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I was bugged by this. So bugged that I had to move the screen down a little bit more. Because the star kept twinkling when the game ended. But then I got to thinking: There has to be a reason for this. The reason was the game was working too hard. So I tried to move the star up a little so the screen didn't look strange with everything below. It took at least 3 hours of work, but I made it so the star doesn't twinkle when the game starts. I kept on using the C7050 cartridge over and over again. Until I remembered something: A long time ago, someone made a better emulator for the Odyssey 2 called Homer. It doesn't emulate the custom sounds in my game, but everything else is almost spot on to a regular Odyssey 2 (well, a lot better than O2EM anyway.) But now that I've lowered everything and can move it back up, I don't think I will because I like the way it looks now. Too bad there isn't a grid line that is exactly the center of the screen, though. It was either this or move it back up to where it was before. Not only does it look better, it will operate better because if the game gets stressed, the top of the screen gets all wonky. Which is why the star was twinkling in the first place. It shouldn't have to be this hard. I got the enemy shooting at you. I got the death from enemy's laser done. So now what? I have 500 bytes left. I'm going to (try to) make it speed up as the game progresses, but what else should I do with this? I planned ahead with the speed of the enemy and made it a variable. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15757-twinkle-twinkle-little-star/

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You know those ugly yellow, or orange signs you see stapled to telephone poles all over your town? They might say "So-and-so buys houses fast, for cash! 555-5555" Yeah, I actually go all over town and clean that crap up. Just rip them down and throw them away. They really bug me because it's such an obvious scam. It's kind of become my crusade. I know it doesn't seem like a scam at first, I mean who am I to determine how someone else sells their house right? The thing is those phone numbers are always protected/routed so you can't research the person doing the 'buying' before hand. I mean, what kind of legitimate business just gives you a phone number with no credentials? That's your first warning sign. Then if you do happen to get a call back, what will happen (this is what I've read), is they will want to see the house immediately. The first question asked will be 'how much do you owe on the mortgage?'. After a quick 'inspection' of the home, the 'buyer' will come at you with an offer that is about $1-2,000 over the remaining mortgage, no matter the actual value of the home. If you agree, they will get you to sign some quick agreement in writing, telling you that they will return with an actual 'contract' with all the details. Now, I've read that this is where you get screwed, because the full contract will have some changes in the original deal. The buyer 'thought it over' some more and had to reduce the offer amount etc....All the while pressuring you to sign, because you can have the cash in a couple days (BECAUSE THE GUY HAS A LINE OF CREDIT HE BORROWS AGAINST). Alot of the time they promise to pay the mortage for you as well, but end up not doing it, so you'll get your cash and think you're scot-free, and then 6 months later the bank is hunting you down wondering where their money is for the house. Bottom line is this is just a massive scam and dirty 'business' and NEVER EVER get involved with it. In fact, I encourage everyone to always rip these signs down when you see them in your town. If I were involved with any social media sites, I would love to start a national movement of people to clean up this trash from your own towns. Run these scammers off. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/75/entry-15756-back-was-hurting-couldnt-sleep-heres-what-i-did/

If you’ve never seen or read a Garfield comic then you’ve been living under a rock for the past forty years. Garfield is the king of Sunday comics and has been running consistently since 1978. It seems sometime in the early 80’s somebody reached out to Jim Davis or his company to make a game based on Garfield and Friends. Here’s where the problems begin, or actually the one problem, the game was copyrighted 1984, and as we all know Atari wasn’t doing too well in 1984, so this game along with a large amount of other licensed games were scrapped. Of all the licensed prototypes I’ve played I think Garfield is the one that is most deserving of completion. Due to licensing this is highly unlikely to happen but one can remain hopeful, who knows maybe they’ll be up for it? The game has an excellent opening, a large pixelart drawing of Garfield himself arms and legs crossed looking like a suave bastard. The overall graphics are excellent, the sprites used for Garfield, Odie, and Nermal are large, detailed, and full of character. The environments are also large and detailed, and feature such locations as the Fence, the House, and the land of Odie. I can’t help but notice an odd similarity to Taz/Asterix/Obelix, they all open with a rendering of the main character and they all have a strange gradient-ed triangle at the bottom of the screen, I’m pretty sure there is some recycled code in this particular prototype. Also, I can finally stop complaining about a lack of starfields because Garfield has one and it’s used perfectly. Overall the graphics are detailed and advanced, usually this has a detrimental effect on the rest of the game, but since this is a prototype we have no clue what the final product was going to be, but if this game follows the same patterns as the rest of them then the sounds are usually the final thing to be finished. There are very few sounds and certainly nothing to dedicate an entire paragraph to, there are just a handful of beeps and nothing else. Sadly I don’t think the gameplay coding was quite complete when this game was scrapped, it’s simple and extremely easy to exploit. The main goal of the game is to traverse the fence and rooftops to rescue Nermal who is hanging from a ledge/rooftop. While you are making this perilous journey you will be assaulted by hamburgers, potted plants, and the devil himself, Odie. Each screen will present you with a different obstacle, there is a pattern to all of it and it is as follows: burger, plant, Odie, burger, plant, Nermal, land of Odie burger, plant, land of Odie plant, and repeat. This set of screens is the entire game, and it will play over and over until the end of time. Since there are screens where the obstacles are nothing but burgers, and burgers give you 50 points each, it is quite possible to simply stay on that screen for several hours and when you get around 500,000 points you can make your way to Nermal and collect him to instantly double your score. Yeah the gameplay is very shallow and I’m guessing that there were supposed to be different types of obstacles alternating on each screen so that you can’t do what I just described. The only two other screen I haven’t mentioned are the two Odie screens, one has him popping out of a chimney and touching him means death, the second screen is what I call the Land of Odie. The Land of Odie is a mystical place where you are forced to jump along the backs of multiple Odie sprites, and for some reason there are two of you, I think this screen is incomplete what about you? Overall the gameplay is simple, shallow, and repetitive, and could definitely use some polish, all it really needs to be a complete game are some alternating obstacles and escalating difficulty and then you’d have a pretty decent game. If this had come out back in the 80’s I’m sure kids would have had some fun with it but since it was 1984 and the NES was right around the corner I think that fun would have been short lived. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15753-garfield-atari/

