goatdan

As long as you did, you'll get an email with details by the end of the week If you want to check to make sure, contact me directly through PM or something with your real name, and I'll make sure you're on the list.

Update everyone -- we have assessed and put back on sale an extremely limited number of special event tickets. These tickets are for things like Up To Par, Clock Chaos, Tom's Tour and Dine With Scott Adams. Between all four events, less than 50 tickets remain. For instance, if you want in on that dinner with Scott Adams, this is basically the last chance -- we thought we sold out, and we just found out that we miscounted and we have TWO tickets left. You get to have a really unique experience dining with a true gaming pioneer, and the price includes dinner after the show closes Saturday night. Want to try out the new MGC Up To Par tournament? Just a few slots remain in this unique video game challenge. Same with our extremely popular Friday night Clock Chaos tournament, which already has the most players it has ever hosted! Finally, if you have ANY interest in pinball or old arcade games, you must head to Tom's Tour on Friday between 3pm and 8pm. He has over 300 machines set up for you to play, and there are just a few handful of these tickets remaining! A donation to charity and purchase of a two day ticket is required. Hope to see you at the show!!

I just wanted to drop everyone a quick note -- today is the FINAL day to pre-order your 2012 Midwest Gaming Classic two-day tickets! Tickets will still be available at the door, but if you know you're planning on coming, you'll save some money and help us make the show even better this year by ordering now. Also, if you haven't already reserved your hotel room, we are sold out of certain room types, and have very limited numbers left. Please make sure that if you want to stay on site, reserve your hotel room today! Finally, as of last night, we are now confirmed to have more than 200+ arcade video and pinball machines at the show. When you combine that with Tom Taylor's Tour, which you can go on Friday afternoon and evening for a small donation when you purchase your tickets (very few spots left here too!), it means that the Midwest Gaming Classic will have more than 500 playable machines this year! That's incredible! Hope to see you at the show!!

Yeah, he's phenomenal. Has tons of cool stories too. We're currently at only six remaining spots, so if you decide, decide soon. We wanted to keep it limited to make it really special, but it means we won't have spots for long!

If anyone wants a really special experience, gaming pioneer Scott Adams is going to do an exclusive dinner chat with a lucky 12 gamers on Saturday after the show closes at 8pm. If you want to join Scott for this extremely personal experience, visit www.midwestgamingclassic.com and click on the tickets link now. We're already nearly halfway sold out!

That's awesome! I had no idea, or else I probably would have found a way to get to that one. Forest Fair Mall has a LOT of gaming history to me -- my Uncle and Aunt live really close to it, and I remember going when it opened, it had an AWESOME device that moved pool balls around (I would LOVE to see a picture of that thing), and a huge indoor "Time Out" that featured a Ferris Wheel and other such cool things. I remember thinking that I was really in heaven in that place when I first went in there. The mall has been virtually dead for well over a decade, which there are lots of reasons for that, but it's too bad. Every time we went to Cincinnati I would beg to go there, with probably my last trip there being in 2005ish (I don't know if I've gone to Cincinnati to visit them since then, one of their daughters moved to Kenosha so we see them more frequently up here now). In 1996ish, it's the mall that I first found a Jaguar console. I didn't buy it, but my subsequent research would lead directly to my purchase of a console, a bunch of games, and even attending my first show -- Jagfest 99. A few years later, probably around 2000, at a store that had a little bit of everything but I forget it's name, they had a whole stack of SNES games brand new. A bunch of them turned out to be ultra, ultra rare games too, and the money that I made in selling them led directly to us thinking that the GOAT Store would work.

Yeah, sorry -- the half price number I must have messed up in my head with the 45% number. Having said that, no matter which way you slice it, full failure is always a possibility with running anything. Hell, we made thousands of Dreamcast coasters when we tried releasing Inhabitants and Maqiupai, and that was what should have been a relatively low-risk situation.

i somewhat agree with you.... though i think its perfectly fine to use it to play games you CAN'T afford cause some sellers think there worth there weight in gold!!! i refer you to d!ckheads like this ( eBay Auction -- Item Number: 370525333129 ) Except you don't have to get a new copy of that game. You can get a used copy for much less than the cost of a Skunkboard. I don't think that there are 400+ Skunkboards in the hands of just developers, but I do think that a lot of people are buying them for the possibility of playing future games that are made on them. I really don't think that too many, "Hey, I'll get a Jaguar and just this cartridge" people are buying them, or at least it hasn't in any way seemed that way from the sales we have made.

