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I replaced the power supply once I found one on eBay. The original was someone's dog's snack. The cord was chewed at the brick but I managed to solder it together to test it. Unfortunately that didn't work. The replacement power supply (looks brand new) didn't change anything, either. I was really hoping that was the problem. As for a generic power supply, isn't the plug at the back of the CV proprietary? Also, why are there four pins? Oh yeah, I also cleaned the dried grease from the switch. This tells me something in the CV itself (voltage regulator or something?) is at fault. Hmmm...ideas? I sure would hate to cannibalize an ADAM for this. Then I would have an ADAM and would be compelled to fix it . - Jason

Not to bring down the morale of any sellers that try to reel in buyers with unfounded adjectives but... Is the word "rare" even a big selling point for people? How many of us actually type "rare" in the search box when looking for something? If you're looking for a game and you see it on eBay, wouldn't you bid on it anyway? Do people actually bid on an item just because it says "rare"? If you want the game, you'll bid on it regardless. If you're a collector and you just want to put it under glass then you probably already know how common it is. - Jason

Yeah, my Colecovision has the "bad video RAM chip(s)" problem. I've owned it for about 6 months now...keep collecting games for it....would love to play 'em. Anyone know where I can find replacement chips? I've scoured the net and eBay and found a couple auctions for tubes of the things but they ended around $50(!). Thanks for any tips. - Jason

Very nice work! I was going to suggest having the other fish change directions but I see you already thought of it. I would also see about having them change speed. Having a fish speed up as you're chasing it will certainly raise the excitement. Conversely, having a bigger fish speed up while chasing you will also heat things up. I think this would help justify the aformentioned speed boost. My name ideas... Fishtastic (a conglomeration of 'fish sticks', 'taste', and 'fantastic' ) Fishtactic (Fish + tactic, of course) - Jason

I was replaying this game recently and yes, Nightmare is about as frustrating as they come. After many irritating attempts I finally beat him only to have the X Core waste me. Graah! Hulk smash! Not to be done in by a program, I tried again and just quickly and repeatedly hosed him with missiles: first in the glowing thing then in the face while on the ladder. The key is to shoot off missiles as fast as your finger (or thumb) can hit the B button. The rest of the game felt like a cake walk compared to that. - Jason

Oh, wow. Maybe I have these stores mixed up. The pastry one was in a small plaza and it was a small store (I do remember a glass case with classic consoles) and the modded X-Box store was larger and on a street corner (I can't remember the street name). Now that I think of it I do remember a pawn shop. Upon seeing bars in the window we just kept on driving by... Memory...hazy...need...coffee... ...with a pastry... - Jason

I'm going to do my best Donald Sutherland impression at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers": tilts head back slightly, eyes bug out, lifts arm, points finger at SwedenLynxer, opens mouth real wide and... *screeeeech!* Warbirds was the sole reason I wanted a Lynx. When I first saw the Lynx insert in EGM #28 I had to have it. I like biplane games and was impressed by the polygon graphics. When I finally got the Lynx II w/Warbirds (a month later for X-mas) I wasn't disappointed. The feeling of nose-diving while hearing your motor spin up to max RPMs was unmatched by any other console game I had at the time. And refueling your plane on the ground while getting shot at and wondering if you were going to make it off the ground alive was truly exciting. Using the clouds for cover then popping out and having a bogey in your sights was a pleasure to behold. The game was like the biplane variation of Combat taken to 11. I love it! I'm tellin' ya, that EGM insert absolutely sold me on the Lynx. I still enjoy it to this day. As for my own list of overrated games...Off the top of my head I would say... Mario Party (I'd rather watch traffic than press 'A' every few minutes to watch a random outcome unfold before my eyes) Resident Evil (so much build up only to have your character walk into a room and have a zombie lunge at you, grab you, and bite you to death; if only my knife was 18 feet longer...) Can't think of any more at the moment. - Jason

Ah, yes, the man with the custom M-16. I remember getting a headache from the grey 3-D rat mazes. Great game otherwise. Good music and nice variety of game play. In no particular order... Bionic Commando Legend of Zelda Super Mario Bros. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Contra Gauntlet Metroid R.C. Pro-Am Wizards&Warriors - Jason

You ate free pastries from a pawn shop? You're braver than I thought... LOL...Free food is good food! Well, stale food in this case. They were day-olds donated from a neighboring store. Had they been sitting on a paper plate on the counter with crumbs broken off, dirty napkins nearby, flies buzzing around and the proprieter not far breathing heavily upon them I would have politely declined. - Jason

This is sad news indeed. When we lived in Washington my fiancée and I went to Boise for a conference and, naurally, had to check out all of the video game shops. We happened upon the VG Trading Post. The guy there was really friendly and he had a nice shop. My fiancée played Bubble Bobble on their modded X-Box. I think we ended up buying a Kirby game for SNES. We also checked out the A-1 place. Didn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling there but we did get free pastries. - Jason

I use a BBEdit-created plain text file. At the top I list all systems I own by company in no particular order. For each system I tab over and enter the number of games I own for that system. Below the systems list I calculate the grand total number of games. Then I have a mini-legend explaining what "i", "o", and "b" stand for (instructions, overlay, and box, incidentally). Then there's the meat of the list: the games! all listed by system with a couple carriage returns between each system group. Preceding each game I enter "i", "o", and "b" as appropriate and tab over once for the game name. I keep separate lists for "wants", "peripherals , accessories & controllers", and "for sale/trade". I attempted using a spreadsheet but it became tedious to maintain two lists and since I prefer the simplicity and portability of plain text... - Jason

It's tough picking just 10. Now I have to play my remaining 118 games just so they won't feel left out . 1. Midnight Magic 2. River Raid 3. Berzerk 4. Space Invaders 5. Asteroids 6. Solaris 7. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 8. Kaboom! 9. Super Breakout 10. Dragster - Jason

