jhd

The biggest problem that I see with launching a new system at a budget price point is that you are competing almost directly with the second-hand market. Outside of retrogamers and collectors, the (only?) other market for such consoles would be those people who are simply unable to afford a current-gen system. They are presumably very price conscious and would not be willing to spend much of a premium for a "new" console rather than somthing used that has almost the same (if not more) functionality. I also question how large the market segment is for people who want a video game system, but who cannot afford even a used PS 3/Xbox 360/Wii. In sum, I love the idea and I would buy a budget console without online capabilities, but I seriously doubt that there is a viable market for such a product.

The first game that I (well, technically, my Father) ever rented was either Cosmic Ark or Adventure (for the 2600, of course). It would probably have been in early-1983 (as I sold that 2600 around June of 1983). The cost was $7/week. The place was a local, independent video store very close to where I went to elementary school in Halifax. Ironically, I never rented anything for another/more modern system. After the 2600, I had a PSX (a few places rented games for it, but not many) and now a PS 2 (even fewer places rented games for it). I completely skipped gaming during the NES/SMS/SNES/Genesis eras.

I got an Atari 2600 in 1981 and by Sping 1982, a local (independent) video store was renting games at the cost of $7/week. (They did not offer per day rentals.) There was a decent selection of both Atari and third-party titles -- I definitely remember renting Adventure, Cosmic Ark, and Star Raiders (which cost extra because of the controler). I don't think that there were any major chain video stores in the city where I grew up in the early 1980s. I certainly don't recall any (though we did not own a VCR until 1988, so I was not really looking, ether).

Given the nature of the game and how it was (presumably) marketed, I'd suggest trying to get the flyer posted on bulletin boards at churches, religious schools, etc. Some places do publish newsletters and they may be willing to accept an "external" advertisement. A similar approach may work to shake-loose copies of Music Machine, as that title was marketed to basically the same audience (albeit with more success).

I have never seen one myself, but the Simpsons-Sears sticker on the box is a clear indication that it was once sold in a Canadian "Sears" store.

IIRC, there was an article about this in Hot Coco, very probably in 1984... The process involved cutting some traces on the Atari joystick circuit board and adding some resistors. I started to modify a stick, but my skills were not up to finishing the job. As I recall, it does not work very well because the Coco normally has an analog joystick and the Atari joystick uses four directional switches. Basically it simulates a Coco joystick being at the extreme ends of the range (0 or 255 on each axis).

Check out The Interactive Fiction Archive http://www.ifarchive.org/ Certainly the demo version of Zork I for the C64 is there: http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXdemos.html The DOS version of the whole trilogy was formally made available for free some years ago.

My collection is much smaller than most here (and the bulk of it is in storage): Venture TV Sports (Pong) Radio Shack TV Games (Pong) Atari 2600 (6-switch, 4-switch, Jr., and Gemini) Playstation (original model) + PSX NIB spare back-up Playstation 2 (slim, sliver) + NIB (slim, black) spare back-up PowerJoy Famiclone (2 different models) Several TV games collections -- Namco, Atari, Activision, etc.

If you know the specific titles that you are looking for, you might try asking at your local library. Most libraries can bring in materials from elsewhere via Interlibrary-Loan. It's a long shot as most libraries routinely purge outdated books, especially technology-related titles, but you may find something. Take a look at http://www.worldcat.org/. A search for "Apple II" turns-up some 4,500 hits -- including some programming and technical guides. I'm not interested in collecting Apple II (or any 8-bit computer) books, but I honestly don't recall having seen anything like that at Goodwill or used bookstores in at least the past 10 years.

That's my approach too. I only have a small handful of games in MAME, basically just those titles that have not been released on a compilation disk for the PS 2 or PSX. I found a working version of MAME, I found the specific games that I wanted, and I see no reason to update it further. The fact that it may not perfectly (or at all) emulate a game that I don't want to play is not really a concern for me.

And we have a winner! The colours are even more garish than I remember. Thank-you! How did you manage to find this? A Google search for "Bull's Eye" brings up a ton of flash games and stuff, but not this.

