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bcostin

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Posts posted by bcostin

  1. Posted

    Haven't tested mine yet, but the unit looks perfect. My box is also water damaged, as expected. The printing on the front is pretty much gone, but the back and the sides are fine aside from a few creases in the corners. Oh well, the art on the back is more interesting anyway. :)

     

    The pages of the manuals have glued themselves together, however. I've tried soaking them enough to at least salvage the Slither booklet, but I think it's a lost cause.

     

    Anybody have a scan handy of the Roller Controller manual, BTW? The text copies I've found online don't have the illustrations, and I'd like to print it out for future reference.

  2. Posted

    I always feel a little guilty, but I usually open my shrink-wrapped games. I try to make just a small cut near the bottom flap, so that I can put the boxes on my shelf and pretend that I didn't succumb to temptation.

     

    If it makes you feel better, look at it from the game's perspective. Where would you rather be? Trapped inside a dark little box forever smothered in plastic wrap, destined never to fulfill the very reason for your existence? Or out in the open air, feeling the thrill of electricity running through your contacts, always free to cavort and play with your other cartridge friends?

     

    Think about it. :ponder:

  4. Posted

    I'd like to see a thread where people vote on the game with the best graphics for each year. That might be fun. You'd have to make sure you had a correct list of games for each year though, since you can't trust the date on the cartridge.

     

    For it's time Superman was graphically innovative... I believe it was one of the first games to use multi-colored sprites and many of the sprites had multiple "frames" of animation.

     

    A vote for best graphics for each ROM size would be interesting too. It would sort of level the playing field. Demon Attack had some of the best graphics for a 4k game.

     

    I like both of those ideas, by year (yeah, where's the best place to look for that?) or by ROM size. Or maybe by game genre (shooter, maze, etc.)

     

    We seem to have a pretty clear concensus that the "best overall" graphics award should go to Solaris, but that doesn't leave us very much room for discussion. :)

  5. Posted

    Does anyone know where I can get a replacement power socket to solder in place of the propriatory one?

     

    I have one 7800 Power Supply .. but I dread the day when that PS breaks.

     

    Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

     

    It's very easy to modify a 7800 to use a 2600 PS, even if you're solder-phobic like me. Radio Shack sells everything you need. I used this guy's very clear instructions as a guide:

     

    http://www.geocities.com/atari7800mod/7800...0_powermod.html

     

    When I discovered that a cat had chewed through the cord on my 7800's PS I decided it'd be almost as easy to add a normal jack as to splice the cord.

  8. Posted

    I have to agree that so long as they're buying the items at the same price as the customers would've there's really nothing illegal or unethical about it. (I've seen some thift-store regulars here mention standing agreements where their favorite stores set aside interesting items for them to get first crack at. How's this really any different?)

     

    However, I can see how it would be to the store's advantage to require

    that customers at least have a chance to see the items. Simply put, certain items make for great bait. :)

     

    After months of nothing but dusty Madden cartridges I've all but given up on the local Goodwill. If there was an indication that decent stuff was coming in once in a while I'd be likely to visit more often. And whenever I wander into a thrift looking for games I usually leave with other stuff, too.

  9. Posted

    I've never understood why people get so upset at sniping. Sure, it can be annoying, but by my way of thinking it's no more annoying to lose an auction in the last 10 seconds than losing at any other time. I place my bid for the max I'm interested in paying and I seldom go any higher. If someone else wants to pay more than me, well, then I guess it's theirs. :ponder:

  10. Posted

    Half Life was one of the first FPS games with a plot that actually felt like part of the game. And, for me, Half Life (on the PC) was the first FPS since the original Doom that actually evoked any emotional response. The rundown industrial feel of the levels was perfect, right down to the stained floors and multiple coats of paint peeling off the walls. Add the smart, creepy monsters leaping out corners, great sound effects like the soldiers talking on their radios as they tracked you down, and the mysterious man with the briefcase and you've got a classic game.

     

    Counterstrike and the other mods don't really hold my interest, though I can understand the appeal. When it comes to FPS games I have a slow deliberate style that doesn't fit real well with the pace those games encourage.

  11. Posted

    Sounds like a neat project. Too bad I'm no good with a soldering iron.

     

    Now if I could just figure out a way to have remote select and reset switches so I didn't have to keep getting up to start another game' date=' I'd never have to leave the couch! :D[/quote']

     

    Simple. You just need a big long stick with a hook at the end. Or maybe two long strings with some rubber bands. Gotta love those giant toggle switches. ;)

  13. Posted

    Nah my brother and I played that game constantly as kids :) We'd turn down the brightness to get a black background ("space") and jack the color up to get bright colored ships. :lol:

     

    Hey, that's a pretty good idea! My sister and I would rationalize away the green as it as best we could. It's a space-age fight to the death deep within the dreaded Avacado Nebula!