Game: Tapeworm System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Publisher: Spectravision Catalog Number: SA-205 Programmer: ? Cartridge Size: ? Copyright: 1982 I like to credit the programmer when I do a review, but I couldn't find out who it was through my research. Genre: Snake Controller: Joystick (Sega Game Pad Compatible) Players: 1; 2 (alternating) Rarity Rating: 3 FROM THE MANUAL Please welcome to your T.V. set our hero "SLINKY" the SPECTRA-WORM. Good OL' SLINKY loves fruit, and knows where to get it. The Trouble is, that before SLINKY can get to the fruit, he has got to eat all those fattening beans first. Every time SLINKY eats one of those beans he gets longer and longer, making it awfully tough to get around. Especially since he has got to stay in the bean patch all the time. Some time poor "SLINKY" gets all tangled up which is no good at all! And then these two villains "SPANKY" and "BEEKY" are always trying to make a meal out of "SLINKY". So, SLINKY wants you! To get your bean and fruit finding joystick of yours and help him out. "SLINKY'S" DIET Bean Apple Orange Grape Stawberry Banana BEEKY'S AND SPANKY'S DIET IS SLINKY !!! I didn't change a single word or punctuation mark. I typed every word of the above from the manual scan at Atari Mania. Every time that I typed "Slinky" all that I could think of was the TV commercial for the Slinky toy (which I had as a child. To this day I drive people crazy singing it). It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky. For fun it’s a wonderful toy. What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkety sound? A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it’s Slinky. It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky. For fun it’s a wonderful toy. It’s fun for a girl and a boy. But what I remember is the :30 TV Commercial. The song is even longer. FULL :60 TV COMMERCIAL FOR SLINKY Anywho, back to the task at hand, and my review of Sl..., er Tapeworm. This game isn't bad, but it does make sounds that hurt my ears. I'm talking about whenever Beeky or Spanky are on-screen. OK, I admit it. Whenever I type Spanky I think of the ancient "Our Gang" comedies, aka, "The Little Rascals." I'm old so that explains that, I think. There are 5 patches that Slinky must make his way through, eating the beans one at a time until the fruit can be reached. When he eats a bean the next one will appear. If he fails to reach the bean before the Beetle at the bottom of the screen reaches the fruit displayed on the bottom-right of the screen, more beans will appear. It's tempting to delay reaching the fruit by traveling in a circle, and if the game rewarded you by giving you bonus points for the length of his wormness once he has eaten the last bean and makes it to the fruit, it might be worth it. But it doesn't. So it isn't. Patch 3 is in the dark. The screen will light briefly (about :02 seconds) after Slinky eats a bean. If you hit the Fire button that will also light the screen for the same length of time. It's tempting to hit the Fire button repeatedly. Don't! Each time you use this feature you lose one of the beans that you've collected. Loose them all and you lose a life. SCORING The Patches appear in the following order: Apple Patch. Each bean is worth 5 points. Fruit 50 points. Orange Patch. Each bean is worth 10 points. Fruit 100 points. Grape Patch (Night). Each bean is worth 15 points. Fruit 150 points. Strawberry Patch. Each bean is worth 20 points. Fruit 200 points. Banana Patch. Each bean is worth 25 points. Fruit 250 points. With the Difficulty Switch set for A your worm is on a diet. I score fewer points this way (A Position). If it's in the manual I missed it. A bonus worm is awarded every 1,000 points, but you can only have 4 at a time. The game will allow a maximum of 30 beans per patch. Maximum Score: 9,995 points. YOUTUBE TAPEWORM PLAY VIDEO HOW TO PLAY HOME VIDEO, VOL. 2: THE HOT NEW GAMES: TAPEWORM SEGMENT (1982) I really struggled as to where to place Tapeworm in the ranking. I moved a few games in the end from how I was originally going to rank them. I originally ranked Tapeworm 7th, but figured with the sound turned way down it should rank higher. Don't get me wrong here, I like every game that I've reviewed so far to some degree, with the exception of Fire Fly. RANKING: 5 out of 8 Worm War I Demolition Herby Allia Quest (Home Brew) Naughty List (Home Brew) Tapeworm (with the sound turned down low) Bell Hopper (Home Brew) Alligator People (Prototype) Fire Fly REVIEWED GAMES IN THE DATABASE AT HIGH SCORE http://highscore.com Bell Hopper Demolition Herby Fire Fly Naughty List Tapeworm Worm War I OTHER GAMES PUBLISHED BY SPECTRAVISION Rarity only listed if above 5. P = Prototype Bumber Bash - Rarity 9 Challenge of Nexar (Own) Chase the Chuck Wagon - Rarity 8 China Syndrome Cross Force Gangster Alley Gas Hog - Rarity 8 Kreuzer - P Mangia - Rarity 10 Master Builder - Rarity 8 Planet Patrol (Own) Super Baumeister - Rarity P Please Like, Follow and Comment. I spent 5 hours on this thing, including the new lyrics to the tune of the Slinky jingle that I wrote as a review of Tapeworm. Be thankful I decided to not include it, although that was an hour wasted. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15754-game-review-8-tapeworm/