You're very welcome . - Jason

*raises hand* I think I may be the only one here using DASM on a pre-OS X Mac. Anyway, to clarify its usage (just for completion's sake), you need Apple's MPW (Macintosh Programmer's Workshop) to run DASM for Classic Mac OS. MPW is a command-line program and is just the thing for using DASM, DiStella, MakeWav and whatever other tools are in it's "Tools" folder. I put together a web site a while back that is a work in progress but should be enough to get anybody started with Stella development on a pre-OS X Mac. On my site I've included the link to Apple's FTP site for downloading MPW (~1.6 MB IIRC). http://home.earthlink.net/~jjrein/stella/ I don't recommend double-clicking the DASM icon to run DASM. That'll just open MPW (if you have it) and set the working directory to the "Tools" folder (which is where DASM should be placed, incidentally). You'd then have to change the working directory to your Stella folder (which is an avoidable step). Creating a blank MPW file (I call mine "Start MPW") and placing it in your Stella folder is what I recommend. Simply double-click that file and MPW will fire up and set the working directory to your Stella folder. You can type commands in that window or return to MPW's "Worksheet" window and do it there. Hope that helps! - Jason

My quick 'n' dirty rating system (IMHO, of course)... Heart of the Alien (two great games in one!) Spider-Man (a bit better than the Genesis version) Batman Returns (ditto) Heimdall (quirky isometric puzzle adventure) Sonic CD The Terminator (Contra-style action, good music) Dragon's Lair Ecco the Dolphin Silpheed Adventures of Willy Beamish (long load times, glitchy graphics) Dracula (great graphics, cool music, so-so control, devolved game play) Sewer Shark (annoying FMV, OK gameplay, music by Mark Mothersbaugh ) Rage in the Cage (Gen/SNES game + voices and pointless FMV clips) Mortal Kombat (load times kill this one) Rebel Assault (horrible control, grainy graphics, disappointing) Revengers of Vengeance (picked it up out of curiosity, don't waste your money) Hope that helps. - Jason

Currently... 25 GameCube 21 PS2 0 Xbox I've pretty much stuck to my personal law of "Don't pay more than ~$20 for any game." hence the lower count. Of course, that law was once broken with the Zelda:Windwaker pre-order deal. And Four Swords doesn't seem to be dropping in price fast enough... - Jason

Been there, done that. Sold it. The game's BORING. I felt the same way about Harmony of Dissonance. The core gameplay is essentially: 1) enter a big room 2) kill a bunch of monsters that you've seen before if you've ever played a Castlevania game 3) pick up an item here and there 4) kill an extremely easy boss 5) rinse and repeat. - Jason

I never discovered the Shield Rod trick on my own, it took a FAQ for that little combo I probably never would have tried on my own. I guess it's good for those who want to complete all 216% of the map (or whatever % it is) and don't want to bother too much with the monsters. Great game. My first impression wasn't so hot with that horrible, horrible, over-the-top voice acting. The cheesy guitar riff music in one of the stages is pretty lame too. The clumsy inventory and no way to drop items kinda sucks too. Beyond that this game is a work of art and has some nice usage of certain graphical programming techniques (rotating graphics for use in monster sprites, a dash of 3-D for background scenery, transluceny, etc.). - Jason

Just picked up Donkey Kong for the Game Boy. Highly recommended! I have the old EGM where they gave it "Game of the Month" and I can see why. It's arcade DK plus a continuation with more levels, enemies, and moves and junk and stuff. After every 4th level you battle DK only to have him run off with Pauline(?) yet again. Good stuff, looks great on Super Game Boy and it tastes great on a cracker! To get back on topic... The games on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 that I'd want to play I already own on the Lynx. If I were to purchase this comp I think my Lynx would get jealous. - Jason

I finally beat MP a couple weeks or so ago. Yeah, don't bother with the fission metroids. Avoid them as best as you can and head directly to the door to MP. All they'll do is wear you down and you'll need all of your energy tanks for Prime. I can't wait for MP2 although I probably won't buy it right away (as tempted as I'll be). I'm still saving my rupees for Zelda Four Swords... - Jason

Don't need it. If it had a cartridge slot and Atarfogrames rekindled development for the 2600 and 7800 and perhaps encouraged the homebrewers here monetarily to support the thing we could have new old-school. That would be good. I would buy one. We could have "official" Atari-branded versions of the homebrews we all know and love and the homebrewers might actually be making some money off it. - Jason

Here's how I do it: GameCube + Game Boy Player + e-Reader + Donkey Kong e-Reader cards = DK on the big screen! - Jason

I haven't heard too many good things about this comp. I bought the first one for my GC and it was okay although I hate the interface and the grating noise it makes after you select a game and it prompts "Press Start" after loading. With the second compilation, all the games I would want to play I already own for my Lynx. Time to vent: I'm getting burnt out on "classic games for console 'X'". Are they going to rehash these comps with every system that comes out? I see Atarfogrames has an 'Atari Anthology' ready for release with (you guessed it) classic arcade games (*cough* Atari Anniversary Edition Redux with a couple extra games *cough*) and a bunch of 2600 titles (some of which are on the Flashback). Yes folks, buy it again for the umpteenth time! Step right up! Color me unimpressed with playing emulated games on newer systems. - Jason

Apple IIgs "Woz" Edition ($10 at a yard sale!) That's all I've got for old 'puters. I guess my Performa 6116CD (ca. 1996) could be considered a classic in "computer years" . - Jason

Then: Empire Strikes Back (followed by Space Invaders, Combat, and E.T.) Now: Midnight Magic (followed by Pitfall II and Dragster) - Jason