MaximRecoil

Awesome.

I'm looking for opinions regarding how difficult it would be to implement certain hacks in Super Punch-Out!! (1994). It isn't something I could do, but I was thinking about offering to pay someone to do it. I've always thought that the SNES version of SPO should have had an arcade release. The following things would need to be done: 1. The existing "attract mode" is fine as-is, aside from the "PUSH START" text. That would need to be changed to "INSERT COIN". 2. When you push start, it goes to a "menu select" screen. That screen should be skipped and it should always go directly to the "name registration" screen (i.e., the screen which appears when you select "new game" on the "menu select" screen) when a coin is inserted (the coin input can be mapped to one of the shoulder buttons). 3. The name registration screen is fine as-is, but it shouldn't save the player's progress so they can go back to the game at a later time. When you finish the name registration screen, it goes to a "mode select" screen (which has a button setting mode). That screen should be skipped, and it should go directly into "championship mode > minor circuit". 4. It then shows the profile page of your opponent, and waits for you to push "start". There won't be a start button on the arcade machine. This screen should simply display for a few seconds and then automatically go to the start of the fight. Note: During the fight, if you press "start", it pauses the game and brings up a "retire?" option. This doesn't need to be removed because there won't be a start button on the machine. 5. Inserting coins should add "credits" (one coin = one credit) which the machine "remembers" for as long as it is powered on. 6. After you win the fight, it shows screens which wait for you to push start. Screens like this should always simply display for a few seconds and then automatically proceed. 7. The game gives you several continues. This should be changed to 1 continue only. 8. After you beat a circuit (e.g., minor circuit), it goes to the "circuit select" screen, where you can go back and repeat the circuit you have just completed, or select the next circuit. This screen should be skipped, and should just automatically proceed to the next circuit. 9. The "special circuit" only appears if you beat the 3 preceeding circuits with no losses. This should be changed so that the special circuit always appears (even if someone uses their one available continue in the earlier circuits). 10. The controls should be changed to match the arcade SPO (1984). In the SNES version, your guard defaults to "down". To punch to the head or guard up, you have to press and hold "up" on the joystick/D-pad. To duck, you pull down. In the arcade version, your guard defaults to "up", but only for the start of the fight. If you change it, it stays where you last put it for the remainder of the fight. To guard "down" you pull down on the joystick (but you don't have to hold down), and it will stay down until you press up; and will stay up until you press down; for the remainder of the fight. When your guard is up, your punches will be to the head. When your guard is down, your punches will be to the stomach. "Duck" is a separate input (the SPO joystick has a 5th microswitch; which is electrically the same as having it mapped to a separate button; which is activated if you pull the joystick handle straight up toward the sky). To summarize numer 10: • The guard position should default to up for the start of the fight only. • Thereafter, the guard position should be under manual control, and it should stay where you last put it (i.e., no need to hold the joystick in the up or down position to keep the guard up or down). • "Duck" should be a separate button input (rather than a directional input on the joystick). Now, I don't know anything about hacking games, but I'm guessing that 1 through 9 would be relatively minor hacks; and 10 might be more difficult. Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

Make sure to set both difficulty switches to "A". You can just set the left switch to "A" and that makes it a lot harder (during the fights), but the right difficulty switch when set to "A" allows offscreen battles to occur, so you have to have a better strategy than simply sending all three of your squadrons out at once like you can do on "B". According to the manual, both switches should be set the same (i.e., both on "A" or both on "B").

I beg to differ. I'd like to see a video of someone beating it without losing a man. I know it can be done (I've come close before when I was a kid, only losing one or two men), but I'd say it falls into the "terribly hard" category. Compared to the double-B difficulty setting, the ships move far faster, randomly change direction far more often, fire far more often, and their fire goes about twice as fast. You have to be more or less constantly moving to avoid being hit, and at the same time try to hit ships that are moving fast and erratically.

