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I'm trying to restore an arcade cabinet from 1983. The CRT monitor is shot and honestly, I'd rather have an LED/LCD screen in it's place. (Don't get me wrong, CRT, when working, looks great) I don't know much about how to connect the monitor and most of what I see out there has DVI and/or VGA ports which are clearly not going to connect on an old system arcade cabinet like this. Will this work? https://na.suzohapp.com/products/accessories/49-3223-01 Does this need an adapter to connect it to the arcade machine? Thanks!

Arcade/MAME HSC 2018 Round 1: Time Pilot '84 Round 2: Toki / Moon Patrol Round 3: Hurt me a plenty Round 4: Polish your armor Round 5: Atari Arcade Round Round 6: Request round Round 7: Into the sea Round 8: Round 9: Train your brain Round 10: Street brawler Round 11: SHMUPS Round 12: Request round Round 13: Round 14: Moderator favorite Round 15: Taito Arcade Round Round 16: SHMUPS 2 Round 17: Polish your armor 2 Two games Special Round To your enjoyment we are now playing games requested by participants of HSC Round 2 Toki Time Pilot: Released by Tad corporation MAME ROMset: toki Dip Switches: Default ( 3 lives, Bonus 70000, Difficult; Medium) remember to play with the recommended settings, and do not use cheats or any kind of enhancements to take advantage Round ends September 2nd @ midnight MDT Toki 1 Leto 221050 +10 2 hero2billions 111900 +9 3 S.BAZ 101300 +8 4 Cynicaster 75650 +7 5 Ramses 53600 +6 6 Zoyous 51800 +5 7 Youxia 44200 +4 8 jblenkle 17550 +3 9 asponge 16000 +2 Scoring will be as follows: 10 Points for 1st 9 for 2nd 8 for 3rd and so forth Moon Patrol Moon Patrol: Released by Irem Corp. MAME ROMset: mpatrol Dip Switches: Default ( 3 lives, Bonus 10000, 30000 and 50000 ) remember to play with the recommended settings, and do not use cheats or any kind of enhancements to take advantage Round ends September 2nd @ midnight MDT Moon Patrol 1 Leto 77000 +10 2 Youxia 71850 +9 3 Cynicaster 71250 +8 4 asponge 53500 +7 5 Atari Warlord 36200 +6 6 Zoyuos 34250 +5 7 Ramses 27980 +4 8 jblenkle 16550 +3 9 SBAZ 15850 +2 10 hero2billion 7130 +1 Scoring will be as follows: 10 Points for 1st 9 for 2nd 8 for 3rd and so forth

I picked up this cabinet today. I have plans for it, but my plans may change if I can figure out what was the original video game that came with the cabinet. Currently, as you can see, it has Ms. Pac-Man. This is not a Ms. Pac-Man cabinet. It looks like it had a Sega game in it at some point. I did look up model number 522, but I found nothing. Anyone have any ideas?

MAME 0.200 Todays MAME release has two consecutive zeros in the version number! The only other time that happened was over twelve years ago! Although MAME version numbers are are just an incrementing number, by a series of coincidences, MAME 0.200 delivers several major changes. First of all, if youre building MAME with Microsoft Visual Studio (MSVC), youll need Visual Studio 2017. Weve dropped support for Visual Studio 2015. Starting this month, were building the official Windows binaries with GCC 7.3 this probably wont affect you (we still support building with GCC 5 and up). Were mirroring tagged releases at GitLab (source only) and SourceForge (source and binaries), so if for some reason youre unable to access GitHub, youll still be able to download official MAME releases. MAME 0.200 includes replacements for the memory system and callback API. This will enable new functionality and make MAME development more straightforward. The artwork layout system has also had an overhaul which opens new possibilities. Weve tried our best not to break things, but if you do find something wrong, let us know at MAME Testers, or on our IRC channel #mame on the freenode network. In arcade emulation this month, we have a number of new versions of supported titles, including a very rare prototype of Led Storm Rally 2011 and three more Street Fighter II': Champion Edition bootlegs. Dreamcast/NAOMI colours are greatly improved thanks to snickerbockers, and cam900 fixed some graphical effects in Gals Panic 3 and Billiard Academy Real Break. Enik Land improved emulation of the Sega Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive VDPs, covering more corner cases. The really exciting emulation improvements this month are on the computer side. There are lots of improvements for UK home computers, including better Camputers Lynx tape support (with lots of additions to the software list), re-worked Acorn System emulation, and support for Acorn Bus slot devices. Weve got a brand-new modernised Apple IIgs driver, with improvements in just about every area. Also, Wayder updated the Sharp 68000 software list, correcting and organising the entries and adding the latest clean dumps. But even more exciting is the fact that, thanks to Patrick Mackinlays gargantuan effort and persistence, the CLIPPER-based InterPro 2000 workstation now works well enough to install and run CLIX (a UNIX operating system). As far as we know, this is a first for MAME. The improvements to SCSI, CD-ROM, and serial emulation also benefit other emulated computer systems. Instructions are on the MAMEdev wiki if you want to try it out. As usual, you can get source and Windows binaries from the download page.

