glazball
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Posts posted by glazball
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I received my UltiMulti Cart Ver 2.00 yesterday and spent all night with it. Ken (kenzre) did a wonderful job and I'm very happy to have it. I have a question about the cart for someone that owns it. I wrote Ken but he has been slow to reply so I'll ask it publicly. Also, this may be useful to others who have or will have this multi-cart.
Does anyone who owns the cart have a listing/matrix of the DIP switch settings for Ver 2.00? Ken included a printout of his Ver 1.5.1 cart (the same available here on BallyAlley). Is there an updated version for the 2.00 to include War and Crazy Climber? He didn't include the switch settings for the new game additions in any of the paperwork he included.
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Well, let us know what luck you have. I'm always leery of modding a system, especially a system as hard to find (in any condition) as a BPA. Perhaps you can find a good solution for cooling, but you certainly don't want to introduce any new potential problems.
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We can agree we are all passionate about this great console!
CatPix understands what he owns and what to tell collectors and what to tell non-collectors, but when you tell him he has a Bally Professional Arcade when he has an Astrovision Inc. model ABA-1000-2 Astrovision Arcade with a Bally Professional Arcade cover that makes me want to correct you.
I agree, it's easy to get passionate about this console. It has certainly become one of my favorites! Such a powerful, underappreciated console.
CatPix, it looks like you and I have the same model, technically an "Astrovision Arcade" with a reused Bally Professional Arcade cover. I just call it Bally Professional Arcade and when searching for info, use "Astrocade." It is unfortunate that you often see the term "Bally Astrocade" used which is wholly incorrect, but catching up on the histories of these companies and the system is part of the magic, for me.
I too am looking forward to Ken Lill's UltiMultiCart which should be here soon. It could possibly be his last one available??
Also, I don't want to jinx myself but my BPA has run wonderfully with no problems yet. I bought a flat laptop cooler just for the system and haven't really used it for too long in one stretch. I read about your performance test, boxpressed, and part of me wants to push the system to test it out, the other part of me wants to just leave it alone and not ever stress it! It's truly a special system and I want it to last me for a long time.
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Wow, this seems pretty big. Just got done reading the article about FO4 in the latest Game Informer and they mention the V.A.T.S. system no longer freezes the game, just slows it. It's probably a good thing, but it will certainly be a big change.
Apparently there will be an option to travel with, and even romance, a companion - but there will be some type of perk for going it solo. The article also says since Bethesda has been tight-lipped, info has been scarce for everyone. I'm just hoping they'll hammer out all the major issues before Day One.
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Bought a few PS1 games, everything was perfect. Great seller! Thanks
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Bill, at the end of the day this was the biggest question I had to. To be honest, they're not going to sell thousands of these consoles based on emulation/hardware cores. However, there are enough collectors out there who will want physical releases IF the games are really good. I mean, heck, remember the mania over getting a faux box for the Mega Man 9 digital release (Capcom press kit)? Classic emulation is great, but if it's going to double the price, don't bother. There are two dozen ways to emulate those systems as is.
First off, thank you Mike for returning and speaking up. I think we all appreciate that.
I'd like to make a suggestion regarding a sustainable business model. Yes, there are many of us who do want physical games/carts. Something you might look into, after the RVGS is up and running, is a RetroLand VIP Subscription. Essentially, each month a new cart could be released and the VIP Subscribers would be auto-billed and get the monthly game (ideally at a discounted price). That way you would have an idea of a base monthly income. I've seen it done with a small record label I really loved and it worked well.
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I've been looking into this book (Volume 1) and it seems wonderful. I want to make sure the problems were resolved before buying though so I have a couple of questions:
Do (or will) these volumes include every North American game, even the really rare titles like Red Sea Crossing?
Will each one be available in paperback (my preference) and if so, will the paperback have glossy pages?
Will the paperback be updated with any corrections? For instance, in the demonstration images, we see the layout for Decathlon but really, the title of that game is The Activision Decathlon. Not to be petty, but I'd like to see the volumes as perfect as possible if they are intended to be encyclopedic.
