Bally Arcade

[Zonie]

I had a friend with a Bally Arcade back in the 80's. He had it as a demo. I remember it being pretty fun. What I want to know, is it worth $100-$125 for one with some carts included?

[opeygon]

Do you mean the Bally Astrocade? I wouldn't pay a hundred for it, but others may. I don't think it's a crazy price though, especially if it's boxed and in good condition

[BassGuitari]

Getting one that works is the trick, though. Part of the reason they're so expensive is that they're so failure-prone; there aren't too many that work anymore.

 

I'm on my third Astrocade, thanks to the generosity of Ozyr. My first two died on me...but, knowing what I know now, they were already on the way out by the time I got them. I had actually -and heavy-heartedly- written off the Astrocade for a while; it's a very cool machine, but I just couldn't justify bleeding cash on a system that in all probability won't work, even after an RF-Sheildectomy.

 

But some time later, Ozyr actually just gave me an extra one he had lying around. Talk about karma points! So thanks to him, I'm back in business, Ballywise. The machine is actually a Home Library Computer, but the dust lid was missing, the cabinet was pretty beat-up, and the RF cord was haphazardly spliced with a coaxial connector by some long-previous owner. But it runs like new, and has none of the recurring graphical glitches that indicate system death, either imminent or eventual. I just swapped the board into my much better-looking Bally Computer System case (I ditched that ghetto RF cord, too), and presto: beautiful-looking, beautifully-working bastard Bally system. You can tell since the cartridge interface is red instead of black, and the reset key is metal (the BCS used black plastic), and there are raised gold-trimmed labels on the ports in the back (the Home Library Computer lacks these). Also, I didn't swap on the more "collectible" Home Library Computer sticker on the bottom. But, only a Bally die-hard would notice or care.

 

$100 is kind of high, but not outrageously. You should be able to get one loose with a few common cartridges and some controllers for ~$80-90...(again, the question is...does it work?). In terms of games, you probably know about the excellent Incredible Wizard (aka Wizard of Wor), Galactic Invasion (I think that's what it's called...or, Galaxian), Astro Battle (Space Invaders...FYI, despite the copyright date and popular misconception, this game was not released in 1977), and Space Fortress (think Cosmic Ark). Dogpatch is another good one, as is Bally Pin -which requires two controllers. Gunfight is too good to be a built-in freebie game...and yet, so it is. Brickyard is a fairly serviceable Breakout clone. And if you can find it/afford it, Muncher is a really good Pac-Man knockoff. Except for Muncher, none of these are very hard to get, and Gunfight is built-in (as is Scribble, Scientific Calculator, and a Surround-type game that supports up to 4 players).

 

Most of the other games are similar to early Atari, Odyssey 2, and Channel F games, but are much better-looking. The disadvantage is that the palette is limited, and you see a lot of the red/blue/green/yellow/black/white schemes of the Channel F and TRS-80 Color Computer. Of course, there are exceptions such as 280 Zzzap/Dodgem's pink tones. Still, the graphics are amazing, considering the date of the hardware.

[the-topdog]

The Bally Astrocade has been on my list of consoles to collect for quite some time, but the price has not been right for me. But one day I hope to have one.

[Tubular Gearhead]

Anyone know about this "Castle of Horror" game? This seller looks like they have three Astrocade auctions right now and each contains this game. It looks like a cartridge too, not a cassette...

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290512736751

Edited December 17, 2010 by Tubular Gearhead

[BassGuitari]

Anyone know about this "Castle of Horror" game? This seller looks like they have three Astrocade auctions right now and each contains this game. It looks like a cartridge too, not a cassette...

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290512736751

 

Never heard of it. Was this maybe a tape game converted to cartridge?

[famicommander]

The Astrocade will be one of the last consoles I ever purchase, if I even get one. It's expensive, it's uncommon, it's unreliable, an it doesn't have the largest or most diverse library.

[Zonie]

Yeah, I'm actually waiting to hear back from this guy. He has three BIN auctions with different prices/Qty of carts, I think he only has one, and will sell to whomever BIN's it and cancells the other two. the pics are all the same. He also lists it in such a way that it only appears that the box and games are included, not the console.

 

If it is the real deal, I'll buy this one.

 

 

Anyone know about this "Castle of Horror" game? This seller looks like they have three Astrocade auctions right now and each contains this game. It looks like a cartridge too, not a cassette...

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290512736751

[Rev. Rob]

I had a friend with a Bally Arcade back in the 80's. He had it as a demo. I remember it being pretty fun. What I want to know, is it worth $100-$125 for one with some carts included?

 

If it works, I would say yes, definitely... especially if it has some quality games. Picking up an Astrocade was one of the best collecting purchases I've ever made.

[elchucko]

I just found this thread and thought I'd post some trivia. I bought a "Bally Home Library Computer" in 1977 and received the console in 1978. I turned it on and within a couple of hours it failed. Sent it back, received another unit which failed in a few hours. I received a 3rd unit and decided to figure out what the problem was. This probably is old news, if so ignore the post. Anyhow I found the PCB was sandwiched between 2 foam covers with aluminum attached (I assume to meet FCC requirements for RF emissions). I touched all the IC's, three ran hot. I glued heat sinks to the three and voila, no more heat problems. Later I bought the Basic cartridge and tape interface. Sold it a couple of years later (wish I would have kept it). I'd bet most of the consoles that failed were heat related. Oh, I pitched the covers.

Edited November 9, 2015 by elchucko

[BillyHW]

So can broken ones be revived this way, or are they too far gone?

[elchucko]

If the problem is a falied (overheated) IC then assuming the chip is still available, yes it can be repaired. Other problems relate to power or RF output to a TV or monitor. Otherwise without schematics the PCB probably can't be fixed. I don't know how PCBs built much later than early units were constructed to eliminate the heat issue. If the console's video go blank shortly afer the game is turned on, finding the heated chip(s) and applying heat sinks may cool the IC(s) enough to fix the problem although I doubt that. That's about all I can say about the problems.

[Janus]

I always wanted one of these!