What did you buy today?.........

[What did you buy today?.........]

4 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I got this, does this count?

I used to play that in the arcade all the time!!

 

Great Score!!

[What are the best 2600 games most people have never played?]

Frankenstein's Monster

Dark Cavern

Midnight Magic

No Escape

Space Rocks

Star Castle Arcade

[Memories of where and when you first played/saw this game]

I think of Centipede as very Iconic!  I think the sound effects are Amazing!  Pretty sure I first saw it at Time Out in our mall;  I saw someone else playing it and was transfixed by it...Then in college some friends of mine had a Centipede cabinet in their house.  I think they said they were "storing it for a friend"...Played it a few times in between the drinking beer, loud punk rock and metal, and fake wrestling/fighting over dumb arguments haha...

[News for the taco guys]

On 4/21/2020 at 3:15 PM, AtariLeaf said:

Sure sure. I just randomly go to Best Westerns all the time because I'm a big John Wayne fan

 

I just woke up not long ago and, well,  I had to run that one through my brain a second time...And now I think it's The Funniest thing on the Internet for Today, and then some...

[Team Pixelboy News Bulletin - January 15th 2020]

4 hours ago, Mr. John ColecoVision said:

how is the Asteroids project , any news?

 

2 hours ago, Pixelboy said:

No news to report, as of yet. I did send Mystery Man a design document for the game some weeks ago, and I'm hoping he will get started on the game soon. With everything that's going on in the world right now, I'd rather not press the issue with him. I'm sure he will get around to it. 

 

I Love having this as something to look forward to!  

 

I'm sure many people agree with me that there's no rush here...Maybe the world will have settled down when the time comes and we'll be able to enjoy the good news when it happens.

[What console games have you played and later discovered it was an arcade game?]

FWIW,  I have a vague memory of Super Mario Bros. as an arcade game.   Mainly, that when my friend got an NES before anyone else I know of, (1987 I'm pretty sure), it came with Super Mario and he said, 'Yeah, it's an arcade game"...

 

Later,  I saw one of these...(Or something similar)...At that point I still didn't have an NES so I couldn't tell you if it was the same or not...

 

[What console games have you played and later discovered it was an arcade game?]

I bought Tac-Scan (Sega) on the Atari 2600 not knowing it was an arcade game, or maybe I had some vague notion that it might be,  Then I saw the real deal at Circus Circus's arcade in Las Vegas.  Very cool as I recall.

 

Another one is Circus Atari.  Somewhere along my travels I saw the actual arcade game, which is called Circus (Exidy, 1977) and is in black and white.  I was pretty surprised.  Technically I think the 2600  version is like an unlicensed clone...

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

Sssnake.

 

 

OK I've now played it and...Arrrg!

 

The kicker here is that it could have been saved and been a decent game if they'd had someone play it and offer advice and maybe fix a few things.

 

I honestly think they would have had a game here if (at minimum):

 

They gave you 3 lives, not 1.

They made the snakes look like snakes (Or should I say SSSnakes ha!).

They allowed the fire button to start the game.

 

Graphics weren't too bad overall.

And I liked the sound effects.

 

With some more polish, they could have had something here.  It's a shame they probably rushed it out the door, without worrying about the programming involved to fix everything wrong with it.   *sigh*

 

 

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

I've Never played Sssnake.  Does anyone really try to pronounce it as anything but "snake"?  Haha...But you guys and BassGuitari especially have made me curious.  In a bit,  I plan to fire up the ol Harmony and see what's up.  I probably should go read about a Top 10 game to balance out the experience.  Of course,  I'm almost always in the mood to play one of my favorites, like Dark Cavern, Pitfall!, or Midnight Magic or maybe a homebrew or two...

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

19 minutes ago, BydoEmpire said:

I used to think that based on Airlock... but a few years back I got "Encounter at L-5" and "Warplock" and I actually enjoy both of them.  Neither is a great game, but IMHO they redeemed Data Age in my eyes.  I go back to both periodically.  Of course YMMV, I can see why most of their catalog would be on your list

Back in the day (Errr BITD for you Internet guys)...I bought Frankenstein's Monster on a whim and it became my favorite game for quite a while.   To this day I think it's Brilliant!

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

3 minutes ago, Atariperson23 said:

Maybe a person who's only played ten games in their lives, and one of them'd be Basic Math.

Perhaps a BASIC Person Plays BASIC Math Haa!

[What did you buy today?.........]

1 hour ago, Skippy B. Coyote said:

 

There sure is, which is exactly why I just paid through the nose for two new controllers lol Thankfully for the Mega SG I was able to just get a couple 6 button official Genesis controllers from Retro-Bit for $15 each, which are identical to Sega's original controllers from the 90's in every respect, but there's not really any affordable options for new production NES  dogbone controllers that are just as good as the originals. So, it was a big investment but I think it'll be worth it to have new controllers to go with my new AVS.

