mikey.shake

I'll echo the love for Contra and Double Dragon, for sure. As an adult, I think Mega Man 2 is just tops. And Legend Of Zelda, Super Mario Bros 1/2/3, and the other early classics are "favorites" enough I can whistle most of them on demand. But when I hear most of the tracks from Double Dragon II: The Revenge, I get amped up. Goosebumps. Ready for action. That was a good one. As a musician, I love the arrangements and tones of Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu. I'd played it a few times in the late-'80s/early-'90s and never noticed. As soon as I picked it up last year, I was struck by just how good that game's music sounds.

The sounds and "feel" of Duck Hunt are burned into my brain, but when I was a kid, I thought "Mode B" in Hogan's Alley was the best. It was like having a real shooting gallery on your TV! Maybe a little more variety than Duck Hunt, and without some weird user interface like Gumshoe. I might not have remembered my love for Hogan's Alley so clearly, but just yesterday in the wild, my wife was digging through a stack of dusty black-label commons and found a four-dollar copy of Hogan's with an undiscovered Famicom converter in it (!), so I played it for a while last night, and it's still great. One of my favorite light gun games, for sure. As an adult, I discovered that I've had a lot of fun with Freedom Force on the NES, and even though it's not much as a game, Chiller can be kind of trashy fun if you're in the right frame of mind. And Wild Gunman is always going to be fun. Even if you have to use your hands. Like a baby's toy. My wife and I seemed to play a lot of late-'90s arcade shooters when we were dating (movie theaters, etc) -- and so I've still got a soft spot for the early House Of The Dead games, Carnival, and Area 51. The "House Of The Dead 2 & 3" compilation for the Wii is pretty good too, with that crazy voice acting and translation -- though the games themselves are un-retouched. We always fall into a cackle of laughter when a lady being chased by a zombie is clearly trying to communicate "Go away!" but keeps yelling "Don't come! Don't come!". We're childish, but it's funny, and the Wiimote setup works better than I would have expected for the game. I've got a Master System (well, the box just says Base System, *hangs head*) and a Light Phaser, so I've been looking to try more of those games, but have only really spent time with Safari Hunt. It's a lot of fun, but I feel like the aim on the gun requires a little more weird precision, so I'm getting used to it. The way people talk about Rambo III makes me want to go pick it up, along with Missile Defense 3-D.

I love love love the US version of Super Mario Bros 2. I don't think it's the best of the early games, but it might be my favorite. When it came out, it was the right mix of "sunny" and "psychedelic" to jive with my sensibilities. As much as I love it, I wasn't as fond of SMB3 when it came out. I saw the obvious merits (it's one of the best games ever), but I liked the world that SMB2US imported from DDP more than the color palette and "throwback to SMB1" style (or so I saw it at the time) that appeared in SMB3. All that said, I just wanted to point out that one of the crown jewels of my modest little Famicom collection is Super Mario USA - the US version of the game sent BACK over the ocean to Japan (and a legitimate game, to my knowledge -- not a bootleg). It's common, nothing rare or expensive, but I love that it exists, and in my eyes legitimizes the US version even more when people rag on it for not being "real". I actually picked up a couple of packs of "Nintendo Game Pack" trading cards from '89 at my local retro game store today. My wife and I love that they (along with the Super Mario Bros Super Show) are from this weird period after SMB2US and before SMB3 -- so since nobody was sure which elements were going to stick around, there's a LOT more influence from SMB2US in the overall aesthetic. [Mrs. S also sniffed me out a copy of Hogan's Alley with a Famicom converter inside for four bucks. The second one she's scored in the wild. She knows how to spot them now, it's great.]

