BassGuitari Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Talk about damning with faint praise I didn't mean to trash Stella there, but I can see how that remark came off as pretty back-handed. Sorry about that! I'm just not a fan of emulation in general, but what I was trying to convey was that I find even an emulator on a PC/Mac a more satisfying retrogaming experience than the FB4, even with its more "authentic" little console and joysticks. I've got no beef with Stella. FWIW I do use emulators to play protos and mega-rare games, though, and Stella is among the better emulators I've used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Good video, Bill. I enjoyed watching it. Although others have mentioned this, I also find it peculiar that the included version of Space Invaders is a rendition of the arcade game, rather than the 2600 version (despite the 2600 SI box art appearing on the menu). It looks like a good arcade conversion, but the 2600 version of that game is one of the most well-known games on the system. While there have been many emulations or close conversions of the Space Invaders arcade game over the last 15 years, the 2600 version (with its distinctively difference characteristics from the arcade) has not appeared anywhere else in an official capacity since...well, since the 2600 itself. This would have been the perfect opportunity for them to include it, especially if licensing with Taito (or should I say Square Enix) was worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 ^ I agree. At the very least it should have been made an unlockable easter egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 ^ I agree. At the very least it should have been made an unlockable easter egg. Good point. I was actually thinking the same thing. Or even just have both of them selectable from the main menu. Have the 2600 and "arcade-quality" versions of games on the same machine side-by-side. It would offer some perspective, and give players an added choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onmode-ky Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Well, if your contract with the IP owner says, "Do X and do not do Y," then doing Y even as an unlockable easter egg still leaves you open to clear breach of contract litigation. . . . For whatever reason, it sounds like Taito/SE just did not want the 2600 Space Invaders on the system. It wouldn't be the first time they've made some odd choices in this field; the games chosen to be on Jakks Pacific's Taito TV Game from last year apparently were selected by them, and it included a game that originally used a trackball. Bill, about the Sega systems, do you know why AtGames went and put those 40 knock-off-ish games on them? They didn't do it on the FB4, and it's not as if 40 Sega Genesis games isn't attractive enough for a system clearly marketed to Genesis-interested consumers. I can't really see the point of adding a bunch of titles virtually no one would be interested in anyway. If the intention is simply to make the Sega systems' game count look more competitive with the FB4 on the same shelf . . . then why 80 total instead of the same number as the FB4? That then makes the FB4 look worse (to the layman consumer), especially with the Atari material being visibly more technologically primitive. So, I wonder what the real reason is. Hmm, maybe they wanted to add them to all their systems, but Atari said no? onmode-ky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 I don't know why AtGames put those knock-off games on. They're generally the types of games you get for free or .99 on smartphones and tablets, though they struggle to even meet the quality standards of those. Since these are being targeted to the mass market, I think it was an easy way to make the number of games extremely large and also to have some titles on there that make the casual consumer think of games they might be familiar with. As for the number, I'm assuming once you make the decision to include games like that, you may as well include all of them, or at least a number equal to the classic originals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 It's too bad the latest batch of Atari 2600 homebrews didn't make it on here(all arcade ports aside). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I wish *someone* would do a 7800 version (I don't count the Flashback I) - Scrapyard Dog - Centipede (2-player simul) - Asteroids (2-player simul) - Klax - Basketbrawl - Alien Brigade - Dark Chambers - Fatal Run - Fight Night - Food Fight (if there is no licensing issue) - Jinks - Mat Mania Challenge - Mean 18 - Midnight Mutants (possibly changing 'Grandpa Munster's' image to something else...) - Motor Psycho - Ninja Golf - RealSports Baseball - Touchdown Football - Ace of Aces - Crack'ed 20 games would be a cool inclusion, and it would be the only P-N-P version of Klax that I can think of 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) I agree Bob, but it needs to be like the FB2, system on a chip, not half arsed emulation Maybe Curt will come to our aid Edited September 17, 2012 by mimo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Yeah, unfortunately, you're talking a lot of licensed games on that 7800 list, and a buying public who has no idea what a 7800 is, so I seriously doubt that would ever happen in the mainstream. A niche/homebrew hardware project on the other hand could obviously do anything, if only provide support for your own ROMs. I think Curt has his hands full (we're still waiting on the XM after all this time, for instance, among other projects he has going on), but certainly someone *like* him could take up the cause... Ultimately, we may be best served in the future with more programmable FPGA systems that can theoretically support anything, like the MCC-216, though obviously that has its own set of issues... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I know that Curt has his hands full, but I think he mentioned of had a poll about making a "new" console some time back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 hmmm... I didn't think I had any sub-licenced games on that list (hence me staying away from Galaga, Xevious, etc.) maybe except for Food Fight. Which of those were not direct Atari titles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 hmmm... I didn't think I had any sub-licenced games on that list (hence me staying away from Galaga, Xevious, etc.) maybe except for Food Fight. Which of those were not direct Atari titles? I'd like to know the license status of the following from your list for starters, top of my head: - Fight Night (used to be Accolade) - Jinks (Rainbow Arts) - Mat Mania Challenge (Technos Japan) - Midnight Mutants (SNK property I believe, plus the aforementioned Grandpa Munster thing) - Touchdown Football (Imagic - might be Activision now) - Ace of Aces (used to be Accolade) etc. Anyway, the point is, it's not quite so cut and dry with the 7800 library in terms of who owns and/or has the rights to what. Just because Atari was the main publisher, doesn't mean they still have the rights (and the present entity almost certainly hasn't retained those rights). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Gotcha. Didn't realize so many of them were not directly from GCC (I slipped and said Atari earlier ) Thanks for enlightening me Also, sorry for derailing your thread... Back to your regularly scheduled program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Gotcha. Didn't realize so many of them were not directly from GCC (I slipped and said Atari earlier ) Thanks for enlightening me Also, sorry for derailing your thread... Back to your regularly scheduled program. Who programmed them wouldn't have anything to do with it, regardless, GCC only did the original launch titles. The rest were all done under contract to other programmers. When Mike Katz started up operations again in early October, the first thing that he found when looking for more titles to add to the relaunch was a lot of the current 'hot' arcade titles were already exclusively licensed to Nintendo. So he came up with licensing computer titles for the 7800 given that he had just stepped off of being head of Epyx and obviously had the connection. Hence games like Ace of Aces, Choplifter!, Karateka, Fight Night, etc. Klax on your list is also licensed, in this case from Atari Games. The current 'Atari' wouldn't have access to Atari Games titles, those are owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment after their buyout of Midway's IP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Accolade was purchased by Infogrames in 1999. You may have noticed that the last decade's worth of Test Drive games (originally an Accolade franchise) were all published by Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyd97 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I believe food fight was on the flashback 1, not sure why it hasn't been included on any of the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 I believe food fight was on the flashback 1, not sure why it hasn't been included on any of the others. Food Fight is an Atari 7800 game and the Flashback 1 simulated the 7800 poorly with a NOAC. No other Flashback systems since have attempted to simulate, recreate, or emulate the 7800 like they have the 2600. Again, as much as WE may really enjoy the 7800, to the general public, which these Flashback systems are targeted to, it has little to no meaning, so it's not worth the effort from a business standpoint (i.e., the extra cost to do it). That's the same reason why we went from hardware recreation to emulation after the 2/2+--cost savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyd97 Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 The paddles are $25 for preorder on Amazon. Is this expected to lower by release date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 The paddles are $25 for preorder on Amazon. Is this expected to lower by release date? I was specifically told $19.97 each by AtGames for the Atari joystick, paddles, and Sega six-button gamepad, available on Amazon and their site. That doesn't mean things haven't changed, though, unfortunately. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see a little longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg2600 Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Would love to see a SEGA Game Gear reproduction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Would love to see a SEGA Game Gear reproduction! I doubt it would ever happen due to lack of success in the US and therefore, lack of nostalgia, but there certainly would be some cool games to reproduce! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyd97 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 There is a flashback 4 deluxe model up for sale at atgames now. It includes a set of paddles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I doubt it would ever happen due to lack of success in the US and therefore, lack of nostalgia, but there certainly would be some cool games to reproduce! Not sure if it counts as a reproduction, but there was the Majesco re-release of the Game Gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+HatNJ Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 There is a flashback 4 deluxe model up for sale at atgames now. It includes a set of paddles. Link? Went to their site and did not see any deluxe edition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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