Justin

☝️ That would be nice!! I hope they put that much thought into it.

Retro Games Ltd. announced this week that their officially licensed Amiga A500 "Mini" will be released on March 25, 2022 complete with a functioning mini keyboard, 720p HD output, a 4-button Control Pad reminiscent of the Amiga CD32 Controller, and 25 games for about $140 The Amiga A500 Mini will be available for order on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/A500-Mini-electronic-games/dp/B09CM1C3LX A complete list of include Amiga games has now been revealed and it includes some beloved classics like Zool, Worms, and Alien Breed 3D. Here’s the full list: Alien Breed 3D Alien Breed: Special Edition ’92 Another World Arcade Pool ATR: All Terrain Racing Battle Chess Cadaver California Games The Chaos Engine Dragons Breath F-16 Combat Pilot Kick Off 2 The Lost Patrol Paradroid 90 Pinball Dreams Project-X: Special Edition 93 Qwak The Sentinel Simon the Sorcerer Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe Stunt Car Racer Super Cars II Titus The Fox: To Marrakech And Back Worms: The Director’s Cut Zool: Ninja Of The “Nth” Dimension You can read more about the Amiga A500 Mini in this article from Kotaku: From: Kotaku AU Amiga A500 Mini Launches March 22 With 25 Games Full licensed mini version of the popular late ‘80s computer Amiga A500 out on March 25, 2022 with 25 games https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/12/amiga-a500-mini-launches-march-2022-with-25-games/

Yes

WAY TO GO @RickR!!! 🙌

Whatever early computer setups NASA used to put a man on the moon 🌘 IBM? Raytheon?

@Sabertooth I LOVE Chip's Challenge, hands down one of the best 16-bit puzzle games! You'd be surprised how much pushback I've received for that opinion over the years

THANK YOU @Willie! for participating and giving @RickR an extra-special Christmas this year! And THANK YOU @RickR for your kind words and all you do to contribute to making this community a better place every day.

What are some of your GUILTIEST PLEASURES when it comes to video games? -- The games that you’re almost ashamed to admit you play and love? Here are a few of mine: Pokémon Go (iOS) Somehow I find 5 mins every day to play this. Most every day I travel in a one-hour radius of my house, and Pokémon Go is one of the only games that both comes with me, and is an adventure that interacts with the environment around me. Where am I at, what Pokéstops are nearby, and what can I find today? Magical Chase (TurboGrafx-16) Overpriced video game for little girls? Or the best TurboGrafx shoot-‘em-up on the system with incredible parallax 16-bit graphics? E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600) “The Worst Video Game Of All Time®️” yeah right. Hang-On (Sega Master System) An early Sega pack-in title, Hang-On is a motorcycle racing game with a look and feel not too far removed from another one of my favorite’s, OutRun. Though Hang-On is one of the earliest and most simple-looking games on the Sega Master System, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play. It includes gameplay dynamics of angles, speed, and momentum that you don’t immediately realize, and that aren’t present on competing 8-bit motorcycle racing games. I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed Hang-On, have great memories of it, and we may revisit this game in High Score Squad one day in the future. @Gianna and I did a chilled out livestream of Hang-On on the Sega Master System where I shared my thoughts in detail, you can watch it here. Donkey Konga (Nintendo GameCube) I love banging on the Donkey Konga bongos all afternoon. It’s a simple kids game that was developed as a sort of competitor to Guitar Hero, and it’s loud and obnoxious, but it’s a creative use of Donkey Kong and lots of fun to play with friends. iMessage Games (iOS) Somehow I find myself playing Cup Pong, Tanks, Mini Golf, Battleship, Mancala, Othello and Word Games with @Gianna almost every night of the week. They're quick, simple, easy to play off-and on throughout the day, and socially engaging ice breakers. A nice way to end your evening. Jinx (Atari 7800) I don’t think Jinx is that horrible of a game. It’s frustrating and weird, but it’s also very interesting. It’s like Atari tried to bring a Paddle game into the 7800 era but made it a side scrolling platformer like Super Mario Bros on NES where you could move the paddle in all directions, traversing a psychedelic world. With the bizarre graphics, exploratory "open world" paddle mechanics, warps and impressive speech synthesis, I think Jinx is worth a shot on a rainy day when you find yourself "Galaga'd out" and looking to try something different. Neo Mr. Do (Neo•Geo Gold) Neo•Geo is supposedly all about legendary fighting games and beat-‘em-ups. I like Neo Geo for their puzzle games. Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move, Neo Bomberman, and Neo Mr. Do are some of my favorite games on the Neo•Geo home and arcade systems. Neo Mr. Do is simply what they would've done on the ColecoVision if they would've had 24-bit 300 meg cartridges to work with. Utopia (Mattel Intellivision) Utopia is slow moving at times, certainly not the action game that Astrosmash is, but it’s a High I.Q. game that forces you to think and anticipate. I’ve always seen Utopia as a kind of “proto-Sim City” and it’s possibly my favorite Intellivision game. Wrecking Crew (Nintendo Entertainment System) Another early 8-bit game with simple, single-screen gameplay and graphics, I could never understand Wrecking Crew until we played it last year in High Score Squad. Is that Mario? Is it just a construction worker? What's with all the lockers? What the heck is going on with this game? Wrecking Crew is an early "Black Box" release for the Nintendo Entertainment System and has a ton of that "early NES" charm. It turns out after playing it in High Score Squad, you come to realize that it’s not so much a “Super Mario Bros.” style game as much as it’s a puzzle game, and a really really good one at that. Chip’s Challenge (Atari Lynx) Speaking of fun puzzle games, Chip’s Challenge is hands down one of my top favorite video games ever. In my opinion it’s one of the top reasons to own an Atari Lynx. Others disagree with me. Chip’s Challenge is charming, incorporates many elements into a unique world all its own, and tells a story. It doesn’t have the intensity of S.T.U.N. Runner or RoadBlasters, but it’s a fantastic puzzle game that I enjoy year after year.

