Justin Posted June 12, 2019 Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 Atari I/O LIVE! is our 2nd YouTube channel, dedicated to exploring the retro world of video games of the past! This channel features our unedited livechats and gaming livestreams from Instagram and YouTube posted regularly. New Viewer? Subscribe! http://bit.ly/atariiolive HANG-ON Sega Master System Livestream: Sabertooth, Atari Creep, StormSurge and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 🌃 S Ξ G Λ N I G H T S 🌘 Memories of playing Hang-On for Sega Master System Hang-On is a motorcycle driving game that came on a “Combo Cartridge” as the pack-in game with the Sega Master System. Growing up, I never paid much attention to Hang-On. I first played it at my friend’s house, he had a Sega Master System and seeing the games made me want to get one. I asked about Hang-On, it looked a lot like Pole Position II or Out Run, which was the Sega game I most wanted to play. My friend grimaced and said Hang-On was a cruddy game and we should play Shinobi instead. He was right about Shinobi being an awesome game, and I wouldn’t realize it until this week but he was wrong about Hang-On. Yes, it’s a motorcycle racer that fits about halfway between Pole Position II and Out Run, with PPII’s lights and lack of music, and Out Run’s “Extended Play” with changing scenery every lap. Except Hang-On challenges you in new ways with special techniques and strategies. It’s not so much a racing game as a driving game, and it’s the motorcycle element that makes these special techniques possible. I’ve had this game for 30+ years and never connected with it. I was more drawn to the other racing games I mentioned. But Hang-On always reminds me of the beginning of summer, pulling out the Sega Master System, cracking open a cold Snapple and having some snacks while I dive into the SMS library. This weekend I gave Hang-On another try. Even this week I didn’t care much for the game at first. Until I got a feel for the unique skill and strategy woven into this 8-bit classic. Something clicked and I connected with this game. What a beast. 💥 BIG TIP OFF — Your motorcycle shifts through 3 gears. The best moments to shift gears are at 100km/h and 200km/h. From the back of the box: “Hang-On / Safari Hunt: Motorcycle racing and jungle adventure - all on one Sega Combo Cartridge. Hang-On is the 3-D motorcycle race game that’s taken the arcades by storm. Race through grasslands, seasides, valleys, nighttime city scapes and, of course, motorcycle racecourses. The game is so fast it even gives you special techniques like Hang-on and Countersteering for taking the corners.” StormSurge, btbfilms76 and Atari Creep 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 ASTRO WARRIOR Sega Master System Livestream: Memories of playing Astro Warrior for Sega Master System I share memories of playing Astro Warrior for Sega Master System while Gianna holds the camera. Astro Warrior is a shoot 'em up game that came on a "Combo Cartridge" with Hang-On (see above) as the pack-in game with the Sega Master System. Is Astro Warrior a worthy pack-in? Growing up, I really liked Astro Warrior but after a while I set it aside for Blazing Lazers, a similar game on TurboGrafx-16. Blazing Lazers is still one of my all-time favorite games for any system, but what about Astro Warrior? Is it still fun? I first played Astro Warrior at my friend’s house, he had a Sega Master System and seeing the games made me want to get one. Nobody else wanted to play Hang-On (I played it last week in the post above this one, it turned out to be an awesome game!) but Astro Warrior was a different story. During the summer we’d spend the entire afternoon playing Astro Warrior. We didn’t love it as much as Shinobi, but it was an impressive game for 1986 and was the first “Blazing Lazers-style” shoot-em-up game that I remember playing. My friend eventually gave me the game, and the Astro Warrior I play in the livestream is the same cartridge I grew up playing at my friend’s house. Pretty cool! It was a Hang-On/Astro Warrior cartridge that came in a Hang-On/Safari Hunt case, which I tried to “customize” with a pen and stickers when I was a kid. Do I regret marking up a retro game? No! You’ll get to see why in the video! 💥 BIG TIP OFF — Start new levels with drones: Whenever you finish off a level and the name of the next level is on the screen, hit 1 and 2 alternately about 25-30 times. If you are fast and don't double hit one of the buttons, you'll get 2 purple firing drones to begin the next stage with. From the back of the box: "Hang-On / Astro Warrior: Twice the action. Twice the risk. One incredible combination. Astro Warrior pits you against the enemy's fleet of superpowers spaceships. And ultimately, the invincible Master Ship. In this treacherous black universe you can only count on yourself. To shoot fast. To shoot straight. If you do — you get more power. More weapons. To beat the villains. To beat the odds. If you don't — the odds beat you. RickR, Sabertooth, StormSurge and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2019 ATARI I/O LIVE! BTB talks about his RETRO GAMER ORIGINS: Memories of being a Retro Gamer in 1991 @btbfilms76 talks about his origins as a retro gamer, living through the video game crash and how he got his start doing YouTube. Do you guys know what it was like collecting Atari games in the early ‘90s? Trying to find those games that catapulted Atari to stratospheric success and being some of the only guys out there doing that at that time was a lot of fun. 