NintendoLegend

[ Oh hey, thanks! ]

Does your friendship with those people depend on where you stand, though? I'd hope it's based on something more -- in which case, hey, fearlessly form your own opinion and don't worry about it, just play games or whatever else you enjoy. [ I am just amused on the sideline. ]

I do! Norm is wonderful.

How good are those automatic transcripts? If it's really borked, let me know, I might be able to do it myself later.

This is an interesting situation to be speculative on, because Coleco sounds like they want to be nothing but respectful and polite -- but, boy, I'll be honest, I'll be surprised if they can whip up something in time. We'll see!

[ oh my gosh yes this ] I dearly hope Coleco is quick to post a statement as to the results of their little inspection!

Is the megathread the one labeled "Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?" Because, uh, this interview has nothing to do with hardware speculations... it's just an oral history sort of thing. But sure, if that's indeed the megathread, my bad. I understand it's a topic that we don't need spammed around more than we have to. *poof*

Hi. I'm not sure if we're tired of Chameleon stuff yet, but I did a fun little interview with Steve Tom Sawyer, who was on the ground floor for projects like RETRO Magazine... and the Retro VGS. He has some stories to tell -- https://youtu.be/Vl754JuG1vw

Haha, no problem. Like I said, every once in a while one of his articles will get attention like this, and by now we just get a kick out of. One quick funny story: When we launched the site, he was one of our first writers, and that Asteroids piece was his first contribution. I remember having to do some damage control that day on Twitter, trying to explain to people that he doesn't actually believe that Asteroids is a teenage simulator. Lol. All in good fun.

Some additional information for you folks, to confirm one thing: Yes, it is satire. The Atari Poop series is a weekly column that satirizes Atari 2600 games. Here is the link to the whole series, if you would like to check out some samples. And here are some specific examples, to further drive home the point. One of my favorites is when he cites Body Harvest (an ugly Nintendo 64 game) as being the worst-looking Atari 2600 game ever. Here is one where he displays his specialty, which is concocting outrageously absurd explanations, often of a conspiratorial nature, as to the "true" motives of an Atari 2600 title: Asteroids, which is actually a simulation of being a teenager. His most recent entry is Pitfall!, and you can read the opening paragraph where he lets readers peek behind the curtain and pretty blatantly explain his prior methods. I have subbed for him a few times; most recently, I wrote about Radar Lock... and made the silly claim that it was used to train American fighter jet pilots. In other words: Yeah, they are humor pieces, but we totally understand that satire is not for everyone! So reading through this thread, as his editor, is very amusing. We occasionally catch some flak when Atari fans read one of his articles and fail to realize that it is just for humor, not reality. Some people are REALLY SUPER SERIOUS and actively dislike him for writing these humor pieces. Whatever the case may be, we at 1MoreCastle just love old video games, and I think we can agree on the greatness of the hobby. I apologize, though, if we occasionally ruffle some feathers in an unpleasant manner! But, yes, that's totally why the series is called Atari Poop: It's bullsh*t. [ Edited just to add my own personal example. ]

I can actually address the sound issue -- as you may've noticed, our usual host Eric Hunter was absent from episode 2, so Andrew took his place. But Hunter also does our engineering/editing, so Andrew took that over as well, and mistakenly left a "mono" setting active. Andrew is aware of the error, and has apologized for it. The good news: From episode 3 onward, the audio editing and settings should be back to their usual high caliber. I can't guarantee an entire pre-NES show, but it is a fun idea! I am sure more variety will trickle in. Jason is a huge PC guy, I'm the big Nintendo nerd, and Hunter is a little of everything... but, for example, when we record tomorrow night, I'll be discussing an Atari 2600 game in the Showdown. Unfortunately for truly vintage fans, I imagine some episodes will be all PS1/Saturn/N64, too, or similar -- a bit of everything can be expected, but each episode will be different. A valid thought, though, thanks! I'll keep you in mind.

Thank you, sir! Also: We will definitely keep your considerations in mind. One of our hosts, Hunter, does swear every once in a while -- but he knows he's not supposed to, haha. We've joked about dubbing over swears with a fun retro gaming sound effect ("boing!"), but so far I think it was just a couple quick times. Otherwise, for the other stuff, should be no problem!

Hi friends, If you don’t need any convincing and are already interested in checking out a new podcast dedicated to retro gaming, then cool! Here are the links: Episode 1 – Lawnmowers! Episode 2 – Attack of the Canadians! Otherwise, here is my humble pitch: Collaborative retro gaming features site 1 More Castle now has our own weekly podcast, affectionately titled 1 More Podcastle. We just released our second episode last night, but I can already say that we are proud of our product and hope to gain some early adopter fans that can stick with us throughout a long haul of conversational fun. So the key question is: “Is 1 More Podcastle worth listening to every week?” While I hope the answer is “yes,” if I were completely honest, the answer is probably closer to “maybe.” So, in order to help you make your decision whether or not to give it an honest chance, here are some specific details about the podcast. Our scene is 100% retro. In episode 2, there is a brief tangent about Assassin’s Creed, but even then, it was used as a point about one of the flaws of modern gaming. Now, we believe video games are generally great and the modern scene is not an enemy – but this podcast is explicitly, totally retro-centric. You will hear about the NES, Sega Genesis, Turbografx 64, PS1, Atari 2600, etc. Our episodes are fairly short. The second episode clocks in at just over 30 minutes. If you’re the kind of person who likes a solid 90-minute ‘cast, you may need to listen to 3 of our episodes back-to-back-to-back! We are aiming for a format that would approach 45 minutes at its longest. Our tone is lighthearted and breezy. Our draw is the Retro Showdown. Our format is fairly simple: Typical intros/icebreaker, a retro gaming discussion question, a musical interlude… then the Showdown. We have three hosts, who each give a 2-minute pitch about the retro game they picked for the episode. Then we go into about 10 minutes of free-for-all discussion/debate/argument about whose game is best. This is fun for us, so we hope it’s fun for listeners too. And here’s the kicker: Listeners can vote on the episode page for their favorite game of the trio presented. We argue, you give us feedback on whose argument was most convincing, and leave a comment too if you want. I am not very iSavvy myself, but I believe we are available on iTunes as well. So if you like podcasts and you like retro gaming – really, just try us out. Let me know what you think! Thanks.

Basically, 1 More Castle is a new features-based collaborative gaming website focused on retro gaming. Check it out at 1MoreCastle.com! To learn more about what we are all about, consider: Reading the 1 More Castle Manifesto, checking out the roster of weekly contributors, or just follow the Twitter account @1MoreCastle. This is something I am very excited about, and could say a lot more of, but I just wanted to let you know that we want to be your favorite retro gaming website -- and are serious about making that ambition a reality. Starting next week, our talented team will be providing exclusive, high-quality features to the tune of two updates every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. We would love to see you there. A note specifically for AtariAge regulars: I know that I am definitely not an active member of this community and more of a lurker, but I wanted to let you know that Atari systems are definitely within our coverage. One of our team members is actually going to be doing nothing but a weekly Atari 2600 review, and I am already trying to gather guest pieces related to other Atari consoles from knowledgeable retro gamers out there. We hope to be a website that caters to your tastes as well.

After noticing an amount of traffic coming from atariage.com for a while, I had to come check out the source -- honored to be mentioned here, thanks B. It's true, though: I am one guy, and because I have never seen it done well elsewhere, I want to have a place on the Internet where a well-written, categorical review is available for every NTSC-region NES game. So, at least, if I'm not there yet, I hope to *someday* be the best NES game review site.