So it took way longer than expected to come to this point. I was having trouble trying to get the fire button to not fire when it hit the enemy. All that other stuff, enemy adding, noise adding, was fairly easy but this took at least a few hours and many reattempts. But I finally got it working. Odyssey 2 coding is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, because of the small sections. And the only way to jump from section to section is with the "jmp" command. And if some code spills into another section, even though it may compile, it won't work. But that wasn't the problem I was having this time. The computer chose to simply ignore a line or two of code. So I had to keep trying to make it not do that. Then, when I was done, I tested it on an Odyssey 2. The top stars were flickering whenever the game ended and a new game began. The fix was to lower the stars on the top. I guess too much code was being run at once. So now the game looks like this: You'll notice no stars at the top. It may look ugly, but I have to do it this way if I want it to be perfect (I'm a perfectionist.) So I have been working all day on this. The hi score counter works (I borrowed the code from my previous game Aaron the Aant.) So I have 600 bytes left to put in enemy shooting. But it has to be silent shooting since the Odyssey 2 only has one sound channel, something I overlooked when I decided to make this for the Odyssey 2 instead of the Atari 2600. I want to stop for today, but you know me, a few hours from now I'll probably be back at work on this. But I don't want to, I got enough angriness for one day. ("angriness" isn't a word? Well, it should be.) Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15752-midspace-version-7/

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Or, Atari PAL Log: My Experiences Playing PAL Games On My NTSC Atari #1 Kind of a long title for an on-going series, so I shortened it a tad bit. I know that I can't possibly be the only one living in an NTSC country collecting PAL releases for their Atari, so I thought that I'd share my experiences with these games. Oh, I've only begun to collect PAL games for Atari platforms to be sure, but I figured that this would be a great time to start covering these releases. I've certainly got a long history of collecting PAL games for my NTSC Sega Master System though, but the list of PAL games that I own for the SMS is extensive and, well, where would I begin? I'll be doing a new log whenever I have a new batch of PAL releases to discuss. I'm already aware of some of the technical issues that I'm liable to experience, as I worked as a Television Broadcast Engineer for 25 years. Test Machine Atari 7800 ProSystem; NTSC I have the RF output connected to a Coaxial (F-Type) to Female Adapter, which is connected to the RF Coaxial Input of an old VHS VCR. I am feeding the Composite Output of the VCR to a Composite Switcher, which is connected to an HD Flat-screen TV. No Upscale device is currently being used, although I do own one. PAL GAME #1 2-Pak Special: Planet Patrol / Wall Defender Publisher HES Country of Origin Australia Rarity Rating Undetermined https://atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=1741 I bought this cartridge on eBay from a seller in Germany for $11.26 + $5.64 (S & H) = $16.90. Cartridge only. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Planet-Patrol-Wall-Defender-2-Pak-Special-Atari-2600-VCS-G74/323561991131?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 HES released several (10 I believe) of these 2-Pak Specials. The label for this release is blue with nothing to identify the publisher. No Catalog or Part number either. It does feature a menu to select which of the two games to play. Experience Displays in Black & White, but is otherwise fine. No graphical glitches. Sound is similar to the NTSC release that I own. PAL GAME #2 Mission 3000 Publisher Bit Corp Country of Origin Germany Rarity Rating 3 This is the re-release https://atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=1637 I bought this game from a seller in the U.S. (Florida) for $8.98 + $3.70 (S&H) = $12.68. Cartridge and Box, but no manual. https://www.ebay.com/itm/PAL-VERSION-MISSION-3000-GAME-AND-BOX-FOR-ATARI-2600/173858565392?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 Bit Corp, like HES, released many games for the 2600. This one they released 3 times. My only other experience that I've had with Bit Corp that I'm aware of is that I own a Bit Corp Gamate, and several boxed games for it. The Gamate is one of the systems in the database at http://highscore.com/ Experience Plays flawlessly. In color as well. The eBay seller warned that this game was PAL and not compatible with American hardware. I'm sure that was stated just in case, well, you know how some people are. That was a statement, not a question by-the-way.The only other thing worth mentioning is that the sound effects sound different than they do through emulation (EMU7800, Version 2.2), which is why I don't review games that I've only played via emulation. Please Like, Comment, and Follow. My next blog entry will be a game review. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15751-atari-pal-log-1/

