[Pole Position II Seaside Circuit - Atari 7800]

 

Pole Position II
Atari 7800
Difficulty: Seaside
High Score: 73,500
September 6, 2020

Notes: 🏆 NEW WORLD RECORD 🏆 This score of 73,500 points was achieved on September 6, 2020 and performed on video for submission to Twin Galaxies and HighScore.com as this will be a new high score on both platforms. Previous 73,500 point run was achieved on August 27, 2020 as part of the 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix in the Atari I/O High Score Squad. Chose to replay this game to achieve the 73,500 point score on video for the purpose of score submission to this site. You can view this score's submission on HighScore.com here: http://www.highscore.com/scores/Atari7800/PolePosition2/99918

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

Thanks @MaliciousCarp I'm going to mod a couple of Neo-Geo sticks with new hardware and wire it for the 7800. Something I've always wanted to do, it'll be fun.

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

45 minutes ago, MaliciousCarp said:

No  I actually ordered the cables from Ebay (The brand is Classic Game Source.  They sell them in packs of 2)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-8FT-9-Pin-Replacement-cable-cord-wire-to-repair-Atari-7800-Joystick-E22/172745283257?hash=item28386bd6b9:g:2IcAAOSwHLNZTUdP

You could take one from an actual joystick, but it would be hard to find 8' cables that way! 

Great work @MaliciousCarp! Are you able to just wire the cables directly to the buttons and joysticks or is there more work involved?

[Favorite Atari 2600 homebrews]

I'm sure @Arenafoot would like to chime in on this topic

[New 35th Anniversary Super Mario Bros Nintendo Game and Watch!]

33 minutes ago, SuperTrooper said:

I'm really getting tired of created scarcity in order to make a quick buck the only people making a killing are the scalpers and it hurts the core group of fans.

I think what we're seeing is a real shift where companies like Nintendo are recognizing that the video game market isn't just a home entertainment market but a collectables market, and more and more they're building on their legacy brands to develop new products that are intended to be collectables more than games. You'd think that would be brilliant and exciting, until they make them so limited that nobody can get their hands on them, and if they do they're wildly expensive in the aftermarket. They're doing this on purpose to create buzz and demand for their stuff, it adds to the "golden patina" on the Mario name, Nintendo, etc.

I think these look really cool. For $50 I'd get one and play it. You know they'll end up on eBay though for big bucks                                                                           

[NSG's September 2020 Giveaway!]

Great giveaway guys 👍 Thank you for hosting it at Atari I/O @nosweargamer

[Intellivision Amico!]

@Atari Creep Oh man, hesitant to click on this video to find out what AARP has to do with Intellivision  okay here we go wish me luck

[Salumi Deli (Seattle)]

Love seeing this little food adventure @socrates63 Buon appetito! 👌

[Cilantro: friend or foe?]

Everything in moderation ☯️

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

31 minutes ago, RickR said:

That's right.  I'm trying to remember when and where I got this, but drawing a blank.  I also have no idea why it's in the fancy box cover.  Do you think it's rare or valuable? 

In my opinion anything Atari in a full color retail box that lacks a UPC bar code on the back is, at the very least, interesting. I have a 10/10 perfect E.T. in the box, but the colors look slightly off (the blue sky is a little more aqua) it lacks the little holoptic sticker on top, it has updated text on the back, there's no bar code on it whatsoever, and it has a 1986 Atari Corp. copyright, which is weird because the game was so horrible that they had to put them all in a dump, right? There's explanations for everything, but Atari products without bar codes where there should be one are interesting to look into.

"Valuable" is subjective. This year we've seen some weird action in the Atari collector market. Some of the games are getting snatched up by people who are interested in comic books and want the games with the DC Comics inside of them. So to those people, your game would have less value and less interest. To an Atari historian or someone who pays attention to box and label variations, this is interesting. I don't think the "international" boxes are anything that uncommon, I see those a lot, but they are primarily from the Tramiel era. I thought it was something he was into because Tramiel was from Europe and Canada and had lots of European connections from Commodore that he was leveraging for games. So a good number of 2600 games from the mid-late 80s had international packaging and manuals. They did it with Lynx too, especially in the black box era. Interestingly, @btbfilms76 discussed this this week in a fairly detailed overview just a few days ago in his Todd's Adventures in Slime World episode, at the 4:15 mark.

 

10 minutes ago, RickR said:

And another little interesting thing.  The manual is also multi-language, and the back lists "International Division" with the Crossman Ave address.  It's also dated 1983.

I would expect a multi-language manual to go along with the multi-language packaging, that was pretty standard. Except for the 1983 copyright, and Jack Tramiel international manuals were often black and white.

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

1 hour ago, RickR said:

@RickR am I seeing that right, that there is no bar code on the bottom right where the white box is for it? It's not often that you see an "international" box from the Warner Communications era, most of the time when I see these they have a later copyright and are from Tramiel's Atari Corp.

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

2 hours ago, RickR said:

Mine has no comic book.  I didn't know there was one for Galaxian.  I'll have to see about finding one.  Maybe just the comic book, not a whole other boxed copy. 

I’ll see what I can do! 

[What's everybody doing for Halloween this year?]

It's that time of year again to start coming up with ideas 🎃

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

2 hours ago, RickR said:

The back of the box says 1983. 

 

Interesting, so that's two different box variants for 1983. I notice this one doesn't have the DC Comics thing advertised in the bottom left corner. I wonder if that version of the game left the comic book out for some reason? Compare to our Instagram post from today below. I love different box variants.

 

 

 

[Cilantro: friend or foe?]

Just bought some cilantro tonight. Friend!

