Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

Tonight Jordan, Evan, Matt, Tillman and myself went to Scott's for some classic gaming magic. We played more Moon Patrol, Mappy, Vanguard, and another fantastic resident of the arcade: Super Sprint, a great racing game with two steering wheels and pedals for competitive play. The game has great control and a variety of tracks which are seen from a bird's-eye view. We then commenced with the Bally Videocade.

The Bally video game system legacy

1977: "Bally Home Library Computer" available only through mail order from JS&A. Keyboard add-on was promised to buyers in catalogues.

1978: Distribution increases, sold through electronics stores as the "Bally Professional Arcade" but still not sold at major retailers.

1980: Withdrawn from stores due to "stiff competition" (Atari VCS, Fairchild Channel F, Intellivision and others had arrived).

1981: Re-released as the "Bally Computer System" by fans who had seen the potential of the machine through its Basic cartridge and purchased the console from Bally. Every system sold came with the Basic Programming cart for free.

1982: Re-labeled the "Bally Astrocade" after the group became Astrovision.

1985 (approximation): Sales trickle to a halt, the system's legacy ends.

Facts:

Game cartridges are about the size and shape of an audio cassette. Around 34 carts were released during the system's lifespan.

The controller is a pistol grip shaped handle complete with a trigger. From the top of this controller extends a dial that can be moved in eight directions like a joystick. The dial can also be rotated left and right like a paddle controller.

Programs can be typed in using the keypad and can be saved or loaded with a tape deck. Many users created software ranging from games to money management programs which can still be collected, downloaded, or typed-in today.

Here are some of the great games we played on 12.17.06...



The Incredible Wizard

In incredible wizard the first thing you see is a full screen message...GET READY...GO! set to the theme to dragnet and the sound effects are spectacular -this game has character. Players navigate a maze looking for creatures to shoot while dodging their fire and some demons can become invisible (*hint* use the radar). At the end of some levels the Worluk appears and if shot before it slips out one of the side doors a bonus is awarded. The Wizard appears too on fewer occasions. During two-player simultanious play, you can shoot each other and scores are kept seperate. If you have this system I highly recommend this game and would even call it a must have.

This is a game that we play every single time we hook up the Astrocade. It has great gameplay and a lot of personality. I couldn't believe it when Scott told me, but its true, Wizard of Wor the Bally arcade hit was a port of this game, not the other way around. Wizard of Wor was released in arcades in 1981. The enhancements include voice synthesis and improved graphics but there were surprisingly little changed. A true testament to the quality of The Incredible Wizard!



Gunfight
A trend that I was sad to see disappear over the years along with pack-in games (Wii brought those back!-ed) was games built into console hardware. Lots of systems had this feature even as recent as the 8-bit generation. The Sega Master System came with Safari Hunt, a light gun game, and Hang On!, a great port of the arcade motorcycle racing game. A later version of the SMS contained an Alex Kidd game. In Gunfight the player controls a cowboy stationed on the left side of the screen. Control consists of rotating the arm of the manly cattleman up and down with the dial, moving in eight directions with the stick, and firing your gun by pulling the trigger. Bullets can be banked off the edges of the screen to avoid the on-screen cacti, trees and stagecoaches. We played ths game several times and I honestly don't know if there is a one-player mode or not but we had fun with it (Player two is on the left side). The other games included in the Arcadia are seen in the screenshot to the right. We played around with Scribbling in which you simply draw on your TV. Different sized pens and colors can be selected and the precise control required for drawing was fair using the stick.



Grand Prix/Demolition Derby

Tillman and Scott played this one and both said it was extremely difficult to control. Grand Prix has users race on a simple track. The stick controls steering and the trigger is the accelerator. The game is for two players. In Demolition Derby the play consists of wrecking into each other. The graphics look like early Atari 2600 games and may remind you of many classic race games. This racing game perspective was the standard until Pole position came about. Gameplay using the overhead view evolved and was excellent in games like Super Sprint and Off-Road.



