/vr/ - Retro Games

I've been thinking about this era a bit lately too. I've played a couple of arcade games from the era like Missile Command and Asteroids and they're excellent.
Want to try stuff like Jet Set Willy on Spectrum, need to find a good emulator for those old computers and also keen to try some Atari VCS games.

>>10229574
I remember buying a copy of Venture for the Atari 2600 and running all the way home because i couldnt wait to get home to play it.

>>10229574
>Is it worth it to get my 800xl repaired and
bad RAM? that appears to be the most common fault usually when a bad PSU ate it.

>>10229574
Depends on what's wrong with your XL, probably RAM as >>10229631 said. If your machine is socketed it could be easy, but RAM typically isn't on Ataris. At any rate the A8 computers are badass. They're also not that expensive, and the FujiNet is the coolest thing to happen to 8-bit computing in years, it's an absolute blast.

been thinking about getting an intellivision. The problem is the controllers; 16-way pads can't easily be replaced by other inputs, but what games really need 16-way control?

I installed atari800winplus last week and I'm hoping to get started soon; Just haven't had time to wrap my head around the configuration or anything. I wanna play MULE

>>10231167
use Altirra instead; Atari800Win is ancient outdated shit.

>>10229574
the xegs+flashcart has many of the pc ports via homebrew
supports 2600 pinout
looks badass
more reliable modern usb powersupply for cheap via brewing academy

im not saying NOT to fix your old pc
but i would rather keep my xegs
>>10231167
intellivision has some neat exclusives
the controller isnt as bad as people say
im not sayin its the best ever but its usable
frog bog
buzz bombers etc

>>10231192
is it easy to set up at least?

The thing to remember OP is to read the manual on these old games. A lot of the story building and atmosphere comes from the manual as does important information about gameplay. This is typical for exclusives like Adventure, Haunted House, Superman on Atari.

I would like a Bally Astrocade. Colecovision is great and even had an add-on for 2600 games

>>10229631
>>10229712

It functions but some of the keys need to be rebuilt and for some reason I can't find the parts needed and I don't really want to buy a broken computer to salvage parts off of.

>>10231325
>intellivision has some neat exclusives
Best exclusives on the hardware:
>Beauty and the Beast
>Ice Trek
>Space Hawk
>Worm Whomper
>Thunder Castle
>Tower of Doom
>Diner
>Thin Ice
>Tropical Trouble
>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
>White Water
>Hover Force

Notable ports:
>Mission X
>Bump n Jump
>Burgertime
>The Dreadnaught Factor (got ports on other machines but was made for INTV first, same with Beamrider)
>Venture
>Commando
>Blockade Runner
>Dig Dug
>Sewer Sam

The console is highly underrated, some sort of modern solution for the controller would be nice tho

>>10231752
It's one of the mechanical mitsumi boards? The mylar ones are pretty easy to fix and/or replace, but I've never worked on one of the mitsumis.

The keys might just be stuck from oxidation in which case you can try pressing them repeatedly to unstick them.

Been waiting for the cap kit for Intellivision II with the reset fix in Console5 to get back in stock for years.

My favorite game from this era will always be Astrosmash. Very simple but fun. Perfect for the era. My uncle told me he once played it all night until the sun came up.

>>10232370
the Intellivision IIs are a lot more reliable than the Model I as they have a more modern chipset that runs off a single voltage and generates way less heat when running.

>>10232370
Do you actually need to recap it? Seems unlikely.

>>10232405
Recap is probably unnecessary, but I do have the power off issue that’s supposed to be fixed by that kit. Recapping couldn’t hurt either. I can’t find a lot of resources on how to fix the power down issue otherwise. Intellivision just isn’t very popular. Utopia, Snafu, and Baseball kick ass.

>>10231658
>controller is shaped like a firearm grip
The most American console

The one and only

>>10232567
Gotcha — that proto dungeon-crawler is pretty rad too.

>>10231167
Are there really no tools for emulators that let you use an analog stick for the disc?

>>10229574
I wish I had a vectrex, that thing looks cool

>>10233431

The games didn't have a lot of depth to them, you either play for points or increased game speed. It's only popular now due to being a vector-based retro system but every game was black and white unless you had the color film screen cover.

They were around $200 new back in the early 80's. The Atari 2600 has better games.

>>10232705
Had the chance to play one of these at a retro place in Portsmouth, UK about 7 years ago (sadly without the overlays) and really it's the only console of this era I wouldn't be happy with just emulating. You simply can't recreate that crisp vector monitor. Also the controllers worked great, I hear that's also something that often breaks on the vectrex

>>10232676
>>10231658
the bally is based
v endearing library
controllers are fragile and expensive as shit
leading me to design my own own 2600>bally adapters

>>10233431
Can confirm, they are

>>10232139
Agreed I like the BnJ and Burgertime ports more than the Coleco versions. Venture is also freat.

Beamrider was an OG on INTV.

>>10232705
Been collecting since the 90s, probably longer than some here have been alive. The Vectrex has managed to elude me. Not that I couldn't have just gone out and bought one, rather most of my stuff was acquired through thrift stores.

