Major_Tom_coming_home

I'm guessing they were 'riding the bear' - making concessions to a much larger and more powerful company to maintain an important business relationship. Microsoft did this for a while with IBM in the early days of the PC by developing OS/2 for IBM at the same time they were developing Windows. Publicly they said OS/2 was the real next generation operating system and was Windows on steroids. Of course, Microsoft soon got to the point where they didn't feel they needed IBM anymore and most people have never heard of OS/2.

I freely admit absolutely nothing. I started the thread and was enjoying the tangent the thread had taken. No disrespect intended.

I am wondering if anyone else would consider replacing a factory blue text label with a repro picture label? Ghostbusters is the only Activision game I have with the blue text label but I would love to replace it with the black label that has the ghostbuster's logo. (Note: This isn't to 'increase' the value or re-sell, just for my collection and I'd be fine if it was 'Atari Age' branded.)

The thing I like about collecting for the VCS is that as a general rule, the good games are pretty much not overly expensive...except for H.E.R.O. Out of what I own: 1. Spider Fighter 2. Keystone Kapers 3. Pitfall 4. Pitfall II 5. Crackpots 6. Pressure Cooker 7. Cosmic Commuter 8. Megamania 9. Stampede 10 River Raid

My favorite arcade game of all time is Gyruss, and while watching youtube videos comparing the different versions of the game (Arcade, Atari 2600, NES, etc.) I started wondering if there was a back story to the game. The game takes place within our solar system, and there must be a reason you are starting at the outer part of the solar system and heading towards the earth. I was feeling especially creative at the time so I came up with my own back story. I wanted it to be brief, coherent, but over-the-top and slightly cornball in the same way 1980s space game type stories tended to be. I also posted this to youtube, but I don't think many people are watching Gyruss video's. Here's what I wrote: "Earth is under attack!!! The invaders came without warning, attacked without provocation, and their only terms are the utter destruction of human kind! A few small scout ships are all that escaped the destruction of Earth's once proud space fleet. You are now on a desperate mission to save humanity! A friendly alien scientist in the Centauri Sector has given you a small device that is capable of wiping out the invaders, but only if you can get it to Earth. As you approach the outer planets of earth's solar system, you realize the enemy has discovered your plan! Wave upon wave of enemy ships appear on your radar as you drop out of warp to fight them! The last of earth's planetary defenses are beginning fail. All of humanity is counting on you. You must get through!"

Behold, Stella in her FULL GLORY

This is purely opinion and not everyone would agree, but I think Solaris actually looks better than any of the intellivision space games and the later VCS games like jungle hunt could graphically match the intv. Stella can do amazing things in the hands of a programmer that knows her ways. I mean, Solaris can almost pass for an NES game!!!

I can also claim bing too little, and saw them on youtube as well. Plus my dad had made a few modifications to our cable television box and our TV was usually tuned to HBO or Showtime. Ah, the good old days of everybody easily cracking open the cable box and stealing all of the pay channels...

I actually do remember this, at least from the early or mid 1980s. The Sears Catalog was basically the modern equivalent of Amazon.com and they sold everything. Kenmore, Craftsman, Diehard, and other sears brands were very popular, respected, and stood for quality. You could never go wrong buying tools, electronics, housewares, or anything else from Sears. The salespeople knew their shit and provided great service to rightfully earn their commissions. Sadly, that kind of business plan no longer works and the shit show that is K-Mart will eventually destroy all that remains of that once proud and mighty company.

I did the same kind of thing. As a kid I bought a used copy of Zaxxon at a consignment shop that turned out to be Colecovision. They let me swap it for an Atari game but the respective cartridges for Atari and Colecovision were and still are nearly identical. Aside from the label, which didn't always make things very clear if you weren't "in the know".,the only physical difference is the Coleco cartridge connectors are a tiny bit wider - just enough so that you cannot put a Coleco game into an Atari.

"Target games, tank games, space war games..." I love how back then, companies like Atari or Intellivision would brag about how they had space games, sports games, tank games etc. but wouldn't necessarily mention actual titles. I specifically remember intellivsion doing this in a commercial with 'space games'. It's funny to me how the actual titles being offered wasn't considered important, just the fact that "we have lots of generic space games you can play that may or may not be any good" LOL.

