Catsmasher

I started out with a 2600 as a way of reliving my youth. I then figured I could get each of the Atari consoles - that would be neat and not cost too much or take up too much room. Or so I told myself. That was about five years ago. Now I have over 40 consoles and handhelds including a 3D0, a Famicom, a new in box Atari XEGS, an original Odyssey that has been autographed by Ralph Baer, an Intellivision with Intellivoice, Saturn, Dreamcast, Wonderswan, a working Microvision, a Vectrex, a pong, and on and on. I don't have a lot of games, just ones i really want to play with each system - I am all about the history and the systems. Some systems, I have dozens of games - others only a few. Believe it or not, I am very patient and wait for good deals. I got the complete Odyssey system on ebay for less than $100. The seller said it didn't work. When I opened it up, the battery holder had never been hooked to the board. I plugged it in and voila! It worked for the first time in 40 years, My Vectrex was a flea market find for $40. Now, I am leaning toward the old computers. I have a commodore 64 that a friend gave me and I am having fun with that. Plans are for building bridges - not hobbies. Just keep it fresh and have fun!

you can still pick them up at garage sales and on craigslist for $10-$25. So they are just old. When the prices start creeping back up and you have to fight people on ebay to get a decent deal -then it will be retro.

I will really show my age. It was 1978 (I didn't even have a 2600 yet), I was 15 yrs old and I wanted to spend my savings on an Ohio Scientific Challenger kit. The files were on cassette tape and it hooked to a tv. But it could be programmed in basic and you could buy games like the Star Trek and Adventure text games. It was the cheapest computer at the time (I think it was $499). My Dad said "No Way!". "Computers are a fad and they don't do anything. I won't let you waste your money."

I did not have to root the phone. I installed the emulators just like any other app off of the marketplace or slideme sites. Then I downloaded the roms onto my laptop, plugged the phone into the laptop and copied the roms onto the SD card into folders. If I can figure it out, anyone can

Why? I use mine as a phone, email, text messaging, surf the web, facebook, digital camera and video recorder, run other android apps (like ebay, banking, fandango, pandora, maps, etc), emulation and game apps that can be installed directly. I don't see any reason to carry anything else.

My rules are: Dont bid if it is a stock photo. Dont bid if the seller feedback is not 100% Dont bid if the seller doesnt have a lot of feedback - like over 500 or so. I got excited and violated my own rules. I have been using ebay since 1998. I used to be impressed how well it worked and how seldom I had issues. Now I am dissapointed how often I have problems. Times change....

I recently ordered a Dreamcast game off of ebay. It was listed as 'good used' condition and seller indicated free shipping in a USPS flat rate box. Well when the game showed up, it was wrapped in an old paper sack and duct tape, the case was badly broken, and the manual and inserts were badly water damaged. The wrapping paper was fine and there were no plastic bits in the wrapper, so it had to have been in that condition when it was shipped. I knew then that I should not have violated one of my cardinal ebay rules = Never buy an item that uses a stock photo instead of an actual photo. The seller did have a 100% feedback rating, but I did not realize that it was mainly as a buyer - they had sold very few items. Well I contacted the seller and insisted on a full refund, including the return shipping. They replied by denying that the game was in that condition when it was shipped, and indicated that it was not their policy to pay for return shipping. Then they even threatened to report ME to ebay for insisting on getting reimbursed for return shipping. I have returned several items from ebay (and amazon) and never had an issue with return shipping as long as I contacted the seller first. Why should I have to pay ANYTHING because someone misrepresented the condition of an item. After a few emails, it was apparent that this seller was OK with denying what they had done and questioning my honesty - so I decided to eat the cost of the game and leave negative feedback I also suggested the seller learn a little bit about customer service. It seems like this is happening more and more often on ebay these days. Am I the only one who has noticed this?

I will look for a multi cart. That makes even more sense now that repro overlays are available. There are instructions on the web for converting a Genesis or PS1 controller to work with the vectrex. It is not hard to do and it works really well. Given the prices for actual controllers, it is worth the effort.

Roger Wilco the space janitor. "Thats right, a janitor."

I liked the line "I am not a nerd, I am a gaming enthusiast." Or somethimg like that. Bob's Burgers rocks!

Go after the Vectrex. That would be the real find!

