Classic gaming thread... (1 Viewer)

[Todd H]

Let's talk classic gaming. I just ordered an Atari 5200. I know...the controller sucked and the system was basically an Atari 400, but I had a lot of fun with mine when I was a kid. So I figured I'd buy a system and start collecting. Am I the only person into collecting older systems?

 

[Ike]

I like the older systems. I, in fact, have a cocktail (it's flat, like a table, with controllers on each end) arcade machine of Space Invaders in my game/home theater room.

Old games were all about simplicity and addiction. Personally, I like the 16 bit days, where the simplicity met color, slight elements of plot, and some complexity, but I still can get down on Asteroids any day.

 

[Derrik Draven]

I saw a cocktail table with Omega Race built in. Wish I would've bought it. Too cool.

 

[Michael Cook]

I still have my Pong game system that I had since 1978 or so. I was very little then. Also, I still have my Intellivision system with about 15 games. Every now and then I hook them up and I am amazed at how far technology has come.

 

[Chris Bardon]

I still fire up MAME every so often, and just dug out all of my old NES and SNES stuff. Not quite as retro as the atari, but close. Have the two hooked up right next to the Xbox and Playstation. Started keeping an eye out for games again as well-picked up a couple that I'd been missing, and a few that I'd owned that seemed to grow legs.

People are too fed up with games that look pretty these days-it's great to go back to something where gameplay was king. Personally, I miss the time where one guy could make a bestselling game in six months-now it takes teams of a hundred two years.

 

[Calvin Watts III]

I do still have many older systems,and every once in a while I hook them up and have a go at them. I have old Ataris,Pongs,and I love my Intellivision & Vectrex.

 

[Jason Handy]

One of the things that first attracted me to my wife was our first date - playing Yars Revenge on her Atari 2600. It was such a refreshing change of pace from the Half-Lifes and the Age of Empires - refreshingly simple.
Now to hook it up to the 50H81, does anybody know if the 2600 has a DD5.1 adapter? Missile Command in Dolby Digital would ROCK!!!

Jason

 

[Jason Seaver]

I'm telling you, "Demon Attack" in DD5.1 would be the best. Have the "whoooooooooosh!" start behind you, go to the sides, and then wind up in the center channel when the demon finally coalesces. That would just rock.

 

[Andy_S]

My mom used an arcade as a baby sitter for a few hours a night when she worked late. $5 would get us into a $1 theater and have money left over to let us play games for a couple of hours... Those were the days!
Thank God for MAME! Hundreds of classics without needing a warehouse to store them all.
Derrik:
My MAME cocktail has a spinner built into it so I'm able to play Omega Race on it. That's a great game!

 

[Todd H]

I'm planning on building a MAME cabinet as well. I've got the plans and the equipment. I just need the time!
Is it just me or do these old games have something that newer games just don't have? I think it should be gameplay first, presentation second.

 

[Ike]

Can someone post a link to plans to how to build/switch out Mame cabinets?

 

[Andy_S]

The best place to find out how to build one is here:
Link Removed
The best place to buy one pre-built (they're expensive though!) is here:
http://www.hanaho.com

 

[Andy_S]

Is it just me or do these old games have something that newer games just don't have? I think it should be gameplay first, presentation second.

I think a big part of it was that the games had fairly simple rules. You could get the gist of a game fairly quickly and rather than spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to play, you were spending time increasing your skills.

 

[Todd H]

Here's a pretty nice MAME cabinet. This is what I'm going for when I finally start work on mine. I'm about to do a PC upgrade (I upgrade my motherboard, video card, processor every few years.) So I'll have the extra hardware laying around to run the thing.

 

[Kev_L]

If you want to see my mame cab.. check out my site... I actually have a very strange, non standard mame box... Just working on the controls panel right now... PIccies to come later. =>
http://www.klutzoplex.com/piccies/picciespast.htm
Todd H,
Not sure why, but the guys costs were WAY OUT TO LUNCH! 4000 buxk to build a Cab? HOLY SHNIKEY!!!!

 

[JasonK]

I've still got my NES hooked up in my room. My SNES is hooked up alongside my PS2, GCN, and DC. I still get the urge to play Super Contra, Super Metroid, Sunset Riders, and others. My 2600 is collecting dust somewhere, as is my Odyssey 2.

 

[Scott L]

For some reason or another I've been bitten by the nostalgic game collecting bug. I just bought an NES on ebay, slapped in a new connector and am looking into making a Link Removed. I also spent around $80 on used NES games and still going. This may not be super old but it's what I played when I was in elementary school and is still fun.
The first system I played on was a dedicated Pong system with the 2 turn knobs. Then I got an Atari 2600 for Xmas. That's my next buy, then there's the Virtual Boy, Neo Geo, Sega Master System... ugh....
I just got into MAME as well, I think it's a great idea you guys are building your own cabinets- talk about hardcore. I could be on one of those things for hours!

 

[Steven K]

To me, gaming hit it's plateau during the 16-bit era. As great as the NES was, the Genesis and SNES were just the most incredible platforms for gaming. Add on top of that, the PC-Engine (TG-16 in the US), and you really had the complete package.

I remember not being able to wait for the newest issue EGM to come out... and calling "Die Hard" to place orders for the newest hot import. Remember the excitement generated when Street Fighter 2 came out for the SFSNES???

I paid $650 for my Super Famicom with SMW when it first came out in Japan (had it imported) and $80 each for F-Zero and Bomboozal. Geez, those were the days.

I was such a junkie back then. I also bought:

PC-Engine CD-ROM ($400)

Super-Grafx ($350)

PC-Engine GT (Turbo-Express) ($400)

Mega CD ($450)

PC-Engine Duo ($300)

3D0 ($600)

Neo-Geo ($700)

Of course, this was in addition to all of the American consoles that I had... gaming just seemed more "fun" back in the late 80searly-mid 90s...

The only thing that I never got that I really wanted was an FM-Towns Marty. Did anyone get one of these?

 

[Todd H]

Hey Kev, I agree about the guy's prices! I like his overall design though. I think I can build a similar one for a lot less. I'm about to do an upgrade on my computer, so I'm going to use my current 800 mhz P3 with 128 megs ram to power my cabinet. That should be more than enough juice.

 

[Dan Clark]

Count me a classic gaming fan. I've got a pretty good Atari 2600 collection that I put together from thrift shop runs and Usenet buys about 4 years ago (even found wireless joysticks!). Had one as a kid of course but must have broke it or sold it or something so I had to reacquire everything.

Also have my original Atari 800 and huge 810 disk drive but some of the disks are going bad (due to double notching them probably) so I mostly play the cartidges I have. Favorite lost disk based game: Captain Beeble. I figured that the Atari 800 video out sends everything necessary for an s-video connection, so I made my own 5-pin DIN-to-s-video cable so I can hook it into my system and watch it on the Elite 510 (limited use of course to prevent burn it).

Also have a Gravitar standup in the basement in pretty good condition. I have a Space Duel board that will plug into it as well, but the control setup is completely different so I will have to make a special wiring harness to use it (that project is 3+ years old currently).

Would like to build a MAME cabinet myself one of these days.

Regards, Dan