onmode-ky

Nice detective work. I think the best thing to do now would be Legacy Engineering contacting Fred Meyer directly to find out their source for these. Marty, might it be likely that one of the retailers/distributors who bought stock from you guys back at launch recently found a bunch of leftover in a warehouse and decided to just sell all of it to someone else instead of redistributing it to their retail stores? Old stock does get rediscovered every now and then; my local Best Buy stores have suddenly all begun carrying heavily discounted copies of a certain anime DVD from 2006 that I know did not sell well back then. Perhaps a former FB2 buyer decided, "We won't make good money on these Atari things now; we believe the retro game fad is dead. Let's see if someone else wants them." Of course, I'm just speculating. Better to ask the source. onmode-ky

Hey, nice work! Here's something for you to shoot for, then: my high score on Taxi (PS3 version) is 18,152,090, which, back when I got it this past mid-April, was good enough for 104 on the PS3 leaderboard (yes, I really wrote down all my high scores, ranks, and dates). Have you ever looked at the top of the leaderboards? Some people are insanely good; I remember one of the tables had a #1 score which was actually more than twice the #2 score. Hard to tell if it's just skill or cheating. onmode-ky

Assuming you can find a consistent box size for shipping these to interested parties, can you let us know the package's dimensions and weight so we can figure the shipping costs from the various carriers' websites? With these being metal, I imagine a first-class stamp won't cut it. . . . onmode-ky

I've recently learned a massive amount about various aspects of the plug-n-play development scene (from back when it was more or less booming). So, I thought I'd share some of the new information here. First, about Jakks Pacific's TV Games' GameKeys: several years ago, I wrote a post here at AtariAge which summarized what GameKeys had been released and for what TV Games systems. More recently, I have learned that several others were developed but not released or were in development when the call from above came to cancel them, due to the market failure of the GameKey concept. Here are the unreleased, possibly unfinished GameKeys I know: - Dragonball Z (said to contain "an improved fighting game and a puzzle game") - Fantastic 4 (canceled) - Winnie the Pooh (said to double the total number of games on the Winnie the Pooh TV Game system) I may as well list the unreleased-but-at-least-partly-finished TV Games systems I know of, too: - Midway (included Joust, Defender, Sinistar, Stargate and Toobin'; the Mortal Kombat TV Game was a spin-off of this project) - Capcom (a second Capcom TV Game that included Mega Man and Section Z) - PGA Tour Golf II - Tecmo (included Mighty Bomb Jack, Solomon's Key, Tecmo Bowl, Tecmo Basketball, and Fire 'N Ice) - Pokémon - Brain Surge (ESRB lists this as Super Brain Surge) The Midway system used Digital Eclipse's "Meta-Emulation" technology (details at Jeff Vavasour's site), except for Toobin'. Incidentally, to answer the old question of whether the EA Sports TV Game system (which contained NHL 95 and either Madden 95 or FIFA 96, depending on region) emulated the Sega Genesis: the original M68000 Genesis assembly code for these games was translated into μnSP assembly for the SPG110 chip in the TV Game, through a tool developed by project co-lead engineer John Harris. If you're aware of the differences between the two processors' architectures, you should be quite impressed. I also know of a few unreleased, Sunplus-based plug-n-play projects commissioned by Hasbro and MGA, but details on those are scant. In addition, I know of some other unreleased, Sunplus-based projects, for a music education system and a movie theater group game system. Other information I recently obtained includes some details about the memory types and capacities used in several plug-n-play systems. In the TV Games line, most systems seem to have contained 2 MB of ROM for game assets and, if they had game save capacity, 4 Kbits of EEPROM. There were a few exceptions, though. Here are some that I know: - Mortal Kombat (6 MB ROM, 256 KB extra RAM for swapping graphics data during mid-match opponent character switch) - Shrek (well, Shrek and Over the Hedge; 4 MB ROM) - High School Musical (non-deluxe model; 8 MB ROM) - Ultimotion Disney Fairies/Sleeping Beauty (0 ROM, 64 MB NAND, 8 MB SDRAM, 16 Kbits EEPROM) - Ultimotion Playhouse Disney (0 ROM, 64 MB NAND, 8 MB SDRAM, 16 Kbits EEPROM) - VMIGO Spider-Man (TV Game portion: 8 MB ROM, 256 KB SRAM, 16 Kbits EEPROM) My digging has also uncovered more in the way of debug codes for a few Jakks Pacific TV Games systems. Here is a summary that includes earlier debug mode discoveries: - Namco Ms. Pac-Man (both wired and wireless models; joystick up, press-and-hold 'A' button, joystick down) - Tele-Doodle (easter egg: joystick up, press-and-hold button, joystick clockwise back to up, release button, joystick counterclockwise back to up) - Care Bears (joystick up, joystick clockwise back to up, press 'A' button while joystick still up) - Capcom (joystick up, press-and-hold 'A' button, joystick down) - Namco Super Pac-Man (joystick up, press-and-hold 'A' button, joystick down) - Namco Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man (joystick up, press-and-hold 'A' button, joystick down) Lastly, some technical tidbits: in the Sunplus SPG2xx line, the oft-used SPG240 seems to be the most cost-effective chip, while the SPG220 was (at least at its time) the "deluxe" variant. The differences lie in features which a given product may or may not actually need, like I/O lines and number of sound channels. As for the "PAC300" name that describes the same chip as "SPG240," I believe that name was assigned to the massive batches of SPG240 ordered by Jakks Pacific, to differentiate from other firms' orders. So . . . was that enough text? You may let your eyes recover now. I'll be updating my PnP Info website with this data shortly. onmode-ky

