tz101

Atari should not have bailed, but staid the course. Also, controller ports should have been based on 2600 and backward compatible with CX40 sticks and paddles. Finally, innovative games that were never released on 5200 like Battlezone, I, Robot, Galaga, Crystal Castles, etc. Why would they even release Galaxian for it when Galaga had already wiped the floor with it at the arcades? Dumb decisions were made all over the place in those days (see Coleco Adam), but mostly due to Warner selling the company to somebody that did not know how to manage it. Hindsight is 20/20...

The problem with collecting for the classics is that most games are cart only when you find them. I also bought Yar's recently and don't quite get it yet. Also saw Swordquest but passed on it for now. There are numerous sites that have downloadable/printable manuals, so that helps I guess.

Bumped. Only one day until the drawing.

OK, so would another controller plugged into port #2 work in place of the booster grip? Does anyone know of a pinout diagram that would allow a standard Atari stick to effectively be changed into a booster grip?

Is it necessary to have the booster grip controller for port #2 to play this game? I just picked it up at a used game store and of course there was no booster grip included.

Something to note: 32X was Sega's answer to the SNES FX chip games, albeit not self-contained in the carts like Nintendo did with theirs. This supposedly made it cheaper for Sega to manufacture the advanced game carts, as they did not have to include the extra processing onboard in each game. So long as you know this, then do not think of the 32X as a "system". It is only an enhancement for Genesis cartridges, sort of like how Donkey Kong Country and Star Fox looked amazing on the SNES.

Man, next time I will ask for them for free. I paid $8 for two sets today.

Yes, pink screen is what normally flashes when you get the dreaded blinkies. Disabling 10NES only makes it quit blinking, but the screen is still solid pink if the games/72-pin connector are dirty from years of use. This is where isopropyl and q-tips come into the equation. Despite all the warning labels on the back of the game carts, alcohol will not damage them in the slightest. Clean away...

OK, I felt like doing some good and helping out a fellow gamer, so picked up an extra set of four of the recently released Taco Bell Atari VCS/2600 game discs for PC/Mac. Since people outside the US cannot get these, I am going to hold a raffle. The winner will be shipped my extra set free of charge. Just post on this thread if interested, and I will draw a name on Sunday, March 7. Only non-US residents please.

Went to TB by my work today. They said Atari games will not be there until next week. So how did some areas TB's get them this week?

Tele-Games Video Arcade II is awesome. I got mine for free, found it in a shed and they were going to throw it away. Only thing is I didn't get the stick/paddle combo controllers. Cool thing is it has four controller ports, but I have not seen a game that takes 4 players for joysticks.

Y, this is usually the case with me too. I got Dragon Warrior II for NES and its saved at a level where I don't know what's going on. May play around with it a little bit at that level, but will most likely restart at the beginning.

I sometimes like the fact that thrift store game carts have saved games on them, especially if the person got really far into the game. But most times I erase any saved games from thrift finds because I want to experience all the earlier levels. Anyone else play the game saves from thrift store finds?

My wife's brother stole my NES Arkanoid CIB with Vaus controller. That was expensive to replace off of Ebay, but I did get a copy back. He was simply a thief who also took my copy of Karnov. I never let him around my games again.

How do we find out? Somebody on this thread takes a risk and orders one?

I loaned a bunch of NES carts to my nephew years ago and never saw them again. Lesson learned. I have since recouped most of my losses through thrifts and CL/Ebay.

Activision actually started life as a breath of fresh air for Atari 2600 and Intellivision players. Sorry to see it come to this, but all the original guys are gone long ago.

Things that will not work with a Genesis model 3 system: Virtua Racing game cart Gargoyles game cart Sega CD add-on 32X add-on Also, no stereo sound on the Genesis model 3 FYI...

Take the unit apart and look for the 10NES lockout chip. Clipping pin number 4 (see picture) will disable it and stop the blinking screen at startup. Be aware, this will not automatically make the game cartridge be recognized by the NES console. If the contact pins are dirty, you will now get a solid pink colored screen. So, next in order, is to thoroughly clean the 72 pin connector inside the console along with the contacts in the game cart. I recommend very fine grit sandpaper used with light force followed by 91% isopropyl alcohol, both sides of PCB. Voila, blinkies will be forever gone and the game should play fine.

From what I read it seems that this device allows the user to play his/her legal SNES/Genesis game carts through their emulation program on PC. The only thing I am left wondering is how the interface works. Most emulators have a default folder for ROM image storage. How is emulator "XYZ" going to know to look for the Retrode device as its ROM source? Might be a good question to ask the people selling this gadget prior to purchase.

Ok, agreed, but Mattel is far too monied of a company to give it up with a single try like the Power Glove project. Again, a weak effort with little marketing or brand awareness (I didn't even know these existed until they were being clearanced by all the big retailers a few years back). Mattel is the top toy company in the world and they cannot market a video game system with any success? Are they being run by some amateurs over there?

Simple suggestion: Have you cleaned contact pins on the system and game carts with 91% isopropyl alcohol? Might be a place to start.

I would like to try my hand at some home brewing. Any tips or hints for using batari Basic for this purpose? Thanks in advance.

I'm guessing these were not the best on contact pin life expectancy. One of the things that degrades metal contacts is leaving game cartridges plugged into the console for extended time periods. Handy: Yes. Good for contacts: No.

Addressing the OP: Dreamcast controllers had the cord coming out the bottom instead of the top. Why? Saturn had no backward compatibility with Genesis or SCD. Why? Atari 2600 did not make more games playable with paddle/driving controllers. Game such as Space Invaders, Enduro, Galaxian, Spider Fighter, Demon Attack and Crackpots should have been paddle controller compatible. 5200 4-port was not backward compatible to 2600 games. What were they thinking?