Emehr

Did they really call Kevtris a "fly-by-night game hobbyist"? These guys need to be schooled.

The Grand Purge is over until I reorganize and figure out what else I can get rid of. Thanks to all who have helped me de-clutter my collection!

Mux's board was really inspiring and I would love to see something along those lines. I think some of the best games are the ones where the programmers did a lot with so little. Anything that requires a huge team for coding and graphics and sound assets is already unsustainable out of the gate. The huge dev teams that are out there certainly won't be putting significant resources into such an endeavor. Or they'll do it exactly once when they realize the return isn't worth it. A successful classic-style system shouldn't involve more people than what the homebrew scene today requires: one to three dedicated people and a community that can relay feedback. System Guts I wonder if it would be feasible to use tried-and-true CPUs like the 6502 or the 68K. I'm not sure what the availability of these are but they have proven to be extremely capable. Or maybe something in those families of processors with a little more power? I would opt for screen resolution similar to the SuperNES or Genesis. At the lowest: NES. If we get any lower than that, then we might as well just drop the idea and focus support on the current 2600/7800/INTV et al homebrews. With finer resolution, we can utilize some fun graphical goodies such as scaling, pixel doubling/nearest-neighbor smoothing, rotation, lightening/darkening, and transparency. Offering these basic abilities will help give the system it's own identity and set it apart from other systems from the classic eras. Imagine something like the 7800 performing the tricks of the SuperNES. As for sound: chip tunes with optional MIDI. I don't want to see a classic-style system that spools audio from Red Book or MP3 files. It's just not right. Controllers DB-9 interface would be a good default. It's common and the Sega Genesis managed a directional pad and eight buttons with that arrangement. I would think that would be more than enough buttons. I would even sacrifice a some buttons and put an analog spinner on the controller for paddle and driving games. I'm not inclined to add analog sticks. I think paddles are sorely missed on modern systems, IMO, and there is still a lot of potential gameplay opportunities to be had with them, especially if used in conjunction with a directional pad. Bluetooth wireless might be manageable (maybe?). I would heavily vote against infrared wireless. I've seen IR with great line-of-sight (Apple TV) and IR with terrible LOS (Atari Flashback 5 or whatever number they are on). Forcing the player to maintain a specific controller orientation while playing is too much to ask and detracts from the experience. Getting the Games into the System Cartridges would probably be the simplest way, at least for prototyping purposes. Ultimately, I wonder if it would be more practical (and modern) to have onboard wi-fi for downloading games from a server or from a local computer. Let the gamer archive their games as they wish on their computer. I wouldn't spend a lot of time and energy trying to make the games piracy-proof. Let's be real, that's a no-win scenario. If giant corporations can't do it, what chance does something like this have? That's my personal wish list for a classic-style system. It would be cool to see the talented homebrew developers migrate to a system that will give them some new abilities and maybe a little more wiggle room but still have some constraints that bring out creative solutions.

Used: 7800 and a bunch of games bought from a friend. I went from nine Atari 2600 games from the time when I was growing up to about 60 plus a few 7800 games to boot. I was in bliss. New: NES. Sometime around mid-1988 (IIRC) I went in "halfsies" with my brother and picked it up in Kmart. It was the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt version with the gray Zapper. I still have it. I pretty much bought all of my consoles with my own money except for the Atari 2600 our family got in 1980 and the Atari Lynx I got in 1991.

Ahhh! How can I forget that one? I even incorporated those sounds into my alarm system recently if you fail to enter the passcode in time. It would seem my memory isn't what it used to be as well. I wish humans came with memory cards. I'd swap mine out for a different one and hope my brain still sees that I like Castlevania.

I play and enjoy both. I kind of prefer the smaller player sprites in the 7800 version, though. I have a memory of my friend having a 7800 Galaga marathon at our house and getting a high score. I don't remember what the score was (he may have rolled it) or what wave he made it to, but supper-time came around so we paused the game, ate, and went back...to a black screen. Not knowing anything about this "screen saver" feature of the 7800 and thinking the game "died", we shut it off. I don't have any memories of NES Galaga, but I appreciate its accuracy as a port. For nostalgia and small player sprites, I'll play the 7800 version. When I want arcade accuracy, I'll play NES.

