GALAGA '88 - Page 2

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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

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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

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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?

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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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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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"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.

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

"Russ Perry Jr" <slapdash@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:slapdash-27BB04.20204321092005@news.rcn.com...
> "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.

Oh, I inferred from your post that you had those. I only saw Doraemon and
it was about $100. That was from this great little store in Tokyo about 5
years ago. They haven't had anything really good lately.

Dane.

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In article <1127102352.100594.250980@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com> wrote:

> > Stupid posts like: "ATARI 2600 USES ACTUAL ARCADE HARDWARE!!!!!"
>
> Similer to tourament table, I imagine the 2600 could pass as early
> arcade hardware.

Um, I played Starship One and Night Driver in the arcades, and they were
decidedly different than their 2600 counterparts. Starship One was b/w
grayscale, and much more detailed graphics than Starship, and Night
Driver was strictly b/w, but the 3D effect of the track was much more
believable and playable, plus the steering wheel was much better for the
arcade than the 2600 paddles.


> The Atari 400 certainly could AND DID. Why you got such a problem with
> this stuff.

And the first star games that were released on custom hardwared Atari
8-bit, while identical to the home versions in game play, were very
different under the hood. Many components were modified to endure the
arcade environment, lacked Atari ROMs, and had game code burned into the
ROMs that were mounted. And to be honest, since they were still Atari
8-bit games taken to the arcade, they generally tanked for operators. I
think First Star only released two titles to the arcade, and lost money
on both combined.

At that same point in time, arcade hardware was so far ahead of anything
in the home market that there was no real comparison. The Atari 2600
did not compare to anything in the arcades at any point in its marketing
existence. Nolan Bushnell knew that he had to do what he could to keep
the price down. One thing that hurt the original Odyssey was that it
was too expensive for its time. Arcade exact hardware would have been
cost prohibitive.

jt

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

jt august wrote:
> In article <1127102352.100594.250980@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> "The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > > Stupid posts like: "ATARI 2600 USES ACTUAL ARCADE HARDWARE!!!!!"
> >
> > Similer to tourament table, I imagine the 2600 could pass as early
> > arcade hardware.
>
> Um, I played Starship One and Night Driver in the arcades, and they were
> decidedly different than their 2600 counterparts. Starship One was b/w
> grayscale, and much more detailed graphics than Starship, and Night
> Driver was strictly b/w, but the 3D effect of the track was much more
> believable and playable, plus the steering wheel was much better for the
> arcade than the 2600 paddles.

While I'm not disagreeing with you, one might say that the 2600 Night
Driver was a vast improvement over the arcade...


>
>
> > The Atari 400 certainly could AND DID. Why you got such a problem with
> > this stuff.
>
> And the first star games that were released on custom hardwared Atari
> 8-bit, while identical to the home versions in game play, were very
> different under the hood. Many components were modified to endure the
> arcade environment, lacked Atari ROMs, and had game code burned into the
> ROMs that were mounted. And to be honest, since they were still Atari
> 8-bit games taken to the arcade, they generally tanked for operators. I
> think First Star only released two titles to the arcade, and lost money
> on both combined.

There was a later arcade machine that used an Atari 600xl as it's guts.

>
> At that same point in time, arcade hardware was so far ahead of anything
> in the home market that there was no real comparison. The Atari 2600
> did not compare to anything in the arcades at any point in its marketing
> existence. Nolan Bushnell knew that he had to do what he could to keep
> the price down. One thing that hurt the original Odyssey was that it
> was too expensive for its time. Arcade exact hardware would have been
> cost prohibitive.
>

IMO, home video games of the time, while not perfect always did an
ADMIRABLE JOB of bringing the "arcade experience" home. This is my
opinion.