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Scott Stilphen

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Posts posted by Scott Stilphen

  2. Let's talk Crystal Castles on the Atari 2600.

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    If you really want an arcade machine, get an original Atari CC.  Don't mess with those 1Ups.  You should be able to find an original in good working condition for less than $1k.  I don't know where you're located, but ask local amusement operators in your area, or look on KLOV, or check online auction sites like this one:

    https://bid.captainsauctionwarehouse.com/m/lot-details/index/catalog/54/lot/13316?url=%2Fm%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F54

    If you have to have it shipped, figure on adding another $200-$400.

  3. Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)

    in High Score Squad

    Posted

    I was expecting 'socrates' to come storming back at the end.  I posted in the scoreboard thread.  Let's see who can break 100k first!

    This is actually a pretty good port of the arcade game, aside from the strange border around the screen.  Current WR champ George Riley has some videos of his Galaxian gameplay that are worth watching:

    https://www.youtube.com/user/Disjaukifa63

     

     

  7. Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)

    in High Score Squad

    Posted

    21 hours ago, socrates63 said:

    I don't feel like the game gets any harder after a certain point. It just becomes a matter of focus. Once in a few waves, the bottom row peons goes a little crazy and increase in speed and zigzag, but they go back to their usual selves in the subsequent waves.

     

    http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/easter_eggs/vcs/26galaxian.html

    Waves 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 have Galaxians that move notably faster than in other waves.  There are no more ‘fast’ waves after wave 30, but if you lose a ship, the wave you’re on will become a fast wave.

  12. What was up with Froggo?

    in Atari History Discussion

    Posted

    Jack Tramiel was a ruthless business person, no doubt about it.  As someone mentioned, he would absolutely go after any developers and suppliers who were on precarious financial ground,  and if they weren't already, they soon would be because he leveraged them to the point they had no choice but to either bow to his whims or go under.  With Commodore, he had 'vertical integration'; he owned and fully controlled the chain of suppliers (such as chipmaker MOS), but without that, he strong-armed companies to get get the same advantage.  Epyx learned that the hard way, which ultimately contributed to the Lynx's demise (lack of software).  The same scenario played out with the Jaguar, and all the 3rd-party developers that signed up to support it.  I have a stack of company memos that detailed how that played out. 

    Video games, and software in general, was low on his list of priorities.  He always felt the hardware would drive the sales of software, which is the exact opposite of how the market worked.  How else do you explain how inferior systems like the VCS and GameBoy overwhelmingly outsold superior hardware offered by the competition?  He "bought"  a video game company because it allowed him the quickest path back into the market to compete with Commodore.  The Atari name had some value as far as recognition, but for the first 2 years under Tramiel, his only focus was on selling computers.  The 2600JR (and later the XEGS) were released in order to help sell off the warehouses full of software he had.  The NES revitalized the home video game market in the US to the point it was worth it for him to release the 7800

    I suspect he tried the same tactics with GCC over the 7800, which is why it wasn't released nationwide until nearly 2 years after the initial limited release in California in 1984.  Revisionists like Goldberg and Vendel would have you believe its release took 2 years because of all the paperwork and contract wrangling involved.  Ask yourself - how was it Tramiel was able to buy a company like Atari within days, but couldn't secure a deal with GCC regarding the 7800 sooner?

  17. Squad Challenge - Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)

    in High Score Squad

    Posted · Edited by Scott Stilphen

    Add me to the 1 million club, just in time :)  I point-pressed Slipice as well. You can kill up to 255 Slipice per level.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z5ZwaySWYA

    It's possible to roll the score counter w/o point-pressing.  The strategy is observing the fireballs on each level.  The first 5 fireballs of a level are random; after that, the pattern continues to loop those 5.  The next level will randomly have a new pattern of 5, and so on. 

  21. Squad Challenge - Super Breakout (Atari 2600)

    in High Score Squad

    Posted

    The game does have an inherent issue with that variation. The captive balls are brown and flicker, which allows them to sometimes pass through a brick and even your paddle.  Here's 2 videos I just put up.  The first shows one of the captive balls going right through a brick multiple times.  I was only able to knock it out using the blue ball.  The other shows a captive ball going right through the paddle.

     

     

  25. VCS Pac-Man 5-minute challenge

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Back in 1982, the department store Boscov's held some Atari VCS contests, one being for Pac-Man.  Entrants had 2 attempts to score as much as possible in 5-minute long games.  After a few attempts, I got a 5,200, which ranks as the 3rd-highest, according to this article.  I'm assuming this contest was on game 1 with difficulty B.  I used this free PC app to time my efforts.
     
    Pretty impressive that someone nearly cracked 8k on this. 

    Boscovs Hazleton 1.jpg

    Boscovs Hazleton 3.jpg

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