Jeffy Arensmeyer

Tim, I appreciate your apology. I, too, must apologize for letting my temper run amok on you. I wish you the best of luck with Venture II. I've tried hacking a few ROMS myself. And I do mean hacking. Whereas you seem to be a seasoned programmer, I'm just a guy who loves video games and thought it would be cool to customize a few for myself. Games like River Raid and Coke Wins! are easy to graphic hack, but my color changing skills suck. What I'm leading to is the fact that it must be tough taking so much grief over something you started purely for fun and love of the system. If someone picked on the way I did the pitiful amount of programming I've done, I'd tell them to kiss a purple throbber too. Sorry for all of the confusion about the topic. Once again, I apologize. Here's a thought, though. You can always sell your custom games and packages on the first day until they're all gone. That way, no one beats on your hotel door after getting loopy at the free casino bar. ...and if you're planning on doing this, don't tell us until after it's done. Thanx for the apology. And let me know when Hozer produces the game. I'll be there to get one. ò¿ó

First of all, Snider-man, you can rest assured I'll never own or attempt to own that game now. Once again, you expect to come in here and post your whine, but not expect replies. Don't flatter yourself about being the proverbial Santa Claus either. I've much anticipated a Remote Control Sand Crawler way more than anything you can assemble in your musky smelling garage. And if you're "tired of all this", then why do you come back? You know the topic of this thread, so if it's such a mental burden for you, go. I fully respect "homebrewers" as people that give something back to the community. I'm just saying if there were absolutely no way of there being more than 20 hand crafted treasure chest boxes, why come in here and make a big deal about it? Now he wonders why everyone wants one. It looks like a situation that he has soley brought on himself. And to think that collectors (this is a classic collectors site) aren't going to do whatever it takes to get an extremely rare item is just silly. I've got nothing against Hozer at all. It's a matter of two versions being released. And as you can see from this very site, various versions are an important part of playing and collecting. If not for a smart-aleck programmer, I'd probably have bought this game. ò¿ó

My first "fry job" happened with Pitfall! when I accidentally didn't turn the deck on all of the way. Harry was solid black (ninja style) and would sink without warning. After that, I tried every game I had. The only game that had decent results was Commando Raid by U.S. Games. The score would continue to climb while you played. That was a long time ago, though. I'm like you guys though. Frying doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's kinda like saying "What do you see when you hit yourself in the head with a stick?" How about "What sounds do you car make when you drain the oil and drive it?" Typically, the games are barely playable, everything is scrambling, and it's not a valid game so why try to "beat it"? "Frying" is a ding-a-ling's version of the Game Genie, and that's just a cheater's tool in itself. ò¿ó

Sorry. I don't have either of those games. I would like to ask if there's anything else you might like to trade for Qubes however. ò¿ó

Wow. This is a tough crowd. However, I don't think it's just "a few bad apples" that have ruined your vision. Releasing an anticipated sequel in such a limited quantity is going to cause squabbles, without a doubt. I've not seen it, but I'm sure it looks good and would be great to own. I'm a player and collector, so it would be super for me to get one. Offering it in a quantity of only 20 at a very specific location, though, is going to present problems. These factors combined with a good bit of e-advertising done within these forums have escalated the value and worth of the game already. It definitely sounds like your heart and loyalty to the 2600 are in the right place, but to almost e-taunt everyone with the game's release and then not expect to get e-mail requests is almost unreasonable. The real losers are the ones that can't afford to go to CGE but are still as passionate about Atari as the rest of us. I'm sure it's an excellent game, but that still doesn't get me $200 dollars to fly to CGE and hope that I get a copy. That leaves Ebay or private auctions. If the game is in such high demand, sell the carts for $40 each plus shipping and handling, stipulate a 3 month lead time and dump the ROM on AtariAge so people can test it before they buy it. Otherwise, expect an overwhelming demand for such a self-proclaimed rarity. People are people, and to tell them all that you have something that will likely never get will provoke a reaction every time. ò¿ó

The message boards seem to be teaming with knowledge about prototype and unreleased games, so I thought I would enlist your help. There apparently was a Video Game Apptitude Test (VGAT) posted some time ago on www.videogames.com. I missed taking the test , but a friend of mine sent me a link to see the results. Take a look at this question and answer... Multiple Choice 2600 Question I've never heard of Pizza Chef, nor have I ever heard of it being released as a different title. Do anyone here have any insight about this game? Was it released under another name? Was it a proto or a homebrew? Or are these guys just way off base? ò¿ó [ 07-20-2001: Message edited by: Jeffy Arensmeyer ]