Dog Patch

You are a redneck, blasting cans back and forth in an old timey shootin' contest. Move the shotgun up and down with the stick and pull the trigger to fire. The player is immobile and positioned at a lower corner of the screen. The object is to keep the can aloft by shooting it back at your opponent and not letting it get past you (like Pong). Everytime the can is shot its value is multiplied so scoring depends on your skill in keeping the can going. Gravity is simulated as well. Dog Patch has a funny theme and sets the mood well.



Bally Pin

The table is mishapen in this video pinball cartridge but ball physics are ok. You can look at the screenshot and easily imagine how the gameplay goes. Read this exerpt from the instructions, it reveals the cool control style... "Each player uses both hand controls to play the ball. When his turn ends, the current player passes both hand controls to the next player, and the game continues until each person has played five balls... As the ball hits the various objects, sounds are heard as it rebounds at different speeds and angles. The flippers are used to keep the ball in the playing field. The ball reacts as a "real" ball would when struck by a flipper. When the end or corner of the flipper strikes the ball, it results in steeper angles and faster action than if the middle of the flipper strikes the ball".


Star Battle

One of the first things about Star Battle that you will notice (unless you're blind) is it's blatant resemblance to Star Wars. So, making it easier on myself and you, I will hereafter describe the game using Star Wars terms. The gameplay in this cartridge feels strange. The stick controls an X-wing fighter flying through a channel of the Death Star just like the famous Star Wars arcade game. Unlike that game however, the player has a hard time shooting at the tie fighter on screen -a frustrating challenge because it's so hard to line him up in your sights. Also, the game doesn't change this screen, there is not much more to it than that. The package and graphics are designed to draw in the Star Wars nerds and is a great example of how different the scene was in the early eighties. Any game developer's legal department would never let such a thing make it past the drawing board these days. Just look at the box art! This type of thing exists for the same reason that there were so many pong systems featuring the same games sold by different companies -and adapters for Colecovision and Intellivision that played Atari 2600 games: The industry in its infancy had no rules and no laws, and consumers were better off every step of the way. Damn, I wish I had a time machine.


Scott opened this creature from its nearly 30 year old shrinkwrap just for us. It was released in 1981 and is a port of the 1976 arcade game by Amstar touted as one of the first 3D video games. The car on the screen was a decal in the stand-up version which also had a gear shifter and a steering wheel. The 280 in the title comes from a hot new car from the era, the Datsun 280. This may be the first time a real vehicle name/likeness was used in a video game but it's unclear whether the Datsun was officially licensed or the creators used it simply because they thought it was a sweet ride and weren't worried about repercussions.


Dodgem
I really appreciate the fact that the graphics on this game is such a change from 280Zzzap because I feel they gave us a lot more for our money. You can quickly see that most cart's variations reuse the same graphics. It is probably a port of the arcade game manufactured by Zaccaria in the year 1979 but I don't know for sure. In this overhead view racer you steer and dodgem! It didn't keep our attention too long, so I can't give any more accurate details. I can however make stuff up like Ziff-Davis video game publications -Zing!


Tennis

We played this first and as you can see -it is pong, or the Fairchild's interperetation of it. Tennis is built into the system and I imagine was the first impression by gamers back then of the Channel F. It's interesting to note that the pong explosion was nearly killed by the Fairchild and other systems allowing interchangable programmable cartridges. Retailer's pong systems were thrown into bargain bins countrywide by the time Atari's VCS came about. The dive pong games took is considered the first great video game crash.


Spitfire

The gang had a fruitful time with Spitfire, a good time! The play is similar to the classic: Combat, but only the flying levels. The playfield shows a side view of two planes with a single radio tower between the two. Players rotate their planes with the stick and the fun is simple. Laughs abounded in our basement corner as we played this game while shouting imaginary death yells and radio chatter for nearly an hour. From the instructions: "The Red Baron meets the Blue Max in an aerial dogfight all over the screen. You can take an opponent in a 2-player dogfight, or more exciting yet, it's you against the computer in a 1-player battle".