My first time beating the following... Mega Man 4 (NES) Mega Man 5 (NES) Mega Man 6 (NES) After defeating the first and third games in the series, I decided to finish the rest off. (I'm going to re-tackle #2 once I get it on a real cart). I get the criticism of these later games -- the charge shot is often too powerful, and I rarely use a special weapon unless it's time to boss battle. I was on board with the "slide" mechanic, but I feel like these 3 games just kept throwing in other elements to try to crank things up, but few of them really felt deserved, and some definitely got in the way. It was just "more of the same", really. That said, "more of the same" in the classic Mega Man series is still leaps and bounds ahead of most other 8-bit platformers. I'm glad I played them, and while the enemies and melodies aren't quite as magical as Mega Man 2, the sound and graphics in the games just keep getting more colorful and vibrant. A shame they're all getting so expensive, because once you get past the feeling of slight redundancy, they're a lot of fun. Metroid (NES) I used the '87 Nintendo Player's Guide map to get through this -- so, in my mind it's a legitimate win, but not without assistance. Though the assistance would have been available the first time I played it back in the day. I've never been too good at "exploration" games and wanted to get my feet wet. My wife acted as the guide, and we collected every item and worked our way through every stage. Yeah, the game has some technical drawbacks (floaty controls, repeating geography, the damn password issues), but it was well worth playing, I'm glad I did. I'm now about halfway through Metroid II (also for the first time), and plan to finish Super Metroid before taking on Metroid Prime. I'm glad I started at the beginning of the franchise -- it's already making me appreciate the second installment more. [EDIT: ...oh yeah!] Spartan X (Famicom) It's Kung Fu (Master) under its original title, when it was a Jackie Chan movie tie-in. I love the weird caricature art of pseudo-Jackie on the Japanese cart. Other than that, it plays just like Kung Fu, and that one always bested me as a kid. Glad I can finally say I've won. Next up (hopefully), ​Metroid II: The Return Of Samus, Clash At Demonhead, Metal Gear, Castlevania III, and Shinobi.

Kosmic Stardust, I apologize if my intention was misspoken -- I completely agree with your sympathy, and was only voicing my support of your urging to common sense, which I felt you put very well in the line I quoted [EDIT: I am one of those people who was concerned the more I thought about it, so I was quoting you in a "he speaks for me" way. I do apologize if that wasn't clear.] I certainly never, ever meant to imply that you, Kosmic Stardust, had ever voiced malice or threat to anyone, and my intention was only to amplify the positivity of what you were saying. I have nothing at stake in this, but I was/am one of the people on this board who hopes that Kennedy's not only doing OK in a humanist way, but that if he needs help, he gets it. Independently of his unfortunate business practices, he's still a person, and I liked the way you put it. My sincerest apologies if my post seemed to do anything but call for level-headedness and human empathy rather than the lynch mob mentality. The quote from your post just summed up my feelings quite well in that I'd like to see everyone remember that there are people concerned about the human factor.

I've been casually following this story since the RetroVGS fell apart. And kevtris seemed like a stand-up guy who got caught in a weird situation. The repeated fake prototypes of the Chameleon led me to believe that Kennedy was a salesman, maybe an excellent one, who had no real product to sell. I'd be surprised to find anyone else was pulling the strings. I feel like he banked on kevtris' proven track record of stellar work, and when he (Kennedy) realized his unrealistic expectations couldn't be met, it seems to me like he had to keep going and save face (and maybe what money he still had) at that point. There were lots of questionable things on the fundraising campaigns that I'm not as informed about. But the apparent "SNES-in-a-Jag" prototype was a big strike against it, and this latest "DVR-in-a-shell" is just flabbergasting. I'm not terribly well versed in electronics beyond solder-by-numbers, but I take in very good faith the word of reputable AtariAge members who say that it's just a prop. (And props to them for solving these so fast!) I can't say exactly what it means, but it certainly raises questions of "willful deception", and should therefore be taken as a serious matter by 1) those who have invested, or were planning to do so based on the media presence of the console, or 2) those who don't want to see people get ripped off. I can't be certain, but the evidence seems to indicate to me that while Kennedy may at one time have legitimately had the best of intentions to fund and produce this console, the latest maneuvers are just "smoke and mirrors" moves by a salesman who's been caught selling gossamer where there ain't any. I believe that people shouldn't be too quick to rush to judgement on anyone indirectly involved with the production of the console -- those who were made other promises the same way the buying public and funding base were. It's clear by the number of fantastical fluff pieces on the 'net about this machine that there were a lot of people willing to print whatever was coming out of Mike Kennedy's mouth. And frankly, what we were hearing sounded great -- if you thought it was a technical possibility. It *is* the responsibility of the media to vet and verify this information (I'm a journalist by day), and it's a shame so much passive shilling happened, rather than researched reporting. Those who did so are now learning a valuable lesson for printing press releases. Unfortunately, that's all too common a practice, even outside the gaming community. For gamester81 to come here and apologize and explain seemed like a really classy move on his part. I'm sure it's very difficult to do that, and while I certainly agree that it would be best addressed on his YouTube channel, with its 97K followers at the moment, coming here to the eye of the storm was probably a good first step, especially when the main issue a lot of people here had was more personal in nature, based on previous comments. I'm not surprised some of the videos came down, since if I were trying to distance myself from that situation, I'd probably do the same to ensure nobody else was misled by them inadvertently with all the press this is getting. I'd likely put up an explanation. Regardless, owning up to a mistake in judgement is impressive on this public a scale, and I for one appreciated his apology. But it will definitely affect how I view his future videos. But the real reason I even bother posting is that comment I quoted up top. There have been an alarming number of people making comments in very poor taste about "what Mike Kennedy should do". I love this forum, because it's usually the equivalent of a sleepy, rural, friendly little village of us dust-loving Atari folk. I'm not terribly sensitive, and I've got a particularly disturbed sense of humor, but suggestions of suicide are just gross and tacky. I've dealt with depression, and while I try to be an upstanding guy, the thought of being ruined on this crazy, public, "burn-up-on-reentry" level is pretty anxiety-inducing. Let's keep this civil. Mike Kennedy may be innocent in all this. He might also be a sleazy, money-grubbing, manipulative, shady, snake-oil rip-off artist without an iota of foresight or common sense in his head. If he's the latter, I sure as hell hope he gets his in both a legal and karmic sense, in a big way. But let's none of us wish harm on him as a person. And props to those of you who've already pointed this out. Rage on, AtariAge.