I try to do an Amiibo unboxing every week now! http://atariage.com/forums/blog/3/entry-15750-young-link-amiibo-new-amiibo-friday/

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Ms. Pac-Man is the best Pac-Man game ever. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/56/entry-15749-ms-pac-man-on-atari-2600/

I had been meaning to do this for some time. I woke up at 3 a.m. to discover my computer was installing updates. So when that was done, I went back to work on my new Odyssey 2 game I am making. I am porting my MidSpace game I made for Game Boy to the Odyssey 2. I tried it with batariBasic, but it just didn't feel right. That, and I already have a project that uses that I'm working on (White Water Madness). So I thought to myself, "I needed an Odyssey 2 project." And this seems like a perfect fit. But testing the thing brought up all kinds of hardships. First, I had to go in the garage and get the Odyssey 2. Then I had to find the C7050 cart. Then, the hardest part was finding one of the cords that went from the computer to the cartridge. That took about at least an hour of sifting through cords in my room. While I was doing it though, I discovered I could put away 4 (!) consoles I'm not using at the moment. But I finally found it and tested it. Then I remembered that characters can't collide. I had put stars in the background as characters, and the missile was also a character. So I had to change the projectile from a character to a sprite. More programming happened, and about a half-hour later, I tried it again on the real console. Success this time! (Although what should be black is dark gray on this particular Odyssey 2.) I now have a working Odyssey 2 and two broken ones. The left joystick on the working one is all screwy though. Perhaps I should take it apart and see if I can fix it. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15748-now-its-the-odyssey-2s-turn/

Since I talked about it so much in the previous review it seems only fair that I review The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Version 2. This version of the game was never released even though it seems Wizard Video already had packaging planned and produced before scrapping the game to release the one programmed by Ed Salvo. The guy who programmed this version, Robert H O’Neil, was also responsible for Polaris from Tigervision and the unreleased Flesh Gordon that Wizard games was going to try and shoehorn out as the first ‘Adult’/pornographic game on the system. In my opinion Version 2 is the superior game let me tell you why, starting with the graphics of course. I’ll admit that the graphics in V2 are not as good as V1’s. The playfield is made up of rainbow squares with a rainbow border, as this is a prototype I don’t know if these were intended to be the final graphics but what we currently have really doesn’t instill much confidence. The sprites used for Leatherface and the Man with the Gun are small and rather cute, they remind me of the bear sprite in I Want My Mommy. Actually the premise of this game is quite interchangeable due to how vague the sprites are, you could in fact be a school teacher chasing a naughty student with a ruler, or a medieval knight chasing an archer through a forest, the game could have been anything. Due to the graphics being so lackluster I’m not looking forward to the sounds, since bad graphics almost always lead to subpar sounds. Much of the game is played in silence; you’ll only start to hear sounds as you close in on the victim much like in V1. Unlike in V1 you won’t be hearing an extremely high pitched beep whenever you get near the victim, instead you hear the chainsaw start up, and you’ll only hear the victim scream after you catch them. Speaking of the scream, in V2 it doesn’t hurt my ears, due to it being played fairly infrequently and since the sounds used are far better I’d say that this is a pretty good sound effect. The only other sounds you’ll hear are the sounds of the timer running out, which is fairly startling, and the sound made when you press the action button, but I’ll get to that in the gameplay section. Texas Chainsaw Massacre V2 is a cat and mouse type game where player one as Leatherface must catch player two who is the Man with the Gun as seen on the box art for both versions of the game. The playfield is set up is a grid pattern but the rows are staggered so there are few horizontal straightaways but plenty of vertical ones. This is definitely a game of strategy as you must lure the second player into traps that you’ve laid, by pressing the action button you can drop rainbow squares that will block the path. Leatherface can move through these blocks but player two cannot. Player two isn’t completely helpless though since he has a gun and can shoot Leatherface. This leads to an interesting strategic conflict as player two must remain in the straightaways but player one can block those off and force them into the grid where the gun cannot be used as effectively, it’s actually a very good idea for a game. The game even has AI for player two so all the Lonely Larry’s out there can play the game without a second person, the AI isn’t smart but it will exploit your weaknesses very well so you’ll have to plan very far ahead to trap and kill him. This game needs very little improvement, perhaps a larger or more complex playfield a different color palette and different character sprites. The core gameplay and sounds need little to no improvement and work quite well, perhaps even better than the version that got released. Since this is a prototype game it was never released but you can play it if you have an UNO or Harmony Cart, I’ll provide a LINK to Atarimania so you can download the game for yourself if you want to play it. It really is a pity that this game never got released. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15744-the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-version-2-wizard-video/

