rockman_x_2002

Y'know... I saw that commercial yesterday afternoon as well. And I started to jump on here and mention it. But I didn't get to. I enjoyed the thing. Mainly because the Hummer folks actually got it right. Unlike Infogrames' Enter the Matrix commercial and it's incorrect Pong sound... (see previous thread) So... what's the lesson here for this week? The next time Infogrames does a commercial featuring a classic video game... let the Hummer people make the commercial.

You have no chance to escape make your time! ... oh wait... that one should go under a "Journey Escape" post, shouldn't it?

Hmm... lots of ground to cover... First, I don't hate Infogrames all that much. They've had some very nice titles to come from them and some that are quite enjoyable. But it doesn't quite cover all the potholes you may find in their track. But this isn't a question of their ability to make games. Simply a question of getting their own legacy correct. Now... on to Rhindle's question: If you are going to insult the current Atari, at least do it correctly. The old company name was Infogrames, so your insult should be "Info-Atari". I mean, shouldn't you know your Atari history? There are several reasons for my choice of spelling... When I first wrote it, I admit, it was a slip of the finger and bad habit. I do apologize for that for as a kid, I learned the name as "Infrogrames". But now that I think of it, why should get their name right? After all, it's like you said, insults should be given correctly, and so I ask Infogrames a similar question: If they're going to insult a previous Atari classic, why not do so correctly and give us the correct sound? Also, Room 34 also brings up a good point... I like that idea.

I agree. Don't get me wrong... I like newer console games just as much as the next guy. But I like my classic stuff too. Though I haven't seen the commercial first-hand, it seems to me that Infro-Atari has done an injustice not only to the Atari community, but to the classic gaming community as a whole, by dismissing one of the most important aspect of videogame history as though they were slinging mud off of an old boot. However, Infro-Atari can't do away with history all together. History cannot be destroyed as long as there are people like us that keep the truth out in the open for all the world to see. No... Infro-Atari cannot get rid of history. They're simply expressing that thing we call "denial" --Denial of the days when Atari was its own dynasty, and Mr. Bushnell was safely at its helm. Those days will never die, and the classic Atari image shall live on forever!...

lol.... yes... the original Blue Screen 'O Death on the NES. I remember it well... ... and then they changed it to the Green Screen 'O Death... ... and then the Grey Screen 'O Death on the last NES models... On a more serious note though, I have tried cleaning my BallBlazer cart. It's super clean, yes, but it still has trouble loading. Not to say it won't load... just takes a couple of tries, is all. I'm wondering if it might just be a bad connector or something on the 7800 I have now. (On the one I first had, which unfortunately no longer works, it loaded with no problems).

In my experience with my current working 7800, I haven't had too much trouble loading games. And my 7800 always boots right the first time (provided the carts are in the cartridge slot good). I don't have any of the hard-to-fit 2600 games, so I can't speak much on those, but for some reason Keystone Kapers and Pitfall II have trouble loading (unless I stack a cart up against them when I turn the power on and leave them there while I play). As for 7800 games that don't want to load too well, only game I have trouble with is BallBlazer. But I think it doesn't load because it doesn't make good contact in the cartridge slot. Just keep pulling the cart out, reload, and turning your 7800 on again until it finally loads -- That's what I do with mine -- and it should work just fine.

I believe the game you're describing might be Street Racer. Though actually the cars looked more like "I"s in a badly pixelated Times New Roman font to me. Still... description's pretty accurate.

Mine I got back in '97. Someone my dad knew where he works had one. Got it for about $10 and a song. Came with several controllers (paddles, driving controllers, touch pad, couple of joysticks) and a few 2600 games and manuals, to boot!

I can see it now. Five weeks later we'll read: : "2 Fast 2 Furious for 2600 released!"

Buying a sealed-in-box game and never playing it is like going to Disneyworld and never leaving the hotel room. The true enjoyment lies within the little black, plastic box. The fun you get from playing those games is the real value... not the monetary gain from a game all sealed up! If you have sealed games that you've never played before... my soul! I implore you... deprive yourself no longer! Open up (but keep it in fairly good condition) and let the good times roll!

< plz disregard this double post... blame my 56k connection. >

I thought the carts were rumored to be destroyed. What good would it be finding them? [afterthought] Oh right... that would add about 2 cents to the value of each of them. [/afterthought]

The movie Airplane featured Atari's "Basketball" being played on a radar scope. And don't forget the Atari 2600 on top of the TV set in the movie E.T. either. (Oh the irony...)

Ah... so you are the one who won that auction then. I saw the auction on ebay before it ended. Search out of curiosity. And to think my brother was just a thought away from sending off for a Quadrun when it came out, too... Ah well... easy come, easy go (or never see). Congrats on the win!!!

