dauber

I'm extra-lifing too! I'm going to do some home gaming Friday after work. On Saturday I'll be at Underground Retrocade in West Dundee, IL the entire time it's open (11am - 1am), taking breaks for lupper and visits to the tinkle pit (so I'm estimating gaming for 13 hours), then more home gaming on Sunday. (I just can't do a straight 24 hours - I have to break it up!) Last weekend someone beat my Underground Retrocade house high on Ms. Pac-Man Turbo. My high: 760,000 (foiled by the machine reset bug!)...the guy who beat my score got something like 885,000 and also was a victim of the dreaded reset bug. (He played another one earlier and didn't get the reset bug but did get the upside-down-rendered screen.) The reason my score was relatively low I most likely attribute to missing a lot of monsters. I practiced some grouping strategies, so I'm going to start working on re-claiming my place at the top. I'll also be trying to improve my TG record on Jr. Pac-Man Turbo. At home I'm going to try to re-claim my Atari 7800 Asteroids Deluxe TG record. Somebody beat my record by only a few hundred points! I'll be streaming as much of my gaming as possible at twitch.tv/piefactorysean My hospital of choice: Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. My goal, just like with Starbuck66, is $500.

My mother never wanted anything to do with video games (although she did insist that I join her in a game of Mr. Do! some time in the '90s when we were waiting for a table at a restaurant; don't know what came over her!) but often my dad would play some Atari stuff with me. He's VERY left-handed, but the CX-40 is wired for right-handed people, so he'd only play games that didn't require a fire button - usually Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. (He actually brought that up recently! "I was getting addicted to that!" he said.) He'd also play Super Breakout, as he had no problem wrapping his right hand around the paddle to operate the button.

I live in Chicago, where Sears was started and for decades was its home base. It's just...weird...knowing that this city no longer has a Sears. My school uniform clothes usually came from Sears. Typical predictable Catholic school stuff: navy blue pants, light blue collared shirt, optional navy blue sweater. I remember when we lived in Bourbonnais, IL, the school handbook actually said, "...which can be purchased at Donna's Young Towne." My mother said: "I'll buy my kid's clothes anywhere I damn well want!" It was usually Sears. Toughskins, of course. I remember one day while shopping at the Orland Square Mall, I wanted to get volume 2 of the Beat Street soundtrack. I was ten years old. I asked my brother if he could spot me a few dollars because Record Bar was asking for more than what I had on me. But then when I was in Sears, I saw it for dirt freakin' cheap. Bought it there without having to borrow a cent. (Still have it in my collection, too!) Speaking of Orland Square...the mall my family and I went to regularly was Lincoln Mall in Matteson, IL. (In Bourbonnais we didn't have a mall, so once a month we'd take a half-hour drive to Lincoln Mall.) it was kind of a tradition that my dad and I would split a box of popcorn from the Karmelkorn store. Well, we eventually would go to Orland Square semi-regularly, but they didn't have a Karmelkorn. So my dad and I would get popcorn from the Sears candy department instead. None of my Atari stuff came from Sears. (Didn't have any Telegames-branded products growing up!) But during my Commodore 64 days in the early '90s, I went to the Sears store at the local mall (in 1986 we moved somewhere MUCH better, and in fact where there were TWO malls in town!) and bought a five-pack of software that included Paperboy, Road Runner, Gauntlet, and Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom.

Episode 47 of The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast will be focusing on the long-awaited, upcoming Froggie. You can find the podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, the website http://homebrew78.fab4it.com, or use this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homebrew78. What are your thoughts? Share 'em here! You can also e-mail text or audio to homebrew78 -at- fab4it -dot- com. I want to get this podcast out a little early, so I'm asking for responses by 11:59pm CDT this coming Wednesday, 10/31. Comments are welcome any time, including after the deadline; any feedback from after the deadline will simply be addressed during a later episode. Here's a link to where you can download the ROM: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/272483-whats-up-with-froggie/?p=4052614 BTW, the podcast will be going on a hiatus soon and will return some time after the new year.

Episode 46 takes a look at some unfinished games from 7800 homebrewer extraordinaire PacManPlus. Even in their unfinished states, these games still demonstrate Bob DeCrescenzo's amazing talent. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_046.mp3 Oh, and...episode 45 was released two weeks ago and I totally forgot to post about it! Episode 45 wraps up the remaining titles from frankodragon...at least until he produces more. http://fab4it.com/homebrew78/media/hbh_episode_045.mp3

Episode 45 of The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast will be focusing on FOUR homebrews: The Big Burrito!!, Cubicle Chaos, Crazy Tank, and Hearty Manslapper. You can find the podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, the website http://homebrew78.fab4it.com, or use this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homebrew78. You can get the ROMs from the following AtariAge threads: The Big Burrito!!: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/269107-new-game-for-the-7800-the-big-burrito/ Crazy Tank: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/276436-crazy-tank/?do=findComment&comment=4019274 Cubicle Chaos: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232436-cubicle-chaos/?do=findComment&comment=3126102 Hearty Manslapper: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259538-hearty-manslapper/?do=findComment&comment=3640923 What are your thoughts? Share 'em here! You can also e-mail text or audio to homebrew78 -at- fab4it -dot- com. I have this Friday off, so I can take feedback up through October, 9:00am CDT as the deadline for this one. Comments are welcome any time, including after the deadline; any feedback from after the deadline will simply be addressed during a later episode.

