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Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 17th, 2017, 7:49 pm
by Stalvern
Star Trek?

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 17th, 2017, 8:12 pm
by Atariboy
Sounds like Space Invaders to me.

It not only offers non-traditional controls (At least in the Bally Midway version that we got, with left/right directional buttons in lieu of a joystick), but it's also the best selling space themed arcade game of all time by a huge margin and is only 40,000 units behind Pac-Man for the top spot.

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 17th, 2017, 8:34 pm
by mbd36
VideoGameCritic wrote:More good guesses! I recently saw a Tron machine a local arcade dealer, but I was never a big fan of the movie.

Here are some more hints. This was a major arcade hit. A space game.


Star Castle

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 17th, 2017, 10:57 pm
by Stalvern
Atariboy wrote:Sounds like Space Invaders to me.

It not only offers non-traditional controls (At least in the Bally Midway version that we got, with left/right directional buttons in lieu of a joystick), but it's also the best selling space themed arcade game of all time by a huge margin and is only 40,000 units behind Pac-Man for the top spot.

Oh, that has to be it! I'd only ever seen this version of the game, so something like this didn't even cross my mind. :x

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 21st, 2017, 9:50 am
by Retro STrife
I'm thinking Space Invaders makes the most sense, considering the hint of "major arcade hit"..I feel like we've guessed the other space games with unique controls that were major hits. But the VGC hasn't confirmed that yet, so just to throw out another guess, how about Space Duel? It's similar to Asteroids, which was called a "great guess" earlier.

Just to keep things going, I'll throw out a bonus guess of Lunar Lander, since it also uses a thrust feature like Asteroids.

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 21st, 2017, 10:26 am
by scotland
Retro STrife wrote: Just to keep things going, I'll throw out a bonus guess of Lunar Lander, since it also uses a thrust feature like Asteroids.


I have no idea if its Lunar Lander, but yeah, that big honkin' thrust bar illustrates how the specialized controls of arcade cabinets can really accentuate the enjoyment of the gameplay. Plus I like the very old fashioned red nipple buttons.

Image

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 21st, 2017, 7:43 pm
by Gleebergloben123
scotland wrote:
Retro STrife wrote: Just to keep things going, I'll throw out a bonus guess of Lunar Lander, since it also uses a thrust feature like Asteroids.


I have no idea if its Lunar Lander, but yeah, that big honkin' thrust bar illustrates how the specialized controls of arcade cabinets can really accentuate the enjoyment of the gameplay. Plus I like the very old fashioned red nipple buttons.

Image



This game is insanely difficult (for me at least). Out of the 100 plus times I played this, I think I landed the ship about 5 times total.

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 22nd, 2017, 6:28 am
by Atariboy
I can play Lunar Lander pretty well on the easy settings (I'm hopeless if I pick tougher settings), but always wondered if I was missing something important.

I can successfully land 3-4 times, but then that's it since I'm out of rocket fuel. Is there a way to earn additional fuel?

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 22nd, 2017, 7:33 am
by scotland
I find its quite hard as well. The most common error seems to be burning fuel slowing down far too soon (even generating enough thrust to gain altitude). The operator can set the difficulty a bit by adjusting starting fuel amounts. Its amazing this is only a 6502 CPU in there.

If you are really old (ahem), then you might remember the simple type-in BASIC versions of the game as well. Its really just 'fun with physics equations', and sort of a half way between calculators and computers. They were some of the most popular games in the late 1970s for kids to play at school (educational!). There are THREE of these games in David Ahl's (he is really the editor, not the author of the many games) Basic Computer Games, by Creative Computing. One is called "LUNAR", and its about 45 lines of code, another is "ROCKET" with a small visual component and about 65 lines of code, and the most advanced is "LEM", and has more control options like vectoring your thrust, and its about 275 lines of code.

Re: New arcade machine

Posted: August 24th, 2017, 10:11 am
by Retro STrife
VideoGameCritic wrote:More good guesses! I recently saw a Tron machine a local arcade dealer, but I was never a big fan of the movie.

Here are some more hints. This was a major arcade hit. A space game.



The suspense is killing us here, Critic! At least me anyway. I think we're in need of confirmation or, if we haven't guessed it, then a new hint! I'm starting to like my Lunar Lander guess more now, as just this week I've learned that Asteroids and Lunar Lander have a lot of shared history.