Major_Tom_coming_home

I think you hit the nail right on the head. If I only have one Apple II model I should get one with a lot of expansion possibilities. That said, I'd probably get a second and it would definitely be the IIc. The beauty is that Apple II computers don't cost over $1000 like they did when new. Even on Ebay I could get all three models and still pay much less than I would have in 1983

Thanks for the info, I'll certainly take a second look at the GS. I may be wrong but my biggest concern is that the GS apparently won't work on most non-apple monitors so getting one would be mandatory. I don't suppose it would work with my Amiga 1200 monitor, would it??? Fortunately, these machines no longer cost 2638 so getting all three isn't out of the question.

Thanks, reliability is high on my list of priorities.

Thanks for the info. I did not know about the limited expansion capabilities of the IIc, which is exactly why I came here to ask. I love the look of the IIc and it's built in floppy drive, but It seems like the IIe would be a better choice since it is has more potential. Attaching compact flash cards is something I'd like to do. Of course since these machines no longer cost $1200 1979 dollars I could always get both :-)

Hey folks. Assuming Irma doesn't carry me off to the land of Oz `and I still have a house come Monday, which model of Apple 2 would be a good starter gaming system once I have electricity again? I really like the look of the IIc and IIC+, but there is also the IIe and GS. I'd like to get the model with best quality of life (reliable, parts are obtainable, works with standard television, good software compatibility, etc.). I know the GS is the most powerful and modern, but from what I understand it may be difficult to get video without it's proprietary monitor. (Yeah, I know my timing is odd, but I'm hunkerd down at home with all preparations complete and desperately needing a distraction).

***Update*** I kinda sorta got a good deal on an AV Famicom today, even though I still prefer the look and uniqueness of the original Famicom. I like to have backups for my game consoles as long as the console isn't overly expensive, and my original $35 Famicom fullfils that role nicely. The next system I get will likely be the Japanese Super Famicom since I prefer the look of it over the SNES.. The fact that the Super Famicom seems to be less expensive than the SNES on Ebay doesn't hurt either.

Okay, so how exactly was I supposed to look at pictures online or watch a video in 1990 when for all intents and purposes the internet did not yet exist?

That's why I said those consoles were ugly in my opinion. Everyone has their own opinions. Your opinions of the NES and top loader is just as valid as mine. And at this point, I don't feel any need to spend the extra money get an AV Famicom. If they were close to the same price I would get an AV model. I grew up with game and computers that were hooked up with RF connections and it was a non-issue. If having the best quality picture possible was my highest priority I could use the HDMI on my RetroPi .

Howdy fellow Atariage retro gamers! My favorite arcade game of all time is Gyruss. For some reason, the first time I played it around the age of 12 I actually got quite far. Walking away from the machine I was covered in sweat with my hands shaking and my pulse racing from the adrenal rush Gyruss gave me that no other game ever has (although Dungeons of Daggorath on the TRS Color Computer 2 comes close). What I liked was the classical music that somehow fits the action perfectly, and the fact that the setting is from real life - earth's solar system. It helped that I was a big space geek and familiar with all of the planets, and for me this gave the game gravity and poignancy that an imaginary setting could not. Because of this, I kind of came up with my own story since the game really doesn't have one. Fast forward to the present. I was watching a youtube video comparing gyruss to it's various ports on other systems. Once again I thought about my imaginary story and decided it was time to write it down and make it 'for real. I consider myself a good creative writer and enjoy doing it and would love real and honest feedback Just keep in mind that I intentionally made the story cheesy and over the top in a 1980s kind of way. I'm not trying to create a literal story for Gyruss, I'm trying to crank the volume to 11 and creating an over the top 1980s arcade story that Konami might have created for the game themselves). And without further ado, Here it is... Earth is under attack!!! The invaders came without warning, attacked without provocation, and their only terms are the utter destruction of human kind! A few small scout ships are all that escaped the destruction of Earth's once proud space fleet. You are now on a desperate mission to save humanity! A friendly alien scientist in the Centauri Sector has given you a small device that is capable of wiping out the invaders, but only if you can get it to Earth. As you approach the outer planets of earth's solar system, you realize the enemy has discovered your plan! Wave upon wave of enemy ships appear on your space radar as you drop out of warp to fight them! The last of earth's planetary defenses are beginning fail. All of humanity is counting on you. You must get through!

