gamecat80

These systems are finicky. There is a menu that pops up if there is no cart inserted. Sometimes you have to reset the machine to get it working properly. Also, make sure the RF cord is still good. I'd only offer $150 for the box + working unit + controllers. I think I paid about that much for my working Astrocade (no box) + 20 carts + 4 controllers.

But there isn't a huge difference between the POKEY (5200) and TI (CV) as far as sound. Just compare the game sounds between the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision and see what I mean. Technically the AY sound chip used in the Intellivision is more advanced than the TI sound chip used in the ColecoVision, but you wouldn't know it listening to most games from both systems. So while some systems actually have slightly more advanced sound chips than others, it also depends on how well that system makes use of that sound chip! So I think the ColecoVison has pretty decent sound for a console released in 1982. In fact, the CV sounds a little better to me than the stock SMS sound, even though they use the "same" sound chip. Most SMS games are annoyingly high pitched and lack lower frequencies, even though the music is more elaborate than what you'd hear on the CV. Yes, I know about the FM chip, but that was only available in Japan, I think. I agree about the Genesis tinnyness; I've talked about it before. It's not bad, but I'm just not a huge fan of the "16-bit generation" sound. When I think "classic" I think: "8-bit arcade and home console". I like well-done 8-bit chiptunes. Also agree about the Astrocade. I think it has the best sound (and graphics) out of the 1970s-released systems.

Bumping an old thread For me, NES. Five-channel sound: two pulse wave channels, one triangle wave channel, one white noise channel, and one samples/DPCM channel. Well balanced, varied and distinctive to the ears. Blaster Master, Kid Icarus, DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout are great examples. The Astrocade, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, C-64 (yes, I know, a computer; a gaming computer) and TG-16/PCE all had very good sound for their time, too.

My newish LED TV (bought brand-new a couple years ago) accepts RF signal thru the coax Cable/Antenna input just fine. Tell me about it! I recently bought 4 loose NES games on eBay, and it cost me over $60. That's roughly $15 per game cartridge (loose). But they are good games that I will enjoy. Keep in mind that games made/published by Nintendo, SunSoft, Konami, Capcom, etc, back in the day cost $30 - 40 per game

Since my top-loader NES is aging (the original front-loader is long gone), I recently bought a Retron 3 and like it quite a bit. Some of the colors and sounds are a little "off" from the original but overall, pretty good. The picture is very clear -- much better than the original. The main thing about the sound is that it still sounds like an NES, but some of the duty cycles in the pulse wave channels are "mixed up", so some sounds that are 50% duty cycle (full square wave) on the original are 25% duty cycle on the Retron 3, and vise-versa. You can hear this in SMB with the coin sounds, jumping sounds, and main theme music. Doesn't bother me at all though; actually I kinda like the slight changes in sounds/colors on the Retron 3. Explanation of how NES audio works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la3coK5pq5w

- The big fish that jump out of the water and try to eat you in SMB 3 on NES. I always get gobbled up by one of those bastards when I play it. - The bats in Pitfall 2. Annoying how you "slide" back to your last checkpoint when one of those damn bats hits you. That's the main reason I prefer the original Pitfall; I just feel it is a more playable game than Pitfall 2.

There are many video games that have me laughing for their animations or sfx (sound effects). Paperboy (on NES) has some pretty funny animations in the game: a woman who chases you when you go by, a boy break-dancing on the sidewalk, a utility worker jack-hammering the sidewalk, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy0MLORukzA In DuckTales (NES), when you kill an enemy or pogo-stomp them, the sound effect is hilarious. What are some games that have certain animations or sounds in them that have you laughing? Discuss and post examples

- California Games - SMB 2 - Yoshi's Cookie all NES

Overall a great site. I've learned some things here and it's fun to share conversation with others. But I looked back at a post I made and noticed a mistake, but cannot edit it. Why?