I'm thinking that's the case. @Kid A How has your experience been with these 5200 mylar flex circuits using the adhesive dome switches? Have they damaged or cut through the mylar at all? I'm wondering if Atari tried this out but found that they wore down or damaged the mylar flex circuits after intense use. @CrossBow I liked your video at the top giving an Atari 5200 Controller Refurbishing tutorial. Have you experimented with the adhesive dome switches before? Who knows why Atari made the decisions they did with these joysticks 🤯 I think solid, intuitive, easy to use controllers and responsiveness in the games are a huge part of the success of a video game system. Look at the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the original PlayStation.

Yes but they're FAAAAAAAKES

Great! I don't know why we never thought to do this before! Or why places like Best Electronics don't sell Atari 5200 mylar button flex circuits with the dome switches already applied. Clearly Atari had thought to do this in the pre-production stage of the Atari 5200 CX52 Joystick and backed off. Could Atari not get these to work properly for some reason? On the Best Electronics site Brad has this photo of a prototype 5200 Joystick mylar flex circuit and says: "This is a Very rare prototype Atari CX52 Joystick Flex Circuit. It uses the same type of Crinkle dome contact switches as used on the original Atari CX40 Joystick internal PCB board. Unfortunately this prototype sample Flex circuit does not work properly, so it was never used on CX52 Joysticks. Very few Atari people outside of Atari Engineering have ever seen this Rare one of a kind Prototype Atari 5200 Flex Circuit."

Here you go @RickR, they appear to be out of stock but that happens, they will have more eventually: https://console5.com/store/self-adhesive-dome-switches-10mm-quad-4-leg.html

@Kid A Fantastic! I just worked with these 4-prong dome buttons today, haven't thought to use them on the 5200 joystick. Did you use them under the keypad as well?

@Sabertooth I think next year will be great We have all the time we need to go back and forth setting higher and higher scores if we continue this in the Scoreboard

Dig Dug (ColecoVision)

Outlaw (Atari 2600)

Here are some real Pro-Tips for scoring big in F-ZERO: Each Car Drives Differently Selecting the right car/racer is part of the game. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of them. Which is right for you? Here's one aspect of the game F-ZERO shares with Mario Kart: Each of the four cars/racers drives a little differently. Some are faster, others corner better. If you're just getting warmed up in F-ZERO, test drive each of the four cars to see which one best suits your driving style. Use Your CHECK Marker Another strategy to rely on is using the "CHECK Marker". It appears at the bottom of your screen and acts a bit like a rearview mirror. Along with audio cues, it indicates the position of a rival coming up behind you. With a little skill you can maneuver to block them - and even have them slam into the back of your car to give you boost! Time Your Throttle At The Starting Line For A BOOST! Don't rev your car to full throttle at starting line. Time your button taps with the countdown, rev your engine somewhere around 3/4 throttle, and you will be rewarded with a BOOST off of the starting line, which can be all the advantage you need to jump in front of the other racers and get that head start.