Keep up the great work!
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Glazball, don't feel ganged up on.
You asked some good questions. Hehe no I certainly don't. I guess I'm drawing a major distinction between the "community" and those Mike has dealt personally with: Kevtris, Pat, Piko, the RVGS backers (especially so), etc. I do agree they should receive apologies, but really that's between them. The rest of us, the community, don't need an apology and shouldn't be asking for one. Mike is trying to sell us something. Have you ever seen a salesman apologize for trying to stretch the truth?
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Why do you feel you are due an apology? Unless you pledged to the campaign and had your money tied up, you have no stake in this at all.
I know you clearly said you are not associated with the RVGS guys, but it was written in first person which just left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I did agree with most of what you wrote. And I think that even if Mike did return to AA (and other sites) apologizing, with hat in hands, he's still be accused by some of being insincere and just trying to do whatever he can to relaunch RVGS 2.0
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Since they are in listening mode now I thought I would help them out by writing their community apology for them.
This is not an official statement from the RVGS team (but in my opinion something like it should be).
...
Though I mostly agree with what you wrote, I think it's a bit distasteful to pretend to speak for Mike. Let him speak for himself if he chooses to do so. Also, why should he owe the retro gaming community an apology? He didn't run off with anyone's money.
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I'm pretty excited to pick up Fallout 4 later this year. Fallout 3 is probably #2 on my Favorite Video Games Of All Time List. The game knocked my socks off but the followup Fallout New Vegas I thought was rather lacking.
I've been trying to avoid reading too much about FO4 for fear of spoilers, but if anyone has any good thoughts or links, I'd love to see them. Who else will be picking this game up on day one?
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I will be in touch soon for an install Yurkie. Eager to see pics of your work. Any thoughts on using a Nintendo multi-out? Others have said Warlords (which is probably my favorite game and gets lots of play) and the Framemeister don't work well together via RGB, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to have S-video and/or composite for situations like that.
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Just because Kevin isn't motivated by money, that doesn't mean that he's going to build a prototype for someone else.
I'm not sure if you're agreeing or not, as I was saying the same.
Let's just say that Kevin had been brought onboard, and the RVGS team showed Kevin's "possibly sellable" board (his words from page 60 of this thread) on Kickstarter - it would have been a home run. A statement of "this is what we are starting with, and we want to re-engineer things to fit happily in the Jag case and this is what our console will do..." That's what we all hoped to see, but instead we got Gogogate.
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Understood, but Kevtris said in an earlier post he politely declined to make a prototype because he didn't think he would get paid. And I don't blame him. I'm glad Kevin isn't motivated by money in these projects, that's exactly why he'd be the best person to engineer a new console. I know Mike is more motivated by the money, and if by chance the RVGS were to take off, you'd see him making Special Limited Edition Only 10 Copies Ultra Rare versions of anything and everything.
Perhaps I'd better step back out of this thread - after all I have minimal tech knowledge and would just love to see all of this somehow gel together to everyone's benefit.
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I understand 5-11, but I doubt Kevtris has the time or inclination to take care of all the other business that would go along with getting a new console out as a marketable product that could feasibly end up on store shelves. That stuff would seem to be Mike's forte. If these 2 do team up and put out a console, they both stand to make a lot of money imo. A win-win for them and for us gamers who want to just play some darn games.
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I have an interview scheduled with Mike and the team tonight. Any questions you all want losed to them?
Would he be willing to scrap his IGG campaign and start fresh on Kickstarter with a protoype from Kevtris?
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Wishful thinking here - Kevtris, if you and Mike were to start fresh with you heading the hardware side of things, allowing Mike the other two to fit it into the case - is there any chance you two could still make a console? It just seems apparent that Mike's biggest mistake was not securing your help with an official business deal (hard to do without money).
If your boards had been shown with his hype when this crowdfunding campaign started, I'm pretty sure the goal would already be met. People want this console! It's obvious from the amount of traffic. If it's done right, it would be a beautiful thing.