Galactic Space Wars/Lunar Lander

Galactic Space wars has players move the starfield around a stationary ship in the center of the screen in an attempt to fire upon enemies before they do unto you. I'm not sure why the second game isn't boldly featured on the cartridge label since it obviously is derived from an arcade product. Lunar Lander is extremely difficult, even moreso than the arcade game of the same name. Pushing the joystick up controls your thrusters as you attempt to steer your ship onto a landing pad while fighting gravity and conserving enough fuel to survive the touchdown. Don't collect this game and expect the standup Lunar Lander experience however. The Lunar Lander arcade game is one of my favorite arcade games and featured a unique control lever for controlling the thrust. note: Lunar Lander was the first vector game which came about due to the discoveries made while Atari was developing its unreleased Cosmos system. It was nowhere near as successful as Atari's second vector game... Asteroids!


Hockey

This was the second of two games built into the Fairchild hardware. I really like this game because it gives more control than other pong hockey games by using up and down to move the paddle north and south while using the twist function of the joystick (similar to the Astrocade's stick) to rotate the paddle. It takes a little getting used to but gives the play more depth than plain old pong or hockey. This was the final game of the night. All good things must come to an end, but not for too long...

Input

Confucius say:

Hi guys!

It's me, Aimee Dingman, and I watched your show right after CinciClassic (to see myself, of course, *blush*) BUT I never got around to sending you a proper comment, so here goes nothing!

"Gamebot was great! Just like having your older brother hog the TV for a few hours or playing Super Dodgeball, it just goes on and on. Quite watchable!"

Thanks guys!

- Aimee Dingman, podkaynestudios.com

Good quote Aimee. It did not make the back of the Gamebot Volume 2, but if it had I would have used "Quite Watchable!". Aimee has created some fantastic classic video game themed artwork which was featured in gamebot episode 7.

- Blake


Name that game:

I saw your video chronicling old game systems and I was wondering if you would know what this is?
It appears to be a Japanese mastersystem 10 game arcade cabinet. I cannot read or type in Japanese so I cannot find any sites referencing it. Please see the included pictures.


Thanks.

- Chris O'Brien

Hello Chris. It looks like you have a Sega Mark III demo kiosk. The Mark III was indeed the Sega Master System of Japan. I could not find any info on which games these kiosks contained, but I would speculate they are the earliest releases such as Hang On. Nintendo promoted the NES in a similar way with the Playchoice 10 arcade machine. Here is a great Mark III page from Wikipedia. The specs on this page match whats in the cabinet most likely. Thanks for the pictures!

- Blake


Hello from a neighbor:

Hi,

This is Shawn, the guy two tables down with the shirts and no games for sale. I just got done watching the DVD and the episode on the site. It's pretty sweet man, I think the best parts are the show coverage especially the freeze-and-zoom stuff that cuts to actual footage of the game with your commentary over it. It's a very thorough yet brief way of highlighting so many games at the various shows. Mind if I steal that technique for my own personal use? I'm thinking of doing a similar video of my own collection... some day.

As a more modern collector I wouldn't mind seeing more 90's stuff (Genesis, SNES, TG-16, 3DO, even into PlayStation and Saturn) but the show has a great retro vibe as it is and these episodes have been like a visual refresher course in gaming history for me. Great job! I wish I would've picked up the lost episodes while you had them there.

I'm not sure what kind of help I could provide from over here (I'm not bad with video editing myself) but if there's something you need just ask! Again, it was great to meet you and I hope to catch up on GameBot history as the rest of the episodes go online.

- Shawn Backenheim

Wow, thanks for he compliment Shawn. I remember you well and I still wear my handmade "I WENT TO RACCOON CITY AND ALL I GOT WAS THE T-VIRUS" t-shirt! I'm glad you have enjoyed gamebot, the editing techniques you speak of were our producer Jordan Pike's creation and you may use them with our blessing. I love all the systems you mentioned and planned on covering them more than we did, but no more episodes are planned at this time. However there is much more to see on Gamebot Volume 2, which is now available on the shop page. Thanks for offering to help as well. This is what's missing from the modern game community as opposed to the classic game community, the fellowship. It is much appreciated. Check out the links on the media page for more stuff you haven't seen.

