keithbk

To make an accurate movie-based Dune game, you need to make it needlessly complicated, requiring endless replays just to understand what is going on, and then you need to leave out significant portions out of the actual game so it can never really make complete sense, then you tack on an ending that doesn't fit with the story it is based upon...

I think the crash was due to false advertising... I mean, you market a game as "Final Fantasy," and then you reveal "No, it's NOT the Final Fantasy, there's a part TWO!" But it doesn't end there... no, there is sequel after sequel... and then you discover... THERE IS NO FINAL FANTASY, it was all false advertising!!!!! And that's what crashed the market.

I haven't messed with my Retron 77 beyond the day I got it. To me, it is practically worthless. It's one big disappointment. You cannot use it as a test device for your cartridges since so many will not work (including my Superman cartridge), and the cartridges that do work are typically ones I don't want to play. The only modern hardware device that I am still 100% enthusiastic about is the Flashback Portable. Yes, everything works off of ROMS on an SD card (no cartridge support), but it's amazingly versatile for such an inexpensive device (even has video outputs for a TV). I haven't been following the VCS stuff for several months; was it all hype? I know it finally got released, but I don't see it as being a worthwhile investment.

Yes, stop bumping this thread. Don't you know that every time you post to this thread, it gets bumped to the top???? .... .... Whoops....

Wait, there were video games in the early 1990's? Wow, I must have missed those. I was still playing my Gold Box D&D C64 games.

I kept saying, "That's no moon..." Then I watched all the way until the end to see if there was a green ray that shot down and destroyed the entire planet... Sadly, no. Ah well, now I know.

I think they should come up with a more clever name. Like DEACTIVISION, or something like that. "DEACTIVATE YOUR BOREDOM WITH DEACTIVISION FOR THE ATARI 2600"

I remember someone telling me at school. I don't know how he found out about it, but I went back home that day and found it.

Saw this was uploaded on April 4th and don't know if anyone else heard it... pretty interesting:

I found a video of this particular Steeple Chase game:

While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about 1.3 million were sold in 1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when 2.6 million were sold. After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and 1.6 million a year for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off after 1989. By 1989, 25 million Atari 2600 units sold (1977-1989, 12 years). By the end of 1989 (8 years on the market), approx. 13 million C64 units sold (roughly half the number of Atari 2600's on the market). I can just about guarantee you that almost everyone who bought a C64 owned an Atari at one time, and if half your market switches brands, it causes huge ripples through the market.

The Atari 2600 was 6 years old when the crash happened. The Commodore 64 came to market in August 1982, priced at $595 retail. By the summer of 1983, it was possible to find it selling for as little as $389. During 1983, Commodore also offered a $100 rebate. By 1983, for $289 you could own a REAL computer that played INCREDIBLE video games. Zork and other Infocom games were HUGE draws to the Commodore 64. Meanwhile, the Atari was being flooded with shovelware titles from off-brands, crowding the marketplace and causing better games to be overlooked. If you look at the games that were being introduced for the C64 over the first 3 years, you see a HUGE contrast between those and all the Atari had to offer. I remember when Impossible Mission came out and we were amazed at the voice synthesis, the quality of the graphics, and just how fun these games were, and they used the same Joystick as an Atari. You had massive RPG-style games hitting the market for the C64, like the early Apshai titles (1983), Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, Ultima, etc. You had arcade games that looked as good as anything in a real arcade. Once I got my C64, I never really played my Atari. There wasn't a comparison between the two.

These videos are fantastic and represent a near-perfect authoritative summary of each game and its place in history. If you have not LIKED and SUBSCRIBED to his videos, PLEASE DO IT. The quality and quantity of information and history is fantastic, and he's making every effort to speak with the developer of each game (if they are still alive).

And you got the ultra-cool "ET" game as well!

Most of us probably have used at one time or another RadioShack's "Precision Electronic Cleaner." Sadly, the version of the product with the built in brush appears to be no longer available. Instead, there is this: https://www.radioshack.com/products/precision-electronics-cleaner I recommend you spray on all your contact points and use a toothbrush to scrub the contacts. A similar product with the brush may also work, like "Electro-Clean"

Chuck is incredible, right up there with Psych and Burn Notice; must-see TV! In one episode, they go to Atari headquarters...

Ever since I watched the Chuck season 2 episode "Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer," I cannot separate Missile Command from Tom Sawyer by Rush. If you haven't watched Chuck, you're missing out. Episode 1 (season 1) features references to Zork.

Right now, $10,000 is less than 1/3 of a single Bitcoin. If you bought a single bitcoin in 2015, you could have gotten it for under $300. I know it's an odd comparison, but people who bought Bitcoin a few years back and held on to them have become seriously wealthy, and they are the geeky tech-savvy people. They can afford expensive video game collecting hobbies. Just a theory.

M-Network's Frogs and Flies was a great one when I was a kid. I'd play that with my mom all the time (she was no good at video games), both on Difficulty A. Sure, someone without skill won't catch a lot of flies, but it's so much fun watching your frog jump into the pond, you really don't care. This is technically a "competition" game, but there is no real pressure and it's so much fun.

Dude, LIFT YOUR NECK!!! You'll float right out of there!

Hi all... I made 100 of this cartridge back in the day (some of them boxed) and I kept one for myself, but due to some tough financial times, I'm thinking of letting my copy go... I'm borderline... I don't want to let it go for cheap, because that would be my last personal tie to the game I took great pride in designing, but if some people really want it, I think I could part with it... Realistically, what are some of you thinking this would go for if I stuck it on Ebay? Persuade me to make a decision... I'm torn. Does anyone really want it anyway?

As to the Chalice and the "secret location," several tile pieces can be placed at various locations (different castles). Only 1 tile holds the chalice. As players explore realm and reveal the tiles, eventually they will discover which one is actually the chalice. The "dummy" tiles have no value. The bat cannot move an unrevealed tile.

To operate the bat in a boardgame, the following could be implemented... When a player rolls the dice, the player also rolls a special die for the bat (for example, a D20), which corresponds to a specific grid area on the board... The bat flies to that grid and performs the following action: 1) If there is an object within the grid, it picks it up (dropping a currently held item). 2) If there is a player with an object, it pickpockets the player. 3) If there is more than one object, it takes the most valuable item, according to a "value factor" printed on the board: 1) chalice, 2) sword, 3) bridge, etc. The bat then flies off the board until the next player rolls...

I want more video of this... this is rapidly becoming one of my favorite projects to see the progress on!

I love Superman... have to play it EVERY time I fire up my system... HOWEVER, that being said, if there was ever a flicker-free version that someone could create... that would be INCREDIBLE!