80s_Atari_Guy

I often visit here. http://www.indieretronews.com/ Not always updated, but I like the homebrew news.

I found the TAC-2 to be one of THE most over-rated Joysticks I have ever used. There is no feedback, like you get with a nice micro-switch Joystick, so you never know if you've registered a move. The fire buttons are even worse, and feel awful.

What about a USB device that comes with the game disk/cart/media, that can deal with copy protection - perhaps ties itself to your machine and the game's serial. The USB device will then be used to store patches, saves, custom configs, etc.. So, if in the event your machine crashes and wipes everything, or you uninstall the game, etc... When you re-install the game it will look for a USB device and a "patches" directory and install patches from there, without the need to download them again. And, all your saves and custom settings are restored from the stick. All done, without a internet connection - incase your internet is down, or having issues.

I love mechanical keyboards. My PC RGB keyboard has MX Blue Switches, they sound amazing. I also have a old Dell AT101W with ALPS switches. I love this thing so much, it's in my Will. I don't use it because it was new old stock and I want to keep it pristine, but I often just get the keyboard out just to stroke it. My family think I'm weird. My all-time fave would be the Cherry G80-3000 HFMGB. This thing should come with a 18+ rating, for keyboard lovers. If I hooked this thing upto Opry99er's Sennheiser condensor microphone, any mechanical keyboard lover in range of the amp would need a box of tissues. For retro machines you can't beat a BBC Micro/Master, gorgeous keyboard. The TI, also sounds amazing. The Oric Atmos, also not bad for such a small computer.

Montezuma's Revenge ?

Soooooo many great games. Elektra Glide Stranded Airstrike 1 and 2 Chop Suey Diamonds Jet Boot Jack Kissin' Kousins - Frustrating as hell, but damn addictive. I should have added, it's a A800 XL 64k. Would like to stick the game on a SIO2SD, and try that, if possible. Thanks for all the great memories.

Awesome. Going to try this on my A8. Loved English Software, they had so many fantastic Atari games. Loved Jet Boot Jack, it really stood out from the crowd of 80s platformers.

Does New old stock, count ? Here are my few buys from earlier this year. A NoS Atari 1050, still sealed. A NoS Atari Tak-Ball. A NoS Acorn Electron. Only opened to see if it was actually in there. And what is considered a Holy Grail for ZX Spectrum owners, the Ferguson MA20 RGB Interface.

Downloading games is like going into a Ford garage and asking Do you have the latest Focus, and can I test it ? Only to be told. "No sir, we don't sell retail cars anymore.", "You now have to go online, click on the car you want, pay for it, wait for it to be built, then go and pick it up yourself." "While online, you'll have many options for your car.", "From Basic model, to Standard model, to Special Edition model, to Super Gold Account model, right upto our Ultimate model" "Also, You can no longer test-drive our cars.", "While, warranty will last as long as we say so." "Every time you want to start your car you will have to contact us FIRST, just to make sure you are the real owner." "Things like extra seats (Besides your own), a car radio, a spare wheel, a tool for the wheel lock nut, and a spare key set are now DLC, and you have to pay extra for it" "And lastly, our latest model will come out 6 months from now making your model worthless."

Any news from SNK ? Price ? Release dates ? Oh, SNK, please think about releasing a red and white version outside of Japan.

Yes, I have played on a Neo Geo arcade. One of these http://www.racketboy.com/retro/neo-geo-mvs-arcade-cabinet-variations Can't remember which one, it was over 20 years ago. I don't know where you are going with this, and why. None of which you mention has any connection to my interest in the Neo Geo mini. I would have expected a mini to look similar in design to the link I posted, i.e. Red. Hence my disappointment in the choice of blue and white. I will be still be buying one, but the red and white only.

I don't have a Neo Geo cabinet, so I couldn't care less. I think the mini looks great, but in red only.

Yeah, being able to see how many hours you've played, I find a wee bit creepy. It's kind of like, "Well, he/she doesn't have a social life if they're spending that amount of time playing game x." Imagine if your neighbours could see how long you were on the phone, and to whom. Or how long you were sat on the shitter

Thing is, some do care what I own because when I did let it slip, as you say, I had a tonne of users sending friend requests - possibly because of my username, I have done a lot of PC GTA modding and shared it with the community. I'm now at a age where I don't care about friend requests, and having them on game sellers like Steam, Gog, Origin. I'm way past that, and only care about close personal friends. Today's youth share everything, with everyone. People from my generation tend not to share, and are often more private than me. I genuinely like to be left alone on Steam, GoG, etc.. And even though I genuinely feel no bad towards anyone, I feel it's not their business.