I love it. Completely changed the way I Sega. I've had a few ROMs not play because of region issues, but I haven't done any serious troubleshooting - could just be funky files. But the Mega Everdrive.... it's just the best. Though the one drawback? The in-game menu has made me lazy about having to get up and hit "reset" on other systems. A(n almost) one-stop for SMS, Genesis/MD, and even 32X. Hope you enjoy yours just as much!

Oh WOW, I love that. I have one, didn't come with a top cover though. But weirdly, it DID come with a free 4-switch that turned out to be a Sunnyvale. Even so? The storage center was the best part of that deal. It's gorgeous. Nothing like a Sears H6 on top of one of those. Nicely done.

Thanks so much for all the info! Unfortunately, my multimeter disappeared in my last move and I haven't bought a replacement. I checked the board and socket for any debris that might be causing the issue, paying special attention to the areas alex_79 noted near the controller port, being thorough to check for any little solder bridging. It does exhibit that behavior even without a joystick plugged in, good call. I decided that since I don't have a replacement for that particular cap, and the chips are, frustratingly, not socketed, I'm just going to abandon ship on this particular unit, take it back to the shop (it was their only Vader ) and continue the hunt for another one. Thank you very much for the responses... this really is one of the best forums around.

Hi everyone -- I picked up a Vader (Rev 17) today, went home, cleaned it up a little, plugged it in, and when I pop in a game, it's like someone's got the Left Player "up" directional mashed down. For instance, my ship in Asteroids just starts going toward the top of the screen, faster and faster. In Missile Command, the crosshair starts to make a break for the top of the screen. If I pull down on the stick before it gets there, it will stop the upward motion, but if I let go, the cursor will continue to move up. Interestingly, in Berzerk, the guy starts running to the top of the screen. But when I pull "down" on the stick, he freezes in place (like the Missile Command behavior, while his legs still runs frantically - so it's like both directions are pulling him in two directions at the same time and cancelling things out. The sprite is "moving", but pulling back "catches him in place". I can also be sure it's not the sticks -- i've tried several different types (CX10, CX40) that all work fine on other consoles (H6 & Jr), and I know they're good. Now, I'd like to just fix this and not have to worry any more about it. But I don't know where to start. Maybe it's something more significant, like one of the chips. I've cleaned things, and reflowed the solder around the controller port connection to the board, but much beyond that and it's worth it for me to just take it back to the store. The chips are soldered directly into the board, so I can't re-seat them. And since I know the labor but not all the electronics, I'm not sure where to start poking around, and don't want to damage anything I don't need to be messing with. I can take video and post it, if anyone thinks that would help. Any ideas what might be causing this problem, and how I might fix it?