I do actually own one. I bought it off ebay for $12. I then bought three games still sealed in the original blister packages. I played with it for a few minutes and decided to leave the games sealed. It is in my collection, but I dont see myself ever playing it, and I sure would never go to the trouble of downloading an emulator fot it. Hey that is what makes this hobby so cool, there is something for everyone. Knock yourself out. I was just joking around.

Creating a game.com emulator would be like restoring a yugo. You can do it, but why?

I recharge every night. No problems so far. Like a typical smart phone.

Looks like it would be a gamble. You could buy a nice used Genesis for less, and games all day long for $1-$2.

Got it new at the verizon store. Had a rebate. Am running Ataroid, Nesoid, SNesoid, and GBCoid now and they work great. Just download, install and run like any other app. I download the emus from the marketplace (playstore), and SlideME. The roms i get off the in internet and then put them on the sdcard in sep directories.

My Yinlips really looked good on the website and some youtube videos - then when I got it, it didn't work worth a hoot. Battery life stunk too - I wouldn't be able to travel with it. Consistent quality is an issue with these types or products so YMMV. If you go that way - Hope your experience is better than mine was.

Those links look just like my Yinlips system I bought a couple months ago. Likely from the same factory. I do not recommend them. I had to either buy one from a Chinese importer - with a high risk it would take months to get, if at all - or from someone off of ebay (which I did), No warranty. And they don't work very well. Touch screen sucks and gets worse over time, wifi keeps disconnecting during downloads, and you have to re-root the system to do anything to it. These look like the PSP or Vita, but looks is all they have in common - they are cheap crap. I was thinking about selling mine - but didn't think I could live with the guilt of sticking someone with that turd. At least I bought my Dingoo from ThinkGeek. They exchanged it due to a cosmetic defect, and it did what it advertised (pretty well).

Posted in another thread - but bumped up to get others opinions... I like the idea of handheld emulation, but have struggled finding a decent device - until now. I own a Dingoo that I have been using for about 3 years and also one of the new Yinlips that I have owned for about two months. They are each OK, but not great. The Dingoo screen is too darn small and it has issues with SNES and N64 performance - it just isn't there. My Dingoo seem to love to lockup. I am constantly sticking a toothpick in the reset hole. The Yinlips seems to have enough power, but it is a pain to use, the touchscreen sucks, the wifi kept dropping out like it had noooo antenna which makes it necessary to download aps and games onto a microsd card and side lode them onto the device, and the battery life is horrible (at least on mine). The Yinlips is a basically pretty cheap piece of Chinese crap. A week ago I went into the Verizon store to upgrade my old phone and saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play phone. Instead of a keyboard it opens to reveal a gaming control pad. Game over! I now have a brand new android smart phone that is also a handheld gaming device that is stable, fast, made with quality, and has a warranty. I can download emulator apps that work well without having to go through all the rooting or Dingux crap. It also provides newer games made just for it - the asphalt 6 game rocks. I have installed Atarioid, Nesoid, and Snesoid and all seem to work smoothly with no problems. This is what I have been looking for all along!!! With a two year plan and rebate it was even way cheaper than a Dingoo, Cannoo or Yinlips. Without a plan and the rebate, I think it was about $150 - comparable to a Yinlips. Hey - I needed a phone anyway. Why not get one that lets me play Mario Cart, Earthworm Jim, Crash Bandicoot, Berzerk, and all my other favorites. The only downside is that there is no 'video out' so you cant hook it up to a tv or monitor. But that is the only downside I have found so far. Check it out. There are also a lot of videos on you tube about it as well. Finally - the more gamers that get this phone, the better chance Sony will stick with it and other emulators and dedicated games will be developed for it. Anyone else own this phone? What do you think? http://www.knowyourm...powerhouse.html