I'm a new collector and for me it's $15 for video cube. Not terrible but meh for me. I knew that was a decent price so I bit on it. For Atari, Activision, and Imagic I'm willing to spend a bit more freely since I consider them the big three and would like to get reasonably close to getting all of their titles (that don't cost an arm and a leg anyway). There's no way I'd personally drop Quadrun or Pepsi Invaders money on a cartridge, and I won't lose any sleep about 'missing' them either.

Warning - I only played most of these as a kid and may be looking through rose colored glasses. Of what I have played Dungeons of Daggorath is what I consider to be the best game on the system. Be aware that it's not a game that can be played without reading the manual or some sort of FAQ to learn the controls and mechanics. It has some odd mechanics and probably isn't for anyone. Keyboard control only and you type in commands (<m>ove, <A>ttack <L>eft etc...) For me it's also the scariest game of all time because of the minimalism, sound effects, heartbeat, torches which burn out, and getting jumped by powerful monsters etc. it's a very memorable experience to say the least. The only problem was it was so 'scary' me and my friend were often to afraid to play it. A ( I also played it as an adult. It's archaic and obtuse, but these elements give it a ton of atmosphere like no other game ever made and I think it holds up). Temple of Rom - Kind of like Pitfall in a huge overhead view maze like world and you have a laser. Like pitfall I don't think it can be 'beaten'. Unique and memorable A- ( I also played it as an adult and it holds up) Starblaze - very good space shooter / strategy, a bit like Defender with a little strategy thrown in. B Downland - Sorta like Donkey Kong. Your Character looks a lot like Mario. Freaking hard and unforgiving but good. B Spidercide - Think blasting spiders while they are building a Tholian web around you. Enjoyable enough. B- Microbes - Decent asteroid clone with interesting two player mechanic. Very simple game. Not great but not bad. Very good control for your ship C+ Color Baseball - If you would like to play Baseball on your coco it's not bad. C+ Androne - First person shooter meets Bezerk. Meh. You are in a multi floor endless maze (I think it's endless anyway) C Slay the Nereis - Shameless centipede rip off, but not a bad one. If you like centipede you'll like this. I don't like centipede so I give it a C Pyramid - This was a game that came on cassette instead of a cartridge. Think stripped down Zork in Egypt. Text only. I say don't bother with this one unless you enjoy interactive fiction games D-

I have a question for anyone who can remember buying or shopping for Atari cartridges in the early years: How did you know that games like 'Pong Sports (Sears)' and 'Video Olympics (Atari)' were actually the same game with different titles? Was the assumption that if you bought a Sears Tele-games branded VCS you would only get your games from Sears? Was it even common knowledge that 'Tele-games' and 'Atari' was the same thing, or were they trying to create an illusion that they were different consoles? By the standards of today, just having a separately branded version of your console exclusive to a single retailer would be odd, but releasing games with multiple titles seems like a recipe for huge amounts of confusion, crying kids, and pissed of parents. It seems like the only 'benefit' would be for collectors 35 years later who appreciate the challenge of collecting variants. Thanks!

That is very good information and I will check it out on the forums, thank you very much. It seems like I picked a good time to start collecting for Atari. I've also seen that Atari was big in Brazil, and for what its worth a member of my immediate family happens to be fluent in Portuguese.

So, the background information is that I started collecting VCS about a month ago and I've been both buying and lurking on Ebay. I'm starting to get an idea of what many of the games usually sell for and I can usually tell what is a good price and what isn't. One tool I have used to familiarize myself is the rarity database, which I consult for titles I am still unfamiliar with. The strange thing is that certain games seem to be extremely scattershot when it comes to what they sell for. Yesterday I snagged a NIB NTSC 'Xenophobe' from an established USA based seller with great feedback history for $19 shipped. That seems to be a good deal and I have no regrets, but for a rarity 7 game an NIB copy doesn't seem to be too hard to find for under $25 from what I can see on Ebay past sales. I noticed the same for 'Off the Wall' which is rarity '5'. I got an NIB copy from the same seller for $14 shipped but it seems like NIB copies can be had for under $20. On the other hand, Video Cube is also rarity 7 but CIB goes for a small fortune. What I'm wondering is: Does the rarity of a game and it's value have only a weak correlation? Alternatively, is it possible piles of certain games have been recently discovered in the corner of an old warehouse causing a sudden glut? Maybe the Atari market is just very cold at the moment? It would be cool if I made the deal of a century, but my spidey senses tell me this probably isn't the case. I'm a collector only and not a reseller so this is a great situation for me, but I'm wondering if more experienced collector could shed some light on this? Thanks much!!!

