mikey.shake

I'm likely to leave the 2-port alone, since it works great as-is... but that 4-port is increasingly becoming something I plan to tinker with - quite likely with an A/V mod like that. And the AtariMax is definitely my next purchase, once I re-stock the coffers after the holidays! Oooh, that sounds promising -- thanks, zylon! You seem to be an expert around these parts on repair matters, so in the interest of learning, I've got to ask... can you explain to me what that chip does, and what might be going on to cause the "power-on without warming" problem? I've been trying to consider what might be wrong with the console, and because I don't really know anything about circuitry beyond solder-by-numbers, the switch itself was my first instinct. But you'd likely know better than I would. I was worried my DIY power box might be pumping too much up the line, but that seems a little crazy. Oh, and does anyone know a good place to get one of those chips that's not Best Electronics? I want to order from them, but need to wait til I've got some dough so I can go ahead and place a big order (refurb controllers and some other 2600 parts I need). But if I can snag one of these chips for a couple bucks online somewhere on its own in the meantime, I figure it's worth a shot.

Hey, all -- I'm currently holding onto: 4-Port: Sunnyvale (Atari Inc.) 0062528 SV-073 (Feb 6-12, 1983) "2600 Adapter Mod" done by previous owner (more pics here) 2-Port: Taiwan (Atari Corp.) A1 2146863 126 (Mar 16-22, 1986) Board itself appears to be date-stamped "83.9.15-19" ...and here's a pic of the family together in our "Golden Age" game room:

I hadn't seen this before, thanks! Eugene Jarvis is a video game immortal in our house. Defender, Stargate, Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Total Carnage.... I didn't even know until tonight he designed Cruis'n. And holy &$!*... I didn't know until this very moment that he was responsible for NARC! I've said it before and I'll say it again... All hail Eugene Jarvis.

I like 'em all enough to have tracked down one of each (except an Atari-branded H6... for now), just 'cause they all have their own charm. To me, the "classic" models represent the VCS/2600. The wood grain really seals the deal for me, so that rules out Vaders -- though I love mine, and that was the model I chose to buy to gift to a friend 'cause it looks so cool. I used a Jr. for a while, and while the switches ARE cheap, they worked fine and the video output was really nice and bright and saturated. I use one in my secondary "retro gaming setup" because it's little and looks great next to a 5200 and 7800. To me, it's gotta have 6 switches on the front, aesthetically. That's what I remember the most from childhood, and having gotten used to those, the 4-switchers just seem like they're missing something visually. I'm lucky enough to have found a pristine Sears H6 that gets the most use around here. That birdseye look is my favorite style of wood grain, though the silver panel and font combo (while awesome and futuristic and gorgeous) doesn't give the instant endorphin rush I get from the "orange-and-orange-and-wood" '70s look of the Atari-branded consoles. Light Sixers are my favorite model overall, even though my main ones are a SH6 and a Jr.. Light Sixers just have all the visual benefits of six switches and woodgrain, they're nice and solidly built, and you can play the hell out of them without worrying about wearing out an H6. But really, my answer is "any of them that will play Atari VCS/2600 games."

You guys do great work, and always make for a great, fun, and informative listen! Glad to hear you'll be recording new episodes soon!

Looks like some of my details were a little off... but it turns out it was Boris, the little boy with a Missile Command problem! https://youtu.be/dLiiQdfoLtw?t=2m10s Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

There's a 2600 commercial featuring a little kid who's a ringer for a friend of mine. I've been looking for it for about an hour on youtube, and coming up short because I can't remember what game it was for, or if it were just an ad for the system. It's driving me batty, and it's probably an obvious one, but I figured since I'm striking out, I'd see if All I have to go on (other than "there's a kid that looks like my friend") is that the child in question has a quintessentially late-'70s, early-'80s bowl cut, dark brown if I remember, dimples, and is probably between 7-10 years old. I seem to remember that he's sitting in a living room, maybe stairs in the background, PLAYING a game, speaking to the camera, and maybe has/references a sister. It's at the beginning of short clip, and he may not be the only kid that's featured, but is definitely near the top of the clip. I'm almost certain it's a first-party commercial, for what that's worth, and seems closer to the "'70s" flavor than the "'80s" one. Also, after an hour of hunting to no avail, I never EVER want to hear "the fun is back" ever again. Just thought I'd put it out there... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