Aside from emulation, I've only played it once at an anime convention. Was probably the only person in the room interested in it. Though it didn't help much that the people who organized the room didn't leave any instructions on how to switch the multicart, even I could barely figure it out.

One day the cartridges I've acquired will have a Vectrex to play on.

>>10233431
I own one and the cool factor dies pretty quickly imo. It's still a very unique game system, it's just the library is very small and the games you'd expect to be on the system aren't there.

>>10234762
My bud had vectrex when we were kids, I had a Vic20. The games looked amazing but to be honest the gameplay always felt a bit dull and I hated the controller. I think the nature of the display meant that action was always a bit slower compared to a raster display, especially compared to Atari those games were always tight.

>>10229574
Back in the day, the 2600 was connected to an old black and white TV. Just a small smooth style you might see stacked on a card table. I think I remember there was a switch on the back of the Atari to account for this situation. It ran through an RF modulator, and there was a ton of static in the image. The graphics were so big and chunky that the static really didn't do much to harm gameplay.

When I want to go back and play the old games today, I just emulate. I enjoy the modern color and sharpness available.

I had a Vic20 (still own it), and my uncle had an Atari 2600.
I played the hell out of Gorf.
Enjoyed Radar Rat Race. Didn't know at the time that it was considered a bad clone of Grand Prix. I still think mice in a maze just makes more sense than cars.
Had a great Qbert port
Had a perfect Space Invaders port, that was apparently an unauthorized bootleg that made it into the bargain bin.
Omega Race always felt very intimidating. You could win, up until you started to use panic strats, and then it was all going down in flames.
A bunch of text adventures I didn't have much patience for. I swear I beat The Count, but for the life of my I don't remember how.
The Star Trek game is supposed to be based on the arcade game, but it's not nearly as faithful as the one they made for the C64. Somehow it feels more playable. Or maybe just a lot easier.
Demon Attack was a great game.
Raid on Fort Knox is a great game.
My uncle had Grand Prix, and Pitfall, and some kind of bowling game that he considered too easy, and Realsports Baseball. Realsports Baseball was a kinda great game for the time.
Eventually he got a Atari 7800, which came with Pole Position 2, and some new controllers. He had a good version of Joust, which I don't remember if it was for the 2600 or the 7800. I want to think I remember more than one version of Donkey Kong.

Kinda bad thing and good thing about a lot of the games, is that they are ports of arcade games. If I want the best gameplay today, I can really more go to arcade ROMS to get the best version of the game.

>>10236834
>clone of Grand Prix
I meant a clone of Rally-X. I haven't thought of it in a long while.

>>10233431
Grandparents had one, it was pretty fun

>>10236834
Loved Vic20 some great games. It blew my 12 year old mind when I realized that the radar in rat race actually showed the position of cheese and rats. I didn't click to that right away.

Agree that Avenger is the best space invaders of any system, also loved Gorf and Omega Race. I got gud at Omega Race and also discovered the easter egg for five ships. I had a great Frogger bootleg on tape as weil, I think it was Anirog Frogger, really played the shit out of it. Also digdug is the best home version I've played, fun wise.

But I also remember playing Atari and games like Adventure really caught my imagination, really mindblowing to have a virtual world you could navigate.

I would fuck Carol Shaw, no cap.

What’s the best way to get into homebrew for these systems? It seems super all over the place on the AA forums there’s no central repository, not really sure which of the 700 Pac-Man or donkey Kong revisions is the definitive one for example

Out of curiosity I decided to see how stuff got coded for this. It is pretty hard, especially anything that isn't pong or symmetrical. Assembly just seems like something you have to get to know though, I expected that to be more esoteric.
Cool that you have so much "control" over the scanlines/CRT though. Makes me respect the coders of even the shit games more. Really wasn't easy, especially with the dev time.

>>10229592
Fuse works for Spectrum.
But frankly, almost any Spectrum emulator will do. It's a simple machine and emulation for it has been pretty much perfected. Most games were already playable in the 90s... I used to emulate that thing on an Amiga 1200.

>>10232676
>The most American console
That would be the Telstar Arcade. It's got a gun AND a steering wheel. Can't top that.

>>10237932
Still would at her current age too.

>>10232139
what about Dracula and Microsurgeon?

>>10232705
a dream homebrew would be a port of major havoc

>>10238132
I just grab no-intro sets and live with whatever I find

>>10232705
My neighbour had two dead ones of that he used as stands for random shit in his house.

Cool guy, I mentioned once that I had two GameCubes and he said he had five and gave me another.

blocks your way

>>10229574
I recently got into Atari 2600... I've been playing Adventure, Asteroids, Berzerk, Donkey Kong, Enduro, HERO, Pitfall, Pitfall 2, Rampage, River Raid, Space Invaders, Yars' Revenge... and it's all way better than I expected. It still holds up, and this is coming from a filthy zoomer, having these short experiences, with simple controls, simple rules, that you can just pick up and play, is just so appealing even today. I'm mostly playing them through emulation on my smartphone, they're perfect for when you have 5min to spare and just want something to have a little fun.

