elviticus

Agreed with the last post - don't know how to help you out. Interesting post though..... What's it like where you are in Burma? What's your access to games like? Ineresting that there's an arcade nearby with Street Fighter.

That's true - that's what I do now if I play one w/unlimited continues... I'd just prefer if I could set an option so every time I started I had, say, 3 continues to go as far as I could then - game over. Maybe a skill setting, so that you could set free play, easy (9 continues), medium (5 continues) etc. I realize this isn't a big deal, I just really like a game to provide a challenge. I hate using "God mode" cheats on more modern games too, same reason.

Yes- definitely as an option. Also, I'm only talking about the games that have UNLIMITED continues, allowing you to blow right through the games with no skill at all. I think this is the antithesis of what classic gaming is about. With games like Defender or Donkey Kong, you only got to access the higher levels and/or get a high score by doing well at the game - giving you some incentive to try. When arcade games started having the option to continue, it wasn't a bad thing - you'd try hard to do well so as not to have to spend another quarter. When this is no longer a factor, a lot of these games (Gauntlet, for instance) become about as much fun as playing a gambling video game. With nothing at stake, it's a little hard to care how well you do. Maybe the mini game thing is not such a great idea... At least I would like the options to limit continues, have the score reset on continue etc.

Well- I think it may be the best, even with so few games. The question isn't which system has to most games or which system is the most popular, but which system is the BEST. Just because the NGPC didn't really catch on (and therefore had few games) doesn't mean it is not a contender for best system. The screen is bright, and easy to see (without being backlit) , the games are almost all of very high quality and are fun to play, the buttons and joystick are better (to me) than GBA or PSP by a long shot. This is all subjective, I realize, but I'd have to say it's my favorite handheld so far.

Thanks Pocketmego for the post! Very interesting. Also Big Player for the links to those books, I want to read those.

No love for the Neo Geo Pocket? I like my GBA alot, but I really love fighting games, and the NGPC rules for those!! Not only are there great games like Samurai Shodown 2 and SNK vs. Capcom, but it has a great joystick that makes playing these games easy and fun. Other great games for it are Turf Masters (golf) and Baseball Stars. I know it doesn't have a fraction of the games that GBA or PSP has, but the games are really good, and the system is very well designed IMHO.

Ok, I love all of the "classic game collections" you can now get for PS2/Xbox etc. (Midway Treasures, Capcom collection...) but the ability to continue limitlessly just by hitting a button sucks the fun right out of a lot of them. I think it would be cool if you started out with a little money with which to play the games. More money would be awarded in a few different ways: 1) You would get a certain amount for free, periodically (like an allowance ) , but not much 2) You could play mini-games (kind of like in Shen Mue) and earn some 3) You could take place in "arcade tournaments" from time to time and, after paying an admission fee, could play games for high scores to win money. Also included on the disc should be the option to just set everything to "free play", for those who think this would be a drag. To me, this kind of a system would make playing games like Gauntet and many others fun again.

I thought this game was really dumb when I first got it - but recently I got into it and played it for a while. It's actually pretty fun once you figure out how to play!

Reading this post reminds me how many good arcade conversions landed on the 2600. Incredible when you think about how much less the 2600 programmers had to work with!

Parker Brothers did a great job mostly - Frogger was very faithful too, and Popeye kept the basic gameplay intact. Atari delivered with Phoenix, Ms. Pac and others - can't pick just one.

Well, I'm probably not making much sense - I'm far from a joystick expert!! What I mean is, when I go play at the arcade that (thankfully) still exists at a mall near my house, I play on the SNK vs. Capcom and the various Capcom "vs." games there. All the sticks on these machines move smootly in a circular motion, which makes moves like firballs and spinning piledrivers very easy to do. Most of the sticks I've tried at home, including the Shadowblade, Ultimate fighting stick and a couple of others have a very square feel when you rotate the sticks around - to the degree that you often get caught in the corners! Needless to say, these do not make Street Fighter type games very fun. The one exception I've found is the Street Fighter Anniversary stick, which really feels like the arcade games I've described. I understand it's not considered particualary high quality (from what I've read on Shoryuken forums) but it does FEEL right and has worked well for me so far. I'm thinking I might just buy another, for 2 player, but first I wanted to research the X-arcade and find out if it might be a similar type of stick but with better parts.