Not sure about other Amazon branches, but Amazon.co.jp has never sold video games to North American shipping destinations. I don't know if they did at some point (I'm inclined to think not), but the policy has certainly been like this for many years. It's a pity, too, because they have some great discounts; with Play-Asia.com and NCSXShop.com, you normally pay full price. onmode-ky

I think it's worth pointing out that the software in question is not for the PS3. Nowhere in the Kotaku article does it say it's for the PS3, and the only system tag on the article is "#pc." onmode-ky

Hmm, I think yours is unique, maybe from a "bad" batch. I went out and bought one from a store today to see if this was a newly revised version of the stick, but the stick was still strictly 4-way. Completely physically impossible to go diagonal in Bosconian and Xevious. This being the case, then, I think the solution to your problem is very simple: go out and buy another one! onmode-ky

I did e-mail Jakks Pacific; they never responded. As expected, really. It's a mass-produced product considered to be a cheap electronic toy. If it's not a child safety issue, a large toy company isn't going to consider fixing the problem. Would have been nice to at least get a "Hmm, that's interesting" response, though. onmode-ky

Yours has true diagonals? As in you can effortlessly execute diagonal movements in Xevious and Bosconian? If that's really the case, then this must be a revised version . . . . . . but I honestly find it hard to believe Jakks Pacific would make that change. It makes no sense; only 2 out of 12 games in the collection need 8-way capability, while several others would suffer if it were added back. Given the awful user feedback from their first 8-way stick, which severely handicapped the Ms. Pac-Man experience, it seems unlikely that they'd switch back. Can you unequivocally say that your stick flawlessly executes diagonals in Xevious and Bosconian? If so, then this is all pretty weird for Jakks to do. Maybe it would mean they had even fixed the Xevious enemy mapping errors that were introduced in this stick. onmode-ky P.S. What do you mean, "there is a twist that you can adjust"? You're not talking about the twist mechanics for Pole Position, I assume?

