CapitanClassic

2024-01-16T19:02:29Z

20 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

Do you agree with me that there would probably be a lot more buzz around this mini system if they had chosen one of the more popular models of the Atari 8 bit family instead of the 400?

No, the 400 was a good choice. Since it is a mini console less than half the size, going with the 400 might even work for people unaware of the membrane PC. Being the first Atari PC means that next Christmas they can release an 800 mini followed by an 800 XL/XE mini if it sells well enough. If people really love their plastic, perhaps also an Atari 410 fake tape deck and 1050 with sd-card reader slot (and fake sd-card micro adapter to 5.25 sleeve).

Agree with @zzip that a fake membrane keyboard is probably easier to manufacture than a bumpy keyboard. Probably makes getting it out of the plastic mold injectors is easier.

I like that MULE is going to be available , but cannot think of many other 4-player games on the system. (George of the Jungle, Thank God It’s Friday, … ?)

2024-01-16T16:35:01Z

8 hours ago, Wayler said:

Everything is a great choice if you are not on Kirk's ignore list. I wonder what his opinion would be if someone listed Race Drivin'?

Someone must like this abomination, so it should count right?

I like it, but only in the arcade with force-feedback, or on the Genesis where it plays decently.

Monday at 04:47 PM

It's fun to look back at old newspapers, or remember back to when Kaybee Toys / Toys r Us was clearance pricing these systems Christmas 1996 for $20 ($39 inflation adjusted), and no one wanted them (the PSX had dropped to $200).

A boxed 32x would be worth about $300 today, where as a boxed PSX is less than $100.

It's too bad the infighting between Sega Japan / USA killed the 32x so soon. It was a quite impressive piece of hardware for 1994, and at only $99 after the price cut the next year, and a handful of killer titles, its a nice system until the publishers started dropping the prices of CD games and passing on the manufacturing savings to the consumers

Monday at 04:11 PM

Jan 8 - 14: Spent a lot of free time setting up the SegaCD partition (@jgkspsx, thanks for the suggestions) of the LegendsFB, so not as much playing as I would like. With the 2600 HSC restarting, got some keyboard play in, as the AFB X is still boxed up somewhere. I prefer a CX40 or a keyboard over a gamepad when playing for a high score.

Android

RB College - 270 min

Spoiler

Finished out 2 seasons. Seasons 9&11 ended the way they normally do. Many of my 4-5 Star players are suspended for horrible grades, and I usually lose the last game of the post season by a couple points. Season 10 was rough though, lost almost all the post season bowl games. For one of those though, I think the computer "cheated," with a Touchdown and then onside kick recovery to make up a 14 point deficit. The new 13th season is going to start out rough, with half the team suspended, a new QB, and only a RB. Did pick up a K though to get a few missing Achievements.

Atari 2600 - (Stella 6.2.1)

Space Invaders HSC - 59 min

Took a while to get back in the groove. I remembered being able to race the aliens to the right and being able to play indefinitely (at least on B-diff with smaller turrets), but didn't remember just being able to hold the button down to auto-fire.

Sega CD - (LegendsFB)

Final Fight CD - 5 min

Time Gal - 30 min. Didn't really "play" this one. Just abused the rewind feature to watch all the death animations and the ending. When I picked up a used SegaCD in 2000 this was one of the games I purchased the system for (loved the FMV, cartoon reflex testers, although the SegaCD is a huge video downgrade from the LaserDisc originals) This one feels like it lacks a lot of death animations (compared to Dragons Lair), with multiple mistakes during a scene usually resulting in the same video. Did particularly like the Cave Man death after the Timestop, choosing to shoot. I had forgotten about it, and it got a chuckle out of me

Monday at 03:58 AM

A new year, a new HSC. Haven't finished the game room yet, but hopefully by the end of the season my real Atari hardware will be up and running. Until then, Stella...although it looks like I need to update it (v6.2.1).
Going to hit the bonus first.
Space Invaders G4(B/B) - 9k+ (Bonus +3)

SpaceInvaders(1983)(CCE)_9295.png.1ad53c9d566f8d9930ea1de4e55bd6b1.png

Saturday at 08:53 PM

6 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

When they bought in is irrelevant to quantifying an entire demographic. The 20+ million people who bought an NES may have needed convincing, but the fact they ever bought in means they had an interest in video games and were the demographic Nintendo was targeting.

