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Swami

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Posts posted by Swami

  2. Posted

    I was initially very excited at the idea of the Retron 77, because I thought it was basically and Atari 2600 Hardware based clone with modern TV output. I am wondering now, though, how possible it would be for a company to produce an actual hardware-based Atari clone in 2017. What would be the challenges of producing something like that?

    I think the main problem is that they don't make Stella IC, the TIA IC and a few others anymore, so you are left to scavenge them. This is Analog NT style, but more specific. Cannibalizing old Atari 2600's can also earn a lot of contempt from numerous retro fans.

  3. Posted

    The eBay Japanese seller originally responded to my request with "how much you buy for", but did not respond to my offer to pay a "50% mark-up/commision (negotiable) + shipping" to get it for me (e.g., $45 for an item $30 on a Japanese store site, plus whatever shippiong expense). They put on the business card they sent me with a previous purchase to contact them with any special item requests. So, I have now tried an internet proxy business called "white rabbit express," which says it will buy and ship items from any website for you. So far, cost without international shipping is $42.58; So, it is so far a little cheaper than the 50% commision but will have to wait for import/export damages (and there was domestic shipping estimate of $7 added, but item price already included shipping, so I may get this deducted).

  4. Posted

     

    That many minus one, remembering the crazy posts about that idiot who bastardised his cart cutting pins, rather than selling it to someone else who really wanted one. What a twat.

     

     

    I am that "twat" of whom you speak. Well, I got a fine Hamony Concerto out of it that doesn't quite fit in a standard 2600 slot. Was it worth it to cut those pins? Probably not, but the Concerto was already broken to me anyway... :dunce:

    Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

    • Like 1

  6. Posted

    Some kind of Steam-type box, except with PS, XBox and Nintendo channels? Maybe playing phone apps on the TV? Plus the BluRay? An entertainment focused computer. A gaming computer that only does entertainment and maybe streaming. No Word or Excel or Firefox. Maybe just an entertainment app store PC with some exclusive contracts, which will vaporize after a few years. Something inexpensive with an OS optimized to keep background program interference to a minimum.

    .

    .

    .Either that or a SuperVectrex, like the old asteroids and Gravitar games. May also be SkyNet.

  7. Posted

    I'm surprised to find I like a gemstick I got as part of a bundle. The shape is small and curved enough and the fire button big enough that I can cup my left hand around the edge and have my thumb flat across the top, which seems to greatly reduce thumb cramp compared to the CX-40 and some others (I know, I'm an old decrepit).It also has a wicked-short twitch distance on the joystick without false moves, except, of course, for a lot of 4-way games, like the pacs, where it still blows.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

     

    It's really the same company - Buyee is just an additional service over Tenso. With Tenso alone, you do the shopping yourself - Tenso just gives you a mail forwarding address. I started using Buyee mainly for Yahoo Auctions; for Amazon I think their main advantage would be in case there's any interaction with the seller, they will handle it for you. A lot of Japanese sellers will *only* deal with Japanese buyers, and Buyee is a Japanese buyer. With Tenso, you're on your own as if you were shopping on the US site... all Tenso's doing is giving you an address. So some sellers might still not deal with you.

     

    As for how they make money, first, they're going to add the shipping fee from Amazon on to your total shipping fee later, so don't be surprised when you see it. Then they just have a lot of little fees on top of that, some of which you might not notice. I just bought a CD from Yahoo Auctions that was 2500 yen, or about $23.56 at current exchange rates... I selected no additional service and still I ended up paying something like $27 and I don't even remember why. I'll also be paying a 1500 yen "consolidation" fee later, but hopefully I'll save on shipping overall by doing that (that's the point of doing it). But yeah, their prices are pretty reasonable I think. You don't end up paying all that much more than if you just bought something directly and shipped it here.

