GALAGA '88

[lugnut]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

On 14 Sep 2005 00:23:32 -0700, "The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com>
wrote:

>
>Bruce Tomlin wrote:
>> In article <bkhci1l8asokqbo4o6tgvmhcbrg8dme1o9@4ax.com>,
>> Turbo-Torch <vairxpert@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Can't say I didn't like the one life, it made things more challenging
>> > and gave more replay value imo. Plus it just made it different than
>> > all the other systems. Another difference was the low scores where
>> > most items were worth 1 to 5 points. Good score on the O2 was 100
>> > points, other systems 100,000.
>>
>> Then just write two or three zeros on a Post-It note and stick it on
>> your TV screen. When all scores are multiples of 100 anyhow, the extra
>> zeros are just there for looks.
>
>They didn't have post it's in the 80's.

Ah, sure they did!

Initial prototypes were available in 1977, and by 1980, after a large
sampling campaign, the product had been introduced around the world.


I can't believe I just wasted time Googling that.





-lugnut

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

On 14 Sep 2005 00:25:09 -0700, "The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com>
wrote:

>They showed screenshots of Pick Axe Pete for the Odyessy 3 in EGM.


Yes, it is one of the titles with enhanced graphics I own for 7400. On
the regular videopac it only displays the bare gameplay graphics.
Ciao,
Simone

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

>Then towards the end they came out with
>7400 only games. I can only remember one from back then, Nordmen
>(or something like that), which I haven't found yet. Any others?

Hey, where the hell is Matt Pritchard hanging out when you need the
answer to an O2/O3 question?!? Matt! We need your help!!!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

jt august wrote:


>
> As to the only having one life, Maggotbox and the dude who wrote almost
> every O^2 in house game thought it would give their games a marketing
> edge by making high scores more challenging on one life and more
> honorable. A move that lives in infamy among collectors.

True but it made them less ARCADE-LIKE.. which was a bad thing. Home
gamers wanted the arcade at home.

 

[Guest]

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In article <21nci1p2rlagaje08ro90l4g4e0sca3564@4ax.com>,
Didimo <didimo@SPAMMATUAMAMMAsbcglobal.net> wrote:

> AAAAMEEEN TO YOU BOTH!!! The O2/Videopac (I'm from Italy) was my first
> programmable system, and to this day I still wonder why one life only.
> When I eventually got an Atari VCS after the crash (I had sold my
> Videopac to buy an Intellivision, and then later got a Colecovision;
> the VCS came from a trade with a friend, after I had gotten sick of
> playing the same Inty games over and over and I couldn't find any new
> ones anymore...) I missed my Videopac and its superior games. Poorer
> graphics, maybe (that's debatable), but still WAY better in terms of
> playability, fun factor and overall appearance.

As to the only having one life, Maggotbox and the dude who wrote almost
every O^2 in house game thought it would give their games a marketing
edge by making high scores more challenging on one life and more
honorable. A move that lives in infamy among collectors.

> Fear not: back years ago I bought a complete in box O2 + tons of
> games, and a few years back I found an elusive Videopac 7400 + some
> fun + (7400 enhanced) games back on vacation in Italy.

I got my 7400 through an old school internet auction. Before eBay, the
7400 wasn't so elusive, and a lot cheaper to those of us on this side of
the Pond.

jt

 

[Guest]

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On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:32:22 GMT, jt august <starsabre@att.net> wrote:

>In article <21nci1p2rlagaje08ro90l4g4e0sca3564@4ax.com>,
> Didimo <didimo@SPAMMATUAMAMMAsbcglobal.net> wrote:
>

>> Fear not: back years ago I bought a complete in box O2 + tons of
>> games, and a few years back I found an elusive Videopac 7400 + some
>> fun + (7400 enhanced) games back on vacation in Italy.
>
>I got my 7400 through an old school internet auction. Before eBay, the
>7400 wasn't so elusive, and a lot cheaper to those of us on this side of
>the Pond.

