RickR

It's classic Tim Burton. Grotesque, yet beautiful to look at. The characters and character designs are great. But the home run here is the decision to cast Danny Elfman as Jack Skellington. He nails the character perfectly. And that music...wow. At Disneyland, they normally do a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay to the Haunted Mansion during October/November, and it's excellent and fun. @Dinobot711, your pants are awesome, and I think I need a pair too.

How interesting that this topic came back up just now. Yesterday, I was reading a thread about a SIO device that's being developed to emulate various drives/modem on the SIO bus of the 8-bit Atari computers. The designer noted how similar the SIO interface is to modern-day USB. Well, wouldn't you know...Joe Decuir designed the SIO interface....AND worked on USB 1.0 and 2.0! So there is a little piece of Atari on every modern-day PC thanks to Joe. How f-ing cool is that?

I think the cartridge is the official version. As long as we all choose left difficulty "A", it should be fine.

10,645. I was able to play on my real hardware (I cannot play while son #1 is still working). It's much more enjoyable than on emulation. But I still couldn't make it past the second wave of donut guys.

9760. Those little tiny donut guys are the worst.

Delete the stella.ini file as per the instructions here: https://stella-emu.github.io/faq.html

You are right, especially about the personal touch. However, I've found eBay to be fine as long as you can just chill and relax. Example: I could be a jerk and rightfully complain about the same day shipping thing. But in the end, they did ship, and it will work out fine. If there is ever a problem, ebay takes care of it. As with life in general, don't take it personally, try to enjoy the ride. In the end, things work out as they should.

I love when my children pontificate on stuff! Honestly, I listen and wish it could go on forever. When they stop talking is when you gotta worry! Sometimes, if I can sense them winding down, I'll interject a pointed question or two to keep it going. The other night at dinner, they were both going on about Apple and the new iPhone (a topic that I know nothing about), and elder said something that made me laugh harder than I've laughed in years. Glorious. We were all laughing once I got going.

Guys, my apologies but the Junk Box will not go out today. I'm still waiting for an ebay delivery. That "ships same/next day" seller was a liar! :) Sometime next week.

https://stella-emu.github.io/downloads.html For Vista, I think you want the 32-bit .EXE version.

Ideally, when chips need to be replaced in an XE system, you will put a socket in. But it's delicate work. The pads are easily ruined because of the cheapness. Keyboards have a mylar that's also easily broken or worn out. If the system works, don't touch it! My advice to anyone that wants to get an Atari 8-bit computer is to find a nice 800XL. Those ones are the perfect mix of longevity and good design. Also, skip the Atari power supply and buy a modern one (or a USB cable) instead.

You should try loading "Stella" on your old PC. I know it runs fine on even the oldest laptop I have. You may have better luck with it and can then post your score! https://stella-emu.github.io/ I like Demon Attack a lot. It's a game I actually purchased back in the day from Toys R Us. The thing I really liked about it then was how the aliens (and their lasers) change every couple of waves. That was something new on the 2600. And that moment when you first encounter the aliens that split in two! WOW! Mind-blowing for 12 year old me. Imagic games offered something special for the 2600 -- games that had changing screens (like Cosmic Ark and Dragonfire), for example. And those cool silver boxes. Even now, I can appreciate Rob Fulop's excellent programming on Demon Attack. It's colorful, has very little flicker, and it gets relentlessly fast.

Make sure to do difficulty "A". The game is pretty wild!

Yeah! I agree with you guys. This was a fun one, and great to see so much participation. Nice job @Sabertooth! I tried, but couldn't get a higher score. When I first played this game, I didn't think too much of it. But once I realized it was a puzzle game, it totally was an "Aha!" moment that made the game a lot of fun.

I'm ready.

Books and gaming Funko Pops are fine with me. You choose really nice prizes. Thanks!

Does it work on Spike as well? Because that SOB is a menace!

That's a good score. But keep in mind: Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST October 14, 2020

No disappointment here. The only complaint I have is that I don't quite understand some of the rules. Example: WTF are the doors for?

Adding some candy is a good idea. I'm still working on the box. This is hard!

Hard drive failures SUCK! But that SSD and RAM upgrade is going to make the computer lightning fast.

As someone who "fixes" systems, I can tell you the XE systems are pretty bad internally. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Just like the C64. The XL line (and the old 400/800) are mostly socketed and built to last.

I completely agree! Every once in a while, when we are on a road trip or something, we'll stop at McD's for breakfast. I appreciate that they have a chicken biscuit on the menu. I'm like you...the normal breakfast fare they have just has no appeal to me. Chicken biscuit and OJ and I'm good. The hotel "continental" breakfasts do not make me happy. I'm lactose intolerant and blech on the eggs/hasbrown stuff they usually serve. I usually go with fruit, toast, and OJ there. But that gets old fast. Usual daily breakfast for me is cereal, OJ, and coffee. The lower the sugar in the cereal, the better.

You may be right, @HDN. I had forgotten there were two NES releases. It was the national release that they had the three different bundles, right? And one or two of them had SMB. In any case, great game. Such a fascinating history in it's creation.