DegasElite
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Posts posted by DegasElite
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On 12/1/2018 at 9:20 PM, kamakazi20012 said:
I do believe the Jaguar has more secrets than Santa's bag of goodies. Always cool to see more stuff turn up about the console's history.
It amazes me how the Jaguar and the 7800 were both programmed on ST computers. I wonder what Atari would have used for the 7800 if it remained under Warner's ownership? I don't think the ST would have been thought about nor exist.
If I were in Jack Tramiel's shoes, here is what I would have done. I would have added 4 MB more RAM in the Jag. I would develop the software only on Atari and similar RISC-based computers, and more of the software titles for the Jaguar would have been produced. I would have used a killer marketing blitz, and since I am a graphic artist I might have done well. I would have released Black Ice/White Noise with the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, and I would have made it easier to port ST and Falcon titles over to the Jaguar.
That alone would have possibly produced over 300 titles for the Jaguar right away. Also, I would have released the MPEG decoder cartridge, fully completed, for the CD unit so it could play VCDs and other movie discs with MPEG-encoded software. Actually, I would have released the CD unit with a built-in decoder for MPEG compression. Atari had made many blunders, and these actions would have corrected them, IMHO. Well, most of them anyway.
But, I could be 180º off on that as well. But, it would have been a better system if these actions were implemented. Also, I would shoot for more developers to be in the know on how to program this beast, which would make a lot of sense since it needed more developers to make games for it. This is a RISC-based system with five RISC processors in it. That is why the Jaguar can be hard to program for. But, hopefully, for home-brewers anyway, languages like Raptor BASIC+ will make it easier than ever before to make games. I would not mind learning it myself and working on my own games for it. But, I need to learn the language anyway, so it is wishful thinking.
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On 10/31/2018 at 2:50 PM, kamakazi20012 said:
Yea...our Walmart has a demo unit setup where all you can do is push a button to watch a short demo. You can't touch the controls. If I was to get one I would be after either the Asteroids or Galaga model. I'm hoping they addressed the artwork issue by now as is the issue with the rotary controller.
For me, I would love the one with "Crystal Castles" in it. That is my favorite Atari arcade game of all time. I love it. The problem is that I cannot get it into my current living space. So, it is just wishful thinking, at best.
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I never seen a ROM scanner for the standard issue NES before but did see a stand alone unit with 12 games in it at Wal-Mart years ago. Is that what you are talking about?
Well, yes. What I thought was a ROM scanner for the NES, anyway. Extremely rare stuff. It probably ran about twelve games. That sounds about right. It probably runs on a similar principle. Perhaps.
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I also have a ROM scanner myself. It is a different model, not from Marjac. You use it (I am sure you know this) to plug in multiple cartridges. Then, they would all fit in the main cartridge port of the A2600. With a push of a button, switch between games and never have to take them out as much from the main port. Handy item, but I hear that they can be buggy. But, they do work. The only other system that I have seen a ROM scanner for was for the NES at Toys 'R' Us. I was about thirteen years old then. That ROM scanner for the NES is extremely rare, by the way.
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I follow him on Instagram and watched this build all the way through. Very impressive build! I've always wanted to do this since the Lynx was new but didn't have the technical skill to do it on my own. Would love to see a "1989" version of this in a 7800 shell painted "Lynx Grey" from the Lynx 1
It would be nice to see it in an original case, 3D printed, maybe. I can see why he did it this way: cost-effectiveness. It was cheaper to do it with an existing game chassis than by engineering a brand new one. This definitely is a fantastic modification for the Lynx. Maybe, he can make a Lynx-to-TV console that can utilize other types of media. That would be the "Cat's Meow" (pun intended). I would not mind buying this type of console. I would love to see my Lynx games played on TV.
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Well, it would certainly revolutionize train travel in the US. We need higher speed rail. They have it in Europe, Japan, and China, of course. Why not the US? Re-tooling the US rail system would be expensive, granted, but it would create needed jobs, needed improvements to the infrastructure, reduce traffic congestion (at least theoretically), and, if they are electric, theoretically would also reduce pollution. In my opinion, anyway. But, it definitely would create jobs. The US rail system is over 100 years old. It needs an upgrade. At least, that is what I believe. In Minnesota, there is talk of a high-speed rail system coming up called the Northern Lights Express (NLX). It would go from Saint Paul, MN to Duluth, MN (the state's third-largest city), and then up to Two Harbors, MN. The train could go up to speeds of 120 MPH. I understand that the train system in Japan is going to be much faster. but, a bullet-like train in Minnesota? I am game, since I live near Saint Paul anyway. I would ride it, if and when it gets built. Thanks for letting me share.