Hey JT,
The 7400 was actually FAIRLY easy to find in Italy until a few years
ago. The problem, I believe, is that few people collected videogames
in Europe until 10 or so years ago, and a lot of stores who still had
Videopac stuff just threw it away b/c it was just collecting dust in
the back of the store.
While I loved my regular Videopac (my first programmable video game
system), when I found my 7400 about 7 years ago I thought it was a
major disappointment: prettier graphics for the background, and that's
it. It is true however that I have not been able to locate Norsemen or
any other "7400 only" carts (although, as I mentioned, besides
Norsemen I do not recall seeing any in the stores back then), nor the
7400-only computer module. I missed one on ebay a few months ago.
Ciao,
Simone

PS: I very recently got into collecting Emerson Arcadia / Hanimex /
Leonardo Gig . Do you collect Arcadia 2001? What do you think of it? I
find it strangely appealing : ) (probably b/c it's the console it took
me the longest time to locate) I only have about 5 Arcadia 2001 carts
so far, and about 10 Leonardo Gig back home in Italy, with a couple of
extras I recently acquired through an auction.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

>
>The arcade craze started to die off in the mid to late 80's so the
>arcade ports didn't do much of anything for the NES compared to its
>original games which made it a success. 7800 stuck with the played
>out arcade theme and tanked in a big way.

Eh... I still recall the biggest games on the NES being arcade ports, and
all the whining that went on when games weren't arcade perfect. Can you
say "Double Dragon" or "Contra?" Although I admit it's possible that this
was less true for the NES than with prior systems, I have no hard evidence
to compare. You can even see the arcade affecting sales well into the
16-bit era, with Street Fighter and Neo Geo games being big sellers. The
power of the arcade didn't really die until the home systems could pretty
much match anything that was done in the arcades, ie the Playstation era.
--
Jim Leek
jrleek@soda.berkeley.edu

 

[Guest]

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jrleek@soda.csua.berkeley.edu (James Robert Leek) wrote in
news:dgl3gd$5u4$1@agate.berkeley.edu:

>>
>>The arcade craze started to die off in the mid to late 80's so the
>>arcade ports didn't do much of anything for the NES compared to its
>>original games which made it a success. 7800 stuck with the played
>>out arcade theme and tanked in a big way.
>
> Eh... I still recall the biggest games on the NES being arcade ports,
> and
> all the whining that went on when games weren't arcade perfect. Can
> you say "Double Dragon" or "Contra?" Although I admit it's possible
> that this was less true for the NES than with prior systems, I have no
> hard evidence to compare.

Yeah, but at the same time, it was by then considered normal for a home
game to take creative liberties with the arcade concept. A game could
be made better than the arcade, which before would have been absurd.

You can even see the arcade affecting sales
> well into the 16-bit era, with Street Fighter and Neo Geo games being
> big sellers.

Kinda, but arcades were struggling long before Street Fighter arrived.
It was seen as being a game that brought "new blood" into an ailing
industry... so by that point, the home experience was a major contender,
if not the reigning champ.

The power of the arcade didn't really die until the home
> systems could pretty much match anything that was done in the arcades,
> ie the Playstation era.

It didn't die until then, but it was on life-support many, many years
prior.


--

Aaron J. Bossig

http/www.GodsLabRat.com
http/www.dvdverdict.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

In article <1127073114.298309.194520@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
"The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com> wrote:

> jt august wrote:
>
>
> >
> > As to the only having one life, Maggotbox and the dude who wrote almost
> > every O^2 in house game thought it would give their games a marketing
> > edge by making high scores more challenging on one life and more
> > honorable. A move that lives in infamy among collectors.
>
> True but it made them less ARCADE-LIKE.. which was a bad thing. Home
> gamers wanted the arcade at home.

