The Milton Bradley Cosmic Commander

[Skwrl63]

So I recently picked up a brand new Cosmic Commander controller. I can certainly appreciate the gimmick Milton Bradley was trying.

 

In my opinion:

 

Pros...... The controller lights up and vibrates everytime you press the fire button. I find that these two features adds a little more dynamics to the game and does offer a little bit more of an enjoyable experience when playing.

 

Rumble features are pretty much standard in modern controllers and I believe the Cosmic Commander (and Flight Commander) were the first controllers to have this feature.

 

Cons.......

 

1. The controllers only works well with first person flight or racing games. Star Wars the Arcade Game (2600) would be another good game to try it on.

 

2. Due to its size and bulkiness, it only works good as a tabletop controller.

 

3. 4 D batteries....... I wonder how long they will last

 

4. Putting a rumble feature on a controller with a very small incandescent light bulb from the 80s? how long do you think that light bulb will last with all that shaking.

 

I imagine these controllers would break relatively quick if it was given to a 10 year old child as a gift. 

 

My son really enjoyed playing Survival Run. It took him a little while to figure out how to navigate the maze, but he seemed to have more fun using the Cosmic Commander controller than the standard it's Atari controller.

 

Here is a photo of my son trying it out last weekend 

[+save2600]

Love the decor and photography!  
 

...on the subject of vibration, the bulb *should* last quite a while*. Remember... pinball machines, shuffle alley bowling games, arcade games, automobiles, trucks, and ATV/UTV's all used 'em - to name just a few.
 

*easy enough to replace with a modern LED drop-in equivalent if not though.  ?

[Skwrl63]

48 minutes ago, save2600 said:

Love the decor and photography!  
 

...on the subject of vibration, the bulb *should* last quite a while*. Remember... pinball machines, shuffle alley bowling games, arcade games, automobiles, trucks, and ATV/UTV's all used 'em - to name just a few.
 

*easy enough to replace with a modern LED drop-in equivalent if not though.  ?

You know....I never thought of that. You are right, pinball lights did handle well?

[Mockduck]

This one is a bit of a wanted holy grail, complete in box. Just not willing to pay the eBay price.

[Special Teams]

Wow, that looks like our family room growing up in the '70s.  Very cool!

[+jgkspsx]

20 hours ago, Skwrl63 said:

Here is a photo of my son trying it out last weekend 

I assume that is a true vintage gameroom, but if not, can I get a hookup on your carpet vendor? I have that exact shag carpet but it is probably past time to replace it…

[Chris+++]

I've always wanted to try plugging that controller into a Stelladaptor, firing up Star Wars in MAME and seeing if it would come close to the arcade control experience. I know we're talking analogue vs. digital, but since analogue controls can be handled digitally in MAME, it seemed feasible to try. The controller is usually so damn expensive, though.

 

[MrMaddog]

2 hours ago, Chris+++ said:

I've always wanted to try plugging that controller into a Stelladaptor, firing up Star Wars in MAME and seeing if it would come close to the arcade control experience. I know we're talking analogue vs. digital, but since analogue controls can be handled digitally in MAME, it seemed feasible to try. The controller is usually so damn expensive, though.

 

I doubt it would feel "authentic" playing arcade SW with digital controls instead of analog.  But the Atari home ports would be awesome...

[Skwrl63]

15 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

I assume that is a true vintage gameroom, but if not, can I get a hookup on your carpet vendor? I have that exact shag carpet but it is probably past time to replace it…

It's just the corner of my garage. I put it together for about $300 a few years ago. Unfortunately I don't have a carpet vender.

 

The carpet is original 1981 carpet. A buddy of mine had it in his home and was getting new carpet. I asked him to save me some of the old carpet so I can use it for my gaming corner.

[nadir]

17 hours ago, Mockduck said:

This one is a bit of a wanted holy grail, complete in box. Just not willing to pay the eBay price.

Ouch, sorry, had one years ago and threw it away because it was so terrible in actual game play.  Neat concept though.