Nebulon

Look for Canadian sellers. Quite a few NTSC STe machines were distributed to retailers there, back in the day.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things on the system board that can cause all kinds of issues. Here's a couple of resources that should help you to isolate the problem/components: http://www.colecovis...tries/tech.html http://drushel.cwru.edu/schematics/

Donkey Kong - Gameboy Gauntlet II - Gameboy Rygar - Lynx

Wow. That was quite the extensive post. At one time or another I've owned the following: Amiga 1000, 2000, 500, 1200, 3000, 4000. I personally find the Amiga 500 to be the most compatible machine for OCS games for the size. A person could use an A2000, but (IMHO) it's just too big (and the fan's noisy). IDE isn't a deal-breaker for me by any means. SCSI is the more flexible interface and there are tons of old SCSI drives kicking around that can be connected up to an Amiga 500. Last but not least, my A500s and the A1200 have been the most reliable of all the Amigas I've owned or currently own.

Joust - Atari Lynx Samurai Shodown - Neo Geo Pocket R-Type - TG16

Well, for what it's worth, here's how I use the CV controllers: - I hold the controller in my left hand with my thumb over the left button and my middle finger over the right button. - Then I wrap my right hand around both the controller and my left hand and use my thumb to manipulate the directional controls.

I have both the dual-stick unit and the trackball. The trackball definitely gets the most use. It's pretty awesome (except that one of the diagonal directions is a bit stubborn). They claim that's normal, but I've used plenty of trackball units that track smoothly in every direction so that clearly can't be the case. Over all, their controllers are pretty good. And you can always get replacement switches and sticks from other companies for cheap.

I know it may sound kind of crazy with all the multi-platform Retron-type consoles out there, but the real key to it is new releases. And on those grounds (and price) I still think a re-release of the NES would actually be profitable. You'd have a Nintendo-branded machine with constant new releases that also had the Nintendo stamp of approval. Brand power is worth quite a bit (and I'm not even a huge Nintendo fan). The new releases would keep the demand up for the console. It would also give studios another avenue for lower-cost (and possibly more avant-garde) projects. I'm also quite sure they could sell the thing for under $59.00 U.S. and still make a descent profit.

I wouldn't ditch the A500. It's the most compatible machine for running the classic OCS games. Believe me, if you dump the A500 you'll miss it after awhile. I have a 1200, 4000, and a 500 and there's a ton of stuff in my games library that won't run on the A1200 or the A4000. If I remember correctly, the A600 comes with the 2.x ROM. This newer ROM is a big contributor to compatibility issues with older games. As for transfers, PC2Amiga works well for me. The other ideas like a serial transfer using telecomm software or burning a CD and reading it on a CD-ROM drive are good ones too (e.g. the NEC external SCSI CD-ROM unit).

Apple II+ at school and then a CoCo 2 later at home. For a very authentic retro BASIC on a modern PC, BLASIC is good (and it's free too). Darned if I can find a link to it though...

Mr. Do - C64 Cybernoid - NES Cybernoid - ZX Spectrum

Can you perhaps expand on this a bit. When you say it didn't catch up to the ST until late 1988, what do you mean?

I did some comparisons over the weekend and noticed that the ColecoVision version is somewhere in-between the World (Clown) version and the Japan (Yukidaruma) version of the game: The ColecoVision version uses the in-game music from Yukidaruma instead of the Can-can music of the world version. And they seemed to have compromised on the appearance of the blue chompers. The world version has them always appear when you grab the treat in the middle of the screen, Yukidaruma doesn't seem to have them appear, and the ColecoVision version only has them appear when you grab the treat on a white letter.

If I was making decisions at Nintendo today, I'd do two things: 1) Start making the weirdest games imaginable for their modern systems utilizing teams of people that are given a lot of autonomy. 2) Re-release the NES and encourage developers to design games for it again (as well as inviting new developers to try their hand at it).

No. After about a year I'd start getting the itch to get my hands on real hardware (at least for certain systems).

The ColecoVision has the Alphamonster and blue chompers not appear only if you grab the treat when the Alphamonster is over a red letter. Otherwise they come running after you. http://www.digitpress.com/library/manuals/colecovision/mrdo.pdf For me, the tough part about Yukidaruma is the speed. It seems faster than the clown-version of Mr. Do arcade machine.

I agree that Turbo on the CV really is fun. Of course, I also really like Pole Position (on pretty much every system it's been released for).

Mr. Do and Donkey Kong Jr. on the CV certainly kept me busy for countless hours. http://www.digitpress.com/library/manuals/colecovision/mrdo.pdf As for the controllers -- I managed to get used to them as a kid, so they don't bother me at all. Have fun with the machine!

I tried a ton of search terms for vector displays and eye/retinal damage. Nothing yet. This is definitely an article that would have to substantiate its claim. Personally, I've spent so much time starting at the Vectrex and other vector display systems that I should be blind if it's really as bad as the article makes it out to be. As for the 'video games and cancer" article, well, that's more about CRTs and EMFs, as far as I can tell (which is a huge and complex topic). If people fear CRTs, they can always consider flat-panels instead.

Atari 5200: Berzerk Joust Robotron

I worked on a version of the TRON light cycles game in the past for a different system, and from experience I'd say definitely go with option B. Then you'd be offering a similar experience to the arcade machine as well as the option to play on a larger grid is the user so desires. Good work on the color choices. You already have something that looks quite similar to the arcade machine. Note: Be sure to allocate extra time to the A.I. of the enemy bikes. Otherwise, you'll end up with very repetitive gameplay at the higher levels with only speed as the variable factor (which isn't terribly exciting). As well, if you can actually make use of sampled audio on the CV somehow, the TRON machine can be set to audio test mode for easy sound recording.

Some motherboards automatically switch to either the PCI or AGP slot by default. So one way to trouble-shoot an issue like this is to try the other type of video card to find out which slot is active. Some allow switching in the BIOS. Others use a motherboard jumper. Anyway, you've got it working, so what I'm writing is just trivia for anyone in a similar situation.

Hmmm.... Never played the Genesis version of that one. Turrican and Turrican II are good on the Amiga though. No complaints there. Now I have to see the Genesis/MegaDrive version to see how they managed to f things up.

It looks a lot easier than using the stick. I'm wondering how it was modded to work on a Vectrex. Very cool!

I can't actually make my mind up as to whether I prefer the original Japanese version of Mr. Do (Yukidaruma) where he was a farmer (I think) or the world version where he was turned into a clown. I suppose if you're afraid of clowns, the Japanese version would be the one to go with. One thing's for sure, the Japanese release is tougher. http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8769 Anyone else have a preference between these two versions?