Sure thing, that'd be a real treat! But if you do, now that I've listened to Episode 2, I feel like I should definitely mention this: Your podcast finally brought me around to Countermeasure like I hoped it would. It was one of those games that, despite having read the manual, I couldn't seem to wrap my brain around. So it sat on my shelf because I felt like I didn't "get it". After hearing your discussion, it finally clicked. While it's never going to replace my love of straight-up arcade-style gameplay (and it's not without some of the minor flaws your episode pointed out), I found it to be addicting and fairly advanced for its day with tank action, "risk vs. reward", and code-breaking aspects. I showed it to my wife -- she loved the tension-ratcheting of the code-breaking moments, and the "game over" screen totally surprised her. Now I realize it was DEFINITELY worth picking up. Thanks for the discussion and I'm looking forward to getting hooked on more games because of your show. I just need to pinch every post-holidays penny I can, so that I can afford a copy of Wizard Of Wor and try it out myself!

It's taken me too long, but I've finally listened to the first episode and loved it. Great work, and I'm looking forward to listening to Episode 2 (and hopefully finally getting to love Countermeasure). Thanks for making great content, and for getting even more positive info out there for the Great 5200!

Hey everyone! Longtime reader, semi-recent convert. I picked up both a 7800 and 5200 cheap this past year, and while I expected to love the 7800 due to limited childhood experience, it was the 5200 that won my heart. Almost every game I tried felt like everything I loved about pre-NES console gaming, and I was stunned to discover how much it appealed to me after the bad rap it had. I got it on a lark being such a fan of the 2600 and the early-'80s era, but I've probably played it more than almost any other console this year. I'm a writer, so I tend to chronicle stuff. When I got the 5200 (a 4-port), I was having a little trouble with the power supply, but that cleared everything up for a while and everything was retro gaming bliss. Then it turned out that the switchbox I'd gotten was funky. Blew a chip, then would fritz out. I planned on doing the power mod, but once I opened it up I saw that a previous owner had modded it for (what others told me) was the 2600-adapter mod. So I wasn't about to power mod it after that. I ended up going out, buying some supplies, and building my own power/video I/O box (there's not any real "switch"), and that worked great. (link) I also found a Competition Pro at a local shop, and that changed almost every problem I was having with the joysticks -- digital control made my favorite games even better. About as good as I could imagine them. But after that, I started to notice that the console would power itself on at random. I'd walk into my office and notice the red light on. Sometimes it took a few days, but it would end up turning on itself. It didn't seem to affect anything, but I don't like having ANY electronic device juicing up improperly without me knowing about it. I put it on a power strip with a switch I could turn off when not in use, but the worry was that if THAT was happening, there might be something else detrimental happening in there. Which has made me hesitant to even use it the past few months. Which has been a total bummer, since I love even the just the dozen games I have so far. Anyway, the point is that for Xmas, Mrs. Shake went out and found me a replacement. A 2-port with two working controllers, in great shape, with 12 games included (nothing too fancy, but 6 of them were new to me, and of those, 3 were delightful additions to the collection). It was a little pricey, but with the bundle being local and from a shop, there was no shipping on this beast, and if there are any problems, I know the place is cool about defective returns. Testing it out, the stock controllers work almost perfectly. Gentle pressure does the trick. One fire button on one of them needs a little extra pressure, but I'm sure opening them up and cleaning the contacts will take care of it (I'd also like to see what revision they are. The joysticks are a slightly looser than the two I already have -- maybe I'll see if I can swap out the boots. Anyway, it's been a dream. The irritation of dealing with a series of bad switchboxes and someone else's modding and now having two even-cleaner controllers (seriously, I can't imagine they were in much better shape back in the mid-'80s) has lifted the 5200 even one step higher in my book. Having a digital control option, no A/V worries, and all these great games is just aces. I love it, and I appreciate all the help over the past year from you fine folks for your direct advice and all the info collected here. Next up is an AtariMax SD cart and a Masterplay clone. It's going to be a while -- we're buh-roke, so this bundle was the big holiday gift (along with Battletoads and Super Castlevania IV). I'll probably be inquiring in a few months about the best Masterplay options. And now that I can play the games without having to worry about electrical problems, that 4-port might just be a candidate for some work under the hood way down the road. Get it composite modded, the standardized power mod, and I'd love to see about getting the 2600-adapter mod on the 4-port UN-modded just to keep things a little tidier. Anybody have any idea if that's a reasonable dream to have? Especially if I can drop it off with someone in New England. Sorry about the wall of text, thanks for reading, and I'll try to post pics soon!

