I can't use a joystick anymore ...

[I can't use a joystick anymore ...]

I heartily recommend the O2 joystick. It's got a much better feel.

[Favorite 2600 Adventure / RPG Type Game?]

Riddle of the Sphinx. Way cool game.

[Vintage games on Pawnstars, Auction Hunters, ETC]

Last night on a new Pawn Stars a lady brought in something like 4 Game and Watch games. I was kind of in the middle of something so I didn't see exaclty what they were and how much she ended up selling them for, if she even did. I did hear that she was asking like $400 or $500 for them, and I think Corey countered first at $100, then he may have upped it a bit. I really wish I had been able to watch that part uninterupted, though I'm sure it will be on again!

 

The one last night with the game & watches ticked me off! I typically like Pawn Stars and think they're for the most part above board on their honesty. Last night did not show that side. Cory (the son) offered the woman $150 for 6 Nintendo Game & Watch units. One was still in box. He eventually came up to $250 which she took. His reasoning to her was that it would take a while to sell, they're too new to really be collectible, etc. After she took the money and left he started bragging about how many gamers come into Vegas and he could easily resell them for $100 each.

 

Ok, I understand you are in business to make money and clear profit. That's fine, just don't screw over your customers and brag about it on camera. I lost a LOT of respect for him and his business ethics in that show.

 

In fairness to them though, these guys typically need to pull in a gross profit of about 40% to 50% in order to make money. Because out of that you can figure 20% to 25% goes as contribution towards overhead, leaving between 30% to 25% for profit, which is fair. Anything less than that and it starts not being worth their time. Of course for bigger items you can trim % off and still make money. So it seems like if they get what they're going to price these at they may be a bit ahead, but nothing in the unfair range (my opinion only).

 

I mean, if you want to try to absolutely maxamize your profit, have a garage sale or eBay it. If you want cash now, take what the man's willing to pay.

 

I'm just saying that because I've seen them on Pawn Stars on several occassions tell a person that they'd love to give them what the person was asking, but couldn't in good concious because it was worth a lot more.

 

Also, I've found that I really think these shows (Storage Wars is the worst at this) seem to inflate the 'value' of the stuff they find. My wife and I were watching this one episode recently and Hester (I think) got this big locker with boxes and boxes of used books, and he says that he could get something like either $100 or $150 per box of books. My wife and I busted out laughing. If the books were brand new, and you had a bookstore, and you were willing to sit on them for years, you may have been able to get that much for these boxes, but not otherwise. And since there were so many boxes of books, it inflated the value part of the equation so much that compared to the cost of the auction it made the whole thing look like a windfall for the guy. Yea, right.

 

So I think that they kind of have to show some bravado in the parts of these show where they 'value' the stuff....the producers probably tell them to estimate on the high side, because if they didn't where would the excitement be for all us poor, uneducated viewers?

 

Yeah, Dave Hester on Storage Wars totally pulls prices out his ass. He'll point to chipboard furniture and say it's worth $300. Most of the others on that show aren't near as bad, but there's a lot of price inflation going on. The worst for me are Auction Hunters and American Pickers, where the douchey guys on the show are constantly exchanging looks they seem to think mean "Oooh yeah. Watch the masters at work." but always look a lot more like "Oooh yeah. Load up the Rape Van. It's amputee hookers and midget prostitutes tonight!"

[Alternate History - Atari winning the lawsuit against Activision]

Interesting read. How 'bout an alternate history on Atari losing the K.C. Munchkin lawsuit?

[Pros and cons of a 7800 over a 2600]

I'm considering getting either a 7800 or 2600 to play games - including homebrews - and wanted to know if there were any specific 2600 games that won't play on a 2600. Also any pros or cons for either unit woul;d be appreciated.

[Which games had the most NEGATIVE influence on the industry?]

Duke Nukem's later continual vaporware releases.

[Atari 2600 joysticks used on Odyssey2]

I'd advise trying the O2 joysticks first and see if you like them. They're more rugged than the standard 2600 stick and I've always found them more responsive. Mind you, can't use the "my-joystick-is-my-penis" Atari masturbation deathgrip on them - but I don't see that as exactly a minus.

[Games done better on the "technically inferior" console]

Well, I'm an Odyssey2 fan, so my ord is suspect, but the O2 version of Q*bert beats the 2600's in terms of playability. It's too bad the O2 version of Tutankham never saw release as it easily beats the 2600 version.

[Recommend Odyssey^2 titles]

OK, so I have 20 games for this, and the only one I like a lot is Thunderball. Pick Axe Pete is a close second. I know that the Odyssey 2 wasn't a very popular system, I'm beginning to see why. Anyway, what are your faves for this system, and should I get the homebrews?

Most of the binaries for the homebrews are downloadable for play on the Odyssey2 emulator, so you should be able to judge for yourself.

 

That said, the Tedfoolery games are amazing.

[How was 2600 development done back in the day?]

After they got an idea they laid out binary code on a large table using Cheerios and Pretzel sticks. Once the coding was complete everything was transferred over to a series of punch cards that were hand fed into Atari's mainframe computer. From there the code was chiseled into stone tablets and shipped to Korea where the final cartridge was produced.

