I had a dream last night about a classic console that does not exist...

[Silverfleet]

So, let me preface this by saying that I have very vivid, sometimes lucid, and always strange dreams. Seeing that I like video games, sometimes I'm gifted a dream scenario that's related to gaming, like the time I was driving K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider through the obstacle course from the game Paperboy.

 

One recurring theme I've had is hunting for classic games at yard sales, flea markets, and thrifts where I find vintage games for next to nothing. Last night, I had one of those, and it was a really weird one.

 

I found myself out with the wife at a dusty old thrift store we found while driving around. As I'm looking around, I see something very strange over by the CRT TV's. It was about the size of a 20" TV, with woodgrain and black plastic and silver accents throughout, but had what appeared to be a Vectrex monitor on one side of the case and a speaker and knobs on the other. On the bottom of it was a CED player. It was called the RCA Vectrex Color. It was apparently a combo unit that played Vectrex carts and special color games that used the CED format as game media. I'm not sure if that is even possible in the real world, but this was a dream after all. I bought that and a horde of Sega Master System games for something like $26.

 

WTF, huh?

 

I really wish I was good at rendering so I could make this phantom dream console that makes no sense come to life. And no, I didn't have anything crazy to eat before bed, LOL.

[carlsson]

You are not alone. Several of us have these types of dreams. Some post in the off-topic section in a combined dream thread, although not all those dreams are video game related. Personally I've had so many and various dreams about finding rare games, systems, visiting expos and lots more that I've lost track of them. However since I begun to write down what I could remember, I can go back to my dreams and recognize fragments. Rarely the same dream appears twice, so you might never see that RCA Vectrex Color again. :-(

[enoofu]

Suggest you watch Air Wolf it should solve your K.I.T.T Nightmare

[0078265317]

http://vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/Color_Vectrex_prototype

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jmorg/vectrex/VecColor.htm

[CatPix]

If I recall right, CED stored media as a odd magnetic/groove mix.

Regardless, its always possibl o store data on any format that store sound, as the computer tapes proves.

There are, after all games on Laserdisc. There are even games one VHS, and a Russian company in the 90's sold an ISA and PCI cards to save data on ordinary VHS tapes.

So game on CED? Silly, but not impossible.

[Flojomojo]

I really wish I was good at rendering so I could make this phantom dream console that makes no sense come to life. And no, I didn't have anything crazy to eat before bed, LOL.

 

If I were feeling 30% less lazy, I'd paste a bunch of woodgrain TV sets, 1980s RCA logos, and vector graphics all over this old cartoon.

 

In the meantime, I encourage you to search for "reef store rec.games.video.classic" for some old stories like this.

 

 

8/8/2017 Reef Store Dreams - Google Groups https://groups.google.com/forum/print/msg/rec.games.video.classic/3rCDkVbxZyM/VUO5CuYJftMJ?ctz=3998448_72_76_104100_72_4467601/2 Google Groups Reef Store Dreams Chris Cracknell Oct 8, 1997 3:00 AM Posted in group: rec.games.video.classic I've been having a few "Reef Store Dreams" lately. On the weekend I dreamt that I went into an old clothing store and found tonnes of Atari 2600 carts. Most of them were titled in Japanese and had names like "Bondage Pincess" and "Spirit Apple", things that just don't quite make sense (well, Bondage Princess kind of makes sense, but the game was a Super Mario Bros. clone and not an X-rated game. There was a picture on the cart of an anime princess tied to a stake and a knight fighting a dragon). I also aquired a very rare Atari 6800 with some carts as well as two 7800s and one 2800. I didn't really get to do any cart hunting on the weekend so I don't know if I missed an opportunity. Last night I dreamt that I went to a flea market and found..... A VECTREX. But it didn't have the original joysticks, which wasn't bad because it came with two, brand new still in the box, third party joysticks that were of a superior nature. Alas I only got one game with my Vectrex. It was a vector graphics version of Joust. And much to my suprise... it was in colour! I asked the lady if she had anymore carts and she said, "Oh yeah, lots of carts" and she showed me a box full of Nintendo carts. I wasn't interested and asked if she had any "older carts". Her husband than produced a big box of carts. In it, as in the other dream, was a slew of Japanese labled 2600 carts (I think I've been studing Japanese too hard) and a couple of 7800 carts. One of the 7800 carts was "Super Moon Patrol". It was a very odd cart that plugged into the 7800, had one cable that plugged into the joystick port, another that plugged into the expansion port and a cable that plugged into a wall power outlet. Why all these odd connectors? Well when everything was hooked up, it turned your TV into a 3-D holographic projector (of course). Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off when I woke up this morning (interupted in this dream by a phonecall from a telemarketer!) and realized that none of these goodies will be waiting for me in my house. I guess these "Reef Store" finds await us in the next life. If so, then you're all invited to visit me in the afterlife for a game of colour Vectrex "Joust" and 3-D "Super Moon Patrol", maybe even a game of "Bondage Princess". CRACKERS (To sleep, perchance to dream from hell!!) -- 8/8/2017 Reef Store Dreams - Google Groups https://groups.google.com/forum/print/msg/rec.games.video.classic/3rCDkVbxZyM/VUO5CuYJftMJ?ctz=3998448_72_76_104100_72_446760 2/2 Accordionist - Wethifl Musician - Atari 2600 Collector | /\/\ *NEW CrAB URL* http://www.hwcn.org/~ad329/crab.html ***| \^^/ Bira Bira Devotee - FES Member - Samurai Pizza Cats Fan| =\/=