I remember the first time I saw SMB on the NES; I was blown away! We had just moved to another neighborhood in late summer of 1988. Still had our C-64, but only the base model with cartridge games. Went down the street and some kid had the NES with SMB. The sounds, the higher-res graphics, the gameplay and polished controls/movement were amazing to me. It seemed like a full generation ahead of the basic C-64, so we soon got the NES package with SMB/Duck Hunt and the zapper gun I also remember very well when SMB 2 and SMB 3 came out; I was still in elementary school. Got those games as birthday presents cuz I begged for them. New NES games back then were expensive; like $40 a piece. We bought new and used games and also rented a lot of games back in those days. How many times have we seen you say this now? It's getting old... I could come back and say: "Why was the 8-bit SMS so popular in the UK and Brazil well into the 1990s when 16-bit gaming was all around?" See what I did there? The NES was VERY big in the USA and Japan in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It was a very exciting time. But some seem to forget that by the early 90s, the 16-bit SNES AND Genesis were becoming popular in the US That said, I still find myself playing my old NES more than my other systems lately for nostalgia reasons and because many of the games are just good and fun! It's the games library that "make" a system....

I have mentioned the O2 in my last couple posts on here. I've actually been playing my O2 quite a bit the last couple weeks. You could argue that all home systems from the 70s had low-res blocky graphics. IMO, O2 games look better than early Atari VCS games. But later Atari VCS games from the mid-late 80s look better and surpass Odyssey 2 games. There is no flickering in O2 games, and it seems to be able to handle a decent amount of moving objects on screen, and the animation is usually fantastic and smooth. Pick Axe Pete is a very good example of great animation and lots of moving objects (boulders) with no flicker. The colors are clear and vibrant and the rf picture is very good, like early-model Atari VCS'. The O2 may have simple sound and graphics, but they are clean and clear. Now that I'm using the proper power adapter with my Odyssey 2, I am enjoying it more and have more respect for it. I agree that the keyboard should have been used more in games.

I was going from what I remembered off the top of my head. Thanks for the minor corrections. Adding another one: -- GCC was behind the development of the Atari 7800 and it's MARIA chip. Thanks everyone. Keep them coming!

Title pretty much says it all. I wanted to devote a thread for the engineers and developers who made our classic consoles and computers possible. Just off the top of my head: - Nutting Associates were behind the development of the Bally Astrocade. I think Ken Lill (kenzre) was part of this group? - Jay Miner designed the chips used in the Atari VCS and Atari 8-bit computer line. - Ed Averett and Roberto Lenarducci were behind the development of the Magnavox Odyssey 2. Ed convinced Magnavox/Philips to develop a new video game console using Intel chips. He also programmed many games for the O2. Roberto was the engineer behind the Odyssey 2's hardware, including the membrane keyboard and controllers. - Eric Bromley and Nuvatec were behind the development of the ColecoVision console. The ColecoVision uses Texas Instruments video and audio hardware. Please feel free to add other consoles/computers & who developed/engineered them, or add to what I already have up.

Nice and Games is probably my overall favorite video game reviewer on YT. I really like his style; it's a shame he doesn't have more viewers because he does a great job. Classic Game Room is up there for me, too. Croooow has some good, funny gameplay vids up also.

Out of this list, I voted Atari 5200. Great original Pac-Man port for it's time. Though the Atari 7800 and ColecoVision Pac-Man homebrews are impressive, they were released decades after the consoles' heydays. LOL @ Atari 2600 Pac-Man. Muncher on the Astrocade and K.C. Munchkin on the Odyssey 2 are both far superior Pac-Man "clones".

Not a huge fan of this game, but another vote for the Atari 7800 version here. Good graphics, good controls, and the TIA sound is good enough for this game.