Well, it used to be Asteroids. And I've never really cottoned to Missile Command. But I'll have to go with either Adventure or *gasp* Pitfall II. I get WHY everyone goes ape over Pitfall II, and I totally understand why it's such a technological achievement for the system, but it, like Adventure, feels more to me like a "quest" game, rather than the more traditional "arcade-style" games that make up the majority of the polled "top 100" games in this forum's survey. And I prefer the latter style of gaming to the former. I don't hate Pitfall II, and I own it just in case I come around one day (make note, Mikey Of 2019, when you're reading this), because it's definitely a good game. But as far as the question asked... Yeah. Uhhh... Pitfall II. *ducks and covers*

Another bump. Waiting eagerly but patiently for any news of development. Every time I play the release version (often) I think of this and hope.

It may have taken a long time, but it finally happened. When I was a kid, we used to go over to my dad’s Aunt Helen’s house. Her teen kids’ Atari was in the shag-carpeted, wood-paneled, beanbag-sporting basement rec room that we lil’ sprouts would gather in at family parties. That machine was like magic, completely mesmerizing me with electronic gaming. We’d gather around it on the floor and play while the grown-ups socialized upstairs. I can’t remember all the games they had, but I have very distinct memories of about a half-dozen that flickered across that screen: Kaboom, Megamania, Frogger, Pitfall, Space Invaders, Keystone Kapers, and Asteroids. As I grew up through the NES age, I never lost my love for the classics, but my secret shame among my group of “retro gaming” friends (though we didn’t have a term for it in the late-‘80s and mid-‘90s), was that I never liked Asteroids. It was iconic, and I remember enjoying whizzing along in a spaceship and shooting stuff when I was a tot, but as someone who liked video games, I just never took to it. I wouldn’t tell anyone -- that’s like saying you hate Pac-Man or Donkey Kong. It’s understandable to hate Defender -- it’s too hard! But Asteroids? Everybody loves Asteroids. Except me. The strange gravity, lack of reverse thrust, the arcade’s “button only” controls, the unfairness of the hyperspace respawn (always right in front of a space rock!). It just made me mad. Repeatedly. So I was never any good. And in that "Silver Age of Console Gaming", I had enough other games with more flash and “tighter” space shooter controls to draw my attention, so I never got good at the older model. Of course, I couldn’t knock the game. I mean... It’s ASTEROIDS. It wasn’t a bad game. I just hated it. So, flash forward to this week. Money’s been tight lately, and while I still have the urge to buy games and stuff, I’m generally trying not to cross any of the “high-ticket” items off my wishlist. I’ve got all the games I can reasonably play (via flash carts and an already fleshed-out collection), so to scratch that collecting itch, I’m sticking to cheap stuff ($10-ish). That lends itself to filling in some small gaps in my Atari collection. The other day, my wife and I took a trip to a game store that I knew had a shelf or two of boxed Atari stuff in varying conditions, thinking, “Maybe I’ll find something fun.” [The guy that works there is a motormouth schmo with ears like a hawk who loves to eavesdrop. I told Mrs. S as we went in, “Don’t encourage him. Just get in and out without interacting. Do not engage.”] One of the categories on my wishlist has been to get decent-condition boxed copies of those “Aunt Helen’s basement” games. The idea that, if all my other stuff went up in smoke, I could start over with just those games, in boxes, in good condition. To once again seed the garden. After all, those were the ones that sparked my love in the first place, and should therefore be crown jewels in my collection. I've already got several of that handful. comb through what they've got, and spot a copy of Asteroids. The top flap is a little thrashed in spots, but with a