 

I bet the AVS would be cool.

 

(Not to brag, mind you, hehe)..but did I tell you I have an Analogue NT Mini Noir on pre-order?  That's gonna be Neato!

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

8 minutes ago, Atariperson23 said:

Yes, it's your own opinion and you're free to think what you want. But not a lot of people will put Basic Math in their top 10 lists...

 

I'll bet you're right!   However, I'd like to meet the person who does put it in there

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

Don't you all think it should be up to the individual to decide if he/she thinks Basic Math is one of the worse games?  The word OPINION is right at the top of the page!   Sure, it makes for good debate...And a lot of things have been said that remind me of the time frame (Few options, first attempts etc.,)....But I'd say let anyone make up their own mind as to what's bad...

 

Even having it all on Harmony for sure...I can't seem to bring myself to play Basic Math so I won't have an official opinion on that one.   Maybe I don't see myself enjoying it too much.  I got an A in College Algebra...Went on to Calculus etc., (not that I remember it now (heh)), so something tells me it might not be my bag...

 

In truth, I tend to think in TOP 10 lists when it comes to Atari, not WORST Games...But that's me...

 

What am I doing over here?

 

 

[What did you buy today?.........]

9 minutes ago, Skippy B. Coyote said:

 

Here in the Saint Paul, MN pretty much everything other than grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and (weirdly) liquor stores are closed down so there's not much of anywhere to go these days other than picking up the bare essentials. The few times I have gone out shopping over the last couple months I'd say about 80% of people have been wearing masks, myself included. 

 

Anyhoo, you got a really good price on your new in package NES controllers if you paid $60 for 2 of them! The seller for the dogbones I just bought cut me a deal of $70 each for both of them, which ended up being $158 after shipping costs and a whopping $12 in state tax. It was more than I would have liked to have spent, but the last new condition dogbones that sold on eBay went for $100 each + shipping so I felt like I got a pretty fair deal paying $70 each.

And, there's just something beyond satisfying when you buy a Brand New Controller for a system.  I have a couple of Brand New Sega pads too!

[What did you buy today?.........]

7 minutes ago, Skippy B. Coyote said:

 

Here in the Saint Paul, MN pretty much everything other than grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and (weirdly) liquor stores are closed down so there's not much of anywhere to go these days other than picking up the bare essentials. The few times I have gone out shopping over the last couple months I'd say about 80% of people have been wearing masks, myself included. 

 

Anyhoo, you got a really good price on your new in package NES controllers if you paid $60 for 2 of them! The seller for the dogbones I just bought cut me a deal of $70 each for both of them, which ended up being $158 after shipping costs and a whopping $12 in state tax. It was more than I would have liked to have spent, but the last new condition dogbones that sold on eBay went for $100 each + shipping so I felt like I got a pretty fair deal paying $70 each.

Oh yeah,  if you closed down liquor stores around here, with most people staying home, I promise you there would be rioting in the streets! 🤣

[What did you buy today?.........]

Yeah Prices have really gone nuts!!

 

Whenever I bought those, and honestly it might have been 10-12 years ago, I remember most NEW NES controllers (New, but not in box) were selling for $30 each...Of course even then, dogbones were more...

[What did you buy today?.........]

Yeah I kinda wondered about that...Many places on lockdown.  Around here, believe it or not both Pawn Shops and our small record/CD store are OPEN.  At one of the pawn shops they have tables in front of the register so you are at least 4 feet away and they're a bigger place so everyone can stay apart anyway.   The record store is pretty small though,...I assume they just want people to be careful and stay apart as best they can.  Also, I see lots of mask wearing around town and I do it myself, while on deliveries, and if I go shopping.   Our population is a lot smaller than big cities, etc., though, so social distancing is not as hard...

 

Do you mind if I ask how much those were?  I'm just really curious.  A few years back I bought 2 New NES controllers in the original unopened box, and I think it was $60.

[What did you buy today?.........]

3 minutes ago, Skippy B. Coyote said:

It's been a while since I've done any retro gaming pickups posts, but today I got something pretty cool to share! This morning I purchased two brand new official NES dogbone controllers that have been sealed in their packaging since 1994, and I'm really excited to put them to good use with the RetroUSB AVS and EverDrive N8 that I'll be picking up next month!

 

That is cool as Hell Jin!

 

Did ya get those in a local store??

 

I've actually never tried a dogbone controller, though they are probably Awesome.  I grew up with the classic NES controllers though, so when some say the rectangle shape bothers them, I get it, but I've never had a problem with them.

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

30 minutes ago, NE146 said:

Ok. But just so you know it's actually the reverse, as it was the 2600 Space War spaceship that found its way into 2600 Asteroids. 😛

 

I didn't begrudge many games I played. But YES Swordquest Fireworld was one such game. To this day it still seems so obtuse and odd.. no wonder it flummoxed me as a kid.

