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The Evener

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  1. Hey gang! 🙂 Last week, Twin Galaxies launched its Bounty System, which allows members to create time-limited or indefinite "contests" around video games as a way to experience old games anew and share our mutual love of gaming. As part of its launch, TG has directly sponsored several bounties, but one specifically caught my eye as a fellow ColecoVision fan - a bounty for Montezuma's Revenge! $250 Montezuma's Revenge Bounty - Get More Than 547,350 Points - ColecoVision Score more than 547,350 points playing the ColecoVision version of the game "Montezuma's Revenge" and WIN a $250 Amazon eGift card! Also EARN a rare TG Achievement point! https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/250-montezumas-revenge-bounty-get-more-than-547350-points-colecovision/ If you follow the link, you can also view the wider scope of bounties - Arcade/MAME, Atari 2600 (I posted them in the Atari 2600 forum), PlayStation, plus a few member-created bounties on NES (if memory serves) - a veritable feast of gaming achievements waiting to be achieved! If you have any questions about them, I can certainly try my best to answer them here, otherwise feel free to ask in the relevant bounty thread(s).
  2. Hey gang! I wanted to share some new reasons to play your Atari today. 🙂 Last week, Twin Galaxies launched its Bounty System, which allows members to create time-limited or indefinite "contests" around video games as a way to experience old games anew and share our mutual love of gaming. As part of its launch, TG has directly sponsored several bounties for the Atari 2600 and I thought this would be a great place to raise awareness and share them since there's a good chance there are several champs lying in wait to claim them. Now you have the perfect excuse when family or friends are telling you to put the joystick down - it's not too often that you can get paid to play video games! I created a list of the bounties that includes hyperlinks where you can get the full deats: $500 Fishing Derby Speedrun Bounty - Fastest 99 points - Atari 2600 https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/500-fishing-derby-speedrun-bounty-fastest-99-points-atari-2600/ $250 Boxing Bounty - KO the Computer and Have 1 Minute and 45 seconds (01:45.0) or More Remaining - Atari 2600 https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/250-boxing-bounty-ko-the-computer-and-have-1-minute-and-45-seconds-01450-or-more-remaining-atari-2600/ $500 Breakout Bounty - 3 Minutes or Less Completion - Atari 2600 https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/500-breakout-bounty-3-minutes-or-less-completion-atari-2600/ $250 Superman Bounty - 49 Seconds or Less Completion - Atari 2600 https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/250-superman-bounty-49-seconds-or-less-completion-atari-2600/ $250 Entombed Bounty - Get More Than 204 Points - Atari 2600 (NTSC) https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/250-entombed-bounty-get-more-than-204-points-atari-2600-ntsc/ $250 Miniature Golf Bounty - All-Holes-in-One - Atari 2600 (NTSC) https://www.twingalaxies.com/bounty/250-miniature-golf-bounty-all-holes-in-one-atari-2600-ntsc/ If you follow the link, you can also view the wider scope of bounties - Arcade/MAME, ColecoVision, PlayStation, plus a few member-created bounties on NES (if memory serves) - a veritable feast of gaming achievements waiting to be achieved! If you have any questions about them, I can certainly try my best to answer them here, otherwise feel free to ask in the relevant bounty threads.
  3. Tekman, you're a life saver! Thanks for your speedy response and for diving into the schematics for me given my lack of agility. I actually ended up breaking both wires, but I recalled that the +12 was the outside pin. I thought that the other pin was going to be connected to pin 3 for 5 volts, so thanks for the save. I resoldered and all is well again - thanks again
  4. Sorry for the bump, but could someone kindly confirm the power pin-out for the MIB2? One of my wires became disconnected from the power plug attachment, and then the second one as well, and I'm having my doubts about the pin-out so if someone could take a look at the schematics (there's an attachment on the first page) or if they know off hand the power requirements for the MIB2, that would be awesome.
  5. Once in a while, I become mini-obsessed with "holy grail" games, and I think that when it comes to the ADAM, Super Smurf is at the top of the list. We're not getting any younger, another year means an another unreleased ROM being lost due to bit rot - is there any proverbial tree we can shake to see if this ROM can see the light of day? My inner 13 year old self is incredibly envious that a reviewer had the chance to play through this game. The fact that the game was basically ready to go (from what we can tell) like Super Subroc, but never saw the light of day, makes me think that licensing probably tanked it - maybe Coleco took liberties with the original cartridge license to create the Super Game and was stymied once the license holder demanded more money. Somebody, somewhere knows. Why keep the ROM hidden in a collection of old materials from Coleco, only to risk having it all thrown out when someone passes on? Somebody, somewhere has this ROM. If a financial bounty can coax someone to take the time to rifle through their developer data packs and disks, I would be the first to kick in a few hundred dollars to start things off, and I know more many more would follow. Heck, it would be an amazing Christmas gift just to see a play-through video of the Super Game that was anonymously shared with a YouTube channel. I have zero contacts with the Coleco ADAM developer community - is there anyone that can touch base again with the likely suspects (or unlikely, if they wish to remain anonymous) to see if anyone has had a change of heart, and wishes to share more about what they know, and maybe even share what they have?
