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Uh oh. My Vader has all of these things. Some solid color backgrounds (especially gray) look like they are bubbling up almost. Many games look like they're locked up in prison with all the jail bars. Many of my games look like they were caught in a blizzard with all of the snow flying about the screen. Looks like my 2600 might be on it's way out. I thought that sort of stuff was normal for all 2600 units. Well, I don't have the skills to fix all of this stuff, so I'm just going to ride it out until the bitter end. I hope it won't die too soon! But at least I have another system I could use and a 7800.

Ah, you stole my answer! That one's got a timer, sorry. This is a surprisingly hard question. A lot of you stole my answers (though let's be honest this is years before I ever heard of this site). It got me thinking. What about Backgammon or Math Gran Prix?

Could be anything at all (edible). It could be a typical breakfast food like waffles or pancakes, or something completely different. Any food counts as breakfast in my eyes! Me? It fluctuates a lot. Mainly I'm feeling something green olive related, but right now I just feel like French toast (but the good homemade stuff). Another good one: I wasn't thrilled with Giovanni's Pizza in Chicago. I mean, it was good (it's pizza after all), but I didn't feel it matched the hype. But the next morning, I had some cold BBQ chicken pizza for breakfast and WOW was that good! Hope you guys are all having a fantastic morning. I feel like today is going to be a pretty good one. I'm going to try my best to stay positive. I just woke up 20 minutes ago. It's 11:40 where I live! I need some breakfast myself. See you all later and have a great day!

Right now, my top 7800 priorities are BallBlazer and Mario Brothers. I wish I had started 7800 collecting years ago when BallBlazer was much, much cheaper! How is everyone tonight? Hope you are all doing well.

I'd rather get that than crack the ring on my 7800. Something about that just seems wrong to me. Though I suppose it still won't work with the third party 7800 games that fit tightly. I mostly use my 2600 to play 2600 games, but when we play multiplayer games we typically use the 7800 downstairs as the room is better suited to gaming with others. We keep a lot of the good multiplayer games (like RealSports Volleyball and Air/Sea Battle) down there permanently. We also keep lots of other multiplayer games (like Combat, Football, and Basketball) at my grandparents' house.

If I ever try Planet Smashers, I will let you two know. But before I get that game, I would really like to purchase Desert Falcon. I hated the 2600 version until I listened to the 7800 GBG podcast and learned the rules of the game (you know, with the heiros and such). Now I rather enjoy the 2600 version, but the 7800 version looks so much better. I'm not a big Zaxxon type of person, but I did enjoy the 2600 port of the game. For $10, the 7800 game is worth a shot I feel. I know, @RickR! That's why I want one! I watched the NSG review (what hasn't that guy reviewed) a while back, and it just looks so bad! Sure, I could get a FlashBack 2 (which I might someday as it's actually really cool), but what's the point if I already have a system? Plus, honestly, if it wasn't using real 2600 hardware inside it would be a little boring. The Flashback 1, while cursed, is interesting because of it's NES hardware and how it's based on the 7800 instead of the 2600 seen in all other units. If I find it for cheap at a garage sale, I'm still going to pick it up. Now, what they really should do is make an Atari 5200 Flashback. Miniature Golf is one of my favorites on the system and DEFINITELY worth a try. I have been replaying a lot of 2600 games I didn't much care for since I joined this site, like Dragster, GORF, and Crystal Castles, and finding that I enjoy them much more than I used to. I guess every game is worth a second look. You might start to really like them like I did! And yes, a Miniature Golf tournament would be awesome. I'm starting to wonder how a homebrew graphical update would look like though. The game is a little too abstract already that I'm not sure if there's any saving it! Though they did make a sequel you can get on a physical cart over at AtariAge.

Well, you guys know what's up, so I'll take your word for it. To me it just looked a little barebones and a little slow paced. There didn't seem to be all that much happening on screen at once. I'm not a big scrolling shooter fan, but I enjoy them enough.1943 on NES is one of my favorite retro games, after all. And the Atari Flashback 1 looks horrible! They did so much better with the NOAC recreations in the OG Jakks Pacific Atari joystick plug & play (though that might be a little clouded by nostalgia). If I ever find one at a garage sale or something, I'm totally picking it up. It just looks so horrible and I need to check it out someday!

