Technosis

You know I first found the idea very novel and thought that these had the potential to be as collectible as the old Coleco Mini-Arcades from the 80's are now. I think that these TV games are really a victim of over supply and saturation, driving down the overall appeal of them. I think if they had been rare in the retail sense they'd be much more desirable for collectors today. About the game keys, are they switchable between different TV game units? (i.e. could you use a Dig Dug gamekey in a Star Wars themed Jakks TV game?)

Nice score.....I sort of think of this thing as the Vectrex of the 90's. A truly unique experience (provided you don't get eye strain or headaches LOL!) Try to get Galactic Pinball....it's a nice game. I think that these cases may have been the ones used by Blockbuster for system rentals? (maybe someone who has an ex-Blockbuster unit can confirm this?)

Nice find...has VERY distinctive retro look!

Back in the days of the Atari 2600 and other systems like the Intellivision and ColecoVision, how exactly did they go about programming them? I know that Apple computers were used for some 2600 games. I'm guessing that these early games were programmed in a type of machine language? What would the typical production setup be? Programming terminal + eprom burner?

Add Dukes of Hazzard

Jboypacman's thread about the Atari YouTube video RE: '83 got me remembering some things. Just before Christmas of '84 a store opened up for a month or so in a plaza in southern Ontario here. They sold discount Atari 2600, Intellivision, and ColecoVision games. I remembering getting a new copy of Donkey Kong Jr for $2.99 that was mistakenly priced as a 2600 game. (the owner let me have it for that price anyway) The place had loads of boxed Atari 2600 games at 2.99, and a select few ColecoVision games at $7.99. I do remember though some department stores selling boxed Atari 2600 games like Defender and Berzerk for $0.99, as well as lots of Intellivision games. I don't think in Ontario here the ColecoVision games ever got below $7.77 new in the department stores. I was just a young kid then without much cash so I had to stretch the dollars. That's how I can remember these prices LOL! Now that I think back I can't help but wonder what boxed rarities (i.e. SpectraVideo, etc) might have been selling in that fly by night store in the suburban plaza? What I'm wondering if anyone can remember pricing from that time period? Were the $0.99 games limited to the Atari 2600 and Intellivision? Did anyone see bargain basement Vectrex games? Does anyone have links to some pictures of "sale flyers" and ads from that time period? (sort of like a pictoral retail "timeline" of the "crash")?

Yeah, I'll attest to that. Toys R Us sold lots of CBS and other "plain white box" ColecoVision games in the period you mention.

Wow, that's a really interesting piece...Thanks jboypacman! I do wonder though about how they make it sound that in 1983 that people suddenly stopped playing games.....I remember here in Canada at that time that systems like the ColecoVision were really strong right into 1984.....perhaps the "crash" was a bit less severe here or a bit later?

As a Canadian I have to reply Yeah, they are tough. I do remember though, back in the 90's there was a local flea market that had a whole bunch of Time Warp's and Ocean City Defenders. At the time hardly anyone collected Atari stuff, and the Flea mkt that they were at near Niagara Falls closed up. A few years later the same games showed up at another flea mkt, looking really shabby with lots of wear on the boxes and dog eared corners. I remember picking up about 3 each of the least worn boxed games and trading them on the old RGVAC usenet group.....I think I got a Vectrex Multicart by using these games as part of a larger trade Oh yeah, I've had good luck getting the rare SpectraVideo carts like Bumper Bash but neither myself or any of my collector friends have scored a Mangia' (I did however score an NTSC Assault in the wild.......). So I'd consider Mangia' to be an uber-rare!

I guess it would have been Demon Attack for the 2600. I really didn't beat it, since I hit the infamous "kill screen" where the game goes blank and the game seizes. It was expected though as Imagic had slipped a note sheet in the game saying that if you reached this level you had "survived".....and yes it was lame

I can't comment on this specific game since I've never played it, but in general I find the Video Game Critic's reviews to be very accurate.....so much so that I actually printed out the lists for stuff like the PS2 to help me to avoid the really bad ones and get the better games....

