DegasElite

The only thing that I did not like about the Skydeck is the express elevator. It travels at 1,800 ft. per minute, last time I checked the stats. That's 108,000 feet per hour, or over 20 MPH. That is cruising for an elevator, plus it makes my ears want to pop and the deceleration effect makes me want to feel like passing out. But, once up there, my fears ebbed away. I was on Cloud Nine. I conquered the world's tallest building at the time. Eat your heart out, Sir Edmund Hillary! Joking, of course. XD
It was a fun time being up there.
By the way, Hillary was the first man to conquer Mount Everest in the 1950s. I wouldn't dare go that far, though. That is over six miles into the air. Imagine that.

Operation Danube. That was the code name for the invasion.

The only person in my immediate family that has traveled outside of the country is my father. He has been to Ireland, Germany, Spain, and Canada. He was stationed in Europe when he was in the Army during the Vietnam War. In fact, he did guard duty in Munich during the Cold War. His station was put on full alert when the Soviets moved into Prague (then Czechoslovakia) in, if I remember correctly, 1968. I think that they moved in to quash a pro-democracy demonstration there. I think that was it, but it was before my time, since I was born in 1974. So, I could be wrong. Myself, I have never been outside of the country. Not yet, anyway. :O)

The only thing that I did not like about the Skydeck is the express elevator. It travels at 1,800 ft. per minute, last time I checked the stats. That's 108,000 feet per hour, or over 20 MPH. That is cruising for an elevator, plus it makes my ears want to pop and the deceleration effect makes me want to feel like passing out. But, once up there, my fears ebbed away. I was on Cloud Nine. I conquered the world's tallest building at the time. Eat your heart out, Sir Edmund Hillary! Joking, of course. XD
It was a fun time being up there.
By the way, Hillary was the first man to conquer Mount Everest in the 1950s. I wouldn't dare go that far, though. That is over six miles into the air. Imagine that.

Man.  That was about like that Sunsphere in Knoxville in 1982.  Long way up, and nothing between you and falling other than some gold tinted glass.  It had a gift shop and restaurant inside.  Pretty cool actually.

@BlackCatz40
I love the Brookfield Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry! I love going to museums. If you go back to Chicago, I would suggest the Field museum. I have been there a few times. It's super interesting and takes all day to go through. To me it'll always be the Sears tower! You're brave going on the skydeck. There's a building directly in front of the Shedd aquarium, on the other side of the street, that is a tall building of condos. My dad knew someone who owned a condo on one of the highest floors, and would allow a few friends to stay there occasionally. My family stayed a couple times and I loved it. I loved how all the rooms had a wall of just windows so you could see the whole city. I don't think I could ever get used to living there, but the view from those windows was tempting lol
@TrekMD I live in FL as well! 

My favorite places to visit:
Chicago:
Brookfield Zoo
Willis Tower (I went to the 103rd floor Skydeck when it was still the world's tallest building; then called the Sears Tower)
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
Duluth, Minnesota:
Army Corps of Engineers Marine Museum
The Depot
Edgewater Resort
Bentleyville (during the Christmas months, the City of Duluth gets decked out and creates a Christmas village every year)
Wisconsin:
Madison
Milwaukee (my dad was born there, and my mom lived there when she was a little girl)
Wisconsin Dells
When I lived in Indiana for two years, during that time I visit its capitol city, Indianapolis, for a day. It was fun. I have been in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, and was born in Minnesota, where I have lived for almost forty-four of my almost forty-six years of life. I would not trade that for anything. :O)

My favorite places to visit:
Chicago:
Brookfield Zoo
Willis Tower (I went to the 103rd floor Skydeck when it was still the world's tallest building; then called the Sears Tower)
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
Duluth, Minnesota:
Army Corps of Engineers Marine Museum
The Depot
Edgewater Resort
Bentleyville (during the Christmas months, the City of Duluth gets decked out and creates a Christmas village every year)
Wisconsin:
Madison
Milwaukee (my dad was born there, and my mom lived there when she was a little girl)
Wisconsin Dells
When I lived in Indiana for two years, during that time I visit its capitol city, Indianapolis, for a day. It was fun. I have been in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, and was born in Minnesota, where I have lived for almost forty-four of my almost forty-six years of life. I would not trade that for anything. :O)