  6. What was the inspiration for this direction/design? The built-in controllers is a throw-back to the home Pong era, which seems all the more puzzling after Atari freed the controllers from the main unit with a cord. Was the final design going to have detachable joysticks?
  7. With Festivus almost upon us, it's time to sneak in a little commercialism. Price drop to $125 US plus shipping. Here's your chance to nab a second system, or to surprise your friend with a gift!
  8. Sorry, forgot to clarify a point in Hannacek's query, Chris Cardillo is a partner in Coleco Holdings LLC, which is a "subsidiary of River West Brands. Bump for some great loose cart titles - I recommend Galaxian, Atarisoft did a great job with the version; Venture is one of my all time favourites, great Coleco title.
  9. You should really read over US Registration No. 78338364 at the US Patent and Trademark Office to check out River West Brand’s original application for the ColecoVision mark, filed December 9, 2003. After receiving an application, the US Trade Mark and Patent office then performs a search to determine if there are existing uses of the requested mark. In the case of Coleco, all active uses of the mark expired in the years following the bankruptcy of Coleco Limited Inc. A company must renew their claim to the mark every 10 years, or else the mark lapses. River West Brands’ application was approved and they were granted a “Notice of Allowance” on January 3, 2006. Once this is issued, the applicant has a maximum of 36 months (3 years) to file a “Statement of Use” (SOU) which demonstrates commercial/business use of the mark in the applicable product category - in this case, International Class 009: Video game software; video game machines for use with televisions. The applicant must apply for extensions every 6 months if they fail to submit an SOU in a timely fashion. Failure to file a statement after 36 months results in the forfeiture of your claim to the mark - for RWB, that dreaded date would be January 3, 2009. At that point, anyone else is entitled to apply for the mark. Over the next two years, RWB applied for no less than four SOU extensions. The beginning of 2008 saw them use their second to last extension. Things were not looking good. Then, with only 6 months left on the clock, they submitted a Statement of Use on July 1, 2008. The application stated “the trademark [is] displayed on the product itself.” I wonder what cool product they finally marketed to demonstrate their active use of the mark in a commercial setting? Hey, way cool! A ColecoVision hand-held video game system! Where can I buy one? Wait a minute…isn’t that Ben Heck’s hack of an original ColecoVision console modded to be a portable that he created back in 2005? https://www.benheck.com/Games/Coleco/ColecoP.htm Allegedly, RWB kindly contacted Ben to let him know that, *ahem*, they owned the ColecoVision trademark, but they would be good sports about it and would authorize use of the mark retroactively to 2005. Ben was asked to sign a document, and he also shared his vector files of the ColecoVision logo since there was nothing usable on the web for his handheld project. What RWB neglected to say was that their mark technically wasn't enforceable - it was pending, and that RWB's application would lapse just three days into the New Year if they didn't submit proof of commercial use - pronto. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/?p=3778482 Roughly two weeks later on July 15, 2008, the Trademark office accepted RWB’s Statement of Use featuring Ben’s console. Whew! Close call. Thanks to that photo of Ben’s handheld and his vector files, RWB could finally execute their brand monetization plan years later by licensing the ColecoVision name to ATGames, who released the ColecoVision Flashback. As a footnote, apparently there were two other entities interested in claiming marks related to Coleco, although both coordinated with RWB in the end. Perhaps it was RWB all along, I can’t tell from the existing documents. My favourite “above board” application came from a California-based company called (get this) Caesar Collazo, Inc. D.B.A. Collazo Entertainment Company Of Vision A.K.A. ColecoVision, who applied in October 2003. In the end, this application was abandoned in coordination with RWB, but I think Mr. Collazo had the stronger application. I mean, look at the company name - ColecoVision fits hand in glove! And Mr. Collazo included a Statement of Use in his application years before RWB did - who could ever forget the mind-blowing experience of playing ColecoVision’s masterpiece The Healing Runes Online Game?
  10. CollectorVision's Phoenix has a level/option to purchase a unit in the ADAM colour scheme - sounds cool
  11. Backed this today for the PCB - looking forward to making this a project and rigging it up in my empty ColecoVision case!
  12. Not to mention the SD Card slot, the keyboard, SNES connector as well. For the adventurous, you can take the existing Phoenix board and rig up something with an original ColecoVision case.
  13. Could this be posted on the AtariAge landing page? I've seen other projects posted there like the Jaguar Pro Controllers.
  14. I know it's a long shot, but I have to try. If anyone is comfortable passing along Else's last known email or mailing address or on-line communities he might hang out in to me via PM, that would be great. If I'm missing a key detail that hasn't been publicly posted that would dissuade me from my quixotic quest, like some kind of run-in with members of the community that prompted him to leave for good, please let me know via PM as well.