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Did you also know that it was a "port" of "Star Castle", an awesome vector classic by Tim Skelly of Cinematronics? Well, at least it was the same idea, according to HSW.
Right. It does seem the same way as "Star Castle." Only bigger.
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I once had a ColecoVision with about twenty games. I also had the VCS expansion module with it. It was basically a scaled-down A2600 that ran on the CV's power supply, which of course fit into the expansion port of the CV. I loved that thing, and it did increase its expandability. I think that Atari sued Coleco about the module, but I do not remember all of the details. Anyway, MaxRD, you state that you modded a VCS adapter for the A5200 to work with its own power supply to be a standalone unit. It must not be too hard to do, since I believe the VCS adapter is a small 2600 to begin with, but how did that get accomplished? Did you do it yourself? I am curious.
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The Jaguar's controller pad is reminiscent of the A5200 joystick to me because of the keypad. I have AVP and Tempest 2000, and I agree. They are great games. I have about 20+ games for the Jaguar. Some homebrew, most from Atari and third-party developers. I like most of the games myself. Granted, there are some games that have room for improvement. But, games like T2K, AVP, Dragon's Lair, Myst, for example, I think look and play well. I loved AVP. A friend of mine once played the game and was astounded by the graphics and sound. She was blown away by it. I was, too. But, seriously, the Jaguar definitely does have the horsepower, but it is a beast to program. At least, that is what I have heard from other people. I would not mind trying to program on it, but it is a learning curve from what I understand. Well, with assembly code anyway. Sure there are apps like Raptor BASIC+, for example. I have that as well. It is a good piece of programming software. I would try to study it more, but I need to work on my time management before that is a feasibility. Great machine, it just needed more finesse. That's my opinion anyway. That is indicative of ANY game platform, though. Thanks for letting me share, folks.
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Just a thought, is there a chance that we could figure out a way to have an RB+ tutorial on this forum? I am curious because I wouldn't mind learning how to use the language. I have a copy of Raptor BASIC+ on my PC at home, hence the inquiry. I know that they have tutorials on AtariAge, but I was wondering about here as well. I, myself, have tutorial files for the program. But, what of other potential game programmers that want to make home-brew game of their titles? Also, it may help to get feedback on a site like this as well. Just a suggestion, that's all. Thanks.
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I had heard that there is also a new variant of RB+ that hopefully will soon be released for the public to use called "Bello BASIC." That can be used on Atari 16/32 computers for game programming. I am sure most of you have heard of it on AtariAge right now. It was used to create a mini version of Bexagon for the Falcon, if I remember correctly. It is also being made for the Jaguar, of course.
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Is this prototype of "Dark Tower" a completed prototype for the Vectrex? I am understandably curious. Thanks.
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On 9/21/2018 at 12:36 PM, Justin said:
I thought this would be fun to share with you guys! When I first called Atari that August leading up to the Kay-Bee story, Geraldine at the front desk mailed me a little packet. Inside were order forms and a brochure. (You can see the envelope and a few of the pages in the picture above)
When Geraldine mentioned that she'd "mail me a catalog" I had it in my mind that it would be a "big Atari catalog" with descriptions and photos of everything, and cover all game systems and computers that Atari offered at the time. That turned out not to be the case. All week I waited excitedly for this cool catalog to arrive at my house filled with big pictures and descriptions of Atari video games and game systems for 2600, 7800 and Lynx.
When I went to the mailbox and found a normal white envelope, I was shocked. It did indeed have a "catalog" folded up inside, and it was great, but it was a few full color pages for the Atari Lynx. Full color, nice descriptions. But when it game to Atari 2600 and Atari 7800, all they had was an order form with a list of games, many of which I didn't know.