Tearaway, made good use of the rear touchpad. It almost felt surreal when you touched the rear touchpad, and onscreen your finger graphic could be seen poking through the ground. Great game.

GoG recently went through a privacy settings change, and upset many users who value their privacy. Even more so, after the Facebook fiasco - which has many more now concerned about data selling. On the connect page is this. NOTE: Make sure your Steam Privacy Settings & Profile Status are set to public. Mine aren't because I keep to myself and don't want others seeing my games library. I'm a very private person when it comes to things like this, even though I'm quite happy on forums, I'm not happy sharing information with others.

I actually prefer downloading on PC, and retail disk for Consoles. Steam, for all it's faults, is pretty good. GoG, is also great if you wan't some old-school PC games. EA's Origin, ain't bad if you pay the monthly fee (I believe mine is £3.99 a month) and for that I can download and play almost anything. Ubisoft's Uplay, well I won't go there. Humble Bundle, is occasionally good. I hate it when they keep pushing their monthly subscription, they just don't have enough games that interest me, to justify the monthly fee. I would love my entire Steam collection on GoG. Because then, I would have access to hundreds of games without any DRM. It's then, that you could use Blu-Ray media to back it all up and play it whenever you want. And all the patches are available as separate files.

But only quicker IF you have the internet bandwidth. Before 2016, it would have been quicker for me to... Take a shower, get changed, get in car and drive to town, put 1 hour on ticket, go shopping, get game, have a meal and a coffee, have a walk around, drive home, turn on console/PC, install game, play game. Downloading, would have taken from Friday night, to Monday morning, hoping nothing along the way goes wrong or slows down. That, is NOT instant. And to be honest, I still prefer the former because I get out and about, not sat at home waiting for a download. Today, after a weekend free upgrade to my fibre, I'm on 76Mbit. I bought about 75Gb worth of games, including Rise of the Tomb Raider. The whole lot took about 7 hours, and that is at 7Mb a second, although Steam kept slowing down due to server problems. That is also not instant.

My problem, every month, when buying games is this. Do I buy modern PC games, Console games, Handheld games, or Retro games. I often look at a PS4 release, such as Horizon Zero Dawn, or GT Sport, and wonder how many Intellivision/Colecovision/Gameboy/Game Gear games could I get for the same money. I mean, I've spent more on my PS Vita, in June, than I have on my 3DS XL. My local CEX just keeps getting cheap Vita games. I'm bored with the Switch, it just doesn't get the games. And when they do, they're stupidly expensive, for what the system is. This Steam summer sale, I have already spent about £50 ($66), on indie games, and a few AAA games.

My favourite was the "Grandstand TV 6000 Colour", the premium of UK pong machines, lol. It even had joysticks, not paddles. The Rolls Royce of Pong Machines.

As a owner of a lovely Mk1, I managed to get mine a few years ago, boxed and in lovely condition, before all the prices started to go up. I had one back in the early 90s, but sold it due to lack of interest. I recently started using mine, along with one of SainT's amazing multi carts, and it's a great machine. I personally think it failed, like a few have said, because the screen was bad, the battery life was terrible and costly, lack of decent AAA games, and it's massive. The Gameboy, was cheap, loads of great games, and everyone had one. Gameboys linked with a friend, was awesome, and plenty of games supported this. Thing is, today you can still get a cheap Gameboy DMG01. Mod it cheaply with a backlit mod kit, headphone mod, case and screen cover mods, Bivert mods, and you have a whole new Gameboy - But still the same great screen, no need for a expensive new screen. I mean, who knew the Gameboy screen wasn't really green ? After modding mine with a White Backlight mod, and a Bivert mod, the screen was a sort of purple. Now take the Lynx. You really need a whole new screen, hence the Mcwill mod - it's lovely, but not cheap. It's also not easy to do if you're not semi-decent with a soldering iron. Then you really need to re-cap the Lynx. And even then, you're still tied to the 4 AA batteries and poor battery life. The Gameboy suffers a bit from the backlight mod, but the battery life is still decent. I think the Lynx, today, is very unique and interesting handheld. It's becoming more collectible, and more valuable. I also love the Game Gear. But, like the Lynx, the screen is terrible - even after a re-cap.

