RickR

I've got that same Genesis arcade stick modified for use on a Vectrex. It's kind of a wild story...I bought the stick as part of a Vectrex lot via Craigslist, and in researching it a bit, I discovered I knew the guy that modified it! I had no idea he made those sticks.

Mine too. That's why most Atari computers you find now still work with no issues, while it's not easy to find a working Commodore 64.

Oh, and it's interesting to note how big the 8-bit community was in the early 80's. These were very popular machines with such an elegant design. As in the "Froggo" thread, it's Jack Tramiel who blew the whole thing up. Not when he bought Atari, but when he was with Commodore. He just kept lowering the price of the C54 over and over again until all the other competitors couldn't compete anymore. Atari had to redesign the 400 and 800 to make them cheaper to produce (hence the 600XL and 800XL), but even that wasn't enough. Commodore owned MOS, and they had an insurmountable cost advantage. Commodore would do things like put cardboard RF shields in the 64 that Atari would not stoop to doing. Cheap, cheap, cheap ruined the 8-bit computer generation.

It was a great gaming machine! That's why I'm kind of "meh" on the 5200. It's not that I don't like the 5200, it's just that the 8-bit computer already did most of the exact same games years earlier.

No, that's not what I meant. I have a 5200 controller where the joystick has been removed and an extender and knob added to the horizontal movement potentiometer. I'll try to get a picture after work today.

We'll play a game with me as Blazers, you as Sonics 🙂

The paddle controller works with the "side to side" joystick games (Super Breakout, Space Invaders, Galaxian, etc).

Sounds like you have it covered. But boy, it sure takes up a lot of space, doesn't it? I have a trackball, a digital joystick (not Wico), and also a 5200 controller where the stick is replaced with a paddle knob. I'll have to take some pictures sometime, but at the moment, it's all in boxes in the attic.

PS - interesting fact about all three of the 8-bit games I mentioned: They all came from the APX (Atari Program Exchange). Written by ordinary users and submitted to the APX to share with others. The very best of the APX software got promoted to actual releases by Atari. How cool is that?

When the word "emulation" comes up, it has to do something special to beat just a plain old Windows PC. I like the expansion packs that let you use real media. But that price! I'd love to see one in person and maybe that would tip the scales of consideration...

I gotta tell you, I love the 8-bit reviews the best. It was such a great gaming machine, and I think many overlook it as such. Watching some of your reviews takes me back to the mid-80's when I experienced those games for the first time. I'm looking forward to the Caverns of Mars review. "Final Legacy" is another I hope you'll review. It has the most awesome theme music and varied gameplay. Or the cinematics of "Astro Chase".

Yes they do work on the III.

That's a great question. I think Mattel updated the EXEC portion of the kernel to try to lock out unlicensed 3rd party developers. But it's more a lesson on trying to get the genie back into the bottle. You have to design those things in from the very beginning, not try to shoehorn them in later.

The Sears version of the Intv has removable controllers just like the INTV2. I have one and am using a Flashback controller with an adapter. It is a little easier on the thumb. .

It looks @Justin didn't even finish the race on that 70k run! So close, though. The best I've done on the initial qualifying is 3rd (and I usually get 4th). Maybe getting the pole position is the key to getting 70k?

😅 I love that game. The voice module completely changes it from something pretty standard to over-the-top fun. You gotta play more to hear what that skull will say next!

The thing I like about "Family" is that I think the writers finally figured out that they could take their time and explore characters and their lives more deeply. It made the characters more real and relatable. It's a quiet episode that packs an emotional punch. It's the beginning of a very strong change in the character of Picard.

Good point. And do the expansions hurt future sales too? For example, if you bought a 32x, would that impact your decision to purchase a Saturn? PS - I LOVE the old voice add-ons for Intellivision (B-17 Bohomber), Odyssey 2 (Time Lord!) and TI 99-4A (Demon Attack!) But they weren't very well supported due to terrible sales.

The latest we watched here were "The Best of Both Worlds 1 and 2", and they really hold up well. Also, "Family", which should be considered "Best of Both Worlds Part 3" IMO. It's also pretty great.

Yep, and the computer add-on killed Intellivision too. Mattel got slapped with a $15,000 PER DAY fine until they released a computer module after one buyer filed a lawsuit (the promise of the ECS was on his Intellivision box). So in addition to paying that fine for several years, they had to scramble and divert resources to developing and releasing that useless module. In the end, the "computer add-ons" were all complete wastes of time and resources. It was always more economical to buy a computer that was designed as a computer.

I agree with you, and I had a subscription too! And I still love re-reading those magazines. Like you, I moved on to the Commodore VIC-20 (which had an amazing port of Defender and a mediocre Pac Man) and then got an Atari 800XL in 1984. Many of my high school and college papers/essays were done with "Atariwriter"! I think I finally got a PC (it was a 286) around 88. I still have my original boxed 2600, VIC-20, and 800XL and they are probably my most prized part of my collections.

Me too! I loved reading the manuals! As I mentioned, I got the game on clearance, so I had pretty low expectations. But honestly, I enjoyed the game. It reminded me a lot of "Superman". It wasn't quite as fun but it did look better.

And yes, I do value your and everyone's take on these games. They are so beloved. We've talked about them all for so long now! Respect to all. Don't get me wrong please. I do love almost every Atari 2600 game. But I do recall and love to share my recollections of the games from back then. KEEP ON GAMING!

I understand, I really do. And I agree to a point. Compare 2600 Defender to Chopper Command which had been out for a while. It looked terrible in comparison. Yes, it was fun. But Chopper Command was smoother, faster, and more colorful. Also at the time, something better was coming (5200 and CV). I was 12 years old in 1981. Atari was my favorite thing. But these games, for what they cost at the time, were just not getting it done. I do like and appreciate all those games now. But at the time, as a kid, I was disappointed. And I think many other kids at the time were too. As an aside, and to help prove your point....I like Defender a lot more than Chopper Command now because the gameplay is more complex. BUT....I never play defender because Defender 2/Stargate is so much better. THAT'S what Atari should have aimed for. Ms. Pac Man vs. Pac Man is the same deal. If Atari had released a Pac Man that was closer to the arcade version it would have knocked our socks off. Pac Man is still fun. At the time...disappointing. If you ever get the time, look up "Electronic Games Magazine". There is an archive of all the issues on the internet. That was the original and most popular gaming magazine at the time. Read the reviews of those games there. It's interesting! I think you'd really enjoy it. Here it is: http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games.htm

I will give it a try @HDN as soon as I get some time.