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@thevnaguy - friend of the RVGS team or not, the hardware guy didn't know that classic consoles output 240p/60. That's Retro 101 and he failed! It makes me really worry, and I'll be keeping my wallet in my pocket as well.
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Kevtris I wish you and Mike could have paired up to make a system. Your genius, his salesmanship. It would have been nice.
@rob ocelot - Well you are right in that all signs point to scam, but I do feel it's not the case here. Just simply that Mike is looking to take the throne as King of Retroland and just needs money to get ball rolling on a system with games that he is totally in control of. It's a career move and moneymaking venture and hey, who among us (who don't already) wouldn't want to make a living with video games? He has Game Gavel already set up to sell the games, the Retro Magazine to promote it, and the desire to do all this. And I'm totally ok with that EXCEPT when it comes to coughing up a few hundred that I may never see again.
I do hope something good comes from this discussion as well. I'd like to see a cool cart-based console succeed.
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WTB your poor orphaned SMS manuals, thanks for looking!
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My take on the whole situation:
"I got a great deal on Jag moulds and cases. We gotta dream up a widget to put inside so people will buy them. I don't care what it is, but it's gotta sound good".
I've been wanting to say something similar. He bought the Jaguar moldings, looked at an empty shell and thought "what if we put some video gamey stuff inside and sell a NEW console?!" A crazy but noble idea, and one I wanted to support. But in the 8(?) months since he got the hardware guy on board, they have NOTHING to demonstrate a proof of concept. By this point, even a non-working prototype would be something. SOMETHING!
I suppose it's almost too late now, but the RVGS team should stop now and return later, and once they have something to show THEN ask for crowdfunding. This is supposed to be a HARDWARE project, correct?? The case should have been the last part to worry about.
What irks me is that Mike had be purposefully leading us (meaning the public) on to think that they have been working on some kind of prototype, using phrases on their site such as "what's under the hood" instead of "what WILL BE under the hood, maybe." It wasn't until people starting really pressing for something tangible that the photos of the cardboard were posted then deleted, and now he has confirmed they haven't even BEGUN the prototyping process.
I don't think Mike is a scammer, but he's making promises he may or may not be able to deliver. And hey, if you get that money FIRST, who cares? So what if it ends up being 1, 2 or 5 years, or never? He has mentioned that he has vendors lined up but is waiting to see how successful the funding campaign is. So he is contacting people and trying to haggle big purchases with money he may or may not ever have? And asking Kickstarter to change their policy (which they waived for him anyway) for a campaign that may or may not have been successful? And asking "the crowdfunding community" for money to make something that may or may not even work?
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Same, I was really looking forward to this also. I've actually been budgeting for this expense and was possibly going to throw in some extra over the cost of the console to help get it off the ground. But without a working prototype, and only promises, I can't justify it.
And this begs the question... just what the hell have they been doing over these last few months?? They should have something up and running to show us.
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Agreed, completely. I hope they are using this time to hammer out their prototype, not their sales pitch. If there is no working hardware when this "crowdfunding campaign" starts, they won't have my support.
In addition, with no prototype it will likely cause the whole idea to crash and burn and could ruin the cart-based console idea for any future team that may want to go through with this.
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Straight answer: wait for the KS.
If they have anything they for sure have not shown it.
I know, and I'm waiting
My worry is that because KS requires a working prototype, they may go with another site. Their FB page after all only says "crowdfunding campaign."
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Bally Astrocade Multicart
in Bally Arcade/Astrocade
Posted
Thanks BallyAlley! I got the same pdf from Ken also and was going to post it in this thread, but your site is a much better place for it! (btw, while I have you ear, I LOVE your site. Please never take it down.)
On the same page I see you have the instructions (for 1.5.1) which I didn't receive but answers a lot of questions
I will certainly be spending a lot more time with my UltiMulti and hopefully once my budget allows, I'd like to pick up one of Ken's Lil White RAMs to see the rest of the programs on the cart. I've only owned my Bally Arcade for about 2 years, so I still feel like a Bally newbie in many ways. But finally seeing all these obscure games and programs really makes me happy. I feel like an archaeologist of sorts!