HDN

I have my last $5 discount at my local game store. This is my last hurrah. I spent my money on Mario Kart Super Circuit and Home Run. This discount offers me most of their 2600 games for "free". I was almost 100% set on Crystal Castles, but I'm not sure. Here in this poll are a few games for the 2600 and 7800 I was considering. If you have suggestions not on the poll, please feel free to suggest them below. A much less serious problem than my last poll I made! But your help would be appreciated. I sadly can't play any of these games for a while as my mom still has my Atari stuff. She wants me to learn the guitar before I get them back. *Sigh* I will just wait it out. This has happened before. This poll won't necessarily determine my purchase, but it will help me make up my mind a bit. Plus, it's fun.

I used to have a Vtech learning computer when I was little, obviously much more modern than this one. It had an LCD pixel matrix thing, like a cross between Tiger Electronic LCD Games and true Dot Matrix displays like the one seen on Game Boy. Very low resolution. I had a Thomas the Tank Engine learning computer circa 2007 and this one without the license (exact clone of the Thomas one but with a monkey instead of trains) circa 2009. It is very obvious that they were evolutions of this computer. About that University of Michigan fight song you made early in the video, @nosweargamer. I have a funny story somewhat related to that. A few years ago I found this really cool hat in the basement that happened to fit me perfectly. It was really comfortable and I still wear it to this day. I am not a big sports guy like, at all, so I had no idea that this was a Michigan hat. I only know the sports teams around here that no one will shut up about: the Packers, the Bucks, and the Brewers. I know a few others, like the more famous ones like the Dodgers and the Patriots, but I don't pay much attention to them in the slightest. So, fast-forward to a few months ago, I'm mowing the lawn at my grandparents' house and they are sitting out on the deck talking and stuff. I'm finished mowing the lawn and I come out onto the deck to join them. I have the hat on as it has sort of become my lawn-mowing hat. The first thing my grandpa says to me is: "Harry, at Christmas I am going to get you a real hat." I'm like, "What are you talking about? What is wrong with my hat?" He replies while pointing to the M: "That. We need to get you a hat with Bucky Badger on it instead. You need to be a bit prouder of your state." I know nothing about sports. I'm completely oblivious. I do really like some sports games, and I do know the rules and things of all of the sports, but I have no idea about any of the non-Wisconsin teams or any players or statistics. I will just stick with Home Run, Ten-Yard Fight and One-on-One for the time being. Or was it a Michigan state hat? They're different things, right? Sorry, no absolutely nothing about Michigan sports. Just a comfortable hat. It just says Michigan on the inside and has a M on the front of it.

That is what I was thinking of. Sorry! And sorry for ruining the surprise! I will pretend I don't know. Shhhhh! I didn't see anything...

@socrates63 Didn't your local video game place have a sale recently? Did you pick anything up?

@nosweargamer That's cheating! Plus Link to the Past isn't in there. I know they have their fans, but I think all four games are mediocre. I feel all four have aged somewhat poorly. Sorry NES and N64 fans.

@socrates63 Inspired me to make this post by mentioning that he recently played 5200 Space Invaders. Well, I guess I will just say it, I'm doing a review of Space Invaders as a pilot for my new YouTube series that I'm only posting here. My buddy is helping and one of you is also, I won't say. But I'm trying to get feedback on all of the versions of the game. I have the 2600 game as the main course but I would like to touch on a few other versions. I have LCD and arcade and maybe Famicom covered. I have never played the 5200 version, so I need your thoughts on it! And also the Atari 8-bit version if you want. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Found a copy today at my local game store that happened to be only $5 instead of $10. I may have hidden it behind the Colecovision games for when I am ready for it. I have also noticed that all common Atari 2600 sports games are only $2. I can afford one of those. Maybe Bowling or Golf and Crystal Castles with my discount.

So it's partially you and partially the ball, right? Makes sense. Never used a home trak ball controller, so it doesn't help, but thanks anyways. That's horrible! What a ripoff! At least you're playing Tempest and not something like Breakout with it.

I can't for... various reasons. I can't pay for shipping and I don't have anything to put into it. But it does look like fun and I am sure others would be interested.

Oh, his 7800 Strategy guide? I was going to design it on a computer, but I have been banned from the printer after accidentally printing multiple copies of something last year and draining all of the ink. So I'm hand-drawing it. I'm also including in the package a "The HDN Advantage" mini poster. It features images on it from other games I made around the same time. I even drew it hastily like whoever made the real "Atari Advantage" poster! The label on the compact disc is also based on 7800 Pole Position II. I really like the basic, cliparty monochrome style of that label and wish more 7800 labels did that instead of just regurgitating the box art in grayscale.

