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No more Vectrex Multicarts :(


tantone56

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They aren't bootlegs. All of the original Vectrex games/demos are public domain.

 

Well actually the copywrite owner of the original Vectrex games has graciously allowed people to put the games on carts and sell as long as it is for no profit. This does not apply to the new homebrew Vectrex games.

 

I don't know why people love the Kelly multicart so much. You have to OFF/ON the console to change games. Every time you have to go through the title screen and then the Fred Taft / Kelly screen before you get to the game menu. The Kelly multicart served its purpose but I sold it as soon as I got ...

 

Richard Hutchinson's VecRAM cart! I have 160 different Vectrex binaries on my HP200LX palmtop that I can select and dump individually any of these (except Animaction) from the palmtop to the Vectrex RAMcart in seconds!

 

Next Richard made a reproduction Animaction cart! It works great! (I wire wrapped my own .. but his is much nicer!)

 

Now Richard has come out with the VecFlash Cart that can contain and store 15 different games and retain them! And it is easily updated with a serial port cable at your PC. I hope I can get it working with the palmtop too!

 

Why do people cherish the limited Kelly multicart? I donno!

 

Richard Hutchinson's website: www.vectrex.biz

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

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I wouldn't mind getting a VecRAM cart, but the main problem is that the software to run it is PC only. So screw that.

 

I have an Atari 2600 multi-cart that's well over a decade old, and it's working like a champ. And I originally ordered a 128-in-1 cartridge, but after nearly six months, it still hadn't shown up. I wrote him, asking him for help tracking it down. Turns out that the Post Office lost it. So he sent me a 256-in-1 cartridge to make up for it. It doesn't bother me to use dip-switches to change games. The only real problem I have with the cart is that the switches are extremely tiny, making it hard to change games. Other than that, it's a great cart, made by a great guy.

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I wouldn't mind getting a VecRAM cart' date=' but the main problem is that the software to run it is PC only. So screw that.[/quote']

 

Actually, there are Windows, DOS, Linux and Amiga versions of the software.

 

And the Linux version has source so you could probably build it on OS X.

 

True, it's not "official" software, but how much is on the Internet? :-)

 

Here's the link:

VecRAM Software

 

desiv

 

Note, this is for VecRAM, not VecFlash...

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Well I called Sean Kelly asking him to make me a Vectrex multicart and he said that he doesnt make them anymore :sad: it's a dark day in vectrex gaming

 

It's a shame he doesn't make them, but I've heard his 5200 and Colecovision multicarts broke a lot. He sure isn't good about answering e-mail, so maybe it's for the best.

 

I'll bet he's a barrel of laughs i person, especially when he's at work

 

:roll:

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There was a recent thread about Sean on rec.games.vectrex.

 

The concensus was that he is only concerned with his store these days.

 

I have one of his Vec multicarts but I ordered it years ago.

 

I'm sure others have positive experiences ordering from Sean, but times change and apparently his priorities are elsewhere now.

 

However, if he really doesn't want to be bothered he should do a better job updating his website if it still lists it as available.

 

This hobby has a growing number of figures who were once quite prominent but who left it in a rather abrupt way.

 

For instance, Van Burnam with Escape from Supercade. Supposedly she married some industry guy and got pregnant and disappeared from the scene without even making a statement about the fate of the Supercade game she commissioned.

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How dare these people let their lives interfere with our hobby!!

 

I mean, they have a duty to tell us when they want to pull back...

 

:wink: :wink: :wink:

 

I hope as some people re-read what they've written, they realize how truly (wrong, sad, misguided, geeky, twisted, etc) they sound..

 

Dudes.. Lighten up..

 

He didn't steal anyone's money. He was slow to reply, and he's pulling out of the hobby..

 

He was bad at updating his website.. So?? There's no law that say he has to notify us..

 

How dare Van get married and have a kid and let that take priority over classic gaming!!! OMG!!!

 

You realize, as great as these things are, they are games, right? :wink:

 

We were lucky to have their services while we did. If they're gone, so be it. I wish them luck. And hopefully, there will be someone to fill the void.

 

Relax, play a game, enjoy it... and breathe...

 

:-)

 

desiv

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How dare these people let their lives interfere with our hobby!!

 

I mean, they have a duty to tell us when they want to pull back...

 

:wink:  :wink:  :wink:  

 

I hope as some people re-read what they've written, they realize how truly (wrong, sad, misguided, geeky, twisted, etc) they sound..

 

Dudes..  Lighten up..

 

He didn't steal anyone's money.  He was slow to reply, and he's pulling out of the hobby..

