Adrian M

What do you mean by "Not XBOX, because nothing really good has come out yet"??? Have you actually played any XBOX game for more than 5 minutes? The demo stations at Target and Best Buy only give you brief snippets of what to expect. To truly appreciate games like Halo, NFL Fever 2002, Gotham Racing and Oddworld, you need to spend some quality time with them. You'd be surprised at just how deep and playable they are! It's not just the pretty graphics and hyper real special effects, Microsoft and its developers really seem to "get it" when it comes to what games should have and what gamers want in their games! When I first got my Genesis, I experienced the same addictive qualities in their early releases. I could play a game like Golden Axe and Ghouls N Ghosts over and over for hours. What made the games so addictive? They certainly were mostly just platform games with better graphics. The answer is, the execution. The games performed better than I expected over their NES counterparts. Yes, NES had a crappy version of Ghosts and Goblins, but the execution and presentation absolutely SUCKED! It took the power of the Genesis and its developers to finally bring us these types of games without the half-assed attempts that previous consoles gave us! The exact same thing goes for the XBOX. I normally do not like FPS games. It took Halo with its immersive story and stellar execution to make me a believer! It really is that good! If you want to stick to your 2D fighters like Fatal Fury for the DC, by all means, you can continue to remain in the past. Don't write off the XBOX just because of what you read or hear.

When I think back to the last days of the Atari, even though the games were selling for ridiculously low prices ($1 -$5 per game), but I didn't buy them and I don't regret not buying them. There are several reasons why I have no regrets: 1.) I was very young and did not have a job which meant the money was tight. 2.) I was really into the NES...all my available cash and birthday/Christmas present requests were directed at buying new NES games! Why would I want crusty old Atari games when I had my brand new NES that played more sophisticated games? 3.) Lack of interest. I had my Atari since 1983. During the last days of the 2600, I was not only burnt out on the crude 2600 games, but every mag and friend I had pointed out that the 2600 was dying and there was no point in buying any more games. And the cycles continues today! Prior to buying my XBOX, I had a Dreamcast. Now that the DC is dead and very few games are being released and all other games are selling for ridiculously low prices, I feel it is a waste of time and money to buy these low-priced games. If I'm going to spend any money on games, I would rather spend it on my latest and greatest machine, the XBOX. While I'll probably kick myself in the ass for not buying some of these DC games later on, I'm not too concerned. Why? Well, except for some rare instances, none of the newer game system games from the SNES on up to the Saturn and Playstation are yielding any games that are commanding massive amounts of money. Again, there are rare instances such as the last Saturn games like House of the Dead, MagicKnight Rayearth, that Panzer Dragoon RPG, that are pretty collectable, but it seems to me that the market is beginning to get saturated with collectors and rare games will experience the Baseball Card syndrome (the market being so flooded with product and too many collectors that the stuff just isn't worth as much as the older cards). I look at my Dreamcast collection and see that maybe only a handful of games will be classified as truly rare such as I-SPY and Bomberman Online. CD-based games just aren't as appealing to collect and many people are out there now as we speak buying up all the low priced games with the intention of selling them at marked up prices in 2-3 years time. Don't fall into the trap of buying old games as a sort of investment. It's far too unpredicatable and even then, your profit margin may be too small to make it worthwhile. Buy NEW games for NEW systems and ENJOY them! That's what gaming is all about! I have some Halo and Project Gotham Racing to play so I'll stop writing now!!!

I have also had some problems with ebay, but not with negative comments or anything like that. I recently sold a brand new Gamecube and an ATARI JAGUAR BUNDLE (console, composite cable, 2 new controllers, and two games). For the GC, I got an email from the winning bidder saying that their 12 year old son got into their ebay account and placed a bid for the unit and as a result, were not responsible for buying the GC!! Ebay did nothing even though this was the result of fraudulent use of an ebay account and have referred me to their "automated" dispute resolution service. I sent off several scathing emails and got replies, but they all advised me that the automated resolution method was all they could offer me to compensate for my losses. I've recently sold my Atari Jaguar bundle and its been 3 weeks and the guy keeps promising to wire me money via Paypal, but nothing's come yet! This is insane! Ebay needs a better and FASTER way to resolve disputes! In any event, if anyone is interested in buying a Jaguar bundle, here's the link to show you what's included: Jaguar Bundle If anyone is interested, I will sell this for the quoted price and shipping costs in the ebay ad. Respond or send me an email. Thanks.