Kitt's Quest? Are you sure about that? Kinda sounds like an off-the-wall RPG to me. You need something that screams action for a game like this. As for the Knight Ryder proposal... too close to the original form of the title. But why not just Ryder? You lose the "Knight" part of the title, and it still looks pretty good. Has that action feel to it, y'know?

I still have my brother's old 2600. It's an original four-switch model, but sadly it no longer works. I have my old 7800 also, but it too is dead. Thankfully, though, seven years ago I ran across an original 7800 model for $10. Also got 20 games (all but "Pole Position II" are 2600 games, and some of them had manuals), two joysticks, paddles, racing controllers, and a touch pad with the deal. Bought it from someone my dad knows where he works. Of course... all the games and stuff are common, so... Still... I can play my games.

Well... I have a Gremlins cart that my brother bought when the game came out. Fun game for a little while, but gets old quick. All the other carts I have are 5s on down (including my 7800 games). My collection, therefore, probably isn't worth too much.

I've been monitoring this post for several days now, and, while I'm a little green to posting on the board, I must say... I'm interested. Now, as to whether or not this project can be completed (as it stands currently), I will not place my bet at this time. While my skepticism leans more toward "not possible," I have seen strange things come true many times when I've been a nay-sayer, so at this point I'm not willing to second-guess anything. I like the controller design. But I must concur with Gateway... why not market the controller separate from the game? That way, if you get in a hole with the game, at least you've designed a nifty controller that a lot of fans would enjoy with other joystick / touchpad titles. And, if you do manage to finish the game, then consider bundling the controller with the game. Break it into small steps. It might be a little easier to digest. Now I'm only a college student learning programming and dabbling in game design (especially RPGs). I do have expeirence with Basic and C++, but nothing too technical. However, with what little experience I have now, already I have learned one life lesson in programming (for games or whatever else). "One thing at a time." Remember that. Patience is a definite key to this if you want to make this game a reality (if indeed you can). As far as the licensing question goes... if you finish the game and worse comes to worse and you can't get a license from Fox, why not just change things up a bit and make it unrelated to Knight Rider? It'd still be a fun driving and crime-busting game, but we here on the board would know what's really "under the hood." Whether the game is possible or not, though, I do wish you much success and I am interested in seeing how this thing will play out. Not just as a KR and 2600 fan, but merely... a gamer in general. Best of luck to you.

I assume you mean a card reading device similar to Nintendo's e-Reader? Maybe if someone could develop a 2600 emulator for the GBA that would install using the e-Reader's technology. Of course that would make two "middle men" to go through. The developer of the emulator would have to contact Infrogrames/Atari for the games, and then in turn would have to get hold of Nintendo, who owns the GBA. After that, Nintendo and the developer would have to seek out HAL Laboratories, who developed the e-Reader itself. Too messy... probably not a very profitable way of doing things either. ... still, I think that the way the e-Reader works could serve as an example to go by as to how such a system could be put together. Perhaps using that same Dot-Code technology, only slightly modified. After all, it's Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., that owns the Dot-Code technology, not Nintendo.

Kinda new to the board. Permit me a moment. Sounds like a dream scenario. I'd love to see it happen. But it's doubtful. I don't think you'll probably see the day when this will happen. At least not anytime in the near future. In this light however, if Infro-Atari did decide to rerelease the 2600 and games in an original-shaped console and cartridges, then the logical thing would be for them to acquire an original 2600 and cart, and make a mold of them to make more of the things. But like I say... it's a shot in the dark to bet that they would do this. At least right now. I would think they would release a second joystick. Though instead of emulating the games, why not place inside actual 2600 system and game components and chipsets? Authentic Atari machinery all bound in one small package!

If you don't mind the fact that your game carts won't be in perfect condition, then here's a solution you might want to try: Simply take the game's PCB out of the cartridge case and stick the PCB alone into your 7800. This way, the game's PCB card will fit in the 7800, and the case won't be an obstruction. Usually, 2600 game cases can be opened by taking out a screw that is generally located toward the middle of the cart, and then you can just pop them right open. However, the screw is covered by the game's label, so if you open up the cart case, everyone's gonna know it because in the middle of the label is this huge phillips-head screw. But if the games you are talking about are games that you wouldn't mind not being in perfect condition (you just want to play 'em), then this is probably your best route. Just make sure that after you're done playing, you put the PCB back into the case. I'd also suggest that you mark the front of the PCB, so that you know which way to put the game into your Atari. Oh yeah... the M Network games might be a problem as there are no screws for it. Somehow, those cart cases are just snapped together permanently. For those carts, you might actually end up breaking the cases to take out the PCB. Anyways, hope that some of this can help you out. Good luck.