Thats a great post, Flo. Hope you don't think I was being a miserable sod. I'm just passionate.

I know it looks like I'm defending Gamestop, but I'm not. I don't live in the US so it's irrelevant to me whether they go bust or not. What I'm defending is RETAIL Disks, actual physical disks that I can buy or trade-in, in a shop. Here in the UK, we have CEX, and Pink Planet - or whatever they're called now. Lets take CEX. I can walk into a CEX and buy, for literally pennies, hundreds of PS3 originals, Xbox 360 originals, Wii originals, Wii-U originals, PSP originals, Vita, PS2, etc... etc.. If this was a digital-only world, I couldn't do this. Hardly any of these games would be available, for next to nothing, whenever I want them. I love browsing the shelves, talking to the staff - the good ones, not the ones looking for their commission - talking to other people there. Seriously, as soon as I start browsing the retro sections, other people often start up a completely random conversation about the games, the hardware, the memories. It's fucking great, and could never be recreated buying digital, or browsing a digital store. I genuinely feel scared of losing all this. As much as I love PC gaming, and buying from Steam, I will never recreate the 90s, going games shopping with my mates. Buying games, then off to MacD for food, chat, ribbing, discussing what we purchased. I'm also back on my PS3, and loving it. Games are so cheap, and there is so much choice.

lol.

Gamestop sell physical media. Idiots in this thread want the end to physical media. Thats why many people "Bitch", because we see a future where there won't be a way to play them. Idiots who disagree, also see a world of Unicorns, and free! magic beans for everyone because - "We've done it in the past, we can do it in the future" lol. Without proving a single solution to how you would do it. When Gamestop are gone, they're gone forever, no matter how much you hate them. I don't live in the US, but I do care about brick and mortar stores still selling physical media. Here is a FACT that won't happen for a long time. Here in the UK, physical media, for consoles, sells more than downloaded media. Kids buy pre-owed games because they can't afford new games. To afford just one new game. they take a bunch of pre-owned games to the store to buy one new game. They swap games in school with their mates, they take them to their mate's homes to play multiplayer games. This is REALITY, and it would take a massive cultural change to get these kids onto digital media only. The games industry would be shooting themselves in the head if they went down the route of digital only games, and they fucking know it. We also have far differing internet speeds than almost any other Country. I can walk across the road, in a local town near me, and go from Fibre optic broadband (upto 76Mbit), to ADSL internet (upto 8Mbit) due to how telephone cabinets are located and which one you are connected to. So, anyone on 8Mbit or less, will NOT be downloading their games. Anyone on a monthly data cap will NOT be downloading their games. Any family where their kids buy their games will NOT be downloading them. The Games industry want everyone on digital media because they hate pre-owned games. They think they deserve a 2nd cut from the sale of the pre-owned games, but this will never happen. Cars sold 2nd hand, the car companies don't get a cut. TVs sold pre-owned, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic all don't get a cut from the sell. Intel and AMD don't get a cut from pre-owned CPUs. Nvidia and AMD don't get a cut from pre-owned graphics cards. This is why Gamestop, and other high street stores are hated by the Games Industry. They love it when they sell their games, they hate it when they sell them again, pre-owned. To change that, you would have to also change ebay, gumtree, craig's list, etc... Make selling pre-owned games a crime. Yeah, good luck with that. I still don't get why those who only buy digital games get so angry over those who prefer physical. Why does it bother you if there is a physical games market ? If digital is so wonderful, then why are digital games so damn expensive ? Why does it take a Steam summer sale, for digital games to become more affordable ? I remember when PC games were £30. Now, the norm is £49, and thats digital. I purchased GTA V on 6 DVDs for £25, yet (at the time) Steam had it for £35. Why ? how is a physical copy on sale for less than a digital copy ? I honestly predict a digital-only future where games will come out at a starting price of £100. And, without any brick and mortar stores and physical media, we won't have a choice but to either buy it at £100, or hope a sale comes up.