 

[BassGuitari]

I had a dream once that I was at my aunt's and she had an Atari 2600 clone made by Magnavox. It looked like a Sears Video Arcade with a black face instead of woodgrain (or a Dactar system, I guess) but there were nine or 10 switches instead of four or six (I think one of the extras was the channel select, another might have been a controller toggle for an unseen combo joy/paddle controller, another might have been Pause) in a combination of horizontal and the usual vertical orientations. In what must have been a nod to the Odyssey 2, there were two keypads set into the top of the case (nice mechanical ones, to boot!), eliminating the need to hook up the little-used Keyboard Controllers. The switches were all arranged from the left of the switch panel, with the cartridge interface "right-justified;" carts inserted at a 90-degree angle instead of the usual 45(ish?)-degree angle.

If a Sears Video Arcade, Odyssey 2, and Altair computer had a three-way, this is what happened.

[enoofu]

If I recall right, CED stored media as a odd magnetic/groove mix.

Regardless, its always possibl o store data on any format that store sound, as the computer tapes proves.

There are, after all games on Laserdisc. There are even games one VHS, and a Russian company in the 90's sold an ISA and PCI cards to save data on ordinary VHS tapes.

So game on CED? Silly, but not impossible.

Halcyon and Colecovision almost had Super Game Module - CED for it expansion

[glazball]

I'm really happy to hear that I'm not the only one who has dreams of finding rare or unusual video games in flea markets or game stores!

[cvga]

I'm really happy to hear that I'm not the only one who has dreams of finding rare or unusual video games in flea markets or game stores!

 

I have these dreams fairly often also. I had one recently where I found a baseball that had 9 cartridges. You needed 9 televisions and 9 Ataris that were somehow connected together. Each of the carts was labeled for a defensive position (pitcher, catcher, 1st base, etc). The graphics were from the 2600 era but your view was from your fielding position (everyone had their own screen) while you were on defense. Of course you had to wait until your turn in the batting order to hit.

[Eltigro]

I've often had dreams where I find some little game shop that has lots of games, but I don't recognize any of them so I don't know if they have them for a good price or not or if the game is fun or not...

[Eltigro]

And I made the following post in the "Dream Repository" thread in the General Chat forum...

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216059-dream-repository-weirdfunnyawesomewhatever-what-have-you-had-lately/?p=3797852

[spacecadet]

Before the Switch was announced, I had a dream that it was going to be a system housed in a large brown leather briefcase, with a screen shoehorned into the lid of the case that was black and white and had 120x66 resolution. And that was the only screen you were gonna get. It was basically an original Game Boy screen inside a briefcase lid. You couldn't open the briefcase, though, because that's where all the electronics were. It wasn't just that it was locked; it wasn't even a real briefcase, it was just made to look like one for some reason.

