Starbuck66

Episode 7 - The Legendary Axe, is now available!
 
http://traffic.libsyn.com/turbotasticpodcast/Episode_7_-_The_Legendary_Axe.mp3
 
Link to show page: http://turbotasticpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-7-the-legendary-axe
 
Link to show notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11jKDk5NHPxe-zPhjPw1LpCaorBrS3B4Bqw1zd9bon3A/edit?usp=sharing
 
Enjoy!

I just wanted to let everyone know I finally have a website:
 
https://turbotasticpodcast.wixsite.com/tg16
 
Please check it out and let me know if there's anything you think I should add. Also hoping to start using the blog on there more for general updates on the show.

Built one of these for a buddy for Christmas and he loves it! It will play everything up to about Playstation level, but I only loaded it up with 16 bit systems and lower, plus a bunch of MAME games that I verified worked properly.
 
Thinking about getting one for myself at some point, but I really want it for the MAME games, and I've been wanting to build a full fledged MAME arcade cabinet at some point, so I'm holding off for now.

And now two of my Adventure themed videos are in my top ten viewed videos of the week for me.
Thanks Ready Player One!

I've been finding some nice deals on the bay lately.
 
Also on the way:  Lynx "Batman Returns", 2600 "James Bond 007" and "Ikari Warriors".
 
 

.

Glad I waited to post because I got a deal last Saturday and this Saturday. I found the Coleco Telstar Ranger and the Pac Man PNP at a garage sale for, get this, 5 for the Telstar and 1 dollar for the Pac Man! Granted if you scroll further down the bottom of the Coleco box has some water damage, but overall its in pretty good shape. It doesn't have the extension cables for the paddles and I was unable to get the gun to work, but I have a flat screen CRT, so not sure if that's causing an issue with the gun?
 
BTW if anyone is interested in a trade or some cash for the Telstar just let me know... I really only bought it because it was such a good deal and I wanted it to go to a good home and not the dump. 
 
I also got some games at Disc Traders today, and the best deal was Sub Scan for 2 dollars! And I couldn't believe how MINT this label is! Heck looking at the contacts on the cart it looks brand new!
 

 

 

 

Built one of these for a buddy for Christmas and he loves it! It will play everything up to about Playstation level, but I only loaded it up with 16 bit systems and lower, plus a bunch of MAME games that I verified worked properly.
 
Thinking about getting one for myself at some point, but I really want it for the MAME games, and I've been wanting to build a full fledged MAME arcade cabinet at some point, so I'm holding off for now.

Built one of these for a buddy for Christmas and he loves it! It will play everything up to about Playstation level, but I only loaded it up with 16 bit systems and lower, plus a bunch of MAME games that I verified worked properly.
 
Thinking about getting one for myself at some point, but I really want it for the MAME games, and I've been wanting to build a full fledged MAME arcade cabinet at some point, so I'm holding off for now.

If you want a new option for a decent third party SNES controller I've had good luck with these Cirka ones:
 
https://www.amazon.com/CirKa-Premium-Controller-SNES-super-nintendo/dp/B00PIZMB6S
 
Otherwise if you're looking to get a rock solid controller I recommend an Ascii Pad... I have two of them that I got at local retro shops for about 15 each, and they are great. My buddy had one for his SNES back in the day and never had an issue with it, and I always felt like the D pad was better than the stock SNES controller D pad.
 
https://www.dkoldies.com/ascii-pad-controller-snes/

I finally got a cheapo case (from a Chinese eBay seller).  It's pretty nice.  A perfect fit. 
 
I also took the time to install and run a "scraper", which adds a picture/video/info about each game on the menu.
 
Next up is to clean up the ROM's I've got on here, as many of them do not work.  Especially MAME.  I'm guessing there are fully-vetted ROM collections for RetroPi out there, but I haven't really looked.
 
All in all, it's an awesome setup.  HDMI output on a device that's the size of a deck of cards.  Thousands of games.  Very worthwhile IMO.
 
 

Not much found at goodwill today, but i did find a bag of McDonald's toys. The bag said 77 cents! Ive never seen the luigi one before. The McDonald's ones all say 1990 on em

Went to my local Goodwill last Sunday, and got a pretty good haul.
From Russia With Love and Fable for the Xbox, Record of Agarest War for the Xbox 360, two Mary Kate and Ashley games for the Playstation, two old PC games, the soundtrack from The Lion King, and also from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Not pictured is a television hookup cable for the original Xbox.

I found a couple of interesting things today:
 
- A TMNT plug and play
- A third-party N64 controller.  Feels pretty good; an interesting design.
 
 

I'm just happy to have a controller that doesn't require 3 hands. 

I agree. I had a 2 GB download to wait on and once that was done I had another 600 MB download to go.
 
It's the only game I've seen to mix a bunch of popular licensed franchises. I am just now at A Show of Strength level and it was cool to see the two most loved Back to the Future cast members and hear the voices of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. I loved the Doctor Who part. That was a bit creepy.
 
Those that have not played this game yet are missing out. My 360 came with Skylanders which is fun but Dimensions seems to involve the physical products more. You can do more with the sets in Dimensions than you can with Skylanders.
 
