Bloodcat

That looks AMAZING. Makes me really want a Lynx now.

Yeah. I have begun a project since I realized I already had about a third of the US released SMS game library, and (in general) most of said library is either relatively cheap, or I have it already, or I can just get the UK/AUS/EU versions and have the game albeit with a different cover or title. If anyone wants to follow me in my mission my project is here: http://masterratings.blogspot.com/ So far I have reviewed 7 games. (Ghost House, Ghostbusters, Black Belt, Vigilante, Enduro Racer, Hang On, and Safari Hunt.) Watch as I try to find reasonably priced copies of bad games like ALF and then spend at least an hour playing the damn thing and trying to review it fairly. Facepalm as I waste good money on a bad Trackball that supports one whole game. That is also bad. Or just comment on Master System fun and give me advice or your own thoughts on the games I have covered! (If I thought there was both a place for it, and time to do it I wouldn't even mind getting a Master System Podcast running if there were good cohosts and the like.) The SMS just doesn't get any respect for some reason.

Games I would want: HERO Time Pilot GORF Any of the MSX ports they could legally (probably not) be allowed to bring over via the fan ports or actual effort. Hardware: HDMI or S Video. Proper DB9 stick compatiblity, even if it had to be a little passthrough so one could use their own Genesis pads. Ideally a controller closer to what the Neo Geo Pocket Color stick was. Clicky microswitch thumbpad with proper buttons. (Turbo would be nice too.) I mean the DINA had a D Pad controller, why not the Mk2? I would pay 10 or so extra bucks for a higher grade unit. Hell, do the Cartridge Port thing the Flashback 2 had!

I picked mine up from TRU today and gave it an hour runthrough on a 32" HDTV (Don't feel like pulling out the Commodore 1084 today. Maybe tomorrow.) I tried out about a half dozen games. Its pretty decent. The controller is kind of blah though. Even a passthrough dongle so I could use my Genesis stick would be ducky. But its not BAD. I mean if it can handle Montezuma's Revenge and I get fairly far it can't be too rough. I'd honestly rather pay 50 for a machine with proper controllers/DB9 plug support and HDMI or at least S Video out options. Hell DVI monitor! But it is a good first step. I obviously have very little need of the Ataris, Intellivision, or Genesis as I have in some legit collection or other most of those games already. Or in some cases the original carts. The Coleco not so much. Sadly unless Activision gets on board HERO will still be a game I have to hunt down.

Will do! However I do need to open up my Trackball and fix one of the buttons. Right side button doesn't like to work properly and it seems as if the rubber feet are hiding the screws. Kind of like how my 800 has a barely working N key and I probably need to pop it open too. (I did shake it out a bit and used some electronics duster in it. Maybe that fixed it so I won't have to open the giant steel beast of steel and MORE STEEL. Sure the 130xe has better composite out, but the 800 has more compatibility, looks cooler, and has much handier command keys. And as I don't have the time, money, or skill to do a total improvement mod on an XEGS as to give it microswitch command easter egg buttons nor magically turn the keyboard into an IBM Model M clickyboss well.. one plays ancient games on the hardware one has, not the one they wished they had.) I am working on a game wishlist for the 800s at this point since I have most of my MUST GETS but not all. A surprising amount are fan mods or 5200 conversions. (Like Gremlins which is amazing but eff playing it on the non working right 5200. The 5200 and 800 sitch is like the Anti Amiga-Genesis. Its the COMPUTER that is funner and easier to use than the console. Except for the single button joystick bits. Course one does get the glory of using paddles for Kaboom, Chicken, and Super Breakout. I guess.)

