Big Player

The problem might be your TV. Here is the thread I pulled the quote from. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8397

My rule of thumb is to clean every cart I find in the wild with alcohol and Q-tips before it ever touches my 2600--even if the contacts look clean.

I visited the 2600 Nexus from time to time for the rarity guide and manual archive. If I remember correctly, there weren't forums at first. And the forum software that was used was awful. You had to click on each reply in a thread to read it. It took forever to load on my computer. I lurked on Atari Age until the end of 2001 when I finally registered. I didn't post anything for another two months. And I still lurk more than I post now, which shows how much time I spend here with almost 3000 posts.

Try it in place of the right joystick with Stargate. Also good with Radar Lock.

I love Maze Craze. I didn't have it back then, but when I was in junior high my friend had a birthday party and so about seven of us got together, pooled our money and bought him Maze Craze. Then we played it for hours that night. First one out of the maze keeps playing. Loser goes to the end of the line. There were nine of us. And I still have no idea who decided that Maze Craze was the game to buy. What I love about this game is the great mix of mental challenge and hand-eye coordination that it takes to be successful at the game. It is sad that this game didn't get more recognition. That it requires two players along with the simple graphics (even for the 2600) probably kept people away from it. If they had only played the game, we probably wouldn't need to put it in threads like this. (Great idea for a thread, by the way.) Something I always wondered was how many possible mazes there are. I know that to fit into 4K of ROM, there has to be a very efficient algorithm that generates the maze. Do any of the technical gurus know?

First time I saw Solaris was the All-For-One store in the mall. Must have been 1992 or 93. This was when they were selling all the liquidated 2600 games NIB for $1. I looked at the front of the box and put it back. I passed on it. Mainly because I had not heard of the game and thought it must have been one of those crappy games made during the crash. At the time I had no idea Atari kept making new games for the 2600 into the late 80's. I knew they re-issued the system, but I thought they just re-issued the games too. I finally got Solaris a few years ago for $1. Loose and one of the dirtiest carts I've ever purchased. Poetic justice I guess.

Sorry shep, you can't go until you learn how to properly spell the city. Three n's and only one t. It is good to hear there is some progress. I hope the timeframe is still in the spring? It's been over a year since my last classic gaming show. I'm going through withdrawal right now. Still eight months till Philly? Arrgh!

Amazing Maze has two players entering the maze on opposite sides of the screen. It's your goal to find the exit on the other side faster than your opponent. There's even a little bit of strategy involved: While you have to find your own way, you can also have an eye on the other guy and memorize his path, so once you meet each other, you can quickly finish your way. Is this how 2600 Maze Craze works? I admittedly never really played it... What? Maze Craze is one of my favorite two players games for the 2600. I've even found that people who don't like video games but like puzzles and mazes will play it. In Maze Craze, there are a number of different options, but the basic premise remains the same: both players start in the same position on the left side of the maze and race each other to the exit on the right side. From what I've read, the author of Maze Craze admitted he got the idea from Amazing Maze.

I dunno, we held AGE in 2003 at the end of July. Everyone is out of school and the weather is generally sunny every day of the summer here in Austin. However, the weather was around 100 degrees, which is typical for that time of year. We did quite well with attendance, having 2,300 people walk through the door for the single day the event was held. Would we have done better if the show was held in the spring or fall? I don't really think so, but you never know. ..Al Well I meant specifically Philly. I'm guessing the overall climate in Philly is similar to Cincinnati which leaves a four month window where we have decent weather to spend outdoors. The casual fan in the summer might head off to the pool, amusement park or for a round of golf instead of a classic gaming convention. In November or March, what else are you going to do for fun? I was in Austin for the AGE and the summer is a good time to hold a show there. When I stepped out of the Austin airport, I couldn't get into my rental car fast enough so I could crank up the air conditioner. I was amazed I had to keep the AC on in the car all the time, even when driving well after midnight. I don't know how the winters are in Austin, but you have to at least have a longer window where you can comfortably participate in outdoor activites. The casual fan in Austin might prefer to get out of that 100 degree heat.