The 12-in-1 ("Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man," AKA "Namco 5," released late 2008) is already a 4-way stick. The only 8-way stick Namco TV Games were the assorted Ms. Pac-Man ("Namco 2") models. Everything in the Namco series since 2006 has been 4-way only. Try to move diagonally in either Xevious or Bosconian on the 12-in-1, and you'll find you can't do it. If you're having control issues in Pac-Man on the 12-in-1, it's not because the stick is 8-way. onmode-ky

I had actually not heard of either Commando or Mercs until the PS2's Capcom Classics Collection releases, as I never saw them in the arcades I went to. In addition to that PS2 Capcom collection, Commando is also on Jakks Pacific's Capcom TV Game plug-n-play system, alongside 1942 and Ghosts 'N Goblins. The developer-side requirements for Minis are that the games have to be less than 100 MB (though there is a 101-MB Mini, Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess) and can't have any over-network features (like multiplayer). I don't think there is any real reason for the size limit other than keeping the downloads small, but the reason Sony cited for the networking restriction is to speed up the submission process; QA of network code apparently takes a lot of time. I've also heard one developer say that Minis can't overclock the PSP's CPU. In case you weren't aware, Minis are generally playable on both the PS3 and PSP, though there are a small number that are restricted to PSP only, Tetris being the most notable one (presumably due to EA's licensing deal on that title). Also, the "needs to be playable on PS3 as well" thing might be part of why Minis can't do network features, given the differences between PS3 and PSP networking code. I think that's all that's required. The primary advantage in submitting a game as a Mini is its being playable on both the PS3 and the PSP. This is a big deal for many Minis developers, as they're primarily small development studios and want as much exposure as possible. Minis also function as a foot in the door to further PlayStation development; e.g., an HD follow-up to Cubixx is being worked on for the PS3. Note that there is no requirement regarding technology (nothing like "your graphics have to be 2D" or "you can only have X polygons per second") or game depth (nothing like "we don't take long-form games" or "you can't implement your own achievement system"). The program was essentially conceived by SCEE (Sony Europe) as a means of having the PSP combat iOS games, but Minis do not strictly have to look and act like iOS games. They're free to push the PSP hardware--obviously, they're not going to tax the PS3's hardware much. But, as an example, look up an upcoming Mini called "Urban Trials," whose screenshots look astounding. So, while a Mini can be physically small and have a small price, it can still aim high. It's thus a little disappointing that SCEA (Sony America) basically undermines the program entirely by having PSP spokesperson Marcus mock smaller games and only promote the big PSP titles. Uh, sorry for the rant at the end. . . . onmode-ky

To my knowledge, it's not out in the US PS Store, at least not yet. It only recently appeared in the European PS Store (also, not sure if you're aware, but it's a rerelease of the 2007 PSP remake, probably the first Mini that was originally a non-Mini PSP game). Nice links! I'm the copy editor at that site, so of course I say that. Regarding the Blimp game, its trailers have been catching my eye. onmode-ky

I was rather intrigued by this game but a bit put-off by the fact that there is no playable demo, only some short trailer. Anybody else recommend it? I have the PSP version. Highly recommended. It's sort of like Robotron 2084 but with a very small hitbox (which is the entire player avatar) and a whole lot of widely varied visual style. The audio links into the gameplay similarly to how it was done in Space Invaders Extreme. Every stage looks, sounds, and plays uniquely. I have never been able to reach the final stage, sadly. Incidentally, if you're not aware, the original PC version of this was a one-man show, by Jonathan Mak. Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is, in fact, a sequel to Mercs, since Mercs is the sequel to Commando. Regarding the part of the name before the colon, Commando's Japanese title is 戦場の狼 (Senjou no Ookami), which translates as "Wolf of the Battlefield." Also, Mercs is known in Japan as Senjou no Ookami II. Here's what I have that I'll recommend based on your apparent interests: 1942: Joint Strike Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer (I'd recommend it even more if the weapons weren't so weak) Astro Tripper Namco Museum Essentials (includes a nice new entry in the Xevious series, Xevious Resurrection) Shatter Gravity Crash Everyday Shooter Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! (a Mini--word of caution: this is quite difficult!) GaiaSeed (a PS1 Import) Shienryu (a PS1 Import) More general recommendations: flOw and Flower (two compelling entries by thatgamecompany if you believe games qualify as art) PixelJunk Eden (gets really hard . . .) Noby Noby Boy (really depends on the person; be aware there is no objective, so it's more like a bizarre toy than a game) Switchball (puzzle-solving Marble Madness, similar to the earlier PC game Ballance; I don't like the controls) Who's That Flying?! (a Mini, side-scrolling shooter tower defense, with very good reviews) Cubixx (a Mini, Qix on the faces of a cube) Freekscape: Escape from Hell (a Mini, a puzzle-platformer that had me addicted to speedrunning it for a while) Coconut Dodge (a Mini, nerve-wracking maze navigation) onmode-ky

