Why is the TI99/4a so popular here?

[Why is the TI99/4a so popular here?]

The Apple ][s did not ship with an RF Adapter, it was 3rd Party ( dodging FCC Regulations ), but it was easly added.. The Apple ][s default Video was NTSC Composite.. If ALL Else Failed, you could connect it to your VCR's Composite Video Input and use the VCR's RF Output to your TV...

 

I am a long time Apple ][e owner, NOV-1983, and I would occasionally disconnect the Apple Monitor /// and hook it up to the Color TV..

 

In recent years, there has been a big interest in people getting the old Apple ][s, because they could not get one BITD.. Basically First Time Apple ][ Owners...

 

MarkO

 

That's great information, thanks. I just assumed it was composite video out only, and did not even have RF out. Now I know better.

 

If my experience is at all typical, many of us may just not be aware of what the Apple ][ can do or its library. I still associate it with a monochrome green screen and pixel art and other school related activities done on a keyboard. That's in contrast to the computers I encountered in homes that I associated almost entirely with games using joysticks on color televisions. Its a faulty perception, but perhaps it helps explain the reduced number of Apple ][ enthusiasts today relative to the larger number of people exposed to it.

[Why is the TI99/4a so popular here?]

It's interesting that the Apple isn't better remembered, even by younger (late 20s-30s I mean) people. If were in elementary school at any time between 1980 and, like, 1996, chances are you worked with an Apple.

 

...there are only about five or six people who regularly post in the Tandy forums, which seems to jive with the unfortunate lack of interest in TRS-80 systems I see in general.

First, I am delighted this forum exists, and that the TI99 is getting new hobbyist made hardware. Its fun. Second, I am a grey hair whose first computer experience was learning a bit of BASIC on a TRS80 in 1979. While its special, the ubiquitity of the Apple units in school and Commodore at homes overwhelmed it for my set of nerdy friends in the early 80s.

 

Its a good point on the Apple units not being as popular as the numbers exposed to it might suggest. Is it because TIs and Commodores work well on CRTs, but I associate Apples with needing a monitor? Or is it the association with education versus games?

[Jakks Pacific Game Keys...What's inside?]

Nice information. That Jakks Pacific Midway would have been fun. I did enjoy Bosconion a great deal, although it might be on a game key for a ms pacman or other unit. Those seemed rather robust, good for traveling, and for kids. Like the old Tiger handhelds, there should stil. Be a place for these items in the retail space.

[Which of the first generation pong systems are the best one to own?]

I like the Atari Video Pinball machine.

 

 

It has a set of games using the two distinct controllers - the flippers on the side, and the paddle. Its named for the pinball games (and a cross of pinball and pong), but it also has Breakout. The paddle controller, when clean, works very well. Its quite fun, and in color. The oddball game is a form of basketball crossed with paddleball, where you bounce a ball and shoot into into a set of lines representing a basket. I've enjoyed mine quite a lot, and they are inexpensive still. They come in white and woodgrain, but I think the unit inside is functionally the same.

 

I also enjoy the lightgun games of several systems using the GI Pong on a Chip design. Not only do the all black lightguns look cool (and very 70s - no orange tip here), but its a fun game for everyone in the family.

 

While I have no experience with them, there is the PC-50x family of consoles. These are also first generation in that while they have cartridges, each cartridge has a new chip in it, not a ROM chip.

[Flashcart and Multicart List - All systems]

 

the futurewas8bit are about to release a multicart which includes both multiple ram configurations as well as a built in sd2iec loader (loads the correct menu for the ram config) and has a bunch of carts included too the price is far more reasonable than previous ram/multi carts its called the penultimate cart.

 

That is interesting news. The VIC-20 RAM expansions are cumbersome, and having switchable RAM expansions are a benefit. A mulitcart that handles both loading the game and switching the RAM for the cartridge part of the VIC library would be nice. However, there are VIC games in .prg or a tape format that would might still be require trial and error by the user to determine the RAM expansion required. Would the new multicart accomodate those games?

 

I hope you'll let us know when its available.

[Flashcart and Multicart List - All systems]

The SD2IEC does work for a VIC-20. However, some games may require a specific RAM expansion or register values.

[Composite mod Coleco Telstar]

Thanks for this thread. My Coleco Telstar is a Marksman, and a different chip. I also have an APF TV Fun unit, and Unisonic Tournament 2000, and they might have this chipset, or just go out and get a different Telstar for this. It would be nice to have one pong system with AV out.

[More to First Generation gaming than Pong ?]

@Sut - nice to see a friend from VGC.com.

 

The Atari Video Pinball unit has a form of basketball, where you bounce the vertically bouncing ball on a horizontal paddle and use a button to shoot into a hoop. Its a single player game only, as every game on that console is.

 

The Odyssey 4000 also has a basketball game but the ball traverses horizontally against a vertical paddle to direct it into a basket. You can play one person (practice) or two players, with the standard variants on paddle sizes.

 

There is also 'gridball' - its another pong variant, but more like 'foos'pong. Two opponents of interlaced sets of bars they control, with the bars having holes in them to try to bounce the ball into the goal. Very much like foosball, or table soccer, or whatever it might be called in the UK.

 

The Video Pinball console has 2 variants of pinball. One where you use a standard pong paddle, like 'pong'ball, but the other you use the side buttons and flippers, more like pinball. That console is a lot of fun, and one of the first my family had. Nothing says 70s like woodgrain.