There are a couple of new games coming for the 2600 from Packrat Video Games. RAM-Pong doesn't have any info on it yet, so I'll focus on the one that does. In fact I've already ordered a copy. Funds are short at the moment for me and all but Packrat builds everything by hand and is a one-man operation, so hopefully he won't send an invoice to our Pay Pal account until late next week. Game: Spaceman Splorf: Planet of Doom System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Publisher: Packrat Video Games Programmed by Andreas Gustafsson Game Size: 8K TV Type: NTSC or PAL Controller: Joystick Players: 1 Game Description from the Packrat site (I expect this will be in the manual as the story element) You are Splorf, Space Corp Sanitation Engineer 5th Class, Lavatorial Division. A small yet vital cog in the corporate machine. You are good at your job. The rumors have reached even the lowest levels of Methane Station; the harvest ships have brought disastrous news concerning the defensive system protecting Space Corp's interests from space pirates and fierce competitors! "You there", a middle manager shouts at you, "Commander Splix needs a volunteer! Get your lazy plarp up to level 17 immediately!" The rumours were true! Exploding gasteroids have damaged the disintegration fence above planet doom, and Commander Splix wants you to fix it! Repairman Splorf to the rescue... It looks like it might be in the same style of play as Bell Hopper (itself a good game programmed by Tomas Härdin). You can't go by a single screenshot though, so it may be a shooter for all I know. http://www.packratvg.com/pictures/splorf5.jpg Price: Cartridge and Manual = $25 http://www.packratvg.com/pictures/splorf2.jpg Limited Boxed Run = $40 http://www.packratvg.com/pictures/splorf1.jpg The Limited Box Run is being limited to 100 copies, the first batch of which will be available exclusively at the Midwest Gaming Classic. The remainder will be for sale on the Packrat Video Gaming site some time in late April (yes, I realize that I ordered a boxed copy before they are even available, but the Packrat site let me do it). https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ http://www.packratvg.com/pictures/splorf6.jpg Here's a link to the game's page: http://www.packratvg.com/splorf.html Packrat makes home brews and hacks for the Atari 2600, Vectrex, and Odyssey 2 / Videopac. I've noticed that some of their games are also available here at Atari Age, although some have different label art. ATARI 2600 GAMES COMMON TO PACKRAT AND ATARI AGE A-VCS-tec Challenge Backfire Dark Mage Jammed Okie Dokie Skeleton+ This Planet Sucks! I own Backfire and This Planet Sucks! I bought both from Atari Age. Strangely, Packrat's release of This Planet Sucks has no exclamation point in the title. Atari Age is faster at filling orders, but you can take your pick as to which to order from. Personally, I go with Atari Age, except for the games that are Packrat exclusives. ATARI 2600 GAMES EXCLUSIVE TO PACKRAT VIDEO GAMES Astronomer (Ordered) Cosmic Bowling (Hack) Dragon Chase (Hack) Explosive Diarrhea (Ordered) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Muncher Packrat (Hack) Pressure Cooker Spaceman Splorf: Planet of Doom (Ordered) Space Invaders Vector Traffic Cop http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15747-home-brew-report-packrat-video-games-for-your-atari/

I remember seeing this some time ago. Nothing like a live action Filmation show complete with all the sound effects and music you would hear in He-Man. So they introduce the mini-robot, W1K1. Pronounced Wiki. That would make a great name for a helpful place to get information. Man the voices in this are all the voices of He-Man.. whoa. Wow, Jason just rammed through a hatch like it was made of wood. That is one cheaply made hatch. Ah James Doohan has the part in this as the Commander and Sid Haig plays the bad guy. YES. . And the actor who plays Jason is charming enough too. Apparently they have life support belts. Just rescued Doohan from space with no suit on so hopefully he had the belts as well, otherwise that would be one way to save money on the one person who is known in this show (aside from Sid Haig). So the commander is resdued and Jason flies on to the enemy space craft, Dragos (I believe that is Sig Haig) welcomes him over the comm system while the large ship envelops his smaller ship. Show's got cheesy charm. And lots and lots of the typical Filmation effects, sounds, and music. Oh and James Doohan, I think he was paid by the line. He gets to say like a line before he is abducted and when they find him he is unconscious for the duration. Way to rent fame from a Star Trek actor. Let's see, about 29 episodes and James Doohan was in about 16 of them. I didn't realize this show came out in 1978 (to 1981). Wow... this is real cheese for the era right after Star Wars and around Battlestar Galactica. Wonder if this gets better? Anyway, for Doohan around 1978 he was probably a little more affordable than after the Star Trek movies started back. Looks like Star Trek the Motion picture hit and Doohan was like "Alright, this has been fun playing make believe with you kids, back to the big time." 1978 was a magical time through wasn't it? Star Wars, this show, Battlestar Galactica, Atari, Intellivision. Watch a bit more of this and see if anyone has made a Jason of Star Command game hack. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15746-jason-of-starcommand-chapter-01-attack-of-the-dragonship/