How about this? I've also attached a vectorized version of the image. sid_main_and_top_label_exp.pdf

Space Attack was one of the original 5 games I bought new when I bought my Atari 2600 in 1985 (I was 10). Everything was at post-crash prices, so the Atari itself ("Vader" model) was only $35, and the games were $1 each in a bin next to the checkout aisles (Kmart I think). Of course, I couldn't figure out what to do in the game (the initial green RADAR screen is not exactly intuitive), but eventually my older brother decided to read the instruction manual. It didn't take long before I could beat the game perfectly (without losing a man). So with both difficulty switches set to "B", this is an extremely easy game; so much so that a 10-year-old with essentially no video game experience could learn to beat it perfectly in about a half hour. My older brother wanted a greater challenge however, and he set both difficulty switches to "A". Well that's a whole different game. He never beat it that way, but I did once or twice after countless tries. I just tried it on StellaX (first time playing since I was a kid) and after about 5 tries, I beat it with both difficulty switches to "A". I lost 5 men total (4 remaining when I won): My goal as a kid was to beat it perfectly, but I never did. Has anyone here done it?

The upper echelon cars do sell for over $30K, but most classic cars are not on the short list of most desired. For example, few people would argue that a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner with a 383 is not a classic car, but those can easily be found in nice original condition or mint restored condition for under $30K. However, if you want a Hemi version, it will be a lot more. If you want a '71 Hemi 'Cuda convertible, they will be more still; because not only are they classic, but they are extremely rare (something like 8 of them made). That's a red herring. I never said anything about the comic book world. I don't even know much about the comic book world; but Homer's claim makes sense, given that originality is desireable in pretty much all forms of collecting. Just saying "drastic" is still arbitrary. The reason it is frowned upon is because it is not original. You end up with the same situation when you swap cartridges/boxes; i.e., not original. Whether you or I personally see value in an Atari cartridge or comic book is irrelevant; and as such, this is another red herring. U.S. Military armorers had a habit of disassembling a large quantity of like firearms, dumping all of the parts into a bin of cleaning solution, and then randomly putting them back together without regard for which parts went together originally. Using the M1911A1 as an example, you would often wind up with a e.g., Remington Rand slide on a Colt frame; and perhaps an Ithaca barrel ... you could even end up with something like an M1911A1 slide on an M1911 frame; either by the same or different manufacturers. In any event, an all original M1911 or M1911A1 without mix n' match parts is far more valuable. We don't need anything to indicate that the game and box belong together; we already know because the whole story is a matter of public record now. We have good quality pictures of Tanman's box and cartridge and we know that he bought them together as a kid. And now we know (I think?) that they have now been separated by the new owner.

It may be simple, but it is still arbitrary. Why don't you ask yourself why "physically altering any component is a no-no, even if the end result looks the same"? Once you explain that, compare it to the results of putting a cartridge in a different box. Given that the reasoning which leads to the conclusion that "physically altering any component is a no-no, even if the end result looks the same", logically leads to the conclusion that swapping boxes is a "no-no" as well; making a distinction between them (in the form of one being a "no-no" and the other being okay) = arbitrary.

That doesn't change the fact that your reply was a straw man. You can watch classic car auctions all night long on cable, and most of them sell for under $30K. Also, you are not the ultimate arbiter of what counts as "true" with regard to "classic". By general consensus, "muscle cars" and "pony cars" fall into the "classic car" category, and those are a very popular class of "classic car", and all but the extreme upper echelon of those (e.g. Hemi cars) tend to sell for under $30K (the same applies to most classic car categories).

Not all stores provide a receipt for each and every purchase (in some stores you need to specifically ask for one if you want one). In any event, the receipt is not part of what was included in the product from the factory (that's not to say that a receipt can't have added value in the form of "provenance").

I'm not missing anything. Your distinction is arbitrary, which was my point.

Yes it was twisted. It was a textbook "straw man" in fact.

Yes I'm serious. Do you not know the meaning of the word "most" or did you simply choose to ignore that I used it? No, but I see the meaning of the word "arrogant ass" quite clearly right now. The same could be said of the person that began his straw man reply with "Are you serious?".

Yes I'm serious. Do you not know the meaning of the word "most" or did you simply choose to ignore that I used it?

The cartridge and box (and instructions, when applicable) are components that make up the item. That's debatable, especially with the backstory being a matter of public record.

