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Messages - tomwaits

#316
General Retro Chat / Re: Vectrex Overlays
March 09, 2012, 15:08:33 PM
There are a few homebrews with overlays, but the price is usually jacked up for that 'luxury'. The original release of Protector, Vectrexians, Vector Pilot, Colorclash, and the upcoming Warrior all have them. Might be a couple others too.

They're interesting, but only a few of them are 'must-haves'. Games like Colorclash and Warrior actually integrate overlay colors/objects into the gameplay, which is pretty neat.
 

As an aside, Fury Unlimited expanded the production run for Warrior to 150 copies yesterday. Might be the only batch ever made since it requires the overlay. It's an expensive homebrew at $65, but I bought one because it'll probably be much more expensive later if there isn't another run. If anyone is interested, I wouldn't wait...

I still remember when the 'new' Warrior arcade game appeared at the local movie theater. I was just a kid, and when my family was ready to go watch the movie I begged to stay in the lobby playing the game. :D
 
#317
General Retro Chat / Re: Any Intellivision owner?
March 06, 2012, 15:29:55 PM
I bought an Intellivision II for cheap during the early 80's crash. I have a dozen or so games for it, but it never got much play time.

One of my friends had an INTV back in the late 70's, and the two player 'battle' strategy games were fun. More depth than any of the 2600 games. (Sea Battle, Armor Battle, Space Battle, etc.) They started to look archaic pretty quickly though. By the time I bought an INTV I had moved on to the Atari 800 and games like Eastern Front were far beyond the INTV strategy games. And, the Atari 800 (and maybe 2600?) were better than the INTV for any arcade style gaming...
#318
I don't know if it's my favorite, but I really like Combatribes. The SNES version is decent, but the uncensored arcade PCB is great. Smashing clowns' faces into the pavement never gets old. :D
#319
I already have PCBs for Robotron, Defender, and Galaga. :)

My three most-wanted classics right now would probably be: Star Wars, Tron, and Star Castle.
#320
Atari Chat / Re: The Atari Jaguar Thread
March 02, 2012, 18:58:43 PM
I'm a big fan of the Jaguar too, but I think it's more nostalgia for me...

The Jaguar games library is loaded with exclusives, but to me only about 10 of them are really worth playing. (Tempest 2000 and Protector SE are two of the best classic arcade updates ever!) A few of the multi-platform games were better on Jaguar too.

But, my affection for the system is mostly because it was really the last mainstream US/UK game console. And, the last gasp of the industry defining Atari from my childhood. :(
#321
My most recent retro purchases:
- Dinosaur Island, Shutokou Battle 97, and Toshinden URA for the Saturn
- Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty cart for the Sega ST-V (arcade version of the Saturn architecture w/extra RAM)

- Arcade Card Duo
#322
Handheld & Tabletop Chat / Re: Zodiac Tapwave
March 02, 2012, 16:32:00 PM
Yeah, obscure was the wrong word... 'alternative' would have been better.

Is there anything that's worth playing on the Supervision or Gamate? I always assumed their libraries were a bunch of poorly written clones of popular games?
#323
Handheld & Tabletop Chat / Re: Zodiac Tapwave
February 29, 2012, 16:53:45 PM
I have one and I really like it.  (better than the Gizmondo :D)

The official games library is ok, but I was surprised how many great games were available for PalmOS. Early touch screen gaming with lots of predecessors to the best iPod genres. Unique touch screen puzzle games, RTS, and others.

If you're exploring obscure handhelds I'd start with the NGPC or N-Gage, but the Zodiac is worth a cheap buy too.
#324
Arcade & Pinball Chat / Re: Any Arcade owners?
February 28, 2012, 14:46:51 PM
I have three cabs in my garage, a countertop Neo Geo knockoff in my bedroom (:D), and a supergun.

Everything was pretty cheap, but they definitely take some on-going maintenance and take up a lot of space... not just space for the cabs but I've ended up with dozens of arcade PCBs over the last few years. There are so many great games that either never had home versions or had sub-par home ports. Also MAME is never 100% accurate and, to me, if you're going to make the effort to play in a real cab you should be playing an original PCB instead of semi-accurate emulation.

My cabs are:
- 25" Capcom Dynamo... currently marqueed as X-Men vs SF. It's horizontal JAMMA with a 2P, 6 button control panel so I can use it with most horizontal PCBs.
- 19" Guerrilla War... wired for vertical JAMMA with either a 2P rotary stick control panel or a standard stick 2P 2 button control panel. I can swap the control panel in about 10 minutes.
- 13" Neo Geo countertop... Mostly for the kids and currently running a 20-in-1 multi-Taito PCB. (Bubble Bobble!)
- Millipede... non-working. Gradually buying/replacing parts as I can afford it.
 

Some collectors like having dedicated original cabs for arcade classics but I'm happy sticking a JAMMA converter on my non-JAMMA PCBs. I'd rather have versatile cabs that cover each genre.

Eventually I'd like to add a light gun cab, 25" vertical JAMMA cab (keep Guerrilla War as a dedicated rotary), hi-res cab for my Naomi/Atomiswave, and a 2P linked sit-down racer. Then my garcade would be complete... until I find some cheap pinball machines. :D
#325
Retro News & Chat / Re: Emulate this?
February 26, 2012, 19:01:21 PM
No emulators for me. They never play 100% accurate, the controller/display don't match the original platform, and the obsessive rom hoarding crowd are a disgrace.

I'll use MAME occasionally to sample an expensive PCB before buying but for consoles I stick with the real thing.
#326
Mostly Atari for me. I started with an 800 and 410 tape drive, and my brother got an 800XL when those were released. I bought a C128 later too, but always used the Atari more.

Also, I'm in the USA, so most of these choices were rare or unknown here. A friend of mine loved his ZX81 though... until he saw my 800. :) Were Apple IIs popular in the UK?
#327
Handheld & Tabletop Chat / Re: Gizmondo
February 24, 2012, 00:02:06 AM
I really like P.O.D. on the Gizmondo: POD: Point Of Destruction on Gizmondo

It's a trippy descendant of Targ, Millipede, and Space Invaders. If you like arcade classics, it's worth getting a cheap system just to play that game. I thought the rest of the library was very mediocre... some of the unreleased games were technically impressive, but I didn't find anything that held my interest.

I'd rather play the N-Gage. :D
#328
Introductions / Hi!
February 15, 2012, 18:39:03 PM
Hi!
Another USA member (Boston area)... I joined RVG after getting Laird's invite. Thanks!

I've been obsessively playing/collecting videogames since the mid-70s. Stacks of plastic storage bins everywhere. :)
#329
Sega Chat / Re: What Was The Best Sega Console?
February 15, 2012, 14:15:59 PM
Quote from: "The Laird"
Quote from: "tomwaits"The Japanese Saturn is my all-time favorite console. (Dreamcast and Genesis are great too)

To me, the Japanese Saturn library is the pinnacle of 2D gaming with amazing games across all genres. esp. shmups and fighting games :)

I just bought several new Jap Saturn games this week!

Which games did you buy?
#330
Sega Chat / Re: What Was The Best Sega Console?
February 14, 2012, 14:57:18 PM
The Japanese Saturn is my all-time favorite console. (Dreamcast and Genesis are great too)

To me, the Japanese Saturn library is the pinnacle of 2D gaming with amazing games across all genres. esp. shmups and fighting games :)