Can't ever complete the first level. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/56/entry-15745-jr-pac-man-worst-pac-man-game-ever/

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For the first time in at least a few years, I got out my Microvision collection to see if it still works. I have two consoles. There was a 9-volt battery in one of them, so I put it in the right space and turned it on. A couple of random pixels. I turned it off and back on again. Nothing. I tested the other unit. The same problem. Could it be that both of them died in storage? Then I thought of something to try. I went and got a new 9-volt battery and put it in. I got a 180 score in Bowling. I tested the other one. I got a score of 9 in Star Trek: Phaser Strike. So it looks like even though the 9-volt battery wasn't being used, it still wore out somehow. I was careful enough to not leave the battery still in the working slot, which I think saved its life. I am always careful to not do that even when I know I'll be using it again very soon. The last thing I want in my Microvision is a corroded battery plug in place. I updated my Microvision site, got rid of a dead link and got rid of the store since I lost the two games I had for sale (I don't know where they went.) And I added the modified Alien Raiders font. It leaves me wondering what other letters they modified in that font. Too bad we'll never know. I wonder if it's possible for someone to make an AC adapter for it. Perhaps fit it in the battery place and connect it to the wall outlet. If I knew how to do that sort of thing, i would. But I don't, so I can't (and won't.) And I also want to see the Barrage prototype if there is one. As long as I'm dreaming, I want a million dollars, lose 20 pounds, the ants to never return to the house, and a horse. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15743-microvision/

Of all the licensed games that have been released I would put Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the top of the ‘least likely to appeal to anyone’ list. The Atari 2600 wasn’t really known to have much success with ‘adult’ oriented games, as we all know it appealed more to kids and teens with the huge amount of arcade conversions, and I suppose the adults were there too but it seems they were after much the same as the kids. Oddly enough TCM was programmed by our old friend Ed Salvo who programmed Skeet Shoot one of my most disliked games on the system, and Mountain King, one of the most advanced and complicated games on the 2600, also one of my favorites. TCM was treated much like the Mystique and Playaround games, relegated to a small spot behind the counter IF the store even decided to carry it. I also feel the need to mention that this isn’t the only version of TCM that was made, there is a second version where you actually have to kill the man with the gun, as seen on the box art, as Leatherface, as far as I can tell it is a fully completed game that was just never released, so I might talk about it later on. For now let’s cast ourselves into a pit of depravity and gore as we look at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the Atari 2600 by Wizard Video. I’m rather torn on the graphics, there are elements that I like and elements that I feel could use some improvement. Let’s start with the elephant in the room; the chainsaw is baby blue and it looks like crap. I don’t know what the coding constraints were when programming the graphics but there must have been a way to make the chainsaw a different color. The foreground obstacles are well done; you’ll be avoiding cow skulls, white painted fences, wheelchairs, and undergrowth/really dead bushes. The background is a mixed bag for me, on the one hand I can appreciate the detail that went into the house and truck as well as the horizontal scrolling, but on the other hand the single row of absolutely enormous trees are almost comical and somewhat ruin whatever immersion one could have while playing the game. The ‘victims’ are also well done, they are rendered in multiple colors and have defined facial features, the details are quite nice. Well, the graphics are a mixed bag, are the sounds as well? This particular bag is not mixed, this particular bag is horrible. There is only one sound that I even need to mention, since the rest of them are actually okay, and that is the scream. The scream is just an extremely high pitched beep, and holy crap it is murder on the ears. Since there isn’t much to the soundtrack I’ll just skip right on down to the gameplay, hopefully it can make up for how rather lackluster the game has been so far. Well it seems the game is going to stay that way since this is one of the shallowest games I’ve played so far. All you do as Leatherface is avoid oncoming obstacles and mow down the same two girls over and over. Despite being incredibly simple the game is also incredibly infuriating. When chasing down the girls they will sometimes teleport behind you , which is obnoxious since you’ve already engaged your chainsaw at that point and now you’ve wasted some of your precious fuel. You can avoid fuel loss by not activating your chainsaw as you approach and rather wait until the saw is actually touching or overlapping with the girl’s body then you activate it. Once you figure out the teleporting nonsense the game goes from frustrating to boring since all you’re now doing is walking around obstacles and doing the same thing over and over again. The game does have a ‘time’ limit in the form of fuel, you use some up when you activate your chainsaw, and some is used up as you walk around. You can replenish a small amount of fuel every 5000 points, basically every five kills. The only thing that will challenge you is the collision detection, it is super precise and if a single pixel of your body touches any pixel of an obstacle you will be immobilized for a few seconds wasting your fuel. The wheelchairs will be your worst enemy in the end since they can move at comically fast speeds, sometimes faster than one can react. You get three fuel refills before the game is over, when you’re all out a little cutscene will play of one of the girls coming up behind Leather face and kicking him so hard he vaporizes. Game Over… Once the ‘WOW’ factor wears off you’ll see that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a shallow, repetitive, waste of time that only hardcore collector’s should pursue. Oddly enough the second scrapped version I find to be somewhat superior as it is two player and actually has a somewhat original premise, but I’ll get to that another time. If you wanted to get a copy for yourself you’ll be looking at prices of 100-300 dollars for a loose copy, and 200-700 dollars for one complete in box. Honestly if you really want this game you should just get a reproduction cartridge or an SD cart. This game goes to the Collector’s Zone without a doubt. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15727-the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-wizard-video/

