Mini Systems

[Mini Systems]

And there's also the Game Gear, which is actually a portable Sega Master System which, through a Master Gear adapter, can actually play Master System games (not including the card format games).

 

And for home systems, there's the Intellivision 2 and the DINA/Personal Arcade, a ColecoVision-compatible in a smaller casing.

[Which generation of games did NOT impress you?]

the n64 was a f---in waste

 

I didn't think it was a waste, except for the fact that it was the second home system Nintendo developed that they didn't make any use of the expansion port slot (except in Japan, where the Dynamic Drive adapter they've been dangling in our faces like a carrot was released).

 

As far as what generation of systems failed to impress me...I haven't come across that generation yet. Though it's most likely that what would follow the Playstation 2, the X-Box, and the Gamecube would be the generation of systems that could potentially fail to impress me.

[I survived the crash: an old dude's tale]

I was taking advantage of whatever good (and possibly good) games I could buy for the Atari 2600 around $5-10, building up my collection when the market slowly started to deteriorate. The ColecoVision was a bit harder to get games for for less than $10 as a bargain, though I managed to get titles like Smurf Rescue, Ladybug, and Cosmic Avenger for around $10-15 each. However, much of my classic game hunting for those two systems would end up being at tag sales by the late 1980s, and my beloved Atari 2600 and 7800 collection wound up being sold off at a tag sale in 1991 to make way for an NES collection.

[What's with Star Fox??]

I think Nintendo did the name Starfox justice when they developed the eponymous game for the Super NES and Nintendo 64 (with the latter being the best of the two). I owned that and Sorceror for the 2600, and even though it cost me $1 for each, neither were really worth the bargain.

[Vic George 2K3 - What were you thinking ;)]

I was 20 when I wrote that letter to the Atarian magazine.

[Vic George 2K3 - What were you thinking ;)]

Well, that was me back then! And what was I thinking? That the 7800 really needed some good games...not that I didn't enjoy the remakes of classic arcade games.

[Stupidity...]

Difficulty switches, mostly used for 2600 games, though some 7800 games use them like Xevious and Tower Toppler.

[Boba Fett spotted in VCS game!!!]

Bill and Ted took Dr. Who's vehicle for a time-travelling trip by mistake. They like the amount of room it provides but think its speed is totally bogus!

[Why do some games have bars on the side?]

It's for bar code scanners! LOL

[I cant stand these newer systems]

Games of the 80's and early 90's were great, because they were innovative and unique. Also if you walk into an arcade, you'll see the same thing. 300 different racing games, 300 different fighting games, and 300 different shoot-em up games. That's it.

 

As opposed to walking into an 80's arcade and seeing 300 Pacman ripoffs, 300 Space Invaders ripoffs, and 300 Pole Position ripoffs?

 

But yeah, I'd rather play Lock 'n' Chase than most of the lame-ass "stealth" games.

 

--Zero

 

Funny, I didn't see 300 Pac-Man ripoffs, 300 Space Invader ripoffs, and 300 Pole Position ripoffs back then. Sure, there were clones and imitators, but there was a lot more variety in the arcade gaming back then than there is now. Besides, some of the games I fell in love with were found in bowling alleys and skating rinks that bought pretty much anything that had a video screen and a coin slot for sucking in your quarters.

[Infogrames changes it's name to Atari]

I wonder if we would see a Smurf game released with the Atari label? LOL

[NES version of BallBlazer (ROM conveniently included!)]

Well, I'm certainly glad for the superior update to Ballblazer for the SNES called Space Football: One On One. Just only wish this was done for the modern systems, or like for the Gameboy Advance.

[Controller Poll]

It's not a bashing with me, it's the honest truth...the 5200 controllers do stink! I'd rather have a ColecoVision controller over a 5200 controller on any given day.

[Climber 5 source and binary]

Attack Of The Killer Walls! Pretty interesting game.

[Finally got BallBlazer!]

Space Football: One On One for the SNES does Ballblazer better.

[what is the difference?]