- Blake

Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

The legendary Steve Smith came to visit today and our plan was to play games all day. At 11:30 am we started with some Wii Sports, Mario Bros. and Excite Truck. I assumed from the gameplay videos of Excite Truck that it would be hard to control but I was able to keep it on the road for the most part. We ate lunch and later the real fun began, we played NES and SNES for a few hours, then visited Scott for more action. We played so much that I felt a list would be a better format for this entry.

Nintendo Entertainment System:
Karate Champ (2:13 pm)

Karate Champ was still in the system from Daniel's visit so we played it a little and after winning a match I was able to shatter a flying vase with a well timed foot sweep. Then it was time to try something new.

Yo Noid! (2:24 pm)

Soon I plugged in Yo Noid! by Capcom (1990). Yo Noid! is a side-scroller implementing the licensed mascot from Dominoes pizza's late 80s marketing campaign. The gameplay is solid using typical jump and attack button configuration. Also the Noid uses a yo-yo to kill enemies so thats pretty cool. In the first level, seen in the screenshot, the entire ground moves up and down and the player must keep above sea-level to survive. This was a very good idea for a first level and I hope to play more soon. Watch out though because it only takes one hit to die.

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout (2:43 pm)

Next was Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, a game released around the 50 year anniversary of the popular Warner Brothers character. This game was a side-scroller as well but was terrible. The scrolling and animation seemed to be bogged down and choppy, it reminded me of an emulator. Bugs carried a large grey mallet with which he smashed enemies like walking cans, just like he did in the cartoons.

Day Dreamin'Davey (3:02 pm)

I am lucky enough to have this game in the box and attained it at ECGX 2006. Daydreamin' Davey's strongest feature is its premise. Davey daydreams the adventure in school and each level, taking place in a different classic adventure setting such as medieval times and the old west, is set up by a cut scene of something happening in school which in turn triggers the fantasy. The perspective is an overhead view in the vein of The Legend of Zelda or Commando. The gameplay is plagued by ever-respawning enemies coupled with poor collision detection. These problems are alleviated slightly by a generous life meter. The old west level was interesting: I shot a horned skull lying next to a cactus and an angry snake popped out and attacked. What a suprise!

Ninja Crusaders (3:27 pm)

Ninja Crusaders, developed by Sammy, turned out to be one of the best games of the night. The game is a fast paced platforming side-scroller in which the player is a ninja. Two player co-op is possible and icons can be collected that change your weapon from throwing stars to the bow staff and more. Even better, by holding the button down for a two seconds, each ninja can turn into a creature. The type of transformation is determined by which weapon is currently held and beasts include tigers, scorpions and falcons. The simultanious gameplay pushed Ninja Crusaders over the top and this is a great one to look for at your local flea market or video store!

Rollergames (4:12 pm)

Another fantastic cart from Ultra Games, a subsidiary of Konami who also brought us Metal Gear. I had a hard time getting this game to work properly and a clean working copy is on my want list. Players select one of three roller derby teams to play as but the game is not a roller derby simulation. Instead Rollergames is a beat 'em up on wheels (DJ Boy fans speak up!). One minute you are skating down ramps, jumping over holes and punching out wheeled thugs, the next you are fighting boss characters using the traditional knee slams and shoulder throws. It appears to use licensed teams from a real roller derby league, but I cannot confirm this. Rollergames is one of those little known gems worth the hunt if you can find it. Good Luck!

