Phosphor Dot Fossils

So I take it Ted's repeating the Nolan party line about the Odyssey then? Heh.

Some pics: The Magnavox Odyssey display in the process of being set up. I have to give mad props to SteveW, who came up to visit the show as an attendee and ended up helping me out in my booth most of the day since my usual sidekick was absent this time around. Steve was great about going around to the front of the booth and setting the Odyssey back into an endless ping-pong loop until the next person came along and twiddled the knobs. DVDs on display, along with price sheets for my games and other goodies. There was someone occupying the Famicom 95% of the show. I only have 3 Famicom carts: SMB3, a mah-jongg game, and Raid On Bungeling Bay. While the Odyssey performed flawlessly all day long, along with its ancient TV set, the more recent Famicom and its broadcast monitor borg cube both got glitchier as the day went on. No one could resist the Odyssey! All your DVDs are belong to me: this TV showed a loop with selections from all of the DVDs I was selling. Folks looking through used games and playing the Famicom. For some reason, this crowd just didn't want to buy any Doctor Who action figures off of me. A look across the floor; my neighbors at New World Comics. A crowd gathers to listen to TV Death Squad. To give you an idea of how many DVDs I had stocked up for this show: this was just one box that I had full of 'em. Obviously I've got DVDs in stock still, so hit up my site if you need some video game DVD goodness.

Much bigger show in terms of crowd size, though mystifyingly poor in terms of sales - I did very well with selling the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD last year, despite a fairly thin crowd, so I was loaded for bear in terms of having DVDs stocked in depth - I had the DVD that was available last year, the new PDF DVD, and some CGE DVD box sets as well, and a pretty good chunk of my game collection up for grabs; only the games went, and even then, it was mainly NES-and-later stuff. DVD-wise I only sold about two copies of any given title. The Magnavox Odyssey and the Famicom that I had set up at my table were incredibly popular, but they didn't translate into sales; one of my TVs, which would've shown a loop of selections from the DVDs to the folks playing the NES, died on the show floor, so I'm sure that didn't help. I set up a video camera pointed at where people would stand to play the Odyssey and got some incredibly funny stuff of people trying to figure out how it works and how to play it; I need to put together a montage of that at some point. Maybe the crowd was just a bit young (this was not a retro show, after all, nor was it advertised as such - when I took stuff like boxed 5200 Star Trek and Zaxxon at very reasonable prices and ended up coming home with them, it's not a retro show!), maybe it's the economy, maybe I should've taken two showers that morning instead of one. I dunno. I had fun in any case, but didn't make the kind of money I was expecting. Hopefully there's still an OVGE show in the offing in Tulsa later this year: the goodies I had with me would've vanished by lunchtime in Tulsa. That's not the fault of OEGE's organizers or attendees - it was just a different crowd from what I usually cater to at a show, and perhaps naively the biggest concession I made to that was "Hey, I'll have a Famicom hooked up instead of an Odyssey2!"

OK - the first pre-orders have been sent out and the DVD debuted at OEGE this weekend, so I'm opening the floodgate for orders - now with slightly less busy ordering buttons. Also, anyone who doesn't wish to use Paypal can send a money order the appropriate amount to me at: Earl Green PO Box 556 Alma, AR 72921 And please make sure, if sending a money order, that I know this is for PDF Level 2 - it's a bit easy to get 'em confused otherwise! I have also revamped the page for the original DVD to reflect the fact that there's a new release.

My car's packed up and I'm ready to head to OKC in the morning. Here's a quick rundown of what I'm bringing: Sale items: plenty of delicious nutritious PDF & CGE DVD sets, and heaps of games from my collection - 2600, 5200, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 8-bit, C64, Channel F, NES, Genesis, PS1 and more! Display items: I'll have an original Magnavox Odyssey and an original Nintendo Famicom both hooked up, running, and with their original packaging on display! You don't see these, let alone get to play them, every day, so drop by and have a look.

I've signed up for a booth as well, so I'm definitely planning on being there, with both volumes of the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVDs, the CGE DVD box set, and probably some used games as well (2600, 5200, 7800, INTV, Colecovision and Atari 8-bit are likely suspects!) at not-too-crazy prices. There'll be a constantly-running demo video showing excerpts from each of the DVDs, and other cool stuff as well, and I'm planning on bringing a classic system or three (possibly very, very classic!).

The little row of covers with prices on them isn't showing up? I just checked and it showed up for me.

