Shaggy the Atarian

While many problems have been mentioned here, I think the prices companies like Namco or Global VR charge for their new games is insane. The arcades are lucky if they EVER make up the money again on these new manchines that cost $8000+ (I've found a few for $14,000 like Ghost Squad) and on top of that many games these days are just ports from the game consoles. The arcades need a killer app that won't be ported to all the consoles. That's usually why people by a PS2 over a Xbox and vice versa, because of the games that one has that the other won't. But you know that if there's a major hit in the arcades that it will inevitably show up on the home consoles which takes away the deisre to play that game in the arcades instead. And as long as that will happen then arcades will never be popular again.

It's exciting to hear about the other titles that will be showing up on the FB2, like Combat 2, Polo, Wizard, and the 'vector' version of Asteroids. I was always curious about Wizard since I read the review at Atariprotos and it looks pretty interesting. I wonder what the differences will be between Secret Quest and Mr. Robot though...

That seems better. Looks a little nicer as well. Great work man.

I was never really disturbed by the patients (ok, maybe a little) in the game, but it's one of my favorite 4a/99 games. It's even better with the speech synthesizer. The patients I can never save are the ones who are practically dead from the moment you start, where EVERYTHING is at critical and so if you try and save the brain something else craps out so you're hosed. Even still, it's a fun game. In fact, I think I'll go play it when I get home.

(emphasis added). So support them now so we'll see bigger and better stuff later. We should be happy that the FB1 sold so well even with the negative press, otherwise there most-likely wouldn't be a FB2. 849664[/snapback] Your emphasis added makes me yearn for a Jaguar direct-to-tv unit with Tempest 2000, Defender 2000, and Missile Command 3D built in. I'm dreaming again ... 849675[/snapback] Yes that would be very cool and imagine if it had network capabilities? There's a thread about this subject (a Jaguar Flashback) over at JS2 right now and T-Bird seems like he'd be interested in including BattleSphere on such a unit. Add that with an enhanced version of Doom (fix the networking bugs and allow for more than 2 players) and that would be the ultimate unit.

I'm also a fan of TR. I was lucky to pick it up from my cousin's collection and I've always enjoyed it. It's quite impressive at how fast the game gets once you reach level 10...I could never believe how fast and smooth that ran on the 2600. What's the farthest you've gotten on this game?

I think one very convincing point for me to buy it will not only be the fact that it has real 2600 hardware and that I can hack it to add a cart slot so it will be a 2600 with A/V inputs, but that it will have brand new 2600 games on it. You can spend $20-$40 on one new cartridge or $30 on getting several new 2600 games. I think homebrew games help keep the 2600 spirit alive after all these years, and it won't only have homebrews on it but also a few conversions of classic Atari arcade games. After hearing all that, I was sold even though I already have a 2600jr and a 7800. Of course, I just want to support Atari now so they will continue this trend of creating hardware. I'm not sure if many have noticed it yet, but from Curt's own website, atarimuseum.com an interesting comment : (emphasis added). So support them now so we'll see bigger and better stuff later. We should be happy that the FB1 sold so well even with the negative press, otherwise there most-likely wouldn't be a FB2.

Just a reminder that there is only one month (and one day) left for the contest. Feel free to PM or e-mail me if you wish to send in a submission. We have a pretty good panel of judges for the contest too. And in case I didn't mention it, the prize package also includes a Once Upon Atari DVD.

True Greg, it's really shaping up to be the king of the home arcade.

I got mine to work in MESS. Cool demo, played really well despite being an early build, I noticed some faults with the collision detection, but I'm sure that will be fixed. Keep up the great work!

Interesting little article that's related to the Flashback 2.0. No new info on it really but read on for yourselves: From http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/04/04/atari_2005.php

I just checked Atari.com and they are currently selling the FB1 for $60. I wonder what they are thinking

You got that right!