"One thing that I feared for with that project from the beginning was that with hardware stuff, the possibility of failures is pretty significant. I believe that the first place that Tursi used to do the Skunkboards were about half the cost of the manufacturer that we used to make them this last time, but I also believe that the failure rate of the first run of boards was nearly 50%."

Some Jagware members got one. Like you said, need to find good a good manufacturer for doing series, that's the real problem. GT Yeah, but that still means that they really haven't been made available for sale yet.

Hi, This flashcart exist : http://www.jagware.o...indpost&p=13159 Exists as in someone made an announcement about it, yes. Exists in has been made available for sale? Not yet that I know of. One thing that I feared for with that project from the beginning was that with hardware stuff, the possibility of failures is pretty significant. I believe that the first place that Tursi used to do the Skunkboards were about half the cost of the manufacturer that we used to make them this last time, but I also believe that the failure rate of the first run of boards was nearly 50%. The other thing with those -- I hope that none of the chips go obsolete. You either have to take a huge risk and produce a LOT of them to enusre the chips don't go out of production, or you have to cross your fingers and hope the parts will be there when you're ready to produce. We already proved what a pain in the butt that can be with the Skunkboards. I hope they make it -- I think they would be a heck of a way to make new releases. Has anyone heard any updates?

I think you could probably get $350-450 for the kiosk, and $200ish for everything else. $1000 seems really high. Maybe these have gone up in value though? Certain console displays get a pretty penny. I have not seen a Jaguar one do that. But, I haven't seen any in the last couple years.

Wait -- which one is it? If you're looking to run homebrew Jaguar roms off the Jaguar CD, there are some that you can do that with -- not all though, it's not like you can get any old ROM, burn it to CD and have it work. ...but if you do that, you won't be able to save, which is what you had said that you wanted to do in your first post. Now, having said that, I don't know of too many (any?) homebrew titles that require saves on a flash cart... because a flash cart that features saves doesn't exist. If that's truly the reason that you're looking for one, a Skunkboard would serve you much better, as I personally expect the majority of Jaguar developers will use Skunkboards for their development purposes in the near future at least, making it a medium that developers will work around the limitations of when publishing their games. Personally, I'd be really surprised if a cart with the ability to save came out any time soon. I definitely know about the arm and a leg it cost to manufacture the Skunkboards, and I don't know if there would be enough of a market left to justify a huge run of flash cards that would do basically the same thing.

Actually, I know of a surprising number. How many? Anything greater than "two" would surprise me. Well, let's see here: Songbird Productions is selling Songbird Productions games, and I carry those at the GOAT Store which I purchase directly from Songbird Productions. That's two right there, and I know of more than two that are carrying product they bought directly from Atari back in the day still. Then you have your mixed groups, like if Songbird Productions bought directly from Telegames (which they have), would you count that as two separate instances because there are two publishers involved in Songbird? I don't want to name people specifically because I do not know if those groups want their business dealings explained, but I would peg the number of people that have purchased directly from Atari closer to a handful. As for people who purchased brand new Jag games directly from the publisher using Songbird as an example, if you count purchasing from more than one publisher as more than one example, I think my number would be close to 25.

Actually, I know of a surprising number. And really, it's eye of the beholder to determine what an outrageous price is. Is $20 for Checkered Flag outrageous, or is $500 for BattleSphere Gold outrageous? If you think that one or the other is outrageous and everyone agrees with you, then the companies either have to sit on their stock until the demand level changes, or change their prices. One of the reasons the GOAT Store doesn't carry new games (and I guess based on what you're saying, we charge "outrageous prices" for our used games) is that the market can change so quickly. Using Rayman Origins as an example, let's say that the week it came out I bought 10 of them for $35 apiece, thinking that was a great deal. Unless I sold them all already, I've already lost money on that transaction because the price has dropped to $30 new. Companies make deals with huge retail chains to adjust pricing, but not with the little guys. If a company like GoAtari purchased a ton of inventory for a really high cost, that company needs to decide whether it is worth hanging onto that inventory for a really long time with the hope that eventually it will move (and storing it meanwhile), or lowering their prices. Again though, I feel that is a decision those little businesses should be able to make, and I really don't feel for the most part like the majority of stuff has "outrageous" prices. No matter what, it's a poor reason to promote piracy for any console, as I could claim that $5.00 is too high of a price to buy Skyrim for, so why don't I pirate it instead? Who am I to be the one who sets the price?