Editing is complete! The finished DVD runs to 3 hours, 3 minutes. I think everyone'll be pretty happy with the results. Also: pre-orders are now being taken. Discs will ship right around the same time as OEGE itself (April 11th), so if you're actually going to OEGE in Oklahoma City (see thread here-ish), don't worry about pre-ordering - just pick yours up at the show.

Level 2 will be $20 US/Canada, $25 internationally, just like volume 1. The pricing for the 2-disc set will probably be a price break vs. purchasing both volumes separately. Plus the packaging for the set is just cool. Trust me on this. There may or may not be a "pre-order" period like there was with the CGE DVDs; the catch there is that it's best to have things in the pipeline already as far as duplication, packaging, etc., so you can be damn sure that you'll have product shipping within 30 days, per Paypal rules. That's why there was such a wait on the CGE stuff - we didn't make pre-orders available until we had discs duplicating and packaging being printed up. As I'm still editing and authoring this DVD at breakneck speed, you'll understand if I'm a little cautious. But don't give up hope - there may be good news right after the first of April. (If I said "pre-orders on April 1st," you guys would never believe me!) I can tell you that there are already discs labeled for this venture, though...they look a little somethin' like this:

Coming in April! Phosphor Dot Fossils Level 2! Like the first volume, Level 2 will cover a wide swath of video game history, including arcade, home console and computer games, from 1972 through 1987, with shots of the games in action, historical notes for every game shown, other trivia, and even vintage commercials from that era. Also like the original, Level 2 has an easy-to-follow visual design, a concise menu system to allow instant access to any clip on the entire DVD (which is once again estimated to have a running time of around 3 hours), and an original music score. Level 2 will cover games not featured in the first Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD, from Atari's early post-Pong arcade efforts and blasts from the vector graphics past, through the era when the Nintendo Entertainment System revitalized the American video game scene after an industry-stalling crash in the early 1980s. Level 2 will be available from my table at the upcoming Oklahoma City Electronic Game Expo (OEGE) on April 11th at Oklahoma City Community College; orders will be taken online the same day at this page, where you can also see preview screen shots and see some more info. And if you haven't picked up the first Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD just yet? Good news for you too! Both volumes will be available in a single 2-DVD set called "The Brown Box" (an homage to the very first prototype video game console). The content of both discs will be the same as the individually-available copies. For anyone who's attending OEGE: I'll also have copies of the CGE DVD set on hand as well.

As the person who shot and edited and did the post-production on this set, I thought I'd chime in just a little bit. You might be surprised to find out that the audio is what the most time was spent on here - along with my wife having a baby almost as soon as I got home from the CGE trip (and me then becoming Mr. Mom), it was one of the things that accounts for the length of time between the show itself and the DVD release. The big problem here is that the hotel said they'd provide a means to patch into their little PA sound board, and then when I was setting up before the first keynote, I found that there was no way to do this. So I had to make do with a mix of the audio from both cameras, and I did, in fact, spent a lot of time "riding the levels," trying to make some of the guest speakers audible who seemed to be a bit microphone-shy. The problem there is that you're bringing up the background sound along with the signal, even with everything vigorously EQ'ed. I wish I'd had even so much as a tape recorder at the podium, but again, the hotel led us to believe this wouldn't be necessary. Their "sound board" such as it was would've been overwhelmed by the demands of a four-piece band. With exactly the same setup, I think anyone else would've been hard pressed to come up with significantly better results. There's simply nothing I could do about the guys who decided to park themselves a mile away from the nearest microphone; I would have liked it if there had been four mics instead of just two plus the podium, but again, that was the hotel and not me. (It was a nice enough place, but I'm not shedding any tears over the fact that there's about a 0% chance that CGE, if it returns, will ever be held at the Riv again. I'm only privy to the tip of the iceberg, because I'm not officially attached to CGE in any capacity, but the degree to which the hotel seemed to go out of its way to not help the show was ridiculous.) Anyway, hopefully everyone's enjoying the set and this addresses any concerns you might have. There are still plenty of copies left, by the way.

As promised: end of the month, and here's a beautiful sight! If you haven't seen these cases before, they're kinda neat. If you haven't already, mosey on over here to order.

