glazball

Went ahead and purchased the Tankstick last night, along with adapters for various consoles. I know it's not going to be the best stick in the world, but since I'm just getting into MAME (finally) this should be suitable enough to let me play some games with my stepson while having a solid arcade feel. I looked at more expensive options, but those will have to wait. This will have to be my jumping in stick; perhaps later I can install higher-quality buttons and sticks. I also plan to add 2 spinners and get an overlay to cover up the awful factory "X" artwork.

Depends on how it was verified, but yes it is. However, my opinion on the matter is pretty meaningless so no worries! No need to get defensive. Do you believe that Todd Rogers actually scored 65,000,000 on Atari 5200 Centipede when the next highest is 58,000? With hindsight, we now know that a lot of the "old guard" at Twin Galaxies cheated, fudged, colluded and even outright lied to get their world records recognized. We know that (at least for a while) Todd was able to enter his own scores onto the leaderboards. Sometimes players would enter impossibly high scores to dissuade anyone from ever attempting to break the record and that's exactly what could have happened with 2600 Jr. Pac-Man.

No, my opinion on that score has nothing to do with me or my skill. I said it feels wrong to me because a. no one else has ever come even 1/3 as close (on TG at least), b. it was validated by referee and as we know, TG's referees haven't always been completely honest in the past, and c. TG in general has been found to have honest errors such as typos when entering scores.

That score seems wrong to me too. 900k and the next highest is 250k? Just my opinion, but as we've seen with Todd Rogers falsified scores, it's hard to completely trust the Twin Galaxies scoreboard.

Thanks negative1, I want to hear the good and bad. I'm reading Reaperman's thread on the NeoGeo forums along with other threads here and Amazon reviews, trying to digest the complaints. They range from "love it" to "avoid avoid avoid." I'm not sure I want to give them my business, but the price is right. I can't stand poor customer service though. That drives me insane. I don't need top of the line gear, but I want it to last me a long time. I'm struggling to find a quality arcade control panel besides the X-Arcade Tankstick that would also work with consoles though. All others have USB for MAME/PC but no PS4, etc. I've written a few places inquiring if their sticks could be customized with PS4 support, but haven't heard anything back from anyone.

Bumping this old thread to ask a question of those of you who use the Tankstick. I'm on the verge of buying one of these. One of my deciding factors is the use of console adaptors so I can use the stick on Dreamcast, PS3, PS4, etc. but I'm worried the adapters will introduce lag. Anyone here using new-ish, recent revisions of Tankstick and adapters that can speak to whether it is laggy on consoles?

I agree with everything you wrote, but I want to also add that Ed Fries can sit on the throne claiming success with Xbox because M$ had a $500 million dollar budget - just for marketing. I'm no fan of MS even now because they stuck their stupid noses in the video game industry with a crap console, the purchase of Bungie (to have a killer app), and half a fucking BILLION dollars to get American morons to buy it. And they still haven't gone away! (XBox One X? Just stupid...) I digress though. In that interview, it's clear Ed knows Feargal is mostly talking out of his ass. But he also knows if the money were to come in, shit would/could get done. Feargal stated more than once that Ataribox is not trying to compete with the Big Three, so when I read comments here about "For $250 I could by a PS4!!" - yes that's true, and $250 isn't chump change, but a lot of people, myself included, would have paid it just to have a new Atari console. All they had to do was actually create something to play games on, and they didn't. I bought a Raspberry Pi computer kit for my stepson for Xmas for $250. Of course I could have bought the Pi, screen, etc separately and saved money, but I paid the extra because it is a gift. We should all keep in mind that a lot of people are ok with spending a little extra when it's for a gift or a special purchase, even if it's not truly worth the asking price. I would still buy an Ataribox if and when they are available for purchase. I can't afford to possibly lose money with crowdfunding, and I don't want to support Feargal (who needs to step down if he hasn't already been removed), but I still want an Ataribox. What can I say? I love Atari.

I certainly don't mean Historian (or anyone here for that matter) any disrespect, but in all of his posts he never actually said anything even remotely useful and hasn't done anything to earn respect. Of course, I'm sure it was difficult to say anything specific at all about the Ataribox when he was never given any specifics to begin with. I think we were all just ready for any kind of information, but now the writing is on the wall for the Ataribox. Feargal thought he could use Atari's name and a cool-looking case to get on Indiegogo, rake in some money using some of it to pay someone to make a console, deliver some kind of (probably) mediocre product eventually, and then move on. Just like Mike Kennedy, his endgoal was that Indiegogo campaign, not an actual gaming console... but at least MK was in it for the love of games. Historian, you were right to break ties now but I would suggest waiting to post until you have something of substance to share. Or ask Feargal to come here and speak up for himself.

