karokoenig

Thanks for the tip. I did a little bit of research, and the Explorer looks interesting, especially in direct comparison with the Advantage. However, I checked ebay availability, and it gives me a feeling that it may be really hard to find outside the US. I'd say I will wait for the Speedking to arrive from the UK and see how well that one holds up. If it still isn't what I'm looking for, the Explorer will be high on my list.

Using a not too sharp knife to gently ease through the glued points usually does the trick for me. "Not too sharp" is important, because a razor may cut right through the cardboard without you noticing it.

Probably not exactly what you were asking for, but Astroblast comes to mind. I love those Incredibly weird-looking carts. Slim original Intellivision cart with an Atari-sized "thingy" stuck to it.

A quick Google Image search for Spectravideo joystick resulted mostly in pictures of "flightsticks". No, I don't want any of these. Meanwhile, I ordered one of these from the UK. Looks a lot like what I want. I can keep you guys informed about how well it works once it arrives - if you like.

I have observed a rise in prices for Atari 2600 and NES stuff as well in the last few months. At least on German eBay.

Hope I'm not late for the party this week. Was basically offline the whole weekend... Just NES this week: - Caveman Ninja: 12 minutes - Faxanadu: 35 minutes - Kabuki Quantum Fighter: 25 minutes - Pinball: 10 minutes - Tiger Heli: 10 minutes

Only read all the comments diagonally, so please forgive me if it has been mentioned already: It should have a PAL/NTSC switch.

Could also be german. Quelle had this cart design.

Thanks for the tip. It is a tiny bit bulky as well, though. Isn't there anything that would fit into, say, a normal human hand?

Atari 2600 Jungle Hunt Atari 2600 Phoenix Commodore 64 Wonder Boy Commodore 64 Space Taxi Commodore 64 Bruce Lee There are countless other games, I guess... but these are the ones that came to my mind first when I thought about "games you played the shit out of back then". I would have added "Monkey Island - all of them with no exception", but I discovered these pretty late in my gaming career. Technically, I wasn't really a child anymore anyway when MI 1 came out.

Probably not exactly the right forum, but I thought in this HSC, you guys know a little about NES controllers. Here's the thing: I only discivered the NES as a serious gaming system recently - believe it or not, and shame on me. But I still can't stand the normal gamepads. Joystick guy through and through, I guess. I did get a hold of the NES Advantage already, but that thing is kind of bulky and the buttons tend to get stuck. Can you guys point me towards some alternatives I should check out? Something along the lines of the Competition Pro Joystick for NES? Any tip will be greatly appreciated!

My (very small) contribution to this week's statistics. Stupid real life... Atari 2600: - Missile Command: 10 minutes - Top Gun (german clone of Telegames's Air Raiders): 5 minutes NES: - Goonies II: 15 minutes - Little Nemo the Dream Master: 15 minutes I've heard that Goonies II kind of sucks. So far, I found it really okay, but I didn't dig very far into it yet. Music is really great. Love that tune.

Sorry for the off-topic observation, but... In any other forum apart from AA, a thread title like this would absolutely not sound right.

I strongly believe that was the original intention.

I only know the 2600 version. As far as I recall, you were able to shoot Otto in one of the medium difficulty game modes.

Goonies II at the moment. I haven't played much, so I can't say a lot about the gameplay (opinion is divided, as far as I can see). The Goonies theme is rather cool, though. Love that movie.

Right now, a tie between Phoenix, GI Joe Cobra Strike and Moon Patrol.

You'll find those things in the mineral/fossil collectors scene. They are used very often to display crystals and other rock thingies.

No time to play tomorrow. So here's my early entry for this week: NES: - Caveman Ninja: 10 minutes - Faxanadu: 30 minutes - Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge: 10 min (Got that one recently. Meh, it sucks. I'd rather play Pole Position) - Galaxy 5000: 15 minutes (Another new item in my collection. I like that one!) - Jack Nicklaus Golf: 10 minutes (New game of the week #3... After 25 strokes, I finished the first hole. It said "Finally". Asshole. Definetly an RTFM game. And the face of Jack Nicklaus scares the hell out of me) - Snake, Rattle & Roll: 10 minutes - Tom & Jerry: 15 minutes (Now THAT is what I call an extremely mediocre game) Atari 2600: - Billard: 10 minutes (german cart; identical to Imagic's "Trick Shot") - Enduro: 20 minutes

Got ya. Well, then I would say that Outlaw, being as common and worthless as it is, is the perfect playground to practice your soldering skills. Edit: there are quite a few games out there which don't HAVE all the contacts in the first place. I don't have an Outlaw cart, so I can't verify if it's the case for this game. The screenvideo you put up actually just looks like a bit of bad contact. If one would be completely missing, I doubt the game would respond at all. May be wrong there, though.

You sure it's really rubbed off, or just extremely dirty/oxidized?

Nice one. On the other hand... what I also learned from this game is that it's really profitable to get 90 percent of your crew deliberately killed in an assault on a strong city before dividing up the plunder. While not essentially different from the business strategies of today's hedge fonds managers, I have a slight nagging feeling in the back of my head that it may not be quite moral. Or, in the immortal words of Ambrose Bierce: PIRACY, n. Commerce without its folly-swaddles, just as God made it.

There are really people out there who still play Decathlon? I do have a cart, but I'm scared to destroy my joysticks - like I used to do to quite a few back when I was a kid. They don't make'em anymore, y'know...