Wow. That's a BOSS pickup dude! About how much did that run you? A lot of the Something Awful retro game community love the PVMs if they don't go the Commodore 1084 or Sony Trinitron route. (Or the XRGB Mini for folks with fat stacks of cash.) But I need to show off the reasonably priced heat I got for my special machines of specialness. Like 17 bucks for BOUNTY BOB STRIKES BACK WITH MANUAL. Cartridge alone goes for like 50-100 on the Bay most of the time! BBSB seems really good what I got to play of it but the control is MUCH different than Miner 2049er. Like you can somewhat control your jumping now and it is crucial from even the first level! But now there is easier usage of teleporters and even difficulty options to have a more fun game than the original. Donkey Kong is ALL FOUR LEVELS. Plus lots of stuff most DK console ports skip. The graphics are a bit weird but its got the music and animations and all those thingies most versions shortchanged us on. (Just avoid DKJr which is kind of suck on the A800.) Missile Command I only had time to try with the joystick and not the trackball but it is like a mix of the arcade and the Atari 2600 version with it's far more enjoyable single base system. My brain can't get a grip on 3 firebases most of the time. I got like 39K on my third game. I haven't tried Wargames yet but it is one I wanted if nothing else because its a port of the Colecovision game I always wanted to try. Plus its based on a Matthew Broderick film dammit! Just ye gods don't use composite output on an HDTV with the original 800 or the 130XE. It looks so bad. An SVideo output is pretty solid. Not great because of vertical lines and such but plenty playable when you don't want to put the Commodore monitor out.

That's rad! I got like 4-5 books in my lot. Also got DOS 3.0 User Manual, Atari for the Beginning Beginner, The Atari Experience, and Inside Atari Basic. Right now the books I probably want include the ones I posted above. I might actually have an APX game with manual Atarimania doesn't have no less! I have just been so busy as of late with work and other projects and just getting RL stuff done.

Because I am kind of lazy now, I will probably just link to my blog posts whenever I have new worthwhile (ish) Atari 8 bit content. Why reformat my work I say? But I have a new little post to share today, a book review! http://wargamedork.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-corner-retro-computing-why.html Yes indeedy! I have covered an introductory Atari guidebook I got in a nice super cheap lot off ebay. I bought it for a different book but this one was handy and pocket sized, so I burned through it on breaks at work over the holiday weekend. So check out how new computer people might have learned how to use their machines back in Reagan's first term! Quite a change from modern newbie books with their full color and modern techniques I would say! (Except nowadays your modern gadgets try to avoid giving you any manual PERIOD almost requiring everyone to buy them. Or read through shoddy PDF files. Same with games on said doohickeys. Which is also suck.)

Looks very cool. I've never really played Omega Race but this looks neato! Speaking of Vector games I wouldn't mind seeing Space Fury done on the A8s either. I'd say Star Castle as well but Vectrex and a PC remake kind of scratch the itch.

I love the design of the XEGS personally. But the reliability is the problem with it. Just isn't built like the 800 and I have it and a 130xe. It doesn't.. have a USE for me. Now one with Model M keys and maybe microswitch function buttons and whatnot? OH DAMN.

You are quite welcome! I keep slowly plugging away at my blog project when I have the time and desire. (Plus I went cray cray and joined in that RPGCodex project to review basically every major CRPG made. I am covering Ultima 1 and Defender of the Crown. Ultima 1 is finished and I just need time to get through my DOTC review. I have the screenies and have done some kibitzing with the project lead/editor. If anyone here wants to get involved: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?forums/the-crpg-players-handbook.90/ SOMEONE COVER TELENGARD AND THE APSHAI GAMES SO I DON'T HAVE TO!)

Hmm.. going by games I personally own and also comparing em to the same on other platforms here are my picks: Ogre Pac-Man Miner 2049er Yoomp! Pole Position (Datasoft disk) 2 honorable mentions: River Raid Up'n'Down

