RickR

Making a sh@tty controller better is worth any such risk. Thank you @Kid A. I'm totally onboard with this idea.

I would guess that it was too costly to manufacture something like that. For example, you'd have to install the start/reset/pause domes AFTER installing the mylar on the controller or redesign the top to have a larger slot.

Do they have self-sealing stem bolts?

Thank you! I signed up to be notified when they are back in stock. I'm going to buy a bunch and give this a try.

Where do you buy the dome things? I've always wanted to try this, but I wasn't able to find a source (ebay or other) for those). Thank you -- what a great idea.

This image reminded me of this oldie but goodie...

I'm adding this to my "watch later" list. I love that board game too. Setting up the whole thing took time, and then the whole anticipation and suspense of playing the game and seeing it work. So awesome.

This is perfect and an excellent reason to stick with the 5200. One more suggestion for your consideration: How about getting a project box to contain the rats nest of wires from your old PC joystick conversion cable? I'm sure that thing works really well with analog control games. Make it so the only things sticking out of the box are the wire that connects to the 5200, the wire to the joystick, and the wire to the orig controller. Everything else is inside the box, hidden from view. I'm totally with you on those side buttons. It really is an awful design that hurts after just a little use. Intellivision, Colecovision, and 7800 all had this same issue. As AVGN would say...what where they THINKING????

Bummer, but hopefully you'll get a working item in exchange.

Clearly, I'm no expert. But I think I have a few tips to share. Customize the controls! You need to feel comfortable with the movement of your ship, and they let you change the controls to whatever suits you best. Do it! Speed control - It's important to get used to those two buttons. Use them! No time limit - there's no penalty for taking your time, so do it. Explore! Missed a shot? Come back around and try it again.

That's a good point, Justin. My love of the 800XL and C64 led me to try the TI-99/4A and a few of the other 8 bit computers (like the CoCo and Aquarius). It's always so exciting to try something new or different.

Thank you for the details. That's a very neat feature. Whoever owned the game before me wasn't that great at it 🙂

Getting better - 42,150 And lookie at this...it remembered my score from last time! How does that work? Does the cart have a battery in it?

Well color me surprised. I guess I haven't used mine in too long. I honestly don't recall this.

No, you are correct. You have to hold down option for disk images....but find yourself the XEX/cartridge format for your games and you won't.

And to add more: The multicart solutions for 8-bit are cheaper Everything about the system is smaller. All you need for composite output is a simple $10 cable. On the minus side: Cartridges for the 8-bit are hard to find and costly. A multi-cart is a must. Quality is hit and miss. The 800XL is the sweet spot of the line. The XE's are all cost reduced. There are quirks you have to know, such as how to boot without basic (hold down option) or how to auto-load a cassette (hold down select). Again, multicarts solve all this nonsense. The 5200 is great. But the issues it has (the controllers, the small library, the gigantic-ness of everything) do not exist on the 8-bit line.

I plan on playing more this afternoon. This challenge went by too quickly! Only one more day left to post a score....

You are talking about the 8-bit computer version of Missile Command, which has both a digital and analog control scheme built in (press ctrl-T to activate analog mode). I'm going to throw this out there as the simplest solution. If anyone isn't satisfied with the 5200 controllers, get an 800XL instead. The underlying hardware is the same. The games are the same (800XL has a MUCH bigger library). There are hacks available to play all 5200 exclusives. You get to use the standard classic 2600 joystick.

Wii Sports Resort and a bunch of PS2 games for free from my local "Buy nothing" group.

16,700. I got stuck on a level that had a yellow "tree" that I would shoot until it was a red nub, but I have to idea how to fully destroy it.

Air Sea Battle (2600)

Something has gone haywire with pricing at USPS. Maybe you've noticed it too. On ebay, my bigger items (bigger in size and weight) have not sold. I've had a lot of movement on small items. I never really thought about it until yesterday, when someone bought a pong machine and shipping came in as $71 from Oregon to South Carolina using USPS Priority Mail! The box wasn't oversized, and weighed 4.5 lbs. WTH? I checked usps.com to see if that was accurate, and it was. This is not normal. Something like that just a few years ago would have been $20 or so for the same shipping. I checked other services. USPS Ground and FedEx Home were about $25. The thing is, as a seller, I have no way to see this info ahead of time (what would shipping be to an east coast buyer?) I suppose I could ask someone I know that lives over there to check my listings for me. Does anyone have any ideas? I don't want to make this political, so please no railing against this or that. I'm just looking for solutions and alternatives. In the meantime, I've switched my last few "big" items to use UPS Ground, which I've never used before.