supposed "buy-one, get-one” deal, I can score it for $5. I hem and haw and almost don’t but then I do. "Sure, why not?" The fact that I'm not a fan makes the box damage easier to swallow. Even though it’s at the bottom of my short "boxed Atari wishlist”, I decide it’s a classic and cheap and will be a nice addition to the collection. As a gamer, I don’t tend to collect cardboard boxes. To each their own, (except people that only buy sealed games and never open any -- I don't understand that at all), so when I buy a boxed game, I try to make sure to get the game out and play it a bit to make sure I’m not just paying for paper (again, to each their own). To my mind, I bought a GAME. Why not have a little fun with it? Sure, I’d played Asteroids plenty of times. Usually for a couple minutes, and usually immediately before playing something else in frustration. But damn it, why not give this chestnut a fresh chance? If it didn’t take, I could put it on the shelf and that’s that. Well, after about 5 minutes in a dark room with a six-switch, wood-grained gaming console and a big CRT television, I started to get hooked. I was into it. I paged through the manual and turned on the UFO/satellite. I experimented with hyperspace/shields/flip (I like traditional hyperspace the best). I put my nose right up against the TV and blasted those things into debris. Probably lost an hour to it before I had to get some sleep. Then, yesterday, after a few more unexpectedly long rounds of the game, I finally got around to loading a new rom onto my Harmony Cart: Space Rocks. Why hadn’t I played it before? Well, I wasn’t much of an Asteroids fan. But, boy howdy, it is the finest version of that game I’ve played outside of an O.G. arcade cab. I could not have picked a better moment at which to first experience it. I can only imagine the glee with which it was met by longtime Asteroids devotees. It’s all the gameplay I’m suddenly realizing I like, along with a masterful presentation, lots of options, and great graphics. In the dark, I can even see the phosphor glow around the “vector” style graphics option. But not only is it sooooo much fun, but even though I’m new to the game, it’s giving me everything I would want from an Atari VCS/2600 home versions of (*ahem* “based on”) Asteroids. I already thought that SpiceWare's Darrell Spice Jr. was a genius because of his re-imaginings of Warlords ("Medieval Mayhem") and Berzerk ("Frantic") for the Atari VCS/2600 system, but now consider my mind officially blown. Mr. Spice, thank you so much for your work on these games and for generously releasing a ROM to the public to play in our flash carts and emulators, along with the physical release. Once money starts flowing again, Space Rocks just jumped to the top of my list of “homebrews to buy on a cart”. [in fact, I’m repeatedly stunned by what some of the modern programmers can do. I have later consoles, 8- and 16-bit, and even though those can theoretically get “closer”, some of these games have been perfected for me on the Atari console. Even with additional processing power, Space Rocks, and the sensational Pac-Man 8K, are not only my favorite versions of those games “for an Atari console”, but my favorite ports of those games ever.] I actually like the game enough, I think I’m going to build my own Starplex controller. I’ll post some questions elsewhere soon about how to wire up a DIY box full of buttons. I’ve wanted one to use as my secondary Stargate controller, anyway, and this is a better excuse, especially since I can’t afford the forty bucks to buy one right now. I might even try to pick up another copy of the game in a sharper box, I’m loving it so much. [Though, feel free to PM me if you’re looking to unload a Starplex in a week or two. That woodgrain is something else. ] So yeah, sign me up as a freshly-minted Asteroids fan. It’s funny... 30 years on and still making new discoveries about games I thought I was “so over". Maybe one day I can even learn to enjoy RPGs. tl;dr: I used to not like Asteroids. Now I do.

