The Night Phantom

Are you sure it's not a piece of office equipment? “Miss Wiggins, could you come in here, please?” Er, I mean, “Senhorita Wiggins...”

Thanks, Moycon! quote: Originally posted by Russ Perry Jr: But that's not accurate... The game was never cut from 4K to 2K! Tod wrote it in 4K, period. Later he asked to be allowed to bump it up to 8K and rewrite the kernel, but they wouldn't let him. Poetic license is no excuse for an incorrect haiku; so, let's try this again: Pac-Man in 4K Should have been 8; brass: “No way” Masses cry in pain In case you were wondering: yes, the last line was inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Upon first reading I thought it was going to be a limerick! But of course it didn't quite fit that form either, plus it didn't have anything naughty to say about Ms. Pac-Man. One interesting thing about the form you chose is the criss-crossing rhyme in lines 3 and 4. Perhaps you could add line 5: Now how much would you pay? Not even a dollar! As a haiku, it might go something like this: Pac-Man in 4K Suddenly, ROM cut in half Masses cry in pain

Stanza in four lines Ten or more syllables each Guess it's not haiku

Had the VCS sported its own speakers, it wouldn't have been the first video game console to do so: the original Fairchild Channel F had its own speakers (however, its successor from Zircon used the TV's sound). Not that anyone remembers or cares.

quote: Originally posted by jahfish: need help ... do you write it "infogamian" or "infogaymian"? Well, Infogrames is French, so... Infogramien? Infogrammatique? Infogrammairien?

quote: Originally posted by Matthew Vigor: heavy six switcher where can I find one of these? not one in six years While away from the computer, I came up with something along the same lines: Where are all the carts? Not at thrift shops or yard sales. EBay must perish!!

quote: Originally posted by liveinabin: An adaptor to use 5200 sticks in ALL your systems!!! LOL!!!!!

quote: Originally posted by Matthew Vigor: Can you find a hidden message? My room seems more open Right through high land And North down in Saskatchewan A bull in town comes home You should be nicer to Mrs. Morthland.

quote: Originally posted by osmeroid: Hey! Has anyone Been watching new Enterprise? I rather like it T'Pol is quite hot Hoshi's cute; Phlox is funny Others make me yawn

Phone parts strewn about... G-man and labcoat pursue... Eek! Another well!

“Help! help! I'm being repressed!” quote: Originally posted by Pyramid-Studios: I dont care how much you want to bitch and moan about how you dont like the game Excellent, for I didn't and don't intend to. quote I once suffered that misfortune, but it has absolutely no bearing on my argument against your bossy, jingoistic, and hypocritical attempt to squelch legitimate discussion. quote If I “whined”, it was about your reply to Liveinabin, not about some other controversy. (I'm not sure if you're implying otherwise or not; I merely wish to set the record straight.) quote You made a topical, politically charged game and solicited opinions. QED. quote That very attitude is the “big deal”...or rather, the attempt to impose it on the rest of us is. quote Again, I never expressed an opinion about the title, except that it has a political subtext. quote Again, the issue I was posting about was your reaction to criticism. quote Unfounded and, if an attempt to insult, ad hominem. quote The sheer amount of venom you are spewing over this topic belies your claim that it is unimportant. In my opinion, doing right is an everyday job, in things both great and small. Once again, though, I was calling you on your behavior in this topic, not on the qualities of this game. The passion with which you feel and defend your convictions is admirable; however, your careless, irrational analysis and utter disrespect for others is to be deplored. I strongly urge you to combat these problems, lest they hinder your various undertakings despite your finer qualities.

quote: Originally posted by Pyramid-Studios: ....Ok... Did anyone complain with Kabul? ...no... So what? I felt it was in poor taste, but I didn't happen to say so on this board. Was there some sort of “speak now or forever hold your peace” clause governing criticism of Kabul! or any future effort? quote Surprise, surprise...residents of the United States are not the only people with rights to freedom of expression. And never mind that citizens of Liveinabin's country and many other nations besides ours have been killed by terrorist acts attributed to al-Qaida. The UK in particular has been a staunch ally of the United States in the war in Afghanistan. quote It seems to me that you brought up politics with Rambo in Afghanistan in the first place. You asked for an opinion of the game, and you received one. That's fair! Next time, if the only opinions you are looking for are those identical to your own, you should be more specific.

