RickR

First try: 3'25"08. Is there a way to replay the Big Blue track once you've finished?

Yes, updated firmware is promised. And it looks easy enough to update. Overall, I'm giving this thing an A grade. It works as promised. Every 7800 game I've tried works (and only Ballblazer so far with no sound due to lack of POKEY). 2600 support is the same as the UNO cart, not the Harmony (supercharger games don't work, some homebrews don't work, but most commercial games work great). I'm sure that will be fixed with updated firmware too.

Some experimentation with the Ballblazer rom: It produces NO sound at all on an unaltered Concerto cart. The game does play, but no sound. And yes, I've confirmed my composite mod is wired correctly. A real Ballblazer cart plays the sound just fine.

I think it has a socket for a POKEY (or one of the new-fangled POKEY replacements). And I've also heard that POKEY emulation is coming.

I have not. Sounds pretty neat. However I'm more interested in how your ripped Wii discs onto a USB drive and then get them to load on a modded wii.

No. Fixing the drive is most likely not possible. Replacement is. Replacement drives on ebay are about $20 shipped. IMO it's not worth the effort. Just use them as modded emulation stations as you've done.

That's right. It's in a recycled Atari shell, so it won't stick if you have need to remove it. For me, the best thing is that it saves space. I don't have to have a bunch of cartridges out.

I was lucky enough to get a pre-order in, and the cartridge arrived today. I loaded up my own SD card with games, and it works very nicely. Of course the first game I tried was One on One. It came with a cart shell (I was expecting a bare board), and that was a nice surprise. First impression is that it's awesome. I know that many folks in the 7800 community have wanted an SD card solution for a long time, and it's so exciting that it's finally here. Buy one if you can.

I haven't started season 3 yet, but plan to. Too much time spent on work and other things for now.

More on DS9 just because. My absolute favorite episode of Star Trek (any series) is "The Visitor" (season 4). It stands alone - you can watch this episode if you've skipped the rest and you won't get lost. Highly, highly, highly recommended. "In the Pale Moonlight" (Season 6) is another great one. It's a lot darker than anything on any other series, which was something DS9 could get away with. "Slippery slope" is the theme, and it's so well done. But you need to be familiar with what's come before to really enjoy this episode. "Trials and Tribbleations" (season 5). I can't emphasize this enough -- if you haven't seen this episode GO WATCH IT NOW! You don't need any background other than TOS, which I assume everyone has. Klingons! The Klingons were really fleshed out in DS9. Worf, Gowron, General Martok. You'll see the return of Kor/Kang/Koloth (with the same TOS actors!) Come for the Starfleet, but STAY for the Klingons. Ferengi! TNG invented the Ferengi, but made them silly and ridiculous. DS9 fleshed them out. A sign of excellent writing. If the scene of Quark comparing "hoomans" to root beer doesn't make you stop and think, you aren't paying attention.

Thank you guys, I value your opinions. There are no wrong answers! Leaving the modern series out for now (I like those very much as well), here's my ranking: TOS - I grew up with this, and it still stands up. I think the character of "Spock" as portrayed by Leonard Nimoy is one of the best characters in all of TV fiction history. DS9 - When it first aired, I hated the religious aspects of this show. As an older adult, I think it's a lot deeper and more meaningful than I considered. Avery Brooks as Ben Sisko is absolutely outstanding. One of my favorite characters in all of Trek. The father/son relationship of Ben/Jake is subtle but powerful. The other thing I'll say is that DS9 is consistently good start to finish. There are a few stinker episodes, of course. But overall, it's good in every season. TNG - Season 1 is unwatchable IMO. Things get a lot better after that. Really good acting. But there are so many mediocre episodes. TAS - Good stories, but horrendous animation. VOY - As mentioned in my first post. I will leave Enterprise off for now as it deserves a rewatch too. Using just my memory of it's initial run, I'll rank it 4.5.