Rollerblade Racer (4:33 pm)

Wow, another rollerblade game, man those inline skates were popular in the late eighties/early nineties! The games purpose, from what we could gather, is to skate from one point to another across colorful landscapes while avoiding obstacles. Rollerblade racer has similarities to the classic game Paperboy in its isometric perspective and street hazards like cracks in the streets and dogs. The game allows you to practice before playing the game which is a nice touch.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
Battle Blaze (4:50 pm)

After Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat made the fighter genre a million dollar business, arcades and home consoles were flooded with fighters, many of which were of terrible quality. Thats were Battleblaze came from! This is a game, created by Sammy, that Scott and I bought from his local goodwill and played for the first time with Steve the day we bought it. From the title screen to the funny character design this game is like watching a B-movie, its fun because its so bad. When Steve and I were playing tonight, he asked if we could play Battleblaze I said I thought it was at Scott's house, then I snuck it into the SNES and turned it on for an unpleasant surprise. The moves are very simple, and its hard to develop a strategy. Winning seems to be a matter of luck more often than not.

Ignition Factor (5:00 pm)

I purchased Ignition Factor by Jaleco (creator of the excellent R-Type III for SNES as well), was at ECGX 2006 in Philidelphia. After a little set up, which includes a mission briefing, choosing which equipment to take, and the location of the firetruck, the player controls a firefighter who tries to save victims and put out fires. The perspective is an overhead view that works well. The fire spreads and unexpected events happen such as bridges collapsing and fellow firefighters going missing. It looks like it could be an involving adventure and I plan on playing more. Its relatives are Firefighter and Towering Inferno for Atari 2600 and F.D. 18 for PS2.

Mr. Do! (5:18 pm)

I found this classic, based on the 1982 arcade game from Universal, at ECGX as well. You play as a clown who digs through colorful playfields useing a bouncing powerball to defend himself. A level can be cleared by killing all enemies on the screen or collecting all the cherries, making it a cross between Dig Dug and Pac-Man. One of the great features is the many ways you can clear a screen, destroy enemies , and multiply your score. One could play this game and have a different experience every time, it is very open ended. The hit had several sequels in the arcades including Mr. Do's Castle, Mr. Do's Wild Ride and Do! Run Run.

Around 6:00 pm we took a trip to Scott's house where he would debut a new game in his arcade. Needless to say, we were excited.

Scott's Arcade:
Vanguard (6:56 pm)

This was Scott's latest aquisition, won in an auction in Tennessee. It was created in 1981 by Centuri. You control a spaceship, flying through a scrolling landscape, that can fire in four directions at enemy spaceships and also has the interesting ability to become invincible by flying into energy fields and then ramming directly into the enemy. Further moxy is added to the game by some unique music and a robotic voice. I first played this game in a skating rink in my hometown in the 80s and it was a great surprise to play again in my brother's arcade. We were able to defeat the final boss a couple of times after a few tries and couldn't help but compare it to the Atari 2600 version which we probably played more than we ever played the arcade version. According to KLOV.com the music in the intro is from Star Trek and the invincibility music is from the Flash Gordon movie. Similar games: Scramble (arcade) or Gradius for the NES.

Moon Patrol (7:19 pm)

This fantastic game was created by Irem and licensed to Williams Electronics Inc. for distribution 1982. In Moon Patrol players use a moon buggy to shoot aliens and rocks while jumping over craters and mines. The action is viewed from the side and this is one of the first games to use parallax scrolling. Another unique feature is the level select, but the game is fairly short and very satisfying to play from beginning to end (The Atari 2600 version of this game is excellent too -ed). Scott bought this game at an auction in North Carolina and it is in great shape! Steve actually played this one, I didn't, I was too busy with Mappy and Vanguard but I am a huge fan!

Mappy (7:30 pm)

This is a really fun game and the gameplay is hard to explain but i'll give it a shot. As Mappy of the mouse police you must capture all the treasure in the stage before the cat burglers steal them. A board is made up of several levels. One can travel from level to level by bouncing on trampolines at the bottom of shafts and pressing the joystick over at the level you want to get off on. Doors scattered throughout the level can be slammed in the cats faces if they're on your tail and glowing doors fire off a wave of energy that can take out multiple enemies for a big bonus. Namco created this gem and Mappy is still a well known character even though he hasn't starred in a game since Mappy Land for the NES. Scott got this beauty in September at a North Carolina auction. The cabinet and especially the lighted marquee is awesome and although its appeal is hard to explain with words, the game is addictive and has a lot of character. Gamebot Producer Jordan Pike took some great pictures of this cabinet and used it in the design of the gamebot volume 2 DVD menus.