My Imagic faves are Demon Attack and Star Voyager. Demon Attack seems fairly popular, but I think Star Voyager's reception tends to be mixed. The game is a Star Raiders clone of sorts that retains the first-person starship battle elements and eschews the “map strategy” component of its predecessor. There is some strategy, however, and the graphics are pleasing and appropriately futuristic.

I'm not sure anyone's addressed Malix's actual question, which is (I think) whether any 2600 game was produced and then revised in some sort of censorship move. To my knowledge, such never took place. My apologies to Malix if I am misinterpreting his question. Even if so, I'd be curious to know if in fact such a revision did ever occur.

quote: Originally posted by Pyramid-Studios: no matter how much I try my fingers always get caught in those darn things! It could be worse: you could receive continuous electrical shocks every time you play Ms. Pac-Man... [ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: The Night Phantom ]

quote: Originally posted by StanJr: I'd like to keep this little corner of fun out of the spotlight. Yeah—now that magazines like Entertainment Weekly are spilling the beans, we should change this site's URL, again! We wouldn't be the first 2600 underground...

Interesting tip, Mitch—thanks! I have an Atari 8-bit computer but have not yet picked up Robotron for it (on the other hand, I don't have VCS Spy Hunter either, just its coupler!). The Digital Press Collector's Guide (6th ed.) says 8-bit Robotron was “originally” packaged with the coupler; I'm not sure if that means the coupler was dropped later or if the Guide is just contrasting the original package setup with second-hand cartridges that might not come with anything. In any case, this item sounds like something to keep an eye out for and then treasure. Take that, killer robots!!

Enterprise: That 2150s Show

quote: Originally posted by MattyXB: Will someone give me his place? quote: Originally posted by ATARIPITBULL: I hope some how that I can get one of those special editions!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Good luck to you both! I know I won't be of any help to you—I'm claiming my copy!!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Spy Hunter came packed with a joystick coupler called the “Dual Control Module” (are you impressed?). It is designed to work with the stock CX40 sticks, with one rotated -90° (it turns out the CX40's base is not perfectly square). In Spy Hunter the second joystick's shaft is not needed—only its button is—so, this arrangement isn't a problem. I have used the DCM to play Raiders of the Lost Ark; it's fairly efficient once one gets used to moving the inventory joystick up and down instead of left and right. For a game like 7800 Robotron: 2084, I don't care for the DCM so much (even if I use my “southpaw” cable to rotate the stick functions back a compensatory 90°) since the DCM is too light and its “pockets” too shallow to hold both controllers steady during simultaneous intensive use of both shafts. (Oh, keep your mind out of the gutter. ) Lemmi's homemade solution sounds good. Another idea would be to obtain or build arcade-style controllers that are meant to hold themselves steady in the first place.

Guys, be thrifty with your lunch money if you like, but don't malnourish yourselves. VCS gaming is great, but it's not worth risking your health. Except for the strain to the eyes and wrists. Sure, it's worth that. But what good is, for instance, a Pitfall game if you collapse before finding the first gold bar? And do you think Pac-Man would starve himself for the sake of videogaming? No way! We're glad to have you in the hobby—just take things easy, guys.

quote: Originally posted by jim kenney: says he grown up to bigger and better games!! Bigger? Sure. Better? Unlikely.

quote: Originally posted by marty: Maybe it has been out for a year. I think the DVD-Video version has been available since 1998 (maybe only 1999), and that the Windows DVD-ROM was released around the same time. Recently Digital Leisure has announced that DVD-ROMs of Dragon's Lair and several other titles are coming to Mac OS X.

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