Not just your 7800. Mine is really stubborn with taking out third party cartridges, too. When I first got the system, you bet Tunnel Runner was one of the first games I tried out (I think you can even see it in the background of the picture I posted when I first got the system). When it was time to take it out, it wouldn't budge. I really had to work it out. I internally freaked out a bit because I thought I had gotten something stuck in this awesome new system I had for less than an hour! The 7800 can be stubborn for sure. I have considered taking a Dremel and widening the cartridge slot to make it a bit easier, but ultimately I don't trust myself enough! I will probably ruin the system if I try, so I am keeping it original. Hope you enjoy those Activision games. I just listened to the 7800 Game by Game Podcast episode covering these two the other night.

Impossible Mission looks fun, but I really wish it was possible. I know there's the hack, but you won't find that in a retro game store. It does look like a type of game I would really like, but I just can't get it. I don't have lots of money floating around to buy stuff that doesn't function, you know? I think the YouTube channel Frame Rater put it best when he said Planet Smashers was like a single step above an Action 52 game. It doesn't look too good. I don't think you are missing out on much, @RickR. I think it's cool that some of you, like @nosweargamer and @Atari 5200 Guy, actually had the system growing up. I love hearing stories about people who had these things, especially the less popular systems like the 7800. Since I wasn't around when these systems were relevant, the only way I can experience them is through stories of others'.

Yes and no. The OG Odyssey from 1972 had interchangeable game cards, but they really didn't have any data stored on them. They just had the system make slight variations in the same basic game, which was basically just Pong (before Pong, of course). Each game depended on the overlays and you had to obey your own rules and keep score. Many games used cards, game boards, overlays, etc. Many of the games were just video board games, like Haunted House and Football. The Channel F released in 1976 and was the first console to have interchangeable ROM cartridges. Unlike the Odyssey's games, each game was a completely different experience with its own assets, rules, sounds, etc.

I feel I can realistically get a complete NA 7800 set someday. I mean, I have six games and I am already almost 10% done! Now, it won't be for a while, but someday I can probably collect them all. And you are right, @nosweargamer, about the affordability of it. Lots of my local game store's NES games are cheaper than the average price for a 7800 game, but lots of the NES games are also more expensive. Most of the 7800 games are the same price, while each NES game is priced individually. All the Atari games in general are labeled as just "assorted" on the store labels while the Nintendo games have the game's title printed on there.

Yeah, that's not great. At least they aren't very sticky. I haven't had any problems taking labels off with a hair dryer before, though. Still, not a good thing to do in the first place. I'm not excusing their bad behavior.

I feel the same way. I count seven, actually, but there was only one for the 7800. I really want the 7800 version, as I'm a big fan of the NES game. I don't have the physical cartridge for NES either, so I would rather get the 7800 version because it's so fascinating to me. Nintendo on 2600? Big deal. But Nintendo on the 7800 while the NES was out? That's crazy! Of the Nintendo games on 7800, that's my favorite (not that I have played the 7800 versions, but I have played the NES ports). That and BallBlazer are on the top of my Xmas list. I'm pretty sure it is. Sure looks like it. There are some pretty uncommon games in there; Motor Psycho, Alien Brigade, Mean 18, BallBlazer... They even have Miner 2049'er Volume II in there. I hope to build up a sizable Atari 7800 collection someday with their help.

Ha! That channel needs some tidying up. I hope to completely redo it someday and make it into a retro gaming channel. At the present, I can't get rid of any of those videos or make any changes as my browser is no longer supported by Youtube Creator Studio, and no newer browsers support my computer's OS. Plus, my guitar playing is quite terrible. Getting a new computer is something I have considered, but to be honest I don't really use it that much. I mainly have been using it for doing guitar things, the I/O, and putting music on my DSi. Plus, I have some software on here that I often use and an optical media drive which I also use pretty frequently. I could just borrow my dad's computer if I need to upload a video and put said video on a USB drive. Point is, I'd rather tough it out and just use my ancient Windows Vista computer and my ancient iPhone 5 and save my money for cool stuff like Atari 7800 games.

I watched the NSG video. That box looks like it gets pretty full. I can see why you need to reinforce it, @RickR!