I have a Tele-Games Heavy Sixer, and it's glorious. Amazing switches, that cool silvery faceplate, and that gorgeous fake-wood swirl. Congrats on your find - especially with that box! And here's hoping, like others said, that the sticks are CX-10s. I lucked into a set with mine and they are absolutely my favorite way to play VCS games... so smooth and luxurious! And have fun with Demon Attack and Yars' Revenge!

I know it's PC, not console gaming, but I'm definitely voting for the first (and maybe second and third) Leisure Suit Larry games. Al Lowe really had this wry wackiness that hits my humor sweet spot. Of course, having played those games since I was too young to be doing so, maybe my sense of humor just got warped after exposure to them. Lefty's and Lost Wages get funnier as satire the older I get, and the surreal island fantasy of the second and third are everything just turned up to 11.

I can now add Mega Man 3 to my victory list for the first time, too. There's something extra satisfying to me to beating a game on an original cart. Now I can't decide whether to tackle further Mega Man sequels, or to move on to something else for a while...

So, I posted on this elsewhere, but my wife gave me Mega Man (the original cart) for Valentine's Day. I'd never had it as a kid, or really even played it -- 2 and 3 were always more inviting to a kid without an NES who had to make due with limited playtime. Anyway, I had a good run later in the afternoon, and I ended up beating the game and (as a self-described "casual gamer") feeling pretty chuffed about it. I appreciated her gift, having put off buying it myself because of the high price tag it carries, so it was extra-satisfying to conquer. Also, to sorta "get my use out of" the actual cart, as I'm primarily an Everdrive user. So then I got to wondering... why is it such a pricey cart? I know the story. That it was initially a commercial dud in the US, but due to rentals and word-of-mouth it turned into a "sleeper hit" good enough to warrant a sequel in the developers' spare time at work. But surely if there were enough copies to rent, pass around, and generally talk about, why does it average $75 online (right now in February 2016, future historians) as opposed to Contra's $35 or even cult hits like River City Ransom's $25 or Clash At Demonhead's $15 price tags? Those must surely have had smaller print runs right? Most sources say that Mega Man sold "enough" for Capcom to validate a sequel, so if it was good enough to be "on the fence", it couldn't have been a total disaster, or a super-low-pressing one-off rarity like Little Samson (or even some of the later Mega Man sequels), right? OR... am I just misjudging how many there really are? Wouldn't they have pressed up another few batches after the sequels took off? Wikipedia mentions a September 1991 re-release (though I don't have the 9/91 issue of GamePro to verify!). How would one distinguish these from a "first pressing"? Online searches are turning up nothing for me. Are those cited "good enough" sales that justified the sequel really the Japanese numbers bumping up the average and there *really was* a super-limited supply in the US? Or is it just one of those weird market quirks -- a perfect storm of "good story", "beloved franchise", and a dash of rarity? I suppose it DID spawn the whole Mega Man universe. Oooooh, and that cover art. These are the things that keep me up at night, sorry. It's 5AM here now. This is just really food for discussion on the first Mega Man game. Though, does anyone have any other thoughts on the "classic 6" NES games? I've tried some of the spin-off series and they weren't my thing - no real interest. Haven't gotten around to getting MM9 or MM10 yet though... I suppose those should be next on my list.

Never considered myself much of a gamer, really. "Casual" and all. Activision patches are achievements for me, and I don't belong anywhere near a high score club. My wife gave me a copy of Mega Man for Valentine's Day. I'd never had it as a kid, and only played the first one a little bit as an adult. The second and third were "more polished", "less difficult", etc. -- the usual reasons. I'd only ever beat the second game on "Normal". In the original, I usually stalled out at Gutsman's flipping platforms (and the first few attempts on a cheap flatscreen didn't help). She bought it anyway because I'd always wanted it, and got a good deal on what she knew was a pricey cart. I didn't expect to beat the robot bosses and get to Dr. Wily's fortress, but I had a good run earlier in the afternoon. I didn't expect to be able to beat the Yellow Devil. (Though I exploited the hell out of the "select" bug to do it. Tips and tricks got around the playground back in the late '80s, and stuck with some of us.) And once I hit Dr. Wily Pt. 4, I resolved to see things through. I worked at it... and I beat it. I beat Mega Man. On a real cart. No save states, no cheat codes, no emulation funny business -- straight legit. Retro-style, too. Original cart into original hardware & controller, into a big ol' CRT television. I took a photo to commemorate the occasion. My wife was snapping them as I defeated Wily, just to make sure I didn't miss my chance. I certainly didn't expect to beat it the day I got it. It was a nice victory. So, while I can't say I'm a good gamer, I suppose I can upgrade my status from "casual" now, right? (And in true nostalgic fashion, I even left it paused for about an hour while we went out to get some dinner.) Happy Valentine's Day, AtariAge.

