glazball

So you have absolutely no information about the status of the Gameband since the last backer update in April (7 months ago)? You haven't talked to Feargal in the last 7 months?

Jeez - haven't thought of Zmodem in for-fucking-ever. Man I miss those BBS days, when only computer-worthy people could get online.

@The Historian - since you're here and helping Feargal Mac with Gameband, can you give any information about the status of the Gameband?

Probably best there aren't any. Thanksgiving is a pretty stupid made-up-excuse-to-eat-and-shop, oops I mean holiday when you stop to think about it. No need to immortalize it in a video game.

BurgerTime and Diner!

I was totally joking about Atari SA being the victim Sorry if my sarcasm didn't come through. I was trying to poke fun of the "work-in-progress" pics where they just look soooo dejected. I just find this whole situation pathetic. Feargal gets a quarter million dollars (!!) for Gameband, and has absolutely nothing to show for it. Realizing how easy it is to crowdfund a non-existent product with a bunch of salesman bullshit and flowery words, he pitches the idea of a new console to Atari who gave him the green light. He puts together a render of a sharp looking case and figures it's easy to crowdfund the "insides", just like Mike Kennedy did (and I said as much in this thread over a year ago). I don't think Feargal knew of the Mike Kennedy / Coleco Chameleon fiasco at that time, but even if he did, Atari SA sure didn't. So between Gameband and Ataribox, they've pulled in $3.25 million fucking dollars and don't have to even make anything! Feargal will blame Atari for the Gameband failing. Atari will blame Feargal for the Ataribox failing. I have no sympathy for anyone who pledged for the Ataribox. It had all the red flags flying high, right from the beginning. However, I do feel bad for the Gameband backers, who just wanted a watch and had nothing to do with any of this. They are left totally in the dark with nothing to show for their pledges. The Gameband should have happened regardless of whether there was an Atari version or not, but I'm sure it was just easier to keep the money and go completely silent.

... So many unanswered questions. Let me see if I have the basic timeline down: - F. Mac ropes in a chunk of change for the Gameband, one version of which has an Atari license - With Atari SA's ear, he pitches the idea of an all new Atari console to them - Atari SA bites, F. Mac (seeing a bigger pot of gold at the end) ditches the Gameband project and starts work on the Ataribox crowdfunding campaign - Atari SA realizes they never needed F. Mac in the first place and fires him - F. Mac sues trying to get SOME cut of the pie that he was expecting - Atari SA countersues and here we are Maybe poor Atari SA -is- the real victim here. After all, they got roped into making a game console they never intended to make in the first place! Also, what the hell ever happened to The Historian?

I had a Wii drive peeter out on me and I had it replaced, but I don't believe total drive failure a common problem with Wii. (Mine was purchased on launch day) In fact, it was likely my own fault because it was due to dust buildup. I was heavily into WoW at that time, so the Wii got neglected for many years. Most games would play fine, but I first noticed a problem with Super Smash Bros. Melee. After exchanging and then ruling out the SSB disc, I found out it's because SSBM is a dual-layer disc and my dusty drive just didn't like it. I found a stopgap solution online which involved putting some lint-free cloth down in there to dust it out, but before you go doing that, check online for the exact procedure. It helped for a while, but would still sometimes not read, so I just had the drive professionally replaced. Try various discs - it could just be a dusty drive!

This one has me doing a double-take. You can't have the "k" sound at the end of the first syllable and beginning of the 2nd. Were you trying to say "ih-CAR-ee"?

Speaking of "I" words, back in the NES days I used to call Kid Icarus: "Kid eye-CAR-us" instead of Kid "ICK-a-rus." None of us really knew any better. What about Ikari Warriors? "eye-KAR-ee" or "ee-KAR-ee"? I've always said the first but the 2nd is probably correct. Raiden was "RAY-den" instead of "RYE-den" Ninja Gaiden was "Ninja GAY-den" instead of "GUY-den" Gradius was "GRADE-ee-us" and I'm still not sure if that's correct, or "GRAD-ee-us". I still use the first. Seriously, wtf was up with some of those NES titles? Astyanax, Xexyz, Faxanadu.