It was pretty nice of my parents. Shame I can't play it again today! Ha, ha! But I'm pretty confident in my ability to get it back for real. I've been practicing guitar for a couple hours each day. My mom wanted me to learn that Edmund Fitzgerald song before the anniversary of its sinking next month, so yesterday I played that same chord progression for maybe 3 hours just to get it perfect. I had it down, and I played it for my dad before my mom came home and he said it was pretty good. UNFORTUNATELY, about five minutes before my mom came home I burned my thumb and index finger when I was taking something out of the oven, so I wasn't able to play it. My fingers just kind of ache now, but WOW did they hurt last night! Hopefully I will be able to play the song tonight and (fingers crossed) get my 7800 back. My mom initially said I needed to learn a song before I could get it back, but she keeps moving the goal posts. I'm not sure if this Edmund Fitzgerald thing will get me my system back, but it is worth a shot. I mean, it can't hurt. Only thing that can hurt are my fingers! Interesting. The more I played it yesterday the more I appreciated this feature I used to despise. Your solitary bullet moves so slowly compared to Galaga, Galaxian, and even Space Invaders. It requires a bit more thinking and planning than those other games. It's quite different because of that one mechanic than most other Space Invaders-type games. It is a unique blend of dodging enemy fire and timing your shots carefully. I think I forgot to mention that the shield my dad remembered from the boss level is absent in this version. Hitting that tiny weak spot on the boss ship is quite difficult. The shot cancelling mechanic comes in handy here. I did some research on the arcade version of GORF. I had actually never seen it before; only the 5200 and 2600 ports. I didn't even know that GORF had speech synthesis. The sprites are literally just ripped from Space Invaders and Galaxian in some of the levels! Doesn't surprise me at all; Midway distributed these games in the US and probably thought they could make their own games using the same assets. These are the Ms. Pac-Man people, after all. And yes, I know it was GCC who originally made Ms. Pac-Man, but Midway distributed it. I did notice that your ship was able to move along the y axis in some levels in GORF arcade. Can you do that in the 2600 port? I didn't think so.

These are all very fun games. Let's talk about the 7800 games first, as this is a 7800 thread. I hope to make a "Harry's Adventures in 2600 Collecting" thread as well someday instead of just including them both here. Galaga really surprised me. This game (on the default "advanced" setting) is much harder for me than the arcade original! The enemies move slow when they're flying into formation, but once they started diving down it became surprisingly hard for me. I try to get the double ship thing on the first stage, and that was actually pretty hard to do here. The kamikaze enemies seem a lot more aggressive here. Overall, very fun game indeed, and it also sounds great for the system. The graphics are a little unusual, but that adds to the charm. Overall, I really enjoyed this port of Galaga. I might even like it more than the arcade version. It's a very unique port and worth playing because it's different. I also really enjoyed Xevious. The music, to me at least, isn't as good as Galaga's. The opening song is a little off key, which is very typical of the TIA chip, but it still sounds pretty good. The sound effects, though, oh man! They're almost arcade perfect! That can't be said about many games using the TIA chip. Gameplay wise, well, it's Xevious, and it's still a lot of fun. Despite the 7800 having a lower resolution than the NES, the graphics still manage to be much more detailed than their NES counterparts. I played this game using the two-button mode. I held down the left button for most of the game and just tapped the right one for precision bombing. That works pretty well for me; I don't like the inaccuracy of firing both bombs and bullets at the same time. Xevious is a great port and I think it's much better than the NES version (which is much better than I remembered). Oh, and of course, Food Fight. This was the game I spent the most time on, by far. Despite how everyone sings its praises, Food Fight still managed to exceed expectations. Just playing it is sheer bliss. It's so satisfying to machine gun tomatoes, pies, watermelon, and more at those chefs. The music is nice and fits the game well. The sound effects add to the enjoyment and satisfaction I get from playing the game. Getting an instant replay is always a "treat" as well. You were all right. This game is amazing! AN OPEN LETTER TO GORF ON ATARI 2600: Dear GORF, I'm sorry, GORF. You're actually quite fun once I got used to your weird firing quirk. When you fire again when a bullet is in the air, it will disappear and a new bullet will be shot. Initially, I didn't like this feature as I kept canceling my shots, but I found that it is pretty necessary in the later stages. You need some precise aiming. It reminds me a bit of Artillery Duel mixed with Galaxian; there's a bit of anticipatory shooting involved here. I don't think I ever got past the laser beam level before today. I think it's pretty cool that many of the arcade levels are here. I also find it a bit funny that this game is more colorful than the 5200 port; the spaceship you control is only a single color in that version. Anyways, GORF, I was a bit surprised to find you in that box and I'm glad I was able to give you a second chance. You are a pretty fun game I wouldn't have gotten otherwise and I'm happy to have you here. Sincerely, Harry I am very glad these games finally came. Thanks again, chas. My official @nosweargamer "Hall of Fame" Atari 7800 games as of today: Food Fight Xevious Galaga One-on-One Basketball Pole Position II I am now done collecting for the 7800 for a while. While I'm waiting, I will have plenty of time to think about what games I am going to get next. There are so many good games on the system to choose from. Any suggestions?