P.S. Atari 7800 is the most stunning console ever.

>>10239704
Those (7800) joysticks are a nightmare though. Fortunately few games actually make use of two buttons.

Clive Sinclair, the man who introduced the world to Jet set fackin Willy

>>10240018
Indeed, it's the main flaw the 7800 had really, besides getting released way too late, still the european one was quite decent in comparison, still wish they would've gone for something as good and classy as the console itself worldwide.

>Atari bought atari age
>the last real bastion of new atari content is utterly commercialized by the faggots who wanted atari NFTs and Vegas hotels

What did we do to deserve the way things are, does this trace back to the apple in the garden?

>>10239704
>I'm mostly playing them through emulation on my smartphone
>emulation on my smartphone
get the hell out

>>10240069
Why is that a problem? I think it's a good way to enjoy and appreciate simpler titles like this, I'm outside and have little windows of time to play, going for something more basic and quick is an amazing option.

>>10240030
I wonder if this is partly why we've been getting so many 2nd-gen threads here lately, namely an influx of Atariage refugees. Not that I'm complaining. I'd much sooner take 2nd-gen boomers that make on-topic threads than the /v/ermin that have infested this board since the rule change.

>>10240069
Anything but emulating on a desktop PC should earn you a one way trip back to the robot logo site. That said, it's actually impossible to accurately emulate an Atari 2600 because it has zero frame lag while all later consoles have a delay of at least 2 frames between controller input and processing.

>>10232705
My grandma had one of these in her house, don't know whose it was originally, but I liked to play Berzerk on it. I think my nephew has it now.

>>10240112
man, I'd feel pretty sad coming here after AA, that is an incredible website that still reliably takes dumps on this one in terms of quality. That said, I share your sentiments; Fuck all these young shits who post the same worthless trash every week.

>>10232705
That thing SUCKS.

>>10239704
2600 is awesome console as long as you know what to play and what to avoid.

The only way to truly experience VCS is on real hardware with real controllers on a real CRT. Only Mister can come close but the new 7800 core doesn't support SNAC yet and you really need the shitty RF artefacts for maximum effect.

When you're getting into a twitch game like Kaboom, Dragster, Jr Pacman or level 10+ on HERO you can notice anything that's not right. You basically become part of the circuit.

Atari -> TV -> eye -> brain -> hand -> joystick -> Atari.

>>10240112
>>10240138
What happened to AtariAge?

>>10240112
>user was banned for this post
>due to the short length of your ban you cannot appeal it
kek
>>10240069
>>10240071
if you have a GOOD high refresh rate/pixel response time phone then maybe

alot of the heavy hitters like defender rely on crt twitch fast paced gameplay
i play a bunch on my tempest 1up cab
for a quick and dirty fix emulation is fine
stella runs ok on the hyperkin atari also (hdmi only) on my gaming pc monitor is ok
but for paddle shit or the "hardcore" titles aka fast shmups i still prefer real hardware


>general gen 2 recs:
ufo - magnavox odyssey 2
alien invasion cart 26 - fairchild channel f
defender - 2600
demon attack - any system
frogger - any system
slither - coleco roller controller system
space fortress - bally astrocade
buzz bombers - intellivision
astrosmash - intellivision
snafu - intellivision
renegade - bally astrocade

gen 2 proves graphics dont matter if the gameplay is godtier

>>10240672
Disregard this, I suck cocks: >>10240030

>>10239704
Indeed, it's crazy how almost 40 years later... it still looks sleek and modern, just wonderful.

>>10229574
Maybe look for a working one and have spares?

>>10240030
Steve Jobs definitely owes some explanations if that is what you're implying

>>10240562
or if you make a drinking game out of who can last longest on a shit game

>>10240651
flashback 2 is nice as well
>>10240978
>apple in the garden means steve jobs
lmao

>>10241012
You realise he planted the tree, right?

>>10241035
only the tree for the mass turning over of computers to the normals, not the mythical one

you need to be a little careful when handling 2600s as they're vulnerable to static damage. on the six switch models you would just blow an easily replaceable TTL but on four switchers the TIA will get zapped.

>>10241075
Thats two interpretations of the multi entendre anon. If it was explained further it would be even less funny though

Objective fact (agree or leave): 2nd gen has the overall best looking hardware.

>>10243182
Absolutely. It's not even a contest.

Why did the Atari 5200 fail?

>>10244475
System specs had not yet become a prime selling point to consumers, so the vast vast game library of the 2600 completely overshadowed the tiny library of the 5200.

>>10244489
>System specs had not yet become a prime selling point to consumers, so the vast vast game library of the 2600 completely overshadowed the tiny library of the 5200.

I think the Wikipedia intro for the 5200 best describes why it failed:

>Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release.[4] While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively.

Atari thought they could get by with their previous lineup, when the consumers wanted the latest arcade games.

>>10244475
It was a reactive corporate brainfart from a mismanaged company. Atari should have stuck with the plan and released a Colleen console with an optional 400 style keyboard in 1979, along with the 800.