I once bought a couple of carts from someone in New Mexico and they were so dirty and smelly it was like they'd been dug out of a landfill! Great vid, MJ and Kelsey! The MJR team always puts out quality stuff, some of my favorite retro gaming content! I think this thread has hit most of my highlights (stickers, ePay pricing shenanigans, etc). Those stickers that say "VOID" when you tear them up, leaving you not with one sticker, but fifty tiny, letter-shaped stickers really piss me off. Speaking of piss, finding what must clearly be mouse/rat/cat/dog/owner urine... ewwww. All those yellowed alcohol wipes. Sorry, anyway... Most of the stuff that really, really gets me are the borderline-shady, kinda-exploitative practices I see here and there. "Untested" stuff marked at full price drives me nuts. For something covered in dust and 30 years old, if you expect me to buy it "untested", how about a few bucks off, as opposed to nearly the same price as a cleaned and refurbed one online? Sure, I'll save shipping, but there could be an inch of dust, a spatter of soda, or a pile of dead roaches in there. "Olde = expensive". Grrr. I don't even want that torn-up, common Odyssey 2 box, but I'm mad that you're charging $35 just because it's "vintage". This goes double for Combat and Pac-Man 2600. Know-it-all "experts" slinging glib soundbites (gleaned from youtube) and propagating misinformation to people who don't know better, and don't know that the so-called expert is full of B.S.. ("E.T.'s the worst game ever. It caused the video game crash of 1984.") There's one guy in particular I'm thinking of. He's like a real life cartoon. (North Shore retro gamers might know who I'm talking about.) I really hate when online sellers only post one shadowy/overblown photo of a product where condition matters, like a boxed game. Sometimes it works in your favor, but that's just a big red flag to me. These are "walk away" signs to me, for the most part. This should be fun. Let's not make it sleazy. Oh, and stuff that smells like smoke. Yuck.

Sat down for some "before-bed retro gaming" with Mrs. S, and together we beat Double Dragon for the Sega Master System. I only recently got the system after always kinda wanting one, and the bundle I saw listed coming with DD was a big reason I finally bit the bullet. I'd always seen the SMS port compared to the NES version. It might have 2-player and be more "arcade accurate", but the flicker and bare-bones nature left something to be desired. Even so, it was a blur of co-op 8-bit fists bashing their way through the game, trotting along on delicate little feet, all the way to Machine Gun Willy. Mrs. Shake had never seen the true end of a Double Dragon game before, and even though I told her about the "duel" ending, she was taken somewhat off guard. But we butted heads until one of us came out victorious. Now I can say I've done it, and I had fun, and I'll definitely get more use out of that cart. Good times, Happy 2016. Now I just need to beat the handheld Double Dragon LCD game that came in the mail today.

The few gaming stores I frequent in my area tell me I'm one of the only people who comes in looking for Atari stuff, but not the only one. Some of them have a few VCSes on the wall, usually 4-switches, and usually have a few stacks of common games, largely pre-Space Invaders stuff. But I keep going back because every few weeks, somebody pops up with more games and I find something new. So there's a trade still going on. For what it's worth in this census, I'm a barely-Gen Y who's old enough to have had several formative years of pre-NES gaming, so I never lost my affinity for the system. In 2015, I finally got around to educating myself about what I needed, and getting the system I'd always dreamed of.

I love my Famicom games, because they're like multicolored little candies. And among them, the green translucent Salamander cart is probably the coolest. But I've gotta say that my standalone copy of Chuck Norris Superkicks wins. Its giant, weird shape worked in my favor when the store thought it was a 5200 cart by mistake ($4.99!). It won't fit into ANY of the storage containers I own that have slots or predetermined spaces for games -- it's too big. This would be a pain, if it weren't CHUCK NORRIS SUPERKICKS. "Too big for your puny storage setup", that's more like it. (Kaboom pictured for scale.)

Obviously, taste is subjective. I like Pitfall for what it is, and only grew to love Yars' Revenge this past year, once I rediscovered it as an adult. But I get most of the criticism. Likewise, my affinity for Megamania is largely based in nostalgia, but hot dog, do I love firing that one up and trying to play for "patch points". But Adventure and Haunted House and Raiders and those kinds of "quest" games leave me cold. I get it, and I get why people like them. I just don't enjoy playing them.

Hey, all! I've found myself in Sanford, FL for a few days and figured if I have any down time, I might like to shuffle through some vintage carts to blow off some steam. (But no blowing carts!) Yelp and the like aren't giving me a clear idea of where I might point myself. Can anyone suggest a stop if I've got the time? Hidden gems? Second thru Fourth Gens preferred . "Help me, AtariAge? You're my only hope."