  14. Posted

    As for space war...the problem I had with the vectrex one was that they really didn't have good game settings as far as inertial drift and acceleration goes, if I recall. I'd say just go with the arcade version itself, or better yet, the PDP-1 version  ;)

     

    Hmm, you might have a point about the intertial effects. My poor Vectrex is dead, and it's been a while since I've had a chance to play it.

     

    However, one nice feature (not sure if it's unique to the Vectrex) is the way your ships take specifi damage rather than just depleting a generic shield/energy meter until you go boom. I wouldn't expect the VCS to reproduce the visual effects of the damage like the Vectrex does, but it'd be cool if you could lose manuverability or speed when your engines are hit, experience intermittent firing with weapons damage , etc.

  15. Posted

    Wow, some great suggestions already. I'd love to see Frenzy and Guzzler. Here's a couple that came to mind as I browsed through KLOV:

     

    Lunar Lander

    Every system must have a version of lunar lander. :) Someone else asked for this in another thread, too, I think.

     

    Astro Blaster

    Megamania is clearly inspired by this game, but the real thing has some subtleties that it misses, like the overheating laser and the docking stages. It also uses sampled voice snippets for status reports. Fighter pilots needed in Sector Wars! Play Astro Blaster! :)

     

    Space War

    I sometimes think I'm the only person who actually likes the existing 2600 version of this game, but even I must admit that it's only a pale imitation of the real thing. I'd actually suggest cheating here and using the excellent Vectrex version for inspiration on the gameplay.

     

    Space Duel

    Asteroids' less-popular older brother. The toughest game variations have two ships tethered together, making for some really freaky controls. Dunno if that'd be practial on the 2600, but even the single-ship options add some nice twists to the Asteroids-like gameplay.

     

    Satan's Hollow

    Always a favorite of mine. I'm sure the fancy backgrounds would be tough, though.

  16. Posted

    Stuffing everything into a single giant paragraph is a good start, but they really need to use EVEN MORE CAPITAL LETTERS. Because everyone knows that people always pay really close attention to stuff in capital letters.

     

    The sad truth is a that a little judicious editing (i.e. reducing that text by about 90%) would probably result in much improved customer relations. Right now I expect any resemblance between the disclaimer text and how the customers actually behave is purely coincidental.

  17. Posted

    Sure, it's definitely a nice system, but between the system's popularity and the long production run the things are everywhere. Without even trying I've accumulated a couple of original consoles with a SegaCD, the cute little Majesco Genesis 3 console, and a boxed JVC X'Eye. Only the last of those is rare enough to be worth anything.

  18. Posted

    There are a couple simple things you might want to try. I got an O2 last week that seemed completely dead, but a little poking and prodding got it working as good as new.

     

    Open it up (three square-headed screws on the bottom) and carefully reseat the chips on the mainboard. Just push down a bit on each of them until they seem tight in their sockets; it's best to support the board from the back so you don't risk cracking anything. Then wiggle around and retighten the various wire harnesses and the video cable connection on the RF modulator. While you're in there, double-check the channel setting switch on the modulator and make sure it's set right.

     

    Of course none of this will help if there are any bad components, but it's worth a try. Good luck.

  19. Posted

    I just ordered the new 128 game Odyssey 2 multicart from Video Game Connections:

     

    http://www.videogameconnections.com/Mercha...tegory_Code=no2

     

    Should be here next week. The perfect accessory for the O2 I got last week. :)

     

    The O2 was the first non-Atari game console I ever played, so I've always had kind of a soft spot for it. I've really been enjoying the couple cartridges I have already. Some of the more obscure titles and homebrew games on the multicart look like a lot of fun.

  22. Posted

    I'm also curious to hear how it compares. My GF's been hogging the Dreamcast playing various interations of Super Mario Brothers ever since I burned her a copy of NesterDC. I haven't even had a chance to try my new Space Channel 5 or Ready 2 Rumble CDs. Curse you, Princess Toadstool! :P

     

    Actually I don't mind at all. She's having a great time with it, and it gives me a chance to introduce her to the older classic games and systems that I prefer.

  23. Posted

    I got one for Christmas last year. It's not bad as a diversion, and the packaging is certainly clever. It looks nice on a shelf in my game room.

     

    The games are similar to, but not exactly, the real things. Just different enough to make you wonder they didn't try a little harder for more accurate sounds and gameplay. It's also really peculiar that they decided to package a bunch of paddle controlled games into a joystick-shaped handheld. There are certainly lots of classic joystick-based games they could've used instead.

     

    Even knowing these things I would've bought one eventually (at $20 or less) but I probably enjoy it more knowing that someone else paid for it. :)

     

    Anyway, as a couple other people have already said, try a search. There've been a couple threads about it. There are also similar all-in-one gizmos for Intellivision and Midway arcade games dicsussed over in the other forums.

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