Should you still be considering the PC version, I point out that, this being a Japanese indie game, the system requirements are quite low. Here is what the Rockin' Android site says: OS - Windows 98/2000/XP/ME/Vista/7 CPU - Intel Pentium III 800MHz System RAM - 256MB Video Card - Direct3D/DirectX 8.1-compliant video card with 64MB RAM Sound Card - DirectSound compatible sound card Hard disc space - 350MB free space The guy who made this, by the way, is an associate of Touhou's maker, ZUN. So I read somewhere, anyway. onmode-ky

Agreed with the above; it's a bullet hell shooter collection, with big sprites but small hitboxes. As for the quality, it's a doujin soft series, i.e., Japanese indie. Take from that what you will, but high difficulty is pretty much guaranteed. Also, be aware that there is a PC version available at the US publisher's site, which is a physical disc plus some bonus goodies. Lastly, I think the games (on the PS3) are Remote Play-compatible. At least, that was the reason cited by a Rockin' Android person to me when explaining why there were PSP ESRB ratings for these games, even though there's no PSP version. onmode-ky

Since you pointed it out, I checked Amazon, and they were selling it that day for $5. They also had a couple of PSP games for cheap which I had been putting off, so I figured I might as well grab them all. I've played the tables a bit today. It's pretty neat. Definitely worth the $5. At $20, I might have been a bit disappointed. Heh, well, I think I probably enjoyed it more than most, admittedly. In particular, that nudge mechanic (whacking the controller) was something that had nothing like it in video pinball until pinball games on the Wii. And, I thought that the tables, while relatively simple, were still fun to play, particularly in Wizard mode. So, it was worth the $20 to me (especially back in the days before the iPhone made a $20 game no longer count as budget priced). I hope my FAQ was of some use! onmode-ky

That is correct. Media Go is a utility for the PSP and certain models of Sony Ericsson phones and does not show any PS3 software or video in the PS Store. I must say I thought your deciding factor in favor of the PS3 was odd; Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is (or will shortly be) on both XBox 360 and PS3. However, it makes more sense to me if your implication was that a game intensively dependent on the directional pad is better suited for the PS3 controller (I can't remember if it was already mentioned in this thread, but the traditional XBox 360 controller has a fairly inaccurate D-pad, an issue Microsoft tried to remedy with the recent new controller--and based on a glance at Amazon.com user reviews, they had limited success). Of course, if you were planning on getting a third-party arcade joystick, then that point is moot. Nonetheless, it is definitely true that all PS3 models will play all PS1 games (of the PS3's region), and the recent opening of the PS1 imports section in the US PS Store adds to that appeal. It was nice to see the comments in this topic acknowledging that both consoles are worthy of consideration. It most certainly is not a "no-brainer" decision one way or the other and does depend more on the individual at this point. I hope you enjoy your new console! onmode-ky

Thanks for the info. I've bugged their Twitter account about DBAC before; now with an e-mail address, I'll make it a multi-pronged attack. We need that otherworldly super-widescreen beast to land in the US. It would also be nice if the PSP original would come here, too, acting as a messenger heralding the imminent arrival of the monster. Surely SE/Taito could see the cross-platform marketing synergy of that. onmode-ky

