like this. That's what I keep imagining rather than a solid sheet covering the entire display.

     

    What brick-and-mortar shops carry the acrylic?

     

    If you go to the following thread and look at the pic that shows the front of the cabinet, you can see the gap between the control panel and the monitor.

     

    My Cabinet Project

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