Some Atari Books and Other Retro Goodness Every now and then I get new Atari 8 bit goodies and sometimes other goodies. Let's show them, and have STORYTIME! For around 20 bucks shipped I got these lovely retro games for PCs. Mostly Windows 9x era or a DOS title in Thunderscape's case. Heavy Geargoes into my Hobby Games Gone Electronic niche, and Quake Mission Pack 1 goes into my Id Games niche. While I need a TON of HGGE, for Id I am getting closer and closer to having them all. 4 more Mission Packs for Quake 1-3, Quake 4, Quake Wars, Rage, Heretic, and Hexen 2 and I should be pretty much complete unless I want every Raven Software game made with Id engines. (Though the Wolfenstein games fit this. Wouldn't mind Blake Stone either. Luckily I already have Shadowcaster which is also an Origin joint.) Suprisingly enough Heavy Gear generally seems to RUN in Windows 7!! I have Compatibility Mode on Windows 95 and it goes. The in case manual is little more than key commands and installation instructions though. And because I have a Glide Wrapper to handle 3DFX Voodoo 3D, I can run it in that mode. Sadly the out of game menus are all graphically glitchy and nigh unviewable in some cases even when I switch to 16 bit color or try 256 color modes. (I have Administrator to Run settings on but for Windows 7 you basically HAVE TO. And some programs run best in the C: drive directory as a folder whilst others would be happiest in Program Files or Program Files (X86). If your programs run oddly try putting it in one of these other locations!) Also being a Win 95 era game the glory of WASD controls isn't there so you have to go through a VERY tedious remapping system in game. Also there doesn't seem to be any other resolution modes but 640 by 480. Oh well. It can go chill on the Win 98 SE rig. It doesn't care that I have a mouse wheel or two extra mouse buttons either which for this game would be VERY useful. Might as well go back to the older rig for this one! But it works so I am a happy *Camper* and it will do. I would prefer having the full manual but it was super cheap and I already have the cluebook. The Quake Mission Pack on the other hand works fine. It installed nicely in Dosbox for Dos Quaking, and with a little bit of Shortcut modifiying: (As seen at: I'm in the start of the second third of the game right now and overall I like this mission pack over the original Quake solo campaign. It is a bit more challenging without being ridiculous, and adds in new monsters like this Gremlin dude who will nick your stuff or do things to dudes you already killed like this elite Knight. Also a pair of energy weapons which are pretty fun and an alternate Grenade Launcher that shoots sticky bombs that explode after like 20 seconds or so unless an enemy gets close then BOOM. Lots of fun level designs in this pack. Sadly this trimester took away all my stuff as Quake is wont to do so I have to regain it all. And even using a new item which summons a random monster to fight for me doesn't help against the big guys. The summoned dog died quickly then I joined the poor murderpooch. I haven't installed Thunderscape yet but its a party RPG SSI tried to get going as a franchise after they lost the D&D license. It.. did not exactly light the world on fire. The game looks cool though. I could have gotten it off of GOG.com for about a third of the six whole US Dollars I paid for it, but I am a big boy who can manage to use Dosbox or an actual DOS rig. And I like having real manuals and disks because I am stupid. But now on to STORYTIME! :neckbeard: Meet the two most helpful members of the DINORINES! They are Blades and Heatwave. They each cost 4 dollars which is less than a proper Iced Latte. I couldn't say no to them joining my collection of Dinorines! I got this faded but reasonably priced Compute!'s First Book of Atari Graphics for like MSRP shipped. It is an old book but I do wish to learn how to program sometime and having another nicely priced book for my Atari 8 bit collection is always welcome. (When I can afford it.) The book is about 250 pages long and has helpful charts like this one showing the various graphics modes available to the Atari 8 bit line and what they do and how much RAM it eats. Some practice and educational programs to type in to learn as you read which is a great way to make words in a book stick into your brain meats. I generally read and forget a lot unless things reinforce it or refresh my memory. If I don't, it falls out of my memories, much like poor Heatwave's head in this picture. It also has an in depth section on the GTIA chip which is like the main graphics chip most of the Atari 8 bit line had outside of the earliest releases of the 400/800 machines. Read some of the text in these pages if you would like and learn how the Atari owns the Apple IIs and even gives the mighty Commodore 64 a run for it's money! (The original chip, the CTIA has a few less graphics modes and only 128 color choices.) Heatwave is excited that we can see if my Atari 800 is a later revision with the GTIA chip. So much so that his dino nose is hiding a GOTO statement. Some of the many wonderful Compute! books you could buy back in the early 80s. On this list I would like the First Book of Robots and Computers, Mapping the Atari, and Machine Language for Beginners. Blades and Heatwave are happy to show my hardcopy Atari books and reference guides! They are so happy they go to talk to the rest of the Dinorines about it so we can all learn Atari programming together and maybe make a list of books to pick up and to keep our eyes opened for! (As opposed to just getting PDFs from Atarimania. Again I am stupid and like owning physical copies.) Sadly the bigger Dinorines just don't care. Slug and Scorn are more interested in spending money on marijuana, hard liquor, and hookers. (They are also awaiting their other teammates who aren't out in stores yet. They are however sober enough to have read spoilers for the movie they barely feature in and know that would be an even worse waste of money than buying old computer games and books. Or toy robots who turn into dinosaurs. As to the other books I kind of am on the hunt for? Atari 130XE Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner Atari for the Beginning Beginner Compute!'s Atari Collection - Volume 1 and Volume 2 Compute!'s Second Book of Atari Graphics Compute!'s First Book of Atari Games How to Program Your Atari in 6502 Machine Language Mapping the Atari - Revised Edition The Second Book of Machine Language Writing Strategy Games on Your Atari (Or pretty much most of the books here: http://www.atarimania.com/documents-atari-400-800-xl-xe-books_1_8.html ) Now these aren't all the books I would like plus of course I would love to have original manuals for all my games and devices but time, money, space, and availability are all major considerations. But.. take the time with your old hardware and LEARN IT. Don't just play games or continually tinker with the hardware because you have some odd idealized idea of how it should operate. Get to know your machine. Don't hoard stuff for it. Expand and ENJOY IT as much as possible. Plus books are awesome and everyone should read more real books.