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions, Atari Age is a great community to be a part of. One reason I wanted a Famicom was that I seriously hate the original NES. Great games, but IMO the console is ugly and the hardware is terrible. The front loader raped my childhood when 10nes and cartridge connectors made my two year old Nintendo unplayable, and I've sworn I would never own one again. The top loader is also ugly IMO, and much more expensive than a Famicom. Besides, I think it will be cool to have a Japanese console that looks like something that could only come out of Japan. I ended up ordering a tested working unmodded Famicom from Japan from a reputable seller for the princely sum of $35. I have CRTs that will tune to channels 98 and 99 so that won't be a problem. Obviously, the video quality of RF is not very good but that isn't something that bothers me. That's how most people played games in the 1980s, and when you are deep into a great Nintendo Hard game the video quality is soon forgotten. Instead of an Everdrive I ordered a few multicarts. that have good reviews for the wallet shattering sum of $16. For $50, that is a huge bang for the buck. If I become a big Famicom fan, I'll get an AV Famicom and an everdrive but for now I'm testing the waters to see if it is for me. Thanks much everyone.!!!

I was wondering if an original Famicom equipped with an everdrive would work as a 'daily driver' game console to replace an NES in terms of compatibility and functionality with North American games? I am not a fan of the blinking light 10nes crippled toaster, and I prefer the look of the Famicom over the NES top loader. I don't mind using coax and I understand that the Famicom works on channels 98-99 in North America. I do know about the retroUSB AVS, but I like the idea of having the OG console with crappy coax video and all. Thx!

Just wanted to say that it is awesome and generous of you to make the roms freely available for download, thanks. I'm picking up the 7800 version!

I'm a newbie to the TI/99 and have a few questions about the Peripheral Expansion System. I'm very curious and Hopefully this isn't too much at once 1. Back when the TI-99 was current generation, what was the purpose and usefulness of the Peripheral Expansion System? Would it allow the TI/99 to have functionality that was otherwise impossible, or did it just eliminate the need for sidecars and stand alone peripherals? 2. Was there any software that required more than one sidecar expansion, or was it a case of the TI/99 being discontinued before the Peripheral Expansion System had any purpose other than convenience and aesthetics. 3. In the present, is there anything the Peripheral Expansion System does that can't be replicated by modern homebrew add-ons or is it something mainly used only by collectors and people who prefer using original hardware as much as possible?

I just received a C128 I purchased from Ebay and was wondering what kind of testing I can do to confirm it is fully functional. So far I have loaded a cartridge game and played with a joystick. Sound, picture, cartridge port, and joystick port are good. Booted to basic and tested all buttons and they are good. I don't gave any disk drives or other peripherals yet. While I'm waiting for an SD2IEC is there anything else I can check out? Thanks!

I recently purchased a Commodore 128 and I'm planning to get a uIEC/SD from retro innovator. I'm curious to know if there are any other worthwhile expansions or software for my machine? I'm probably not interesting in running CP/M versions of Visicalc or Wordstar, but anything entertaining would be nice. I don't have a disk drive or cassette player but I'm thinking uIEC/SD replaces them functionally. Thanks!

WOO-HOO SainT just called my number I love how retro gaming creates so much camaraderie between people from all different parts of the world, who speak many different first languages. I've sent money to strangers in Germany, England, Ukraine, etc. via my personal paypal account for things like this sd cartridge and have never had a problem. Sure, they do make some money but they generally also love the systems as well. I spent $90 usd on the cartridge, but I still feel like sainT is doing me a huge favor. There is no way in hell I could build one for myself, and getting all the games on the system plus the possibility of homebrew games is well worth it. :-)

