pocketmego #1 Posted September 10, 2006 (edited) Ok, here is a corrected poll for the best 8-Bit gaming computer. -Ray Edited September 10, 2006 by pocketmego Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JB #2 Posted September 10, 2006 Let's hear it for the 4A! Parsec! Tunnels of Doom! Crazy Space Invaders bootlegs! Actually, TI Invaders is probably one of the better ports/knockoffs of the era... Speech synthesis! Really shitty joysticks! ... Ummm, strike that last one... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ze_ro #3 Posted September 10, 2006 Ok, here is a corrected poll for the best 8-Bit gaming computer. Um... you spelled "Commodore" wrong... --Zero Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pocketmego #4 Posted September 10, 2006 Ok, here is a corrected poll for the best 8-Bit gaming computer. Um... you spelled "Commodore" wrong... --Zero I hate you. -Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pocketmego #5 Posted September 10, 2006 Interesting how the Atari computers took the lead this time. So far pushing very much ahead of the C64. -Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shannon #6 Posted September 10, 2006 Ok, here is a corrected poll for the best 8-Bit gaming computer. Um... you spelled "Commodore" wrong... --Zero He ran out of O's... I'm sure the defenders of the other machines will come running over here once word get out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt_B #7 Posted September 10, 2006 Interesting how the Atari computers took the lead this time. So far pushing very much ahead of the C64. It's all in the wording, I guess. Atari 400 = substandard hack-job. Atari 8-bits = 800XL (and possibly console?) goodness. For what it's worth the 6128 was the definitive Amstrad CPC machine; it replaced the 664 which was unable to run CP/M+ and was quietly dropped after a year. I suppose the 6128+ is better still, with hardware support for sprite graphics and DMA sound, but that's largely academic as it was released far too late into a market that was already crawling with 16 bit machines. Still, I doubt that will affect the poll. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
potatohead #8 Posted September 10, 2006 One vote for the tandy! Nice CPU, decent sound, but poor controllers and graphics... Bummer. Anyone play "Madness and the Minotar"? Was a fun real time text adventure game. Things were happening all the time. Type slow and miss out! (Sorry for OT) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesD #9 Posted September 10, 2006 One vote for the tandy! Nice CPU, decent sound, but poor controllers and graphics... Bummer. Anyone play "Madness and the Minotar"? Was a fun real time text adventure game. Things were happening all the time. Type slow and miss out! (Sorry for OT) The CoCo3 had great graphics. No sprites though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
potatohead #10 Posted September 10, 2006 One vote for the tandy! Nice CPU, decent sound, but poor controllers and graphics... Bummer. Anyone play "Madness and the Minotar"? Was a fun real time text adventure game. Things were happening all the time. Type slow and miss out! (Sorry for OT) The CoCo3 had great graphics. No sprites though. I stand corrected. I agree. Was really thinking about the coco2. When displayed on a television, the 16 color mode would artifact into a pseudo 256 color mode, with most of the colors being pretty useful. Nice memory management unit too. The only real decent game I had for the system I used to own was Rad Warrior on cart. It played very well. Even without hardware sprites, the machine was fast enough to shove a lot of bits around the screen without flicker. I didn't vote though. The Atari 8bitters are my favorites for all time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AussieAtari #11 Posted September 10, 2006 The corrected (longer) list only made things harder - another for the venerable TI99/4A. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesD #12 Posted September 10, 2006 The corrected (longer) list only made things harder - another for the venerable TI99/4A. My biggest complaint with Ti isn't the machine but the company. Later machines tried to prevent 3rd party games written in assembly. I really don't know the details but if you ever buy a Ti get the silver version. That was my understanding anyway. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MacbthPSW #13 Posted September 10, 2006 The corrected (longer) list only made things harder - another for the venerable TI99/4A. I really can't understand choosing a computer that only has a few dozen decent titles (and most of those are quite derivative) as the best 8-bit gaming computer. I am much more nostaglic (and even technically appreciative) about the TI than the Apple II or Speccy, but if I was only able to game on one 8-bit computer, I'd choose either of them over the TI in a flash, just because of the wide variety of games available for them. I like just about every genre of game there is, maybe that's the difference? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Player #14 Posted September 11, 2006 (edited) Interesting how the Atari computers took the lead this time. So far pushing very much ahead of the C64. -Ray You would hope at a site devoted to Atari products that the Atari eight-bits would have some fans. I loved my 800XL and voted Atari. I used to think all of those C64 owners were traitors to Atari. But then I became one myself when my roommate in college showed up with his Amiga. It is the best 16 bit gaming computer. Edited September 11, 2006 by Big Player Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shannon #15 Posted September 11, 2006 I used to think all of those C64 owners were traitors to Atari. But then I became one myself when my roommate in college showed up with his Amiga. It is the best 16 bit gaming computer. The Amiga was essentially designed by the same guy who made the Atari 8-bits. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garak #16 Posted September 11, 2006 I used to think all of those C64 owners were traitors to Atari. Perhaps some were traitors, but I'd say a great many were like me and never touched or owned an Atari anything before I got my C64 in 1983. Matter of fact I didn't even get a Atari 2600 till fours years later. Garak Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pocketmego #17 Posted September 11, 2006 I used to think all of those C64 owners were traitors to Atari. Perhaps some were traitors, but I'd say a great many were like me and never touched or owned an Atari anything before I got my C64 in 1983. Matter of fact I didn't even get a Atari 2600 till fours years later. Garak Or like me, my parent's knew I was interested in computers so they got me a C-64. It was cheap. As it turned out it ended up having the best library of games on any system and much like the VCS was way more capable of stuff than the original designers had imagined it to be. It was an incredibly flexible machine with a LOOOONNNGGG life for games. -Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JB #18 Posted September 11, 2006 The corrected (longer) list only made things harder - another for the venerable TI99/4A. I really can't understand choosing a computer that only has a few dozen decent titles (and most of those are quite derivative) as the best 8-bit gaming computer. I am much more nostaglic (and even technically appreciative) about the TI than the Apple II or Speccy, but if I was only able to game on one 8-bit computer, I'd choose either of them over the TI in a flash, just because of the wide variety of games available for them. I like just about every genre of game there is, maybe that's the difference? Because it's what I grew up on, and I've got a box full of games for it. I admit to not having a lot of vintage computer experience, though. I played edutainment on Apple 2 in elementary, poked at a C64 a few times when I had a chance, and own an 800XL with 2 games, but the 4a remains the only non-IBM-compatible that I've got any real experience with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mayhem #19 Posted September 11, 2006 The Atari computers hardly did anything in the UK. The only real competitor to the C64 here was the Spectrum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Video #20 Posted September 11, 2006 I still had to vote Commodore 64. It's what I grew up on, till about 92 when we got a tandy, or a knockoff. I think we had a knock off, and the neighbors had ana ctual tandy, Man, was I ever Dissappointed. That thing sucked ass in comparrison to the C64 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AussieAtari #21 Posted September 11, 2006 (edited) The corrected (longer) list only made things harder - another for the venerable TI99/4A. I really can't understand choosing a computer that only has a few dozen decent titles (and most of those are quite derivative) as the best 8-bit gaming computer. I am much more nostaglic (and even technically appreciative) about the TI than the Apple II or Speccy, but if I was only able to game on one 8-bit computer, I'd choose either of them over the TI in a flash, just because of the wide variety of games available for them. I like just about every genre of game there is, maybe that's the difference? With my limited funds and limited gaming ability (I really sucked at games back then, come to think of it I'm not all that much better 20 years on!) the TI gave me Parsec (Defender), Munch Man (Pac Man), TI Invaders (Space Invaders), Scott Adams adventures, Hunt The Wumpus, Chess and a few others that covered enough of the genres to keep me happy. I was also introduced into the world of Assembly coding with the TI and actually enjoyed having a fairly "unusual" machine back then. Plus, when I bought it, it was far more reliable than the machines Commodore were producing. Oh, and I could make it swear at my sister with the speech synthesizer module - I thought that was really good! I had a Spectrum and an Apple as well at the time when they were all new but Parsec kept me going back to the TI. Edited September 11, 2006 by AussieAtari Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pocketmego #22 Posted September 12, 2006 I'd hardly call the C-64 unreliable. Plus the C-64 had a HUGE push in Australia, didn't it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7lAhguZWdE -Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JB #23 Posted September 12, 2006 With my limited funds and limited gaming ability (I really sucked at games back then, come to think of it I'm not all that much better 20 years on!) the TI gave me Parsec (Defender), Munch Man (Pac Man), TI Invaders (Space Invaders), Scott Adams adventures, Hunt The Wumpus, Chess and a few others that covered enough of the genres to keep me happy. I wouldn't exactly call Parsec a Defender clone, or even a close substitute. I've got Defender(4a version was actually my initial exposure) AND Parsec, though, so no need to be choosy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shannon #24 Posted September 12, 2006 Oh, and I could make it swear at my sister with the speech synthesizer module - I thought that was really good! I was just thinking that is probably where the expression beotch came from... A computer synthesizer... *uck u beotch... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pixelboy #25 Posted September 12, 2006 I really wanted to vote for the Adam, but I had to surrender to the logic of the moment: The C64 was king in terms of gaming, at least in terms of number of games and general appeal. Of course, I've never been a C64 fan myself, but I can't deny that it was big back in the day. BTW, shouldn't the TRS-80/Coco be part of that poll? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites