[THE END 2600 * FINISHED COMPLETE GAME *]

You guys ?

 

Personally, I'm really happy with the way this one turned out.  The idea was to ever-so-slightly evoke the old Konami Gradius style artwork (as it's a Konami game).  In my mind, this ship is like some funky early prototype of Gradius' Vic Viper - that's why it's got a lot of aircraft styling and actual missiles.  Like a space F-16

As for the color scheme - the weird insect-based Stern version's marquee art was all green and I thought that might be a fun color to use as you don't often see it in space games.

 

It is a GREAT game by the way.  I'm very excited to get my hands on it too.  Carlos has absolutely smashed it out of the park with this one.  I actually prefer it to the coin op.

[Composite mod for the Atari 2600 Jr PAL Rev. F]

Just this minute, I’ve cracked open an old junior to discover it was a revision F. This is gold dust! Thanks

[Avalanche]

Ohh you guys

Thanks for the kind words about the artwork. This was a really fun project to work on and I’m pleased with the result.

I do love illustrating games that are, by necessity, visually simple (in this case, because it’s a -brilliant- port of a v old coin op). I get to have all of the responsibility of adding context and narrative to those coloured blocks.

The game itself is absolutely superb.
John, Nathan and Thomas have done a lovely job here - you’d be hard pressed to fill 4K any better. I can’t wait to play it with real Paddle controllers. 

[Probably obvious video mod question]

There aren’t any that I can find for sale in UK. We never really bothered much with svideo in the land of the mighty RGB scart

It looks pretty easy to make one though. I’ll just butcher an old svideo cable and wire it into two RCAs. 

[Probably obvious video mod question]

That’s superb. Thanks very much. 

[Probably obvious video mod question]

Hallo all.  I’ve got a 2 port 5200 that Albert sent me a while back.  He sent me a composite modded one as I’m in the UK (PAL land).

Its an old mod board but it works well and the picture is acceptable.

However, as well as the composite video (yellow wire in the picture), there are two other outputs (blue and purple wires) which, I understand, are Chroma and Luma.

I’d be an absolute muppet not to take advantage of those so:

What kind of cable can I fashion to use all of that? Are we talking SVideo? I’m not sure.

[Robot City reloaded]

Here are a couple of detail bits from my new manual cover/label art. The general idea here is that the city IS the robot; mining resources, self replicating and endlessly expanding. It builds and uses the tanks almost like white blood cells.
 

[Heavy sixer guts in a light sixer? And PAL?!?]

Well, theyre not. That sticky out heat sink thing on the left, the different arrangement of the chips on the board, the left facing RF unit, the Atari logo on the rear of the switchboard..

Those are not 1978+ features.

[Heavy sixer guts in a light sixer? And PAL?!?]

Hi all - not been here for a while

I had a bit of time today to fix up some 2600s. Had a (PAL - Im in UK, this is important) 6 switch woody with no TIA so I grab another dead unit to act as donor. This one:

On opening it, I discover this:

Now, correct me if Im wrong, but thats the innards of a Heavy Sixer is it not? There are a couple of other discrepancies too; the switch fascia has a thicker orange bezel than usual, the type is further from the switches and the TM is an entirely different font from my other 2600s.

Could the reason that its apparently not working be that its an NTSC 2600? How could I check it works (aside from composite modding it which seems drastic at this stage)? Is there a chance that its PAL?

Now I think about it, I was given this about 10 years ago as a non working Atari from a town nearby that houses a US airbase - so theres a good chance it IS an NTSC half-sixer (is that what they call these?).

[PAL version of Toyshop Trouble]

I definitely have the PAL cartridge of Toyshop Trouble (I did the label art and I live in UK). Superb game and a must play every Christmas.

[When you buy games do you get the Standard or Limited\Deluxe release?]

If I'm buying a physical version of the game, usually deluxe. But that's only because my game buying is now overwhelmingly non-physical editions.

There are so many patches and updates to games these days that I don't really see the worth in physical copies. After all, the buggy day one mess on that disc is definitely not the game you've actually been playing.

[You can only have one controller. Will it be a Joystick or a Pad?]

Controller pad. Joysticks are superb on an arcade cab but in the hand.. not so much.

[PS4, Xbox One or WiiU?]

PS4 for indie support (and the upcoming 'No Mans Sky'). I'm sick of Nintendo. I didn't play Mario as a kid so their 'nostalgia field' doesn't work on me.

[Best Original Homebrew]

Hi all! Whenever the 2600 comes out, Fall Down is always the last man standing. Great game (slight disclaimer, I did the label but had nothing to do with the game)

Toyshop Trouble is also, as many have said, a thing of joy. We actually used it at a primary school I work at in a literacy exercise: Let the kids play the game without instructions and they have to write the manual. They loved it too.

[Bug Ridden Scrolls V: Cryin (Tell us your Glitches)]

I did a little shill mission for the thieves guild (who I hate, but I figure if I become their boss, my inaction will slow them down ) - crept in, planted the item, crept out. Now Vex is having a go at me because she reckons I murdered someone in there! I cant guarantee I didn't step on a couple of dust mites but that's all!

Stupid thieves guild. Serves me right for even visiting them.

[Oh YES! Elder Scrolls V is coming!]

Currently playing through Oblivion to see if I like it. It's very nice but, after playing Fallout for ever, I'm REALLY missing VATS and the convenience of seeing enemies on radar. I'd love for them to find some 'fantasy magic' excuse to get VATS into Skyrim.

[Are going to buy the Wii U?]

I have almost no faith that there will be any compelling long term third party support. Nintendo increasingly rely on customer nostalgia of their own franchises and, as I have no nostalgia for Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc., I'll pass. New games please.

 

Also, it looks as it if was designed by an overexcited 8 year old in a "let's cram in all the controls and bits of all other systems - that'd be awesome!" kind of way.

[Are you happy with the PS3 situation(s)?]

I'm fine with it. Companies are always going to get hacked (it could just as easily have been Xbox Live). This is the risk you take when you step on to the Internet. At least Sony are taking the time to make their service more robust.

Sure, I'd rather it hadn't happened but I'm sure hitting such a big target will land whatever idiots did it in major trouble. With any luck this'll send a message out to all the other losers in the world who will attack a service just because they're pissy at it.

[What's the best Pokemon game for the DS or Gameboy Advance?...]

Pokemon Black or White for certain. Like any long term franchise, the games got slowly more complicated and bogged down with 'stuff'. Not only that, but the RPG element of each subsequent game seemed to fall further behind the battle system, favouring more pokemon over story.

I think that really changed with Black and White. We're back to just 150 Pokemon, all new, there's a good plot and a lot of the baggage has gone. They just kept all the good bits.

[What Xbox 360 game are you currently playing?]

Just finished Dead Money, the DLC mission for Fallout:New Vegas.

It was an utterly punishing and thoroughly unenjoyable slog. I love all things Fallout but I recommend you give this a wide berth.

[Deathsmiles]

Nothing like in the score contest here. Best I could manage was just shy of 5 mil. And I died about an inch from the extra life too.

Is it worth using continues? By which I mean, do later levels yield more score?

[Deathsmiles]

Just to clarify, are you guys playing through in arcade or 360 mode (and, for scorings sake, does it matter)? Also, I take it we're playing each stage at difficulty 3, yeah?

[nintendo confirms new console coming this year]

Gotta say, I'm pretty much done with Nintendo consoles now. As a non-fan of the Mario, Zelda etc franchises, I've grown tired of waiting for quality third party titles on N systems. And it only seems to worsen every generation.

Still, nice to have new hardware, if only to make the competition work harder.

[Deathsmiles]

Bought Deathsmiles today. Loving it but obviously I'm terrible at it. I must resist saying yes to continues and concentrate on the score as chapter 4 just makes me angry

I love the way that it gives you an achievement for pausing the game!

[EA ceases production of game manuals]

This is AWESOME news. EA have stopped making manuals, now all they need to do is stop making the games.