At every Classic Gaming Expo, the game designers and hardware gurus who were there on the ground floor of the video game industry tell their stories - how they started their careers, implemented their ground-breaking ideas, and ultimately created a multi-billion dollar industry. They are the pioneering programmers who built legendary machines such as the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, and created timeless favorites such as Pitfall! and Pong. Now, for the first time, an entire Classic Gaming Expo show has been professionally filmed and edited - Every keynote presentation! Every minute of the legendary CGE Auction! Even the invitation-only alumni dinner! Plus DVD-ROM bonus features let you browse through the entire history of CGE. Pre-orders are being taken here; first discs ship toward the end of February. Contents: Disc One Jay Smith - Father of Vectrex (50:06) The Activision Designers (57:55) featuring Glyn Anderson, Steve Cartwright, David Crane, Garry Kitchen Programming The Atari 2600 (58:00) featuring David Crane, Keithen Hayenga, Bob Polaro, Steve Woita, Steve Wright Disc Two Al Alcorn: Where Did Atari Come From? (59:21) The Making Of Intellivision (1:01:12) featuring Glyn Anderson, Keith Robinson, John P. Sohl, Dave Warhol The Future Of Video Game Journalism (52:42) featuring Chris Bieniak, Chris Kohler, Bill Kunkel Disc Three CGE Auction 2007 (dangerously close to 3 hours!) Disc Four CGE Stories (53:03) featuring John Hardie, Sean Kelly, Joe Santulli Alumni Dinner 2007 (41:34) featuring Al Alcorn, Walter Day, Garry Kitchen, Bill Kunkel, Keith Robinson CGE Bonus Features (1.6+ gigs) with photos, programs and more from World Of Atari through CGE 2007 If you were a guest speaker (i.e. if your name's in the list above), contact me directly! Pre-orders are being taken here; first discs ship toward the end of February.

Chris kinda took the words out of my mouth here, which is probably good - not sure I would've been as tactful to the original respondent. I've known Michael for something like ten years now, and he's absolutely one of the most stand-up guys in the hobby, and I'm really sorry to hear that he's even so much as considering selling GDG. He's done the hobby an incredible service by bucking "conventional wisdom" about what retrogamers will or won't buy and releasing homebrew games for systems that just weren't getting any homebrew love before, and he's also been involved in many of the major books on the topic as well. By being one of the first people to get Bill Kunkel writing about the good old days again, we probably have Michael to thank as much as anyone for Kunkel's outstanding "Confessions Of The Game Doctor" book. I can't help but notice that GDG's logo is on the cover of Leonard Herman's ABC To The VCS, another favorite book of mine. Michael is one of a handful of folks who have talked me into staying involved in the hobby when some of the petty strife that occasionally pops up had me thinking to myself "Screw it." Whether or not anyone else wants to thank him for that is your own judgement call. Since most of my own income from the past year has come from the fact that I'm still involved in the hobby, I thank him for that. In short, like Chris said above, anyone questioning Michael's and GDG's standing in the retrogaming community is probably very new to that community themselves and needs to do a little homework before going on the offensive. Just a suggestion.

Black Friday? Pffffft! Why wait? Through this Sunday night, you can get a holiday discount on the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD at this page - over 10% off for folks in the US and Canada, and almost a 10% discount for folks in the rest of the world. If you haven't picked up a copy of PDF just yet, or want to give one as a gift, this is your chance. This link will disappear - kinda like the discount will too! - late this Sunday night. As an added bonus, you can see some very early preview shots from Phosphor Dot Fossils Level 2, coming next spring, at the above link. Y'know...while it's there.

Obviously, on the off chance anyone went looking for the PDF DVD, there was a hiccup in getting it to the show; nobody's fault or anything, it's just one of these things that happens. But! Here's the good news - I'm offering a special discount at this page, especially for anyone who missed picking it up at TMG; the discount splits the difference between the "show price" that the DVD has sold for at OVGE, CCAG and other shows this year, and the usual price tag for anyone who orders direct. The only catch is that the discount goes away after the 22nd of October (hopefully enough time for everyone to recover from dropping mad amounts o' cash at TMG ). Hope everyone had a good time - what, no eyewitness reports!?

Anyone who needs a copy of the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD needs to swing by the Next Level booth at TMG this weekend - they'll have them well stocked, and at the usual "show special" price that's just a smidge cheaper than buying them from my site. Have fun there, folks!

I won't be there...but my DVD will! You can see the preview and pick up a copy at Sniderman's table - a limited number will be available, so I strongly suggest a stampede before all the copies are eaten by a hideous grue.

Just wanted to let everyone know that a follow-up to the PDF DVD, Phosphor Dot Fossils: Level 2, is in the works and should be available in spring 2009. It will cover more games, more commercials, and more trivia and factoids from roughly the same period (1971-1986), with all-new stuff that will not overlap with the original DVD. It will also take a step further into the future, covering some pivotal titles from 1987. Otherwise, it will be in much the same format as the first one; no idea on the running time yet. I mean, I've got a rough idea, but there's an old saying that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, so I prefer not to spill those particular beans yet. Watch this space!