Yes, never mind the fact that the programmers won't ever see a cent from most Jag games that you buy. To be fair though, other people bought the games to sell to people. The programmers always see the money when the games are initially manufactured. In situations like this, it's never really the programmers losing out, it's the retail stores who bought the product who lose out. Having said that, it's just as illegal to download and burn Jaguar games as it is to download and play 7800 games or Xbox 360 games. The Jaguar is more touchy than the 7800 because there are a number of rights-holders who are still active on it, and who could potentially be damaged by their games being pirated.

It's also $9.99 at GameStop right now for the physical media, that in 10 years you can still play. I always like physical media more.

The regular versions weren't going to have screens in them. They essentially looked like this: http://www.kiddierid...12/heli-rwb.jpg The "2" versions were denoting the fact that they were a more advanced version of the original rides. Sorry to quote my own thread, but if the picture above would be the "regular" version of SkyCopter, this site has what is more or less what the difference would have been between SkyCopter and SkyCopter II. http://www.leisurecoin.com.au/video/item/51-interactive-helicopter From what I know, however, that is not the molding nor the game for SkyCopter II.

The regular versions weren't going to have screens in them. They essentially looked like this: http://www.kiddieridesusa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/heli-rwb.jpg The "2" versions were denoting the fact that they were a more advanced version of the original rides.

Sorry, I missed this before, but... As of this exact minute, we're not planning on that. Here's the thing though -- we're putting together all the details for the final release still. So, in other words, it hasn't been ruled in, it hasn't been ruled out. We have to figure everything else out though before we can publicly comment on anything. I like the idea, but it depends. Honestly, I'd also have to read through the contract again that we did to obtain the rights for the games, as I would have to make sure nothing stops us from doing that. For now, all I can say is... maybe?

Everyone, really Hey, and you know what -- as games, I tend to agree with OMF's and Shamus' views of them too. But, at least in my video game collecting, I often don't purchase things because of my views of them as games. I own every PS1 longbox. Of those, I have played (drumroll) ONE of the games they contain! Seriously. Well, maybe two, but I think just one. I love how they look, and the history they represent. My copy of Skycopter is no different, and I think that most people will agree with that who decide to purchase them. I don't know -- I think that games still only sell under two circumstances: 1) The game is actually worth playing - or - 2) The game is in some way historical. This release definitely falls into the latter category. I think it's a really neat story, personally, and that is why I get interested by stuff like that Thanks As for Skunks, here's the complete honest truth about them... The runs cost a TON of money to make. The margin on them is not very big as it is. With the components on the boards now obsolete and nearly impossible to find, it would take a HUGE redesign of the boards to really make them functional, and the risk in doing so with more than 400 in the market already is extremely high. I'm not saying this because I want people to think that I'm trying to scare them into purchasing boards, but the Ghost run if it was a stand alone run would currently be thousands in the hole. Because we had such great success with the first run and the boards not failing, we're almost at even between the two runs put together. But, with the slower demand, I cannot imagine putting thousands on the line again to do another round. If it did happen, they would probably be significantly more expensive too, unfortunately. And, we'd basically be starting over from scratch -- say something was wired wrong -- we'd have 100 really expensive doorsteps. Because of that, I would suggest that if you want a Skunkboard, we've got some, but don't wait too long to get yours. I wish I could say otherwise, but I see no way to plausibly do another run of them in the future. Having said all that, with an additional nearly 200 in the marketplace, we hope that it keeps the prices on the secondary market reasonable for those who want them when they do sell out

While I agree that I could have been more clear (sorry), there are people that do feel that way about games, whether it is Jaguar games, NES games or whatever. And that is fine. It's just like I said -- this project wouldn't have gotten to the point that it is at had we not handled it in this specific way. We'll find out what other "whole cloth" stuff that we can come up with for it when we announce it, and you can decide at that point whether it is interesting *to you* or not, but whatever that stuff is wouldn't be part of this package was it not handled this way. Some people have already passed their judgement on it (like Shamus above, who has decided that no matter what we are already too expensive and only including "a pile of junk that nobody in their right mind would want") being not worth it. If that's the case, when it is announced, don't bother reading about it -- it won't change your mind. If you're interested in seeing what it is, whether you support the dumping and pirating of every game ever made, or wish that no game could ever be dumped, then wait and find out whether you think it is worth it or not.