 

re: Donkey Kong: I've said this so many times, but had they just put in a little "closure" of some type to finishing the 2nd stage, that at least indicated that you defeated Kong and rescued the girl... I think it would have improved my perception 100%. I would have accepted its 2 funky stages (which are playable after all), and played through them happily. Even just erasing the Kong graphic and putting Mario next to Pauline for 2 seconds while the sound played would have worked just fine. But alas.. it was an endless slog through both stages with zero closure.

 

Else I say Amidar.. really a piss poor port.

 

And I know this is not the worst but I LITERALLY just finally tried out Pressure Cooker this late in life and it is instantly one of my top 2600 games ever. Only took me nearly 4 decades to give it a fair shot.

 

 

I'll totally agree with Amidar,...My main thought is that it was close to being fun.  If they could have just made the controls work and maybe sped up the player or whole game, even just a tiny bit, it might have worked.  It felt like with a little bit of polish it could have been a fun game.  I just imagine a programmer saying "Just give me another week", and a bean counter pointing to his watch with a look of disappointment on his face.

[Top 10 Worst Games on the 2600 (In my Opinion)]

When mentioning Combat and Space War, I think back to the absolute roots of Atari as these were my first 2 games ever, so bad though they may be,  I will always have a soft spot for them.

 

Now perhaps even more strange, some years back, but still within the last decade, I had some friends over, (One of whom always played the latest, modern games) and they insisted we play some Combat (Especially Tank Pong!) and we followed it up with Space War and, now maybe this was the beer talking, but we had a blast!  I'd probably consider them to be boring too, if that hadn't happened...

 

I now think that maybe it's just a matter of setting aside some preconceived notions, or maybe lowering your expectations, or the idea that you need (at least) 2 players,...And...In the right mindset, and with friends over,  Both games are pretty fun.

[What Are Some Strange Ports Of Games?]

29 minutes ago, Magmavision2000 said:

Was this talked about when it was released?!? It must've taken months to recreate every frame by hand! 

It's funny because I have that game, too,...but after I ordered it off of eBay, I set it aside amidst a bunch of stuff and completely, I mean completely,  forgot about it.  One day moving some stuff around I found it.   I think I looked it up in my email records to remember that I had gotten it off of eBay.  Kinda felt like Christmas!   I chalked it up to there was a time I was ordering various versions of Dragon's Lair, and then (separate event) I also think I had a concussion in there somewhere...Heh...

[What Are Some Strange Ports Of Games?]

I had a couple of responses ready before I read what others wrote, so mine have basically been covered.   I thought of Mr. Do! and Joust on Atari because gameplay elements were changed...And I always wondered if the gameplay could have been done with more effort or if it really was impossible.

 

And already mentioned a ton;  Dragon's Lair.

 

To me the Arcade game itself is beautiful and completely unplayable.   Due to the concept, I've always wanted to like it, but let's be honest gameplay has to coexist with graphics.  Otherwise ya might as well look at a Frank Frazetta calendar and call it a day.  The ADAM version looks very playable and would likely be better than the actual arcade game to me, even if this is like saying you like a bar band's cover version of a song better than the original artist.

Then,  the NES version looks very cool, but as I own a boxed copy...Let's just say I've had more fun waiting in line at the DMV than I ever had with that game.  Maybe if it weren't so maddeningly difficult.  If everything didn't have to be so perfectly precise, they might have had a game there.   And due to fond memories of playing it a little bit  (after renting it BITD), and the cute girl who I was hanging out with at the time, I'll always have a soft spot for the SNES version.  To be fair, even though I own it now, I've barely played it again, but I liked the concept of making a video game of it rather than a FMV cartoon with next to zero control.

 

Oh, here's one that hasn't been mentioned.  Cosmic Chasm for Vectrex was a home version that later got an upgrade to Full-on Arcade cab! First of its kind.  So it's the arcade port that is strange because it usually doesn't go that way...

[Memories of where and when you first played/saw this game]

9 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Have you checked out the Arcade Ambience Project? It has sonic collages of various arcade machines organized by years... http://arcade.hofle.com/

I've heard of it and been meaning to check it out.   Thanks for the reminder!  🤜💥

[Memories of where and when you first played/saw this game]

Quick comment,

 

Does anyone else remember the sounds of an early arcade?   Talking about Star Castle earlier jogged a sound bite in my memory...Our mall (Time-Out arcade) had Star Castle and Space Panic as the loudest games;  So you would hear that throbbing bass thrum from Star Castle and that almost guitar riff shovel sound from Space Panic amidst all of the laser blasts from Space Invaders, Galaxian, Asteroids, Rip Off, Astro Blaster...Along with the occasional voices from Astro Blaster, New York, New York, Frenzy, and Black Knight Pinball challenging you, ...Plus that little musical intro to Scramble...

 

Just thought I'd share...

 

Now back to the show...