 

He was bad at updating his website..  So??  There's no law that say he has to notify us..

 

How dare Van get married and have a kid and let that take priority over classic gaming!!!  OMG!!!

 

You realize, as great as these things are, they are games, right?  :wink:  

 

We were lucky to have their services while we did.  If they're gone, so be it.  I wish them luck.  And hopefully, there will be someone to fill the void.

 

Relax, play a game, enjoy it...  and breathe...

 

:-)

 

desiv

 

 

:thumbsup: Nice post! All very true.

 

 

I think in Van's case, the game was promised to the people who preordered or bought at a convention, I forget now. It was gonna be sent free to those individuals. I bought off Amazon, so no game for me, I just wanted the book. But the game, which never came to be, was originally a selling ploy to get people to order or whatever, so they feel cheapened having spent full price on something and only received the book in the end, LMAO

 

I think probably 75% of the arguments in the classic gaming community are really nonissues when you get down to it, so what she couldn't deliver on the game, or someone has stopped making a multicart. There are others out there to take their places. I believe it was Ebivision that was originally working on the game for her, who knows maybe the new title available from the AA store is actually the remnants of her design. :ponder:

 

Sean's work is appreciated definitely. But it is time for him to get out, with turn-arounds in the 6 month range that's not exactly proficient. And definitely not very professional when he has your money for so long without working on them. So if he's gone now, so what? We now have VecRAM & VecFlash, I think we'll survive. ;)

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I hope as some people re-read what they've written, they realize how truly (wrong, sad, misguided, geeky, twisted, etc) they sound..

 

Dudes..  Lighten up..

 

He didn't steal anyone's money.  He was slow to reply, and he's pulling out of the hobby..

 

desiv

 

What's truly sad, misguided, geeky and more than a little creepy is to listen to some people who elevate someone like SK to a Christ-like status and won't allow any one to criticize them, even if it's warranted, just because they made a game cart or something in the past. SK wasn't the first to make a Vec multicart, wasn't the best and won't be the last. Like Rob Mitchell said, it wasn't that good. Could you guys swing from his nuts any harder?

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I hope as some people re-read what they've written, they realize how truly (wrong, sad, misguided, geeky, twisted, etc) they sound..

 

What's truly sad, misguided, geeky and more than a little creepy is to listen to some people who elevate someone like SK to a Christ-like status and won't allow any one to criticize them

 

:-)

 

They make decaf... It's in the same aisle.. :-)

 

First of all, I don't remember seing anyone not "allowing" someone to criticize. I just disagreed with you. I believe I'm allowed to have an opinion as well as you are..

 

Secondly.. Christ-like?? I know hyperbole is useful at times to make a point, but when it's that far off, it makes you look silly..

 

I'm glad SK was there, but I was one of the last people to get my multicart from him, and it took ages. I wasn't happy with how long it took, but I looked at in "in perspective".

 

And lastly.. you see the smilies in my above posts, right? They imply that this stuff should all be taken in fun..

 

SK helped the community. He started to have problems and pulled out. He shouldn't be (IMHO) slammed for that. He also isn't Christ-like.. Not even a minor-deity from the Cthulu realms.. :-) He's just a guy. As are we all.. (Well, except for the gals..)

 

desiv

 

"Can't we all just get along?" :-)

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I agree with you that some people are considered christ like in the gaming community and can do no wrong :roll: Maybe he is a nice guy and did good stuff in the past but from what ive seen and heard he is no longer a pleasurable person to deal with.

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What's truly sad, misguided, geeky and more than a little creepy is to listen to some people who elevate someone like SK to a Christ-like status

 

Secondly..  Christ-like??  I know hyperbole is useful at times to make a point, but when it's that far off, it makes you look silly..

 

It must be the red hair and beard.

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SK helped the community.  He started to have problems and pulled out.  He shouldn't be (IMHO) slammed for that.

 

 

 

This kind of cavalier behavior towards internet contacts sends a message that there are two groups of people in this world, one disposable and the other not.

 

Sean and others may discover that the online reputation he develops for himself might bleed off into his real-life reputation even within his local community because the internet isn't just the secret nerd society it used to be.