Read the press release. It's 2600-on-a-chip, not NES-on-a-chip like the first one. The games will be faithful or I'll eat a Flashback I. 846115[/snapback] I think Curt explained many things in the other FB2.0 thread that went on about a month ago. Obviously the 2.0 is going to be better than the 1.0 in that it will have real hardware, it will work with our legacy joysticks and paddles, it will have 40 games instead of 20 (which was a big complaint I remember reading aobut here when the first one was about to come out), it will have new games that have been developed for it and the internal cart slot. Even if I have to solder it on I'm fine with that, it's obviously there only for us fanatics. I'm happy that Atari has listened to the fans this time around and they've improved on it as well. I would really like to see how Lunar Lander turned out, I've been playing it a lot on the AA disk lately. And I'm guessing Saboteur will also be on it if that screenshot on the box is an indication of the included games. So all these things make me like the 2.0 more than the 1.0

I think that's a bit unfair. I've always thought the Lynx graphics hardware is excellent and thankfully most games USE it. The g(L)amegear could display 32 colours but its graphics NEVER looked as good as the Lynx. But then again it didn't ahve any of the custom chips. 846007[/snapback] Not only that but if you've seen Alpine Games then you know that the Lynx still has a lot of potential for even better looking games. AG was simply amazing.

Man this is exciting. New 2600 games, including old arcade conversions, real 2600 hardware, and of course the look is great. I am definently picking up a FB 2.0.

Here's my submission. I have another version that has the shark with it's tongue out, but I haven't really decided if I should go with that one instead...I also need to add the AtariVox Enhanced part to it, but I haven't found a good way to do that yet...

It looks a lot like the indreama console design. Interesting...

Of course the whole thing of which system is better than the other (and Drac mentioned this)is what kind of games are you comparing. Side-scrollers, the NES does better, but I've heard that 7800 Ballblazer blows away the NES version as for whatever reason, the 7800 can handle that sort of game better (I have Ballblazer on the 7800, but I've not seen it for the NES). The NES has Space Harrier doesn't it? I wonder how a Space Harrier like game would fare on the 7800? And if there are going to be anymore ports of 5200 games to the 7800, I say do The Quest For the Golden Chalice and Irata's Quest next.

Do you testers have any pics that we can drool over (more than what have been released?)

Just caught this video and watched it...I'd love to stumble upon an arcade like that, and I hope to one day recreate the same type of thing (with some extra things of course) here where I live. The interesting thing about them playing a Journey song in the video is that they also played a Journey song (a different one though) in Flynn's arcade in Tron. I wonder if there was any influence there or not.

Actually, there is a game that has been submitted for the Homebrew contest that does something like that, but not with Adventure for the base. And there's a 2nd entry that didn't use a 2600 game for a base, but that is based on a well-known title. I'll keep it there for now.

Oh, be careful with that one! A few months ago, my beloved and I had a discussion over a pile of expensive clothes that she'd bought [is there any other kind?], and it went something like this: Me: We both know the money's a little tight this month, so I wish you hadn't bought so much. Beloved: Well, you're always spending money on Atari stuff. Me: Well, I'm not this month because I know the money's tight. Meanwhile, you went a bit wild here, didn't you? Beloved: You're right. So go ahead and buy some Atari stuff; that's fair. Me: Wait, I think you missed the point. Needless to say, the clothes stayed, and I abstained to try and keep the damage to a minimum. Come to think of it, I haven't bought an Atari cart in six months. Hey, wait a minute.... I had something close to that happen once. Minus the 'go ahead and buy some Atari stuff' afterwards. It was really cool the time she wanted to buy a Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine though. We went to the local arcade together and she couldn't stop playing Ms. Pac-Man. I noticed they had 3 Ms. Pac-Man cabs there for sale and when she found out she wanted to buy one! We held off on it because we just bought a house and money has been tight, but after a few things have been paid off, it shouldn't be too hard to convince her on that one.

There still is that contest going on as a little incentive. I'm always looking for new entries. :wink:

I have the same dilemma at times. So far the "you get plenty of clothes and shoes and purses" thing has worked for me and now that I have a separate game room to place this stuff in, she seems to be more content with that. And she likes classic games more than the newer titles, so I use that on her as well. "Would you rather see me spending several hundred dollars on the same number of new Xbox games or just $20 for these several 2600 titles? "