Jump to content
Have You Played Atari Today?
2600|5200|7800|Lynx|Jaguar|Forums|Store  

Nebulon

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,982

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Nebulon

  3. Posted

    I have a question:

     

    What does he think of the SEGA SG-1000?

     

    And what does he think of the idea that SEGA may have used the same parts as the ColecoVision due to their familiarity with programming for it (like Zaxxon for example? ... assuming SEGA did the programming for that console port).

     

    Finally, any tips on repairing the directional contacts in the Super Action Controllers? (He may not have worked on these, so that question could be a dud).

  4. Posted

    The following link contains high-resolution Amiga photographs. These are free for anyone to use (even for commercial projects, books, magazines, etc...) and are an attempt to supply publications with clean images of Amiga computers.

     

    The Amiga 500 in these images is new and was sealed in climate-controlled storage for almost 30 years. It was unboxed in order to take the following photos. A link to a 180 MB Zip file containing print resolution photos is also featured on this page.

     

     

    https://www.blitter.com/~nebulous/AmigaPhotos.html

    • Like 2

  5. Posted

    Which reminds me, I should get new glasses at some point... :)

     

    How about an answer of yes to both your questions.

     

    Too expensive for people comparing the Amiga to the Atari ST and not priced enough for people expecting a competitor to the popular business machines of the day.

     

     

    And by "not expensive enough" I'm thinking that a few things could have been added to make it more competitive in the business arena (like a rock-steady display).

  6. Posted

    For me, it's been disconnecting with the more toxic parts of the retro gaming fanbase. I get *really* tired of some of the elitists who use their collections as a kind of weird, 'members only, I'm better than you because I own XXXXXX' club, as well as the re-sellers/flippers, and anyone who says retro gaming is 'only' for some sub section of the fanbase. I see a lot of this stuff (I run conventions), and I'm beyond tired of it.

     

    It doesn't matter how big your collection is, as long as YOU like it. And it's about sharing the hobby with other cool people and making friends, not lording it over others and being a douche.

     

    This is part of the reason why I try to stay away from video documentaries about famous video game players and their 'amazing' high-score records.

     

    A buddy of mine has a collection of retro stuff too. The main difference between him and me is that he loves the drama, thinks it's amusing, and watches it like comedy. I look at the ego-mania as something that cheapens what I consider to be -- in many cases -- works of art. I guess what I don't like is the shift in focus from great games to the not-so-great 'top-ranking' people who play them.

     

    I'm sort of trying to tie this into what Lord Thag is saying. I'm guessing some of the collectors who attend gaming events are sort on their "It's all about Me" pedestals in the same sort of way.

    • Like 4

  7. Posted

    I drift away... then back again.


    It goes in waves.


    Recently I received Vector Patrol for the Vectrex and it re-kindled things. What an amazing game that is!



    Having said that, homebrews aren't my main focus. For me it's mainly thinking about, talking about, and playing old games that I enjoyed as a kid and still do. I think about games quite a bit (when I'm busy or pulled away into other interests like music or movies). It's comforting that they'll be waiting for me for when I'm craving a couple quick games of "insert name of favorite retro game here".

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    One thing to keep in mind about the controllers is that sometimes the controller is good but the chip that handles it is bad. I suppose you could try verifying this by seeing if multiple controllers exhibit the same symptoms on the same port.

     

    Here are some resources:

     

    http://colecovisionzone.com/page/coleco%20industries/tech.html

     

    http://www.atarihq.com/danb/files/CV-Tech.txt

     

    http://www.atarihq.com/danb/files/CV-Sound.txt

     

    http://www.atarihq.com/danb/files/colecovision.pdf

  10. Posted

    The info in the book, "Commodore: The Amiga Years" suggests that the launch pricing for the Amiga 1000 was fine in North America but too high in UK and Europe.

     

    North American specialty shops demanded as many Amiga 1000 computers as Commodore could manufacture. That and the above article suggest that for those who were shopping for a hardware-accelerated 'color Mac', the Amiga was a good deal.

     

    So even with the inflated manufacturing costs out of Japan, I agree that there was pricing flexibility to include more RAM as well as a hard drive controller (if not a hard drive too). The designers wanted more RAM from the get-go and Jay Miner wanted an expandable case more like the 2000 -- right out of the gate. He was also a big fan of the flicker fixer.

     

    Regardless, Commodore would still be relying on specialty shops since most computer retail chains were happy just selling PCs and Commodore had already alienated most of the large department store chains. Plus, the Amiga 1000 was too expensive for most department stores to consider as a product.

     

    Having the machine built for less would have certainly given them more margin so that they could possibly even offer it at a better price-point on the other side of the pond.

     

    As for the Amiga 500 -- I think it's actually a good design. It's remarkably expandable, despite its footprint. That and it fit the bill for what the European market wanted.

     

    The Amiga certainly did have two identities. And I also agree that if the goal was to make a serious computer, the monitor and a de-interlacer should have been mandatory.