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Guest cvo

I can understand how people are thankful to SK for the things he has done in the past and quasi-present for this hobby. However, that doesn't mean the lack of speed in which he responds to orders or correspondence should be condoned. It was forgiveable the first few people it happened to, but many cases later it is an issue. If he doesn't have time to fulfill his obligations to send his orders in a timely fashion, he probably shouldn't be in that aspect of the hobby anymore. It's leaving people with a bad taste in their mouths, and it's making other people who are displeased with the lack of response and fulfillment of orders in a timely fashion want to keep their mouths shut and not complain when they have every right to, just b/c there are those people who are up in arms with BUT BUT BUT LOOK WHAT HE'S DONE FOR THE HOBBY! :roll:

 

I have one example that comes to mind when I read this thread: Battlesphere and Doug Engel. Yes he did a great thing by giving the Jaguar world this great game, but for that should he be given free reins to act like a prick on AA? Well he did and he got kicked off for it. Some people cried and wailed that he and/or 4Play wouldn't make any more games for the Jaguar since he was banned from AA, etc, but c'mon people, do you really want someone like that in your hobby? At what price are you willing to pay to have games or services provided to you??? If you don't care, then you have some serious issues to contend with. Hopefully most of you will draw the line somewhere.

 

People like SK and Doug will be appreciated for what they have done, but I for one am a little tired of letting certain things slide in this hobby when in real life they wouldn't. If I sent SK $$$ for something and it took over 6 months for me to get it, I am going to be just as pissed as if I had sent Amazon.com $$$ and didn't get my order til 6 months later. If SK was doing it for free for me, that's one thing, but if there is money involved, then there is a lot more at stake here. If Doug continues to act like a child and sells 50 more games like Battlesphere, I will boycott his games like I would boycott a business that doesn't treat its customers or members well. Simple as that.

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I agree with you that some people are considered christ like in the gaming community and can do no wrong  :roll:  Maybe he is a nice guy and did good stuff in the past but from what ive seen and heard he is no longer a pleasurable person to deal with.

 

Mm, yes... he can be pretty crabby. I last conversed with him in 1998 and even then he had a noticably bitter edge to him. Still, I can't complain too much... I've gotten a lot of cool stuff from him in the past, and he has made some important contributions to this hobby. Without him, I would never have gotten this...

 

http://opoth.ath.cx/vt2099/vt-frog.zip

 

He's not a God, and he's not a devil. Like the rest of us, he's somewhere in between.

 

JR

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.... because the internet isn't just the secret nerd society it used to be.

 

OMG..

 

Someone's found out...

 

Alerting SNS members!!!

 

Time to head for Internet II..

 

Always a step a head.. BWAHAHAHAHHAHA

 

desiv

 

:roll:

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Since other people have apparently improved on his work, why would he continue making something that was probably not highly profitable?

 

It's not that Vectrex multi-game solutions don't exist, since there seem to be plenty. What's the deal?

 

(Admittedly, I don't own one. . . Actually, I've only ever seen and touched one Vectrex, a Minicade model in a bus depot somewhere in Oklahoma (Anadarko? Sapulpa, perhaps?).

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Guest cvo
Mm, yes... he can be pretty crabby.  I last conversed with him in 1998 and even then he had a noticably bitter edge to him.  Still, I can't complain too much... I've gotten a lot of cool stuff from him in the past, and he has made some important contributions to this hobby.  Without him, I would never have gotten this...

 

http://opoth.ath.cx/vt2099/vt-frog.zip

 

He's not a God, and he's not a devil.  Like the rest of us, he's somewhere in between.

 

JR

 

This is not about him being perfect or him being severely flawed. This is about Sean Kelly not satisfying his end of the transaction, especially in a timely fashion and in a cordial manner. It really is quite simple. This is not just one occurrence, this is one of NUMEROUS occurrences. Jess, if you and other people are willing to bend over to let Sean continue to handle business in his poor fashion, then you need to get your head out of the sand and recognize when you are being taken advantage of.

 

What is your favorite online store, Jess? Tell me, if you were to order something from the store and didn't hear anything from that company for months and when you finally did hear something from them after persistent correspondence and their response was rude, curt and hostile, would you really be just as forgiving as you are of Sean? Ah, yes, I forget----it's because "he has made some important contributions to this hobby". :roll: Just because he has done some things for this hobby does not mean he should be able to get away with crap just because he has that claim as his trump card.

 

If Sean were doing something for free for you, that is a FAVOR, and hey he can take his damn sweet time, no problem. But if there was money involved, it is now an OBLIGATION and a TRANSACTION, and there are legal and professional reasons why he needs to satisfy his end within a reasonable fashion. Sorry but 6+ or 8+ months is NOT a reasonable fashion. Give me a break. :roll: Besides, if he were a nice guy he would at least respond with updates on why it was taking so long for an order to get completed and not have an attitude about it like he can't be bothered.

 

The worst part about all of this is that not only is Sean SLOW to respond, but he's also RUDE and NONCORDIAL. It's as though he has the attitude: what??? how dare they question how much longer it will take for me to get them what they already paid for months ago??? don't they know who I am??? I am Sean Kelly!!! I have done amazing things for this hobby!! Screw them!