I hate to say it, but this game really sucks! There may be 2000 screens, but most are just repeated tree patterns that seemingly go on forever. What is the point of the game? If you press fire, you hear a whistle and a bird appears. Once in a while, some monster attacks you and you seeminly have no way to attack it or defend yourself.

I have a COMPLETE Swordquest Waterworld game. When I say complete, I mean everything (box, instructions, comic book, etc). I noticed that a recent ebay auction for JUST THE CARTRIDGE ended at $160! The URL is provided. How much can I expect to get for my complete set? Personally, I HATE the Swordquest games and I really don't care if mine sell or not. I bought them at Child World's clearance sales back in the late 80's for like $3.00! How much would serious collectors pay for a complete SWORDQUEST WATERWORLD? SQ Waterworld Cart only

VOCH, IT WORKS! I downloaded the older version of the stella.pro file, not the one that was at the top of your page. I downloaded the the lotr_stella.pro append file, unzipped and renamed to "stella.pro" and then dropped this into my Stella folder. Upon bootup, LOTR NOW WORKS PROPERLY! Thanks for clarifying this!

There's a kid here at my workplace that makes Atari 2600 box art nameplates for all of his co-worker's cubicle walls! He scans in a complete image of a silver 2600 box, changes the title font to that employee's name and position, and then posts it on the entrance to their cubicles! While I have an office and not a cubicle, he made one for me which I have posted on the wall next to my desk. I have the Gravitar box art for my nameplate! They really look cool and are far more original than the standard white plates that other departments use!

How do you make this ROM work on the Mac version of Stella? I downloaded the latest Stella.pro append file and autotyper program and have followed the directions, but all I get when I start the game is a black screen and some strange noises. Am I going to have to use BBEdit to hack the contents of the Stella.pro file? The reason I ask is because the workarounds featured here are almost always for the Wintel/PC Atari emulators.

quote: Originally posted by Tempest: I'm not going to jump through all these hoops to get a game I'll probably only end up playing once every couple months. To me the hassel of getting a hold of one of these things simply isn't worth it. I'm going to wait and see if Scatologic actually decides to sell them through the website agian like I was promised (3 months ago and counting BTW). If they're only going to do it by cheesy secret e-mail auctions and overpriced Ebay auctions then I can do without it. All that proves is that they really were in it for the money which I'm hoping is not the case. Tempest Exactly my point! Scatalogic claims that the reason they won't do another production run is mainly due to the cost of the components. But then they go and say that all profits generated through BS sales are donated to charity! If they're not out to make a profit, then what's the problem??? And I happen to agree that these secret auctions and such are STUPID! There are gamers out there who have the $$$$ in hand, just waiting to buy this game for a reasonable price! If you're going to release a small number of units, why not just put them up for sale, not these stupid secret auctions where you never really know where you stand. I've heard from several gamers that this game really doesn't live up to all the hype its been getting. A good collector's piece? Maybe. A good game...not really.

I actually considered buying this game at one point, ready to spend the $200+ necessary to obtain it, but then I came to my senses and re-evaluated exactly what I'd be getting for my money. To pay Neo-Geo-esque prices for a Jaguar game is insane, regardless of the time and work it took to make the game. Face it, $200 is too much, even for collectors. When you get right down to it, its just a basic Star Raiders/StarLancer type of game...I have StarLancer for DC and it has failed to hold my attention, so I highly doubt that BS would be a game I would play over and over. There are some out there who argue that BS is the best game ever. I personally don't think it is and I don't suggest that anyone spend that kind of money on it. $60 is more reasonable, anything over $70 is definitely NOT. Just take a step back and look at the big picture. Don't just buy the game because its Battlesphere! If you're looking at buying this game as more of an "investment," well, it seems like $200 will be the price point for the near future and I only see it maintaining or dropping as it has since its initial release where it was fetching $400. There' s no way in hell its ever going to get that kind of price ever again, so I wouldn't even recommend buying it as something that you hold on to for several years. BS has reached its point of market saturation.