Pet Rocks are a hit. It is irrelevant when they bought it. I have a huge invest opportunity in Hula Hoops, Slinky, Lite-Bright, and Teddy Ruxpin.

Saturday at 08:12 PM

Quote

Again, I just feel like shit is being taken in ways I don't intend, and I don't know how to fix that... And I don't know what I did to upset you WAY back when I started posting either, but you seem to have a thing against me.

I mean, idc, it just makes talking about this difficult.

I'm not upset, nothing against you. If it's difficult you could just stop. It's just that your long walls of text have so much misinformation in them that it isn't worth trying to correct each and every one.

It's like your IBM PCs dominated the 80s comments. People tried to explain that no one was buying games for IBM machines, they were business computers. What does their strength throughout their entire existence have to do with those computers as gaming devices between 1983-1986? (There's that linear time thing)

On 1/11/2024 at 10:33 AM, Warboss Gegguz said:

Computer games and console games were both strong in the 80s, it's just more so that (in the US at least) you got 2 very different experiences and kinds of games based on the platform. And that's partially because in the US IBM compatibles and Macs were far more dominant than Commodore or Atari machines throughout their entire existence

Saturday at 07:47 PM

1 hour ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

This whole time my justification for blaming retail, advertisers, and investors more than. consumer disinterest has been "Clearly there was an audience for console video games, because they came back and still exist."

I genuinely don't understand how such a basic fucking observation has been interpreted as me misunderstanding the situation when it is a demonstrable fact.

What is laughable is that you don't understand this thing called linear time. You blame retailers, advertisers, and "investors?" instead of consumers. The problem is consumers weren't buying games developers were making, and developers weren't making games that consumers wanted. It wasn't until time passed from the '83 crash that consumers interest returned to pre-83 levels.

Saturday at 04:12 PM

There just wasn’t as much of a demand for video games in NA between 1983-1986, especially when compared to the demand in 1980-1982.

The hot Christmas gift in 1984 was Transformers. In 1985 it was GI Joe and skateboards. It wasn’t until Nintendo came out with more than just SMB that everyone wanted one. (I would say Christmas 1987, with Punch Out, LoZ, Castlevania, Kid Icarus, Pro Wrestling, Metroid, Wizards and Warriors, etc.)

Saturday at 03:37 AM

22 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

Like I don't think the slow-moving plastic robot made you all suddenly want to play video games after 2 years of not playing video games. Let alone all the teens and people who bought the NES after ROB stopped being included.

23 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

So much shit that is widely discussed and known everywhere else I've been (including with people who lived through the 80s) is being treated like I've just pulled out of my ass because …

… you keep saying things that are laughably wrong. It was t ROB that sold the NES, it was SMB and the games that were completely different than the previous 1-screen arcade games of the early 80s. That’s why we got a glut of so many platformers on the NES. It’s what was popular.

Thursday at 07:56 PM

Other than the packin, SMB / Duck Hunt, much of the NES launch titles weren’t much different than the single screen high-score arcade offerings of Atari (et. al.) before the crash.

NES-Launch-Games.jpg?ssl=1

Pretty much only Kung Fu and Excitebike are remembered and played now, with Wrecking Crew getting the occasional play.

January 11

@KainXavier, but that the myth. No one bitd ever claimed ET and Pacman caused the crash. That's the revisionist history, mythologised by people talking about the history of the crash.

January 11

@KainXavier sorry, you are wrong too. No one in the thread has made these claims, besides @Warboss Gegguz.