 

If Sean Kelly decides to no longer provide some of the services he does (or in some cases, disservices) in this hobby, I couldn't care less because someone or some other people will step up and take his place. People had the same fear about when Hozer went away. OH HEAVENS NO WHERE WILL I BUY CARTS FROM OH NOOOO!!! But now we have multiple sources from where to buy carts from: AA, Packrat, to name a couple.

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Wow. I was just trying to be diplomatic here, and you respond by tearing into me with all the righteous fury you've reserved for Sean Kelly himself! Calm down, WOman. I'm not your enemy.

 

Personally speaking, I've had one less than satisfactory purchase from Mr. Kelly, but the remainder of my experiences with him have made up for this. Is he rude? Yes, I've noticed that about him, too. Is he slow? He can be sometimes, yes. But has he enriched my software library with games I couldn't have possibly gotten otherwise? Absolutely, yes. I know that I'm not the only one whose collection has been greatly improved by Sean Kelly, and it's worth factoring that in when you're forming an opinion of the man and his service.

 

JR

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I just got a vectrex today, and a sean kelly multicart, seems pretty cool to me.

 

The weird thing is how I got it :?

 

A guy starts doing a little work for me, get chatting, says his brother has 2 vectrex's. He has about 14 carts with inlays, plus some sort of multicart.

 

So tonight the guy arrives with a vectrex for me :) , and the multicart is of course a sean kelly one, dated 94 - 96. It has about 43/44 games on it, are there different versions as this is quite old, the guy cant even remember getting it , but does travel to the states a fair bit....?

 

Pretty weird thing to find in the wild in the UK methinks, an SK multicart !! 8)

 

Oh, and anyone want to flog me another vecrtex pad, I only have 1. :(

 

Si

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This is not about him being perfect or him being severely flawed. This is about Sean Kelly not satisfying his end of the transaction, especially in a timely fashion and in a cordial manner. It really is quite simple. This is not just one occurrence, this is one of NUMEROUS occurrences. Jess, if you and other people are willing to bend over to let Sean continue to handle business in his poor fashion, then you need to get your head out of the sand and recognize when you are being taken advantage of.

 

What is your favorite online store, Jess? Tell me, if you were to order something from the store and didn't hear anything from that company for months and when you finally did hear something from them after persistent correspondence and their response was rude, curt and hostile, would you really be just as forgiving as you are of Sean? Ah, yes, I forget----it's because "he has made some important contributions to this hobby". Just because he has done some things for this hobby does not mean he should be able to get away with crap just because he has that claim as his trump card.

 

If Sean were doing something for free for you, that is a FAVOR, and hey he can take his damn sweet time, no problem. But if there was money involved, it is now an OBLIGATION and a TRANSACTION, and there are legal and professional reasons why he needs to satisfy his end within a reasonable fashion. Sorry but 6+ or 8+ months is NOT a reasonable fashion. Give me a break. Besides, if he were a nice guy he would at least respond with updates on why it was taking so long for an order to get completed and not have an attitude about it like he can't be bothered.

 

The worst part about all of this is that not only is Sean SLOW to respond, but he's also RUDE and NONCORDIAL. It's as though he has the attitude: what??? how dare they question how much longer it will take for me to get them what they already paid for months ago??? don't they know who I am??? I am Sean Kelly!!! I have done amazing things for this hobby!! Screw them!

 

If Sean Kelly decides to no longer provide some of the services he does (or in some cases, disservices) in this hobby, I couldn't care less because someone or some other people will step up and take his place. People had the same fear about when Hozer went away. OH HEAVENS NO WHERE WILL I BUY CARTS FROM OH NOOOO!!! But now we have multiple sources from where to buy carts from: AA, Packrat, to name a couple.

 

 

Amen to that. I've talked to Kelly a few times in person, and he was always (without fail) a very rude, possibly drunk, certainly bitter dickhead. I'll bet the people who frequent his store just LOVE his attitude.

 

I'd agree that Sean has made several importnat contributions to the hobby, but his complete lack of customer service skills and all-around shitty attitude has left a bad taste in my mouth (we are exchanging money for a product, folks... just because he provides difficult-to-find items does not mean he has free reign to ignore e-mails, take 6 months to ship something, screw you on shipping, and be an asshole in general.) I wouldn't buy from him again, even if he was still selling his multicarts. I certainly don't frequent his store, and I live less than an hour from him.

 

I'm done venting now. Damn Mondays!

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