BSA Starfire

Well I have the full set of CCW games boxed complete in PAL format. Oscar is unlike all the others, we have the following differences: Box, made in Taiwan sticker, red bottom flap with barcode. Only English on rear description. Manual, matt, waxed paper, and only English language, Made in Taiwan sticker. Cart, 1986 copyright, no "P" on end label but on sticker on reverse of cart. Overlay also carries 1986 copyright & made in Taiwan. Big Bird & Cookie monster are very common new and sealed on UK eBay, Alpha Beam less so, Oscar however seems very uncommon. Perhaps only had a limited release in '86? All the others are 83 copyright that I own. Well interesting. Best, Chris

Yes 1983 on back of box, didn't notice the 1986 on cart. I had no idea they re-issued the CCW games, does a PAL '83 version actually exist?

Hi Rom, long time no speak! Sadly this is the best I can do today, crappy iPhone 3gs pics, will try and get some scans sorted next week. However it looks just the same as your scans on mania via the above link. Best, Chris

I've been a stop start collector of 2600 since the mid 1990's so have seen a lot of Atari carts and packaging etc over the years. Well OK I have recently been gathering a set of CCW games for a friend's little girl to play, she visits a lot and I remember my son loving them back when he was the right age. Anyhow, I recieved a new sealed PAL copy of Oscar's Trash Race from eBay today. the game was shrinkwrapped, and dusty as you would expect from a 1983 release. first thing that i noticed as odd was the language on the rear of box is all English, the other PAL CCW games all have multi Euro languages on rear of packaging. Next point is the tiny sticker covering Made in USA that states Made in Taiwan. On opening the box I also had trouble breaking the glue seal on the box flap, this is usually 3 small spots on '83 releases, on this box the glue was a huge smear right across the flap, splitting this left a lot of damage to flaps. The manual is also odd for a PAL release, the language is all English instead of the multi language as normal, also the paper is completely different to any Atari game I have seen before, not shiny but a matt waxed finish on fairly decent grade paper. The Manual also has the tiny Made in Taiwan sticker on the back covering the old made in USA. The cart itself is clearly new, the Pins have no scratches from use so I don't belive this is a repro, a "P" sticker is affixed to the rear of the cart. On testing the cart it is definetly PAL, the colours are all correct for a start. I believe Oscar's is the rarest of the PAL CCW games, Big Bird & Cookie are very common, Alpha Beam a little more unusual, certainly no NIB around anymore. Was there some disparity with the relaease of the four CCW games? The Oscar I have seems almost a patch up of parts rather than a full supported release(NTSC box, pal cart, manual, very weird? The Overlay is a standard USA printed example BTW. Any thoughts or am I just bored and a little anal today? Best, Chris

apart from my 2600 i have: 7800 because it was FREE, only have the built in Asteroids game, may check some other titles soon. Gameboy color with about 40 GB/GBC games. Playstation X2, 1 PAL, 1 NTSC and about 200 games. PS2 FAT with roughly 60 games. Gamecube with 7 games and gameboy player. Wii with softmod and 320Gig HD, i know naughty but what u going to do?

PAL Long Rainbow. Made in China Atari Corporation Serial No. X7233452587

In Shaun of the Dead, Nick Frost ends up as a zombie in a shed in the back garden, playing Playstation 2 Timesplitters, the game is seen played by Frost and Simon Peg several times in the game.

Hi, Looking for someone in UK to repair a 6 switch woody. Have done a google and come up blank, the only place I found had no parts available! The sixer just displays black screen. Have tried all obvious solutions, it needs an expert. If anyone can help, please post or PM. I wouls really like to have it working. All the best.

That would be brilliant, much appreciated. Be nice to get it working again. Should I PM you? Best, Chris

Road Rash of the Gameboy Color is a stunner! Not the Ocean B/W GB release tho(and that only runs on original B/W GB harware, not color/advance or Player). Pretty rare tho I think, couldn't find a youtube vid. Anyhow it's a goody, very close to Megadrive originals. Best, Chris

We had ONE 4016 at school in 1981, that and 4 Sinclair ZX 81's. The 4016 always made me think of Blake's 7 and other really futuristic stuff! We had a few programs on tape in BASIC(I thought it was MAGIC, there was an invaders game with only one invader!!, but back then it was very neat). Later we had a few Research Machines 380Z machines with 8 inch drives, the PET always looked cooler tho. A friend got a Vic 20 that christmas and we copied the tapes from the school PET, always wanted a Vic. Might look on ebay later TBH. Best, Chris