No one else said all. Evidence suggests that they’re bad at communicating, since multiple people “misunderstood” them. Perhaps they were using the word literally (in the figurative sense, since literally can now mean literally/(not) literally) though.

Quote

the way it's discussed makes it sound like all CONSUMER interest in video games died

E.T. and Pac-Man were so bad that they caused all gamers and retailers to lose hope in the console market

@Warboss Gegguz just makes extravagant claims without evidence.

January 11

36 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

... I feel like neither of you actually read what I wrote, or at the very least greatly misunderstood what I was saying

Perhaps your bad at communicating.

January 11

the rise in PCs was due to the 1980s Price Wars.
https://paleotronic.com/2019/12/01/the-home-computer-christmas-wars/

1 hour ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

E.T. and Pac-Man were so bad that they caused all gamers and retailers to lose hope in the console market, so they stopped buying and stores stopped selling, which led to Atari going bankrupt and burying a bunch of cartridges in the desert. Then Nintendo came along and with their holy 'Seal of Quality' and the power of the NES restored consumer faith and gaming to the world!"

Without evidence, I am certain this is just a myth. No one in the mainstream press ever claimed this.

January 10

4 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

because again the PC and arcade scene show there was clearly still consumer interest in video games.

2 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

the way it's discussed makes it sound like all CONSUMER interest in video games died (despite that being demonstrably false) rather than an act of businesses and retailers

Stop discussing it that way then. I only hear this straw man being proposed by people who don’t believe in the NA video game crash. It was a fad. A huge percentage of consumers stopped buying console video games and didn’t start buying computer games. Even the arcade’s started dying. Use used to be able to find random arcade machines in grocery stores and every random place (like slot machines in Nevada).

January 8

I’m trying to spend more time playing video games as part of a New Year’s resolution. I figure this might be interesting, as I love data analytics. I don’t have my game room setup, so most games will be played on a Nexus modified Legends FB. I hope to have the game room setup by spring break. Hopefully then I can get back to playing on real hardware.

Android

RB College: 60 min - Working on Y9 now. Finally have a 4.5/5.0 OF/DF. It isn’t really that different from regular Retro Bowl, except that you lose players every 4 years. If you want to build up your OF/DF coordinators, a way to do it on the cheap is to extend their contract for 8-10 years when they are only a half star (costs 1 CR), rather than wait for their contract to expire.

Magnavox Odyssey 2 (LegendsFB)

Figured I should start with the first system I played as a child. Also thought it might be fun to dedicate each week to a single console playing the top 10 games, ending at week 52 around the 5th/6th generation. Spider-Man wasn’t bad, playing very similar to the 2600 version, albeit with more limited graphics. Need to put more time into this console, as I am sure there is some games worth playing.

Spider-Man 9 min

Turtles 6 min

Tutankhamen 6 min

Gameboy Color (LegendsFB)

Mario Golf 570 min - I’ve got to admit I abused the REV feature of the LegendsFB to beat this game. I completed the first 3 tournaments without cheating, but wanted to see the ending, so cheated on the last course (and Peaches Cloud course). I am still missing a few things, since I haven’t played a match game against Mario (not sure if you can play against the other Toadstool characters).

Peach's_Castle_MGGBC.png

I love the interface for the game. Makes sense that Camelot is responsible for this one and my favorite console golf game, Hot Shots Golf/Everyone’s Golf. You can get a pixelized view of the course, fly over, or zoom into the green. Uses the standard 3-click interface, with power shots, approach shots, spin, etc. I don’t think the putting is great, but I liked the EXP and RPG nature of the game (I just wished that was a little more fleshed out.)

Sega Game Gear (LegendsFB)

Was looking for something interesting to play on the GG. Will probably play the 3 Shining Force games on here, but don’t know the best order to play them in.

Buster Fight 7 min - Not a bad fighting game. Felt almost as responsive as Mortal Kombat for GG. Just need to get a moves list to figure out the game.

