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rgr1973

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Posts posted by rgr1973

  1. Posted

    One of the game stores, which I don't think was Game Stop, but something similar about 17 years ago used to have NES games. I remember buying Super Mario / Duck Hunt for 9 cents each and buying them out of like 30 copies. I used to buy up any game for 25 cents or less at the time for the NES. Atari was not part of the inventory. :(

     

    Phil

    I noticed the local Hastings has a handful of SNES games. I saw a baseball game (no box or manual) for $6. Of course by the time I'd pay s/h on ePrey, I'd probably spend just as much.

  2. Posted

    An aside, I just now realized I have H.E.R.O. The sad thing is I'm not sure I've played it or where I even got it from. Now do I keep it and play it or do I sell it since I could really use the $$$? Lol!!!

  3. Posted

    I've managed a couple of times to roll the score on Pac-Man and I could handily do it again if my hands would cooperate. There's just something about the hands not working as well at 41 as they did at 11! Once or twice I apparently frustrated the ghosts so much that they went to the escape hatch and wouldn't come it!

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    Slightly off topic, but since it was mentioned about the younger generation being interested in the Atari, I thought I'd share something. I'm a returning college student at the age of 41. I decided about 1 1/2 years ago that it was time to finish my education. Obviously a lot of my classmates are late teens and early 20's. One classmate mentioned his love for video games, so I mentioned I still had my Atari. Instead of the weird looks that I expected, this kid was practically on his hands and knees begging me to give him my Atari!!!! Lol!!!!

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    Those signals are definitely not created by the cart (it would be cool if we could do that), so cleaning won't help much. I suppose the signal is distorted on its way from the console to the TV. Maybe replacing the cable with a better quality one (better shielded, with ferrite bead) will help.

    I'm not trying to argue, but yes, it IS something to do with the cart. I've saw it for the 30+ years I've been playing it, almost the same screen shots he posted. You take the cart out, blow in it or clean it, and it disappears. It is nothing at all to do with interference.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    I just bought an old Epyx joystick for $4 at a retro game store at my local mall. I never used one before... not exactly the most comfortable, but I like the "clicky" action of the joystick and button. Does that thing have microswitches inside?

    I believe so

  11. Posted

    Makes you wish they would have included that tidbit right on the label. They had the gee-whiz to include: 'Use With Game Paddles'... but could have finished up with: 'In Right Port'. :lol:

     

    I've always thought Atari should have made Port #2 the standard for paddles - so you didn't have to be constantly plugging and re-plugging controllers in.

    Though it's with the joystick, Towering Inferno does the same thing.

  15. Posted

     

    This can be a contentious one. 3 reasons that I can think of offhand:

     

    1. We never had HD, LCD, or anything like this "back in the day". So it's just "new stuff is bad, mmmkay?"

     

    2. 2600 games should be played 4:3, not 16:9. Yes, with many TVs you can set this, but many people end up playing the games "stretched". Like in your avatar :P

     

    3. The real CRT love comes from what the image looks like, and it generally comes down to one thing: scanlines. These little devils are how 80s graphics were designed to be played. When you remove them, things appear even more "blocky" than originally. Granted, on a 2600 it's not as bad because the pixel size is so huge to begin with. But it still does make things look "worse" in some ways. Oh, and CRTs all had overscan areas - parts of the screen you couldn't actually see - that some games and systems exploited well. With an LCD you often see these areas and it kinda ruins some effects or introduced graphical elements you weren't meant to see.

     

    All told, using a modern TV looks much like playing an emulator on a computer. It just doesn't seem "legit" to old school types. That being said, I have much less of a problem doing it with a 2600, INTV, or Colecovision than I do an NES or something slightly newer.

    And those are valid points.

     

    Most of my 2600 "life" was spent playing on a 19" Magnavox in my bedroom. I played it some as an adult after marrying and having kids, but obviously not as much. Now that my kids are getting close to grown (and divorced now), I'm savoring playing again. Perhaps it's something to do with all those years of staring at a 19" screen.

     

    Funny though, because there are some TV shows that are broadcast in SD, and I see how crappy they look on an HD TV. I don't remember seeing them looking like that, but obviously the TV brings out things that were limited on an old TV. Perhaps if I played the Atari on an old TV again, I couldn't go back.

  16. Posted

    I believe between 150-175. The funny thing is, I've been culling my LP collection, but I refuse to part with any of my 2600 carts. Oh, I'm seriously considering adding Stella's Stocking to the collection. I've had the order page pulled up for a few days.....guess I should bite the bullet! :-D

  17. Posted

    I prefer the Competition Pro (normal size, the mini ones' switches break easily and they are too small for my hands anyway), and as a second choice I would take the Konix Speedking (aka Epyx 500XJ to those who live on the wrong side of the pond).

     

    Third choice - this is a tough one - would be either a clone of the Wico bat handle stick called the Turbo Arcade (it has micro switches instead of the Wico's leaf switches and a second fire button on its base for left-handed players) and the metal cased joysticks sold as the Multi-Function 1001/2002 under different OEMs.

    I did have an Epyx (it's in the donate to Goodwill pile now), but I broke the darn thing! I was going intently on one of my games, and I felt it "crack" on the inside. It's somewhat usable, but not too much. Nice joystick, but I'll stick with the Slik Stik!

  19. Posted

    I really didn't enjoy Pitfall II as much as some around here do. I love the music and the multitudes of levels..but I prefer the original. I'm sure I'll want a copy soon for my collection.

    I guess I should dig out I and II both. I haven't played II in so long, I don't even remember what it was about.

  22. Posted

     

    Not for $25.. :ponder:

    Albert, the irony of this is that I got up this morning and had an e-mail in my spam box from someone named Stella!!! I don't think she was wanting to deliver me this cartridge though...... :lolblue:

  23. Posted

    I can remember when the Nintendo craze started, all of my friends would ask me when was I getting a Nintendo. I think my parents even asked if I wanted one. I always told everyone I was keeping my Atari, and that one day they would regret getting rid of theirs! 30 years later, I don't know if anyone regrets it or not, but I'm glad I kept all of my Atari stuff.

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    I'm sorry if this is posted elsewhere. I didn't see it, but I thought it might make for a good topic.

     

    I believe mine was in 1981. We were in Walmart and my parents were talking about getting it for me. It only came with Combat at the time, so they also purchased Pac-Man for me. I still have both original cartridges!

     

    I've actually managed to keep 99% of the games I had when I was a kid, even after moves, marriage, divorce, etc. Some of them I can even remember when my parents bought them, but I continued to collect even into my 20's. I'm 41 now and I couldn't tell you the last time I bought a game, but I'm hoping that changes soon.

     

    I sadly no longer have my original console. Apparently a bad capacitor is a common occurrence from what I read now. I ordered a new capacitor, soldered it in, but had a b&w picture no matter what. I wound up throwing it in the trash thinking it unfixable.

     

    As luck would have it, a friend was wanting to get rid of her 2600 (4 switch, woodgrain). For $20 I got the console, power adaptor, 2 joysticks, paddles, 15-20 games and a holder for the games. Her dad had found it in the trash (he was the local trash collector), but had recently found 2 NES systems, so she and her husband wanted them instead. I wound up flipping Tapper on eBay (it was one of the games) for $15 a few years later, so I essentially gave $5 for the whole system. 20 years later, I'm still using that $20 Atari!

    • Like 1
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