Well.....I'll lay off the "Man....what's with your attitude remark?" and tell you why. It was the first computer my mother ever owned so it has sentimental value to HER, too......not just me. That's why she wants to keep it. And yes, it is sort of an heirloom. Wow your mom is a hardcore Commodore enthusiast by the sounds of it. Perhaps you can convince her to let you use it?

Well in the pre-Ebay days it was almost certain that anyone like that was a fellow gamer, and I met some great people that I still stay in touch with this way. The majority of times people were just happy to know that someone else liked "the old crap" These days more speculators and ebayers have entered the picture, so often the person with bags full of games doesn't even play them. Nonetheless, I always enjoy meeting another classic gamer

They pop up occasionally, but the bigger thrifts like Value Village price them at $4.99 minimum now.

Yes, I've noticed how PS1 games are getting hard to find. Garage sales are an excellent way to get some, just get out real early as the "antiques road show" set have also now caught on to video games as resale material. One odd thing is that PS1 games around here are routinely more than there PS2 sequels. 5 years or so ago was a great time to pick up PS1 games, these days not so much.......

Wow This cabinet defies description! I'd go for a little bit different mounting style or color for the speakers though...those black ones on top don't fit the overall look.

Well I can't comment on the retail side of things for these games, but they have been turning up all over the place in thrifts and garage sales, usually never more than $2. In the past couple of months I've seen at least 4 of the Ms Pac-Man ones, 2 Star Wars, 2 Spiderman, 3 Spongebob, and just today I picked up a Jakks Mortal Kombat game for $0.25. The cool thing is half the time they have the expensive rechargeable AA batteries still in them If you want some of these cheap just hit up your local yard sales.

A nice find for sure ! It's likely though that it has been picked through. With that number of carts I'd expect at least several ER's and possibly a run of rarities from a single software company. It's sort of an "odds" thing when you get into that many carts. I forget where it's posted, possibly one of the old RGVAC FAQ's, but someone once did a run down of how many ER's, R's, etc you could expect out of every 100 carts or so....(I can't remember the figures off hand )

Well, the key is patience. Otherwise you'll have to trade for what you want or buy online or from a retailer and pay the asking price. Also it helps if you don't have other collectors in your area. Video games are a VERY popular item at garage sales/thrifts even with non-gamers. Ironically if even a few gamers in your area took your advice here to heart, the "finds" in your area might get so thinned out that it wouldn't be worth it to go to garage sales and thrift stores Congrats on the nice find! Hope you get many more

Yesterday at a local thrift I saw a bare N64 as well, completely bare since it lacked the jumper pack I swear there is a gremlin that goes around removing these things Oh yeah, I got PS1 Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn & Driver 2 for a couple of bucks each. The Driver 2 is up for trade if anyone wants it..........

Yep, had the same thing happen with a $5 ColecoVision Mr Do's Castle cart...didn't sell it obviously (I don't think the double your money offer has ever been taken up by anyone here........someone prove me wrong )

A local collector I trade with tried this once with a guy who just bought a ton of stuff...the guy just handed him a business card that showed his eBay seller's ID and encouraged him to bid on his auctions...my friend had to surpress the urge to kick him where it hurts

Ouch...I feel your pain I know there has been I few times when I have been the source of someone else's frustration. There was a funny moment last year when I was walking back to the car after the last yard sale of the day, and I had bought a bunch of empty storage bins earlier in the day. I had to pile the few games that I just bought on top of the bins in the car, and it must have made it appear that I had full bins of games in there. No sooner did I finish closing the car door do I notice a local reseller go by, notice all the stuff, and have a very noticable "spasm". I seen her get in her Dad's van and I could see her yelling at him in the van.......If she only knew the boxes were empty Anyone else have moments like this to share here as a story??????? Remember, everyone's a "sumguy" to someone! The time tested "slacker" advantage; The ability to be at any thrift any time of the day

This past weekend I got the following stuff at a flea mkt/garage sales. The PSX games and SNES stuff was $2 ea, the Total Control handheld was a mere $ 0.25. The PC games were bought as a box lot along with an Atari 2600 Jr (not shown) and 3 commons, all for $5. (I really don't know if any of these PC games are "standouts"....there are SO many PC games floating around.....)

Yeah once again a nice system gets buried by the popularity of a competitor. There are many examples of overseas markets getting games we can only dream of..............