After we had our fill of arcade games we sat down on the couch at about 8 o'clock where a Colecovision was installed...

Colecovision:
Burgertime (7:51 pm)

Peter Pepper is a chef with a problem. Hot dogs, eggs and pickles are out to kill him and the only way he can defend himself is by peppering them. However if he can make all the hamburgers on the stage complete by walking over their parts and making them fall into place, he can advance to the next stage. This is a port of a 1982 Bally Midway arcade game. Steve and Scott had played it the last time Steve came to visit and they wanted me to see it. It was much easier than the NES version!

Illusions (8:00 pm)

This is an odd one and we never quite figured it out. The perspective is isometric and blobs travel on M.C. Escher inspired stairways and tunnels. The object seems to be to get the blobs to run into each other and merge and we were able to do so by pressing a button to change their direction and hop them onto different paths. As of yet none of us have been able to make them all merge so we're not sure thats the point. Its very unique and on the rare side, but not very fun. If we solve the puzzle maybe i'll change my mind.

Tapper (8:12 pm)

Tapper is about being a bartender. Customers keep coming and you must slide a drink to them before they get to the end of the bar. There are four bars to manage at once and every once in a while a bonus game of memory provides a breaks in the action. All home versions i'm aware of have the player slinging root beer but the arcade version had real alcohol, also known as the devil, and featured a Budweiser logo in the background.

Antarctic Adventure (8:34 pm)

Scott and Steve told me I would love this game and it took some doing to get it to work (these 30 year old systems can be fickle -ed). They were right, I had no idea what to expect and was really surprised. As a penguin, I was skating down a path, hopping over hole and catching fish in a third person perspective. It was great and the animation of the scrolling road created an effective 3-D effect. This game is a port of Konami arcade game released in 1984.

Choplifter (8:45 pm)

A lone helicopter must penetrate enemy lines to save hostages and bring them back to safety. The enemy comes in the form of jets and tanks and the control scheme has one button control rotation of the chopper while another fires your guns. Its a fun military themed adventure in which I enlisted but was eventually kicked out for wearing a dress.

On an another note Scott also showed five sealed Arcadia 2001 games he attained at a flea market recently. One of the more memorable titles was Dog Patch, wherein you play a hillbilly in a shootin' contest! At 9:00 it was time to head back home, but there was one more game we played before the night came to an end.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
Super Chase HQ (9:57 pm)

Super Chase H.Q. by Taito is a port of an arcade sequel to the hit Chase H.Q. This is a great one with non-stop action. After a mission briefing it is your goal to chase down a criminal on the road and ram him until the car is incompacitated. The package is complete with corny cops and robber banter and digitized voice. Memorable moment: As Steve was closing in on the crook a thug leaned out the passenger side window and unloaded on us, leaving the windshield riddled with bullet holes. This is a very original game and could only be compared to Driver (playstation) or Lucky and Wild (arcade).

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

The Hunt and the Haggle

The Hunt:

When I was a kid and the Atari 2600 dominated the video game world, my brother and I found out about a mail order company called Video Villa. Video Villa specialized in video games and after some finagling we finally got our hands on a catalog. Eagerly thumbing through the list of interesting titles, we found a cartridge we really wanted ...it was a called "King Kong". We had no idea that one day this would be a rare collectable but having an eye for the interesting and obscure, we pooled our allowances and sent off for the game. Mind you, our allowances were small so we probably saved for several weeks and after the money had finally accumulated we mailed the letter and waited. Days passed, weeks passed, and after a month or so, when the package still hadn't come, we realized the cause was lost. King Kong would never arrive. As you can imagine this experience left us, at the tender age of 8 and 10, feeling ripped-off and hurt.