Those look sharp KylJoy! If you share your files, I might just make those up myself. My Astrocade games are all loose and look pretty boring and black together in their storage box. It would be great to display them. Any chance you could make a full set and possibly one for the UltiMulti-cart?

I just saw the notice on the front page. Glad I didn't miss it since I rarely check the front page (don't check the Jag forums enough either). I just sent an email expressing my interest for a pair. These sound incredible. I'd also like to echo the sentiment that you guys should absolutely look into also offering revisions for ColecoVision and especially Atari 5200.

Do we find out with tomorrow's big "reveal" that Kevtris and Ben Heck have teamed up to make this thing? Joking aside.... will the Ataribox Indiegogo campaign be an "all or nothing" fundraiser or "we take whatever we can get" affair? As you mentioned, they may set the bar low just to ensure the goal is met and they can claim it was an amazing success. Let's say they ask for $100,000, but only get $80,000 in funding. Will Ataribox get to keep that money, or will they get nothing if the goal isn't met?

I watched this video again last night, the interview with Feargal Mac about the Ataribox. His demeanor (as well as non-answers) betrays the reality of the situation: Ataribox team has nothing. It's clear, at least to me, that he is giving a sales pitch. Only with no product to sell, it's more of a hail mary pass. Or perhaps a shotgun approach? I don't even know what metaphor fits best, but watch how he nervously grabs his neck when asked a pointed question. He is asked about games. (I'm paraphrasing) "You may want a full list of games that will be on it... Not yet, not yet but sooon!" Well that interview was 2 months ago or so, and we have yet to hear about one single game except Minecraft and Terraria (which aren't even confirmed). Asked why Ataribox would succeed where others have failed. He appeals to nostalgia. "Everyone has an Atari story." "Everyone knows these classic games/characters." But more importantly, the "community." Atari still has legions of fans and he wants to "leverage the community." Simply put, he wants to put an Atari logo on a box and sell it to those of us who would buy it simply for that reason. I admit, I am one of them, but crowdfund it on Indiegogo I will not do. Doesn't "leverage the [Atari] community" sound a lot like "cornering the retro video game market"? When this Indiegogo drops in a mere 2 days, will we be assaulted with a wall of information like specs, games, etc? Or will be get more renders, vague promises and a choice of black or "real wood" for pre-ordering* early? It would be so much easier to give this project any credibility if Feargal wasn't acting exactly like Mike Kennedy was before his crowdfunding campaign started. *Indiegogo is not a pre-order

Why? Because all I've seen so far from the Ataribox camp are renders and a whole lot of bullshit. Straightforward question @The Historian: does Ataribox have any kind of working prototype? (If yes, why are they not using Kickstarter?) I was very eager to back the Retro VGS (when many on this forum and others were not), until I realized Mike Kennedy had literally nothing but was trying to avoid saying so. I was eager to support the Ataribox until I realized Feargal Mac and crew also have nothing. If they had literally anything, we would have seen something by now. Yet here we are only 3 days away from being asked for $300 or more, and we have absolutely no information about this project. We've been down the road before and it's just all too familiar. You'll have to excuse me if I don't trust Feargal "Sorry For the Atari Gameband Silence, Update Soon We Promise!!" Mac with $300.

Besides the fact that Ataribox is now asking us to "pre-order" a console when they themselves have no idea what it will be, what do we even know about the Indiegogo campaign itself? When Mike Kennedy went to Indiegogo with no prototype, he at least had the decency to make the campaign "all or nothing" - meaning, if he didn't meet his goal, he got nothing and backers got their money returned. Will Ataribox do the same, or will they keep all the money if/when they don't meet their goal?

Holy shit Nathan Strum, just noticed the change to your avatar! Damn hilarious! Your pic illustrates what I, and seemingly most of us, can't help thinking is the deadening silence from the Atacobox camp is due to someone bringing Mike Kennedy's failed Retro VGS/Coleco Chamelon campaign to Feargal's attention. "You mean someone has already gone to Indiegogo with a retro brand, 3D console renders and promises of greatness but absolutely no prototype or engineering skills? Shit, that's what I was gonna do." Didn't I see Feargal's real name is Mac Conuladh? Mac Conuladh <-> Mike Kennedy. Awfully similar. If this Ataribox campaign continues where it seems to be headed, Feargal will be 2018's Mike Kennedy.