Only caught the first ten minutes before I had to head to a meeting, but can't wait to watch the rest later this morning... I'm already hooked. As always, great info and presentation! Been spending a lot of time with my SMS lately, but this is only going to crank that up!

UPDATE: So, over the past year, my wife and I have had a running joke. She finally saw "Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior", in which a small village credits its prosperity to their statue/deity, Ong-Bak. The head gets stolen, the village falls into drought. It's returned, the rains come back. It's a totally kick-ass martial arts movie, and worth seeing if you like that kind of thing, Well, it's been a funny year for us, kinda hard on finances, and game shopping has really tapered off. No biggie. But every once in a while, something funny happens. For instance, we had a couple of weeks where we could barely buy groceries. But the day after I showed her that movie, on the front step of our (downtown) building, appeared a bag of groceries. Tuna, peanut butter, canned fruits and veggies, a bag of pasta -- what we usually buy anyway. We left it there, figuring someone who lived in our building had forgotten to take their bag up when returning from the groceries. A day later, it was still there. We put it just inside the lobby of the building, making it clear that people could take it. A day later, still there. So we took it upstairs. And it really helped us stretch to payday. Tongue-in-cheek, we thanked Ong-Bak for hooking us up. You know, some people call it God or karma or the cosmos or whatever. That's a conversation for another thread. But we (kinda half-jokingly) credited Ong-Bak. Then it happened again, two weeks later. Slightly different stuff in the bag, but mostly the same kind of thing. We did some research and realized there's a food pantry a few blocks from us. We went down to return the second bag, and they told us that sometimes their customers just take the pre-packed bag, pick out what they want, and leave the rest somewhere. We offered the bag back, but they told us that since we knew it had been outside (there was frozen meat inside), there were rules that prevented them from taking it back. So, we once again had a bag of groceries that could use, but we wouldn't have taken from a food pantry (others need it more than us). But were were left literally holding the bag. Thanks again, Ong-Bak. We tend to chalk it up to karma -- doing the right thing, because while my wife's an angel of a person, she's not above putting one over on the system if it's pretty much victimless. But lately, it seems like every time I tease her and get her to do the "right" thing in a given situation where she could choose mischief, it seems like an "Ong-Bak moment" is right around the corner. There were a few of those moments recently (cashier giving her extra change back, etc), but she kept on doing the right thing. And last night, she gets a text message: I know this is completely out of the blue, but I'm the guy who sold you the Sega Master System a year ago - I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and came across a control pad that belongs to the system (I believe you guys only got one from me). I still had your phone number in my Gmail from the time of the sale and wanted to check with you to see if you want it; it's yours for free if so (if not I'll just put it up for sale on Craigslist). Lmk - thanks! Crazy, huh? Almost a whole year later, I couldn't believe he took the time to get in touch, especially when it would be an easy $20 on craigslist. The local shops never have 'em on their own. I know because I've asked. Often. So Mrs. S and I hopped a train this afternoon and went over to pick it up at his office. He was super-swell, and wouldn't even take the ten bucks we tried to offer him as a thank you. I'd picked up a second controller for the console last winter, but it's one of the early ones with the thumbstick and the weird side-cable. So I'd been planning on getting another decent-shape, top-cable controller anyway. That guy just saved me $25 (after shipping), and I got a little "gaming surprise" even though I really can't afford them right now. We've been pinching pennies, and I haven't been able to afford anything since Mega Man 4 a couple months ago, so this was a nice treat. I've already re-united it with ​Double Dragon, and introduced it to Fantasy Zone and Shinobi. So, if any of you feel like putting out some hippie-dippie good vibes for someone doing something nice for gamers, please send 'em out for that dude. He deserves it. Also, this morning I went ahead and paid for the subway even though one of the gates was open, and I could have just walked through. When I got to the gym about 20 minutes later, I was the first one through the door. I found five dollars on the floor in front of an "out of order" vending machine with nobody around. I see what you did there, Ong-Bak. tl;dr - I needed a Master System controller, and Ong-Bak provided.