Please excuse me for digging up an old thread but I just had a thought on this topic I'd like to share: I have to hard data, but my theory is that in the beginning of the VCS' life when the company was developer oriented, costs to produce a game probably wan't the highest concern as long as the programmers were productive and could make good games in a reasonable amount of time. The programmers were all self motivated and worked very had. If it took 6 months to produce a game that was considered 'good' and 'profitable', that was all the mattered. When Space Invaders is released the company becomes a cash cow, everyone is happy, and the programmers are given lots of creative freedom and games aren't released until they are polished. Fast forward to the Ray Kassar error. Ray is brought in by Warner for the sole purpose of making lots of money. Ray has never played a videogame, doesn't know a good game from a bad game, and has nothing but disdain for the people actually playing Atari games - they are just a bunch of dumb kids, right? Programmers are now being pushed to make as many games as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. It doesn't matter if the games are actually good. In Ray's mind, he can take a shit in an Atari box and the kiddies will buy it. The programmers still care about the games themselves, but managers do not. They just want to increase short term profit and nothing else. Eventually, the quest for short term profit catches up to Atari. They won't negotiate with their best programmers and they leave. Management is not interested in developing new consoles at first, and when they do the quest for short term profits leads to problems with the 5200 controllers. The controllers are just another pile of shit in an Atari box, and producing games for the 5200 is not a priority due to sales and there is no long term plan. Management have gold parachutes and perform some insider trading to make even more money. The locusts move on, Atari is broken up after the warner sale, and the rest is history. Lost story short, the cost to produce a game becomes less and less because volume and short term profit matters while quality does not. This will be a vicious cycle - the lower the cost to make the game, the more the company is hurt.

I like games that require finesse more so than fast reflexes. The ones that immediately come to mind are Gravitar, Lander, Dragster, Pinball, etc.

I keep an old TV around for that very reason. The one I use now was made in 1987 and is sweet with wood grain, but I'm looking for an even older one that uses dials instead of buttons.

To me the Retron really only makes sense as an NES replacement since that console tends to be unreliable and top loaders are expensive. Thankfully, used Ataris are fairly cheap and reliable. I personally would not buy a Retron 5 because it is really only an emulator that can read cartridges. Other folks are happy with that and it's fine for them, but it's not for me. For me it's all or nothing. The choices are to play on original hardware or aquire the ROMs and play them with the best emulation system available - a PC with a controller adapter for the system being emulated.

Thanks!

I would agree. Maybe across the top of the cartridge it could say 'Atari Age' instead of 'Activision' while still using the 'Activision' font. That would be obvious enough to keep people honest but would still match nicely with the original labels. Depending on the cost I might order labels for every Activision game so I will have the correct label as I add to my collection, and that way they would all be consistent.

You sound like a person that has done this more than a few times. I'll use your method - Thanks for the suggestion!

My 5200 with 3 broken controllers and no functional ones agrees with you whole heartedly.

'Best and worse' can mean different things to different people. For me, the NES is actually the 'worst' console of all time. I feel it's disingenuous for me at the personal level to judge consoles I've never owned or played based on what others say. My NES was awesome when it came to having great games, great controllers, and an initial great experience. After a few years, however, my NES stopped working correctly (which most of them eventually did) due to the cartridge connector getting worn and dirty. This meant that I had a great console that soon became unplayable and effectively bricked. As a kid at the time I didn't know why it stopped working, There was no internet to order parts or get help from, the warranty was expired, I didn't know where or if it could be repaired, and my parents didn't really give two shits about my Nintendo not working. I could save and get a new one or go without. 20+ years later I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about the NES and I only play NES via emulation, virtual console, etc . I can't come out and say the NES raped my childhood, but it did abuse it long and hard.