Don Karnage

>>>I think it was easier to return opened games back then! Probably because you couldn't install the game into your 2600 permanently. Or could you?

Basic Programming. DK

My parents never touched our video games. I think to this day neither of my parents have ever played one. I do have a great memory of my mother playing foosball with me somewhere - she kept yelling, "Go, men, go!" instead of actually turning the handles. My brother bought me that Atari joystick that has ten games built into the base (can't recall the name of it right now), and on the back, there's a blurb that reads "A blast from Mom and Dad's past!" Thanks, like I needed to feel older. DK

Pac-Man was so disappointing that *I* felt let down, even though only my FRIEND got burned by it (I hadn't saved up enough to buy my 2600 by that point). We were used to making concessions for the "home version os the game" (to quote Alan Ludden), but that was over the top. It burned me so bad that I was a cynical consumer by the time ET came out, and demanded to see it played before buying it. Or, in my case, not buying it. I think I was 12. Canyon Bomber I could play for hours. I'll be the first to admit it was mind-numbing, but there it is. DK

It certainly isn't one (talent) or the other (practice), but a combination of the two. Sometimes you just rock (or suck) at a game, and always do. Other times, you get better as you play more. Lemme use arcade games, since I can think of examples easier. Remember the arcade Arkanoid (Breakout for the 90s, I guess). The second time I played that game in the arcade, I finished it. Yeah, I'd played a little Breakout, but certainly not that much. Then there were those lousy (IMHO) cartoon games like Space Ace, which I couldn't get better at no matter what I did. And then there were the other 95% of games (Crazy Climber and Dig Dug come to mind) that I sucked at first off, but progressively got better as I plunked more quarters in. I think this would be true of most people. and surely of most "gamers". If you suck (and always suck) at all video games, you probably are gonna find something else to spend/waste your money on... DK

Being relatively (well, OK, VERY) new to this forum, I had missed the entire hullabaloo surrounding this the first time. I followed the link, and found it to be some of the most interesting reading I've done in months. That may be more of a comment on what I've been reading recently than on the forum content, but still. All that's missing is the scene where Flex admits the whole thing, and reveals the entire sinister plot (possibly some Bill Gates scheme that I can't figure out). Then Hercule Poirot would twirl his moustache, and Jessica Fletcher would give a "tut-tut". I never knew that about gold-plated wires ("to eliminate signal loss"). I've hooked my old turntable up to my stereo with gold-plated wires, and now it sounds like a CD player! Bitchin'! He got the CART from his brother? I was guessing he found it in his junk drawer, underneath a Beatles "butcher cover" Yesterday & Today LP (still sealed), next to a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card. He really should clean that out. DK

I tried sending you the file LB, but it claimed to be "too large". So I edited out an excerpt and sent it, and it claimed to be "too large". I've tried again with another server (the excerpt) - hopefully that'll work. DK

Coming this Christmas behind that counter with the annoying guy who wants you to buy what HE thinks is cool...look for: ET II - Escape From the Landfill Canyon Bomber II - The Evil Kinevil Years Video Winter Olympics (aka 50 MORE Versions of Pong) Outlaw II - Now with BIGGER Cacti! Night Driver II - Here Comes the Sun DK

This probably isn't the place to discuss Mr Cobain, so I'll put my two cents in shortly. I feel he was a severely messed-up individual who made some great music. Shame he died, but if he had cleaned up and found peace with himself, his "genuis" would've probably gone too. Then a lot fewer people would think so highly of him. Never got an answer to my early question, which I slipped into another post. Does anyone else listen to music while playing? If so, what? DK

I don't know about "absolute worst", unless you're talking about the "Rock Me Tonight" video (in which a pink shirt killed a career). I could've sat through TRL. Besides, I was still a "pre-teen" back then. My interest in "chicks" was pretty minimal. And I was still listening to Gary Numan's Pleasure Principle then - I had to wait until puberty kicked in before I picked up Rocket to Russia. It's hard to believe an Atari 2600 and Kajagoogoo were chick magnets once. Just goes to show you. DK

>>>Are you sure you weren't into Foreigner? Of course I was, but they didn't have any videos. Well, not 'til "I Want to Know What Love Is". So I was stuck watching Billy Squier, Kim Wilde and Talk Talk for hours at an end. Not the worst way to while away your pre-teen years. STROKE! DK

Lest anyone think I'm making a mint off of Sleep here, I've offered to make Sleep a copy. Don't want a group of random strangers I've never met thinking I'm a mercenary.. DK

I remember ET being awful, but no one I know (at the time) actually bought it. And that was a year or two after the Pac Man debacle. Up until then, I was content with the arcade being the arcade and with Atari being Atari. When Pac-Man came out, it was almost an admission that Atari wasn't up to the task of adapting arcade games for home play. I (and several of my friends) didn't really look at Atari the same way after that. By the time ET came out, a lot of the magic was gone. Or maybe I was just more interested in MTV by then. Hmmm...Canyon Bomber or Billy Squier? Tough call. DK

The title track to the infamous Yars' Revenge LP is now available for download via WinMX. I tried attaching it, but it doesn't accept mp3s. I'd post a link, but I have no server, so you'll have to download it. Am I the only one who listens to music while playing, or do you all prefer your blips unaccompanied? I vividly recall playing Video Pinball (the system, not the game) while enjoying Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" on American Top 40, so I apparently have always had music playing while playing. DK

Easy. Pac-Man. I recall the build-up ("Pac-Man is coming to Atari!"), and a few of my friends were excited enough to preorder the darn thing. Then they got it home and...well, y'know. My favorite bit about the whole Pac-Man thing was Atari's claim that the error that kept making the ghosts disappear was intentional - to make them more "ghostly". If you can't fix it, feature it! DK

Opened a defective Pitfall cart, and there was a green LiteBrite peg inside. I guess it was in there to color all the beautiful foliage. DK

To attempt to reply to everyone... I enclosed (hopefully) a picture of the LP. The back cover includes this lovely blurb: Deep in outer space, in the Razak solar system, lives a race of super-beings, half-man/half-fly, known as Yars. When one of their planets is destroyed, the Yars vow to seek revenge [Hence the title - DK] against their mortal enemy, the evil Qotile! Fly alongside the Yar warriors, as they attack their enemy in a thrilling space battle! Take off for excitement with Atari's Yars' Revenge. Songs Include: Atari Theme Fly, Yar Warriors! Yar's Revenge The album was produced by John Braden, whom I doubt lists this on his resume. The whitebread announcer who tells the story of the Yars vs the Qotile manages to get through the story without laughing. Perhaps the true collectability of this record lies in the fact that the German band Trio stole the opening drum beat "Yar's Revenge" for their hit "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" (yes, the Volkswagen commercial song). I doubt John Braden saw royalties. Chances are, if it's not too pricey, I'll buy the darn thing myself. If I do so, I'll be sure to get some mp3s posted for you. Oh, and I'm not concerned about appearing to be a newbie (my "number of posts" tells you that). Just didn't want to be shouted down if I was talking about something inappropriate in the wrong spot. DK

Hey all. Hope I'm posting in the right spot. If not, please let me know. I work at a used record store. In a bulk buy, we ended up with a copy of the Yars Revenge album (y'know, featuring the big hit "Fly, Yars Warriors!"? Of course you do). Before we put it out on the floor, I was asked to check online to see if there was any interest in it. I checked the "trading post", but since I didn't see any memorabilia there (only games), I figured that might not be the place. Is there a place to offer memorabilia on this site? Should I just put it on eBay or something? Any suggestions gratefully taken. DK (whose 2600 was stolen in '93)