Vigilante (Turbografx-16) TG16+Everdrive=bliss, but I like to have a little stack of what I consider "quintessential" titles for each console I own. Back in the day, this was one of the games that really drew me to the TG16. I didn't realize it was basically Kung Fu. I liked beat 'em ups, and it looked really nice. Spinning nunchucks, waves of bad guys, Double Dragon-era urban decay. It just had all the right components for 10-year old me, and always seemed to be included in promo material, so I guess I fell for it. But I still love Kung Fu, so finding out that this was more of the same wasn't a bad thing. Had it a few days and dinked around a little, but when I sat down to actually DO it, it took two passes. It delivered exactly what I wanted and what I expected. I'm glad I got it, and it does look good, and (if you like the genre conventions) feels good too. I'm sure I'll probably play it every so often as a breezy 20-minute diversion, and feel content when I put it back on the shelf and know I'll be getting it out again before too long.

Bought a Dreamcast this past year and picked up a few of the games I have fond memories of, and a few other "quintessential" titles as well. This past week I was recovering from oral surgery and finally played through Sonic Adventure for the first time. I completed it as Sonic, but haven't gone back and completed everything else for the other characters yet. Overall, the game was easier than I would have guessed, I suppose... excepting the way each of Eggman's final forms kept surprising me and killing me off. But I liked the environments, the music, the general tone, and the transition to 3-D was better than I would have expected, though Sonic often felt a little "too fast" for me to get around the 3-D space dexterously. I sorta missed out on a lot of the 5th-7th Gen stuff at the time, and so Sonic sort of got away from me. I was a NES/SNES kid, and liked the first 4 Sonic games as much as any casual fan. After that, there seemed to be an avalanche of titles and a reputation for middling quality, Sega went down the crapper, and that didn't exactly draw me in. So, I enjoyed Adventure, despite some limitations of its time (camerawork being the biggest issue I had), and am really glad I played it. But I'm one of those people who likes to get the public consensus after forming my own opinions, and SA has a really weird web presence. It's either early-2000s blog reviews raving about the game, or mid-2010s video reviews ranting about how it's overrated BS. (Sonic fandom and Sonic haters can both be loud, biased groups.) And I hear completely mixed things about the sequel. (Though even I know to stay away from Sonic '06.) So, since AA is usually a pretty level-headed place, what did y'all think about Sonic Adventure looking back from 2016? Do you think it holds up? Why? Why not? Would you recommend Sonic Adventure 2 to someone who enjoyed the first one?

Not to contradict anything, but just to mention -- I have a SuperRetroTrio and while it will load my NES Everdrive (N8), but it won't save state and may have trouble with Castlevania III. I got it with the idea of a "triple flash cart console", but since there were some functions that wouldn't work, I made the jump to original hardware. I can't remember, but I think my Mega Everdrive might've had some similar issues with the SR3? Just wanted to put it out there that not all RetroTrios are made the same...