BOTH those clips were new to me - very cool.

Good information - thanks everyone. I actually am looking for a stick with a round or octagonal range of motion and a "bat" handle - which is like most of the Street Fighter machines I'm used to playing on. I understand that the Japanese machines usually have ball tops and square range of motion? I currently have a Hori Tekken 5 stick - very nice and good quality, but not exactly what I wanted. I also have a Street Fighter Anniversary, which is just about perfect. I was hoping the X-arcade would be along these lines, just with higher quality parts.

Donkey Kong was the only game I really felt let down by. I loved the arcade, so I bught it right away, and it was just missing too much. I expected bad graphics, but I found it really repetitive and dull. Still played it a lot though- I didn't get games very often back then, and it was still KIND of Donkey Kong. Also agree with Swordquest series, those games all sucked bad - WAY worse than Pac-Man or ET, in my opinion.

Awesome! Thanks for posting that..... Somehow I missed Saturday Supercade. I remember a bunch of video game related cartoons - but I never really saw that before.

Hi - can anyone who owns an "X-Arcade" stick tell me if there's any kind (or what kind) of "gate" (i think this is the term) on the stick? In case I'm unclear (I'm not certain of the terminology) : I have bought several "arcade" sticks in the past that have a square "collar" that restricts stick movement. I'll be buying the stick to play Street Fighter games, and I want one like on those machines. It seems to me that the arcade machines either have no gate at all, or sometimes an octagonal one. Any help is appreciated - excuse my rambling attempts to communicate!

Strangely enough, I've actually thought about that! I told my wife to let my friends or family (who are interested in games etc) have a couple things each if they want them - and then sell the rest. She doesn't really care about video games that much - she'll probably keep "bust-a-move" though.... that's one game she does like.

Classic! That's a great picture. Looks like you got quite the haul that christmas! I guess it helps that your Dad was into games too.

I got my 2600 Christmas of '82.... I had been living overseas, and when I came back here (age 11) I wanted an Atari BAD!! I remember hooking it up to our B+W Tv and marvelling at Defender. I played that game so much it was ridiculous! The next few years I spent devising ways to make money for more Atari games.

4 Jays is an online store that you should check out - http://4jays.net/store/ - I've gotten several systems from them, and they all arrived in perfect condition - cleaned and tested and really like new. Maybe not the cheapest option, but high quality all the way. Trade-n-games is a really good store too - definitely check there as well.

I would like an arcade style stick... my only reservation is the size/weight, since I don't have a table to put it on- might not be too comfortable to sit with. Who makes the Saturn style PS2 controller? Not sure if I've seen that.

Here's a question for street fighter fans... For the PS2, what do you think is the best controller? Obviously the dual shock isn't it. I have a S.F. anniversary pad - a little better, but not what I'd call great. I also have an Arcade Rex joystick - again, just OK for this type of game. I've seen that there is an S.F. anniversary stick available - anyone have one of these? Is it worth getting? My only reservation is that it looks huge and heavy. Other sticks I've been looking at are the "ultimate fighting stick" wireless by Naki (I think) and the King of Fighters stick. Any advice would be helpful. On a side note, I LOVE the neo geo pocket controller and find that it is an excellent controller for S.F. type games.... Or maybe they're just really easy on that system - I don't know!

I like Astroblast a lot better for just that reason... Astrosmash is cool, but it's ENDLESS!!

How about Sorcerer's Apprentice or Snoopy and the Red Baron? Those are pretty much guaranteed stress free... Or maybe some early games (Air/Sea, Skydiver, Canyon Bomber) - simple and fun!! Welcome back.

Ha! I have that book too - it's really funny. It suggests things like "try playing your favorite game standing backward and looking in a mirror" or "see how fast you can die" etc. I haven't looked at it for awhile, but I believe it also had "warm up" exercises and eye/hand co-ordination exercises in the first chapter. Too funny.