It is a shame it is not being produced any more. Then again I don't think I would have bought any of it at full price. The starter set alone was originally $70. Sets ranged from $13 to $50 depending so it wasn't very cost effective. Then again the sets were 100% LEGO and those are not cheap even for the small sets, never have been.

I'd rather have the arcade Popeye but that probably won't happen due to licensing issues...

Last night I found LEGO Dimensions at our local Wal-Mart for $12. $12! I have not actually played with LEGOS since my late teens and know basic sets cost more than $12. Games alone can cost more than that. I grabbed the 360 version but all other platforms were on clearance as was
 

 
So I get home, unbox the game, platform, and Starter Set containing Batman, Gandoff, and Wyldstyle. I connect the base to the 360 and insert the game disc hoping for a miracle. Nope...2GB download required! So I wait patiently while looking at the parts and manual. All of a sudden I get blinded.
 
The game has been fun and getting to actually build models used in the game gives a whole new level of interactivity. I'm hooked and hope to pick up more packs while Wal-Mart still has them. I went back last night and did pick up Ghostbusters level pack and Gremlins team pack.
 
I recommend this to those who remember LEGOS and have children or grandchildren as I can see this being a great bonding tool. Its also kind of a stress therapy tool.

We have Freddy’s, and I like them, but not as much as Culvers, which does everything Freddy’s does but better.
 
https://www.culvers.com

I wanted to share my experience here in creating a RetroPie machine.
 
What is it?
It's an emulation station created using a Raspberry Pi and an image called "RetroPie".  It emulates a ton of different systems.  I'm mostly interested in 2600, Vectrex, Lynx, MAME, NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64.  
 
It was really the SNES Classic that got me really interested in trying this.  I play that one a lot, and it works well.  It's small enough to take to friends' houses or parties.  And it just plain works.  I figured a system that could do even more systems would be even better. 
 
I've tried this before.  A few years ago, I used a Rasp Pi version 1 and an old iCade to make a small "arcade" machine.  It worked pretty well, but was pretty limited.  That version of Raspberry Pi maxed out at the NES level.  SNES games were very choppy.  Older arcade games were fine, but anything beyond 1983 or so was choppy.  
 
I also ended up never getting that little arcade machine out.  It was too cumbersome.  So I decided to just create a new machine with just the Pi itself connected to our family room TV using DVI cable.  The newest version of Pi has BlueTooth built in, meaning you can use a wireless PS3, PS4, etc controller with it.
 
So here's what I bought:
A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B from Target (yes, they sell them at Target!)  Price was $33.25 if you use their Red Card. A 32 GB micro SD card ($20 from Office Depot). I also bought a cheapo case on eBay, but it has not arrived yet.
 
Setup was very simple.  You have to have a keyboard for initial setup.  But it's not needed after that.  I'm also using a wired generic PC gamepad for now.  It works nicely.
 

 
So far, the games I've tried all work fine.  2600 games, for example, are emulated using "Stella".  That works great.  NES and SNES are both perfect.  I have a lot more to try and play with.
 
The UI is pretty nice.  Not as nice as the SNES Classic.  But nice enough. I really like how the UI is consistent for all emulation.  The same hot-keys to save or exit work for all the different emulators.  
 
Suggestions:
There's a newer model (3 Model B+) available that offers even better performance.  But it isn't available at Target yet.  If may be worth tracking that one down on-line. Some people go wild with some wild designs on these.  Full-sized arcade machines, mini bar machines, etc, etc.  I think those are really cool, but I don't have the time, space, or patience to do that yet.   It's a lot easier than I thought it would be to get this up and working.  Lots of help available on-line.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is the controversial origin story of Han Solo.
 
Here's my spoiler-free take on the film: It was the most FUN I've had at a Star Wars movie since 1983! It is much better than anything they've done since the Original Trilogy. They nailed it!
 
Have you seen the film? Please share your spoiler-free thoughts below.

I've been so busy unpacking into the new apartment, I forgot about my own thread! ????
 
Well during all the chaos, I managed to find these 2 tv stands both on OfferUp. Pretty happy with them. They fit perfectly where I wanted them.
 

 
I paid $45 for the flat panel stand and $10 for the CRT stand. I'm really happy with them. I have to finish hooking up everything but I took some time out to play some Ice Climber for the squad challenge. I'd say that the game room is about 95% clean. I just have a small mess in the closet. I'm pretty happy with the way it's coming out!

Submitting my score before I forget, and it probably will be my final score for the contest. I tried putting together another run this past Sunday, and I ended up rage quitting. I understand this game a bit better now, but I still hate it!
 

 
My daughter's HS is below; she is going to keep trying to improve :-)
 

Submitting my score before I forget, and it probably will be my final score for the contest. I tried putting together another run this past Sunday, and I ended up rage quitting. I understand this game a bit better now, but I still hate it!
 

 
My daughter's HS is below; she is going to keep trying to improve :-)
 

If I had a dollar for every time I heard “another Atari game?!?” I’d have over 200 dollars :-)