Less than a week after our previous release, we have a new episode out. There's a reason we kind of rushed this one out: we strayed from the usual topic of arcade gaming to recognize National Suicide Prevention Month. We dedicated this episode to addressing not just suicide prevention but topics such as depression and other mental issues. We both take this topic very seriously. Even if you don't normally listen to Pie Factory - or if you do normally listen but skip the off-topic episodes - we ask that you please give this episode a listen. Also, unlike most of our episodes, this episode is not censored at all. We normally don't frequently throw out choice Anglo-Saxon words in the first place, but this time, we felt that it would lessen the impact of what we're trying to get out if we bleeped unpleasant words when trying to get across what we want people to understand. (The original posting on iTunes for some reason didn't have the "EXPLICIT" mark, despite the file being tagged as such. We've re-tagged it and tried another go at it, and if iTunes still doesn't have the "EXPLICIT" tag on there when they refresh, we'll replace it with a bleeped version, but still make the uncensored version available. The reason we may go through this trouble is that this is one of only two uncensored episodes out of 83+ that we've done, and the only way we'e found to definitely put the "explicit" marker on the one episode is to mark the entire podcast as "explicit," which we don't want to do. And Apple apparently has a zero-tolerance policy on this. :/ ) Anyway, here's the link: http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode083.mp3

It's time for episode 44! In this new episode, Sean pays tribute to the local pipefitters' union with two obscure titles. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_044.mp3

So here I am going on about how I can't find Faygo...well, turns out that there's a convenience store that I walk by every day on my way to take the CTA Red Line train to work (that is, when I don't ride my bike to work)...and not only do they carry Faygo, but they have a huge sign in the window advertising such! Heh. I'll probably be posting more about my Faygo experiences here.

In today's fourscore and second official installment of Pie Factory Podcast, your hosts Do! their best to edutain you. Do! you want to join in on the fun? Of course you Do!. (Okay, we'll stop Do!ing that.) http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode082.mp3

Episode 44 of The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast will be focusing on two yet-to-be-released homebrews, Plumb Luck and Tubes. You can find the podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, the website http://homebrew78.fab4it.com, or use this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homebrew78. The ROMs are attached to this message. What are your thoughts? Share 'em here! You can also e-mail text or audio to homebrew78 -at- fab4it -dot- com. I'm looking at Wedneday, September 19, 11:59pm CDT as the deadline for this one. Comments are welcome any time, including after the deadline; any feedback from after the deadline will simply be addressed during a later episode. PlumbLuck_02_07_17.zip tubes_2005_08_09.zip

Episode 43 is out a bit early! The 43rd installment of this longer-running-than-expected podcast looks into one (or perhaps two?) of the first adventure games for the 7800. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_043.mp3

Looks very Activision can't wait to try it!

Episode 43 of The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast will be focusing on frankodragon's Draker Quest. You can find the podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, the website http://homebrew78.fab4it.com, or use this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homebrew78. What are your thoughts? Share 'em here! You can also e-mail text or audio to homebrew78 -at- fab4it -dot- com. I'm looking at Thursday, September 6, 11:59pm CDT as the deadline for this one. I apologize for the short notice, but with life and stuff occupying my time, I totally lost track of the time. 😕 Comments are welcome any time, including after the deadline; any feedback from after the deadline will simply be addressed during a later episode. The ROM is available here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229946-draker-quest-complete/

How do Jim and Sean spend their three-day weekend near the end of summer? By servicing you, our friends, the listeners, with a brand new episode! This time we wax philosophical about another movie game and another Gottlieb game. We hope you’re not…alienated by this episode, but we guarantee you some kind of…reaction. http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode081.mp3

For episode 42, Sean talks about Serpentine, a homebrew so new that it's not even for sale yet! (Don't panic.) http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_042.mp3

We at Pie Factory Podcast like to record episodes. We like it so much, we've done it more than 80 times. We hope that you'll add this episode about "Q" games to your podcast queue. (See what I did there?) http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode080.mp3

Hey there...got a new episode out, but it's a billion percent off-topic due to my busy schedule and vacation. Next episode will be about Serpentine. Send feedback by Wednesday, August 22! http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_burnout_2.mp3

Oh man...totally forgot, I had some of that orange stuff recently and took a picture. To me...it wasn't any different from Orange Crush or Sunkist. Basically, if you've had one orange soda, you've had 'em all. But I liked it! My rank: solid

Sorry for the late notice...but the episode posted early this morning! Just in time for the World Cup ending...episode 41 examines a series of football-themed running games for the 7800. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_041.mp3

Hi, friends. Just wanted to give y'all an update... First of all, show notes for episode 40 have been posted, in case you're interested. You can go to homebrew78.fab4it.com - lots of links for this episode! Also, for episode 41, I'm covering some never-carted football-ish (both "real" and American) games: Touchdown Challenge, Soccer Challenge, and World Cup. Sorry for the late notice, but just wanted to let you know in case you wanted to submit some feedback. Quite honestly, I don't think at this point I'll be able to include feedback in the episode, given the time crunches, but I can address it later. The games haven't been released on a cartridge, but you can get the ROMs and run them on your favorite emulator or 7800 multicart: Touchdown Challenge: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/226181-touchdown-challenge-my-first-7800basic-game World Cup / Soccer Challenge: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/226524-soccer-games-for-the-7800

Well, it's Monday, and as such we cannot come up with a creative announcement for episode 79. So here it is. Episode 79. Millipede and Liberator. Listen to the podcast. Trade it with friends. Post a link in your next bathroom graffiti. http://www.fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode079.mp3

Sorry for the lateness, but...Episode 40 finishes up the two-part dive into perhaps the most popular homebrew ever for an Atari console. Listen and BUY THIS CARTRIDGE!! (Show notes will be posted later.) http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_040.mp3

Wow. HOLD ON TO THAT THING -- Höfner no longer exists; they sold off all their properties to Gibson, so if you were to get that bass today, it'd have a Gibson logo on it.

Wednesday.