Atari Flashback

[rockefeller center]

http://www.mame.net/

[Scott Dolan]

Count me in as one who misses the video arcade! Street Fighter II was the last hurrah.

Oddly enough, I always preferred Double Dragon. But SFII was cool as hell also. I miss those side scrolling fighters, man. They were the only type of video game I could get my wife to play with me.

I'm planning on getting a Playstation 3 later this year.

Not this boy. No way in hell I'll ever pay that much for a gaming system. Besides, games really haven't gotten any better, or even different for that matter. They just have purdier graphics to look at.

[rockefeller center]

I miss those side scrolling fighters, man. They were the only type of video game I could get my wife to play with me.

Install M.A.M.E., stop missing the old times and play.

[Scott Dolan]

ROBOTRON 2084

Awesome game!!

ZAXON

Ugh..........

The alleged first 3D flyer. That game used to piss me off something awful.

DIG DUG

YES! I still have that on a greatest hits disc for the Playstation. Man, did I waste some major cash on that game when I was a teeny bopper.

JOUST

Yet another classic from Williams, who also made the awesome Defender and Star Gate.

TRACK N FIELD

Did anybody else here use the "comb trick" on that one?

TRON

I have no idea why, but that game would likely make my top five video games of all time list.

[Scott Dolan]

I miss those side scrolling fighters, man. They were the only type of video game I could get my wife to play with me.

Install M.A.M.E., stop missing the old times and play.

I'm not aware of what M.A.M.E. is.

[sidewinder]

Any fans here of the DEC games that you could boot up on the good ol' PDP11s and VAXs?

'Adventure' was a classic. You interacted with it on the teletype. "Welcome To Collosal Cave. You are carrying a lamp and an axe. The lamp is on. An evil troll is standing behind you etc etc"

[rockefeller center]

I miss those side scrolling fighters, man. They were the only type of video game I could get my wife to play with me.

Install M.A.M.E., stop missing the old times and play.

I'm not aware of what M.A.M.E. is.

M.A.M.E.

[Scott Dolan]

Interesting. Thanks RC!

[sal]

I'm planning on getting a Playstation 3 later this year.

Not this boy. No way in hell I'll ever pay that much for a gaming system. Besides, games really haven't gotten any better, or even different for that matter. They just have purdier graphics to look at.

Whether they have gotten "better" can be debated endlessly and really comes down to a matter of opinion. But boy, have they changed! They have evolved into something that definitely requires more thinking than it does hand/eye coordination or reflex time. They have gotten more strategical, relying less on technique than they used to. There are many pros and cons to each. There is nothing like Dig Dug or the original Metroid today, but back then, there was nothing like Final Fantasy XII or Warcraft.

[Alexander]

Keep Try!

I love this game! I'm up to level 9!

[Scott Dolan]

sal, I agree with everything you've said. My problem is that the PS3 is essentially a PS2 with fancier graphics and some other bells and whistles that I have absolutely no use for (like Blu-ray).

I found the PS2 to be fairly disappointing overall. The games were purdy and sounded great. But they were all rehashed from the previous generation PS as far as overall gameplay was concerned. I saw almost no innovation on the PS2. And I don't see any on the horizon, sad to say.

[Noj]

Keep Try!

I love this game! I'm up to level 9!

You're a much better video game player than I am, Alexander. I can't get past the first level!

[ejp626]

Any fans here of the DEC games that you could boot up on the good ol' PDP11s and VAXs?

'Adventure' was a classic. You interacted with it on the teletype. "Welcome To Collosal Cave. You are carrying a lamp and an axe. The lamp is on. An evil troll is standing behind you etc etc"

I remember this. I even wrote a very simple knock-off in BASIC (anyone remember that?). I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to use the random number generator function to throw a few curve-balls into the program. There was a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interactive text game also, which I bought (it came with a Don't Panic button and some black shades). I don't know if this is the original game with new graphics or something else entirely: HH Game I'll have to check it out later when I have more time.

Oh the memories.

We had Atari 2600 at home. I played Atari's Adventure, Defender, Missile Attack, Yar's Revenge and Berzerk the most. I didn't go to the arcades all that much -- maybe once a month. At first we only had one in town. It was called StarWorld and it was also a pizza place (sort of a precursor to Chucky Cheese). Eventually one or two opened up in the mall. But by that time, I was over the whole game thing.