Atari 5200 Guy

Another Arkansas on board! I don't feel so alone now. Welcome to Atari IO! You're gonna love it here.

This place and the people in it are number 1 in my opinion. I've never found people more.friendly than on Atari I/O.

My 7800 has been fixed and, while it doesn't count, I did improve my score.

This was fun! And now that my 7800 F1 machine s being fixed we will be ready!

My 7800 is on the mend! Currently on life support.

It turns on fine. But if you look at the first score I posted, and concentrate on the finish line to the right, you'll see the strong artifact I'm getting. It sometimes makes the screen roll or flicker. Channel 2 is not as bad but that issue is still present and has made some games unplayable. The same thing happens with 2600 games. It only seems to do it where high intensity colors are displayed. I've ruled out TIA and MARIA. With there being a slight difference between the channels selected I'm thinking RF modulator. Hold my beer until I return. 😉

Congrats on the new score.and pretzel! I hope it's one of those super pretzels. As for me, my 7800 is down and I'm going to try to do my own AV mod on it to see if it fixes my issue.

Slightly improved score.

I probably know what you are thinking. Let me try to guess. It's probably the first online multiplayer video game. It's most likely on a computer of some sort. It was either on disc, disk, or placed in an obscure place making it hard for people to find. Am I close? To answer those: no, no, and no. And this game might be closer than you realize. Long story short my nephew and I decided to play a game together. The problem was that he wanted to play split a screen on XBOX. I wanted to spend time anything but XBOX. We drug out the 5200 and tried a bit of Dig Dug. He said he wanted to play a game with me at the same time, not taking turns. The 5200 really lacks in that department as most of it's games pit each other one on one for the highest score. The only two games I had that I knew 2 players simultaneously could play together were Asteroids on the 7800 but that machine was on the injured list. I grabbed Junior, one game, two controllers, and setup the next game we could try. I remembered playing this game in the past with a friend and the game was setup where we were playing together at the same time. But I couldn't remember the setting. Thank goodness I had the manual. We tried a few game settings, some were weird, some were cool, one in particular made itself really step out. In modern games the online world is full or gamers playing their favorites with family and or friends in either death match modes or working together towards a single goal known as co-op modes. In the co-op mode the score no longer matters. Two or more players working together in a single game can be more enjoyable than going it alone. It has become a key component in modern day gaming that has helped many game titles become popular and unforgettable. Game number 33 of Space Invaders easily fits into the co-op mode. While the instructions may claim it to be a competitive setting if both players forget about the score and work together to see just how far they can go Space Invaders 33 is sure to entertain. So, would that place 2600's Space Invaders in the title for.the first co-op video game ever? I'll let you decide.

You're welcome. Be sure to grab all the free extras too 😉

Naa. I wouldn't want to worry about copyright issues. I no longer own any of it anyway.

Hi Guys, I wouldn't be a good member if I didn't tell you guys when a AAA title is free, right? Well, the developers of Ark: Survival Evolved have made their hard work available from Steam for free until June 19th. If you have a Steam account I would recommend grabbing this one. Even if you don't have one I would recommend getting one just for this game. https://store.steampowered.com/app/346110/ARK_Survival_Evolved/ For those that don't know about it, Ark: Survival Evolved is a primal survival game. However, this game can be very unforgiving. You can build a base and tame dinosaurs and other creatures in the game's worlds. However, getting too close to powerful animals before you are ready and you will become a snack and will lose everything you were carrying with you. I have been too close to a mad dino and lost everything including my tribe of dinos and my house. All within a minute of being too close to something I shouldn't have been. There's Dodos, Raptors, T-Rexs, and many other primal carnivorous reptiles but it also has more gentle reptiles as well. All can be trained to join you and each has unique abilities that can help you and protect you. Want to travel fast? Tame a Terry and fly anywhere you want to go. Before you land, however, make sure you are not about to land close to prehistoric crocs and snakes. Those things do not back down. None of the more vicious animals do. There's also TEK versions (strange glowing metal versions) of most of the reptiles in the game as well. If you chose to brave the wild in ARK by picking it up be sure to nab all the free extras as well. This is well over $100 worth of gaming goodness literally being given away. I have played the game on XBOX One and got very immersed into it. The visuals and music are absolutely breath taking to see. This is one game, no matter how difficult it can be (settings can be fine-tuned to your liking), that is worth owning...even if you never play it.