For 75 dollars and a 30 minutes drive I got a nice Craigslist find: WHAT'S IN THE BOX MAN? WHAAAT'S INN THEEEE BOOOOOOXXX? A lot of mostly pirated disks and a bajillion Ultima 4 player disks made. A couple original programs but not much. Gobs of disks and 3 disk cases would cost around 75 total shipped from ebay so a good deal alone. Dunno if they work but a 1050 Atari floppy drive, a Trash 80 modem bit, some cables, PSUs, and a 410 tape drive. I need time to test em out. And under here? A 48k uncased RAM expanded Atari 800 in very good condition! Reinforced with a layer of steel! And yet another layer.... OF STEEL People in #retrochat were hearing me talk about this glorious 1979 designed beast Tuesday evening. I figured out the issue as to why it wasn't powering up when it did at first. You have to keep the cartridge port cover LOCKED. Atari's engineers made it so your dumb ass couldn't rip a cartridge out from one of its TWO PORTS with the power on which would possibly damage your 999 US 1979 dollar home computer. That looks like a late 60s typewriter. And has really good feeling keys. (Though the space bar is a bit uneven and the Start key sometimes needs a bit of a repeat press. This thing has seen some STUFF man. Its been in the trenches. It's been loved.) It does make it kinda nice that I can undo the lid and shut it off if I just want to swap cartridges. Glorious top loading cartridges instead of the annoying 130xe's rear port that is finicky. Its only real drawback is its large, heavy, and the RF cable is hardwired in even if you use a composite cable like I am. Still get some of those lines on screen even with the monitor so I putzed around a bit with it using the Svideo out I have and on the 32" HDTV in 4:3 mode. Lines aren't as extreme as say the 130xe was. There ARE fixes for it, but it involves opening it up. And the 800 is a giant sexy beast designed to not let you enjoy this: http://www.pcworld.com/article/181421/inside_atari_800.html 4 joystick ports too! By and large this will probably become my main Atari 8 bitter and the 130 will be relegated to a storage tub since my game collection has long since outgrown my smaller blue tub. The command keys are easier to reach and color coded unlike the 130's and it honestly runs more games. Like Gorf. This is not a smart way to play computer games. But it IS funny. Also Gorf is in the composite artifacted monitor mode thingie that is less crisp and has some bleed but no lines or anything. LET US GORF. Not as good as the Colecovision Gorf, but pretty damned good! Also better than the 5200 version unless you like playing a classical SHMUP Invader game with analog controls with actual analog analoginess. Dual cart ports! BIG AND METAL! The bits of black fuzz are from the dead glue sticky foam that the lid's top metal RF shield had keeping it up. It has failed. That is how much fricking mineral action is in this sumbitch. Metal RF shielding all over the place. Once we reached Reagan's era the Ataris got cheaper, lighter, and way less metal. ITS ALL RONNIE'S FAULT. 48K of RAM and the system's ROM all open to the elements. See the open air and all the venting is all one really needed to keep stuff cool back then. Originally the RAM AND ROM were in little sealed packs. But they overheated. Thus later versions came open to be cooler. I am not good at Q Bert.