Which was part of the O^2's self destruction. They finally got a clue
and licensed an arcade game with the voice module. Of course, that was
Turtles, not a particular hit (I had never even heard of it, and it was
several years later I finally found a unit in an arcade).

But Mag new they needed to try something to stand out against the ever
overwhelming Atari 2600, and that is one of the things they tried.

jt

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

In article <edari154ffie77kkcvadsor88t3vi5sjpa@4ax.com>,
Didimo <didimo@SPAMMATUAMAMMAsbcglobal.net> wrote:

> PS: I very recently got into collecting Emerson Arcadia / Hanimex /
> Leonardo Gig . Do you collect Arcadia 2001? What do you think of it? I
> find it strangely appealing : ) (probably b/c it's the console it took
> me the longest time to locate) I only have about 5 Arcadia 2001 carts
> so far, and about 10 Leonardo Gig back home in Italy, with a couple of
> extras I recently acquired through an auction.

I've been into full collecting for over a decade. i cannot remember
when I got my 2001, but I do recall it was a trade with someone up in
Canada. I recently found a loose 2k1 controller, but the store I found
it at doesn't sell cassettes without boxes, and the sorter thought that
the games were cassettes. And no, they wouldn't let me dig in their
dumpster.

jt

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

Didimo wrote:

same... And what about in other areas? In your
> experience?
> I find a couple of the Emerson games truly enjoyable (Galaxy Invaders,
> Cat Trax, Jungler). Others are... ohmygawd! [The end.... What a
> bummer!]

What's better, Cat Trax on the Emerson or the Atari 2600?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

Didimo wrote:


> Pleiades was released in Europe (Leonardo GIG version, Advision... Not
> sure about Schmid).
> Ciao,
> Simone

I wonder which is better the Emerson version of PLEIADES or the Atari
2600 version?

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

Didimo wrote:


>
> I have never owned the Atari 2600 version of Mousetrap (wait, I might
> have it now, but I don't recall playing it.

I don't mean Mousetrap, Cat Trax was released for the 2600 in the
states recently.

 

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On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:20:35 GMT, jt august <starsabre@att.net> wrote:

>In article <edari154ffie77kkcvadsor88t3vi5sjpa@4ax.com>,
> Didimo <didimo@SPAMMATUAMAMMAsbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> PS: I very recently got into collecting Emerson Arcadia / Hanimex /
>> Leonardo Gig . Do you collect Arcadia 2001? What do you think of it? I
>> find it strangely appealing : ) (probably b/c it's the console it took
>> me the longest time to locate) I only have about 5 Arcadia 2001 carts
>> so far, and about 10 Leonardo Gig back home in Italy, with a couple of
>> extras I recently acquired through an auction.
>
>I've been into full collecting for over a decade. i cannot remember
>when I got my 2001, but I do recall it was a trade with someone up in
>Canada. I recently found a loose 2k1 controller, but the store I found
>it at doesn't sell cassettes without boxes, and the sorter thought that
>the games were cassettes. And no, they wouldn't let me dig in their
>dumpster.

Another tragic story : (. One is left with the bitter feeling of maybe
having missed out on a lot... and then again maybe they'd only had a
couple of silly first-generation games (like that horrible soccer...
brrrrr!), or maybe not even that.

I got into collecting around 1992 (1960s/70s toys, comics and tv
shows, besides videogames), but again Hanimex/Leonardo has been
impossible to find. Not for the reason that it was rare or very good,
mind you... Quite the opposite, I think. It did not enjoy much success
back in 82/84 as Hanimex in Europe, and then later in its Leonardo
incarnation it did enjoy some success, but quite ephemeral in nature.
Gig Italy would typically not support its products, so after only
about a year finding games for the console would have been next to
impossible. Kids who had one back then were more likely to throw it
away rather than keep it, unlike their Atari VCS and Intellivisions...
Last but not least, b/c the Leonardo at the time cost less than half
the price of an Intellivision or Atari (this was after the crash of
'84). As far as the Emerson Arcadia is concerned, I believe it must
have been quite the same story here in the US: when I was living in CT
there was this one used game store owner who had, like, EVERYTHING for
sale, and at cheap prices, too, but he told me he had not seen an
Emerson since 1984. The Game Trader here in the St. Louis area told me
pretty much the same... And what about in other areas? In your
experience?
I find a couple of the Emerson games truly enjoyable (Galaxy Invaders,
Cat Trax, Jungler). Others are... ohmygawd! [The end.... What a
bummer!]
Ciao,
Simone