I know some people might not have liked it but the atmosphere that the 1980s had was unique. It had a class of its own. I know not everything in that era was good but what was good created unforgettable memories. At least for me it did. Jukeboxes crankin' out latest radio hits while sounds of arcade games, pinball machines, and pool tables filling a room was something you had to be there to appreciate today. Hmmm...maybe I ought to spin my Poison album while playing PPII on the 7800. Maybe that's the trick to a better score.

When it comes to Microprose games I immediately think of those 386 PC days when I spent countless hours on Railroad Tycoon, Covert Action, and Lightspeed. I never knew that Microprose really started with the C64 and Atari computers making tons of WWII based simulation/strategy games that I missed. So I started collecting just Microprose games for my XEGS. Today I write about one of those games called Decision In The Desert. I'm not familiar with any of Microprose Commander Series games. This was a first time experience for me. Yes, I tried it before but I only viewed the demonstration, I never tried to play the game on my own. And, I have to admit, I find the game fun but a bit confusing and overwhelming. Then again I've only played one game and I could not tell you if I won or lost. If I was playing as the Brits then, sorry gents, I have more training to go through. One thing I have learned about Microprose is their attention to detail. The on screen graphics are absolutely brilliant, colorful, and well designed, the sounds are pleasing to the ears, and the controls give the player complete control over the game play. But it doesn't stop there. The included manual is crammed full of details about the history the game is based on as well as discrete details on how to get the most out of the game. The 55 page manual is very well written with details from loading the game, key legends for the terrain and unit types, list of keyboard controls, and stories behind each scenario. The manual alone could take a few days to go through. Microprose was one developer that might not have pushed computer hardware to its limits but they definitely defined the simulation and strategy genres for others to follow. Their Commander Series is no different. With game play based on real life WWII events, Decision in the Desert is one title that deserves a chance by newcomers and revisited by veterans to the series.

My dad's side of the family invested heavily in the CED system. Everyone had some variation of the SJT models. Between all of them, including my grandmother and myself, we collected well over 200 CED movies. When VHS took over all the players and movies went to my grandmother's house, under beds and in closets. A decade after I wanted to watch the Mighty Mouse movie we had so I dragged one out. I had to replace the belt (thank you Radio Shack) and clean the stylus but they still played like a champ. The movie had to be played a few times to work out the glitches but it played fine afterwards. I have to admit that the CED movies seemed like extended versions over their VHS counterparts. Some never made it to VHS. We had lots of Disney cartoons that seemed unique to the CED format.

That's when RCA made really good products. I still consider their CED video system, while not 100% reliable, entertaining. I loved the system as a whole.

That song is PERFECT for this. So is "Kickstart My Heart" by Motley Crue.

Other members including their favorite computers and handhelds is OK. I don't want others to think my comments are saying not to. Please do. I was just saying why I didn't include them.

I will have to keep this in mind. I'm going to need some sort of hard drive abilities for my STE.

Unfortunately I have not modernized any of my machines be it console or classic computer. I prefer to keep them as original as possible. The only two things I have modern to help enhance my systems, or one of them, are a SIO2PC dongle and a SIO2SD device. I use both to play software I can't get otherwise. It gives me a good way to try games and make a list.of what ones I like just in case I come across them in the real world. That way I have a collection I know I will play verses one that I won't touch.

I need to mention that picture is due to some malfunction with the RF out on the 7800 I have not figured out yet. Whatever it is is my little TV doesn't like.

I'm at least on the board!

One corner. So many toys. Nice, man! 😎

I'm going to try to get in on this one since I missed the Castle one.

Just an FYI; I'm currently researching a development environment for creating programs on the ST. I know there are stand-alone packages for the ST but I'm trying a different approach. I'm testing Tempus out as the editor for writing programs in C. I'm going to try out Lattice C for compiling the code, and I'm currently researching for graphics and music development apps to use. I'm hoping I can find a music development tool that uses digitized sounds and not MIDI.