I assume we have Star Trek fans here and it's ok to post opinions. I've been slowly rewatching Star Trek: Voyager this year after finishing (and loving) DS9. I did watch Voyager during it's original TV run. My opinion of the show was always negative. My original opinion of DS9 was "good but not great", but after a modern re-watch, I moved it into a solid "great". So I figured that Voyager needed a re-evaluation. Maybe my opinion was clouded by the fact that I had newborn babies back then, and fatigue and the hectic nature of life clouded my feelings. I've made it to season 3. So far, the show is actually worse than I remember. I have no complaints about the actors or characters. They all seem fine. Props to Tim Russ, who really does an excellent job with the difficult task of portraying a Vulcan. Robert Picardo as the holographic doctor is also a stand-out. Essentially, it's the writing that I don't like. It's so lazy and predictable. They are trying to get home, yet they constantly meander all over the place for various nonsensical reasons. To go a little deeper, last night I watched the cliffhanger/conclusion episodes "Basics part 1 and 2". They were OK. Kind of interesting. But there are HUGE wasted opportunities. <SPOILER ALERTS>. Suder dies. Why? He just became a very interesting character. Imagine them keeping him as their "fixer" for future episodes where some heavy handed violence is needed. Wasted opportunity. Chakotay's baby - Surprise! It's not his baby! Why not? Imagine the opportunities to explore that storyline of raising that child on the ship. The spirit of Chakotay's father made a compelling argument for that baby...and then they just drop it???? Lazy writing. Seska just drops dead. What? There's no comeuppance there at all. Don't we deserve better? Sadly, I can nitpick most of the episodes in a similar fashion up to this point. In many cases, it's almost a "Gilligan's Island" syndrome where they stupidly waste an opportunity to get home for some ridiculous reason. Example, that episode with the trapped Q. RickR's suggested dialogue: "Before I render my verdict, I request that one or both of you send us home or at least closer to home." I mean, honestly...the minute a Q shows up, I don't care what you have to do...beg...borrow...steal...just get the Q to snap you home. No worries, I'm going to keep watching knowing that it does improve. And I still love the Star Trek franchise in all it's incarnations. What do you guys think of Voyager?

That will be sweet, I'm sure.

The only Metroid games I've ever played are: The "first person" version on the Gamecube. I liked it, but I really had trouble with the controls. So many buttons. That's on me. Clearly, it's a well designed game. The DS version that was a launch title. That one I liked very much. Super Metroid is on my list.

Excellent! We know those paddles are sweet like candy, but you'll have to let us know how "Task Force" is.

Great job @Sabertooth, and everyone else too! This one was a lot of fun. The emulation gave me a taste of what I'm missing. I need to find a real Jaguar just like @socrates63 did.

<SPOILER ALERT>

The latest iteration of the gaming credenza. This is all the space I have with a full house once again. Wii, PS2, Retron 3, 7800, 800XL and N64.

Lots to ponder here. Ever wonder why the C64 outsold the Atari 8-bits? It becomes obvious why Atari had to redesign the 400/800 to be simpler (and less expensive to produce). This is why the XL line was born. A single board version of the computer with a more elegant look than the C64. You buying a Colecovision with Donkey Kong or an Atari 5200 with Super Breakout for $50 more?

I'm sharing the info for this very interesting project/product by several members of the Atari community. It's called the PlusCart, and it's essentially a UNOCart that's been modified to load ROMS from wifi instead of an SD cart. There are also ways to add wifi functionality to games. For example, automatic high-score submissions, automatic registration for virtual Activision patches, etc. I have ordered one. They are inexpensive (about $30 plus/minus for USA customers). Looks like fun! More info: A really good video explaining the product: Pluscart Website: https://pluscart.firmaplus.de/pico/ Plus Cart High Score Club https://highscore.firmaplus.de/ PlusCart Store(buy your own Pluscart) https://pluscart.onlineweb.shop/ Atariage PlusCart thread: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/297172-pluscart-an-inexpensive-diy-wifi-multicart/

I have two of these so far (Freeway, Pitfall), and they are really well done. I want to get more, but I'd like to find a nice way to display them first. I'm thinking about a nice frame, but with some kind of gaming/electronic related frame/border. Maybe an 8 * 10 frame to house several of them? @socrates63 (or anyone else), how are you planning to display these? I also have a bunch of automobile related patches that I'd like to do the same for.

Paperback coming soon.