Twenty or so years later we attended a fantastic classic game convention (ECGX 2004) as vendors peddling gamebot and before the show was opened to the public, we met a guy who was parting with his collection. In the center of his table, among the plethora of video game merchandise, was a box of Atari games that did not particularly stand out until I asked how much he wanted for the games inside...

The Haggle:

He replied "I'll take five dollars for all of them". This was a huge box of probably 50 Atari 2600 carts and he said he didn't even know what titles were in the box (I remember this well, Scott didn't say anything and was actually contemplating a haggle, but after two seconds I said "ok, i'll take that" -I was afraid someone would take this deal out from under us, its happened before.-ed).

We took the find to our hotel room later and as we went through it we found that there were some hard to find games in this box (Snoopy & The Red Baron and Raft Rider to name a couple). However, we already had these games in the collection so we decided to trade them.

The Haggle Too:

The next day I saw a collector selling a few titles I didn't have, one of which to my shock, was the game that had alluded and haunted me for so long ...KING KONG! I traded him some of the games that I paid 5 bucks for.

When I walked away with that cartridge I felt 10 years old again. The kid in me finally got his game and what made it even more special was that my brother was with me. We played King Kong together as soon as we got home from the convention and it totally blowed!

- Scott Leftwich, gamebot

Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

Today, after playing Wii Sports (and the Mario Bros. Virtual Console download) for six hours with Kris, Kelley and Daniel, Daniel and I played Odyssee 2 Blackjack, a great version of the card game played with the Odyssee's built in keyboard instead of the joystick. We finished up with a few matches of Karate Champ for the NES. Daniel mastered the back kick by shattering flying vases and became invincible. Karate Champ is a port of a 1984 arcade hit from Data East that had players use two joysticks to perform moves (no buttons!).

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

The Hunt and the Haggle

The Hunt:

Once, while on a trip to the Appalachian Mountains, I stopped at a Goodwill in a small town just outside our destination. As a collector, this is a habit and the visit seemed routine because when I first walked in, I saw absolutely nothing video game related. Then, while looking at an old electric harpsichord I noticed a shoebox with a lid covering its contents. I thought this to be odd since I was in the electronics part of the store so I opened it and inspected further. Unexpectedly, it was filled with Atari 2600 carts, all recognizable except one... I pulled the cart out to take a closer look and to my surprise it was BOING! (This is a very rare Atari cart and is not usually found outside of personal collections or game conventions. Its value has climbed as high as $100. - ed.)

The Haggle:

Needless to say I took the cart to the register and was charged a measly 25 cents for it. The adrenaline rush was comparable to sex!

- Scott Leftwich, gamebot

The Hunt and the Haggle

The Hunt:

I had just moved to my home located in a small town in Virginia and while exploring the downtown area I noticed a small flea market. It was a real dump, but there was a box of toys that appeared to be fairly old, so I rummaged through it. ...I was shocked to find a Q*BERT mini-arcade machine! Although it was missing the battery cover and I wasn't sure if it worked at all, I knew by looking at this $hithole I wouldn't be charged much.

The Haggle:

Sure enough the guy running the place said..."Give me 3 dollars for it?" to which I replied..."How about 2?" Of course I got it for 2 bucks! I immediately bought some batteries for it and it worked great. I already had a working Q*BERT mini-arcade machine, and in better shape than this one, so I traded it to a guy (Joe Cody of Atari2600.com at VGXPO 2005 - ed.) for a Spitfire Attack cart and peripheral for the Atari 2600 (still in the box, as I remember - ed.) which was quite rewarding. From time to time I think back to the old guy at the flea market and wander if maybe I should have given him that extra buck. He's probably dead now.

