Max_Chatsworth

Sweet! I'd be honored if you'd post here, of course!

@GoldLeader Absolutely!  Good thing you mentioned there, because I probably wouldn't have thought to. My "find" is an actual piece of Atari lore hardware, so I was just going to stick to the regular places, but I will definitely post there! Thanks!

Other than freezing fog over here, it's been a chilly, sunny day over here. So, it might be yet another dry winter. At least the snow from that big storm is here to stay.

As a kid I always thought they were the coolest! I personally used to see them at bars and restaurants. Thought it was so much fun to put your glass of Coke up there and play Pacman. 

I currently own two... a sadly non working Super Pacman and an old Galaxian that was converted to an Arkanoid. I ended up converting it to a 60 in 1. 

Plus, there is something cool about owning an arcade cab that's been around since the 1980's. I will say they are heavy. 

@the4thman I completely agree.  It immediately takes me back to the foyer/waiting area of an early 80's Steak and Ale restaurant...LOL!  If I was going to do a real cabinet project of any kind, I have thought I might do the same.  

For  few games, it was actually better in that format, like Atari Football for one.  Which brings me to an interesting question which I'll post separately here. 

Hey gang,

@the4thman brought up the cocktail cab he owns, and it got me thinking which games were actually *better* in that format. Then immediately thought of Atari Football.  But then that got me to thinking, would you *really* classify that as cocktail or it's own thing.  For example, Atari Football was two players facing off against each other, but both players actually stood.  But, it *did* have a glass top.  But, the glass top wasn't completely flat all the way across.  To wit:

Also, there *did* exist sitting version of that game. I know because I played a few.  But I don't recall if the cabinet was fully cocktail or just the same top as the regular but shorter? Unfortunately, I can't find an image of one of those.  But, since a sitting version existed, I would definitely say that strengthens the argument that version in the picture above, would not be classified as "cocktail".  I think I'd classify it that way, even if a sitting version *didn't* exist.  But, apparently not everyone agrees, as this listing image shows(and it is standing height). And some might consider even the short/sitting height not to be a cocktail since it wasn't the unified glass top, etc.  

Now, to further complicate things.  There was also a 4 person version of this game.  Where the top WAS completely straight across, although you did have controls to deal with, instead of being under the glass like classic cocktail games.  But again, you have the same situation apparently where you have a standing height(shown below, 1st  image is next to another game cabinet, glass door, so you can see it's standing height).  And you have a "cocktail" height as can be seen in the 2nd image below with the chairs. But again, not under a smooth glass unified surface with controls below.  So the question on the 4 players is they all 

So, now that we are talking about things that only an insane person concerns themselves with, where do you all fall on this?  

Should run into you then. There from Monday to Wednesday.

@cvgplus, 

Sorry I missed you. I didn't make it there until Thursday.

Been there, LOVED it, literally bought the t-shirt

As to the games on their list, for the most part, yes absolutely.  The place is PACKED with arcade machines side to side.  Like, there was almost nowhere for my GF to sit and read while I played games for 8 hours there one day (she ended up having an attendant find her a out of order sit-down Sega Star Wars machine to sit at lol).  I would say less than 5% of their machines were out of order, they keep them in great shape.

Despite the size it was a little crowded and packed in. Zero space between machines and nowhere to take a break and decompress. It's alright if you like that kind of thing.

Yes, most were completely playable, a couple with a few issues like messed up screen colors, etc. 

The near unobtanium working Star Rider had graphical glitches, but again, just the fact that it was running is probably a modern miracle.  I probably choked up a bit while playing it since I hadn't seen one in over 30 years, and it was a favorite back in the day.

I probably spent just as much time walking around and finding everything as I did playing games.  Every row you'd see an old favorite, or something you've completely forgotten about.

I thought it was really well done. I read Dune for the first time about 3 years ago, so while it was all familiar I didn't remember a lot of what happened.  I enjoyed it.

I really liked it too,  but broke it up into 3 segments...Watched at home despite it being a big (theater style) movie.  While I've never read the book,  this version made total sense unlike that confusing snoozefest from David Lynch I slept through in the theater in the 80s...

@GoldLeader , agreed. The only thing that the 80's movie did better was the space guild scenes, but the explanation about why they needed the spice was MUCH better in this new movie than the non-existent explanation in the 80's movie that relied on book knowledge.

@Master Phruby My basement has a drive in bay, but the ramp doesn't drive down internally like Stark's house...

If you're gonna use an Atari 8-bit for X10 networking, then you'll need 48K memory and a 850 serial interface.

Here's something that was in Antic you can use...  https://www.atarimagazines.com/v7n4/bsrk.html

Nice thing about X10 modules is you can use the old command modules with the current ones and incorporate them with "modern" smart home systems using Insteon.

Thanks for that!

I was actually thinking about using Fujinet and making a wifi enabled app to manage things...

but on that note the 800xl has the standard 64K, and my 400 is upgraded to 48k.  

Not likely..unless you want to count the routine failures on cabinets because of aging.

When you were a kid, toy stores were full of stuff you wanted, but couldn´t afford.

When you are an adult, you can afford anything in a toy store, but you don´t want it anymore.

I didn't!

In a sense, I do consider myself an Artist, musician and all, tho I am not a writer, where the real artistic thing kicks in-but I can barely draw a noticable stick figure, my eldest Daughter is something of a graphic designer, but it's beyond me, amazes me anyone who can do it!

I do have some drawing skills, but focus mainly on music. Often, I give up on pieces due to something going wrong in the process, confusion about what to do next, or sheer boredom. Your daughter made the right decision considering that painting doesn't pay as much as being a pilot. (Or for that matter, running a food truck.)

Me and her mom are hoping for free flights someday!

Didn't know that.  I guess it needs a cable?  I'll check and see if Best has one.  I've just always used the RF ever since I was a kid.

@DrVenkman I always used FR ever since I was a kid too.  Does the retro link convert video and sound to HDMI output?

Yep the RetroTink models all have video and audio inputs that are combined internally to HDMI.

@Zoyous LOL..that's true.  And then the almost completely forgotten Donkey Kong 3 hero, Stanley. Back then I thought Stanley was supposed to be Mario's son, continuing the theme of the intergenerational feud.   I mean come on..he looked like a kid and had little red overalls on..how could we NOT think he was supposed to be Mario's relative of some kind??

My goodness, The Big N even retconned their earlier arcade games out of the existance of video game history...

To answer someone's question about the Crash, it was a term created by the non-gaming press in order to declare it yet another 80's fad. 

But yeah those of us who 'were' there continued to play video games on home computers and eventually on Nintendos (or just stop to focus on having social lives).

For what it's worth, I was born in 1980, and I played arcade, console and computer games all during the same periods of time.

Oh..I guess I can't see my *own* About Me when I view my profile?  I see my Interest and I see an About Max_Chatsworth box/section, but nothing I put into About Me shows up

Weird. It should show up in one of the tabs, next to "Activity" and "Clubs"

Are you browsing on a Tablet/Phone?

Maybe it's different on mobile than on desktop PCs

@alex_79 LOL..all this time and I never noticed those tabs?!?!

Thanks!