I certainly can't vouch for what any changes would be, but happy to offer a photo: This is the "shell" option offered by Krikzz's store. I don't know why, but I was a bit surprised to see it was more of a "shield" than a "shell", but it covers what I'd want covered, and can puff some compressed air in there if need be. For what it's worth, it's a REALLY nice-feeling piece of plexiglass/plastic. Thick, solid, and glossy. Seems worth it. My only complaint is that the reset button is a little small for my clumsy fingers, but that's really MY problem, isn't it?

Finally dug my Super Game Boy back out and forgot how much fun I had playing those games as a kid... Super Mario Land ​This one got a lot of playtime for me back in the day. I didn't have an NES, and pre-SNES, this was my best alternative for a Mario fix. And it's still great. It's a fun, light little trifle in a lot of ways. Like if you described a Mario game to a great video game designer without them ever having seen one and this is what they came up with. (Ha, maybe Gunpei Yokoi never actually got around to playing SMB...) I was amazed how much I remembered after 20 years. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan I remember playing this one a lot on the school bus in '91-'92. I never had it, but friends did, and I loved my side-scrolling beat 'em ups. Funny thing.. I was an American kid living in Vienna during that time, hanging out with a lot of other US and UK kids. I picked up a copy of this game for $5 without really even looking at it, only to notice later it was the Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles version. Like the one I played as a kid may have been...

Don't wanna interrupt, but the mailman flagged me down on the street yesterday with a package. My new Turbo Everdrive arrived. Board revision 2.5 (the site still says 2.4!). Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. This is so frigging good. My gaming "sweet spot". I'm glad I posted here when I got my TG16 and when I figured out that composite adapter build. Now, with this post, maybe people can track the timeline and come find me when I seem to have "disappeared". But of all the games I'm newly diving into, all the ones I'm finally playing again, and all the ones I'm FINALLY getting a chance to play properly, my main thought has been, "Really? "Keith Courage"? REALLY?!?" Sorry for blurting, please carry on. [EDIT: a photo. My wife calls this trio (the console, flash cart, and CRT) the "Holy Trinitron".]

I also call it the VCS. It makes for the occasional confused look, but damn it, that's what it was called back in the day. Well, when we didn't just call it "the Atari". I confess, I don't give two hills of beans about chasing rare games. There are a few that I wanted on my shelf, but nothing over about $20. All the heavy hitters that the collectors froth about couldn't really matter less to me, I just want to play what I want to play. I'd easily pass on a cheap copy of someone else's Holy Grail if I weren't interested in playing it. Maybe not a sin, but tell the wrong person that and you get "sacrilege face". Like you just farted on a baby. And I'm ashamed that I'll occasionally buy a sealed game just 'cause it's cheap, and I already have a loose copy (Defender and Warlords and maybe one other). With no intention of opening them anytime soon. I have a $12 limit on "fancy boxes", though. I know to some people, the idea of opening a sealed game is terrifying. But to me, not opening and playing a game is a sin. Also, I'm guilty of trying to track the market price of my "landfill carts". I'm not a "value collector", I just like playing video games. I paid very little for the dig carts (relatively speaking to what they go for now), and they're "historical" to me -- proof that sometimes childhood playground legends are real, even if it seems too far-fetched to be true. I'll never part with them, but I like watching the silly online prices going up, knowing that I got a piece of "gaming history" as cheap as they'll ever be. Oh, and until last year, I never liked Asteroids.

Solar Striker - Game Boy Alleyway - Game Boy Eagerly waiting for that VCS Handheld so I can squeeze off a few rounds of Drunken Pooper.

