Big Player

How good are these joysticks as far as play goes? They look like they would be unwieldy for certain games.

Without eBay, my Atari collection would be quite lame. I know many who post on this board don't like eBay, but I have never been ripped off there. It is tough to find certain games in the wild. But yes, there is nothing like it when you do come across a good one.

Cool people who went to my high school. (Long before my time) Julie Hagerty from Airplane! Jim Koch, brewer of Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

quote Hey, he sounds like a fellow Atari Age member in the making. Could you hook him up with a console or tell him to hit the flea markets? Most large flea markets have at least one 2600 console for sale. Unless he is just saying that because he doesn't want his mom to sell his stuff.

quote Wrong Chris Carter. The X-Files guy is not from Middletown OH. But Woody Harrelson is from Lebanon OH. So Woody and Stan Jr. are from the same place? WOW, that explains a lot.

1) Maze Craze 2) Adventure 3) Tie-Warlords & Indy 500

Yes, avoid the Action packs. As someone who paid full price for Action Pack #1 and #2 and ten bucks for #3, I want my damn money back. Especially since I bought the Windows 3.1 versions right before I upgraded to Win 95. (This was a few years ago.) Now, they don't work in any of the newer versions of Windows, but that is not a bad thing. You can get better emulators and a lot more roms on the net (Z26 is my favorite.) The only redeeming quality of the packages is the history section on each game. But it is not worth actually paying anything for it, the information is too thin. Example: "The current whereabouts of Larry Miller are unknown." Yikes! Guess he should have paid off that loan shark.

Not to be a wet blanket or anything, but aren't there any legal problems with releasing this game? Do they have to get permission from Warner Bros.? I would love to see the Blue Sky Rangers release those completed M-Network ROMS such as AD&D Treasure of Tarmin and Rocky and Bullwinkle. But last I had heard, they wouln't release them due to license restrictions. Is it just that the Blue Sky Rangers are cowards?

quote: I walked, and I walked. I had only lived in this city for a few months, and I had no idea where I was. I don't remember how long the ride in was... just that I was talking really slow. MoJoFLTR Here's a link with three different maps. They should help you the next time you are lost. (Good thing you live in such a famous place.) http://jongy.tripod.com/StrategiesAdvanced.html

quote All good points. Also remember the Commodore 64 used the same joystick port and it was the most popular home computer right after the video game crash. I had an 800XL, of course which also used the same joystick port.

You're right, most of the stuff in those stores is crap. It was three in the morning when I made that post, I should have read your post more closely. And the real reason I don't go into those stores is that they don't have any more Atari stuff. But to think I passed up on Solaris and Sprintmaster at the dollar store because I had never heard of the games and so I just assumed they weren't any good.

I don't know. eBay is becoming a big dipshit magnet much like America Online. I know of one seller who received negative feedback for repeatedly e-mailing the auction winner for her mailing address. The winner's never responded because "That is private information, you are a stalker." I hope that no one with that level of intelligence bids on your auction.

quote Hey, I got a lot of the later Atari red label releases, new in the box, for only a dollar at those stores. Of course that was back 1992-3 and you won't find me in those stores much anymore since I do have a job now. quote If I remember correctly, a new release from Atari back then was about $40. The new Activision games were about $30. I didn't buy any other manufacturer's carts when they came out, so I'm no help on those prices.

quote: It would be cool to hook up a 2600 to an instant replay board at the local pro stadium or NBA arena...could you imagine Double-Dunk with 3-foot-tall players? Then the next step would be to have a big single elimination tournament, like the NCAA's. I believe both you and I would have to be number one seeds. But I could see myself get knocked out by some pissant with a three at the buzzer. 32"" for me.

Just to see what would happen, I loaded a Milli Vanilli tape into my 2600 using the Supercharger. My 2600 won a Grammy on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the press found out that my 2600 didn't do it alone--that it had the help of the uncredited Supercharger. On Friday, my 2600 returned the Grammy in shame. I just found my 2600 dead of an drug overdose this morning. Look for the whole story on an upcomming "Behind the Music" on VH1.

Just to throw my 2 cents in. I don't like chat rooms since the responses are generally limited to one or two lines, which doesn't give much room to get a complete thought out. And the real time nature also doesn't let the user go back and re-read their reply, so they can get better think and craft what they are saying. The conversation tends to get stale and banal quickly. But a once a week chat would be fine. It is nice to get an immediate response to your message. I would probably observe more then participate. And the members of this board tend to be much smarter then your average America Online user. "This is what I find most encouraging about the writing trades: They allow mediocre people who are patient and industrious to revise their stupidity, to edit themselves into something like intelligence. They also allow lunatics to seem saner then sane."--- Kurt Vonnegut

Here is an exchange from the first episode I ever saw of MST3K. Movie: "Have you heard of Asteroids?" Tom Servo: "Sure, I used to have an Atari." I have been a huge fan of the show ever since.

Back in 1981, I was torn between the VCS and the Odyssey 2. My parents told me they would buy a console for Christmas and I couldn't decide between the two. One week I wanted one, the next week, I wanted the other. My final decision, shortly before Christmas: The Odyssey 2. Christmas morning came and what is under the tree? A VCS! That's about the only time I am glad my parents didn't listen to me. And back then, it was always the VCS in the video game magazines and just "The Atari" around the house and at school. Never the 2600.

Yes, but jeez don't mention it on this post. See, no one on this post knows that another parallel post exits. To let them know about it could cause a ripple in the space-time continuum. We could have all sort of paradoxes like two Mountain Kings or two Lemmnis. The implications are frightening.

Your first dead cart? Oh, we feel your pain. Here are my carts that have moved on to a better place. A moment of silence please. Mountain King Starmaster Ice Hockey Tennis Astroblast Video Pinball (No great loss there) Atari age support group

And when Marge got off the Bus in Toronto, she said, "Everything is so clean and bland, just like I like it."

I can try to explain the offsides rule as we played Soccer as kids in America (I played from 1976-1982.) If I remember correctly, the forwards cannot run past the opposing fullbacks ahead of the ball. There is no set offsides line like in hockey--it is set by the fullbacks or the ball, if you kick it past them. Now I guess the World Cup game has a more complicated offsides rule, but then, that would explain why most Americans don't care about the sport. For the few of us who played the sport, we probably played some watered down version of the game. In America, Soccer is seen as a kids game. Once you hit the age of 12, its time to play Football.

H.E.R.O. and Pitfall 2 are more expensive but worth it, since you buy the games to play. The game-play on these carts makes them the two best games for the 2600. Other games that I play repeatedly (and you might as well.) Double Dunk Maze Craze (great two player game) Pressure Cooker Adventure Kaboom

The Casino label. All the hours I spend playing blackjack and never see the woman in the low cut dress. But then, it isn't like I wear a tuxedo when I play the game either. Interesting side note: the game ends if you win over $10,000. Wouldn't that be a perfect time for her to make an appearance?

Oops, I looked in my Ken Uston's Buying and Beating the Home Video Games book and those awards were from Video magazine. I believe Electronic Games was a spin-off of this magazine. And it turns out Laser Blast lost to UFO (Odyssey 2) for the Best Science Fiction game.