I actually like the ending to the 2600 version of Missile Command. That sound of the incoming final missile makes me imagine little pixelated guys jumping out of their command posts to try and save themselves before the final explosion. Off the top of my head, a couple other games with satisfying game over screens are Ninja Gaiden II (I like the snippet of music it plays) and Contra (again, the music).

Don't look now but we've got a troll. Don't make eye contact. Just back slowly out of the thread and hope it disappears.

So all it takes to go from zero to sounding like a stark-raving lunatic are a couple of Facebook pictures? You ever hear of "easing into a conversation"? Get a grip.

That would be cool to see AtariAge homebrews use the old Activision shells. I like the way they interlock when stacked and the labels can be printed out in one piece. Now it's just a matter of convincing Activision that Pitfall for Atari 2600 hardware is still a viable market.

It only makes sense if the original build of Pitfall is stll being sold in a format compatible with original Atari 2600 hardware. If Activision were selling an Atari game compilation for Wii U then that format should be protected, but cartridge binaries for Atari 2600 hardware are fair game, in my opinion. The moment they abandon a format is the moment that they lose protection. If they've gained all they can monetarily then moved on to another system, then nothing of value is lost if copies are played on the abandoned hardware. If they had a stake in it then they would still be cranking out Atari cartridges.

My own personal rule is this: is somebody potentially losing money because I'm using this software? If that particular build of the software is not on the market or if the hardware (or operating system) that is required for the software to run is no longer in production, the answer is generally "no". All software is protected by copyright. It's not yours to copy, sell, or give away. Otherwise you dilute the market and reduce the demand of the product, which affects the author or publisher. If there is no market or if the product is no longer in production, then there is nothing to dilute and nobody is affected. That approach seems reasonable to me so that's what I go by. It doesn't mean I don't buy obsolete games and software though. I like old media and the packaging and documentation that goes with it.

I spent this last weekend sorting, inventorying (is that a word), researching, and pricing all of the stuff I intend to sell. When I got towards the end, I felt a rush of "what else can I get rid of?". I wanted to keep going. It felt good. I can't wait to get it out of my house before I change my mind or something. 400+ games and several consoles. This may take a while...

FF7 was the reason my brother and I went in together to buy a Playstation. Seems like yesterday. What's even harder for me to fathom is that the Sega Genesis is 26 years old. Somewhere, someone is doing (or has done) a study on age and our perception of time.

I agree. Even though the joke may be tired around here, I can guarantee that the headlines are already written when this thing fails. I have no love for the Jag either and I never did when it came out. I'm of the opinion that if Atari had stuck with the Lynx and put their Panther/Jag development costs into marketing and expanding the Lynx library instead, they may have stuck it out for a few more years. Of course, we'll never know since they felt like they had to compete with the big boys with an obnoxious ad campaign for a lackluster console that sounded like it was trying to compensate for something. Consumers remember this stuff and the tech press is definitely going to remember. So if the RetroVGS fails you better believe that the legacy of the Jaguar will be mentioned in their headlines and articles. Is it unfair? Yeah, probably, since it's just a plastic shell, but it's going to happen.

No, I said this console would be kick-ass. Plus, putting anything into a Jaguar case is the kiss of death.

I just read the "under the hood" details in the RetroVGS FAQ. If I'm understanding correctly, this thing is basically going to be an all-in-one style system that doesn't really have its own identity. Each cart will include a Hardware Description Language (HDL) that will tell the console how to behave. That is, what kind of console to simulate. So it can be an Atari 2600 or a Neo Geo based on what HDL is on the cart. So if you think of J. Edgar Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover will show up on the console. If this is the case, then this is even less appealing for me. I'd rather see them take a bunch of 6502 or 68K processors and build their own retro-modern console around it. Those are some tried and true CPUs that have been around the block. At least it would have its own personality. Take the best parts of the SuperNES and Genesis and make a kick-ass console with its own distinct traits. Make it fast like Genesis, colorful like SuperNES, higher resolution than both, hardware scaling and rotation, color blending, color darkening/lightening, alpha channels, flat-shaded polygon abilities, chip tunes, plenty of memory, etc. It would still be a hard sell for this "geezer" and they would still need some dedicated developers but at least it would be unique and I could give it the benefit of the doubt. This jack-of-all-trades system they're shooting for is just going to end up with a bunch of ports.