I'm a good ways into Chapter 2, and I really like the game, but I also have to admit that some of Rockstar's magic has been lost on me (gameplay-wise). I haven't played a Rockstar game since GTA5 on PS3 and I find myself constantly fumbling with the controls (for instance, I expect reload to be Square, not Circle), and all the little nuances are slowly coming back to me (as in, make sure to put your weapon away or don't rudely push people out of the way). Some moments can be rather boring - the constant traveling from one spot to the next on horseback or methodically opening every drawer in a room looking for supplies. (I'm pretty terrible about that at the beginning of any game: going slow and searching every nook and cranny trying to hoard up supplies and money). It's a beautiful game, but like GTA5 I can't help but feel like I've done it all before. Not a bad feeling exactly, but it's there. I'm sure it will pass as I get further in and I've still got a looong way to go!

Bummer. I was hoping to read your in-depth analysis along with some juicy controversy, but you stopped short of the meat of the article. I'm just a SF3 casual, but looking forward to the read!

I clearly remember my grandma playing Video Pinball, saying it was the only Atari game she liked. My wife, who is a little younger than me, told me she found out her grandma would play Super Mario Bros. after everyone had left for work and school. She wanted to keep it a secret because of course grandmas aren't supposed to play video games!

How is your 2600 connected to the FM? Do you have it modded for RGB?

Absolutely love mine! I bought an overlay on this site because the original "X" artwork isn't so great. I'll attach a pic. You'll love yours, enjoy!

I'd be interested to see how it compares to the RGB mod that Juice (now-banned ex-member) did on my Intellivision. Some colors are not perfect, most notably the jellyfish in Shark! Shark! are not purple and blend in with the background/water. I'd love to know if it's his mod or if all Intv RGB mods will have this problem.

Very cool and exciting news! I'm curious why the cart was given a rarity of 9? Seems a perfect candidate for an R10 to me.

Just to be clear, Biff is not the same person as the modder who ran off with everyone's consoles (SwampFox56 / Zeke Ortiz). However, Biff did claim (earlier upthread) to give Taco Bell the idea of the soft taco, and that's a hoot!

Agreed, grats on your sale but you're a dbag for posting pictures of cash.

I'd have to also (strongly) disagree that ANY Call of Duty game, on Wii U or ANY console for that matter, will ever be rare.

Reload is pretty fun. Also, if you want a so-bad-it's-good game, try Target: Terror. It has that cheesy Sega CD vibe.

Interesting thread! 1. 3D Tic-Tac-Toe - screw that damn game. I have never beaten the computer ONCE and I've tried. I'm a broken man now because of it. 2. Reactor - this game made no sense then and it makes no sense now 3. Kangaroo - when all I had was the CX40 joystick as a kid, it was angering to miss those diagonal jumps - still one of my favorite 2600 titles though

To me, a full NA Switch library is a pointless exercise since some games like LA Noire do not include the whole game on the cart. Kind of goes against the whole point of having physical media, doesn't it?

Just as with their raping and pillaging of the "Atari VCS" name, I feel you are right about this. It's no accident.

I remember being at a friend's house in the early 80s during the peak of the 2600's popularity, when EVERYONE had an Atari. His family had a Channel F that they no longer played and it sat there on the floor in another room, forgotten. To my mind at the time, without really knowing what it was, I looked down at the weird console as the ugly, primitive video game system that no one in their right mind would want to play anymore - only that it was a stepping stone to the current good games: Frogger, Space Invaders, Berzerk, etc etc I believe that many people who grew up after the Video Game Crash look back at Atari the same way (and have no idea what a Channel F is). Ataris were the ugly, primitive, wood-grained clunkers that people used to play before the "good games" (ie Super Mario Bros and everything that followed) and aren't worth wasting much time and money on nowadays.