👉 This was our first test at doing a livestream. We talked for over an hour and realized afterwards that my audio didn’t record. BTB had some gems though so I edited them into this video. BTB's thoughts in this video were part of a larger conversation about History Channel's fantastic documentary "Game Changers" which accurately covered the rise and fall of Atari. Subscribe now for new retro gaming videos: http://bit.ly/atariiosubscribe Atari Creep, StormSurge and Sabertooth 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2019 NINTENDO, SEGA & ATARI AFTER THE VIDEO GAME CRASH: What did it take for Atari to restore their reputation and for Nintendo to revive the industry after the crash? @btbfilms76 and I discuss Atari’s collapse, what it took for Nintendo to revive the industry, and how both duked it out with Sega in the retail wars for shelf space in Sears and Toys R Us. A clip from a “lost” livestream, we're still working out our video and audio setup. Subscribe to our main channel for new retro gaming videos: http://bit.ly/atariiosubscribe StormSurge, nosweargamer, Sabertooth and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted June 25, 2019 Report Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) I really enjoyed watching/listening to these. Spot on analysis of the retail issue post-crash. Also, I agree that as kids we had no idea anything was going on. You could get awesome games for cheap! There was so much going on at Atari in '83-84. I'm not sure if the History Channel's program touched on it, but Atari's last president under Warner - James J. Morgan - had only been there for less than a year and had an aggressive plan to turn Atari around. With GCC's involvement, the quality of 2600 and 5200 games went way up in '83-84 and the 7800 was primed to correct past missteps. Also, the arcade division was killing it! It's a shame that Warner didn't give Jim Morgan the opportunity to fully realize his plan. I really like some of the Tramiel-era products but their takeover was really a death knell for the once great Atari. Here's a link to the archived NYT article on Warner selling the farm. It's an interesting read. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/03/business/warner-sells-atari-to-tramiel.html Edited June 25, 2019 by atarilbc Justin and Atari Creep 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted June 25, 2019 Report Share Posted June 25, 2019 Subscribed to these! Atari Creep and Justin 1 1 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2019 9 hours ago, TrekMD said: Subscribed to these! Thank you Eugenio! I hope you enjoy the content we have coming up! 19 hours ago, atarilbc said: I really enjoyed watching/listening to these. Spot on analysis of the retail issue post-crash. Also, I agree that as kids we had no idea anything was going on. You could get awesome games for cheap! There was so much going on at Atari in '83-84. I'm not sure if the History Channel's program touched on it, but Atari's last president under Warner - James J. Morgan - had only been there for less than a year and had an aggressive plan to turn Atari around. With GCC's involvement, the quality of 2600 and 5200 games went way up in '83-84 and the 7800 was primed to correct past missteps. Also, the arcade division was killing it! It's a shame that Warner didn't give Jim Morgan the opportunity to fully realize his plan. I really like some of the Tramiel-era products but their takeover was really a death knell for the once great Atari. Here's a link to the archived NYT article on Warner selling the farm. It's an interesting read. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/03/business/warner-sells-atari-to-tramiel.html Thank you Arlen! I always felt the crash has become something discussed and analyzed in pop culture far more now than at the time. History Channel did not mention James J. Morgan, I wish they had. It's an important point that the quality of games had gone way up with GCC's involvement. I think one of the biggest opportunities for Atari at that time was the involvement or acquisition of little dev groups like GCC. Sega and Nintendo found success with different R&D groups. Atari had was a unique place to work, but it had become a monoculture and to break out of that rut with different labs located away from Sunnyvale to embrace new groups and new ideas outside of the Atari buildings on Borregas Ave. would've been a good thing. Grass Valley and GCC are two fantastic examples of this. If Warner could've held on for another year and pioneered some of the practices we saw with Nintendo and Sega I think we would've had an even more interesting story. StormSurge, Sabertooth, Atari Creep and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2019 WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BUILD YOUR OWN ATARI PONG ARCADE MACHINE? Would building your own Pong arcade machine be that challenging? Let's ask someone who's done it! @btbfilms76 and I discuss the possibility of building your own Pong coin-operated arcade machine. Pong was cloned endlessly as arcade machines and home consoles. What would be involved in creating a repop Pong machine of your own? How much skill would that really take? A clip from a “lost” livestream, still working out our audio. Also subscribe to our main channel for new retro gaming videos: http://bit.ly/atariiosubscribe Atari Creep and StormSurge 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Creep Posted June 27, 2019 Report Share Posted June 27, 2019 2 hours ago, Justin said: WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BUILD YOUR OWN ATARI PONG ARCADE MACHINE? Would building your own Pong arcade machine be that challenging? Let's ask someone who's done it! @btbfilms76 and I discuss the possibility of building your own Pong coin-operated arcade machine. Pong was cloned endlessly as arcade machines and home consoles. What would be involved in creating a repop Pong machine of your own? How much skill would that really take? A clip from a “lost” livestream, still working out our audio. Also subscribe to our main channel for new retro gaming videos: http://bit.ly/atariiosubscribe My fav episode to date!!!! You kats are killin' it!!! Justin 1 Quote Don't just watch TV, PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted June 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 On 6/27/2019 at 11:14 AM, Atari Creep said: My fav episode to date!!!! You kats are killin' it!!! Thanks @Atari Creep! 🍻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 SEGA LIGHT GUN LASER TAG: Did you know the Sega Master System Light Phaser was also used for Laser Tag? @btbfilms76 and I discuss Zillion for Sega's 8-Bit console, the Sega Master System, and how the Sega Light Gun was also used for a Zillion-branded Laser Tag product. Subscribe to our main channel for new retro gaming videos: http://bit.ly/atariiosubscribe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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