Howdy, since I pretty much have all of the common NTSC 2600 games, I've started to dabble with PAL releases. Unsurprisingly, there don't seem to be that many PAL exclusive games, but I have seemingly found some pretty decent ones released in Germany by a company called Bit Corp: https://atariage.com/company_page.php?CompanyID=194&SystemID=2600&SystemFilterID=2600 I was wondering if there are any other companies that released PAL exclusive games that are worth acquiring? It seems most of them are just bootlegged NTSC released similar to Taiwan Cooper or Zellars. I may end up getting into common PAL cartridge variants and bootlegs of NTSC games at some point, but I'd like to get original titles first such as Bobby Geht Heim and Mission 3000. And just in case it comes up: Yes, I do know all about the differences between NTSC and PAL format. I totally play my PAL games in black and white on an LCD :-)

I picked up a 1999 vintage Power Mac G4 450 running OS X 10.4 at a garage sale for $5 and have been having some fun tinkering with it. I've ordered an additional 1 gig of ram and a Mac version ATI Radeon 9000 AGP to replace the Rage 128 AGP the system came with. With the upgrades and system itsself, I've invested a whopping $25 so far . I'm wondering if there are any inexpensive upgrades I can make to the CPU in the $50 and under range? I know that accelerators have been made for this machine, but as far as I can tell they were discontinued a long time ago and if you do find a used one they go for $150 and up. Unfortunately, I can't justify to myself spending that kind of money on an 18 year old Mac. I'm thinking that there won't be any options in this price range, but my knowledge of Power PC hardware is practically non existent. I know there is a 500mhz version of my cpu, but such an upgrade would barely make any difference (but if I found one cheap enough I'd try it anyway). Thanks

Definitely on my wish list. But for now in the immortal words of the Angry Video Game Nerd: "The only way to play an <<insert name of system>> is on an old piece of shit like this" <<Points to 1970's faux wood grain television with dials on it>>.

Oh yeah, I remember seeing this.

Thanks, as an retro computer geek I have a few cassette players kicking around for my TRS-80 COCO2

Thanks I'll keep the F18 in mind but it will be after disk and speech capability. I really don't mind using composite cables and a crappy CRT television like it was 1985.

Duely noted. I'm not in a hurry and can keep a lookout. I'll probably want to get a spare TI/99 at some point so maybe I'll get one that includes a synth.

Awesome setup you have there! Can the 32k expansion and NanoPEB be used at the same time? I'm curious about the advantages and disadvantages of the PEB and NanoPeb. I'm thinking the disadvantages to the PEB must be cost, space, and reliability after 30ish years? Anyway, I'll probably let my wallet cool down for a while but if I decide to get into disks, which would be the better option for someone who wants the minimal hassle? Maybe down the road I'll get the collecting bug but for now I'm okay with mixing new and old to get the most functionality. Thanks!

So within the past few weeks I've gotten my first TI/99 and the SD Cartridge. I have ordered a 32K expansion, Atari controller adapter, and a composite video cable from arcadeshopper.com. My interest is games (I'm thinking the same is true for 99% of TI/99 enthusiasts) and I was wondering if there is anything else worthwhile to get such as... The voice synth? is it worth getting and what is a fair price for one? If only a few games support it I would pass, but if it has good support and enhances the experience I might be interested at a reasonable price. I saw a tested working one for $30 but I have no idea if that is a good or a bad price The TI-99/4A Peripheral Expansion Box? Seem to go for a lot of money, but is it worthwhile and do I actually need more than 48K for gaming? I'm thinking it is more of a collector's thing these days. Nothing wrong with that, But I collect other things and for the TI/99 I'm really only interested in adding more gaming functionality. Floppy drive? Would be cool to have if found cheap but I don't see myself loading floppies. I saw there is some kind of Compact Flash drive on Arcadeshopper. Does it add much new functionality? (games not available as cartridge roms for instance)? Anyways, thanks in advance for your suggestions. It's great to have a community of fellow enthusiasts to be a part of...honestly, for me the community is the best thing about owning retro computers and games. Without the support of a community for things like flash cartridges and memory expansions many of these old systems just wouldn't be worthwhile for anyone other than the most hard core fans.