I listened to the live show driving a good half hour to pick up another Atari 8 bit machine. A mighty 800! With 1050 drive, 410 Tape Drive, tons of mostly copied disks, and a full 48K of RAM with the kind not in the casing. A fun listen! I got so many of those trivia Qs right too! (Also tell your co host of Floppy Days fame that I would SOO love a beginner's book covering all the old micros! Figuring out just the A8s has been a bit of an adventure even using Atarimania and the FAQ and here! Heck, I basically have been chronicling my own adventures here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/191496-my-atari-blog-the-adventures-of-a-new-usercollector/ and I tend to learn things randomly that are good and important, many of which I am sure are things long time users just take for granted!)

I got some heat this week: https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/10256939_842196872474374_3024395139410613749_o.jpg In my little blog project I will cover all this sweetness for 75 eventually. (Plus got a couple other things recently too.)

Is it A8 bit games or other platforms? I only rock the A8 right now. Need to check the Power Button or PSU cord for my 7800. And multiple things on the 5200. :/

Folks who told the lid thing: I believe that just fixed it! Wow this makes me feel silly/impressed as hell at Atari's design team. Works great. But is it ok to use the lid to be a soft reset of the system if I want to change carts? You know, to save wear and tear? Anyhow major Brofists of Brofisting Broness! Also noting on both machines getting proper composite out on my 1084 monitor causes some lines/pixels. So might as well just play with my S Video cable on the HDTV. (I really should get that 1702 Commodore monitor I saw on craigslist...)

I don't actually own any of those doohickeys at the moment. Right now again, more concerned with figuring out what the 800's issue is so I can fix it and enjoy ancient computery goodness.

Well if I happen to find that I do we can worry about me figuring out how to convert em.

That helps me a lot. :/ I am soo not going through everything A8 bit on Atarimania to doublecheck. Outside of maybe seeing if they have virtual versions of what I already own. Which if I want to go through 50 odd disks might help. But first getting the Tank working properly eh? Disks I can play with later.

I don't think there is anything rare. A bajillion Ultima 4 copy disks for some reason. Like multiple characters and stuff. Some utilities. A few games. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for? (Also cool another CT folk!)

Hopefully yall can help me figure it out. I got this glorious box of STUFF off a Craigslist buy for 75 bucks. https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/10256939_842196872474374_3024395139410613749_o.jpg Atari 800. 410 tape drive. Radio Shack modem. 1050 drive. Two disk cases full of mostly copied software. Well brought it home and as it had no Atari Basic cart I figured I could at least test it with cartridges. Turned on fine. Finally got to play a little GORF, and then check out Q Bert. I go to put in Pac Man. Doesn't turn on. Try a different PSU. Same thing. Unplug it and wait a couple hours. Its probably been off or in a basement/attic someplace for years. Turn it back on and it works. Turn it off again and put the cart in that I know works. Doesn't turn on again. Anyone have an idea of what is causing it? I DO plan on opening it up to give the case a nice cleaning and clean up the keyboard a bit but obviously this glorious 70s tank is something that requires this to be a major undertaking. I'd kind of like to have an idea what is going on, and what I might need to replace inside it. For 75 bucks its almost worth it all just for parts but I really would love to have a working 800 to make it my core A8 machine as this was a lot cheaper than getting a good condition XEGS and then getting a keyboard replacement mod from Best Electronics. (And you know, those carts that just don't run on the XL/XE machines. Plus the superior keyboard built into the 800. And the better laid out Start-Reset key suite.)

Feel free to maybe make a video on your site about the XEGS and getting it working composite and the like Bill! For ease of everyday gameplay it looks like it is the overall winner if the composite out is easy and nice to look at. Huge main keys. Detachable keyboard. Top loading carts!

I actually looked up some pics/videos showing the back of the XEGS. It has a composite output that looks like an RF out. Does this mean it uses some special cable or something compared to the DIN type composite?