Ther has got to be a way to sneak that into a Wikipedia 2600 entry.

[Odyssey 2 emulation.]

I really really suggest playing game 6 on Pick Axe Pete! as it's one hard game.

[New To The Forum!]

 

Magnavox:

Odyssey 2 (it was my parent's)

 

Hey, there's never a need to apologize for the awesomeness of the O2!

[Odyssey 2 emulation.]

You've got it working? Glad to hear it.

 

A few games to try in emulation:

 

KC Munchkin! (obviously) and KC's Crazy Chase!

UFO!

Attack of the Time Lord

Killer Bees!

Pick Axe Pete!

Turtles

Q-Bert

Frogger

Tutankham

 

And the Homebrews:

 

Kill The Attacking Aliens!

Planet Lander!

Mr. Roboto!

Puzzle Piece Panic!

Route 66

[Odyssey 2 emulation.]

Eeeeeeeeeeeee.... where to get all?

 

And:

 

Yes

No

No

 

A google search for the loader and BIOS should point you in the right direction.

[Odyssey 2 emulation.]

Okay, I need to know a couple things:

 

1) I presume you're running a PC with Windows, correct?

 

2) Did you load the Windows loader for O2em? Otherwise, O2em is set up to run in DOS.

 

3) Did you load the BIOS file? You need the BIOS to run O2em and the Voice file for Voice support.

 

Hope this helps.

[What incredible moment in a game were you unprepared for?]

Two deep vector-graphics moments come to mind.

 

The first time I defeated the ship in Star Castle, and the whole shebang... implodes. Gorgeous and surprising.

 

Sitting down to play Tempest for the first time, getting past the level and the whole shebang.. zooms around you. I felt higher than I'd ever been.

[Odyssey2 Lot]

That's a great deal. Have played the Challenger series games(K.C. Munchkin!, Attack of the Timelord!, Pick Axe Pete!, UFO! and Freedom Fighters!) yet? They're the crown jewels of the O2 as far as I'm concerned.

 

You might also want to pick up Killer Bees! as it's the one game that always gets put on the O2-to-2600 wish list.

 

And definitely try out the homebrews in emulation. KTAA, Planet Lander, Mr. Roboto, Route 66 and Puzzle Piece Panic! are all excellent games.

[What good "Classic " game am I missing?]

If you're willing to spend time with the games, the Challenger series of games for the O2 is great.

[Odyssey2 Troubleshooting]

It could be the 'Power' button, but at that point, you're better off getting advice on the videopac boards. Hope you get it fixed. There's some great games on the O2, and some really great homebrews to boot!

[Odyssey2 Troubleshooting]

Check your power supply is properly connected and meets the specifications for an O2 power connector. Also, if your O2 has a Voice module connected, make sure it's inserted properly and/or try the carts with it removed. Good luck.

[What was the first Arcade game you played?]

It would have been either Space War or Death Race, I no longer remember which was first.

[What 's your most favorite system of all time?]

Definitely my well-used and much-loved Odyssey2.

[Major and Minor Consoles of the Classic Era]

By my standards, I'd say the majors were the 2600, the O2, the CV and the Vectrex.

 

But my standard is which systems have the most homebrew carts produced.

[Games that impressed you graphically for the console they ran on]

For the O2, I'd have to go with Attack of the Time Lord! The sequence of the Time Lord appearing, talking(!) to you and the saucers appearing out of the portal is stunning. And the saucer movement is something that is pretty spiffy compared to most Death From Above games.

[I'm so jealous of everyone on here that grew up with classic games]

whilst the graphics etc were'nt arcade quality, who cared... it was the gameplay and the concept behind the game that was it's driving force

 

Some concepts and gameplay elements require a certain level of hardware capability to render satisfactorily. Plus nice graphics are satisfying to look at in and of themselves. For example, I'd rather watch a cartoon or read a comic book with good drawings, rather than poorly done drawings. Video games, like comic books and cartoons, are a visual medium; the images play a significant part in relaying the experience.

 

Now, I prefer a game with good gameplay and bad graphics to a game with good graphics and bad gameplay, but that doesn't mean graphics are not important. I'd much rather have both good graphics and good gameplay, than solely one or the other. You don't even need terribly powerful hardware for eye pleasing graphics. You just need enough power to give your sprites several colors and some curves (rather than blocks). For example, the lowly (by today's standards) Nintendo Radar Scope hardware from 1980 was capable of making Donkey Kong look good. Nintendo's Popeye and Punch-Out looked awesome, and still do IMO. Bally Midway's MCR-3 hardware (e.g., Tapper, Timber, Demolition Derby, Discs of Tron) was capable of beautiful graphics in 1983.

 

Well, not to poke the stick too far into the bee's nest, but:

 

Scott McCloud covers this very well in Understanding Comics. Often, simplified graphics allow for a much cloder identification of the self with the character onscreen.

 

And frankly, Demon Attack still looks breathtaking on the 2600.

 

But what do I know? I'm still playing on the Odyssey2 I always wanted and never got until the 2000s.