Was watching Flight of the War Witch tonight. I think I see where the budget for season 2 went. All and all I've concluded no matter where your watching ends on Buck Rogers (some end at Season 1, some end at Season 2) the capstone, the end all is Flight of the War Witch. It is the only way it makes sense. For me as a Buck Rogers fan well, if you did not grow up with the show or have listened to people over the years, it goes something like this: Season 1 was great, season 2 was terrible (to most). This is strange phenomenon that also afflicted the TV show made only a year prior, Battlestar Galactica which many props were recycled into Buck Rogers. Ok, so your's truly had to come to a realization that no more of either show would be made. I could live with the facts of: * Buck was on Earth for the first season and that was fun. * Buck was in space on a ship with a downer last episode (and many things I wish they hadn't done, like change Twiki's voice, and opening narration.) Over time I found a way to love the bomb that was second season by realizing there were good parts, like the fact they had Buck, Wilma, Twiki (originally voice was possible in the last half of the episodes) and the new characters like Hawk, Crichton, and... well, that is all I can think of. . Anyway, there was some good there. So I made my own fan edit, editing out the more cringy parts, editing back in William Conrad on the opening narration, swap the last two episodes in the watching order, and editing in some Mel Blanc lines over the Twiki in the first half of the series. It's effort but as someone (I believe it was Alan Sharkis) in the Atari retro community once said "Go with your bliss" So what does this have to do with "Flight of the War Witch"? EVERYTHING. Do we want to leave Buck Rogers on that ship Searcher? Well as true as that was the ending I replace your reality and insert my own! And so I say Flight of the War Witch... well ok, I highly recommend, that you watch this episode last because IT... IS... AWESOME!!! And it really makes sense no other way. In this episode, no, it wasn't even an episode. This was a movie. It was actually originally intended as a TV movie and was turned into a two part episode. In this we have so much that season two ignored like the introduction of another dimension, and growth between Buck and Ardala. Why did season two ignore this? It was bad writing. AHEM. It hadn't happened yet! So OBVIOUSLY this takes place after season two. And what fireworks! You have Julie Newmar playing an excellent villianess in a epically cool ship (that was actually upside down, but it looked SOOO much more epic that way so they kept it). And where dogfight scenes were recyled photage in season 1, and mostly non-existant in Season 2, here it is all new photage for the most part. Do yourself a favor: WATCH... THIS... LAST! And one other perfect aspect is the crappy vocal version of the song, played originally in the pilot episode is played again here. Ok, most hate that, but for nostalgia I have a soft spot for that version. Yes, the voice singing it is terrible. But again another reason this is a perfect last episode and just the way it all ends with a freeze frame on Buck's smile. Perfect. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15742-buck-rogers-the-flight-of-the-war-witch-series-finale/