My favorite places to visit:
Chicago:
Brookfield Zoo
Willis Tower (I went to the 103rd floor Skydeck when it was still the world's tallest building; then called the Sears Tower)
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
Duluth, Minnesota:
Army Corps of Engineers Marine Museum
The Depot
Edgewater Resort
Bentleyville (during the Christmas months, the City of Duluth gets decked out and creates a Christmas village every year)
Wisconsin:
Madison
Milwaukee (my dad was born there, and my mom lived there when she was a little girl)
Wisconsin Dells
When I lived in Indiana for two years, during that time I visit its capitol city, Indianapolis, for a day. It was fun. I have been in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, and was born in Minnesota, where I have lived for almost forty-four of my almost forty-six years of life. I would not trade that for anything. :O)

Hi everyone 🙂
Does anyone enjoy traveling? If so, where have you been? What's your favorite place to visit?
I have been to various different states, and have been to the Bahamas. I enjoy going to Nashville and taking road trips to Illinois (where I'm from) and love going to different museums in Chicago. I haven't been anywhere too exciting besides typical tourist spots (like Key West). I think it would be nice to visit Hawaii sometime!

Yeah. I think that I can get one, but not yet. I need to save up for it. I am sure that by now it will be costly.

That 5200 Jr model is sexy!  THAT's the 5200 that should have been released.  That's the 5200 that should be sitting in my collection.  

I'm really partial to the original 4-Port 5200 design. Its designer Regan Cheng said he wanted to give it a "nasty" look, something kind of mean looking but also something that felt like it would've been bought in a Bang & Olufsen store in the world of Blade Runner. The warm glow of the red light was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think it's one of Atari's best looking systems.
What would I have done differently? Make it the size of the 2700. It's a little smaller and easier to handle. I also would have made the plastic 100% black, like the 7800.

I agree that is might be a bit too big. But I really really like the wedge look of the 5200. I still think it is one of the best looking consoles not just from Atari, but ever released. I also wish it were actually black and I tend to forget it isn't until I'm cleaning one up for a client and then with my overhead light I'm able to clearly see the brown coloring that the console actually is. 
The glow from the power LED is cool, but also a pain for those that might want a different color LED. The smoked plexi will obscure some colors. So I've found that UV LEDs just look blue and Yellow will just look white. So the only colors that work well are Red, Blue, White, and ...I think thats it because even Green ends up looking white through the plexi. I found all of this out when I tried to put a UV one in my 5200 years ago as most of my personal consoles all have UV LEDs in them but it just looked blue, so I just put a blue in it.
 

That 5200 Jr prototype looks like they would have succeeded in reducing the 5200's original size.  I'd have been happy with it.  The 5200 was suppose to be more powerful than the 2600 so I can understand its size; to make it look "beefed" up.  I also really like the piano finish except it scars and scratches very easily.  I'd love to get my unit refinished or buffed if it would remove the scuffs and scratches without hurting it.  That piano finish is beautiful when it's not messed up.  
Hehe...obviously Sony thought so, too.  At least with its color scheme.  

The first PS3 units had chrome where later models had silver but the color scheme is still there; piano black with a chrome/silver trim.  So in some ways the 5200 has kept some what a positive influence on the market.

I have the 2600 adapter for the 5200 and it is a cool thing to have. 

I would not mind getting a VCS adapter for my A5200. I think that it would enhance my collection exponentially. As previously stated earlier in this topic, I used to have a VCS adapter for my ColecoVision, when I owned one. It was a fun add-on. It played all my A2600 games with virtually no compatibility issues, of course it was a stripped-down A2600 in the first place. But, I guess that there are some issues with some A2600 games and the A7800 in compatibility. Sometimes, like with Activision's Decathlon and Robot Tank, they will not work. I guess that there might be a fix for that, but I am not worried about it. I have an A2600 Junior Short Rainbow that plays every game I have anyway.

I would not mind getting a VCS adapter for my A5200. I think that it would enhance my collection exponentially. As previously stated earlier in this topic, I used to have a VCS adapter for my ColecoVision, when I owned one. It was a fun add-on. It played all my A2600 games with virtually no compatibility issues, of course it was a stripped-down A2600 in the first place. But, I guess that there are some issues with some A2600 games and the A7800 in compatibility. Sometimes, like with Activision's Decathlon and Robot Tank, they will not work. I guess that there might be a fix for that, but I am not worried about it. I have an A2600 Junior Short Rainbow that plays every game I have anyway.

