Keatah

2 of the malls of my childhood are still around and flourishing. The arcade/mall where I met the wife has long been abandoned. The Toys'R'Us I grew up with was still there as of last year, and while the Venture is long gone, another department store took its place. So it isn't all that bad in my area.
 
What I do miss are the hobby shops with model rockets and remote control cars - those were loads of fun!

They seemed to get the 80's sound and video VCR'ish look down pretty good. Aside from the modern day sharpness.
 
Love slow-moving adverts compared to the hyperactive crap produced today.

I clearly remember the woodfield one, while they didn't actually have EVERY cart, they did have a huge selection. They were good at stocking multiple systems. Whatever was current. Everything except the Apple II it seemed. I even got my Epson MX-80 printer there.

Loved all those project kits RS had, the ones with the spring terminals.

They seemed to get the 80's sound and video VCR'ish look down pretty good. Aside from the modern day sharpness.
 
Love slow-moving adverts compared to the hyperactive crap produced today.

I was doing some research for an upcoming...well, project...(more info soon!)...and I found out about this store called Minnesota Fats and an ad it ran in the Chicago Tribune that, long story short, helped Atari's lawyers out immensely. Found out that as a Trib subscriber I actually have access to digitized versions of back issues (for now)!
 
I though this was a cool find. This isn't the ad I was talking about (I did find that, too, btw), but it's still cool to see...and apparently one of their locations was not too far from where I live now! The ad I was looking for was for exactly one year later, and this same picture appeared, and the price was exactly the same too.
 

It's totally true about the long filenames. Dates, authors, part numbers, clones, its a mini ready-reference. What I found most valuable is the sorted-by folders.
 
I would often play that way when I was a kid, pull out all the Imagic games, then all the activision stuff..

This new HP video, dubbed “Computer Show,” hits the sweet spot perfectly with its recreation of a Reagan-era public access show about technology, but with a fish-out-of-water spin. The host is stuck in time—stilted stage manner, goofy haircut and all—but his guests are current-day tech pioneers. Awkward hilarity ensues.
 
 

For those with a Harmony cart or simply using emulators to get their 2600 gaming on ROMHUNTERS archive is an excellent presorted and organized archives. Seems for the New Year he has just released v12 of his awesome collection. 
 
Follow this link to Atarimania to download the archive! 
 
http://www.atarimania.com/rom_collection_archive_atari_2600_roms.html
 
 
Here is the description from the site - Atari 2600 VCS ROM Collection
 
Dear guest,
 
Having been an avid Atari 2600 game player in the eighties, I was more than happy to discover that the games I used to play as a kid could be re-experienced on my PC by downloading the proper ROMs and playing them on an emulator. For me, it was like finding back little bits of childhood memories and the main reason to start "hunting" ROMs on the Internet.
 
But while collecting, I noticed that many ROM sets on the net contained bugged .bin files (the so called "bad dumps") and that many ROMs carried incomplete names that often lacked the correct game information.
 
In order to give these ROMs their proper names, I started studying the games they belonged to. That was the moment I entered the amazing world of the Atari 2600 and also the beginning of a new "hobby".
 
I found out that, although there were only a little more than 500 different games made for the Atari 2600, almost all of these games were re-released many times, in many forms, under many different names and by many different companies, creating an incredible range of more than 10,000 different cartridge releases (of which more than 8,000 are now archived in our database).
 
While working my way through fifteen years of VCS gaming history, discovering all kinds of strange and funny looking "pirates", never released prototype games, interesting background stories and fascinating label artwork, I gathered an enormous amount of information which I systematically tried to cram into these filenames.
 
Now, after almost ten years of collecting and researching, the result of all this work can be downloaded below. I'm very proud to present you my personal Atari 2600 ROM collection here on Atarimania and I truly hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
 
Please don't let the long filenames scare you off. You'll get used to them and trust me: they form an excellent source of Atari 2600 game information, which can be very useful for any serious Atari game collector and fan.
 
In short: if you're looking for an ordinary Atari 2600 ROM set, look elsewhere. It can be found almost everywhere on the Internet without too many problems. If you're looking for the most genuine and best documented Atari 2600 ROM collection in the world, then look no further: this is the place to be.
 
Have fun.
 
Rom Hunter

Donkey Kong Advanced
A remake of the classic arcade game. This is not a rom hack. It's meant to be more difficult than the original giving players new levels and new challenges. I've tried to study the original as close as I can to maintain the same feel, but added new elements and challenges. Even though it can be played on your PC, it's meant to be played in people's mame arcade cabinets. If you ever put this game in your cabinet, send me a screenshot or video!
 
https://ophelius.itch.io/dk-advanced
 
[bug Reports] Contact me at justinbohemier@gmail.com if you find a bug. Please try to be as detailed as possible and include system specs.
 
[updates]
-Added 16-bit support for older video cards
-Added the option in the config tool to manually enter a specific resolution.
-I included a tool to map out keyboard keys if you're using a joystick.
 
[Changes from the original]
-Obviously the levels look different, some completely new, and others have the same level structure with some differences
-New switch, laser, and key system to save Pauline.
-Mario can jump off high platforms and land without killing himself(c'mon, he's mario)
-New heart bonus items are worth 2000 points but are tricky to get.
-No intro scene, I might add one though.
-Barrels rebound off the floor higher than before
-Hitting barrels with the hammer doesn't pause the game during the explosion
-Level 4 is icy, with a shoe item you can get that makes it not slipery
-and some other stuff
 
[Possible Future Changes]
-More levels. I'm tempted to have 1 long game that doesn't repeat. Instead of repeating every 4 levels, you might have 12 levels with an actual end to the game.
-Bonus level if you collect all the hearts.
-Intro to the game when you push start.
-Cut scenes
 
More information
 
Install instructions
Extract the Zip file and run DK.exe. Press C to add a credit, then Enter to start. Use the Config tool to remap the keys, to make it Free Play, enable full screen, and other options.
 