Thanks for everyone's kind words here. Seven of you have voted at the time of writing this, and I think that will help my case here. I have also been trying to focus more on other things, like art and video-making. I have been doing pretty good in school, and I have before the games were taken away, so that isn't an issue. Thanks for being so supportive. Thankfully, I still have my computer, old as it is! Unfortunately, things haven't gotten much better around here. Still a lot of fighting and arguing. Not just about video games, but other things I won't get into here. Right now, I'm trying to get my DSi back so I can use Flipnote Studio to animate a segment of my upcoming Space Invad-- er, I mean, Mystery Review pilot. Again, thank you all for the nice words and good advice. And thanks for being an online oasis. I like to talk, well, a lot. My friends all have social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Tik Tok. My parents don't let me get those, but it's not like I want them. I just like to talk to people, and it has been a bit lonely since quarantine started. After a few months, it starts to get to you. I'm glad I came over here to talk to others about my true passion: retro video games. Thanks for being there. I mentioned before in a recent status update that I was porting a few of my games to disc. I couldn't put pictures there and I didn't want to make another post and run down my daily posting limit, so I decided on posting the pictures here. I'm not quite done yet, but I think it is coming along nicely. I hope to port more of my old games over to executables on disc someday. It's a fun project. This beaut, HDN Run Duology + The Criminy Maker, contains three games and is making its way over to @RickR's house when I'm done with it. The back of the Jewel case even parodies the manual for the excellent Tunnel Runner! The two HDN Run games I made in 2018 and 2019 respectively. The Criminy Maker was also a 2019 game, and it is a level creator spinoff of my Criminy Chronicles series that was quite popular in my small school. The games aren't great and don't have very high production values, but 8th grade me tried his darndest at making a few fun games. I think they are fun for the most part, and I like porting them to disc as it gives them a bit more appeal and value. I haven't really tried making a game since 8th grade as I don't technically know any real script-coding language. I used a graphical-style coding language for those games I made.

Yes. Thankfully I won't have to take a ferry to get there. We may stop and feed the geese as well in our travels. If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a goose-maniac. I even bought Untitled Goose Game on Switch at launch. The goose in my profile picture now responds when we call his name. He won't be flying anywhere anytime soon. Geese aren't evil. They put up a charade. There is nothing on a goose that can hurt you. Unless 50 of them try to smother you.

@socrates63 remember how we talked about Mario Kart last night in the chat and how I said that I liked the old flat-style games? Well, guess who called today with Super Circuit! Quick, mention Lode Runner or Pilotwings! They might call about that too if you mention it like you did Mario Kart!

I'd recommend holding the stick until you slow down. YAHOO! I got some .exe files converted for your game disc, Rick! I couldn't get the one I wanted as it was too big, but I think you will enjoy the games I am sending your way.

That is by far the most bizarre, over-dramatic and unrealistic advert I have ever seen. It makes Puppy-Monkey-Baby seem like one of those tame arthritis medication commercials, where all they do is walk in the park with their grandkids and play golf.

Thank you @MaliciousCarp for your input. Now that you mention it, that machine could have been broken. Like you said, they're pretty cheaply made. $120 is a pretty good deal, though. Especially for the Asteroids 12-in-1 machine. That one has the dial and trak-ball, two things not easily recreated on modern systems. I did notice that you kept stopping while playing the game. I heard the trak-ball making sounds. Were you controlling it directly or letting go and letting it spin? I feel with a smaller ball like that it would be harder to let it spin. I play Crystal Castles pretty recklessly in the arcades and spin the ball really fast to make Bentley zoom around the stage collecting gems! Was your constant stopping your playstyle, or was it a limitation of the smaller trak-ball? You do seem to be having a much easier time playing than I did. That trak-ball was still probably broken.

64DS is a remake of the Nintendo 64 title. It has better graphics, more levels,more stars, and more characters. The problem most have with it is that you have to use the d-pad, but that was never a problem for me. There's also a dedicated run button. It's very fun, and the controls are not nearly as bad as the internet would have you believe. I love Tunnel Runner so much. It's the best game on the system. If @Justin were to choose it as a Squad Challenge someday, I would be so happy. *cough* *cough* Sorry, I had something in my throat there. *cough* *cough* Tunnel Runner *cough* *cough*

I should start assigning homework to y'all. Like how I assigned Tunnel Runner to @RickR or how I'm assigning Super Metroid to @socrates63. Everyone's next assignment: Super Mario 64 DS. I want a five-page paper on how it's the best Super Mario game by Monday! Just kidding! About the paper. It's still the best Super Mario game.

@nosweargamer did a great job with it in his video. He explained things that weren't even in the manual from what I could tell. I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but there is a little compass on the bottom left corner of the screen where the timer bar is. It is oriented according to the map. That may help. Thank you so much, @RickR! I'm so happy you finally gave this one a go! I can stop bothering you about it now! This is such a great game. It legitimately startles me sometimes. Great fun on the Atari VCS and well worth the higher price tag.

I have had great luck finding 7800 games at my usual place. I called them the other day to chart out their prices. Only $20 for Ballblazer; I would save almost $10 than if I bought on ebay. Mario Brothers for only $15, too. That's around $5 less. Unfortunately I can't buy any at the time, but I'm going all out 7800-maniac when I get some more money. They've had every game I asked about accept Asteroids, which I saw there earlier. Must've sold the one copy. I have heard stories of game stores with nothing but the occasional Pole Position II. If you find yourself in Northeast Wisconsin for some reason, check out Game Trade. I say local, but it's really about a half hour away from me. Not even the closest store to me, I'm just that loyal.

I was watching a video of the XE version today while in posting jail. The controls look painful. I see how it's a good port of the arcade game with accurate levels and all, but I feel the simpler levels of the VCS edition better suit the joystick controls. Unless the XE version has true trak ball support that I don't know about. Impressive port nevertheless.