1. Because I always wanted one. When I was reading comic books as a kid, and saw all the awesome ads for early-to-mid-'80s games, many of them were offered for the 2600 and 5200. Especially the games I most wanted (Mario Bros, Star Wars, etc.). I knew, somehow, that the 5200 was where it was at. 2. Because, after diving back into "classic-era" retro gaming, I found out that I what I loved most was the arcade-style gameplay from that period. And it turned out that the 5200 was home to a TON of arcade ports and arcade-style gaming that was a cut above the graphics and processing of the 2600, but with all that early-'80s gameplay magic. 3. (Most importantly) Because my favorite local game shop offered me a four-port for $20. "As-is", but with a return option if it was DOA. Even spending another $50 (total) on a replacement power supply, an RF switchbox online, and then the parts to build a replacement switchbox when the one I bought was a dud, it was still a good enough deal for me. And it looks and plays great. Long live the 5200.

I don't wanna speak for anyone, but based on context, and things said in other threads, I've got a "gut-feeling-only", purely-hunch that the next FB (the 8, in 2017) will possibly have HDMI, and either a cart slot expansion capability (unlikely) or SD card slot (more likely). Evidence? Pshaw. This is the internet. But if you read between the lines, know what people want, and listen to who's talking in this and other similar threads, I feel like there are some implications there. (And I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth.) I think the market is moving that way already, and the people in charge are listening. Either way, the only FB I own is a 2. I happened to find it for a buck at a flea market after looking for a while. It's GREAT, and I recommend even the newer ones to casual gaming friends who don't wanna shell for an OG setup. But the NES Mini might change the game up a little after a few years of incremental development, and I think some things (HDMI) are going to start becoming standard-issue in these budget-line plug and play consoles. ("IMO","YMMV", etc.)

Congrats on the find! It's not perfect for everything, but the CX-10 is, as far as I'm concerned, as good as it gets for the VCS. All the things I love about the CX-40, but with all the things I love about more comfortable third-party sticks. I had to get some DeOxIt and a toothbrush under the contacts, but mine have worked like a charm since that good cleaning. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the feel of it once you've had a chance to break it in. Have fun!

Kaboom is my first "gaming memory", at my dad's Aunt Helen's place in Kentucky. The basement rec room was everything you could have wanted. Wood paneled, orange-carpeted. There were beanbags. It's probably the biggest reason I rediscovered the VCS. And it hasn't disappointed since we were re-united. And I'm SO glad to hear that it wasn't just me. It's fantastic to hear those kids had such fun! And I'd never even realistically considered a projector, but it just went from "never realistically considered" to "seriously considering". Nice job!

I LOVED the 2015 edition of this quest. But this summer, real life has been draining and my gaming has been mostly NES (*gasp!*) and 5200. So I suppose I wasn't up to the spirit of the challenge. I love how this can also operate as an alternate, pass/fail HSC kind of thing for us who might not be up to the regular challenge. Cut to a crappy morning two days ago, and I sat down in my office and fired up Kaboom, just to slip into that zen state my wife and I call a "Kaboom fugue". I'm not very good at the game, but I'm a member of the Bucket Brigade, and unexpectedly scored "patch points" again, so took a picture, because I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well add to the collective number of patches earned here! But once I did, I ended up wanting to play something else. Ended up picking Megamania, and a few attempts later, had a really good run and scored the patch again. So I just blasted through a few games I enjoyed earning last year, just to chip in for the overall number we earn as a group. It was that thread last year that really helped me connect with the deeper library for the VCS. I was surprised that I was able to knock each one out, as my VCSes have been a little dusty lately, and I'm not a very good gamer. I guess all that Ninja Gaiden's been paying off on my reflexes, though. It was fun to come back to some of these games, and I'm definitely going to try some more soon. Since we're taking these pass/fail, I can't claim I tried very hard on ANY of these after clearing the required number points ("That's it for the patch? I'm out!"), but until just a few minutes ago, this was my best game of Megamania ever. I'd never made it into the third cycle of baddies before. It felt good. Kaboom - 3,367 Megamania - 78,490 River Raid - 16,540 Chopper Command - 11,300 Seaquest - 73,310 Pitfall - 50,532 Starmaster - 3,960 (Ensign) Happy Gaming, AtariAge! And thanks for the motivation to reconnect with some of my favorites again!