That sounds like it might be fun. My guess is that there was a hole in the cartridge and angry chefs kept coming out and wreaking havoc. They raided the kitchen and starting chucking food all around the house. The tape was needed to keep them from coming back out. Really enjoying these games. I will write more about them later. I need to spend a bit more time with them (mostly because I just want to play them more!).

You all need to play more Super Nintendo. @RickR I like seeing you're putting an Odyssey 2 game in there! That thing needs more love. I haven't played one yet, but really want to try one out someday.

@chas10e was wonderful to work with. I bought Galaga, Xevious, and Food Fight for the Atari 7800 from him. There were a few delays, but he was very patient. He even threw in a bonus game, GORF, and a nice letter. Excellent guy. Great to work with. Thanks, chas.

I have loved LCD/LED/VFD/etc. games for a long time. I remember seeing the Coleco tabletop arcades on YouTube when I was little and yearning for them. A little later I saw Frogger and Pac-Man at an antique store for $60 and $70 respectively. Too much and my parents wouldn't let me get them, and I can see why. They did have batteries in them and I got to play them both. I don't remember Pac-Man being good in the slightest, but I stood there and played Frogger while the rest of my family looked around the store for a half hour or so. I thought it was cool when Basic Fun brought back the mini arcade in an LCD form, but I didn't buy them until 2018 where I got a little collector crazy. I prefer the ones with the segmented displays rather than the NES on a chip ones.

@chas10e is the man! Today my games came. Galaga, Food Fight, and Xevious were all there, but there was something else! He snuck in Global Orbiting Robot Force (GORF) for the Atari 2600! That is so cool! Thanks, man! GORF and I haven't gotten along the best over the years. I have emulated it a couple of times and didn't much like the way that the bullet dissapears when you press the fire button again. I haven't played it in a while... maybe I will have a change in heart like I did with Dragster on VCS. I really dig the CBS cartridges. I texted my dad about this game. He remembers it from the arcades. He said, and I quote: "Yeah [it's like Space Invaders] but with a big arching forcefield". I think he's talking about the boss of the game. I never got there before. If you didn't hear, I'm currently working on a Space Invaders review for a pilot episode of a YouTube review series I would like to make. I will touch on GORF in it! I think I'm going to keep the tape on Food Fight rather than heat it up with a hair dryer and peel it off. It seems like it's holding the label in place and I might make it worse if I remove it. Plus, the tape tells a story. I love damaged labels because of all the stories they tell. I haven't played any of these yet, but I will later today (history class right now). I realized when I took out the 7800 from the closet that the XBOX fell on it and made a little crack in the cheap Tremiel plastic. Sigh. I bet it will still work. I love getting games from the I/O. I got these three, I mean four, games from chas and I also got another from @RickR. These games really mean a lot to me that I get from here. Thanks, you two. And @socrates63 insists on letting me participate a little bit in the Retro Junk box. Thanks, Young. I forgot about asking my parents, so I will do that later tonight. But getting games from this website is really cool. When I'm able to again I hope to do that more. Atari.io is the best website on the internet! I might edit in a picture later. Desk is a mess right now.

@chas10e's games are out for delivery as we speak! So excited to play them. Thankfully, my dad said I can try them out a little bit when they arrive, but I have to put the 7800 back in the closet when I'm done. I hope I can get it back for real soon. It's nice to be able to try out these games, but I have a feeling I'm going to want to do more than just try them out!

R.I.P. @RickR's Summer Blowout Sale August 17-October 7, 2020 If tears could build a stairway And memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven The WayBack Machine And bring you @RickR's Summer Blowout Sale home again.