My biggest problem with the 7800 is that it's the system Atari should have been making NEW games on, not STILL remaking the old 2600 titles.

 

The remakes on the 7800 are great but nothing to get excited about.

 

I don't see a problem with remaking games like Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Centipede, Joust, and even Asteroids on the 7800. The only problem I saw with the system is simply not getting the support it should have, plus Nintendo's licensing system having a vampiric effect on what could be produced for systems other than the NES at the time. And of course, the Tramiels trying to also market the XE computer line as yet another game system.

[what is the difference?]

My biggest problem with the 7800 is that it's the system Atari should have been making NEW games on, not STILL remaking the old 2600 titles.

 

The remakes on the 7800 are great but nothing to get excited about.

 

I don't see a problem with remaking games like Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Centipede, Joust, and even Asteroids on the 7800. The only problem I saw with the system is simply not getting the support it should have, plus Nintendo's licensing system having a vampiric effect on what could be produced for systems other than the NES at the time. And of course, the Tramiels trying to also market the XE computer line as yet another game system.

[Pac-Man and being redundant]

Yeah, I think it's getting redundant. But I would still play 2600 Donkey Kong over 2600 Pac-Man on any given day.

[Ways to hold 2 joysticks down?]

Or build a dual joystick holder for two Atari 2600 joystick controllers, like the "Pac-table" idea Ken Uston had for playing Atari 2600 Pac-Man.

[Armor Ambush vs Combat]

I played Armor Battle on the Intellivision (which is the original version of Armor Ambush) and I think it's a good game, just different as far as what one would want in a tank battle game. It's more for those who want realism rather than just a typical arcade-type maze shooter.

[Why Parker Bros got Star Wars]

I don't know the story behind the star wars licining thing but heres an interesting thing: when Mel brooks made his spoof of Star Wars (space balls) which was ok with lucas. Mel wanted to also sell stuff from Space  

Balls but Lucas said no. thats is why you saw Space balls stuff through the whole Space Balls movie.

Dan Iacovelli

 

That was perfect as a tongue-in-cheek joke to the Star Wars merchandizing mania. Not that anyone really needs Spaceballs merchandise even to the same level as Star Wars merchandise, but anyway it was funny to see even self-referential "merchandise" in the bathroom of Mel Brooks' President Scrube. Makes me think of that "What's Cute...And What's Not" in an issue of MAD Magazine where it says "ET in the theatres is cute...ET all over your house is not", and we see a bathroom that's just so wall-to-wall with ET.

[Batman]

I still think Adam West's Batman costume is cheesy in comparison with the comic book interpretations from the 1970s onward. And even with the coloring scheme which is inconsistent with the color scheme of a bat (though I personally don't know of any bats that are blue and gray), John Byrne at the very least made it clear in his interpretation of the classic Batman costume that he does NOT have a black face portion on the mask itself; it's merely a simple shadow drawn in to offset Batman's face from the rest of the mask.

 

Anyway, Warner Communications held the rights to DC Comics properties, so if anyone was going to make a Batman game back then (as if anyone could make a Batman game), it would have to be the pre-Tramiel Atari.

[garage sale finds today]

BLEECH! The decal artwork on that Coleco tabletop Pac-Man clone is just disgusting. At least it's an interesting find.

[Annoying videogame speech]

As far as videogame speech goes, I think the arcade game Bosconian pretty much ranks as highly annoying. I mean, the voice that's supposed to say, "Blast off", ends up sounding more like, "Lock off", as if it were a disguised obscenity. And "Alert! Alert!" ends up sounding more like "Alight! Alight!". That part can be excused, but there is really no excuse for "Blast off" to sound like "Lock off".

 

What do you think is the most annoying videogame speech, not counting voice-acting on CD games?

[First use of video game sounds in music?]

I only know of the Pretenders' "Space Invaders" which used the sounds of the arcade machine near the end of the song, and of course the song output of Buckner & Garcia, but nothing earlier than that.

 

Of course, I did notice that a song from the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack did use the sound effects from the arcade game Arkanoid in it. (I know that's digressing from the topic.)