    Now if I wanted to buy something from Mercari.jp, that is not on the Buyee list of stores, I think I would have to use the regular Tenso service with mail forwarding or some other open ended service. Of course, that probably leaves me try to navigate through a foreign, character based language website. Although I have done this with European websites it is somehow more difficult with Asian characters.

  10. Posted

    I can see the benefit of using Tenso over Buyee, if you want something bought quickly, because you buy it. With Buyee, it looks like they may wait a day or two to make the purchase...I'll see how quick they are.

     

    Edit: Less than 12 hours, so not bad there. The item was 3000 JPY and they charged 500 JPY shipping (~$6), but the shipping from Amazon was not included, so I have no idea how they make any money on this. Another modest limitation of Buyee compared to Tenso is that you are limited to their list of stores. It is a pretty good list, but is missing some stores I find obscure things at.

  11. Posted

    Did Coleco just give up after Chris alienated the CV retro/homebrewers community?

     

    Not like Coleco has ever spent money on marketing or community outreach to generate buzz.

    They also basically pissed the homebrew/retros they were sponsoring cheaply.

    Booth at the New York Toy Fair probably cost around 4000 dollar to be manned, and they probably spend a few thousand dollars to buy the Coleco website.

    Website and their Facebook and twitter is probably outsourced with the rest of RWB or Castle Windows companies when it is up so the running costs probably isn't that bad.

    I'm starting to see poorly thought out, are you high, bull-in-china-shop as Cardillo's MO. This is no different - trying to salvage the vendor turnout with some home and garden supplier friends.

  12. Posted

    There are plenty of proxy services that will do that, just Google for "buying from yahoo japan auctions" or similar. I used to use one of these services about a decade ago for buying off YHJ, there seem to be many more now.

     

     

    Buyee.jp is the easiest. Same company as Tenso.com. Buyee is the shopping service, Tenso gives you a Japanese address so sellers will ship to you. So it ends up being pretty seamless, and no other shopping service really does what Tenso does (meaning you theoretically can order from *anywhere* in Japan). AFAIK you can sign up and just do everything through Buyee, though I signed up with Tenso first just because a Japanese address was what I primarily needed at the time.

    Thanks for the info. These seem to be the most popular. Are these fairly reliable? The ratings are so-so. Sounds like it is fine as long as no mistake, and then you are out your money. I looked into tenso and buyee. Just want to know what is the most trustworthy and has the best customer satisfaction. A little riskier than eBay or Amazon, as there is no money-back guarantee if you don't get your order. I can always start with smaller purchases and see, I guess.

  13. Posted

    So, found a few video games exclusive to Japan from Japanese auction sites and amazon.co.jp, but cannot use the Japanese auction sites and the sellers of the items on amazon japan do not ship internationally (although there are sellers who do, they are not for the items I am looking at). Some of these items are even "fulfilled by amazon" and will still not ship to US. Does anyone know of a trustworthy 3rd party service in Japan that can order these for me and ship them to me, for some commission/surcharge?

     

    Thanks

  19. Posted

    I know there are some who have been disappointed that the SWORDQUEST comic series from Dynamite has not been the Airworld continuation of the SWORDQUEST series from the original game releases.

     

    I'm one of them.

     

    There is a graphic novel of SwordQuest coming out soon with the old comic versions, so I am hoping they won't drop the ball with it and will add some kind of closure or extras about the AirWorld and not just a reprint.

  23. Posted

    Just got one of these weird dedicated consoles off ebay, It is a combined light gun, fishing pole and N64-like controller with 60 games. Ordered it from Japan. Hope it works well, cause it looks pretty wild. Has fishing, target and shooting, racing and other standard 8/16-bit looking games.

     

    http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/vh4AAOSwl8NVXV2g/$_1.JPG

     

    Looks king like this Power Joy one, but also has the reel handle.

     

    http://www.qvc.com/Power-Joy-Streamline-w60-Arcade-Games-for-1-or-2-Players.product.E23859.html

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