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

There were some cool Japanese-only titles for the Emerson that I couldn't
afford. DoReMi, a Japanese anime game comes to mind. I also saw
Pleides. Did that one ever get released anywhere else? I always thought
that was a decent arcade game.

Dane.

 

[Guest]

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On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:09:00 GMT, "Dane L. Galden"
<chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:

>There were some cool Japanese-only titles for the Emerson that I couldn't
>afford. DoReMi, a Japanese anime game comes to mind. I also saw
>Pleides. Did that one ever get released anywhere else? I always thought
>that was a decent arcade game.

Pleiades was released in Europe (Leonardo GIG version, Advision... Not
sure about Schmid).
Ciao,
Simone

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

On 19 Sep 2005 19:15:16 -0700, "The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com>
wrote:

>
>Didimo wrote:
>
>same... And what about in other areas? In your
>> experience?
>> I find a couple of the Emerson games truly enjoyable (Galaxy Invaders,
>> Cat Trax, Jungler). Others are... ohmygawd! [The end.... What a
>> bummer!]
>
>What's better, Cat Trax on the Emerson or the Atari 2600?

I have never owned the Atari 2600 version of Mousetrap (wait, I might
have it now, but I don't recall playing it. I bought about 200 Atari
2600 carts at 1$ each from that game store in CT years ago); I had it
on the Intellivision, though, and I still own it on the Colecovision.
I find the Emerson Arcadia Cat Trax actually quite enjoyable, better
done than the Intellivision Mousetrap, and more playable. I haven't
played my Colecovision in quite a while, though, so I should give it a
go and compare.
S.

 

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"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:
> There were some cool Japanese-only titles for the Emerson that I
> couldn't afford. DoReMi, a Japanese anime game comes to mind.

I assume you mean Doraemon, a game based on the giant blue cat
(-thing) of the same name.

There was also Dr. Slump (also based on an anime), SD Gundam
and Ultraman.
--
//*================================================================++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 slapdash@rcn.com [NEW!] VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================================*//

 

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"Russ Perry Jr" <slapdash@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:slapdash-19F103.19575920092005@news.rcn.com...
> "Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:
> > There were some cool Japanese-only titles for the Emerson that I
> > couldn't afford. DoReMi, a Japanese anime game comes to mind.
>
> I assume you mean Doraemon, a game based on the giant blue cat
> (-thing) of the same name.
>
> There was also Dr. Slump (also based on an anime), SD Gundam
> and Ultraman.

Thanks, Russ. You're right. It is "Doraemon" in Japanese. I couldn't
recall the Japanese name. (I have spent too much time watching the cartoon
with nephews and nieces in Taiwan, where it is translated from Japanese into
Chinese, then comes out closer to "Doremi" when put into English there.)

I would love to see those other games--especially Ultraman. (If any are for
sale, please email me.)

Dane.

 

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"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:
> "Russ Perry Jr" <slapdash@rcn.com> wrote:
>> I assume you mean Doraemon, a game based on the giant blue cat
>> (-thing) of the same name.
>>
>> There was also Dr. Slump (also based on an anime), SD Gundam
>> and Ultraman.

> I would love to see those other games--especially Ultraman.
> (If any are for sale, please email me.)

Hey, I got dibs!

Seriously though, these rarely go on sale. I still need a couple
of them myself.
--
//*================================================================++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 slapdash@rcn.com [NEW!] VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================================*//