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

9 hours ago, RickR said:

Great choice @Justin.  This is going to be fun!

Here's a picture of my boxed copy (and the extra copy I have that I think I'm trading to @HDN)  Something interesting I just noticed is that it has an "N" sticker on the top (indicating NTSC I assume).  Weird! 

One more interesting story about 2600 Galaxian...it's one of the games that does not work with the Atari Flashback 2.  When I did the cartridge port mod on a FB2, guess which game I grabbed to test with?  Yep.  Galaxian!  I pulled my hair out a bit before I figured maybe the game was incompatible. 

 

@RickR What year is the copyright on the back of your box Rick?

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

16 minutes ago, Kid A said:

I'll start?

17070

Played on modded NES classic 

Off to a good start @Kid A thanks for kicking things off  

[NSG's September 2020 Giveaway!]

I loved Mr. T!! 

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

 

 

 

Galaxian
Atari 2600
Controller: JOYSTICK / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE
Difficulty Level: Game 1, Left Difficulty B
Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔
Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST September 14, 2020

 

 

Objective

Play for the highest possible score 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 September 1st through September 14th, 2020. 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

Game Skill Level 1 (Default), set Left Difficulty Switch to B (Hold the fire button down for continuous firing).

 

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 87th Squad Challenge! We're coming off an AMAZING Squad Challenge with the Pole Position II Grand Prix on 7800, and now we're stepping into another arcade classic coming home on Atari system, GALAXIAN! For this Squad Challenge we're playing Galaxian on Atari 2600, a must-have "pillar" title for any Atari 2600 collection. I can remember looking through the Atari Advantage posters that came with Atari games in the late 1980s and early 1990s and seeing Galaxian advertised in all of the 2600 posters and Sears catalogs, in a time when 16-Bit systems had arrived. Galaxian was a really decent arcade port for the 2600 initially released to compete in an era where ColecoVision had really stepped up bringing the arcade experience home. Galaxian will be a fun one to play among friends in the forums! PDF Instructions are provided below. And a special WELCOME to all our new Members playing in this Squad Challenge! Good luck to everybody participating! 

 

NOTE: Another great Squad Challenge is right around the corner! We'll be playing a game for the Atari Lynx, so MAKE SURE you have those Lynx systems all fired up and ready to go! Get those fresh batteries at the drug store, get those A/C Adapters plugged in, Cigarette Lighter Adapters wired up in the car, emulator installed on your computer, whatever it takes. Everyone who can participate should be!

 

 

 

 

 

Galaxian.pdf Galaxian.bin

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

 Congratulations Racers!

 

Congratulations to everyone who joined in the big race!! We had our BIGGEST TURNOUT EVER for this Grand Prix! Absolutely incredible! Seaside was the perfect track to race, difficult enough to provide tremendous challenge to us adult players but still fun to play. One of the points of criticism I see the Atari 7800 receive fairly often is that it came with Pole Position II as its pack-in. I thought this was a really fun game. I hope you did too!

I came in 1st Place to take the top spot on the podium, crossing the finish line with a high score of 73,500. I feel like the game has a few hundred more points to give, but who knows. Apparently my score would be a new World Record for Seaside on Twin Galaxies and HighScore.com, so I'm going to do what I need to do to submit my score to them. @nosweargamer is back in action and takes 2nd Place on the big podium with a final score of 68,500, and it was a photo finish with @RickR just 100 Points behind NSG with 68,400. @MaliciousCarp @Atari 5200 Guy and @Sabertooth join a very tight pack of racers with very close scores and incredible performances. @RadioPoultry @socrates63 @Kid A @LinkYoungPS @Atari Creep @TrekMD @DarylJ @Gianna and @GoldenGalaxiesGaming followed behind, all of whom posted real scores that took effort and skill to achieve. BRAVO everyone!!! As I always encourage others to do, I'll be posting my new high score on the Scoreboard to make sure this Challenge continues on! Did you enjoy this Squad Challenge? If so, keep practicing your racing skills throughout the year and we'll see you back here on the track again next summer for the 2021 Pole Position II Grand Prix!

Also, to keep a running list of who's entered into BTB's Atari 7800 Paddle Controllers Giveaway Contest, so far the following Members have asked to be entered and are permanently enrolled through the rest of the contest: @RickR @Sabertooth @nosweargamer @TrekMD @socrates63. If you don't see your name listed and would like to enter to win the pair of 7800 Paddle Controllers, be sure to say "Hey BTB, enter me to win!" when posting your next high score!

NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be an Atari 2600 game! Be there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

23 minutes ago, Sabertooth said:

I gotta say this was one fun HSC. It was great to see everyone improve over time. Well done! 

Also, congrats @Justin on an epic high score! 

Thanks @Sabertooth glad you enjoyed it! Says a lot that the little Atari 7800 came with a pack-in title that is more fun than it often gets credit for. We'll be back again for next year's Grand Prix! 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

5 minutes ago, Sabertooth said:

64,830. About an hour left. So close to finishing the final lap. I'm trying it with music now. 

GOOD LUCK!! 🏎️  🏎️  🏎️  🏎️ 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

Just now, Sabertooth said:

@Justin, you gotta submit! 🕹️🙌

I'm gonna! I need to rerun the race though and film a video of it. I feel good that I can get that score again.

[What's Next]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:25 PM, nosweargamer said:

I don't know @Justin, it might be near impossible to break 70k.

I did a little research on Twin Galaxies and found the highest score they had for Seaside on Pole Position II was 73,350, below my current high score of 73,500. I felt like I had more in me when I got that score, but potentially 73,500 is the highest score possible on that track. I'm going to keep trying, and at some point film my score for YouTube and maybe submit to the high score sites.