Gigabyte

Has to be Robotron... announce the game already enough of this nonsense!

Congrats on your find, and thanks for the Quest for the Rings tips. Any other O2 recommendations? And can you recommend an O2 emulator?

1. Berzerk 2. Adventure 3. Super Breakout 4. Pitfall 5. River Raid 6. Circus Atari 7. Dolphin 8. Missile Command 9. Montezuma's Revenge 10. Enduro Homebrews: 1. Dungeon (AWESOME GAME) 2. Skeleton+ 3. Frosty 4. Aquaventure (it's a prototype)

Game 7 (progressive) Super Breakout. Circus Atari gets a close second, with Kaboom! in a respectable third.

I remember reading something a while ago from a guy claiming that he saw the sword in JT's house... But why doesn't the community just hack up a few new games that are BETTER than the swordquest games, but still adventure titles, buy a few $100 swords and have a new event to give them away? Not as good? I guess we can't compete with 100k worth of prizes.

*busts out acoustic guitar* petition time!

That guy's name is Joel West, and I found this clip on Youtube for anyone interested. WARNING: IT SORT OF SPOILS SOME OF CHASING GHOSTS: BEYOND THE ARCADE so watch at your own risk. It leaves out the part of the story where these two guys don't talk for 20 years because RB beat JW's score and embarrassed him in front of a girl. Also, I want to be the Berzerk world champion EDIT: The "box pattern" is serious fail, Twin Galaxies needs to not allow it to be used for the world record. They ban cheats all the time, and this qualifies as an outright cheat in my book. Playing normally, the player can easily get a practically impossible board on which any player would die. Box pattern make it possible to score into the 200ks, which probably is not mathematically possible when playing legit.

Very nice. My friends and I always quote him saying, "You can teach a monkey to play four boards, but you can't teach a man to play Berzerk." The story of the two Berzerk players was awesome, it made me want to shoot a video game documentary. On a couple of side notes: 1. How does one perform the box pattern? I've never been able to find out about it. On the arcade version. 2. Despite how pathetic it is, does anyone else enjoy playing without Evil Otto? On the 2600 I usually play without him for some reason, and I don't know if there is a DIP switch to turn him off in the arcade, but I've never used it. 3. Has anyone ever played a Berzerk or Frenzy cab? I'd like to hear any interesting stories about these games. 4. Frenzy > Berzerk, even if Berzerk resonates literariness. 5. Does anyone else find the 2600 version much, much harder than the arcade? Even on easy? Even despite the fact that the robots don't shoot diagonally on the 2600? I think it's the walls: the 2600 is much more cramped and the controls are somewhat slippery if one isn't careful. Also, the smaller resolution means you are closer to the robots. I will say that on Atari the robots really enjoy killing themselves. All the small differences between the two most well-known versions of the game make each one uniquely enjoyable to play. I love these games, better than Robotron, imo.

Well... the system may have fixed itself. I played Berzerk for over an hour with no problems We'll see...

In the documentary Chasing Ghosts, the former world champion Berzerk player observes that Berzerk is like life: you start, and everyone, regardless of skill, eventually dies. The first time I saw the movie, that line stuck with me and I've thought about Berzerk as a metaphor many times. The life and death aspect, however, is true of most video games; I think there is something more elemental about Berzerk, something almost unique that makes the game so fun. The clean graphics, like many atari games, function as signs/symbols and not as a realistic representation. I only point this out to make it clear that Berzerk on the 360/PS3 with new graphics would not strike the same unconscious chord as the 2600/arcade versions. The solid black background and bright, rainbow colors are the very definition of "arcade-style" graphics, and the Berzerk maze is as black as a nightmare. Running from a horde of attackers is a very common dream, and "being chased" nightmares are usually accompanied by complex hallways, corridors, or a maze of some kind. So in a very/literal real sense, Berzerk, either consciously or subconsciously, reminds the player of a prototypical human nightmare. Because the enemies are robots, Berzerk also explores relationship between humans and technology. It exploits a rational human fear of destructive, synthetic power. It captured this theme so well, that popular culture would adopt the voice-synth as the default way that robots should talk. Life can indeed be like a nightmare. Often the forces of the world seem impossibly malevolent, and navigating through the day simply produces another maze in the morning. And when Harsh Reality finally crushes you, it's agents will undoubtedly wear a smile.

Yea, LAN, not IAN. Anyway, what detail about my system did I leave out? I went to Radio Shack but could not find the Capacitor. I found a similar-looking chicklet-style cap set for 100v but I couldnt match up any numbers and the employees didnt/couldnt help out.

Something really interesting from that article, dated March 27, 1983: "He avoids any systematic comparison of the games to other microworlds, any intricate analysis of how they fit into our computer society; those are reflections that might have illuminated a contemporary phenomenon. His book, unfortunately, is tied to the intrinsic interest of video games, which figure to go the way of the hula hoop, Rubik's Cube and the pinball machine." (emphasis mine). I guess the public (or some of it) really did perceive the video game crash as a passing fad rather than the "fluke" the last 27 years have proven it to be. Maybe this book is much more relevant than the reviewer gives it credit for? I'm going to order this book through Interlibrary loan when Fall semester starts.

I don't get it. Why would a caveman draw space invaders? Okay, I kind of get it: Indiana Jones, Egyptians, and all the other supposed cave drawings of Aliens. But is this meant to be the moment of inspiration for Space Invaders? That guy looks American, and the only way this makes sense is if it is a Japanese Cave, but nothing differentiates it from a European cave... Is it 2010 in the picture? Some explorer discovers that Cavemen actually had knowledge of Space Invaders? But the game is so popular, my first thought was that those drawings weren't done by Cave People-- clearly it's just graffiti. Why look surprised at the graffiti? There is no other evidence of Cave People living there... If this shirt took place inside a pyramid or something maybe it would make more sense, provided the space invaders were drawn in an Egyptian style.

I've never had to clean a 2600 cart; these things are much more protected than NES carts.

"SYMPTOM: Screen becomes snowy and/or no color after several minutes of play. Reset cures problem but only for a while. REPAIR: CX-2600 [six switch] owners, try replacing the .22 ufd capacitors, (they look like green Chicklets) on teh upper PCB near the ON/OFF switch (Repace with .22ufd 100 vold cap). CS-2600A [four switch] owners, should replace the .1ufd capacitor, C241 (it also looks like a green Chicklet) in the lower left hand corner of the PCB. (Replace with .1ufd 24 vold cap.)" Going to Radio Shack later to try and pick the new cap up. Anything special I need to do when replacing it?

Seems pretty straightforward, certain business losses are non-taxable. So, what these guys did was talk to wealthy "investors" and got them to buy video games valued at $35 (or probably $50 or $60 whatever). Then, when they sell the games for $5, or the games don't sell at all, everyone who invested get's to claim a loss of income, dropping down into a lower tax bracket or otherwise paying less taxes. However, I think the way that everyone makes serious money on this is that the investors don't pay the full price of the game, imagine this scenerio: The "games" are supposedly worth 50 bucks. The investor only pays 5 bucks, but get's to count his losses as 50 bucks, because that's what the game company "told" him it would sell for (really everyone involved knows what's going on). So the game company makes 5 bucks, and the investor gets to hide 50 bucks from the government.

Paid 3.25, slightly more than I'd pay online but no biggie. It's nice, but I prefer Super Breakout. I think Breakout might have better sound effects, but I like playing the mode where the bricks fall down in SB. I saw on wiki that some guy wrote an autobiography about getting obsessed with the game: "Pilgrim in the Microworld Pilgrim in the Microworld is an autobiography by David Sudnow detailing his obsession with Breakout. Sudnow describes studying the game's mechanics, visiting the manufacturer in Silicon Valley, and interviewing the programmers.[11]" And the citation link: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/books/when-television-marries-computer-by-howard-gardner.html What a bizarre story, I want to read his book. Has anyone read/heard about it? Breakout clones often feel cheap and boring, but Breakout/Super BReakout have an almost hypnotic effect, and their best incarnations are without a doubt on the 2600. The same for Warlords. On a sidenote, I played my first 4-human game of warlords on the 2600 tonight, won the most games, but only slightly, and everyone had a blast. These guys don't really like Atari, but everyone was really into the game and we played for over an hour. Later, when buying Breakout at the arcade/gamestore, I played Warlords on the arcade multicab for the first time... I think I prefer the 2600 version.

My girlfriend and I spent an evening getting through Pitfall II about 6 months ago, and it's one of the hardest games I've ever completed. Afterwards, I've never really wanted to play it again but I still love the original Pitfall! Super Breakout, however, is probably my favorite paddle game, mode 7, with the descending rainbows, is awesome. I think I even like it more than Circus. I also think Enduro is really hard, I've come close to getting the "patch" on the PS2 (248 miles, needed 250 ). But all the old racing games are hard, IMO. Still, Enduro is fun when it's not foggy.

I'm having this problem as well with a 4-switch I just bought. Is it safe to play the console before fixing this problem?

I found this thread after some digging, http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/62893-atari-2600-turning-bw/ And that's exactly what's happening to me too, so I really do think it's the capacitor. I'll have to go to radio shack and see if I can get one

Well should I not play the system until fixed? How does the voltage regulator affect the colors so strangely? why would it mess up after being turned on for a while? Plus, I hear something rattling around inside the system, a screw perhaps... I really do appreciate the advice, but could you maybe explain the 5V regulator and how it creates my problem? Why would this part go bad? I bought used, but it came with a legit atari AC adapter. I don't have a voltmeter, but I bet my friend does... I opened the thing up to look around, found a piece of plastic that was causing the rattle. Found the chicklet, I should be able to replace that, if its the problem. Also, a NEW SYMPTOM, the grey/static colors can flash on and off. So the colors mess up, and then go normal, but eventually they always stay gray. A quick power off/on fixes the problem for another 15-20 minutes.

So, find this part, open atari up, replace and hopefully profit? Is the Green Chicklet a 224K 100V cap?

Thanks for the replies... I'm not so sure it's the 5V regular... we seem to be having different "symptoms" Trinity. It would be nice, but my console turns on fine, even plays fine with the graphics go grey... it's very strange. But everyone here knows more about this than me, so who knows. As for the green chicklet, is there a guide to replacing that piece, can I get it at Radio Shack, or do I have to go to ebay? Thanks again guys!

Super Breakout, the angles are so fucking oblique. Also, Pitfall 2, I kind of hate that game.

I bought an Atari, but after running for 20 minutes or so, the colors go grey and washed out and static-y. Turning console off and on fixes the problem. I found this thread on google from 2002: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134853 and it seems to be a similar problem. It's a 4-switch model btw, not a Vader, I think it's called a CX2600 or something similar. Is this something I can probably fix? Is there something that needs to be cleaned inside? Are there any good guides on AA or anywhere else? I'm ready to open this sucker up and start fixing... It doesn't sound like overheating, because turning it on and off fixes the problem, which makes me think it isn't the cords (plus, no change when cords were wiggled, either way). That pretty much leaves dust, glitching up graphics is what it does best. Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated!