Super Game Module now available for order

[crazykong]

Payment sent!!!

[san-d-2000]

Are you part of my customer records? If not, you should contact me in order to get the e-mail I will be sending to everyone on Christmas morning.

 

Also, I would like to mention that with 8 games to be released in late December, between now and then I will only have time to prepare 80 copies of Dragon's Lair, 60 copies of Zaxxon Super Game, 50 copies of King's Valley and 50 copies of Thexder (and also 40 copies of Wonder Boy, 40 copies of Mopiranger, 40 copies of Princess Quest and 40 copies of Quest for the Golden Chalice, in case anyone is wondering). I wish I could do more, but my time constraints are what they are, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't get seriously side-tracked between now and late December. But don't worry, I will prepare more copies of all the games in January, so those who won't be able to get a copy from the first run won't have to wait very long.

 

However, I should point out that I only have 100 transparent red cart casings in storage at the moment, which means I'll only be able to assemble 20 more copies of Dragon's Lair in January, and the same thing applies to Zaxxon, King's Valley and Thexder. If the demand is there, I'll order more transparent casings from Moldex, but Moldex is far from being quick to deliver, so time will tell how fast I will be able to offer more copies of the SGM games after the initial 100 copies of each game has sold out.

 

All this to say that if you plan to order any of the SGM games from Team Pixelboy, you should let me know right now, by sending me an e-mail at pixelboy at teampixelboy dot com.

 

 

Hi Luc,

Great news that you are releasing 8 new games in December, the only thing i dont understand is why you release so many games at once,

that's like 8 times 50/60 dollars which adds up to 480 US, CollectorVision is probably also gonna release a whole bunch that month.

With December already being the most expensive month of the year you will need to have some real deep pockets to keep up with the hobby.

Just my 2 cents, i'm still in for all 8.

 

Sandy

[Words iManifest]

Payment sent about ten minutes after I received your email lol. This Christmas is really going to bring me back to the wonders of my childhood and all the new and great Coleco endeavours of the future !

Edited September 28, 2012 by Words iManifest

[Arjak]

I will pay for mine the moment I get paid at the end of the month.

[the.golden.ax]

Always with the Christmas thing. I don't know about anyone else, but as a Father of four kids, A) Christmas day... not online so much... B) Christmas day, don't have much money left...

[128Kgames]

Always with the Christmas thing. I don't know about anyone else, but as a Father of four kids, A) Christmas day... not online so much... B) Christmas day, don't have much money left...

 

Yeah, I hear you ax, I've only got two little ones to worry about, but still I'm going to feel the pinch. Plus the fact that I've pre-ordered the Neo Geo X Gold + an extra controller (also releasing in December), Halo 4 Limited Edition game and Xbox 360 console, oh and NG:DEV.TEAM is coming out with another Neo Geo game called XYX.

 

So basically I'm gonna have to start selling off my extras in my collection or listing some organs on eBay.

 

I'm leaning more towards the organs...

[1982VideoGames]

I can already tell you that I will not be offering any other Adam-to-cartridge conversions beyond Dragon's Lair and Zaxxon Super Game. Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom was fine as a pack-in game back in 1983, but it's just a choppy mess of a game by my personal standards. It's kinda pointless to convert the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr Super Games since Opcode will be releasing the actual arcade port of DK next year, and DKJr is also on Eduardo's to-do list. That leaves the SubRoc Super Game prototype, which is nice, but ultimately not really interesting enough to convert and publish.

 

Pixelboy, are the Dragon's Lair and Zaxxon Super Game carts exact ports of the Adam tape versions (they look, sound, and play as if you were playing it on the Adam computer)?

[VectorGamer]

I'm in!

[Pixelboy]

I e-mailed you last night and you added me to your records :-)

 

Hopefully I can get in for the games I want.

 

Ah, okay then.

[Pixelboy]

Hi Luc,

Great news that you are releasing 8 new games in December, the only thing i dont understand is why you release so many games at once,

that's like 8 times 50/60 dollars which adds up to 480 US, CollectorVision is probably also gonna release a whole bunch that month.

With December already being the most expensive month of the year you will need to have some real deep pockets to keep up with the hobby.

Just my 2 cents, i'm still in for all 8.

 

Sandy

 

I do have to explain this at least once a year, don't I...?

 

First of all, I get my boxes printed by a professional printer company in Germany. You've seen my boxes and I'm sure you'll agree that they deliver great stuff. However, they force me to place an order of no less than 6 different boxes, 150 copies per box, each time I place an order. They won't accept my order if I don't meet those minimum requirements. So that's 6 box templates I have to prepare, which usually takes me most of spring and summer so that I can send the PDF templates to the printer in mid-September (and when I'm not working on box templates during that period, I'm beta-testing games). Once the boxes are done, I only have the fall (September to December) to prepare all the manuals and cartridge labels (which are printed by a local print shop near the building where I work), and then glue all the boxes together, assemble and test each cartridge, and put all the stuff in each box. These last few steps, I do all by myself, and it's very time-consuming.