Insert Coins and let the one-two punch of arcade nostalgia hit you right in your wardrobe. ARKADO RETURNS is a follow up to my first Kickstarter campaign, ARKADO, that was sucessfully funded and delivered in 2014. Like it's former, ARKADO RETURNS is a celebration of 26 vintage arcade titles that range from the beloved to the obscure. Can you name them all? This time ARKADO RETURNS with two designs presented in both Horizontal Mode and Vertical Mode, like the arcade screen orientation of the past. Like my previous campaigns, the goal is to fund a limited edition run of this artwork on apparel and print. If successfully funded, this limited edition apparel will be made to order for the backers along side a small batch run to be sold at conventions and shows. Like ARKADO, EFEMERECO, and WINNERS DON'T DRINK DRUGS, once all these shirts have been sold, no more will be made. The tees will be silk screened with Pantone 375 C and Reflex Blue C ink onto super soft, Bella Canvas 100% Cotton Baby Blue Unisex Tees. These tees are available in size EXTRA SMALL through 4XL. $15.00 for 1 or $27.00 for 2, Free Shipping in U.S.A. Claim yours at OneRadTee.com

Arcade/MAME HSC 2018 Game Requests Hello everybody. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am currently playing at Atari 2600 HSC ( I won the regular season and we are now at medal brackets), I love video games, especially retro games focused on NES, Atari 2600, MAME and old PC games, Now let talk about the new season and what I pretend to accomplish: Will be a 16 or 17 week duration season, every Saturday I will open a new thread with the game to be played, games suggested in this topic will be considered, I didn't see anything about games played on past season, but for the sake of freshness games played on the last two seasons will not be considered.

namco should make a mini arcade machine..... THAT YOU PUT YOUR PHONE IN! it's simple. you slide your phone in, activate the machine using bluetooth, and then you can play PAC-MAN ON YOUR PHONE IN AN ARCADE CABINET! there should be 3 designs: pac-man, galaga, and dig dug. any comments?

It looks like the ColecoVision version of Mr. Do fits somewhere in-between the arcade prototype (Yukidaruma) version of Mr. Do! and the final arcade release version of the game. Here are some observations of the differences in play mechanics for the three versions of the game: Names of characters from ColecoVision manual: Mr. Do Badguy Alpha-Monster Digger Blue Chomper Power Ball Apples Cherries Treat E-X-T-R-A Path --- Mr. Do! 'prototype' (Yukidaruma): - Grabbing a treat does not result in blue chompers and it only spawns an alphamonster. - Alphamonsters do not turn into apples when shot. - Alphamonsters do not aggressively seek you out and do not eat apples that are in their way. Again, the blue chompers do not exist in this version of the game. - Enemy action stops when diamond appears. Mr. Do! final arcade release: - Grabbing a treat will spawn both an alphamonster and blue chompers regardless of the status of the letter at the time. - Alphamonsters turn into apples when shot. - Alphamonsters aggressively seek you out and can eat apples that are in their way. - Blue chompers cannot dig. - Enemy action continues when diamond appears (you have to fight your way to the diamond). - Alphamonster appears every 5,000 points. ColecoVision: - In-game music is the same as Yukidaruma. - Treat music is the same as Yukidaruma when you grab the treat when a letter is already filled in. - In-game behavior is the same as Yukidaruma when you grab the center treat when a letter is already filled in (with the exception that the alphamonster doesn't appear at all in this case -- only the enemies freeze). - In-game behavior is the same as the Mr. Do arcade version when you grab the treat when the letter is not already filled in. - Alphamonster does not turn into an apple when shot. - Alphamonster does not seek you out. However, blue chompers do. - Alphamonster cannot eat apples, even if dropped on him. - Blue chompers can dig. - Alphamonster appears every 10,000 points. - Enemy action continues when diamond appears.

Okay, so I am a huge science fiction nut, from Asimov to Herbert to Adams. But I dont just love Science Fiction books, I love movies and television too, like Blade Runner, and Star Trek. Another big thing I love is Science Fiction in video games and i cant think of a decade of more science fiction in gaming than the Eighties. If you are digging in a pile of atari games and pick put a random cart, id say 9/10 its going to be at least something sci fi releated (most likely a Space Invaders clone but thats neither here nor there) like space or robots or aliens. Now my question is which books or rather which decade of books would you say inspired these science fiction stories found in the manuals of these old games? I just love these stories and id love to read full books like them! This doesnt have to be atari necessarily, arcades work too!

The Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (SFGE) is a 3-day fan convention focused exclusively on gaming. The expo is held June 8-10 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, GA, and boasts over 250 full-sized arcade games, pinball machines and console systems, along with tabletop gaming, vendors, special guest speakers, a film fest, live music, wrestling, tournaments and more! SFGE is a family-friendly event that will be fun for all ages. Special Guests: STEVE RITCHIE As a pinball designer, Mr. Ritchie has created some of the most popular and best-selling games of all time including Firepower, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, ACDC, and the recently released Star Wars. Steve joined Atari as one of their earliest employees in 1974 and over the course of his career has worked for Williams, Bally/Midway, and currently designs games for Stern Pinball. Mr. Ritchie’s talents are not limited to pinball, however. Many gamers will recognize his voice as that of Shao Kahn (“FINISH HIM!”) in the groundbreaking Mortal Kombat video games. JOHN JACOBSEN For the past twelve years, and over 500 episodes, John Jacobsen has been a co-host on one of the longest running independent video game shows, and Xbox Live Community Podcast Of The Year, The Video Game Outsiders on the comedy network, Riotcast. In 2007, John was sucked into the classic arcade collecting world. His first machine was a Donkey Kong, his second a Ms. Pac-Man, within a year he turned his basement into his own personal arcade. Soon after John got his first arcade game, he started a website and weekly YouTube series called “John’s Arcade” and he immediately had a passionate following. Each week John takes his viewers on his arcade adventures in the form of road trips across the country visiting notable private and public arcades as well as gameplay and tech videos. John also shows his viewers how to restore and fix classic arcade games in a “you can do this!” type presentation. John’s Arcade currently has approx. 32,000 subscribers and over 6 million Youtube views. John’s Arcade can also be seen on over a dozen public access channels across the USA. In late 2016, John and his long time friend Jay, took their hobby the next level. Partnering with the Hangar Pub and Grill and Amherst Brewing in Amherst, MA, they put over 30 arcade machines on location in a busy college town. RICH SOMMER Tabletop fanatic and host of the popular Cardboard! podcast, Rich Sommer will be making his first trip to the Southern-Fried Gaming Expo this year. Although his love for gaming is well-documented, you may better recognize Rich from his role as Harry Crane on 92 episodes of the popular AMC drama Mad Men or recurring appearances on Netflix’s Glow, The Regular Show, or Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. Rich will be speaking at two panels that will be immediately followed by meet and greet sessions.' ORIN DAY Some of your favorite pinball games wouldn’t be the same were it not for the skills of our newest guest, Orin Day. Mr. Day was part of the development team of Data East Pinball and remained on board when that company became SEGA pinball, and finally stayed through the transformation into the Stern Pinball we all continue to enjoy to this day. Mr. Day has programmed and developed software for over 20 of the best games in pinball including Baywatch, Independence Day, South Park, and more. We’re glad to have Mr. Day as a special guest at SFGE 2018! Additional guests listed on website and more to be announced. Photos from our 2017 event. Checkout our 2018 promo video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKsk55EfD48 SFGE memberships are available online and you can save $5 with coupon code JOYSTICK. www.GameATL.com

Here's my list of recommended 1980s arcade video games (with Gauntlet marking the halfway point in the decade): TRON Centipede Defender Space Fury Galaga Tempest Missile Command Battle Zone Donkey Kong Pac-Man Mr. Do! Gaplus Mr Do's Castle Burger Time Ms. Pac-Man Robotron Crystal Castles Moon Cresta Dragons Lair Stargate Frogger Phonix Gorf Jungle King Pengo Pole Position Elevator Action Pole Position II Tapper Punch-Out!! Spy Hunter Bag Man Tutankham Time Pilot Krull Venture Satan's Hollow Zaxxon Black Widow Sinistar Tac/Scan Zektor Turbo Armor Attack Food Fight Space Wars Subroc 3D Star Castle Super Pac-Man Firefox Donkey Kong Jr. Millipede Jr. Pac-Man Time Pilot '84 The Glob Mappy Regulus Paperboy Super Cobra Carnival Mouse Trap Star Jacker Mega Zone Space Odyssey Bump 'n' Jump Orbit Blaster Popeye I Robot Roc'n Rope Scion Track & Field Vulgus War of the Worlds Space Dungeon Phoenix Bosconian Pooyan Future Spy Wizard of Wor Rampage Marble Madness Starforce Eliminator Kangaroo Gyruss Scramble 1942 Two Tigers Dig Dug Juno First Star Wars Joust Moon Patrol Qix Turtles Front Line Strong X Berserk Exerion Cosmic Avenger Gravitar Discs of TRON Astro Blaster Frenzy Star Trek Omega Race Asteroids Rally-X Q*Bert Congo Bongo Q*Bert Cubes Asteroids II Star Force Vanguard Vanguard II Major Havoc Xevious Gauntlet Gauntlet II Armored Scrum Object The Empire Strikes Back Ghosts 'n Goblins Green Beret Metal Soldier Isaac II Gradius/Nemesis Section Z Space Harrier Terra Cresta Bubble Bobble Darius Gladiator Ikari Warriors Outrun Rampage Rolling Thunder Rygar Side Arms Spelunker Victory Road 1943 Ajax Alien Syndrome Bionic Commando Black Tiger Blazer Contra Double Dragon Galaga 88 Heavy Barrel Karnov Pacmania R-Type Shinobi Terra Force The Ninja Warriors Time Soldiers Tiger Road Twin Cobra Xenophobe Xybots Altered Beast Assault Cabal Operation Wolf Cobra-Command Double Dragon II Ghouls'n Ghosts Image Fight Last Duel Mirai Ninja Raimais Scramble Spirits Shadow Warriors Silk Worm Sky Soldiers Super Contra The New Zealand Story Truxton Turtle Ship Twin Eagle Vindicators Vulcan Vunture Act Fancer Arbalester Blast Off Burning Force Dangerous Seed Darius Darius II Dyger Escape from the planet of robot monsters Galaxy Gunners Gigandes Golden Axe Gradius II Gradius III Hellfire Ikari III Klax Legend of Hero Tonma R-Type II S.T.U.N. Runner Saint Dragon Search and Rescue Shadow Dancer Strider The Astyanax The Next Space U.N. Squadron Volified Night Striker Omega Fighter Pang Plus Alpha Top Gunner/Jackal Rambo III Arkanoid E-SWAT Battle Shark Tetris Ninja Spirit Fighting Hawk Forgotten Worlds Chelnov - The Atomic Runner Armed Formation Rainbow Islands Gemini Wing Afterburner Afterburner II Xain'd Sleena Tiger Heli TwinBee MX 5000 Blasteroids

As reported by Polygon, Tastemakers is releasing a new Arcade1Up series of 4 foot tall home arcade machines for just $399 each. Set to come out this fall, the only catch is that these 3/4 scale arcade machines have to be self assembled, although Tastemakers is promising that the process is a simple one. The Centipede headline cabinet also comes with Breakout, Millipede, and Missile Command, and features a trackball, which is good for everything but Breakout, which really needs a spinner. The Asteroids Deluxe headline cabinet also comes with Asteroids, Major Havoc, and Tempest, and features the classic Asteroids-style button configuration, as well as a spinner, which is needed for both Tempest and Major Havoc. The Capcom machine appears to just have Street Fighter 2. All of these cabinets feature a 17" LCD screen. While that rules out a true vector display for the Asteroids Deluxe machine, I have to say that that one is the most appealing to me because of the more authentic controls. Of course, the Centipede machine does have a certain appeal, even if I can't see myself enjoying Breakout with a trackball. Hopefully the Tastemakers custom emulator is up to snuff and the build quality is reasonable considering the amazingly low price.

Hey all, We are NewWaveToys (the creators of Replicade) and we are back with our second and final Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/529306246/replicade-mini-tempest-arcade-machine-replica-12-t Just like last time, we are going for a truly authentic feel with our Tempest machine, just in 1/6th scale. It is completely licensed through Atari, which allows us to use all the original art as well as the original ROM. If you are interested, please come check us out as there are only 8 days left on the Kickstarter!

Woohoo! This takes me back: https://youtu.be/CPBE6rNh8QA?t=281 If anyone else finds video of retro games that they think are cool, feel free to post links here.

Are they--In cabinet form? I haven't seen anything in ages (granted I live in a small rural state.) There are some good local retro-themed barcades and I see stuff up to the early 2ks, but I can't recall having seen a NEW arcade game in ages. Obviously they still make them in Japan and elsewhere but has anyone seen anything in NA?

Hey all, I recently got a Wico Trackball for the my TI and I was wondering what games are good for it. After doing a quick google search it doesn't seem like many people use it or at least write posts about it. I've only got to games at my house (I'm on vacation right now): TI Invaders and Parsec. I thought TI Invaders would be awful with the ball, but it actually makes the game shockingly more accurate (at least compared to the default controllers) I figured that Parsec would be amazing with the trackball given the full 2 dimensional movement (x direction and y direction) but it really isn't good. I can't move up and down fast enough in that game to dodge enemy fire. Any suggestions? I know centipede would be really fun, but apparently its pretty rare.

Hi guys. I'm Orionsangel. I'm a life long gamer. I grew up with Atari and have had almost every console imaginable. I hung out in Arcades in the 80's. I still play games to this day even modern games. So last year I started making bezels for retro games on Mame. My idea was to bring the arcade experience at home without owning the arcade machines. Check them out. https://www.youtube.com/orionsangel Playlist - http://bit.ly/2u1Yl42 Here are some examples.

So this will be coming out but the timeline is still fluid. Couple details to give so far - - political choices will be more serious (adult oriented) and have real world applications - 6-10 minigames whose difficulty is based on the party you choose... - Difficulty setting will be selected based on the election year you want to run (so for instance, a republican candidate in an 84 scenario would be very easy, in 2000, moderate, 2008, difficult) - SGM required There's so much that's planned for this game but I don't want to put the cart before the horse just yet and promise anything that cant be delivered - I just want to get some interest going... Thoughts are welcome.

I was wondering if the Donkey Kong arcade hacks could be made to work on 7800 hardware? I am assuming so because they appear to utilize assets from the original arcade game, and the achievement of Donkey Kong PK/XM on the 7800 serves as a sort of proof of concept.

Atari was probably the first company to license arcade hits to complement their own library which they offered on the VCS and soon third-parties followed suit (Parker Bros, M-Network), or in case of some others (Sega, Bally Midway, etc) ended up spinning up their own companies to make and publish these home console versions. It's interesting how Coleco basically went with the arcade-conversions only, which were so prominently displayed on their boxes. As a kid, I remember seeing that and being impressed by that. But other than Time Pilot (which was not a great conversion), most Coleco games for the Atari always left me cold. Anyways, my list is: Space Invaders Double Dragon Ms. Pac-Man Pole Position Frogger Track & Field Tapper Bump'n'Jump Galaxian Q*Bert 1. Space Invaders What can you say about Space Invaders which hasn't been said? It was truly the killer app for the Atari 2600. It brought them a ton of console sales; compared to Asteroids, Berzerk and Missile Command which came around the same time, this is the one that people recognized quickly (before Pac-Man that is) and you can play it quickly. This is one of the few games that I recall my dad playing with me on the Atari 2600 back in 1982/83 when I had borrowed the game from a friend. I never get bored playing this game. I love picking off alien by alien and there is a ton of variations on the cart to make it interesting especially with two players. 2. Double Dragon Yes, Double Dragon. This is one of my all-time favourite arcade games and I can finish it on one quarter which I just did recently when I was Las Vegas and they had it at one of hotels. I recall some of my friends having it on the Sega Master System and Nintendo, and thinking it was pretty lame. I also remember the Amiga 500 version that my friend had and thinking that it looked better than the arcade. So when I saw it the local Consumers (along with F-14, Commando, Rampage, etc), I bought it right away. Crappy graphics and limited gameplay. But man, I love playing this game. I like the fact that someone actually tried it on an Atari 2600 and squeezed a 3-button control scheme into the poor Atari joystick controller. Most of the time I can finish this game and will one day put on a longplay video on Youtube! 3. Ms. Pac-Man Like Hitman Hart, this is the excellence of execution. It is everything that the original Pac-Man wasn't. I actually only played this game for the first time in 89 and thought it was outstanding. Little or no flicker, different mazes, the bonus and speed were perfect. Reading the stories now about the Pac-Man fiasco, it's funny what a massive difference the extra 4kb made. Ms. Pac-Man drew a new line in the sand for the Atari games and set a new standard. 4. Pole Position Obviously I like arcade conversions where I was okay playing them. Pole Position is one of the very arcade games that I had mastered and could finish most of the times. The graphics and sound were not great, and the automatic acceleration is one compromise that had to be made. I just love the fact that the same arcade track was converted into the 2600 and the sense of motion that you get. One of the finer examples of arcade conversions for the VCS. 5. Frogger I remember playing Frogger in a dingy backroom in a restaurant (circa 1984) in the small town I lived in for most of my teens. I always like the game and was okay in it. I was very surprised how good the Atari version was when I first got it in 89 from a used book store. The gameplay was all there and while the graphics weren't great, they did the job. And yes, I've seen the Starpath version (which is phenomenal), and just went with Parker Bros version because of what it does with its more limited resources. 6. Track & Field There are times that I look back at how much money I spent on Hyper Olympics and wonder what else I could have bought with that allowance that went into that game? Another Atari cart (Spider Kong) or perhaps a LCD hand-held game? Hyper Olympics (aka Track&Field) was awesome and I could make it past the first round no problems. This Atari conversion is really good and it's (un)fortunate I never knew of it around 83/84 because perhaps I wouldn't have been so fixated on Activision's Decathlon. All the events are in there and they even have the head-to-head races, not to mention allowing you to enter your initials. I have to get myself a proper controller (or build my own). 7. Tapper I've never seen this game in the arcade, or at least don't remember. I bought my 2600 cart off eBay and was surprised how good it is. It has 3 different levels and the playability is top notch. It's a very fun game and I can play it for long periods of time. I have played the arcade version in MAME and I can't say this is the type of game I would have sought out in the arcade, but it's a fun with a good sense of humour. 8. Bump'n'Jump I don't remember playing it in the arcade when it first came out but noticing after I got a copy of it for the C64. Always thought it was a fun game to play and once you had a sense of the road pattern you could do really well. I found a copy of this at a flea market in Pickering and probably the best $10 I spent for a M-Network game. 9. Galaxian After the dominance of Space Invaders, there were two sucessors: Phoenix and Galaxian. I always wondered why Atari got both licenses and I suppose it was partly to ensure no competitor was able to get it. I thought that this conversion was well done and the movement and difficulty were just right. Like Space Invaders I can easily spend a couple of hours playing this over and over again. Weird that I was never really into shoot'em ups, but considering that I played Galaxian quite a bit when I was younger, I have to say that this conversion is pretty good considering we're dealing with some significant constraints with 2600 hardware. After reading about the tricks and limitations of the 2600, I can't help noticing things like flicker, solid colour for the attacking aliens and playfield used for the formations. Overall, it's a great game and perfect to relax for a while. 10. Q*Bet Just saw with the talk from the creator of Q*Bert and it's interesting to hear about the development history, it's worth the 45 minutes of your time. The Atari 2600 did a pretty good job considering the graphical limitations and is probably the worst looking of them all. It's a pity that the last row had to be sacrificed with in my mind throws the feel of the game off and makes it for a cramped game at times. It is one of my favourite games on the 2600 and always brings me back to play another round.

http://videoarcade.bigcartel.com/product/shark-jaws-shirt Get a shirt based on the notorious Atari bootleg game based on the JAWS phenom of the mid-70s. For a limited time this Shark Jaws shirt is available. Shirt will be screened to order in batches, and mailed as soon as possible. Please be patient. Shirts are printed on vintage turquoise Next Level tri-blend tees. Athletic fit so they are a bit snug. Go a size up if you like them roomie. Also available on black on gold printed on a Next Level cotton crew, just leave a note with the order. Sapphire 100% cotton Gildan shirts are also available.

I recently published this write-up about Shark Jaws, Atari's attempt to cash-in on success of JAWS. Enjoy! http://www.arcade72.com/atari-shark-jaws-horror-games-1975/

Hey all, We are NewWaveToys (the creators of Replicade) and we just launched a Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/529306246/replicade-mini-centipede-arcade-machine-replica-12 We are going for a truly authentic feel with our Centipede machine, just in 1/6th scale. It is completely licensed through Atari, which allows us to use all the original art as well as the original ROM. We posted on the Replicade thread, but we also wanted to create our own. If you have any questions about the Centipede machine or anything else, feel free to ask! (although I may not be able to answer everything).

Has anyone ever seen a PlayPak Mac-based arcade system? I've been fascinated by them since they were announced in the 90s, even though I know they are just a Mac inside an arcade cabinet. The game Battle-Girl was a 90s take on Robotron with some cool elements. This is a link to the defunct (I think) company page: https://web.archive.org/web/19980131182035/http://www.negs.net:80/Pages/Battlegirl.html Arcade Museum shows PlayPak's conversion of The Untouchable, but no one seems to have one: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10269

I believe the saying that happiness is not always having what you want, but it is wanting what you have. With the Fall season taking hold, I find myself getting back into a nostalgic frame of mind. While I find it is not productive to live in the past, I find that some of the best memories actually help me appreciate what I have more. As I tossed the draw of nostalgia around in my head, I began to wonder if kids today will have the same opportunities. We live in the age of the microwave. We want things when we want them, and that is usually now. I guess one can argue that it has always been that way, but I it is truly a lot more attainable in today's age. Sometimes it makes me wonder if kids of today are missing out. Although I do not prefer them, the rough times in my life have been some of my best opportunities for growth. I am not going to go that deep. I am just talking about video games here, but I find it an interesting parallel, how many of times of want have become some of my most cherished memories. When I was writing this the first time (I accidentally tabbed out and pressed backspace.. gone), "I'll Wait", by Van Halen started playing in my headphones. In my mind, I was thrust back into the late 80's. I was inside the arcade/corner shop, which many would stop by, on the way to our Junior High School. As much as I didn't care for cigarette smoke, it was a small price to pay, because games were 2 credits for a quarter! in fact, I met my longest friend there. We used to play Mario Bros. Sometimes we would play as a team; other times, we would play competitively. We still talk about those times to this day. I was very fortunate to have my Atari 5200, because the Mario Bros version was better than other conversions of the time. In many ways, it even outshines the NES version in animation and competitive nuances. We would sit and play that game all night at times. As much fun as it was, it was still a treat to play the arcade version. Of course we wished we could have our own arcade machine, but that just wasn't realistic at the time. Those are some great memories. Who would have thought that wishing for arcade perfect (or even better than we had) would be just as great of a memory? Pac-Man is probably the game that changed my life. Just as there are memories of actually enjoying the 2600 Pac-Man, I have just as many fond memories drooling over the Sear's catalog, because the Atari 400/800 computers had a version with the same maze layout. The sounds were closer than I ever imagined a home version could be. When the 5200 was released, I was finally able to obtain that version. It was even better than the computer version, because the high score racked up during gameplay, and it had the intermission cut scenes. I was so enamored with it. However, I still longed for that crunchy "whacka", when I dropped a quarter into the actual arcade machine. It wasn't the same. Donkey Kong was another favorite. I had a friend with a ColecoVision. While I was very hung up on that version, it was very lacking. The graphics were very sharp, but it had very few on screen enemies, it was slow, and it was very glitchy. It was still fun. It was like an alternate. I couldn't afford to also own a ColecoVision, and I personally thought the 5200 conversions were more detail oriented. One day, I noticed Donkey Kong in an Atari Computer brochure. Could this be? The 5200 and A8s (Atari 8-bit computers) were just different arrangements of the same hardware. The version I saw had the missing "crazy barrels", "Springers", and the Conveyor level. I later found out that Atari had the computer rights, but they could not produce the video game system version. Now I had to pine after an Atari A8 if I wanted the best Donkey Kong home version. I can't count how much time I spent re-reading that catalog and looking at that still picture. It came to life in my imagination. One of the major retail catalogs later got another screen shot. It just all added to the image in my mind. Just when the 5200 was getting some unique games, such as Pengo and Space Dungeon, Atari announced the 7800. I was a little disappointed, because I felt the 5200 was just starting to see its potential. I had two articles on the 7800. The first was announcing the new system. It touted virtually unlimited sprites, with virtually unlimited colors. The pictures were crude drawing, as screenshots were not common back in the day. I wasn't sure how the game would actually look. I assumed they would be higher resolution, since the current A8/5200 fell a little short on detail at times. The extra colors sounded nice. I assumed the sound would be just as good, if not better. it was also backward compatible with the Atari 2600, which didn't seem like such a big deal in this generation. I was thankful that there would be a module to allow my 5200 to play 7800 games. I was hopeful that my deluxe 5200 TrakBall would be compatible. The second article I had stated that Atari had dropped the 7800. It was a sad article, stating what could have been. At that point, I figured I would never know what incredible capabilities this Atari system possessed. Even though, I can't even count the number of times I re-read those articles. I still fondly look back on how great I dreamed it would be. I still have the tattered magazines. When I look at them, I feel that same excitement, even though the actual system is in my current basement. I've seen how badly the 7800 missed the mark of my imagination, and I still enjoy the memory of wanting one. Around 1985/1986, Mom and Dad said I could get a new video game system. It was a gift for some achievement in school. I heard the 7800 was finally released. I was anxious to get to see how amazing this Maria chip is. I would finally get to see the system that would blow away my beloved 5200. They took me to Children's Palace. There were no systems in stock. I looked at the back of the game boxes. The games didn't really look much better than my 5200 versions. Ms Pac-Man looked almost the same. There weren't many games, and I began to wonder if it was as good as I had heard. They did have the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in stock. I took a look, and I saw graphics that were