The Atari Lynx

TL · April 23, 2013, 17:20:46 PM

I downloaded that other day but havn't had the chance to give it a try yet, I will do a review of it when I haveÂ

108 Stars · April 23, 2013, 18:35:47 PM

Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"Maybe it's needless worrying on my part but I hope you appreciate the point I'm trying to make.

Absolutely, you make a valid point.
I also usually pick very rich, contrastful colors because of the original screen's flaws. So in that regard you may find some games to be somewhat too strong in their color palette when you have the new screen installed. I remember a similar problem from the GBA, where the first GBA model had no backlight so developers made the colors stronger to be more visible; which looked not so good on later backlit models etc. Some games like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance even had the option topick between two palettes, a rich one suited for dark screens and a more subtle one for backlit screens.

So I guess we will have to see from case to case. Sadly there is no perfect solution, it's either live with the old screen or take the new one ad risk other problems. I'd pick the new screen any day personally, the old one really is hard to see, and to be honest... it won't live forever. eventually, the old screens will die. And looking at the photo with the crisp title screen of Rampage on the new LCD next to the old Lynx screen the benefits far outweigh the risks for me.

DreamcastRIP · April 23, 2013, 19:14:29 PM

Quote from: "108 Stars"... But surely not everyone will have two Lynxes.

(a Lynx with the circular rocker-style d-pad, a Lynx with the crosshair-style d-pad, a Lynx II and a second Lynx II that's BNIB never been used)

I far prefer Lynx to Lynx II and prefer the circular rocker-style d-pad mostly because I find it easier to rack up high scores playing the sublime surfing stage of California Games.

You've covered the point I raised excellently. Yep, based on the Youtube video (not a guarantee then) some games (Chip's Challenge and Rampage) look fantastic on this new screen whereas others such as Lemmings looked far too garish to me. Having a standard non-modified Lynx/Lynx II and a modified Lynx II covers all bases as you say.

It'll be on game by game basis as to which screen individuals prefer most. Some games may, for some people's tastes, look too pixelated on the modern screen too. Kinda like playing some Mega Drive games displayed on a large screen LCD HDTV does but in a less exaggerated form, if that makes sense.

All in all though this is VERY welcome development and I'm delighted.

108 Stars · April 23, 2013, 22:23:21 PM

Surely you are from the UK.Â Because that's probably the only place on earth where Lynx units are so common they can be found dirt cheap and people often seem to have multiple units.^^

In Germany the Lynx is somewhat rare. Not in high demand either, but there's not a lot of them around, and a friend of mine just searched two months until he finally got one from France with missing battery lid for 57 Euro shipped. That's almost 50 GBP, and the cheapest offer he had in 2 months.

TL · April 23, 2013, 22:28:46 PM

Quote from: "108 Stars"Surely you are from the UK.Â Because that's probably the only place on earth where Lynx units are so common they can be found dirt cheap and people often seem to have multiple units.^^

In Germany the Lynx is somewhat rare. Not in high demand either, but there's not a lot of them around, and a friend of mine just searched two months until he finally got one from France with missing battery lid for 57 Euro shipped. That's almost 50 GBP, and the cheapest offer he had in 2 months.

I wouldn't say they are that cheap, about £30+ for a working one usually.

I have 2, one of each but I will buy a Lynx II with a broken screen for this mod, plenty of those on eBay for cheap.

108 Stars · April 23, 2013, 22:41:48 PM

Well, let's put it like this: 30 GBP is still half of the price you have to pay around here.^^
It's all relative.

DreamcastRIP · April 24, 2013, 06:46:22 AM

Quote from: "108 Stars"Surely you are from the UK.Â Because that's probably the only place on earth where Lynx units are so common they can be found dirt cheap and people often seem to have multiple units.^^

In Germany the Lynx is somewhat rare. Not in high demand either, but there's not a lot of them around, and a friend of mine just searched two months until he finally got one from France with missing battery lid for 57 Euro shipped. That's almost 50 GBP, and the cheapest offer he had in 2 months.

I was most pleased with scoring one of my original model Lynx units. I 'won' it on eBay and although the console was without the box it looked in decent condition from theÂ so-so quality photos. When it arrived in the post I was amazed to discover that it looked VERY nearly brand new like it had almost never been used. No scratches or even the slightest of scuff marks on the screen or cartridge bay. It only cost me about £20 shipped too. That was a good day!Â :1:

Any idea for why Lynx wasn't as successful in Germany as it was here in the UK? After all, the ST was big in Germany, afaik, like it was in the UK.

108 Stars · April 24, 2013, 15:34:53 PM

I am not entirely sure, but I was surprised to learn how successful it was in the UK...

All I can say is that there was very little advertising. I remember one TV spot airing for a few weeks for the Lynx II. Only one deparment store near me had the Lynx stocked for a while. In magazines there were no print ads and barely any reviews, and if there were reviews they had mediocre or bad scores. I think no Lynx game ever reached an 80/100 here.
German magazines always had the tendency to rate lower than UK mags, but the Lynx stuff was constantly pretty low. Arcades were not accessible to kids around here, so they were dark, smokey holes with one-armed bandits next to video games. Very low profile, so the arcade ports did not give the Lynx any extra sympathy; nobody knew those games.

It's all just guessing, but in the end I can honestly say that no kid I knew ever had a Lynx or ever mentioned it. Many had GBs, some had GGs, but no Lynx. The first time in my life that I saw a real Lynx running a game was in 2009.

DreamcastRIP · April 24, 2013, 21:24:30 PM

By coincidence I think Darryl Still inadvertently answered my question to you here in one of his responses to your questions to him in the recently published interview here on RVG. It seems Atari Germany were more focused on the computer range rather than on projecting the Atari brand as being about games.