Hi, I mainly lurk on AA now and haven't been lurking in the homebrew dev area, but I thought I'd pop in outta nowhere and say that this is easily my favorite 2600 homebrew in several years - I'm going to go out on a limb and say my favorite since Go Fish!. I got an e-mail about the label contest, downloaded and played the game, and it's a couple of hours later now and I don't feel one bit bad about it. Awesome game! The music's got a very Reactor vibe to it, which is nothing but a good thing. Extremely addictive. Well done!

The bad news is that I had to pull out of this year's show due to a combination of factors, not the least of which is nobody to babysit my 10-month-old son for the day. The good news is that the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD will still be available at the show! A limited quantity of PDF DVDs will be available at Flack's table (and my huge thanks to him for hawking my wares alongside his new book, which is also highly recommended by the way), and he'll have the demo DVD there so you can see what you're getting into. Sorry I'm going to miss the show this year, but that goes with daddy duty I suppose. Everyone have a blast tomorrow!

Couple of notes real quick: I've had a hell of a time with my site's hosting provider recently, as they don't seem to be able to keep their database servers up to save their lives; if you tried to order a copy of the PDF DVD about a month ago and couldn't get through, try again - I have replaced the ordering page with an "old school" HTML page so it shouldn't be affected by the ongoing server errors. Also, regretfully I have had to back out of OVGE this year; my not showing has nothing to do with the show itself, and I hope everyone who's planning on going will stick to their plans and go, if only so there's an OVGE for us all to go to next year. Several things yanked the rug out from under me this year, from finances to babysitting, so for the first time I'm going to be on the sidelines. I'm trying to see about getting a few copies together to send with someone else to sell at their tables, but I may not be able to get it together in time for the show. In the meantime, the DVD is entering its third print run and will still be available, both before and after the show, if anyone's still wanting to pick up a copy. I'm bummed about missing OVGE, but I'm sure the other dads out there will attest that taking care of the kiddo always comes first. In the meantime, thanks again for the orders and the kind words - I'm glad everyone seems to like it so far!

The "show special" price at OVGE will be $15, just like it was in OKC. Ordering online within the US/Canada is $20, $25 outside of North America.

Those of you who have been to OVGE/OKGE anytime since 2004 have probably seen this in passing, and after years of people asking if it would ever be for sale, it's now available, in a newly-expanded form with new footage, new factoids, and plenty of fun - nearly three hours total! See The Games In Action Actual video clips of dozens of games in action, from 1971's "Computer Space" through the dawn of the NES era, accompanied by fascinating game-by-game historical notes. A detailed menu system lets you search year-by-year to jump directly to whichever game you want to see. It's a "video book" and a celebration of the sights and sounds of video gaming's history all in one. Vintage Commercials Including Apple's famous "1984" Macintosh ad, the "Have You Played Atari Today?"campaign, William Shatner beaming into a VIC-20 commercial, and ultra-rarities such as the "Dig Dug" ad that appeared in theaters, not seen since 1982! This will be the first time you've ever been happy to see advertisements on a DVD. Rare Hardware, Iconic Controllers From the Magnavox Odyssey's light gun to the Atari 2600 joystick to Intellivision's keypads to the Famicom D-pad controllers, see how keeping your fingers on the pulse of the game has evolved. Also glimpse rare hardware such as Adventurevision, Puppy Pong and the pre-2600 Atari console that never hit the stores, along with long-lost specimens of video game toys and memorabilia. Over four years in the making, Phosphor Dot Fossils is an audiovisual celebration of the evolution and innovation of arcade games, home video games and computer games. If you missed the early all-time greats and haven't found them for your collection, don't worry - PDF puts it all at your fingertips, with a fast pace, a retro-circuit-tastic look and an original musical score. Copies will be available at OVGE 2008 in August, but if you just can't wait or can't make it to that event, you can also order online here. More than half of the "OEGE 2008" hand-labeled copies have gone out the door now, and I'm working on lining up a duplicator for the next print run. To do away with one misconception I had to spend a lot of time clearing up for folks at the OKC show: this is a video DVD only, containing no ROMs, emulators, software or playable games of any kind. If that's what you're looking for...well, that's not what this is.

I'll be on hand, and once again after its successful debut in Oklahoma City in April, the new and improved expanded edition of the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD will be available for a special "show price". I may have a few other surprises on hand as well.