  12. Posted

    Did you link to wrong issue I see nothing on 14-15.

    On Page 14
    "It looks like CBM is lowering the price of the Amiga 1000, as the current model is known... now selling the system for $999 (US), $300 less than the original retail price. More incredibly, they are selling a packaged system consisting of the Amiga 1000, the RGB monitor and cable, the 256K RAM cartridge, and an Epson JX-80 colour printer with cable, all for $1195!"
    And on page 16
    "'The Atari [sT] is a very good computer at a terrific price, while the Amiga is a terrific computer at a very good price.'"
    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    I forgot to mention games.... Here are some that I really like:

    Games that are specific to the Color Computer 3:
    Space Quest II
    King's Quest IV
    Donkey Kong (Sockmaster arcade conversion)
    Pac-Man (512K)
    Rogue
    Gantelet II
    The following are Color Computer 2 games. Many will work
    on the CoCo 3. Most of the ones that don't have patched
    versions available with a bit of searching:
    Dungeons of Daggorath
    Time Bandit
    Lunchtime
    Cashman
    Cyrstle/Ice Castles
    Shock Trooper
    Tut's Tomb
    Dragon Slayer
    Buzzard Bait
    Calixto Island
    Trekboer
    Dallas Quest
    Galagon
    Rommel 3D
    Gantelet
    Demon Seed
    Color Car
    Gold Runner (Tom Mix)
    Hall of the King series
    Speed Racer
    Marble Maze
    Qiks (Spectral)
    Phantom Slayer
    Sailor Man
    Sam Diamond
    Varloc
    Trapfall
    Pooyan
    Astro Fighter
    F-16 (Diecom)
    Whirlybird Run
    Pitstop 2
    Lunar-Rover Patrol
    Maui Vice
    Brew Master
    3D Brickaway

    And just in case you're not used to RS-DOS disk commands, here's a quick command list with examples:

     

    There's a nice program called Disk Utility by Spectrum Projects that makes life easier. It's listed on the following two sites:

    ftp://outwestbbs.com/coco.-.color.co/COCOUTIL/00index.html%3Fext=on$jezytihg

     

    http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Disks/Utilities/

  18. Posted

    DriveWire is good for most things:





    Then there's the CoCoFlash product. I find this one to be very difficult to load programs onto. So far, requests for real-world examples of how to get data onto this unit have gone unanswered for over a year. It does come with a manual, but it'll take some extensive digging and experimenting to get things working. At the very least though, it makes a good way to provide the CoCo 3 with the DOS that it needs so that it can more quickly make use of DriveWire (CoCoFlash includes DriveWire DOS pre-installed). I'm pretty sure there's also a dedicated cartridge out there that includes the DriveWire (HDB-DOS), so that's also an option.



    Another product (and one that I've heard a lot of good things about) is the CoCo SDC (not sure if it's still available though):



    And I'd highly recommend a joystick adapter so that you can use Atari and SEGA style controllers:



    Additionally, here are some resources that you might enjoy:










  21. Posted

    To be fair, they had that, but it was underwhelming compared to what you could get in x86 land. Falcon did come out a year or two too late, as did AGA Amigas.

     

    Also the lowest common denominator development of software. The x86 systems got around this by having enough of a user base that devs would support CGA, EGA VGA, Atari didn't have the push to get people to support new STe features, hell some companues were still only supporting 512k on the ST (read that is why Shadow of the Beast on the ST was terrible.) Guess it is a good thing the 260ST never really was sold.

     

    On the Amiga side -- they almost had that... but not quite. The Amiga 1200 and 4000 didn't have the non-interlaced true-color resolutions needed to compete with the PC. That and AGA was too slow.

  23. Posted

    There's this game I don't know the name of, that I used to watch my dad play on his Commodore 128. I'm not sure if it was in 64 mode or not, but I'm pretty sure it was?

     

    Anyways, the game featured a man with a torch who'd walk around a dungeon or a mansion of some sort and sometimes he'd enter a door and there would be a slope and he'd slide down it with like a 'flute' 'weeeeeehhhh' sound.

     

    I don't remember anything else about the game.

    Vampire's Empire?

  25. Posted · Edited by Nebulon

    Atari - Major Havoc

    Taito - Front Line

    Nintendo - Donkey Kong Jr.

    Williams - Sinistar

    Exidy - Mousetrap

    Cinematronics - Space Wars (with Dragon's Lair most likely being their highest earner)

    Namco - Galaga

    Konami - Gyruss

    Nitchibtusu - Moon Cresta

    Gremlin - Carnival

    SEGA-Gremlin - Star Trek the strategic operations simulator

    SEGA - Zaxxon

    Bally/Midway - TRON

    Gottlieb - Q*Bert

    Universal - Mr. Do

    Stern - Frenzy

AtariAge
Forums
Store
General
Follow AtariAge

Copyright ©1998-2021 AtariAge

×
×
  • Create New...