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@nosweargamer anything he had as a kid, like Armored Encounter/Sub Chase, War of Nerves, Matchmaker/Logix/Buzzword, Volleyball, Pocket Billiards, and Computer Golf. That’s all I can remember now. He also wants Alpine Skiing, which he said he always wanted as a kid but never got.

As for me, I’m pretty happy with what I have right now for the time being. Eventually I’d like to get Alien Invaders Plus, KC’s Krazy Chase, and ESPECIALLY Electronic Table Soccer. But for right now, I’m pretty pleased with what we all have.

What an awesome system this is!

I'll check my duplicates in the next day or two and get back to you.

@nosweargamer seems like the type of collector to have duplicates of Air Raid.

In all seriousness, thanks for looking. 

@Atari 5200 Guy I won't. I'm trying to just get through the night. Tomorrow hopefully it will be a bit better.

I'm starting to think that my mom is going to take my stuff indefinitely. She is threatening that if she ever moves out she will take all of the games with her and throw them out. I hope she doesn't follow through with it if my parents get a divorce. However I did make a list of priorities: Tunnel Runner, Super Metroid, Conker's BFD, etc. I can hide those someplace if it gets bad enough and she decides to get rid of our entire collection.

I think my parents are going to get divorced someday and I am okay with that. Though I don't think it will be for a couple months and I hope she changes her mind about those games and other various things she wants. I hope we can improve our relationship and start getting along better.

Sorry to hear of your home life trouble, Harry. Being a teen is already tough enough.

O2 Frogger looks pretty good!

Hibernating is normal for this time of year.

You're doing great 👌

My dad had an Odyssey 2 growing up. Some of his favorites were Football! Computer Golf! Crypto-Logic! Quest for the Rings! And Attack of the Timelord! Until I told him about it a few years ago, he didn't even know that Odyssey 2 had a voice module. He had some other games I can't remember at the moment. It's a shame he got rid of it, but at least his cousin and best friend kept his 2600 collection. It's really trippy that I'm playing on the same console he played on when he was younger than I am.

Here's the thing: my dad remembers some games his cousin had for his 2600 collection but I don't have. Games like Pitfall, Frogger, Adventure, and, get this, Crazy Climber. He thinks there might be another box somewhere in his cousin's house. He may just be misremembering, but his theory holds water; I own the boxes for Star Trek SOS, Spider-Man, and Super Challenge Football. Not sure if Crazy Climber is in there, but I'm pretty sure he has another box somewhere. I will have to ask him sometime.

How cool if you could get the games with the family history!  Do it!  Be a pest! 

Almost all of my retro consoles have some family history. My dad's SNES he got in college. My NES was my uncle's from college. The 64 was a present from my mom to my dad when they were first married. The XBOX was won in a raffle in 2001 or 2002. Atari 2600 as previously mentioned from his cousin. 7800 and GBA are exceptions. My dad had an OG Game Boy before I was born but my mom apparently threw it out. Game Boy of some kind and 2600 from a-tar-i were my two dream retro systems, and I'm happy to have them both now. Especially these specific 2600 consoles with all that history. I was going to give the Woody back to my dad's cousin someday, but COVID happened so it's chilling at my grandparents for now. I'm trying to think of a good starter set for him. I don't want to part with any of these sweet games, though, so I was thinking of buying some cheap duplicates sometime later when the virus is over and I have some more money from Christmas and Birthday and hopefully from a job sometime soon when it's safe.

I'm not sure if Crazy Climber was in there or not, but my dad swore by it even before I got the system or knew the game was rare. My dad's cousin kept a lot of his boxes but not all. If there's another box of boxes someplace and Crazy Climber just happened to be CIB (if it was there), I would lose it. When I was fixing his systems (he had two), the manufacture date on the Woody was June 27th 1981. That's after his birthday, so he may have gotten the system in Christmas of 81 or the first half of 1982, unless he got it earlier than Christmas of 81. That one appeared to have had soda or something spilled on it. The Vader model I think came out in late 1982 or 83. I don't know when that one was made as it didn't have a date in it. He might have gotten it secondhand later in life for all I know. Neither of them remember the Vader even existing. Anyway that would have put it at the right time for Crazy Climber. That was an '83 game I think. 