Could you elaborate? I'd like to know exactly what you are referring to with this statement. Could you elaborate? I'd like to know exactly what you are referring to with this statement. Sure -- in the Thea Realm Fighters thread, before I got involved, Cyrano had mentioned that he would like to see the ROM show up online, and not have a usual cash-cow money gouge happen. To make this actually make sense, you need the other half of this and you need to read the Thea Realm Fighters thread where I talked about this. Essentially, if the plan was to make repros with these, dumping them and letting people do whatever they want with them would be better. The last part of the statement was that we made a monetary risk, and that we're working on something unique because of it. Without having these rights, we wouldn't have been able to do what we're doing. Without planning to sell these, there is a part of the history of the Jaguar that would be lost I'm rather certain. Because it was only the combination of things that will make this work. It wasn't said as an insult, and I would be happy to talk more about in a PM if you feel that it was. And Cyrano, if you took it as an insult, it was more just to acknowledge your side that you had stated in the other thread too. It's a fine stance to have. But, at this point all the details on the release aren't known, so let's wait to judge if we should have not bought the rights for the game, not released the original cartridges, and not done what we did until after the release happens. If we end up thousands of dollars in the hole because of it, it will be pretty clear that it wasn't a great idea, but I'm still going to personally be glad we tried.

I believe, although we're still doing research on the final details that a number of games were made and test marketed, but that they never made it beyond that phase. The prototype hardware looks like a Jaguar cart without a label (although there were a couple carts that we got with crude labels on them, usually quite damaged, so I'm curious if anyone has any of these that aren't. They are standard inkjet labels, I believe, nothing special about them. The prototypes that they made for the consoles to run them were literally stock consoles, modified with arcade coax adapters wired directly to the controller ports, and a bracket that literally bolted the cartridge onto the top so that it wouldn't move in an arcade environment. The whole thing looks rather crude, as most of it is just stock material, although the final stuff probably wouldn't have been much different, as from what is known, they were just intending to buy a bunch of closeout consoles and bolt them into the rides. It's a very interesting and weird way to make hardware for a console.

I own pieces (and full machines) of about 40 arcade machines that were just put in front of supermarkets or in arcades for the sole purpose of nicking quarters from exasperated parents and kids. I find coin operated machinery fascinating. Hell, I have a buddy in town who owns well over 300 machines -- come to the Midwest Gaming Classic, and you can play them. I bet that at least a couple of his games, you would think aren't worth owning, but he likes having them all. Where is the unabashed hawking of this stuff? I've sold off some of the development materials we got with the package before, and we represented them as exactly what they are. As for the games, enough people have wanted them in the past to keep their value at $200+ for a cartridge, so someone out there has been interested in them. But seriously -- unabashed hawking? Of a product that we haven't really said anything about other than we'll be selling the original carts, and that we'll reveal more at some point in the future? Since you apparently know what is in the package, and that we just made up everything in it, can you tell me about what it contains that we just randomly created to include in the package? And, while you're at it, could you tell me the price point? I guess with all my "unabashed hawking", I completely missed where we discussed exactly what is in these. Again, I love coin operated stuff. I love the Jaguar. To me, even if it is just the cart, it was interesting enough for me to obtain one some years ago and hold onto it. A bunch of other collectors must have similar interest, or the carts wouldn't have sold for $200+ pretty much every time they were on eBay. I also know, because I know what is in them, that had I not been interested before, what I believe will be in the final package interests me even further. If it isn't worth $20 to you, don't get it. I own a bunch of random stuff that I find to be historically interesting but of little other value. I own the original production invoices for Galaxian, weird stuff like an invoice that says that they are ordering 10,000 screws for the cabinet and the screws will cost $0.014 apiece, so they will be $140 for these screws. I think that is really cool stuff. I every once in a while go through it just to see how much things cost when they were creating one of my favorite arcade games of all time. Do these documents have "great gameplay"? No. Have I ever sat down and read them like a book? Heck no. Did they cost me more than many good books that I have read? Yes. Do I care if you think I wasted my money on them or not? Heck no. They're for me. But, for you to go somewhere and be like, "Hey, you're all idiots for liking this stuff" doesn't make anyone change their opinions. Pretending that you know mine or anyone else's interests before the product is even released is just weird. Why is it that you don't want to see these released so that people can purchase them if they so choose? And, do you really think that we can pretend to people like the games are going to hold up and be better than Tempest 2000? Really? Are you trying to "save people" that we're misleading by telling them that these games will be better than the latest PS3 release to play? Because if you are, I think you have much better things you could be doing with your time. I don't expect anyone to look at these or how we intend on selling them and think, "NEXT GREAT JAG GAME!" Yeah, what the heck is up with that? Skycopter is the one that I own, and honestly when I first got it and messed around with it for a while, my response was, "Okay, I know these were made before September 11th, but why would you ever have a helicopter firing missiles at what are clearly passenger jets?" That's one of the weirdest things about that particular cart, and a story I'd love to know more about why that choice was made. I don't think we've got an answer for that either, at least not yet. Pick something cooler, like a UFO or something.