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retrorussell

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Posts posted by retrorussell

  4. Posted

    I just had a great idea for an unboxing video: Halfway through the process, a facehugger from Aliens unexpectedly springs forth from the box and affixes itself to the camera lens.

    Great idea FS!

    Actually, that would make a cool novelty package for an "Alien Games" plug and play compilation with Alien games like Aliens from Konami and Alien Vs. Predator by Capcom. The facehugger could pop out of the package when opened, like the "snake in the peanut can" gag.

  5. Posted

    Well, the starfield scrolls in Galaxian.. but I bet you mean, like, background scrolling or terrain scrolling. This could be either vertical or horizontal, or fixed/non-fixed scrolling (fixed being like Scramble or Gradius, non-fixed like Defender).

    I'm thinking the first fixed horizontal scroller is Scramble.

  7. Posted

     

    Generic B&W Pac-man rip-off -- a local discount department store (Kresgee's) hosted this for a while, ca. 1982. I don't remember what it was called; the game was a local legend because it was such poor quality.

     

    It wasn't Piranha was it? Black and white.. that's strange. Maybe the monitor wasn't working properly.

  8. Posted

    It's what is called the "dreaded life syndrome". Bills to worry about, kids to raise, house to clean, laundry to do, work to go to, PTA meetings to attend, etc. We just don't get the time to study the games and conquer them sometimes. You just have to find time somehow and "get in the zone" with a particular game. With some people the knack just comes easier than others, as with anything that requires patience and dedication. If you don't have it you have to give that extra effort. If you don't feel like giving it, just remember, it's just a game. If you feel you worked for the score you have and it's better than most people can achieve, you can be perfectly satisfied with it. Even if you suck you can fall back on the "dreaded life syndrome", because it is a perfectly valid excuse if you're a busy individual.

  9. Posted

    Yeah, a no-frills Space Invaders clone pasted on top of Harmageddon footage isn't my idea of a good time. It just makes me want to watch the movie and forget all about the game.

     

    That reminds me... I saw a lot of oddities at a quaint little amusement park in Illinois. The floom ride that was the park's centerpiece was sandwiched by two arcades, both packed with laser disc games and other curiosities. Us vs. Them! Cliff Hanger! Roadrunner! Bank Panic! Chinese Hero, the arcade version of Kung Fu Heroes on the NES! I don't know what happened to that place, but if there are arcades in heaven, I'm sure they'll be among them!

    I rather liked Bank Panic. It got pretty dang hard later on though, with you having almost no time to shoot the baddies when they shoved a customer out of the way and shot at you in the space of about a nanosecond.

  11. Posted

    I'm perfectly happy with the Saitek dual analong pad. I have it PERFECTLY configured for MAME gaming. 6 action buttons (ideal for fighting games), 2 shoulder buttons (insert credit, start), and I push in the joysticks for either pause or menu. Or I can switch the controls from directional pad to sticks with the button in the middle of the pad.

  12. Posted

    There was an outdoor arcade under a tent at the Rose Festival (occurs in downtown Portland during June of every year) where all sorts of semi-obscure games were sitting around. Inbetween playing the various carnival games, getting popcorn or candy, or riding the roller coasters, I'd head over and bust out some Make Trax, Crazy Climber (in the Nichibutsu cabinet), Congo Bongo, Arabian, etc. Don't know if the tent is still there; haven't attended in many, many years. I have fond memories of getting in free and going on rides for free, due to a partnership deal (my dad was a manager at the Tigard Fred Meyer store, and they sponsored the Festival).

  15. Posted

    Whoo, let's see... Eyes seemed to be pretty common in mid-Michigan, and I probably have more nostalgia for that game than anyone should. The death scenes are among the most memorable in an early video game... the iris of your eyeball spins around like it's really dizzy or really sarcastic, while a cool oscillating sound plays in the background.

     

    There was another game I recall from my teen years called The Glob. It was horrible, looking like PC shareware designed for an EGA monitor. Your glob would stick to the tops of ceilings, dropping on the world's most neurotic creatures. The game was malfunctioning at the bowling alley I visited, and was set to permanent free play. Eventually, I got so bored/annoyed with it that I told the arcade repair man about it, and he tore the cabinet apart right in front of my eyes!

     

    I found a Time Pilot '84 cabinet in the same arcade. I wasn't really impressed with it... you could tell that it wasn't developed by the same design team as the original. I think Okamoto left Konami around the time that Time Pilot '84 was in development, so that explains why it was pretty mediocre.

     

    I remember seeing Marvin's Maze (isometric Pac-Man, basically) and Future Spy (repurposed Zaxxon) at an arcade in Wisconsin. Another arcade in Michigan had Snake Pit, Locomotion, and Make Trax/Crush Roller, which is in the running for having the most annoying opening music in any video game, ever. I still grit my teeth when I hear it... it's that bad. A Meijer in mid-Michigan used to have Return of the Invaders (!!!) and 800 Leagues, a cheesy Scramble hack taking place underwater. A movie theater I visited in Lansing had Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, which I understand is a very rare game... and not an especially fun one.

     

    I could go on like this forever, really. I remember obscure arcade games as well as the details of my mother's second marriage or my own graduation! Pretty scary!

     

    My sister and I played a lot of Eyes back in the day. I used to like Make Trax quite a bit and played it a lot at Chuck E. Cheese, though the opening music is pretty bad. I saw Return Of The Invaders once and it wasn't very good. Joust 2, I think, is awful. There should be an upgrade where you can buy better gear for your ostrich, or breed new ones like Chocobos!

     

    I never saw Bega's Battle at the arcade but watched a clip of it on YouTube. Looks like one terrible fricking game. I did see Badlands at an arcade, and that game's hilarious.

  16. Posted · Edited by retrorussell

    I remember the laserdisc game Cliff Hanger which was basically a game with footage of the anime Lupin III. Since this was 1983 and anime didn't occupy the place it does now in USA culture, it didn't seem to take off in the arcades and nobody would make the connection with Lupin until anime became really popular by the late 1990s.

     

    Anyone remember that other laserdisc game, Thayer's Quest? I saw an actual game complete with its keypad and I hear a home version was actually made recently for the PC.

     

    Check out this sweet page on Thayer's Quest. The whole website is about laserdisc arcade games.

     

    http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/games/pages/tq.asp

  22. Posted

    Iggy*SJB' date='Mon Dec 7, 2009 4:34 PM' timestamp='1260225245' post='1892607']

     

     

    Can you detail this cheat? I've never heard of it before.

     

    I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Galaga. I never was. I'm not saying it's a bad game, and I have come to like it more in the past few years than I ever did in my youth. I just had more fun with games like: Gorf, Battlezone, Scramble(one of my alltime favs!), Time Pilot, Berzerk, Super Pac-Man, and a bunch of others.

     

    Actually, I do the cheat on Level 1. It involves letting all the aliens formate without shooting them. Then destroy them all EXCEPT the bottom 2 bees in the far left column. Then you let them fly around for 15 minutes or so, avoiding their shots. Careful, the shots can warp through one side of the screen to the other, so make note of this. Eventually the bees will no longer shoot at you. When they make a pass 3 times or so without shooting, kill them. From now on no enemies will shoot at you.

  25. Posted

    (I am having trouble keeping the two sets of patterns differentiated in my head. How did Ken Uston do it?)
    How did you is the question. You can't use patterns in Ms. Pac-Man.

    I did not know that you can't use patterns in Ms. PacMan.

    I used a couple patterns for a few levels in Ms. Pac-Man. I forgot them though. But you sure can't use patterns in Pac-Man Plus!

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