My $.02 I own a Dingoo that I have been using for about 3 years and one of the new Yinlips that I have owned for about two months. They are each OK, but not great. The Dingoo screen is too darn small and it has issues with SNES and N64 performance - it just isn't there. The Yinlips seems to have enough power, but it is a pain to use, the touchscreen sucks, the wifi kept dropping out like it had noooo antenna and the battery life is horrible (at least on mine). A week ago I went into the Verizon store to upgrade my old phone and saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play phone. Instead of a keyboard it opens to reveal a gaming control pad. Game over! I now have a brand new android smart phone that is also a handheld gaming device that is stable, fast, made with quality (not a chinese knockoff piece of crap), and has a warranty. I can download emulator apps that work well without having to go through all the rooting or Dingux crap. It also provides newer games made just for it - the asphalt 6 game rocks. I have installed Atarioid, Nesoid, and Snesoid and all seem to work with no problems. This is what I have been looking for all along!!! With a two year plan it was even cheaper than a Dingoo, Cannoo or Yinlips. Without a plan and the rebate, I think it was about $150 - comparable to a Yinlips. The only downside is that there is no 'video out' so you cant hook it up to a tv or monitor. But that is the only downside I have found so far. Check it out. There are also a lot of videos on you tube about it as well. Finally - the more gamers that get this phone, the better chance Sony will stick with it and others will develop games for it. I guess that is all in way of saying "I recommend that you look into the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone." http://www.knowyourm...powerhouse.html See image in next reply Cat

What the heck is this? Is it even a console? It is the first hand held video game with interchangeable cartridges - but they are not "really" cartridges, more like the whole front of the system. The resolution was one-color and a whopping 16x16 pixels. Gotta start somewhere. Great fun back in 1979! http://en.wikipedia....iki/Microvision It was designed by the same guy who designed the Vectrex.

Yuck. Who has time to make this junk - or watch this junk. From what I can tell - Venus Spa has two whole fans. If it was a real spa - it would be bankrupt. You might make money one way - People could pay the girls to put their clothes back on and stop talking. I know the economy is bad, but get a job cleaning bathrooms or go pick up aluminum cans...

When you say ALL... do you mean "two"? Pretty much every Nintendo system other than the NES and SNES looked exactly the same across regions. Yeah - those two!

I had a pretty good 2011 - a testiment to patience and diligence. I spotted and picked up a few systems I wasn't sure I would ever have, as I refuse to pay high prices for stuff in my collection. I will pay a 'fair' price, but not a run-up, ebay-driven, unreasonable price. VECTREX - Woo Hoo. After seeing the prices on ebay, I had given up on this one. The only ones I thought were reasonable were "Don't know if it works", "I have no way of testing it" type of auctions. Get real! No way of testing it?! It just plugs into the wall. We all know that is code for 'Doesn't work". Well, I hit one of those local flea markets just for kicks one afternoon and one of the vendors was selling a bunch of old toys. Back in the corner of the booth sat something with a tube screen in it. That always gets my attention so I looked closer and lo and behold it was a Vectrex. He didn't know anything about it, and all the other people there were more interested in old tools and cheap duct tape than video games. I offered him $40 on the conditon that it worked. We plugged it in and it works just fine. Took it home and cleaned it up and now it is the jewel of my collection. My wife and kids are still trying to figure out why I am so excited. Working Microvision - I say "working" because I still have the one I had as a kid, but it sufffers from screen rot. It makes noises, but there is nothing on the sceen. I told my kids that for Christmas I wanted a WORKING microvision. My wife found one on Ebay with several games, paid $15 and her and the kids wrapped it up for me. It works great and came with a bunch of games. All the boxes, all the instructions, etc. Awesome gift. My kids thought it was hilarious that I was so excited about a game with a small, monocolor screen which is basically a bunch of dots with another dot bouncing around. Original Odyssey - I got some money for Christmas from the in-laws and had decided to go against my principles and buy an Odyssey off of ebay and pay the ridiculous prices that one seller in particular has managed to create for the system (by cornering the market, posting silly 'buy it now' prices, and then the other, few, sellers just follow suit). After reviewing the auctions, I changed my mind. $300 - $700 dollars just didn't sit right with me. So I kept looking. Eventually an auction went up that was not from the usual sellers and it was an actual auction. I bid $130 and won the auction. It is a complete Odyssey in like new condition with all the stuff. Only the top half of the box, but that doesn't bother me since I don't collect boxes. Oh yeah, One of the neighborhood kids gave me a working Commodore 64, boxes, cables, manuals and disk drive for free because his mom told him he had to get rid of it if he wanted a 3DS and he knew I collected game systems. Now I need to add more shelves on the wall and rearrange the Man-Cave! A good year!