Pixelboy

Jumping off ropes is actually something I asked to be fixed from the original MSX version. Doing it the original way was way too much trouble with the stock ColecoVision controller, so we simplified it, and the game is way better for it.

It's called "programmed obsolescence".

Ah, okay, thanks.

Wait, AnalogKid and Itchy are one and the same? Can anyone please confirm/disprove this?

Yeah, some other companies like Spinnaker and Fisher Price did that a lot.

The Retron Jr is still alive! Now it's called the Retron Sq! Also: https://www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com/hyperkin-announces-new-name-and-console-features-for-retron-jr-project/ So the GBA support portion of the machine is now marked as "beta", which means it's a work-in-progress. So while there's still no release date on the thing, it can be assumed that they'll release it this year, sooner rather than later, with some firmware updates coming to fix the bugs in the emulation. Not really a problem if 1) they have some kind of official online hub where people can report issues, and 2) firmware updates are easy and straightforward. So good news, I would say.

Good to know, thanks.

I had to change my recorded e-mail address to an alternate address, as Hotmail is blocking atariage.com. I can't even "re-register" my Hotmail address linked to my account on the AtariAge forums, because the confirmation e-mail is getting blocked. I'm worried they will block e-mails from Team Pixelboy (I've had problems with this in the past) since it's on the same e-mail server.

Have you tried pressing [7] on controller #1 and [3] on controller #2?

Are you saying you will be offering a passthrough component to everyone who purchased a Rev1 Phoenix (like me)? I have to admit this problem is a little annoying on my Phoenix, because it messes up the system when I switch carts, and I have to press the reset button every time for the game to boot properly.

Looking at that bigger pic, I can see it's clearly "regular" graphic mode #2, with two colors per line within each 8x8 tile.

I vote for the Filmation one. It's more iconic.

They could have done a Star Trek TNG game with that same idea, as they used a lot of touchscreen interfaces on the Enterprise D, especially on the bridge. Also, a modernized version of Elite would have been a worthy addition to the DS/3DS library. That one can probably be explained, although I can't be sure I'm correct: Fast-moving 3D could possibly put an unusual strain on the eyes of the player. After all, there was a reason why there was a switch on the 3DS to turn off the 3D effect, that reason being that many players felt a strain on their vision from playing with the 3D effect enabled for extended periods of time. I figure this strain would be accelerated with a fast-moving game like F-Zero.

Just thought of another missed opportunity: Remaking some of the better Virtual Boy games for the 3DS. I'm thinking mostly of Wario Land and maybe Red Alarm (ditching the wireframe rendering for actual polygon-based 3D graphics), Jack Bros and maybe Teleroboxer. Come to think of it, they could probably have fit many of those games on a single 3DS cart and sold it off as a quirky collection of 3D-based games, perfectly showing off the 3D effect of the 3DS screen. Too bad it never came to be.

From your post count, it seems you're kinda new here, so a belated welcome. Most of my released titles are already available in ROM format. Just do a search on the forums using the keywords "Team Pixelboy News Bulletin" and look for bulletins dated December 25th, from 2013 to 2020. As far as manuals are concerned, I think it would be a flagrant turnaround on the main announcement made in first post of this thread if I started releasing PDFs of my manuals. Team Pixelboy should not to be confused with Opcode Games. They are completely distinct entities.

You forgot to say that MSX ports are inherently evil, like you usually do. Frankly, your constant SGM bashing every chance you get is getting really tiresome.

That's alright, this is the kind of thread where the first post is the important one, the rest is just gravy.

You're probably right, but then the device would depend on a 40-year-old unreliable piece of tech. And then there would probably be issues with people who modded their consoles. With a motherboard replacement, you've got complete control over the hardware setup, all you need are some old non-functional ColecoVision consoles from which you can recycle the casing, so no custom plastic enclosure to design or pay for, and no front expansion port female connector to worry about. Heck, you could probably replace the DB9 controller ports with USB ports, and use off-the-shelf USB controllers, which would cut costs even more. But then you'd lose the 12-key keypad, so maybe it's not such a good idea, with respect to backward compatibility.

I think this should be done as a "Colecovision II" motherboard replacement project. There's probably more than enough room inside the ColecoVision's casing for a new motherboard that includes all the desired features. The front expansion port could be ditched in favor of a keyboard port and an SD card reader, although the SD card reader would have to be recessed quite a bit in order for the little black front door to stay mobile. Just position the cartridge port and joystick ports in the same spots on the new motherboard (to line them up with the openings in the original enclosure), use the power plug opening for the HDMI female connector, and the RF connector opening for the power cord, and voilà. If it's done this way, there wouldn't be any need to drill holes into the original enclosure, although I expect there would be some design concerns around the HDMI connector. Personally, I would opt for a couple of simple USB ports in the front expansion port area, which could be used to plug in USB drives with ROMs (or perhaps more interestingly, read/write files for savegame purposes, or extra data for new levels that the cartridge software could load into RAM, etc.) or perhaps a USB keyboard or a USB mouse. USB is complex to implement, but it opens the door to a lot of peripheral hardware possibilities if it's done properly, so it would be worth the effort for the board designer to do his homework. And of course, the new board should be backwards compatible with original ColecoVision carts, so the SGM would have to be integrated into the design, along with the Coleco BIOS and equivalent VDP+sound chip solutions.

Just send me an e-mail at pixelboy at teampixelboy dot com, and let me know which edition of the controller you want (Upright (color) or Cabaret (black & white with woodgrain)). You'll be expected to send me a deposit of 50$US immediately, which will be used to purchase the controller's enclosure.

Oh! Right! I was so used to the choppy tile-based scrolling in the original MSX port that I couldn't notice the smooth scrolling here! Nicely done, Eduardo! Is this running on a regular CV with SGM?

I'm obviously missing something, because I don't see the difference with the previously-released version.

I'm far from being an expert on these things, but isn't it true that certain mods can make the Expansion Module #1 inoperable? Someone else can probably chime in and confirm.

Well, I can only speak for myself here, but I'm in need to an up-to-date list of releases, with the release year specified for each game. I need this for when I decide to do my trading card series for all the homebrew releases, because the cards will be ordered by year, and then sub-ordered by game name. Also, sometimes I like to look up the rarity list for miscellaneous information, so I'm glad the list is there for me to browse through when I need it, but to be honest I don't use it on a regular basis.

Thanks for the list, Bobby, it seems I copy-and-pasted an incomplete list in my original post. All the games of the Budget Series have been handed over to CollectorVision. Same goes for Pitfall II Arcade and Destructor SCE. Since he already has a "working relationship" with Sean Kelly, I let Albert have Joust, but he will need to print his own boxes, as I'm all out of boxes for that game. Peek-a-boo has been pretty much abandoned, I can't see anyone but hardcore collectors purchasing this children's game, and I believe I'm out of boxes anyway. Super Action Soccer was a limited release, only 5 copies were ever made. Same goes for Nether Dungeon, which was limited to 50 copies. If anyone wants Nether Dungeon just to play the game, they should just get Deep Dungeon Adventure, since it's basically the same game. Battle of Hoth is in limbo, I don't know who would want to publish more copies of this game, given the legal particularities.