Michigan game... Okay, I had not thought of that one. It's in Michigan this year so I know I won't get the chance to buy tickets for that one. If the game fell on the same weekend, I would have to buy a vendor table just so I could hook up a TV to watch the game. Good thing it's nationally televised. The game ususally falls on Thanksgiving weekend anyway. I could just videotape the game, as my brother and sister did this year. (They were in Cancun at the time.) Besides, I was lucky enough to attend the 2002 Michigan game.

It's funny about the conflict with football season. My brother wouldn't attend the previous PC's because they were held on the weekend of the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. He likes classic gaming but is not a huge fan. He is a big football fan also and will probably use that as an excuse to not attend PC6. So it really comes down to, what do you like more? For me, classic gaming and the PC trumps all of my other hobbies and forms of entertainment. I do attend one Ohio State football game a year and if this happens to fall on the same day, I think the Bucks will still do fine without me. I think it's better to hold the convention in the fall or spring. You're going to have better attendance from the casual fan than if you held it when the weather is nice. And that's the reason to make these decisions, because there are a lot more casual fans than diehards like us.

We also usually start a roll call thread a week or two before philly. If you're going, post what you're going to wear and a general discription of what you look like. I'm the short bald guy in the blue T-shirt, standing in the front row in the picture Albert posted. I wear my AA T-shirt for one of the days of PC. Not the day this pic was taken, obviously.

There might be nothing wrong with your cart. The problem could be your TV. Try adjusting the Vhold knob or try it on another TV. Here is an even older thread explaining the problem and possible solution. http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8397

Great news! I'm glad you've locked down the date so early. I'll do everything I can to make PC6 my third PC in a row. I can't wait for it. The only bad thing is that I have to wait eight months.

Those pictures took about ten minutes to load on this ancient laptop I'm using. But it was damn sure worth it. Great stuff.

I have a feeling Jay's not going to be too upset about the error.

Nintendo tried to make the SNES backwards compatible with the NES but they had too much trouble with cartridge reliability. No matter what the engineers tried, most of the time the cartridges would load on the first try.

The review is proof once again that actors are some of the least interesting people on earth.

Maze Craze is one of my favorite 2-player 2600 games. We used to play it at parties when I was in junior high. First out of the maze keeps playing. Frankenstein's Monster is a game I had been searching for a long time. Finally got it at PC5.

It all depends on what you are looking for. The vendors change each year, so you never know if you will find what you need or not. You just have to go and see. I know one AA member who went to PC4 specifically looking for Lynx games and didn't find anything. It can happen, just like going to thrift stores and flea markets. The main point is to hang out with other classic gaming enthusiasts and have fun. You can also meet some famous people in the classic gaming field. If you look at it, classic gaming shows are not very efficient way of getting games if you live far away. You could buy a lot of stuff on eBay for $300. Now I too have a long trip to Philly but I have been the past two years and I'm going to do everything I can to make PC6. Of course I've travelled with Stan Jr to ease the costs and make the eight hour drive seem a lot shorter. But I will still be there, even if our schedules don't match for PC6. (Perish the thought!) Philly is worth the trip.

The AA dinner last year was a little too big. It was great getting 25 people together but we had to wait an hour just to get a table at Chili's. They put it all on one check too. Guess who had to count the money and settle the bill? All I can say is that I'm not currently an accountant, so someone else can do it this year. I think getting together is smaller groups for dinner is much better. We just have so many AA members that show up at Philly. It's not like we can all talk to each other at once. I had to try to follow Cafeman's conversation on my left and Curt Vendel's on my right. Both were very interesting but I could barely keep up with each of them. I'm sure I missed some good stuff. We could all still go to the same restaurant, if we wanted.

They didn't even get that right, with Beamrider not on the list.

No, the first for the 2600. Some of the games from Air-Sea Battle were ports of Anti-Aircraft. http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter...=A&game_id=6892 Cassidy Nolen had one on display at PC6. I never knew about this game before, let alone seen one.

Or you could just buy one of those handheld solitare games for $15. That's what I did for my father a few years back. He still plays it all the time.

When was Breakout released? Would it be the first port that had the same name as the arcade game?