  15. I purchased several of the Ko-Rec-Type ribbons back in the day, they appeared to be a default supplier in Canada. I have memories of these ribbons being carried "in stock" at a local typewriter or ribbon supplier store for a good number of years after the ADAM was discontinued.
  16. I'm grateful that MicroFox has supported the Adam community with great products. My interest in Else's Adam SD solution is part curiosity - that such a cool product was shared with the community, including an ADAMCon, before he stepped away - and part interest in his unit's form factor and functionality. If his posts were simply scattered musing about a possible SD solution, I'd leave it there, but the fact he demoed and designed a working prototype with word that he was ready to begin assembling units, well, that's prompted me to see if the community can reconnect with Else. I've been in the hobby long enough to see people come and go for various reasons, including lost interest. If Else had declared "I'm done guys, so long and thanks for all the fish," then that's that, but in this case it seems like things were left up in the air. I agree that if someone doesn't log into AtariAge for 7 years, that's a deliberate decision, but if there's any possible chance of reconnecting with Else, I'd like to follow up on it.
  17. I saw over at colecovision.dk that there was a 4th image featuring Else's ADAM SD solution, this time in a prototype case. I didn't see that image here. Does anyone know the source of that image? http://www.colecovision.dk/derrick.htm
  18. I really like the form factor of Else's solution. Has anyone been able to contact Else in the real world to determine if he's not coming back to gaming? I realize that he could very easily head back on his own if he wanted to, but wanted to ask nonetheless.
  19. Was the hardware designer directly involved in discussions about the system's expansion options? ColecoVision put the expansion module interface front and centre and it was a clear market differentiator. How large did these expansion options loom in the final design of the system? More specifically, I'm curious about the early discussions around the Super Game Module and the computer expansion (later ADAM). As others have pointed out, both expansion options were referenced in early Coleco promotions together but these products also compete against one another. Was the designer privy to early discussions about how these expansion options would co-exist, or was Coleco simply covering all of the marketing angles until they had more time to see where the market was going?
  20. Interesting update on the subject of Defender on the ADAM. I was getting ready to film a short video of the game on my stand alone unit for those interested, but the game wouldn't function! It displayed the similar behaviour that others described - "up" wouldn't work at all, but fire just "fired" - no smart bombs. The smart bombs couldn't be used with simply the right button - I had to push "up" plus right button. Needless to say, I was completely confused. Resetting the game multiple times led to no change in behaviour. The only difference in loading Defender for the short video is that I inserted the cartridge and then turned on the system. Normally, I use the non-sanctioned method of turning on the system to typewriter, inserting the cartridge, and then pulling the cartridge reset. I went out for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, and upon returning home and booting up Defender, it worked this time without issue. Very strange stuff! I'll upload the video soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share a photo circa 1986-87 from a Princess Auto (basically an automotive/hardware store, plus surplus) in Edmonton, Alberta. As you can see, two of my friends are posing in front of a wall of ADAM Expansion modules, plus some keyboards. Years later I read some info about the liquidation of ADAM stock here on AtariAge, which I understand included a significant quantity of stock that simply wasn't boxed. Princess Auto is a national chain, so it appears they scooped some of that surplus. I also ended up purchasing my 5 1/4 ADAM disk drive there, again without the box. Enjoy!
  21. NIAD, ed1475, and HDTV1080P, thanks for indulging my questions about Defender in this thread. As it turns out, I think I “solved” the mystery. I’m 99% certain my cartridge is a standard Atarisoft release. I experimented with a second ADAM computer to see how the game plays. On this unit, the left fire button would shoot the canon plus set off a smart bomb. The right button would set off a smart bomb alone. I was able to fully manipulate my ship. Next, I played the cartridge on the ColecoVision, and the game was fully functional as you would expect without any of the aforementioned fire button/smart bomb issues. Ultimately, it appears that my main ADAM stand alone console plays extra nice with the Defender cartridge, and permits fully functional game play like on the ColecoVision. I could still send your way a ROM copied to data pack if you’d like to take a closer look, but I think the explanation for a working game lies in the quirks of my console.
  22. Thanks Ed. My version is definitely an Atarisoft release (I found the original box), it's a "ColecoVision Atarisoft" label and has two labels. I read another message where someone stated that the game loads but you can't fire; I've read that the game also doesn't work at all. Are there varying results when trying the game on the ADAM, or is it uniformly the same problem(s)?
  23. Great! Thanks for the confirmation about the data pack, I'll go that route. Maybe this whole thing is just a quirk of my system, but I'll have to try with my other ADAM set-up later in the week.
  24. Could I copy the cartridge to a datapack and then send it to you or another individual who could conduct the comparison? I don't have an ADAM FDD. Is there a chance that an ADAM hardware revision might account for the functionality of the game? Actually, I do have another ADAM system, but it's all boxed up for now - I'll drag it out at some point and see how it works on there as well.
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