Let's get the word out about this High Score Squad Challenge! The more people participating the more fun the challenge! Spread the word and invite friends to play!

F-ZERO Super Nintendo Entertainment System Controller: CONTROL PAD / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: Grand Prix > King League > Standard Class > Mute City III Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST December 31, 2021 Objective Play for the best possible time using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or YouTube video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between December 15th through December 31st, 2021. Screen captures are not allowed as they are more easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! Eligibility Anyone can join in. All players are welcome! Play Rules Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback / Mini console, or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following all rules and game settings defined in the challenge. Choosing between real hardware or emulation, and choosing which controller to play on is part of formulating your strategy. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. Difficulty Level Grand Prix > King League > Standard Class > Mute City III. This will be the 1st Circuit on King League, which will appear first when you begin your game. We are playing for the best overall time to complete the circuit at Mute City III. At the title screen select GRAND PRIX. Players may select any air car they wish. Next, select the League and class in which you wish to race. Players will select KING LEAGUE, then STANDARD CLASS. This will start you at Mute City III. We are only posting our scores for Mute City III. You do not have to play the rest of the courses. We are only playing for the best overall time to complete the circuit at Mute City III. Fair Play Your integrity is everything. Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that we will not allow cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, deceitful photo manipulation, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage. Everybody hates a cheater. More To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: Message Welcome to our 114th Squad Challenge! This year we're celebrating the holidays and bringing in the new year with a visit to Mute City III in F-ZERO on Super Nintendo, a true SNES classic! I have wonderful Christmas memories of F-ZERO, I received the game with my SNES when I was not expecting much of anything for Christmas. The game brought my family a lot of fun and joy that year, and I love playing F-ZERO around Christmas. For years it's become a bit of a Christmas tradition in my house to play F-ZERO and a few other SNES Classics during the Holidays, and now it's become a tradition every year in the forums too, something special I like to share with all of you. ☃️❄️🎄 F-ZERO is one of the iconic titles on Super Nintendo, and it served as a great demonstration of the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 graphics. F-ZERO was a predecessor to anti-gravity racing league games such as Wipeout that would follow in coming generations of gaming. PDF F-ZERO Instruction Booklet is attached below. Good luck! NOTE: We're ringing in the New Year right, with an Atari 2600 Squad Challenge! Be there! F-ZERO.pdf

Congratulations Sabertooth! Congratulations to @Sabertooth on becoming our TWO-TIME Atari Jaguar Cybermorph Squad Champion! Sabertooth scored the top spot on our Final Standings with a whopping 157,250 points! This is down from last year's score where Sabertooth racked up 477,900 points, but it was enough to clench the 1st Place spot on our board this time around! I took 2nd Place with 128,500 points. Our newcomer to the World of Atari Jaguar, "The Don" @RickR gave it his all and takes 3rd with a hefty 42,150 points! @Gianna rounds things out with an impressive 27,350 points, down from 81,550 last year. Thanks to everybody for joining in this Squad Challenge and sharing your terrific high scores! Congratulations again to @Sabertooth on becoming our Jaguar champion two years in a row, and let's make sure this Challenge continues on the Scoreboard. I hope everybody had fun playing Cybermorph on the Atari Jaguar! NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge is the 2021 F-ZERO Christmas Challenge for Super Nintendo! Be there!

I don't know why I'm only noticing this now, but the names of a lot of these planets sound like they're inspired by Star Wars. If The Mandalorian came back next season with an episode on "Griz Madre" I'd be like "yeah.. that sounds right".

My New High Score: 128,500 I hope everybody had fun with this

@CrossBow I know I'll be contacting you at some point about an Atari 7800 and couple of Atari Lynx II units