Dolt

It ended THREE minutes after posting...wow

Since he has so many lying around, I think he should do some charity work by giving one to Kidsconnection to pass off to his cranky buyer

Seeing as the moron has sent back the cart already, that's probably not an issue--unless of course he's hoping you'll refund him before the bank says its a fake. That's a little too far-fetched, even for this thread!

I know what you mean about flea markets. I got a boxed Demon Attack two weeks ago at one for $2.50 simply 'cause I never got a box for it. The guy said the price to me and his cranky wife stepped over and mumbled something about it really being worth $25. I handed him the $2.50 and he said, 'you know, that's worth a lot more.' I just replied, 'yep, it's a shame--you might have gotten THREE dollars for it." Lucky for me, he found it funny. Back on topic, yeah, if I remember correctly, Amoeba is right down around the Haight.

OK, I'm gonna be in San Francisco for a week soon, working, and I hope to get one afternoon off to go Atari game hunting. I don't have access to a car, but I'm not adverse to taking a cab someplace interesting (for instance, I definitely plan to go to Amoeba Records). Staying inside the city proper, where should I go looking for games?

Hi- I stumbled into owning the following games and have no way to play or test 'em, so they're up for trade: The Attack Tunnels of Doom Parsec Adventure Car Wars A-Maze-Ing (2 copies) looking for boxed 2600 games, even commons Or offer something else--you never know, I might go for it!

Since we're carping on ebay pulling or not pulling auctions, I was a little surprised that this got online with no problems: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3933951230 You'd think that since they didn't allow WTC remains and other similar disaster related items on ebay, that this would get the boot too. Instead I got a press release in my computer today from the people who posted it. Cool auction though. Maybe if I sell that crate of boxed Air Raids that I've been using as a coffee table, I could buy it.

'Cause they want a bargain!

I have a give and take attitude towards copyright violations. When someone violates copyrights that I own, you better believe I let ebay know and they shut those auctions down fast. I'm glad they do their job on those days. Then there's days when I want to find, say, a bootleg DVD of Oingo Boingo videos, because they'll surely never be released officially. Those are the days I'm glad that eBay is so damn lazy about watching what is posted. So my hypocritical attitude is that I'm all for copyright violations unless the copyrights are mine.

I've done local pick up at my own convenience; usually I'll tell 'em to meet me at a diner where I'd go anyway to have lunch. It's been a good thing actually--packing up a system, games, etc., finding a box, dragging it to the post office, waiting on line, etc., is just too much of a hassle already--if they want to get it themselves and save me the bother, fine. Of course, it depends on what you're selling. If you're selling something that perhaps falls into a gray area of legality, face to face might not be the best idea. For example--I've since learned my lesson and don't do this anymore, but once I sold a promo CD that was sent to me at my job. It was for an album by XTC, who hadn't released anything in 7 or 8 years at the time; the disc wasn't due out for 3 months but their record company had sent it to the press early. I put it on ebay and to my amazement (and HORROR), it sold for $97! That was WAY too high-profile for my liking. Anyway, the winner lived here in the suburbs of NYC, and was going to England for 3 months and wanted the CD to listen to on the plane. Just a few hours before his flight, I went and met him at a local diner and he paid up just fine, but overall, it was weird and felt almost like a drug deal on TV. In retrospect, I could have gotten in a lot of trouble for doing that; I'm not sure if they could have arrested me (if they even would want to bother) but meeting in public instead of doing it by mail was probably dumb. The point was hammered home to me a few weeks later when Rolling Stone did an article on press people selling pre-release CDs, and what the industry was doing about it (not much). The story OPENED by recounting my ebay auction for the XTC disc! They interviewed the guy who bought it, who said he had no problem with paying so much and that he'd do it again. Thankfully they didn't track me down. That was enough to give me a real bad scare though, so I don't sell them anymore, period. If I don't want 'em after I give 'em a listen, they go in the trash.

One man's trash is another's treasure. You never know what will do well for you, but it means having to hold on to everything! Worse, it means having to know what you have, which as all collectors know, is difficult sometimes. Case in point, I get a lot of press kits for bands at my job, and I just keep 'em in a pile. I used to put them on ebay, but they always go for about 8 bucks unless it's a legendary group--and then you get $12. With all ebay's nickel and diming, it's not worth my time any more to post them. Well, about 3 months ago, I was sifting through them and found one for a band called Kara's Flowers, from 1997. They had a nice press kit for an album that didn't go anywhere; they had quickly vanished. Well, now Kara's Flowers has a new name--Maroon 5, and they've been a big hit for about a year now. I popped it on ebay and got $27 easy for it--just for a folder, photo and biography. Trick is, for every press kit that eventually becomes worth something like that, I have 400 for bands that blew away like tumbleweeds. I have a decent memory, but I'll never be able to track what's in this pile of press kits ever. And I suspect that's what may be happening for your pals. They got rich, but you can take solace in the fact that they'll never be able to take the full advantage of making the most that they might have from all that stuff.

Are Brazillian carts NSTC or PAL? I've always meant to find out.

Then we can all wait for the lawsuit from Erica Jong's lawyers for infringing her book "Fear of Flying."

Yeah, well there's the thing. You and I are both media types so we don't even think twice about how to deal with PR folks; it's part of our jobs and we do it all the time. However, there's likely a number of people here seeing that information, whether they're lurking or posting, who may not have the maturity to use (or not use) that information properly. The current situation is a really emotional one for a lot of people in this forum, and when people are so close to the boiling point, something like that email address is more likely to get abused. Most people here, yes, they know better, but it only takes one vicious moron to screw it up for everyone. Obviously you meant well by posting it, but at the same time, I stand by my admonishment: Folks, don't hassle that woman or we're gonna regret it.

Holy shit--do NOT start harassing a PR person! Not unless you want everyone and everything on AA marginalized even further. I worked in PR at a few of the major record labels, and I can tell you straight up: A PR person has no clout in terms of getting a corporation to change things in your favor, but they can--and will--screw you if you hassle them mercilessly. Obviously I don't know their PR person, but it's a safe bet that if people at AA drive her crazy and then the media picks up the Slashdot story, when they go to Infogrames for a comment, AA members will be portrayed as a small, renegade, cranky and out-of-touch group of losers. Do NOT, Do NOT, Do NOT hassle a PR person.

I've seen this kind of thing happen before, but from the other point of view. I work for a magazine and sometimes the articles I write get reprinted on the websites of the people who I intervierwed. My mag is owned by a giant corporation and about a year ago, I got a few emails from various folks who I'd written about, saying that they'd been contacted by my company. My company demanded that either they pay $800 a year for a licensing fee to run the article on their website, or they'd get sued up the wazoo. Undestandably, the people who were contacted were upset; after all, these were articles that were made up of comments and quotes that they'd said; how could they not have access to their own words? And boy oh boy, were they mad at ME, because I was the only person they knew at this company (a company that employs thousands around the world). I dug around our multinational conglomerate and found that we have a very threat-happy licensing dept. So I had one brief chat with their boss on the phone, explaining how I need to be able to interview people and that many only agree to be interviewed so they can publicize themselves with the ensuing press. Minutes later, the licensing dept. had some new rules about who they could and couldn't send that kind of threatening email to. Everybody lived happily ever after. So my point is (and I swear I have one) that what we're seeing Infograms doing at the moment may not represent all of the company, may not rep what the company wants to do, and may not last if people like Atari Age members make their point politely, briefly and to the right person. To make that happen, you guys have to figure out specifically what you want. Then you need a list of good reasons as to why the company should answer those requests. I'm not talking reasons like 'it's in Infogram's best interests 'cause we'll make a stink.' No, you need reasons like 'Infogram will benefit because....' You have to show them why it's worth it for them to listen to you and your requests--not because they're dicks who want to say 'no' (though they might be), but rather because they'll have to turn around and take your request to their bosses and/or stockholders, so they need ammo. Clive

When I was a kid, I went to this all-boys catholic school way on the other side of our county--it took an hour to get there, so myself and the 6-7 other kids on my bus spent our time beating the crap out of each other and stuff. It was a little rough because I was one of the youngest kids on the bus--not as big as the others, at the time. While I lived in a nice neighborhood, most of the other kids lived in *reallly* nice neighborhoods. Nice enough that one day on the ride home, one kid, Tom Gallagher--who was a huge practical joker--mentioned that his neighbor had gotten an Intellivision so he'd given Tom all his old Atari games (to this day, I don't understand that logic, but whatever). Tom didn't have an Atari, so he offered to give one game to everyone on the bus. We were blown away, especially me, because Tom was a straight-up bully to me. I used to get my ass handed to me by him plenty of times, the legendary moment being the time he gave me a wedgie that ripped my underwear in half--parents got involved after that, and I was more mortified about that than the wedgie itself. Anyway, Tom rattled off the games, and they were GOOD--games you hoped your family would get you for Christmas, not something like "Math Gran Prix" but "Yar's Revenge" and so on. When he said "Starmaster," I piped up with a big "ooh, pleasepleaseplease." It was really uncool to do that, but I just couldn't help myself. So this was amazing--and yet we couldn't quite believe it. I mean, who would give away hundreds of dollars worth of games? It had to be a hoax, plus this was the last day before a school vacation, so even if it WAS true, Tom would probably come to his senses and sell them during the vacation. But we were pretty sure he was full of crap and that there weren't any games. Tom told everyone he'd bring the games for us next time we were on the bus, but that wouldn't do--we decided to call his bluff. The rest of us immediately started begging the bus driver to drop Tom off first (instead of last like usual) so that he could run into his house and get the games for us. It took about half an hour of whining and pleading, but she gave in. We kept looking at Tom to see if he would flinch--to spot the moment when he'd fold and admit there weren't any games--but he didn't say a word. We got to his house, he got off the bus and went inside. And we waited.... and waited... and waited. DAMN, Tom had pulled another huge practical joke. That dick. We felt like idiots. We were all too embarrased to look at each other, each of us ashamed at how greed had blinded us to Tom's avalanche of lies. The bus driver, understandably wanting drop off these stupid kids and go home, announced that Tom wasn't coming back out and that she was leaving. But then the front door opened, and Tom came out, his arms crossed to hold on to about 10 games. We couldn't believe it! And there in the batch was Starmaster, which was still only a few months old at the time. Someone else went to grab it, and Tom said, 'No, Clive called it; it's his." I was really surprised by that, because like I said, he didn't like me much but he was a kid of his word. No manuals, but I managed to figure it out, and played it to death all through the vacation. I won't say that Tom and I got along better after that (I don't remember it that clearly anymore to be honest), but I'm sure I thanked him a million times for it, and who knows, maybe he discovered that being nice to people made you feel better about yourself than kicking the crap out of them. But I'd doubt it.