He kept the manuals almost all of the games, boxes for some as well, but not all. Like I said there is plenty of evidence that there are more games somewhere, but there is no evidence I could find of him being in the Atari club. Unless Crazy Climber went to stores somehow for a limited time, but that's highly unlikely, especially in our area. 

TL;DR: Lots of system memories. There has got to be some games somewhere. No concrete evidence that CC is among them, but no evidence that it's not there either.

I usually do that after Halloween.  And I listen to Christmas music throughout the year.

🎄

I just got new outdoor Christmas lights installed. I upgraded to LED bulbs, so I should be able to leave them on for longer periods and not see a big bump in the electricity bill. I haven't turned them on yet though. I'll probably turn them on in a week or two.

I’m sorry about your dad, @RickR. I’m certain he’s looking down on you as well. The deceased live on in our memories and the stories we share about them.

This will lighten the mood for us both. Unless you’re afraid of snakes.

The ragtime giant snake is hilarious! 

Here's an oldie that I'll never get tired of.  A dude that sneezes into his trombone.
 

GOOD LUCK

🍀

Looking forward to Sunday, though it’s a little scary. But I’m confident I’ll be okay. Let’s just hope I don’t screw anything up.

No, Rick! It was Fernie Sanders! He is staying inside for the winter so he doesn’t freeze over.

Argh. Too many puns today!

Dang, man, that's rough.

Hoping things improve in time for the new year.

I will! You ever play? I imagine that you at least HAVE it, seeing as you've said you're a Game Boy collector as well. 

I think that many here at Atari.io would enjoy this game. Unlike the rest of the Metroid series, this game is more linear and skill-based.

One of these days, I'll need to get me Metroid: Zero Mission as well. That one is very good, a bit more like the rest of the games, and even has the original Metroid built-in! It's a remake of the first game. I saw it at the store a few months back (pre-pandemic) and didn't buy it. I didn't want to make the same mistake here.

Metroid games really hold their value and can be expensive today. They are generally some of the highest-regarded games on their respective systems. So far in the 2D series, I have Metroid on NES, Super Metroid on SNES, Samus Returns on 3DS, and now Fusion on GBA.

As for Game Boy Advance in general, I'm looking to get the rest of the Super Mario Advance series (I have 1 and 3 currently), Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario vs. DK, Link to the Past, the Kirby games, WarioWare, and a few others.

Very nice, Harry. You worked hard for your money, so enjoy.

I do not have that one, but I do have "Zero Mission" 

By 4 non blondes?

@Gianna Yes

Didn't work. 

Mega Man = too difficult for me.  

The only Mega Man I love is 2 on the NES.  Everything about that game just worked and the music is still with me today.  Castlevania?  Yep...all three on the NES were fantastic but I never could beat the first one.  I could play the second one over and over again.  I haven't played any after those three.

Maybe it's because Sears itself is now a haunted house.  You can hear the ghosts of Kenmore and Craftsmen. 

Some say you can still hear K-Mart’s footsteps in the aisles in the dead of night…

"Diehard" batteries were a lie. 

That will work.  And you can get them free at your local post office. 

The good news is that the box art looks perfect.  Once you square up the sides, that box will look great. 

Here you go, Harry.  This Yars' box is probably the very worst in my collection.  Here's a picture of the innards to give you an idea.  I can't pull the liner out, as I Elmer's glued the bottom shut. 

 

Last night I sat down and devoted some time to this game. I had played it only to test it out before this.

And, it's great! I love all the different variations. I'd have to say my favorite is #3, the one with two balls and two paddles. I really, really like the graphics, colors, and sound in this game as well. 

@Gianna would be proud.

I like the Colecovision version.  Honestly, it's a fun game on any platform. 

Try "Miner 2049er" next.  If you've never played it, I think you'll love it.  The 2600 version is surprisingly good.  

I’m not the biggest fan of 2049er. I’ll stick with Quick Edward for now.

Well, the 2600 version of Donkey Kong was done by an Activision co-founder Garry Kitchen in 1982. It seems the business constraints trickled down to constrain project resources (reduced memory size, development schedule). I'm not sure Activision developers would have done any better given the same requirements. Here's a Donkey Kong making-of written by Garry Kitchen himself.

Similarly with Pac-Man, if the non-game designers would not dictate game design requirements (only space games can have black background), we'd have a better game.

Good.  Keep up the good work.

That's great news, Harry!

USPS has been hammered by, well, politics.  Hopefully they'll get back on their feet soon.