Streck

I'll see if I can squeeze out one more before the holiday weekend.

1. Funatics Software 2. The Assembly Line 3. Taito 4. Bullfrog Productions 5. Asylum Entertainment 6. Mud Duck Productions 7. Black Isle 8. Hi-Tech Expressions 9. Gremlin Interactive 10. Criterion Games 11. Reflexive Entertainment 12. Crystal Dynamics 13. Empire Interactive 14. Franchise Pictures 15. Access Software 16. Pseudo Interactive 17. Avalon Hill 18. 7th Level 19. Digital Fiction 20. Imagitec Design 21. Knowledge Adventure 22. Eidos Interactive 23. Wanadoo 24. Ubisoft 25. Panther Games 26. Time Warner Interactive

I never owned a console until I bought a GameCube a few years ago. Computers, on the other hand, we had plenty of. My first gaming system was an Apple II Plus.

Okay, you guys! Set 4!

Here's the answer key for Set 3. The first one wasn't what a couple of you thought it was. Set 4 coming soon! 1. Delphine Software International 2. Magic Bytes 3. Thalion 4. Rainbow Arts 5. Raven Software 6. Tradewest 7. ReadySoft 8. Microids 9. Rainbird 10. Logotron Entertainment 11. Titus Software 12. Spectrum Holobyte 13. Maxis 14. Vivid Image 15. Revolution Software 16. Activision 17. Krisalis Software 18. Firebird 19. Hi-Tec Software 20. Starbyte 12. Dynamix

As promised, here is Set 3. GO!

Didn't stop hex65000 from getting it right. Hey, if you really know the logo, you'll get it with just a fragment. Here is the answer key to Set 2. Set 3 will be up momentarily! A. Psygnosis B. Microdeal C. Webfoot Technologies D. Enix E. Codemasters F. LittleWing G. Domark H. Dinamic Multimedia I. Mastertronic J. Silmarils K. Midas Interactive L. Grolier Interactive M. Kingsoft N. IncaGold O. Software Toolworks P. Exxos Q. Blue Byte R. Loriciel S. Image Works T. Infogrames U. Palace Software V. Interplay Productions W. Arc Developments

Man, you guys are doing great. Shame on you for not getting Sirius Software and Datamost in the first set, though. I'll post the second answer key and the third set shortly.

Here's the answer key for the first set. I'm especially pleased to see so many people getting Spinnaker. 1. Sierra On-Line 2. Electronic Arts 3. Mindscape 4. Broderbund Software 5. Data East 6. Origin Systems 7. Datamost 8. Strategic Simulations, Inc. 9. HAL Laboratories 10. Williams 11. Sirius Software 12. Spinnaker 13. Hudson Soft 14. Apogee 15. Tengen 16. Squaresoft 17. Konami 18. Milton Bradley 19. Majesco 20. Camerica 21. Sony Imagesoft 22. Simon & Schuster 23. Taito 24. Ubisoft Here is Set 2, going a little more old-school now. Psygnosis is a given now, but there are plenty left to challenge you!

Match each logo with its corresponding game developer/publisher. I have four sets, here is the first. After you've had at it for a while, I'll post the answer key. Good luck!

Um, I'm nothing of the sort. I'm just a guy with an interest in old console and computer history. Pardon me, I guess.

I'm looking for sales figures for most if not all of the '80s consoles - Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, etc... I'm particularly interested in NES vs. 7800 sales figures. Searching the web, I can find a lot of articles with general information but hardly any specific numbers. Can anyone help me out?

Just one additional anecdote: Tonight I was in the dorm arcade playing Galaga. As I was walking out, some cute freshman-aged girl tiptoed around the corner and peeked in, as her friends at a nearby table chuckled. She spun around and said ecstatically, "Oh, shut up! They have Ga-LAH-ga! I have that in my basement!" I'm sure she was referring to her folks' basement, and it's a bit annoying that the love of a classic arcade game is apparently not socially acceptable in certain crowds, but my heart always chimes when I see such an unlikely connection made.

Well, like I said, the Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga are now gone from one of the malls. And the arcade in the other mall, which has a sped-up Ms. Pac-Man, Gorf, and Wizard of Wor (forgot to include that one in my list), just tightened its operating hours. Gettin' a tad nervous. I never thought to check out laundromats, though, I'll have to try those.

I've taken to mentally cataloging all the vintage arcade machines around town. Didn't even realize I was doing it at first. Anyway, this is what we had a few months ago: Pac-Man (mall) Ms. Pac-Man (two malls and a burger joint) Donkey Kong (burger joint) Asteroids (pizza joint) Galaga (mall, dorm) BurgerTime (dorm) Arkanoid (dorm) Gorf (mall) "Ultracade" with lots of emulated classics (dorm) Things have changed now: Pac-Man (mall): Still there Ms. Pac-Man (two malls and a burger joint): Gone from one of the malls Donkey Kong (burger joint): Still there Asteroids (pizza joint): Still there Galaga (mall, dorm): Gone from the mall BurgerTime (dorm): Screen now constantly scrolls left to right, unplayable Arkanoid (dorm): Screen now tinted bright green, still playable Gorf (mall): Still there "Ultracade" with lots of emulated classics (dorm): Gone, may appear after building renovation

Robotron... freaking... 2084.