Same here. A while ago, my old neighbor came over to see/play my Missile Command arcade machine (full story here). When I was a kid, Jeff gave me his copy of Missile Command that he'd bought with his own money some years prior (at the full $50 - $60, not the $0.99 post-crash price) when I got my Atari 2600 in 1985, since he no longer had an Atari by that time. Well, I would have liked to have pulled that cartridge out when he was here and said, "Remember this?"; but even though I have a copy of Missile Command for the 2600, it is not the copy that he game me when I was 10. He never would have known the difference, but I wouldn't have felt right about it.

No, it was more expensive than most engines (or most classic cars for that matter). I've already addressed that in a previous post.

No, but Wonder stated his plan to keep the cartridge he already had, and sell the newly acquired one: I asked which one Atari2600Lives had bought, hoping that Wonder had changed his mind. Yes, because selling price reflects value. Whether he sells it or not, it has lost something (value, history, "cool factor", whatever). Imagine that he came across an NOS, unapplied Air Raid cartridge label left over from the original production. He could remove the existing label and replace it with the NOS one. It would look nice, but would it be a good thing? Missing the cartridge that came with it. What he has is impressive, but not as impressive as it was before the cartridge and box were separated. Note that the reason Tanman canceled his original auction and started a new one including both the box and cartridge (rather than selling them separately in two auctions) is that he felt that they should stay together (see post #33). Also note that I am speaking under the assumption that Wonder did not change his stated plan. I actually hope that assumption is wrong.

Of course it is based on a "feeling". That cartridge and box would have zero value if not for "feelings". In fact, nothing in life save for necessities (which doesn't include video games at all) would have any value without "feelings". However, that doesn't change the widespread appeal of "matching numbers" (or rather, what "matching numbers" represent) in all sorts of collecting.

That doesn't matter. Tires aren't numbered either, but I thought it was cool as hell when I read about the 1969½ A12 package 440-6 Plymouth Road Runner with less than 30K original miles that still had its original Goodyear "Redline" tires, and its original spare tire in the trunk that had never even touched the pavement. Paint isn't numbered either, but original paint is a big plus too (not just new paint of the original color). Numbers are just a means (but not the only means) of confirming that original parts are still together. No one cares about numbers in and of themselves, it is what they establish (i.e., that the original parts are still together) that is important. In the case of this CIB Air Raid, we don't need numbers, because we have Tanman's account of the game's history. But now that the original cartridge has been separated from its original box, the appeal of the story and the item have lost something IMO.

Did you buy the one he already had prior to Tanman's auction, or the one that he bought from Tanman? If the latter, then the cartridge is now separated from its original box. That just seems wrong somehow. It also ruins the story for his planned museum IMO: "... yeah and then, well, that original cartridge that came in the box and remained with it for 25 years; I got rid of that because; well, I had another one just like it and it was shinier."

You prefer the music of the C64 port of Ikari Warriors to the arcade's? That's odd. The C64's music for that game is tinny and simplistic. The arcade's is much more complex; sounds like real music rather than something generated on a device with limited capabilities: Arcade version

You may have a cracked/cold/bad solder joint on the edge connector (where it is soldered to the 7800's motherboard). I have a 7800 that would sometimes only display in black & white (link to old thread), and you could get color by wiggling the cartridge around. The problem was a solder joint on the edge connector that had a void in it: I desoldered and resoldered that joint and it has worked perfectly since.

Those rotary controllers used to break down a lot Nothing more annoying than putting money into Ikari Warriors only to discover that you can't rotate right. Front Line and Ikari Warriors did not use the same type of controllers. IW used a Seimitsu/SNK LS-30, which was an 8-way joystick (for controlling your character's direction of movement) with a 12-position rotary switch built into it. To aim you twist the handle of it. It is known as a mechanical rotary joystick. Front Line used an ordinary 8-way joystick to control your character's direction of movement. For aiming there was a separate knob, which was an 8-position rotary switch. The knob also doubled as a fire button (push down to fire). So, IW = rotary switch integrated into the joystick. FL = rotary switch separate from the joystick. The LS-30 has a reputation for durability. The FL rotary controller doesn't.

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