Been out here in UK in news agent's since late last year. It's a compilation of older articles from retro gamer magazine. I'ts Ok but has a lot of typo's and at one point a chunk of repeated text(at least in hard-copy). Some of the interviews are great, but there are some inaccuracy's with the editorial stuff. Nice for the coffee table though. Best, Chris

Thanks shadow, bit of research and it seems the NTSC & PAL tia's have different pin-outs sadly. If anyone has a spare PAL tia, I would be most grateful, probably could find something neat to trade. All the best, Chris

Thanks shadow460. Checked the VRM with a meter, it's as it should be. Looks like it's the TIA at fault. Are PAL & NTSC TIA's the same? If so I could use that TIA you have spare. Best, Chris

Thanks, tried the modulator, only other console I have is Jnr, has soldered TIA so can't try change. OK thanks, this looks simple enough to change, will try and track down part, no Radio Shack here anymore & CPC is long drive. Best, Chris

Here's link to video of what's going on. Best, Chris

Hi all, my PAL light sixer is rather unwell. The machine runs games OK but the video output is all messed up. The picture is black and white, with color accasionally showing, as does the audio. The picture rolls then stabalizes. I have cleaned all the switches witch were pretty grotty along with the cart port and all seem good now. I'm using a known good power supply and RF cable, clean game carts etc(I also own a Jnr and 7800). Using the same CRT telly that is fine with the jnr and 7800. I have taken a video on my phone, will find somewhere to upload it ASAP and post a link, it's too big to upload here. Any help much appreciated. Best regards, Chris Oh right I'm in the UK so everything is PAL, console, TV carts etc.

space Invaders (Playstation). XG3 Extreme G Racing(Ps2). Plants Vs. Zombies (Kindle fire/Andriod) Yesterday: Pokemon Blue(Gameboy). ICO (PS2). Pollen count(ios).

Well you have to also send me and 8-bit, tape player, send them to England, Re-build the British Empire, OH an a 32" NTSC TV so I can use any of this stuff. Right nearly forgot and a lot of ale!

some useful info for the original poster: http://psxplanetcodes.tripod.com/repair.htm I have done this to probably ten PS consoles in the last 5 years and had great sucess. I still use a 1002 model as a CD player so it gets heavy use and have another permanently set up for gaming. Doing the fix is better than buying another worn/thrashed unit. Have a go you have nothing to lose!

For the kids, De Blob, Dewy's Adventure, Super paper mario, Nights journey into dreams. Spectrobe Origins. For you, Endless ocean 1 & 2 Rune factory frontier, Dragon Quest swords, Sakura wars, No more heroes, Red Steel.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 230555259899 Just look at the price, unbelivable! eBay UK has gone mad anyway but this!! Best, Chris

I have two 100% working fats(with cables and pads) & 1 that only reads blue disks(no not porn!). Whats are you offering? PM if interested. Best, Chris

Thank you for the kind words! It's been a fun project to do, and I'm very much looking forward to having it finished and in Aquarius owners' hands. I'm still working on gathering and formatting the extra content (I added some new background information to the Aquarius Chess trivia file just this morning, in fact). Transcribing all of the material from the manuals and other sources, breaking it up evenly and logically into screen-sized pages, and trying to reproduce the artwork in the manuals and within the games themselves is proving to be a more time-consuming process than I expected, but I think the end result is really going to look great. I sent my latest prototype to the-topdog earlier this week, so hopefully he'll share some of his impressions once he's had a chance to try it. As far as I know, the software is the same for PAL and NTSC systems. I am indeed doing all my work on NTSC hardware, but the Aquaricart should work equally well with PAL systems (although I'd love to hear from anyone who discovers otherwise). I'm excited to hear that you might be able to help with the cartridge shells; as I mentioned earlier, the screw-based shell variety is the best for our purposes, so if new shells are to be made, that should be the starting point. If you don't have any samples of that type of shell handy, let me know and I'll gladly send you one. Hi Jay, I have given a screw fit cart to my friend this morning(caught him on the way to work wile I was scraping ice off my car!). As soon as I have some solid info I PM you the results. Thanks again for all your hard work:) Best, Chris