The little mail packet included the Lynx brochure, order forms to be filled out, and a "Cartridge List" for each game system. There was one page for 2600, one for 7800, and one for Lynx. These were product lists, black and white text, cx product number and price. No screenshots, no descriptions. Nothing too enthralling for an 11 year-old kid. I've included scans of all of these in my Atari 2600/7800 Strategy Guide that I had made at the time.
Without any kind of descriptions I had no idea what many of these games were. Sure I knew the familiar titles, but a lot of these games remained a mystery to me, and they captivated my mind. For half a year I poured over these documents and my imagination ran wild in anticipation of the day that I had saved up enough money to place my order! With nothing to go on but a list of game titles, my imagination filled in the blanks. Some of my ideas were spot-on, others were way off. Here are some memories of misinterpretations I thought you may enjoy..
A few notes, in not knowing what I was ordering:
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I thought Super Huey was about a goofy super hero named Huey. (Think of Scrapyard Louie flying through the air in a cape)
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I thought Desert Falcon was a gulf war F-16 Fighting Falcon game
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I thought Ace of Aces was a casino/card game
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I thought Hat Trick was about a magician/magic tricks
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I thought Pole Position II was a sequel to the Pole Position game that I remembered coming packed in with the 7800. Mistakenly I had thought I grew up playing the original Pole Position on 7800, I didn't realize that there was no "regular Pole Position One" for 7800 and that Pole Position II was what came with the system, and I ended up ordering an extra cartridge.
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I thought Motor Psycho was a Mad Max type game.
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I thought Ikari Warriors should have been called Atari Warriors.
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I didn’t buy Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. because I already had those games on NES with Donkey Kong Classics. I should’ve bought them anyway.
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I purchased Barnyard Blaster even though it required a light gun that I didn’t have and was no longer available from Atari. I have no idea why I did that.
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I thought Tower Toppler would be two medieval castle towers firing cannon balls / missiles at each other until one knocked the other down.
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I had no idea Mean 18 Ultimate Golf was uncommon or would ever have any value, I just thought an 8-bit golf game sounded like a lot of fun so I ordered it. If you've ever played it I think it's better than any golf game on NES.
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I only knew what Scrapyard Dog was because it was shown in the Lynx catalog. I actually really like that game.
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I had no idea what Cracke’ed was but I thought it sounded stupid so I skipped it.
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I had no idea what Jinx was, it sounded like Lynx and I took a shot in the dark.
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I guessed that Fatal Run was the 7800’s Out Run or Victory Run. I ended up being right, but it wasn’t as good as I had hoped.
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I had no idea what Food Fight was but I ordered it because it sounded like a lot of fun. Boy oh boy I was right about that.
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The two games I wanted most were Xevious and Impossible Mission, and neither were available from Atari in 1993.
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I had no idea what Secret Quest was but it sounded cool and I turned out to be right. When the UPS man finally showed up with a large package from Atari and everything inside of it, I was excited and surprised to see Nolan's picture on the Secret Quest box.
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Believe it or not that was my “good handwriting” on my hand-written list of 7800 and 2600 games.
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The worst part was mailing a check out to California with every penny I had and waiting 4-6 weeks for delivery. Every day I came home hoping to find a big package from UPS.
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I had no idea the Atari 5200 existed until 6 months later when I saw it mentioned in an article in Video Games Magazine about the burial at Alamogordo. Nobody at Atari ever mentioned it when I called and nothing was left of it.
- That summer and fall I’d call Big Lots and Sears Outlet every friday night hoping they’d have something in stock, and that I could go out with my family that night and take a look. I’d call and ask if they had any Atari video games or consoles in stock, and they would always call me “ma’am” because I was 11 and they thought they were speaking with an adult. I always thought that was funny.
I have every A7800 game on the list on the right that was sent from Atari that you received, Justin, in your picture. In fact, I have over fifty A7800 games in my collection, with some still with the boxes. I have had an Atari collection, starting with the A2600, for over thirty-six years now. We started our collection back in 1982, back when I was going to be eight that year, for USD$129.00 in 1982 dollars. Now, over 300 games later for five platforms, I could not be happier. I can relate to the part where people call you "ma'am". They did that to me when I was twelve. I will be forty-four next month. Thanks for sharing, Justin.