Season 2 - Story 10 (But I will say Story 11) "Testimony of a Traitor" Getting back to Earth, and the past... This is the episode most think fondly about, and for more reasons than they probably realize. In this episode you have the Searcher back at Earth (for a deep exploration vessel they spend a lot of time close to home. Earth, Alpha Centari...) . You get more of the back story of Buck, how he wanted real badly to be on the Ranger 3 mission, and one secret mission before going off into space. In this the crew really melds together in my mind. Dr. Goodfellow finally comes into his own as a character as he helps Buck. Azimov and crew are supportive. Twiki got some good lines ... except for one. ** And it just all melds together. Fans missed the lack of dogfights in fighters in season 2 but here we get a dogfight scene as Buck and Wilma fly to Earth for more evidence. At the end everyone has a great moment together as Buck is congratulated, he gives Hawk a good long bro hand shake (which since I treat this as the true final episode of season 2, marks a good farewell handshake), Twiki congratulates Buck, Wilma kisses him. Great stuff. Opposition extends his hand to congratulate, Buck shakes his hand, and I cut the episode off right there and roll credits in my edit. Reason being, what I like next in my watching order is "Flight of the War Witch" which is a epic two parter that to me is the end I would have liked: Buck back on Earth, more Princess Ardala, and a dimensional gateway tech is introduced that is not addressed again in Season 2, soooo... why not be the last story of the series? Just a fun preference, and I think it works great. (Just give Buck a haircut, and he lost weight while enjoying country air, and sure...) . What I edited out of this episode was the final part. In Shgoratchx Azimov tells them to go to "Warp 3" when the ship does not have warp engines it has Star drives. At the end of this story, they are leaving the solar system, which is cool, but why? There are Stargates. Wouldn't that help get you to some remote star system with a lost colony faster? ** And as much as I like Twiki, the discussion of "robot intuition being like woman's intuition" was something I could live without honestly. So edit that scene, have Buck leave off with a hand shake, you can work in he departed the Searcher at that time, went back to Earth... next up, Flight of the War Witch! Good times. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15741-buck-rogers-season-2-story-10-but-i-will-say-story-11-testimony-of-a-traitor/

Season 2-Story 11 (But I'll call this Story 10) "The Dorian Secret" The "shame on you" episode. So what would you do if you were suffering extreme heat and cold and it was all because your ship was harboring a fugitive? I've heard it said that Gil Gerard wanted more serious material over the fun tone of the first season. This one is great for that. A real thinker that makes you wonder who you would have been as a passenger on the Searcher going through all that? The story is so dark that Twiki, the living embodiment of a cartoon character basically, has no lines in this episode (that I remember). And I so liked the message of this episode as much as I love Twiki as one of the cast, I won't be editing in a line. Well, ok, maybe one. And the end, when I really think about it, that would be maddening. Of course, scars, age, and other factors would help make differences over time. All I have to say is that actor was able to lip sync with the dialogue quite well. The episode of Season 2, really lets things off in a darker almost downer tone. That is why I prefer to not have this as the last episode of Season 2 in the watching order on the playlist. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15740-buck-rogers-season-2-story-11-but-ill-call-this-story-10-the-dorian-secret/

Season 2 - Story 9 "The Hand of Goral" The kinda mirror universe episode? So Lone Ranger and Tonto... er... Buck and Hawk... find themselves in the midst of a test that has them on a false version of the Searcher. All and all while seemingly obvious at times, it did give the characters a chance to completely step out of character in completely hilarious ways. Crichton comes in and is funny, but Twiki follows up and completely steals the show going off on a complaining rant. That had me cracking up. I was recording dialog of Twiki, but not only was this so out of character for Twiki, but there was just too much to write down. I loved it!! I have to agree with Dr. Goodfellow on one thing, the duplicate Wilma would have been the "Goral" of Buck's dreams. Well, at least part of me thinks it's a shame he couldn't save that version, might be nice to have around... but I'm sure the duplicate would have ended once they left Goral's vicinity. Just a fan thought. I know, a terrible one. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15739-buck-rogers-season-2-story-9-the-hand-of-goral/

Season 2 - Story 8 "Shgoratchx!" "That episode where they tried to undress Wilma." Yep this is the one that most remember as the one where the midgets try to "offthink" Wilma's clothes. Was memorable for me too. This episode was a ridiculous and fun episode. Not much editing I did on this till the very end when Dr. Goodfellow gives a long speech. UGGGG!!! Edited that out, flowed from Buck saying being with them was interesting and they compliment back that "you gave us something too"... more exchanges with the aliens, Hawk and Buck. The show is about Buck damnit, keep the focus on Buck! All and all, a zanny fun episode. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15738-buck-rogers-season-2-story-8-shgoratchx/

Season 2-Story 7 "The Satyr" On the road with Twiki, the apology episode. This episode always was and will be the "Hey fans, we are soooooo sorry we stuck you with that other voice actor for Twiki and gave your beloved character background appearances. Here, have a story with Buck and Twiki for old times sake on us!" Edits I did on this episode for my own enjoyment was to shorten the part with the opening with the mother and son and NOT show the Satyr. To matter the fact, I edited it in such a way that you don't get a full on view of the Satyr till Buck finally meets the Satyr when he attacks him at night at the Shuttle. I also edited out where Buck reachs up to see a wound on the mother's neck... seemed a bit out of character for Buck to just grab like that. Other than that, Buck looked cool in this episode, had the leather coat, hair was in place, cool white shirt. Had Twiki. Oh and there was a line I did edit out where Twiki asks Wilma "Do you change in the moonlight?" Dumb dumb... Twiki would not ask that. So cut that, scene plays with Buck and Wilma flirting, works great. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/610/entry-15737-buck-rogers-season-2-story-7-the-satyr/