- Scott Leftwich, gamebot

Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

More NES today! I tried Rad Gravity and M.C. Kids, both for the first time. Rad Gravity was a side scroller that played and looked like an old PC shareware game. Starting inside the cockpit of your space ship, the player selects a planet and zooms towards it to get to the meat of the gameplay. Each planet has its own gravity where Rad uses a laser sword to defend himself while jumping across a platform-laden world. M.C. Kids plays like a simple Super Mario Bros. 3. The player can pick up blocks and throw them at enemies and there are lots of hidden items to find. Its a blast.

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

Today Matt, Tillman, Jordan, Mary and Seth came over to play Wii Sports and NES! We played Muppet Adventure Chaos at the Carnival, Krazy Kreatures and The Three Stooges. We only played Muppet Adventure for a minute or so but Krazy Kreatures really impressed me. Krazy Kreatures is an unlicensed puzzle game released by American Video Entertainment in 1990 in which the player picks up icons inside of a grid and places them next to like icons. When three or more are touching, they disappear. Its simple fun puzzle gameplay with a unique look and a strict timer. The Three Stooges, a port of the PC game by Cinemaware (creators of Defender of the Crown), was unsettling. It was like watching a dream.

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

The Hunt and the Haggle

The Hunt:

I wasn't looking for anything in particular and a routine trip to the normal outlets: The Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and the local pawn shops would suffice. You never know what may turn up at a pawn shop, and even though I thought I had exhausted all the possibilities, just to be thorough, I looked at the Playstation pile. I found it! A game I had wanted to own since I played a demo back in the playstation's heyday, in a pile under the usual Jet Moto, and Madden ' 97 in a nice clean uncracked case was *pause....... Intelligent Qube.

The Haggle:

The sign on the glass case read "Playstation games $5", but I had a few typical NES and Genesis games in hand (JAWS, Subterrania, etc.) and I had a rapport with the shopkeeper... A deal was in order! I asked if she could reduce the price since I was buying four or five games and she sold me the game for $3! Intelligent Qube's average value at the time was $55.00 and now goes for around $48.00, not too shabby.

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

Living the High Life

Video Game Diary:

I am currently playing Magical Starsign for the DS in order to review it for Advanced Media, and man, I do not like RPGs!

I played Duck Tales 2 (NES) for the first time the other day with my friend Steve Smith. Great news, Capcom didn't change the formula! They took the Duck Tales engine and made a great sequel that delivers the same fun of the original with new levels. No wonder its valued at over $15 (yikes!) , its worth the price though.

We also played The Krion Conquest (NES), Alien Invaders - Plus (Odyssee 2), and K.C. Munchkin (Odyssee 2). The Krion Conquest is a Mega Man clone (seriously, I hate that term, but in this case its true), with a Ninja Gaiden style cut-scene intro and in which the player starts the game with all the weapons. Warning: very difficult and no passwords. Alien Invaders - Plus is a Space Invaders inspired shooter in which the player can survive a direct hit, run under a barrier, and turn it into a new ship at the press of a button. If that was over your head, this is a bit more down to earth: K.C. Munchkin, an a-maze-ing Pac-man style dot chomper, has moving dots, and a maze editor.

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot

The Hunt and the Haggle

The Hunt:

Just a simple hankering for a game that I couldn't get out of my mind. It was just like Haunting Ground. I saw it on the K-mart clearance rack and instead of snatching it up at a bargain price, I contemplated it's value... "Is it really worth $14.99?". Before I knew it the inevitable had happened and as a result I spent two weeks awaiting the game in the mail (wondering if it would even make it) and had paid $5 more to boot! I learned a lesson from Haunting Ground-strike while the iron is hot!

The Haggle:

No haggle necessary. I saved myself the worry of internet shopping and, best of all, shipping and paid $10.00 for Indigo Prophecy(PS2)! Having just completed Disaster Report, I started Indigo last night and it is amazing.

To be honest, this isn't the truth. I did indeed leave the store twice without purchasing it even though it was $10.00, a new copy and the last one in the bin.

Once a cheapskate always a cheapskate.

- Blake Leftwich, gamebot