Captain America and the Avengers 8 min

Crystal Warriors 35 min - It’s no Shining Force, but I could see playing this game to completion.

GG Aleste 7 min

January 8

2 hours ago, Jake Riley said:

The crash didn't really happen because video games became less popular. Rather, it happened because the industry wasn't properly managing things internally, which led to something that's called "retail glut"

That's just different words saying the same thing. Retail glut just means the stores have more inventory than their is customer demand for. When they can't unload the product by Christmas, they need to clear the shelves for other products. Some distributors had deals they would buyback unsold inventory, when millions of dollars is coming back though, some go bankrupt. Then retailers need to make some of their money back, so they firesale them at cost (or below).

That is the crash, regardless of what you call it. It only happened in NA, because NA was a huge percentage of the 1983 video game market, a vast majority of which was controlled by Atari/Time Warner. When they lost billions, the market crashed, because they were the market.

The cause of the crash was due to multiple variables, and some arguments are probably more accurate than others (unlike ET / Pac-Man casued the crash), but it was clear there was a crash.

January 8

37 minutes ago, Slider271 said:

Are we allowed to enter scores we got on the 2600+?

Pretty sure that's a Yes

The HSC allows using real hardware or emulation. As long as your emulator is playing full speed, it shouldn't be an issue (in any case, players posting PAL scores are ranked alongside NTSC, and they often have an advantage of playing 17% slower, unless it's a marathon game 😄 )

January 8

16 minutes ago, ABA180 said:

I might have but I should give it a try just to rule out other options..

There are multiple things to try to attempt a fix for the system. The first thing I would check is flipping the system. Over time the CD drive rails would wear down, flipping it fixes the problem.

The next check I would do would be a dirty lens. Isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip should work, but be careful. The lens is floating on multiple springs and could be damaged or scratched (so really soak that q-tip). Alternatively they make CD cleaners that have brushes you soak in isopropyl alcohol that clean the lens as it spins.

Beyond that there are other fixes, but the 2 above fix the majority of failures.

January 7

Went through some old paperwork from my parents house after cleaning it up, so now I know exactly when I got my NES. May 26, 1989. So a year off my previous estimate.

I'm sure I was ecstatic, but the Genesis was about to be released in a couple months. Although overall, the NES might have been better for that year, with games like SMB 3, Blaster Master, Mega Man 2, Contra, Jackel, Ninja Gaiden, Bionic Commando, RC Pro Am, Super Dodgeball, Rolling Thunder, Punch Out, Lifeforce, Castlevania, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, .... it was already behind the peak of NES hits.

The Genesis would only have Altered Beast, Revenge of Shinobi, Phantasy Star II, Ghouls and Ghosts, Golden Axe, Forgotten Worlds, and Space Harrier II for the first couple years (I know I'm missing Herzog Zwei, Elemental Master, and probably a couple other great games, but bitd I wouldn't have been looking at those). The Genesis wouldn't hit it stride until 1991.

January 7

@ABA180 have you tried flipping the unit upside down and then pressing power on?

January 7

3 hours ago, Glorkbot said:

But is that initial setup cost a truly insurmountable barrier? I don’t really know, but the internet tells me the setup costs for manufacturing a new chip can be as low as a few thousand dollars, if it’s a simple chip. (About the same as the setup costs for a new plastic mold, like for the shell the system comes in.) I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. It would make a big difference if the setup costs were like 3k vs 30k vs a million or something.

I never worked on ASIC quotes myself, but my company did find a bug in our custom chips after production. I remember the cost of a new board spin to correct the silicone die would be in the range of 60k-100k. It would also require us buying 500,000 units at a minimum (I think we needed to order that amount of units to get the chip price below $5-$10.

These were more expensive custom chips capable of video processing, so not some cheaper 8-bit 6502 variant with custom TIA / RIOT chips on the die I would imagine the chip cost for a 6502 ASIC (+bonus TIA/RIOT) would have a sub-$1 price, but the initial cost would still be in the $100,000 range.