jhd

The Coco 3 ROM included a digitized photo of the development team. At least one game cartridge for the Emerson Arcadia (and clones) included the name of the programmer and, if memory serves, a dedication to his famiy. This was found by examining the code; I don't think that it is displayed in the game.

Wasn't CLOAD a cassette-based magazine, rather than something printed? I seem to recall that there was a similar "magazine" for the Coco with this title. If there is no print version, the game may very well be lost because finding a working cassette tape from 30+ years ago is going to be close to impossible.

Interesting. I'm skeptical you'll ever get the book. I want to be wrong on that however. Hmm. You were right. I just received a cancellation notice on this. The store was a Goodwill in DC. I wonder what happened? I question if the book ever was released. Still, I would guess that it exists in some form or another. I say a letter to Simon and Schuster is in order. I'm a bit late to this discussion, but a quick search on the Library of Congress catalogue does not list this title. Goodman did a seriois of titles in the early 1980s for everything from the Tandy Model 1000 to the Mac, but this title is not listed. I also checked a union catalogue of major Canadian libraries, and this titles does not appear either. ISBN numbers can be issued before a title is published; persumably Simon and Schuster recieved a block of numbers for its pending titles. (I once worked on a publishing project where we were given about four ISBN numbers; we ultimately only used one or two of them.) I'd be curious to see how Barnes & Noble managed to get a catalogue record for this (non-existent) book.

It really seems to depend on where in the country someone lives. I am aware of only one thrift shop in Edmonton (the Goodwill store on 51st Avenue) consistently has consoles (usually bare) and games (almost always sports games), and sometimes even strategy guides. Prices tend to be more-or-less reasonable. Other thrift stores in the city will have the occasional bare console or a random joystick or one or two newer games, but not consistently. In contrast, the Value Village in Saint John, New Brunswck frequently has vintage hardware, including once a Sears-model 2600 (which were not originally sold in Canada), and games from the 2600 up to the PS 2. I almost always find something whn I'm there. Here in Calgary, I mainly see occasional random gaming things like a Dreamcast keyboard, but no console or games, or an obviously damaged bare Gamecube. I sometimes find PS 2 or Xbox games, but not very often. TV Game, NOAC-based systems are surprisingly common, but these tend to be packed in baggies and hug with the other "electrical" parts, making them quite challenging to find. Edited to add that there is no equivalent of shopgoodwill.com in Canada (that I am aware of), so presumably more donated merchandise gets to the sales floor.

I picked up one of these last year at a small-town Wal-Mart for about US$10. It remains happily sealed in the original box. There is another, older model that included Activision games, aptly called the Activision TV Games: http://www.retrogami.../rtm41/#OldWine

Well... if your museum is a registered charitable organization, the donor could be given a tax receipt for the fair market value of their donation. This would normally require the expert opinion of an outside appraiser, but the Canada Revenue Agency will accept in-house valuations up-to a specified amount. (I don't recall the the specific details; I think that the cut-off is around $5,000.) It is also possible to get an historical object (or a collection thereof) recgonized as Certified Cultural Property, though there is a minimum fair market value before this provision can be used. This has major tax benefits for the donor, but it is a lot of paperwork for the receiving institution. Minimally, you will need to assign a value for insurance purposes. I'm not a tax accountant, but I worked for some 10 years in the heritage field (in two different provinces).

While I was never teased for having a Coco growing up, I only knew one other person who had a Coco (and him not until grade 12), so there was really nobody to "share" with. It was bloody hard to find games locally, too -- just the limited selection at Radio Shack stores and one independent retailer located in the distant suburbs. I was very envious of the Commodore 64 crowd.

I gave away my Coco set-up about 1990. That said, a few games do stand-out in my memory: Galactic Attack -- your basic Galaxian clone; I played this one a lot when I was younger. The Coco does not have hardware sprites, but this game makes it look like it does. This was a cartridge. Bustout -- a pong clone, but still quite fun; also a cartridge The King -- This is an excellent Donkey Kong clone; it is available on tape. Zaxxon -- one of the very few officially licensed titles on the Coco, it is surprisingly good given the hardware limitations. It is also available on tape. There was a good Joust clone that I played endlessly; alas, I've long since forgotten the name. Most of the major arcade games of the day appeared on the Coco in some form. Note that the graphcs are not comparable to the A8/C64 systems. The maximum resolution is only 256x192x2 colours (4 with artifacts).

The very first computer that I ever used was the Model III. About 1982, my school bought one. It had a single floppy disk drive; I have no idea how much RAM. I was too young to take the BASIC programming class (I was only in about grade 6), but I did get to play some games on it. One of my (older) classmates was quite bright and he developed several rather fun games in BASIC; I don't think that we had any commercial software for it (at least through 1985 when I started at a new school). I actually miss the blue phospher screen; it was very easy to read.

I highly doubt that the seal was air-tight. Oxygen (and other impurities in the air) would have interacted with the base metal to cause this corrosion -- e.g. look what happens to silver when it is stored. Higher-end electronics often use gold for connectors, etc. as that does not react with the air and tarnish. Back on topic, I currently have a small handful of sealed games (mainly PSX and PS 2), but they will remain sealed only until I get around to playing them. In the early-1990s, I bought a significant quantity of Atari 2600 titles from a retalier that was closing its doors and I did not hesitate to open the sealed and shrink-wrapped boxes as I really wanted to play those games. I did carefully save the boxes, of course.

Ok, it looks like I need to pick-up a few of the PS 1 compilations that I'm lacking -- Moon Patrol is one of my favourite arcade games, ever. I spent so much time and money on that game in the 1980s. This is the correct link for the list of arcade titles: Classic Arcade Game compilations for the PlayStation 2

I have all of the PS 2 classic game compilations released in North America. I have compiled a list of what acrade games are in which compilation: Classic Arcade Game compilations for the PlayStation 2. I have not included the various home console collections, except those unlockable arcade titles in the Genesis collection. I may have missed one or two games, but I believe that the list is mostly complete. Many of these titles (especially on the Taito Legends 2) are quite obscure and may be Japan-only releases. The PSX Namco Museum series also includes some realy obscure games that were not re-released on the PS 2.

I've seen only a few (perhaps 1 or 2) Wii titles at thrift shops in the past year; I don't recall the specifics. I've seen a few more Xbox 360 titles, and nothing for the PS 3. As others have noted, the vast bulk of what shows up for any system is older sports games. The PS 2 and original Xbox are the most represented systems -- with the very occasional PSX game and even rarer N64 and Genesis cartridges. I was in Portland, Maine a few weeks ago, and one local Goodwill had a whole shelf full of Guitar Hero/Rock Band guitars. I did not see any consoles or other hardware at that store.

This title is quite widely held by Canadian libraries; the list is too long to post here. If anyone wants to know about a specific city or province, please PM me for details. It might also be interesting to search for ads for "Music Machine". As that was produced in conjunction with a major religious record label (what is now Sparrow), I expect that it would have been very well advertised.

I currently have a 2600, a PSX, and a PS 2. I am not actively collecting 2600 games (I now have ~150 titles), but I will purchase any interesting, cheap titles that I see at thrift shops, etc. I am averaging about one new title about every 18 months or so. My 2600 collection is currently in storage. I still buy the occasional PSX title, especially RPGs and classic game compliations. For example, I recently bought the three Final Fantasy titles (Anthology, Chronicles, and Origins). I am actively seeking demo disks for this system, but I have only found one in about the past two years. Most of this collection is currently in storage. My PSX Collection When I got my PS 2, my main collecting goal was to acquire all of the Arcade and Classic Console game compilations. With the exception of the Japan-only releases, I have accomplished this goal! I am now seeking strategy games and RPG games (as well as other titles that look interesting and are cheap).

Not to dog-pile on to the OP, but would not this segment of the market already be well served by used game systems? A product aimed at this demographic would be competing directly with the old, used NES and PSX bundles listed on Kijiji, sold at flea markets, etc. Those games are at least newer and, depending on the audience, would have rather better brand recgonition and/or more nostalga.

I have just dug-up the external power supply for my PowerJoy Famiclone. I don't recall if it came with this model or another, but it works. The specs are: DC 6 V, 850 MA. The centre post on the power plug is NEGATIVE (and so the outer part is positive).

Did anyone else enjoy the various MoraffWare games? I recall one title in particular that allowed the player to select the type of graphics (from CGA to SVGA) and also the machine's processor speed. This made it playable on a very wide range of hardware.

I had the chance to play a store demo unit (with some fighting game) last week. This convinced me not to buy one. I do not have binocular vision, so I can only barely see 3D "in real life" (and so I cannot drive a car, catch a baseball, etc.). With the 3D setting turned on, the screen just looked really blurry to me. With it turned off, well then I might as well buy another (cheaper) system.

I've seen pictures of a few educational titles for the original PlayStation released in the UK -- aimed at the elementary school level. These were not official, licensed titles. Apparently the business model was to sell them to schools as a PSX + TV was supposedly cheaper to buy than an actual computer. There is also the PS 2 title Chessmaster, which is supposedly able to teach someome to play (better) chess, if that counts as an "educational" title.

I seem to recall that an early version of Nethack (Hack?) was available on the Model II (or perhaps that was the Model 16, it's been a long time...). Can the Model II run CP/M? If so, this would expand the selection of text-mode games a bit. Getting new software onto the machine may present a challenge, however.

I have amassed a small handful of (original) PlayStation controllers from various thrift shops, etc. None are especially memorable or even very much better than the originals, though the Canadian made Commanding Player is pretty decent for playing Pac Man and the like.

In terms of religious music in 2600 games, Challenge uses an off-key version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic as its background music. I'd hazard a guess that the original programmer in Taiwan(?) was not even aware that this was a hymn in the United States. Atari Mania database entry for Challenge

The local flea market has a vendor with a selection of vintage beer cans, presumably still full. They are wrapped in multiple layers of plastic wrap (not shrink wrap). This would address the issue of damage from any leaks, but I don't know if the plastic would eventualy damage the label. The New Brunswick Museum has on display a 1940s-vintage bottle of beer from a local brewery. The cap is still factory sealed, but the bottle is now only about 2/3 full.

I got my original Atari console back in 1982, but I never had Pac Man. (I did, however, have Asteroids, Bezerk, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, etc.) I first played it at a friend's place at some point in 1982. I remember how very disappointing it was and I was amazed that my friend could clear the rest of the screen and then get the energizers all at once. I eventually got a copy for myself when I got back into collecting in the early 1990s. Pac Man was almost always part of a large lot of cartridges found at a garage sale or flea market.