 

With this said, why release them all on the same day? To help people save on shipping fees, mostly. A single box of 6 to 8 games is less expensive to ship than several smaller packages mailed over several weeks. It's less trouble for me too, and the sooner I'm done with sales, the quicker I can get started on the next batch of 6 games.

 

Now before you start picking my above arguments apart one by one, let me tell you that next year will be different: I will be printing the next lot of 6 boxes in March 2013, and I'm planning to release 2 games every three months or so afterwards. I can do this because in addition to preparing the box templates for this year's releases, I was also able to complete the work on a few other templates, such as Jewel Panic and Module Man. The box arts for such games as Spelunker and Stone of Wisdom are mostly ready, so creating the box templates will be a quick job.

 

About the 2012 releases, I will be offering a reminder service to all my customers who will not order all the games they want on release day. Once every month in 2013, I will send them an e-mail to remind them of the games they want but haven't bought yet, and then they can work their next purchases in their budget contraints over the next month or two. There will be no payment deadlines, but I will still operate on a first-come-first-served basis for all customers. Last winter's layaway plan showed me that I make enough cartridges to meet over 95% of the demand for my games, so a layaway plan is not really needed, I just need to give my customers some time to put some money aside.

 

Last but not least, I am seriously considering doing a small run of my past games early next year. I thought that I had thrown away all my unused boxes and cart labels months ago, but I must have done that in a dream because I still have them. So in the e-mail I will send to everyone on my customer list on Christmas morning, I will also include an invitation to request some of my past games, and I will work to produce enough new cartridges to meet the expected small demand.

 

So if you can put some money aside next winter, Ax, you should be able to buy at least a few of my games.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Pixelboy

[Pixelboy]

Pixelboy, are the Dragon's Lair and Zaxxon Super Game carts exact ports of the Adam tape versions (they look, sound, and play as if you were playing it on the Adam computer)?

 

Yep, that's right. They are straight conversions, and play the same as the Adam originals. There are a few minor differences (like no saving of the high score table, and no possibility to print the high score table on the Adam printer, obviously) but the games themselves are the same.

[the.golden.ax]

...March / April ... income tax refunds.... *sending positive mental suggestion*

 

 

(Me hold on to money and wait for something? You all know me better than that!)

 

 

In the words of Dolly Levi: Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around.

 

Just look at my want list You keep putting out quality stuff to drool over. I have some of it, and I'm sure I'll get in on some more! keep up the good work.

[+grips03]

TMOSteel - another Neogeo fan. NGDEV makes good games. Gunlord is a lot of fun.

[Pixelboy]

Just look at my want list You keep putting out quality stuff to drool over. I have some of it, and I'm sure I'll get in on some more! keep up the good work.

 

I don't see any Coleco games in your want list, but anyway, let's just hope I'll have the games you want in stock at the time you will decide to purchase them.

[+5-11under]

I thought that I had thrown away all my unused boxes and cart labels months ago, but I must have done that in a dream because I still have them.

That sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. There's got to be some laws against throwing this sort of thing out.

[Pixelboy]

That sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. There's got to be some laws against throwing this sort of thing out.

 

LOL! Well, dreams about cleaning the house and throwing unused stuff away are usually pleasant dreams...

[opcode]

Ok... I would really like to thank everyone here for the overwhelming response.

I am pleased to announce we have reached 75 paid orders, or half the minimum number of orders to start manufacturing. Today I will be sending confirmations for all order placed yesterday before midnight. Those who placed orders after that can expect a confirmation tomorrow.

I really hope we can reach 150 orders by early next week, as I am anxious to place the order for the case mold and name plate.

 

Thanks again, I just don't believe that after 7 years this is finally coming to a close... :D

[opcode]

I don't recall if you answered this question already, but seeing as I don't recall seeing one, I will ask it, "Is the SGM going to be available in an ADAM beige color case as well as the CV Black color case?".

 

Congrats on being one step closer to a release and more importantly, congrats on the latest addition to the family!

 

Thanks NIAD!

Mommy and Luke are now home. And daddy and Victor are super happy.

 

About the beige case, that will depend on demand and minimum number of cases of each color that must be ordered.

[NIAD]

I can already tell you that I will not be offering any other Adam-to-cartridge conversions beyond Dragon's Lair and Zaxxon Super Game. Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom was fine as a pack-in game back in 1983, but it's just a choppy mess of a game by my personal standards. It's kinda pointless to convert the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr Super Games since Opcode will be releasing the actual arcade port of DK next year, and DKJr is also on Eduardo's to-do list. That leaves the SubRoc Super Game prototype, which is nice, but ultimately not really interesting enough to convert and publish.

I don't think you should say "never" to the possible production on any of the other ADAM SuperGames at least until after you see what kind of demand you will have for the two planned releases... Dragon's Lair and Super Zaxxon. I know that these are the top two games to choose out of the small lot of SuperGames that Coleco made and that interest in the others may not be quite as high, but I personally feel that ALL of these SuperGames would easily sell out if you or someone else were to make them available eventually.

 

Even if you are ADAMant about not preceeding any further with anymore possible ADAM conversions, maybe another CV Homebrewer would be willing to pickup were you left off. The Mystery Man programmer could finsih off the titles a couple at a time and possibly something could be worked out between you and the "other" Homebrewer to use your boxart and manual style so that any further releases would all be similar... but without Team Pixelboy on everything. Just a thought, but it could possibly work if the interest in these games justifies it, which I think it will.

 

Let's look at what would be possible candidates:

 

2010: The text Adventure - NO. Requires keyboard entry.

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom - YES. There are enough new levels and extras to make it worthwhile.

Best of B.C., The - MAYBE. Seeing as BC II adds new mountains over the cart version.

Best of Broderbund, The - NO. Both games are available in CV format.

Best of Electronic Arts, The - YES. Only Hard Hat Mack would work though seeing as Pinball Construction Set probably wouldn't be possible. Maybe Hard Hat Mack could be stripped out of the program and made as an individual release.

Dam Busters - MAYBE. Only to preserve the game in another format other than Disk or DDP... Nah, never mind, give this one a NO!

FAMILY FEUD - NO. Requires keyboard entry.

JEOPARDY - NO. Requires keyboard entry.

RICHARD SCARRY'S BEST ELECTRONIC WORDBOOK - Hmmm, this could be an interesting title to convert to CV format seeing as an educational game of this quality has never been made for the CV and the graphics are beautiful.

SUBROC - YES. There are enough differences over the cart version to warrant a conversion.

TROLL'S TALE - Another good one for the kids, but to simple for adults.

 

Now, concerning the DK and DK Junior SuperGames, it would seem stupid to consider porting them to CV format seeing as Eduardo will release his DKA soon enough and has plans for DK Junior. I would view these as long term possibilities that I think people would still consider buying to complete their SuperGame collection, for purely nostalgic reasons and because we are just crazy enough to want all versions of DK and DK Jr. that are made for the CV. Perhaps a smaller run of these would be advisable. In the case of Donkey Kong Junior, the 5 screen unreleased (but completed) version could be used and this would make this game that much easier to decide to purchase.... plus it would be a nice filler until Opcode was able to make his arcade perfect port.

 

I don't know if it is a possibility, but Micro Chip and ADAM Bomb II would be no-brainers as well. I'm sure Steve Pitman would love to see these re-released in CV format ((again, if it's possible) and ADAM Bomb II really deserves a chance to be played and enjoyed by a larger market. BTW, Micro Chip could be included with another game like Sudoku, Solitaire, etc. that would make it more appealing.

 

Anyway, just some thoughts.

[NIAD]

Oh yeah, payment for 1 SGM will be on it's way!

[Pixelboy]

Thanks NIAD!

Mommy and Luke are now home. And daddy and Victor are super happy.

 

Victor is super happy because his brother hasn't woken him up in the middle of the night yet...

[NIAD]

So when do the programming lessons begin for Luke and Victor? Looks like there's a chance for new CV titles to be devloped for years to come!!!

Edited September 28, 2012 by NIAD

[Pixelboy]

I don't know if it is a possibility, but Micro Chip and ADAM Bomb II would be no-brainers as well. I'm sure Steve Pitman would love to see these re-released in CV format ((again, if it's possible) and ADAM Bomb II really deserves a chance to be played and enjoyed by a larger market. BTW, Micro Chip could be included with another game like Sudoku, Solitaire, etc. that would make it more appealing.

 

I have to agree with you on this one, Adam Bomb II would be a great addition to the SGM library. I saw it in action at AdamCon 22, and I was quite impressed by it. Problem is, you need a way to save your game, because it's near impossible to finish in one sitting (especially if you don't have a map) and I'm not sure how big of an on-cartridge savegame chip that would require. I actually had a talk with Steve about Adam Bomb II on a CV cartridge a while back, and he told me that the world map itself requires 8K of RAM, IIRC. If that technical hurdle could be overcome, I would gladly publish Adam Bomb II under my Team Pixelboy label.

 

As for Micho Chip, I would make it a bonus game on the Adam Bomb II cart, if there's room for it on the ROM.

 

EDIT: Eduardo, what's the maximum memory size of the savegame chip on your Super Game PCB?

Edited September 28, 2012 by Pixelboy

[hit_man]

Payment sent!

[jirkoo]

Payment sent.