Many of the American game consoles were manufactured in Asia -- usually Hong Kong or Taiwan. But a few were manufactured/assembled here, previously mentioned above. My Bally Astrocade (Computer System model) says: "Astrovision, Inc. Garner, Iowa" on the bottom. How about game console companies which were based in the US, having their main office/headquarters located here: -Atari (Pong units, 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar, Lynx) -Astrovision (Astrocade & it's variant names) -Coleco (ColecoVision, Pong units, tabletops) -Mattel (Intellivision & it's various models) -Emerson (Arcadia 2001) -Fairchild Semiconductor (Channel F) I'm sure there are others. And the list doubles when you add computer companies. Magnovox was an American electronics company bought by Philips, a Dutch company, in the early 70s, right after the original Odyssey came out. Ralph Baer, a German immigrant to the US, was the developer of the original Odyssey. Ed Averett was the main developer/engineer behind the Odyssey 2 and many of it's games. It becomes even more interesting when you find out what hardware chips were used in these old game consoles.

-IMO, the NES version is the overall best home version; it just has the best, most refined graphics, sound and controls. -The ColecoVision homebrew version is also excellent, and even has the intermissions. But Mario controls a little too 'slippery' for my tastes, and the fireballs look more like hurricanes. -The Atari 7800 version looks good and controls well, but suffers from crude TIA sound. -I actually kinda like the Atari 5200 version of Mario Bros. Sure, it is slow, but it played well for me back when my 5200 worked. Decent graphics and sound, and has the best water pipes of the versions here. It came out the same year as the arcade and the 2600 versions (1983) so for it's time, I think it was quite good. -Never played the Atari 2600 version, but it just looks too primitive for me to really enjoy it. I pronounce "Mario" like Marr-ee-oh.

Well the latest multicart (UltiMulti) for the Astrocade has a total of 163 programs; over half of which are games (I haven't really sat down and counted, but I'm confident that over half of them are games). So I'm not sure where you got the "~30 games" from. But for me, I only need a few really good games that appeal to me to buy the system and games. I find most games on the Astrocade to be of good or excellent quality. The SCV also has a small games library, but I bought the system and some games because they appeal to me, and I find most games on it to be good or excellent in quality. Are you talking about cartridge labels? Yeah, mine are discolored......some more than others. Guess it is the glue they used back then to put the labels on. I think it is pretty common on old cartridges of most any retro system, although my SCV carts don't really have that problem.

Pretty funny stuff. Liked

Thanks for the info, MADrigal. Wish there were more CreatiVisions around, though. I like the look of the games I've seen of it on YT

So the 2600 and O2 impress you but not the Astrocade? Okayyyy I can tell you the Astrocade is easily on-par with the Intellivision; and it came out 2+ years prior! Think of an arcade-style Intellivision, and you have the Astrocade. It was basically the Neo-Geo of the late 70s. I'd say it is worth getting an Astrocade because of it's great arcade style & obscure games. The sound and graphics were great for it's time, as were the controllers. Make sure you see screenshots of it working before buying one off ebay! Or contact member kenzre here to see if he has any for sale.

For some reason I thought the CreatiVision had slightly less memory than the ColecoVision. My mistake. I knew they shared the same video and audio chips, though. And they look similar. I thought the ColecoVision was released in the summer (August) of 1982. If the CreatiVision was released only 6 months prior, it would still be 1982 (March). I had read that the CreatiVision was released in Hong Kong in 1981. Can you give more clarity on release date?

The CreatiVision/Dick Smith Wizzard seems to be an extremely rare console; even more rare than the Super Cassette Vision, Sega SG-1000 or Arcadia 2001. This is the only CreatiVision for sale on ebay: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CREATIVISION-DICK-SMITH-WIZZARD-CONSOLE-AUTO-CHASE-SONIC-INVADER-BASIC-carts-/271681419076?pt=AU_Consoles&hash=item3f41797744&_uhb=1 It's in Australia and it's not even complete (missing power adapter). I suspect not many people have a CreatiVision. Seems like a neat console though, like an earlier, slightly less powerful ColecoVision, with a few minor differences. If there was a multicart for the Super Cassette Vision, I'd buy it!

-Wheelie Racer -Super Golf -Comic Circus All SCV