 

The ad campaign for this system featured a go-go dancer-accompanied Tom Jones singing "It's Not Unusual" as he carried his system around.

[carlsson]

Frankly I am more surprised, perhaps even concerned, about people who are retro game collectors or users who claim they never dream about buying or playing games. It makes me wonder if they're just faking the whole retro gaming part, as dreaming is about processing your inputs and experiences.

[CatPix]

Most people don't remember their dreams. They are disposable material that even if you remember a bit of it at you wake up, unless you put time to write it down, will go down the drain before you get your morning coffee and cereals.

I don't remember any of the dreams I have made in those las two months.

 

I don't recall dreaming about video gaming, but I don't remember dreaming about old cars either, and I'm fan of both. The only dream I make about cars is being at the wheels of my father's Peugeot 505 or my Citroën Visa and being unable to brake/braking very slowly while being in an emergency situation - I guess it's the automotive equivalent of the dream where you want to run but you can't, and run like you are trapped in thick mud.

But if I fdream about gaming, why would I remember it?

Edited August 10, 2017 by CatPix

[carlsson]

Multiple times I've dreamt of being in a retro game store and finding bags worth of super rare games. Then I get to the checkout and find that I'm unable to pay for those games, whether I'm out of cash, my card is not accepted or something else. Perhaps it is not as traumatic as being stuck in a crashing car or falling off a cliff, but it is sad enough to make me wake up covered in sweat and then I'll remember it until the morning.

[awhite2600]

I used to have retro game dreams every few months back in the late '90s and early 2000's. This is when I would frequently find games that I needed at local thrift stores and garage sales. Now that finding games in the wild is more difficult, I don't seem to have the dreams very often. The last one I recall was about a year ago. I don't remember the details.

 

Almost every dream involved finding strange looking and unheard of games for the 2600 or other systems of the era. I'd always wake up just after making the discovery.

[carlsson]

How come all of us who indeed have those dreams, find that they usually relate to items that don't exist in the real world? Barely anybody dreams about picking up cheap common carts or even a somewhat expensive system that is real, our minds all go for the super obscure items. Are our regular dreams that far from reality as well or are we feeding our brains so much with the desire to make those super finds that once it forms dreams, that is all it is able to come up with?

[spacecadet]

I'm sure we dream about stuff that doesn't exist as an expression of either desire or "fear". (The dream I described above wasn't exactly fear, but probably was my concern for how Nintendo was going to screw up their next console.)

 

Some people probably do dream about finding common carts, but I'll bet when they wake up they feel like it was kind of a letdown. They probably really wish they found something better.

 

I remember a non-gaming related dream I had a while back where I won a contest to meet my favorite band. I was supposed to literally be able to spend a day with them at one of their houses, just hanging out and doing whatever. Well, when I got there, two of them hadn't shown up and the other two said they wouldn't be coming. The two that did show up just wanted to sit on the couch, watch TV and eat Cheetos. I woke up thinking "THIS is my wildest fantasy, that I meet my favorite band, two of them stand me up and the other two sit around eating Cheetos?" But I'm sure that was also an expression of my fear that, much as I wanted to meet them, if I ever did it'd probably be disappointing in some way. I think our dreams reflect our feelings more than they reflect any kind of objective reality. So you're probably not going to dream about going to a store and finding common carts unless that's what you really, really either want or don't want to happen.

[carlsson]

I don't know if fear is the right word, but once I dreamed that my mother had the basement full of boxed computers but that I couldn't have a single of them!

[CatPix]

Fun thing, I dream about a game system today.

It was the Atari 176; it looked like a computerized XEGS - the famous pastel round buttons, but a normal (non slanted) cart slot, beige plastic, and an Atari XE type of keyboard.

Oddly, the Atari 176 was written in odd, shining red letters, as if you took the XE metallic type and added the red Atari paint in.

Can't remember much more, aside from that it was in a large pile of stuff on the side of the road, with ether stuff like a large VGA display (like 25" 16/10) and a lot of other old computers, that more looked like IBM-PC compatibles, some of them looking like Commodore.