Atari 5200 Guy

Does getting a new car in a recent pickup count as another recent pickup?

Ooooh...Bubsy is fun but extremely hard. Theme Park I played but I have not played Kasumi Ninja or Zool 2. Club Drive always seemed unfinished.

Yes it is great to see another Jaguar person on here. I'm surprised you guys are finding Jaguar stuff. I'm still keeping my eyes open for a Tempest 2000 that doesn't cost too much.

Man I forgot how long those tracks were in the NFS games. At least the early games.

I had a NFS on my Windows 98 computer many moons ago but I could not tell you which one it was. This one I've never played so I'm looking forward to it. I didn't see any sign up cards in this one 😉

Another new member. Amazing what a dollar can get when you least expect it.

Have you thought about selling your stuff on Atari I/O's marketplace? I'm sure members here would be interested in seeing what you may have up for grabs. Just a suggestion.

Today when I checked the mail there was a package in there containing a game I have not seen since the Y2K debate. This is one PlayStation game I bought as soon as it hit store shelves along with a guide book. Being a huge fan of the first Gran Turismo this was one game I was highly excited about. So getting it in the mail was an exciting moment for me. A game that has eluded me many times was now in my hands, complete and ready...no...begging to be played. I spent many months on this game before I traded in all my PlayStation stuff and I might have achieved 50 percent completion. As time moved on and Forza came out the whole Gran Turismo thing for me sort of faded. Booting up Gran Turismo 2 and seeing the menu screen took me by surprise...again. But this time in a bad way because for the life of me I could not remember the layout of the game's navigation screen. I had not seen it in so long that it took a while to find my way around again. Once I spent some time on it the memories started coming back. Took a while but came back. All the tracks in the game were nice to see again. High Speed Ring I remember well. That's one track that has managed to stay with the series since the first game and I know it has appeared in GT3 and GT4. Red Rock Valley and Tahiti Road I had forgot about and had to learn all over again. Those races I discovered under the Sunday Cup, practically the only races available, except for two tracks in the Clubman Cup races, that don't require a license. And that's another thing! The license tests. I got so use to Forza and not having to worry about obtaining licenses to participate in races later on in the game that I completely forgot how difficult getting those licenses were. I just obtained my B-Class license after having to do most of the tests multiple times just to get a bronze award but, hey, whatever works. The one aspect of the game that took me a while to adjust to was the graphics. Granted I could put the game in the PS2 to help out but, I'm old school and the PlayStation needed some exercise. It's funny... ...these graphics were once considered top notch. While the PlayStation games have lived on the system as a whole just has not aged well at all. I believe it was said that GT2, with as much as they put into it, still didn't make full use of the system's capabilities. Even if the game does not look as good as it once did it is decent enough and doesn't discourage this old dog from enjoying an old friend's visitation. I'm very grateful to see this game in my collection. This time it's here to stay. I want to try to get that 99 or 100 percent completion. I'm hoping I can get most of my favorite old cars back. I'm starting off with a car I didn't get before...a '91 Nissan Skyline GTS-t Type M with a few mods. I'm a huge fan of the Skylines so that was a no brainer. But I'm not going to get those cars if I'm sitting here writing this. My journey begins again with a game I have not seen in decades and I'm looking forward to it.

Does anyone one know if I should fill out that PlayStation Underground card? 🤔

New family member. From a Goodwill in Wisconsin. Other than a crack in the case, which really is not bad, it looks like new. Not a scratch on it and it's complete. PlayStation games have always been hard for me to find in decent condition so this was an extremely nice pick up for me. This was an EBAY find.

I'll have to watch this later. Sounds interesting. I found it puzzling at first how almost everyone I visited before the NES had an Atari. Mostly the 2600 and a pile of games. I never understood how Atari could sell all of that and simply "disappear". Finding anything Atari between 1983 - 85, new, was not easy in my area. Atari was becoming rare then until yard sales started selling off everything they had for practically nothing. I have to admit, though, I'd live it all over again if I could. It was an amazing time to live in.

You can't leave out Atari BASIC programmers. Unlike many other computers Atari BASIC had full access to all of the computer's functions. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes you had to play tricks but it was doable. PMG graphics routines, I remember, were somewhat of a handful. I never dug too deep into the modes. The most I did was move the text area around on graphics modes where I wanted it.

I have a small favor to ask. I'm trying to get the translated version of Family Circuit for the Famicom so I can make notes to play the cart I have. Does anyone here have the translated version I can use in emulation that is in a zipped format and not RAR? I can't use RAR. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Huh. Never knew Genesis got a Gradius game. I did enjoy Salamander on the PCE emulator I have. I'd say its very faithful to the arcade.