Got it this time--thanks.

I'm terrible with hand tools, but experienced with a credit card, hence the furntiture from Target.

I got a really sweet wood drawer cabinet from Target for $88, which you can see if you click the "My 2600 Collection" link in my signature below. That's probably more than most people want to spend but I can't justify keeping Quadrun, all 5 Avalon Hills, Glib, Guardian, etc. in a shoebox, so it was worth it to me.

I just finished my loose Activision collection last week. Rampage was the last one I needed; before that, I found River Raid II sealed in a game specialty store, and before that I found Double Dragon sealed in a store that didn't realize what it had. Regardless, I've been collecting for 10 years and in New York, I've never seen Rampage, Beamrider or Commando in the wild; I had to get 'em off ebay.

As Fulop notes during the credits of Once Upon Atari, our generation was taught "You can never win."

It'd be great if they made one based on games for the 2600. Just think--you could walk up to a slot machine and play...uh..."Slot Machine."

Here's a press release that wound up in my email at work today: Sep 9, 2004 06:00 ET Alliance Gaming and Atari® Announce Licensing Agreement for Series of Slots Based on Atari Video Games LAS VEGAS, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliance Gaming Corp. (NYSE:AGI) and Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAR) announced today a licensing agreement to develop a series of slot machines based on classic titles from Atari's extensive video game library. Under the agreement between Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming, and Atari Interactive, Inc., an Atari affiliate, slot machines based on Atari titles are under development, with the first -- based on PONG® -- scheduled to debut at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas on Oct. 5-7, 2004 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition to PONG, the deal includes other well-known Atari classics such as Asteroids®, Centipede® and Breakout®. Credited with creating both a new home entertainment and video arcade craze in the mid-1970s, Atari and its game titles have become synonymous to an entire generation of video gaming enthusiasts who were initially captivated by a simple game of electronic tennis. The millions of teenagers and youngsters who grew up playing Atari games are now middle-aged adults, the prime demographic profile of slot machine players today. "Titles such as PONG and Asteroids evoke such a strong favorable response with gamers of all types and we're excited to team up with Atari to produce a series of slots that will showcase these timeless classics and give casino visitors a memorable new form of entertainment," said Richard Haddrill, incoming President and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Gaming Corp. "There is a huge population that grew up with these Atari games and that audience is still clamoring for ways to recapture the fun of their first gaming experience," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Atari. "Atari is committed to ensuring that fans of our classic games have access to them wherever and however they seek entertainment. By joining forces with Alliance and Bally, we know that we'll reach a large audience of gaming devotees." Bally Gaming's display of the Atari PONG slot machine at the Global Gaming Expo will mark the debut of Bally's new dual-screen M9000 cabinet powered by the company's next-generation Game Maker® II operating system. The PONG slot machine will include a skill element that will allow players to use a traditional game paddle to play a game of PONG against the computer during the bonus round. Alliance Gaming is a diversified gaming company with headquarters in Las Vegas. The Company is engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and operation of advanced gaming devices and systems worldwide and owns and operates Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Miss. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.alliancegaming.com. New York-based Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as DRIV3R, Enter the Matrix, Neverwinter Nights, Stuntman, Test Drive®, Unreal® Tournament 2004, and Unreal® Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard Sports, Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer, Civilization®, Dragon Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com. This news release may contain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and is subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Such information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect the results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward- looking statements. Future operating results may be adversely affected as a result of a number of risks that are detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. - ALLIANCE GAMING CORP. - PONG, ASTEROIDS, CENTIPEDE, BREAKOUT and ATARI names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Interactive, Inc. or its affiliates. Used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Investor and Media Contact: Robert L. Saxton Alliance Gaming (702) 270-7600 Source: Alliance Gaming Corp. CONTACT: Investors and Media, Robert L. Saxton of Alliance Gaming, +1-702-270-7600 Web site: http://www.atari.com/ http://www.alliancegaming.com/

I hope so, 'cause there's no way in hell I'd eat that s---.