Anti-Virus Warning: Some people have had their anti-virus flag the exe as a virus, myself included, but I can assure you there's no virus. It was compiled using Freebasic and for some strange technical reason, certain anti-virus programs flag programs compiled with this compiler as having a virus, I don't know why. Just add it to your exceptions list.

This is the last WIP pic until it's done. Ran out of double sided tape so the top decal is just resting. I'm going to add a custom vinyl decal and AV mod. It's already got the 9-pin ports but the controllers were dead so I'm just going to switch the clips in a pair of CX-40s to match the O2 pinouts. This has been fun and you don't see too many people paint the O2. And I still made it to the beach. Gotta love long weekends!
 

WIP- the O2 I picked up the othe day works but was in rough shape cosmetically. I decided to fully disassemble it and repaint the top case. Here's an in progress shot.

I tried the second mod today; a Vader 4-switch. Everything is hooked up the exact same way as the Sears unit but I'm getting these strange artifacts. A faint blue line is apparent on the far left side. I know that some Vader's have uber bright displays and that can cause some issues. Any ideas?
 

 
Also, I was playing around with adding "ground effects". Don't quite know if I dig it...
 

more vaporware please

This is a standard PC packaged in a slim style case. 100% off-the-shelf bog standard PC parts. It's a standard BIOSTAR M7NBA motherboard too. The OS was a customized version of XP. Probably the embedded version - which is in reality XP professional. The reseller or OEM (infinitum labs) could then strip away everything except what is needed to run games and download from their service.
 
For owners of this box, you've got a PC in an interesting case.

Someday, whenever I win the lottery, I'll have one. 
 

I'd go for this one: 

I have been Atari ST owner for many years, i have owned Amiga too. Many people seems to have missunderstand what Atari ST was about.
 
I have seen so many clips on YouTube or threads in forums where people compare Amiga to Atari ST. Then they say, look, Amiga has better graphics, Amiga has better sound. Those people don't seems to have understand what Atari ST was about.
 
From the beginning Atari ST was built to battle MAC as a "serious computer", that's why ST used a similar GUI (GEM), so similar that Apple actually sued Atari for using it. ST also used a monochrome monitor for high resolution (no scanlines) and 70 Hz refresh rate that made Atari ST perfect for serious use. Besides that ST contained everything in ROM. Just boot the computer and everything is ready to run.
 
For gaming ST was considerably more limited then Amiga. While ST just used a simple frame buffer and software generated sprites Amiga contained Jay Miner's custom chips. The only area ST could battle Amiga in gaming was in pure vector games where ST had a bit faster processor, else Amiga was THE computer for gaming.
 
MAC was the computer for serious use while Amiga was the computer for games, graphics and demos while Atari ST was something in between. The serious computer that could be used for playing games as well. Not to say that demos and games couldn't be good on ST too off course but when Amiga capabilities was used to the full, ST didn't stand a chance.
 
So, when people just compare the computers for graphics and sound, it isn't a fair comparison because ST was the allround computer made to battle MAC from the beginning.
 
Many people who bought Atari ST was kind of surprised, including me. Atari was supposed to be about gaming, but not this time. In fact Amiga was way more similar to Atari 8bit then ST ever was thanks to one person, Jay Miner.
 
This is Atari ST when showing it's real strength. In this comparison, Amiga don't stand a chance.
 

I haven't gotten deep enough into Amiga emulation to be running different OS'es, not yet. But the 3.4 WinUAE update mentions something about OS4 directory handling in the changelog. So perhaps it does indeed run it. Dunno.

I get what you are saying and agree of course better to go the free route and "obtain" what is required THAT SAID THOUGH the Amiga Forever package is a great way to introduce oneself especially for those unsure or unfamiliar with emulation all legal as well (for those that care of such things). To be fair in this case Cloanto have been supporting and improving Amiga Forever since 1997 as well so that is a pretty fair track record.    The package is pretty tight, well supported and Cloanto have even helped me out personally as well it has a great GUI / INTERFACE and because of all this even someone like me who has a lot of experience with emulation I chose to support Cloanto. For every other platform I go the freeware route, it's just that good.  

Back in the day, the 1990's I paid for a couple of emulator packages, mainly for the Atari 400/800 and VCS. Didn't really know a whole hella lot about them then. They tended to be better set-up and more inclusive with friendly documentation.
 
Thing is with payware emulators, every one of them I "supported" back then is now defunct. Their authors tend not to pass down the code and it either stagnates from lack of interest or some other outside uncontrollable circumstance. Whereas with freeware emulators the code is likely to change hands and development continues.
 
Once you decide to stick with emulation as your main choice, then it makes sense to get all the freeware packages. They're more versatile and more complex. And the rewards greater.

The first row alone makes one almost believe displaying the games is cooler than playing them.
 

I feel the modern gaming industry has lost its way with so many flavors of screwups and vain attempts at capturing the real spirit retrogaming.
 
I'm also pleased to report that I've observed this situation time and again at neighbor's houses as well.

I feel the modern gaming industry has lost its way with so many flavors of screwups and vain attempts at capturing the real spirit retrogaming.
 
I'm also pleased to report that I've observed this situation time and again at neighbor's houses as well.

I feel the modern gaming industry has lost its way with so many flavors of screwups and vain attempts at capturing the real spirit retrogaming.
 
I'm also pleased to report that I've observed this situation time and again at neighbor's houses as well.