My victories have far surpassed my regrets. My 5200 collection is a part of my collection that I am really proud of. And the Famicom and Super Famicom have become staples to seal the deal. I'm enjoying finding games for those two. What I have now still blows my mind. It might be small compared to other's collections but it is something I never had before. I'm still missing two consoles I'm after but if I never get them I'd be ok with that. I've got enough to keep me busy until the day I die. I only hope I manage to keep my sanity until then so I can enjoy what I have.

I won't say anything but those are cool. I didn't know those existed.

New arrival...but no English in game. It looks good and what I have managed to play it seems fun...I just don't know what I'm picking.

I had fun...I just couldn't get close to the score I posted.

COVID. 'Nuff said. Theater has really taken a hit from COVID running wild. Then again it might be something else.

Back when I was caring for my grandmother, after my Mom passed away, I traded in all my PlayStation stuff and scored an NES and almost 100 games. I ended up selling those off to help my grandmother get some meds. In some ways I regret it because I had one hell of a collection. Most of those games were $2-4 each. You can't find them now for less than $40 - 50. When I did it I was under the impression that it was old stuff, stuff no one really wanted any more. It'd be easy to replace later on. I never expected the retro gaming craze to take off like it did, let alone become a thing.

Nintendo stuff has been going up lately, too. One of the Famicom games I got for $4 is now worth $40. No joke. Atari stuff might be worth more but the systems after it that were most popular, like PlayStation, are starting to affected by appreciation. One aspect of emulation I found helpful was the fact I could finally try games out to discover games I would physically want in my collection. It has helped me out in a huge way.

When I first got into emulators I, like many others, discovered computers could play NES games. I also discovered that some of the game ROMs I was looking at I never heard of before. When did the NES get Gradius II, what was Parodius? And what was Salamander? I ended up getting what I thought were NES games I had never heard of. In hindsight, and unbeknown to my mind, I was getting Famicom games. When I fired up Salamander I had no idea that I had unintentionally grabbed what we got (us USA gamers) as Life Force; one of my most top-favorite NES games of all-time. It looked a bit different to me but I hadn't played Life Force in such a long time I thought that I might had just forgot. And I didn't get Life Force when I grabbed Salamander so I had no way to compare. For those that don't know, Salamander/Life Force is a 2D shoot 'em up developed and published by Konami and ported to many Japanese systems. This game continues the Gradius series and uses the same ship, known as the Vic Viper, with all its glory. The arcades and NES system received it as Life Force but there are a few differences between the Famicom and NES versions of the game. Why the name and parts of the game were changed is not 100% clear. My first experience with this game was on the NES way back in the late 1980s. I found it at K-Mart, on clearance, for $10. As soon as we got home (a 2-hour drive) the package came open and in went the game. I spent the next couple of hours playing and getting to know the game. By the next day I had it all figured out and beat it. This is Life Force: As the game progresses the player picks up capsules. The number of capsules collected determine the power up item the player can obtain. Speed, Missiles, Ripple, Laser, Options, and Shield. I'm not sure how many times you get Speed but there are two missiles, two lasers, and two options. I believe Ripple is once and I know Shield is once. The game is comprised of 8 levels, one or two of which are exclusive to the NES/Famicom. Now...take a look at Salamander. Do you notice anything different? Look closely. The HUD display at the bottom is completely different and more detailed whereas Life Force's HUD is more primitive. But there's one more feature Salamander has that Life Force doesn't. Options. I mentioned in Life Force the player can have 2 Options flying with them. In Salamander it's 3 Options. I was surprised to discover these differences when I played Salamander for the first time. Does it make a difference? Not really. The HUD on Salamander is more eye catching and the extra option can help. Once the player gets that third option, however, the game really starts to bog down. That is something that Life Force doesn't have. At least not on the same scale. So how do I feel about Salamander? I love it! While the few things I've pointed out are different it is still the essentially the same game. Same levels, same music soundtrack, nothing else different. I have not yet noticed if the game is harder or not. And I've been playing this game a LOT lately. I just love everything about it. If someone were to ask me my favorite NES game I'd pick this one. If someone were to also ask me what I felt was the best game soundtrack I'd have to pick this one as well. It's one of those games where everything just fits together perfectly. I don't have Life Force for the NES but I managed to nab Salamander for my Famicom. I couldn't be happier. Konami is well known for their NES games including Contra, Gradius, and Castlevania series. For me, Life Force/Salamander is my favorite from them and, as I've said before, my number one all-time favorite NES game. And now it has become my top-favorite Famicom game. I'm probably going to need new control pads before too long from the amount of time I spend playing this game. If you've never played it you should.

I hear "VCS" I think 2600.

I'm an 80's child and proud of it! Modern society could learn a thing or two from it. It couldn't have been all bad if it influenced Japan. The games were fresh and the music was great. Give me a time machine and I'd gladly go back. I prefer the 80's style and technology. Like Weezer sang, "Memories make me want to go back there."