Well, I have a cautious-defensive style of play method when it comes to the 2600 Xenophobe. I rarely go into a new room with guns blazing, instead, I'll cautiously step into a new room, assess any potential threat and then figure out a plan of action to deal with whatever threats I am presented with.

If you're having trouble with the game's gravity, I suggest game # 5. On setting 5, there is no gravity effect whatsoever. It makes it easy to practice and you get a generous supply of ships. Blasting out the alien base core is still difficult, but at least the cliff planet levels are easier. The secret to succeeding at this game is to thrust lightly, use your shields when encountering a barrage of bullets, and to pick up only the fuel cells in easily accessible places. This is one of my 2600 favorites.

While shooting gallery is a cool game, I am extremely surprised at how well Crossbow (another "gun" game) came out on the 2600! Retains the charm and atmosphere of the arcade game remarkably well and I'd go as far as to saying that this may be the best arcade conversion on the 2600!

Does the score roll at 999,999? What's the secret to lasting so long? The largest Xenophobes are what give me the most trouble...once they hit you a few times and destroy your weapon, you're lucky to last long enough to find another gun! Hand to hand combat is tough in this game.

I have a Samsung N501 NUON Dvd player and when VM Labs released a public SDK a few months ago, news came out that someone from Wounded Badger Software was making progress on an Atari 800 emulator for the NUON. Have any fellow NUON fans heard any recent news on this? Any status updates? Any word on a 2600 emulator for NUON? I'd love to have some good Atari emulators to use on my Nuon which I can play on my 32 inch SONY WEGA. The potential of the NUON is awesome!

Roughly how much does it cost to code and manufacture a new Jag game? I've always wondered what kind of upfront costs are required for something like this.

While I have no interest in bidding on this, I do have to admit that I LOVE the white/black color scheme of what looks like a standard Atari 2600 joystick! I may place a bid just for the joystick!

The one gaming-related item that I want (and have my eye on right now) is a full-size Pac-Man arcade unit for my living room. There's a dealer in a city near me that has several of these in stock. I want it to be as original as possible (minimal restoration) and in good condition. This is the game that got me hooked on video games way back in 1982 when I was in first grade and as such, it deserves a permanent home in my living room.

I'm a simple guy with simple tastes. I think the original Atari carts are the best. Simple, durable and good looking. I happen to think that Coleco's carts are also kind of cool.

Rob Kudla's Pac-Man Redux is awesome! I never knew this hack existed! If only Atari had released a version of Pac-Man equivalent to Pac-Man Redux back in the early 80's....I would have been a much happier child! The Atari 2600 was so much more capable than we were led to believe!

Oh, I see. Kind of like that thing that Activision just released with 15 Activision 2600 games on it. I have one and its a yellow controller that plugs directly into your tv via the A/V inputs. I have heard of these things, but never by the name Megajoy.

Umm....if you don't mind me asking, what are Megajoys?

quote: Originally posted by King Atari: Take a look at that box, on the left side in the details, it says "TV not included". TV not included!!!! King Atari, your response was the funniest thing I've heard all day! It's been a long day and I really need a good laugh! Great sense of humor!

quote: Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-: You guys didn't look hard enough. I do think the 7800 and 5200 are both cool looking console designs...But I changed out the power LEDs on both my 7800 and 5200 units. Hence why I said they were the "coolest" Atari consoles. Blue = Cool.. Man...humor is so lost on you guys!!! Were you inspired to put the blue LEDs into your Atari consoles by the PS2?

The 2600 Xenophobe is tough! I can score about 150,000 points if I'm lucky! What can be considered a "decent" score for this game?