I would not mind getting a VCS adapter for my A5200. I think that it would enhance my collection exponentially. As previously stated earlier in this topic, I used to have a VCS adapter for my ColecoVision, when I owned one. It was a fun add-on. It played all my A2600 games with virtually no compatibility issues, of course it was a stripped-down A2600 in the first place. But, I guess that there are some issues with some A2600 games and the A7800 in compatibility. Sometimes, like with Activision's Decathlon and Robot Tank, they will not work. I guess that there might be a fix for that, but I am not worried about it. I have an A2600 Junior Short Rainbow that plays every game I have anyway.

I spent some time with some old friends today; Dig Dug, Centipede, Joust, Pole Position, and Frogger.  Also present was Pac and Ms Pac, Space Invaders, Moon Patrol, and Vanguard.  A little time was also spent with RS Tennis, RS Soccer, and Football.  All on the 5200 which, quite frankly, is getting along in years.  About like me; both beaten, battered, and bruised but still holding our own doing the best we can to hang in there.  We take a fall and dust ourselves off to try again another day.  At the end of the day my 5200 and me still hold a strong bond.  Only my maker would be the only one to separate that.  
If it sounds like I've done gone crazy you'd be right.  But, in all honesty, the 5200 is my go to system when things in life are bugging me to the point I have to find an outlet.  So I brought the 5200 into the main room of the home and played some games.  I was only going to grab a few games but I couldn't decide on a few so I brought all of them along for some fun.  It was then when I realized that If I had a working 5200 and TV for every 5200 game I owned I'd have one hell of an arcade room.
Today's Adventure with the 5200 took a different approach.  You see, I have this book that could be one of the first books of its kind.  It's about how to beat video games...in the arcades that is.  It's title is The Complete Video Warrior: How To Beat The Video Games.  Yep...inside are tips on how to beat the most popular arcade games...from the 1980's that is...before the game crash.  Asteroids, Battlezone, Berzerk, Centipede, Defender, Frogger, Galaxian, Gorf, Missile Command, Pac-Man, Phoenix, Red Baron, Scramble, Space Invaders, and Star Castle; tips for these games ready to be read to help improve a player's scores to those games.
And so it began; the time to discover if those tips could be used in any manner on the 5200 ports of those games.  I made a list: which games did the 2600, 5200, and 7800 get individually?  The 2600 and 5200 almost always got the same games during 1983.  It was very common for Atari to do their game ads with both 2600 and 5200 game boxes in the ads.  That's when the 2600 got its silver and red boxes which was exact by design to the 5200's boxes...just in red instead of blue.  Out of all of those games in the book nine of those made it to the 5200, eight of those I have. 
And I learned one thing; the 5200 plays by its own rules.  Some of the pointers are with the general mechanics of those games but when it comes to patterns the 5200 has its own for players to discover.  In some ways the 5200 plays a bit tougher than those arcade machines.  It can be brutal at times just as much as it can be gentle.  And that book, while cool to read, doesn't hold a torch to the 5200.  I think I'll just stick with the strategies I use to play the 5200 games.  Works best for me.
 

I remember seeing this at PRGE in the Video Game Museum exhibit.  I was very surprised when I saw it. 

I was right. The NES had them, too, only there were more of them. This link shows a map of Area 1-1 in the NES version. The bunkers are in there, too.
https://www.nesmaps.com/maps/Commando/CommandoMap1-1.html
So, I guess, both accounts are correct.

I guess it is true. There are POW bunkers in the A7800 game. I just looked at the maps online. But, I also thought I saw them in the NES version. I saw someone playing it for the NES, and I thought they exploited the bunkers with POWs in them.

I though that I had seen someone exploit the underground bunkers in the NES version. It was a few years back when the NES was still retailing in the stores. I do not remember using grenades to find the bunkers in the A7800 version. I have the game, too. Interesting.

I think that the A7800 version of Commando outdoes the NES version. It is more like the arcade version than Nintendo's version. Also, the Nintendo version added underground bunkers to it to rescue POWs. I think that if you are going to make a game close to the arcade, stick to the original layout of the original game. Nintendo's version is just a different game. Atari tried to make their conversions like the arcade counterparts. I can see why Crystal Castles for the A2600 is different, though. It was due to the limitations at the time. But, the XEGS version looks more like the original translation. I like arcade conversions that try to reproduce the arcade versions.