This is a long-shot, but as a young child (ca. 1977 or '78), I recall seeing this electronic darts game. I never got to play it (I was too young), but as I recall it supported up-to four players. The main screen was mounted on the wall and each player had a wired hand controller. It was not really a "video" game per se; the screen was a translucent, with a light shining through it to show the path of the dart. As I recall, the screen was several feet long and rectangular, the background was predominantly pink in colour, with the dart board located at one end. There was probably also a score display, but I do not remember it. Any guesses?

Did you happen to ask the original programmer how he developed the game? Obviously there was a lot of trial-and-error in discovering the subtleties of 2600 hardware, but what platform did he use? Are there any surviving technical notes or log books? I am actually much more interested in the development process than the final product.

I would suggest brininging Asteroids or Space Invaders -- these are both well-known arcade titles and that was the focus of the 2600 at the time. Space Invaders sold a lot of consoles. (I too studied Economics in Grade 11 -- ae. 15/16 -- but we never discussed anything as fun or interesting as video games.)

My understanding is that Pandora has chosen (or is obliged by its license agreements with music publishers) to limit service to American-registered IP addresses. There is a notice on their website about expanding service to other countries/markets, but that has remained unchanged for many years now and I doubt that it is actively being pursued.

I'm not aware of anything, but you may wish to post your request on: http://www.playstationcollecting.com/ There are scans of all of the covers available, though some are for the European/PAL releases.

Unfortunately Pandora checks IP addresses and it is only available to American listeners... It wasn't that way when they first started. It's been like 5 or 6 years now, and I'm still bitter about the change!

Is BASIC fast enough to implement a playable version of Pong? I'm not familiar with the other 8-bit systems, but I had a Coco growing up (6809 processor at .89 mhz) and BASIC was really far too slow to implement PONG. I think that there was a crude version in listed an appendix to the Learning Color Basic manual, but I have not seen that book in many years.

One of the late releases for the PS 2 was Monopoly. IIRC, this was concurrent with the release of a PS 3 version. It allows for up to four(?) players, human or computer, and varying skill levels. The rules can also be tweaked. There are also numerous unlockable extra game boards, some of which are very cool looking. The original PlayStation has a much more straightforward version of Monopoly, with far fewer options.

I'm not a big fan of sports games, but I do like golf games, even if I am not very good at them. Miniature golf is especially fun, but it is woefully under-represented as a genre. See, for example, Putter Golf. I also really like bowling games (as it is the only sport I have ever played competitively IRL). I have most of the PSX bowling games and all of the PS 2 games.

My local Zellers had a handful of titles -- I specifically recall seeing Defender II, California Games, and Activision Tennis -- well into the late-1990s. They were eventually written off and dumped (I asked the section/unit manager). Around the same time, I checked a handful of other stores, especially in smaller communities where there is less traffic, but I did not see anything else. I am truly shocked that Zellers would still have Atari 2600 games in 2000. That was probably due to laziness or simple oversight rather than any hope to still sell the game (at any price).

Good luck with that! I have made several inquiries over the years (well above the individual store level) and nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. Remember that the vast majority of people do not care about old video games, and they are highly unlikely to remember a product last in the stores some 25 years ago. It would be very interesting to find out who the original manufacturer (or, at least, wholesaler) was, but that information is probably long gone to dust.

What's the battery life like?

I have perhaps 5,000 books in storage in my basement, and all I use are sturdy cardboard file boxes from Staples. Make sure to put a 2x4 or something similar below them rather than directly on the bare floor, just in case of dampness or (minor) flooding. I am able to stack these three-boxes high with no crushing or damage to the lowest level. Rather than just stack (or dump) the magazine issues loose in the box, you can always put them into folders (3-5 issues in each folder, depending on the thickness). This would make the collection more accessible if you wanted to locate a specific issue in the future. I have done this with some of the short runs of magazines in my collection. If money is no object (or your collection is very valuable), there exist special archival-quality boxes made just for storing documents (including magazines): http://hollingermeta...x.html?dept=565

As far as I am aware, the article is not available online; I was reviewing the microfiche at the library (as part of a larger retrogaming-related project ). Unfortunately, the quality of the microfiche copy is *very* poor and of extremely low contrast (i.e. dark grey text on a light grey background). The library has the equipment to make a photocopy, but not to scan directly from the fiche. A scan of a photocopy (i.e. a 4th generation copy from the original) would be unreadable. Any major public or academic library would have this title if someone else wants to have a go at scanning it.