I kinda have an irrational hatred towards the Jaguar based solely on how it pushed the more promising Lynx out of the market only to fail spectacularly so it will be a cold day in Phoenix before I have anything that looks like it in my house. I like the idea of a new retro-style console but this particular "geezer" is way past his bulk-collecting days and is getting ready to sell off a significant chunk of his collection. There's simply not enough time to play and enjoy all of these games. Adding another console to my mix is a tough sell. If I can't find time to enjoy actual retro games what chance does this have? Not only that, a new console needs to have quality exclusive games out of the gate or else it will be DOA. Super 3D Noah's Ark? Are they serious? I see no reason to buy their console when most of their launch titles are (or will be) available elsewhere. Whet our appetites with a tech demo that shows off what the console is capable of. Show us something that an existing retro console can't do. All I'm seeing are games that look like they could be ported to the SuperNES or Genesis, systems I already own and would rather buy games for.

"Sigh-sop"

I find that the older I get the more stuff I add to my "for sale" pile. I don't ever see myself getting rid of all of it but I will be selling off consoles that have no nostalgia value to me or that I just don't play. I picked them up long ago either as a "rescue", it was a good deal, or because they had some historical value and they should be in my collection. Turns out I haven't fired up my Odyssey 2, for example, in probably 8 or 10 years. It's been consuming space, collecting dust, and providing zero value for that long. Meanwhile there's probably someone out there who could probably give it a good home and some love. I feel the same way about my Mac Classic, my Mac 512k, clamshell iBook, etc. I start to feel guilty for having them. When my "for sale" pile gets bigger than my "keep" pile it'll be time to start my big sale, I think. I also try to justify keeping a lot of it for my son. But then I think "Would I have wanted to play with my dad's childhood toys?" and my answer would probably be "No". But then I think "These aren't toys, they're more equatable to books, music, or movies." and then I decide that the stuff stays. Now it's just a matter of cherry-picking what stays and what goes.

Is holding Reset as you power on the Atari considered "frying"? That's how I got double shots in Space Invaders and I always thought that was an intentional feature.

I bought this back in the day (late 80s) and mine didn't come with an overlay. I didn't discover until years later that they usually did. Maybe they stopped including it with the late 80s re-iussues. You don't need it to play, just write down what each console switch does or put post-it notes on your Atari. It's basically for opening/closing the cargo bay doors and raising/lowering the landing gear. I think there was another function but I can't remember it. Anyway, I loved it. I'm a fan of simulations and this one was pretty deep, especially for a 2600 game. The inclusion of using the console switches gave it a tactile feel. It really felt like I was doing important work. You launch, stay on a trajectory as you gain altitude and leave the Earth's atmosphere, dock with a satellite or something, then re-enter the atmosphere (again, maintaining a trajectory) and land. There may be more but that's the gist of it. You get a sense of accomplishment when you land. You definitely need to jot down a cheat sheet of the important parameters you need to maintain. Talking about it makes me want to play it. I haven't played it in years. I guess it would hold up okay nowadays. The visuals got the job done and the sound effects did their job well too. It's worth completing at least once, especially if you like simulations. There was really nothing else like it at the time and hasn't been much since. The NES got a space shuttle game but I haven't played it.

I seem to remember trying it with Maze Craze (before I even knew there was a term for what I was doing) and getting the maze to be a grid where you could just go straight across to the exit. It could be a false memory too. This was way back in 1982 or 1983. I never found it useful for any other game. I just remember a lot of glitchy graphics.

The thread about McWill's mod should be pinned and made front page news, IMO.

Asteroids. I loved the asteroid graphics and their animation. It's very satisfying shooting them and watching them turn to dust. The slower, more ominous music gives the game some atmosphere and the "phase in" sound effect when you regenerate is great. The co-op modes are a lot of fun as well. They're like the whipped topping on the Asteroids ice cream. Pie co-op mode. As for marketing, yeah, Atari really needed to step up their game against Nintendo. I only knew about the 7800 because a friend had one. I then saw them in Sears catalogs and that was all I saw of the 7800 in print or media or anything for that matter. Meanwhile, Nintendo was asserting their presence everywhere. Once I played Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out at my friend's house, there was no way I was asking for a 7800 for Xmas. That said, I love my 7800 and NES equally. I ended up buying that 7800 from my friend and still have it.