I think I saw the Sea Wolf game a few weeks ago at a Chuck E. Cheese, when I saw an H2Overdrive there for the first time (and my first time seeing/playing it, too, over a year after first hearing of the game). Does Taito's absence from this show mean we won't be getting DariusBurst Another Chronicle in the US at all? It's bad enough the PSP original has not been released, despite an ESRB rating months ago. Heh, speaking of Taito and DariusBurst, I happen to be listening to Zuntata's L'ab-normal Limited CD right now. Incidentally, some of the track backdrops in Dido Kart feature Taipei landmarks. Granted, InJoy is based in Taipei, but it's still a surprise to see Taipei in a video game of any sort. onmode-ky

I thought I should call attention to the recent flood of data into the first post in this topic. Along with a minor 2010 update to the Jakks Pacific packaging history section, there has been a sizable addition to the data in the plug-n-play processors section. Now, it has data on products from every year from 2004 through 2010, so if you've ever been curious about what CPUs (microcontrollers, really) have been in use in plug-n-play systems over the years, that table is your resource. The same update has also been done for my PnP Info website. From the site, here is some additional information on the CPU data update (with a minor edit for context's sake): Some of the Sunplus GPAC800 entries in the [CPU data table] have Generalplus names beside them, "GPL16250," in parentheses. These are products where my source(s) identified them specifically as using the noted Generalplus chips; however, I am primarily labeling them as GPAC800s due to the GPL16250 being basically equivalent to the GPAC800. Similarly, for systems where the information source indicates they are based on the Sunplus PAC300, a chip essentially equivalent to the Sunplus SPG240, I have primarily labeled them as SPG240s, with "PAC300" noted alongside in parentheses. onmode-ky

I don't have any experience with any of the ACE games, but I felt compelled to reply because it's so rare to see discussion of current-gen imports at AtariAge. The Macross Frontier: Itsuwari no Utahime Blu-Ray hybrid pack, though, I do have that. In fact, I have a first edition copy. Unfortunately, neither game nor movie will play in my PS3, because their firmware requirement wants me to give up my goal of tinkering with Cell programming on my machine. For what it's worth, 400+ Amazon.co.jp user reviews don't seem to like Another Century's Episode R. Conditions for the title seem bad enough that Amazon.co.jp's price for the game is a 70% discount off retail (FYI, they won't ship video games to the US). Incidentally, I also have the PSP game Macross Ace Frontier, though not its sequel. onmode-ky