No doubt. There are some clunkers out there for the NES (Friday the 13th, Zombie Nation, Hydlide, Bad Dudes, Tiger Heli, etc.), but the 2600 had it's fair share too. How about these for shear frustration; Fire Fighter Tax Avoiders Zaxxon ...and the list goes on. For me, a game only sucks if it looks bad and plays bad. These games looked average at best and played less than bad. Sure, E.T. and Pac-Man were lame representations of what they were supposed to be, but they were fun. I remember going to the record store the day Pac-Man came out and paying $49 for it. It didn't matter. I was one of the first people to have the famous Pac-Man at home. Games can look horrible, but if they play good and you can really get into the game, it becomes a great game, at least for me. ò¿ó

Hmmmmm.... This is AtariAge.com, right? I'm 32 and since 1977, my Atari 2600 has never been in the closet. Shame on you guys for ever shelving the 2600. Even though my 2600 has been "bumped down the line" some, it's the same one I got in '77 and is fully operational. Every thing is intact and still original. When Sky Jinx came out, I did do a little personal modification to the deck however. I cannibalized a joystick and added a 9-pin port onto the back. Then I went to Radio Shack and bought a project box and some switches. Within a day, I had my own "remote" console switches (On/Off, Select, Reset). Sky Jinx was kicking my butt so bad, I got tired of reaching for the Reset switch every time I creamed a tree or balloon. Since '77, it's been available for play. The others have come and been added to my collective, but the 2600 has never been further away than a joystick's cord length. ò¿ó

Sounds like you guys are going to have to trust people if you want them to post high scores. Even with an "encoded capture system" someone could still use DOSCOPY and rig up a high scroe shot with no trouble. It's a fact; Some people would rather spend 30 hours trying to find a better way to cheat rather than spend 5 hours "getting good" at a particular game. As far as limiting it to members with a certain number of posts; that would be unfair. I have very few posts, but I vist every day. Someone could just find the oldest topic and spam the crap out of it until they have 100 posts or 200 posts or 460+ posts. It's no big deal. You don't want to sound like "AtariAge.com is for everyone, except for the people we don't know". It sounds good and sounds like fun. I've participated in an on-line NES tournament before and it was great. NESticle uses a type of replay capture that will record the entire game that you play. You just reopen NESticle, open the ROM of the game and then load the file. It's usually only about 50K and it's a replay of your whole game, kind of like a player piano. You might give that some thought. It would be better than creating a "Certain People Only" sign that you're talking about. ò¿ó

Thanx dude. That's way more information than I expected, but it looks like everyone here is ready to pitch in when someone has a question. This is a very cool site and a very cool forum. Thanx again! ò¿ó

That's it. I bought mine at my local Wal-Mart for $14, but the units have since been reduced to $10 each. The last time I was in there, they only had two left thought. I've not hooked it up yet, but it looks cool. ò¿ó

Since I like to play the games as much as I like to collect them, it's hard to say which is more fun. Part of the thrill of owning a rare cart is finding it somewhere. Ebay takes a lot of the fun out of collecting because it's a gaming buffet. You just have to decide if you can afford the chopped steak or the filet mignon. My most exciting 2600 find was getting Zaxxon at a thrift store for .35¢. Of the reasonably rare games I own, most were purchased when they first came out, like Crazy Climber, Tunnel Runner and Tax Avoiders. I'm still waiting for my day to find a $1 Gas Hog or a .50¢ Video Cube. I think my time is running out on that however. ò¿ó

A very fun game. They just over produced it and it got a bad name. Hopefully NewKidCo can reverse the stigma. ò¿ó

quote: Originally posted by Scott Stilphen: The new logo should be a pic of the gal from E3 holding an Atari water bottle.... Got'cha covered on that one. We hope to have all of our E3 photos (over 400 total) posted on our site within a week. ò¿ó

I've just found you guys, so hopefully I'll be hangin' around some. The reason I started this topic is because I've got a few questions about the cartridge Space Robot. I recently won this one... Ebay Space Robot #1 But I found this one shortly after... Ebay Space Robot #2 Neither is listed on the rarity guide, so I thought I would post here in hopes of an answer. What's the difference between the two cartridges? Why are the labels different if they are the same game? Is one more rare than the other or are they about the same? Is $11 total too much to pay for the first one? Is the second one worth bidding on too? Thanx for your help. ò¿ó ...ubb code...my enemy... [ 06-08-2001: Message edited by: Jeffy Arensmeyer ]