arcade realistic. Super Mario Bros looked incredible, and I couldn't tell the difference from the version at the local arcade. The pictures of my favorite classics, Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, looked spot on too. I took a chance and grabbed an NES. Man, did I dodge a bullet! I got the NES home, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. The graphics were arcade perfect. The sound was incredible. It was unlike anything I ever thought would play on my television. I couldn't wait to get Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. I didn't see a 7800 in person until about a year later. The sprites were multi color, but the resolution was low, the colors were washed out, and the game play was choppy. I was so disappointed. Worse than any of that was the sound. Unlike some, I can't enjoy a game fully without sound. With the 7800, it's hard for me to enjoy the games because of the sound. I already had an almost arcade mirror of Galaga for my NES. Here was a 7800 version that looked like a colorful 2600 version. It sounded like it too. Apparently, Maria takes up so much processing time, it's hard for the system to draw smooth curves. Similar issues were seen in Mario Bros, where Mario leaps off the ground, ending in a crude arch. In fairness to the 7800, I have seen some redeeming homebrews. Although the 320 mode is limited, it exists. One of my favorite redeeming games is Donkey Kong Pokey. Even with the lower resolution, it would have blown me away back in the day and justified the 7800 as a successor to the A8. My point here is that I own a 7800 now, and I think I sometimes enjoy the memory of WANTING a 7800 more than I do the system itself. I think I enjoy homebrews, because they kind validate the expectations of my fond memories. As for the NES, I was blown away by Super Mario Bros, Ghost & Goblins, and Galaga. However, I was not impressed with Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Pac-Man, or even DK Jr. While they looked better than previous versions, but they lacked the charm and challenge of the arcade counterparts. Pac-Man didn't fit in the maze, the whacka was off, and it was sluggish. Donkey Kong was missing game elements, a whole level, and it was too easy. As much as I felt the NES could have handled a perfect conversion, I am kind of thankful that I still had something to want. The 16-bit generation changed it up a little. I actually started to get into fighters. I wasn't a big fan of the 16-bit era. Sonic was fun. The only thing I cared about was that they could handle almost arcade-perfect versions of SF2, MK, MK2, SF2 Turbo, etc... This was a very fun period, because arcades were still chugging along. I have played games online with friends. It's fun, but it's not like meeting strangers at the arcade fun. It was great to be able to go to the arcade with a few close friends. They were in your corner, you played, and you went home with your close friends. At home, you practiced with your close friends. The home versions were not arcade perfect, but they were great. There's a great memory to still having that superior version to look forward to. I have great memories of wishing I had the arcade version at home. When PS1 came out, I saw the writing on the wall. Ridge Racer, Tekken, and Namco Classics were all about as close to the arcade as I could tell. Memory restrictions were an obstacle for games like MK3, as were loading times, but they were still pretty good. I think this was the crossing point. After this, games at home were pretty much arcade quality. The arcade was dying. Fast forward to today. I caught myself in a nostalgic mood. I now own about every system I have ever owned or wanted. Every system has some sort of SD card to play ROMs, except the 7800, for which I made my own EPROM carts. I can play most games on my PC, phone, PSP, GP2X, etc., via emulation. I even bought a few of my favorite arcade cabinets. When it comes to video games, there's not much that I badly want, but yet I still felt something was missing. That didn't make sense to me. One day, I realized that I think I enjoy wanting as much as having. Some of my fondest memories are wanting. They were looking at still magazine pictures and imagining what it would be like to have all of those games at my disposal. It was using my imagination to dream about the day that I would have arcade quality games at home. Back then, it was only reserved for the elite, like Rick Shroeder. Could some of my fondest memories be of reading video game magazines and "wishbooks"? I think they might be. That explains why it's sometimes fun to just turn the arcade machines on and watch the attract mode. It's almost as fun to think back to the times I wished I had a quarter, as it is to actually play the game. Is that why I enjoy classic game shows so much? One of my friends once made a point that classic game shows don't really change; if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Aside from the fact that "classic" is relative and does change, there's something great about going back and remembering what it was like to WANT those childhood gems. Sometimes, it's seeing something in person that we only saw in a magazine. I then got to wondering if today's generation is missing out. Sure, they want the latest video game, but they are going to have that game when it's released. They do not have to use their imagination to make it fit the arcade counterpart. They don't have to worry about making their quarter last. There's nothing to lose. Maybe that's why I still prefer retro games. I downloaded Rayman3 the other day. The first part of the game was flying through a 3D environment. I needed to steer my character into the gems. It really felt like a lame combination of Pole Position and Pac-Man. It was lame, because there was no challenge. If I missed, I looped back through. if I am going to collect dots on a screen, I am fine doing that on my Pac-Man machine. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the modern games, even though they are just putting lipstick on a combination of our childhood pigs. It's just that I prefer the real thing! Strangely, my XBoxOne gets more Mortal Kombat X play than anything else. lol.