I'm not a big fan of the Gottlieb collection. About the only table on it I semi-enjoy is the pool themed one (8-Ball?). In terms of the collection overall, I think the flippers feel mushy and weak and the physics seem a little floaty and slow. But that's OK. I think the Gottlieb collection is important because it illustrates a completely different philosophy than the Williams collection. The tables are older (quite literally "before my time"). The technology and gameplay theory are entirely different from what came later. The collection is historical and is a good Yin to the Williams Yang. I recommend not being scared of it. It's just $10, at that price it's worth a couple of evenings' play. It's kind of interesting to compare the later games on the collection (Tee'd Off and Victory) to the standard tables on the Williams disc. In my opinion, the Gottlieb tables feel cluttered and haphazard. They feel crowded. Even the busiest Williams tables such as Tales of the Arabian Nights and Whirlwind don't feel as claustrophobic. Anyone agree? I had Gottlieb Collection before I had Williams Collection (both for PS2; later also got Williams Collection for PS3), and I feel the latter was a massive improvement over its predecessor, in many ways. Gottlieb's physics really did feel off compared to Williams'; in particular, I swear there was something wrong with the physics on Tee'd Off's left flipper, because I was never able to get consistent aim with it. Every other flipper on every other table I eventually got control of, but not that one. Any shot off that flipper had a very high probability of not going where I wanted it to go. Then there were the game's bugs, like Black Hole often dropping the ball off the table (there's a recovery mechanism for this in Williams, but not in Gottlieb). Also, I agree that the later tables in Gottlieb feel haphazard in design compared to those in Williams. Victory is memorable for making me think, "These are some really strange path placements." One of the perks I got from getting the PS3 version of Williams was the addition of online leaderboards, as I was never sure just how good I really was at pinball. I'm better than everyone I know, but I'm also the only person I know who really likes pinball. According to the PS3 Williams, I'm pretty good; not the best, but pretty good. Back when I was playing the collection often, earlier this year, I was in the top 400 on the leaderboards of every table except Black Knight (top 800 there), and I even got into the top 100 on several (including the Williams Challenge, and even the top 20 for Jive Time, a table I absolutely can't stand, ironically). Regarding Pin*Bot in particular, I'm proud that at my best, I think I once made it through that drain-o-matic table's defenses consistently enough that I got to the sun and hit the Special twice. If I didn't actually do it a second time, I know I at least got close. I have Flipnic as well, but I found it a little disappointing. When playing it, I feel like I have distinctly less control over the ball than in the Hall of Fame collections. It isn't a console game, but has anyone played the Classic Arcade Pinball TV Game plug-n-play system from Jakks Pacific (2004)? I liked it enough that I created a topic with my FAQ for the game's 3 tables a few years ago (I later also put the FAQ on my own site). The tables aren't as complex as, say, the average table in Williams Collection, but they're complex enough that my FAQ ended up being fairly long. Decent physics and difficulty as well, particularly in the Wizard mode. I also know of another of Jakks' TV Game systems, the Dragon Ball Z model, that has a pinball game, but I thought that one was too easy (my FAQ includes a review of it). That particular TV Game system, though, does have a really good paddle game. onmode-ky

If you scroll left on the XMB to the Settings set of icons, then scroll up/down to Video Settings, one of the items in that list is "Sequential Playback." If switched to On, this should have your files play one after the next, presumably in whatever sort order and grouping method you have them in. If you're looking for a way to randomize the playing order, I don't think that's available.

Yes, the new camera is of lower resolution than the original PSP camera. The Wikipedia page for the PSP camera summarizes the capabilities of the two cameras. Essentially, the new camera is missing the 1280x960 photo mode, maxing out at 640x480 (0.3 MP). The reduction in resolution was obviously done because a) game software does not need the 1280x960 photo mode, and b) the camera needed to be cheap enough to pack in with a $40 game. As far as picture quality goes, it's decent, I guess. It's certainly not going to blow away a digital SLR, but for this class of device (i.e., like a basic webcam), it gets the job done. Namely, it works well for Invizimals. I've attached a sample 640x480 image. onmode-ky

I have Invizimals (a British copy I got through eBay a few months ago, before I knew the game would be coming to the US this fall; Europe got the game last autumn). It's well worth the purchase, I think, and not only for the camera. The various activities which the game asks you to do to capture the creatures and to command them in battle are quite varied, immersive, and fun (well, the seeking portion always just asks you to search for a surface of a given color, but the capture part has all sorts of methods). Note that the camera has a microphone built in, so some of the activities not only include moving the camera/PSP around and interacting with the real/CGI image, but also some sound elements. I've never had any really bad issues with responsiveness. My only disappointment with the game is the battling, since I'm not a Pokémon player. Other than that, I think the game's presentation, interface, graphics, and usage of the camera are all very well done. And, if you do like the battling, be aware that the game supports Infrastructure Mode, so you can battle online against players around the world. Also of note, once you've captured an Invizimal, you can go into a game mode where you just play with it through the augmented reality interface. This mode supports screenshots, so you can take pictures of yourself interacting with your Invizimals (one at a time, that is) in the "real" world. Regarding further games that use the PSP camera, I don't think there will be many, but there will be a PSP version of EyePet that uses it. onmode-ky