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I thought Super Huey was about a goofy super hero named Huey. (Think of Scrapyard Louie flying through the air in a cape)
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You know, judging by the fact that there is what looks like Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, and Portuguese, along with English, it looks like an International version. I know for a fact that you would never see all these languages on an American box. French and Spanish, maybe. But, not the other languages. I think that you are right, as all evidence points to the possibility of it being an International. It must have been made for all throughout Europe, South America, and possibly Canada, as Canadians can utilize both French and English as their official languages. Well, depending on where you are at in Canada, anyway. It is actually in great shape, considering. Thanks for showing us.
CORRECTION: Not Portuguese. It was French. Sorry.
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You know, this is great that you brought it up. I have NEVER seen this box variation before. It must be Canadian, but I see the "Short Rainbow" model on the box, so I could be wrong. Great find, Atarileaf. That box seems a rarity, as it is the first time that I have ever seen it. Thanks.
By the way, you would think that the box variations would be the same for the United States and Canada, because both nations use NTSC as their signal standard, and are in the North American market. I could be 180º off on that, but maybe this is a Canadian box variation.
Another question: your silver box variation, is it also in French and in English as well?
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Here are some better photos of the A2600 Jr. "Short Rainbow" that I own. You can see the damage and my attempt at mitigating it. It still needs work. But, I am confident it can be repaired cosmetically. Any suggestions? Thanks.
- Justin and Atari Creep
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I have an A2600 Jr. "Short Rainbow" console that I bought at SPACE (Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts) in Saint Paul about twenty years ago. The case on the console got damaged from a fall off of a shelf, but it is only moderate cosmetic damage, can be repaired (and I tried with epoxy), and still works well. I need to make more cosmetic repairs on it, but now and then I still play it. Anybody know where I can get some black plastic putty filler? Like Bondo or epoxy, maybe. That would be all I needed to repair this thing. Here is a picture of the console.
Thanks.
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To be honest, I didn't not know of any MK3 game coming to the Jaguar. The only games I remember seeing advertised the most were the exclusives it got, arcade remakes (the 2000 series including Tempest), and ports of aging PC titles. Granted it was an awesome console but I really believe the console could have pulled off so much more. I'm not saying it didn't get any good games but titles like Club Drive really show just how erratic the game library was. I'm glad that it did get Raiden...that was a much needed title. I believe if they could have got developers like Midway to sign up the system might have had a better standing.
I had heard that MK3 was being developed for the Jag while the Jaguar was still being marketed. I was waiting for that to be released as well. But, they did not release it. With the marketing scheme Jack Tramiel had, I don't think that even MK3 would have saved the Jaguar. People were tired of Atari by then. Alas…
- Justin and Atari 5200 Guy
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Thanks for the correction, I eventually plan on updating it later this year and will correct it then along with whatever else I change. It has been suggested to make the Jukebox place randomly on-screen as not to create burn-in for those using CRT and I may implement a play all feature and/or randomize song play if I can get the amount of music to about 20 tracks in a 4MB space.
You are most welcome, and thanks. Happy to oblige.
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I like this, too. Just burned it. I also like the interactive graphics. Nice touch. One minor thing, and it is constructive criticism of course. No offense. The track, "Fade to Black," is not. It is really "The Call of Ktulu," by Metallica. Other than that, it's pretty cool. Thanks for letting me share.
- Justin and Clint Thompson
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Probably, if handled carefully. Some of the huge success of the Amiga in the UK is frequently attributed to the timely release of the Batman pack, which bundled the A500 with the game adaptation just as the movie was at the peak of its blockbuster hype. However, knowing Atari, they would have ended up with the license for Howard The Duck.
Although, I hasten to add that I picked the Lawnmower Man because of the gameplay mechanics and the aesthetic rather than the weight of the movie. It could have been Cyberpunk Weirdness 2000 and it could have still been a great game for the Jaguar.
I would love to have seen something like in the catalog. Black ICE\White Noise?
Agreed on Black ICE/White Noise, and maybe Freelancer. I would have liked to see Dracula: The Undead on there as well. It was coming but was cancelled. The previous two I mentioned were as well, of course.
Atari ST Disk Imaging Tutorial
in Atari ST / TT / Falcon Computers
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Thanks for telling us this tutorial. Now, if I can, I can create my own floppy disks with titles on them.