Mordecai and Rigby on The Regular Show regularly play what looks to be a Sega Master System.

I saw your facts and I agree you are in the right. Yurkie f-ed up and I can't defend the poor communication. I was only responding because of your claim that he plans to steal your item and resell it. Having dealt with him before, as many of us here have, I know that to be untrue and just wanted to say so. In any case, let us know how it gets resolved.

I'd say $300 but only IF it works. You really need to test it since they had such a high failure rate. If it DOES work, keep it! That's a beautiful, clean system. Get an UltiMulti-Cart from kenzre before he stops making them (by the end of 2017 supposedly) and enjoy your Astrocade. It's an awesome system.

I said his work is professional, I never said anything about his customer service. imho, he is just one guy and not a business; don't expect perfect, corporate communication because scanning through your texts, he's answered so many of those questions already over the years and just doesn't have the time. Looks like Yurkie dropped the ball on your project and I'm sorry to hear, but he will make it right. I.... will be stepping out of this now.

Over the last few years, Yurkie has modified my Atari 2600, Atari 7800 controllers, ColecoVision (twice: once for composite and later for RGB), NES and Dreamcast. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding between the two of you, but there's certainly nothing deceptive about his incredible and professional work. Hope it all gets sorted soon!

Yea Fujiskunk, welcome! You made the right choice. Took me a while to finally get mine, but I don't regret it. Ultra SFII was one of my first game purchases also and I've enjoyed it. I will admit though that now that the honeymoon is over, I've already moved back to PS4 to work on my massive backlog. That should change soon once I get Xenoblade 2. The biggest takeaway with the Switch, for me, is the realization that I don't care about what "console" or hardware I'm using, as long as I can get games to my television screen, use a "normal" controller, and buy my games on some kind of physical media. I don't mean to derail into the "are consoles dying" discussion, but the Switch has proven to me that the video game console as we know it is kind of dead and that's ok. The only thing I can't get behind is an all-digital distribution method and if Nintendo does away with the cart slot and Sony does away with an optical drive for PS5, that will probably be the time I'll bow out of "console" gaming.

I think spacecadet nailed it above. Whether you love or hate the Wii U, the Switch is simply a Wii U with all the "console" crammed into the screen/gamepad. I'm happy to see the Switch being so successful, but knowing Nintendo I know in a year or two, we'll see a New Switch XL Plus !! Faster processor, bigger screen, etc. I already cringe at the thought. It's small form factor is going to greatly hinder its performance moving forward. I strongly suspect we'll see 3rd party developers dropping their support (for big titles) down the line, just like they did with Wii U. That is my major complaint with Switch. Rather than try to make a new console that has some oomph, Nintendo opted to stick with the handheld route and gimmicky controllers. They know their main audience is (and has always been) younger, so whether it was Game Boy, GBA, 3DS, 2DS, or whatever, they want you looking at and focused on their screen. If the Switch wasn't dockable to the tv, I wouldn't have bought it and sadly, it might be the last Nintendo system I'll buy because I don't do handhelds.

His comments certainly seem optimistic and it would be great to see it finally released on Wii U, but (and I say this as a Wii U lover) it seems pretty much unnecessary at this point. I guess we'll see what 2018 brings

Before we start ruining our underwear with premature orgasms, remember we have no idea if this joystick even works or if it's just a proof of concept. For all we know, it's just a mock-up.

Yea, imo motion controls can diaf. It worked for Wii Sports and got very tiring very quickly after that. I just can't stand the imprecision that we got used to with analog thumb sticks (starting with the revolutionary N64 controller). When the PS Move came out and my friends were happily buying them up, internally I'm screaming "NOOOOOO! WHY???" Reading that Kinect was (still is?) the fasting selling gadget EVER really dampened my spirits too. And, as expected, everyone dumped them when they realized they couldn't actually, you know, play a real game on them. However, as others said above, they are great for light gun games and in that respect, they are incredible. Some of my favorite Wii games are light gun shooters. Also, a game like Child of Eden on PS3 would probably be much easier (and fun) with the Move, because I struggled and struggled to finish the game using the regular controller and just couldn't do it. (Come to think of it, had the same problem with House of the Dead 2 on Dreamcast. The cursor just isn't quick enough for games like that.) As to the Switch specifically: I bought a pro controller and have never looked back. Nintendo knows that most people really don't want motion control, and suckers like me are willing to pay $70 for the privilege of having a "normal" controller.