I was in that airport a little while ago, and I saw a Centipede/Millipede/Missile Command combo machine. Dunno if that was the same one you saw. It wouldn't take my quarters though, just spat them back out. Verrrrry annoying because it would have been a perfect way to kill time before my flight. At least the Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga Class of 1981 machine worked. I wish I'd known then about the secret way to get the original Pac-Man playing on there. The ones at my arcade think: "How can that guy go straight from DDR to Pac-Man?"

I was really impressed that a kid that young even knew the Space Invaders name. I mean, what are the chances that he's seen or played on an actual Space Invaders machine? Or that his parents have mentioned it more than a few times? Not only did he know the name, but he knew enough about the game to know that it was fundamentally the same as Galaga. Who knows, maybe he played it somewhere once. That would be remarkable. But it's just as awesome to think that the Space Invaders name and gameplay would be somehow immortally stored in our collective consciousness.

I have a couple to share. About a week ago I was at a local arcade, playing Ms. Pac-Man, and a kid who looked around nine years old walked up and watched me play until I died. (I'm decent at the game so it took a while.) There were all sorts of newer games around--Tekken Tag, Soul Calibur 2, DDR, et cetera--but he was captivated by this game. After I was done and walking away, he dug out a quarter and popped it in. Some weeks before that, I was at a different arcade, playing Wizard of Wor. There was a Galaga machine nearby. I saw a kid maybe seven years old walk up with his dad. He asked his dad, "Is that Space Invaders?!" He begged for a quarter, got one, and within moments I was hearing him yell things like "Taste my FURY!" and "I DESTROY YOU!" He finished a game, began to walk away, then changed his mind and went back for two more games. It is gratifying to know that some of the classics still manage to appeal to today's youngsters, even with graphically superior games all around. Wildly innovative gameplay is timeless.

I recently started using the MESS emulator for some 5200 and 7800 games (until I acquire the real things) and was just wondering if anyone knew how to re-map keys in it. The "up" key for Robotron 2084 in the 7800 emulator coincides with the reset key, which is a bit of a problem.

Ah, Apple II. That's what I grew up with, until about 1990 when I discovered PC gaming. Back in high school I collected vintage computers (odd hobby for a teenager, eh?) and my Apple collection was easily the largest part of it: Apple ][ Apple ][ Plus Apple //e Apple /// (yes!) Laser 128EX (Apple clone, //e & //c combined capability) Unitron (Apple clone, ][ & ][ Plus capability) Timex Sinclair ZX-80 TI 99/4A And others I'm probably forgetting. I sold the Apple ][ after discovering its motherboard wasn't original, I sold the /// because I was an idiot, and I sold the Unitron to a guy in Japan. I still have the ][ Plus (my very first computer); it sits in my entertainment center, next to boxes full of classics like Boulder Dash, Galaxian, Miner 2049er, Night Mission Pinball, H.E.R.O., Congo Bongo, etc., as well as the Apple ports, made by Atarisoft, of Ms. Pac-Man, Burgertime, Centipede, Defender, Stargate, and others. I play it at least once or twice a week.

Thank you very much. If the emulator is emulating only TIA sound for TIA-only 7800 ROMs, then, I guess I have a more general question: How accurate is the TIA sound emulation? I only ask because when I first heard the sound (for the two games I mentioned before) I was rather surprised at how decent they sounded, especially given the derision I've heard the TIA chip subjected to over and over again. I'd hate to think I was hearing something considerably better than what an actual 7800 system put out.

But the games I was playing were Ms. Pac-Man and Robotron 2084. Or did you mean something else?

(And I'm not asking this in the 7800 forum because I've the idea that it doesn't see nearly as much traffic as here.) So I'm playing 5200 and 7800 games in the MESS32 emulator. And when I load a 5200 ROM I see the sound described as simply: 1xPokey 1.789790 When I load a 7800 ROM the sound shows as (exactly as): TIA 1xPokey 1.790000 MHz. What, precisely, does this mean? Are the emulator people injecting Pokey sound into 7800 games where none originally existed? Or does it mean nothing at all? Can anyone well-versed in this emulator help me out?

Update! Well, I've checked out a 5200/7800 emulator and compared the sound between the two -- and honestly, I'm not sure I see what the deal is. Assuming the emulations are accurate, the 5200 sound I'm hearing is very nice and the 7800 sound is more than acceptable. Graphics-wise, the 7800 has an edge on the 5200, but the 5200 versions of some of the same games (such as Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man) are still very playable. All assuming, of course, that I'm getting accurate emulation (I'm using MESS for both systems). I fully intend to buy a 5200 and 7800 off eBay at some point, since the difference between the game libraries for the two is more or less forcing me to.