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Top Ten Most Collectible Video Games

Obiwan Kenobi writes "Gamespy has a new article up on the Top Ten All Time Rarest Video Games. This wacky list includes such gems as Chase the Chuck Wagon and Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudity (square nipples, anyone?). Makes me wonder what the top ten rarest PC games are..."

566 comments

  1. Original Castle Wolfenstein by Kymermosst · · Score: 4, Redundant

    The original 2-D Castle Wolfenstein, and others from the 8-bit famed Apple/Commodore/Atari machines.

    The Zork series on 5 1/4 disks.

    Original Ultima series games.

    Those are the true collectables.

    (first post?)

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
    1. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by TopShelf · · Score: 2

      Or what about the old Adventure series on cassette tape? You'd start the tape, then go have dinner waiting for the game to load!

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    2. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by nogoodmonkey · · Score: 2

      i had/have castle wolfenstein on my atari 5400.

      never really got into the whole ultima series. i liked the sierra SGI (kings quest, heros quest, space quest, etc) games a little more.

    3. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by nogoodmonkey · · Score: 2

      i found out that if you hit play and hold down fast forward a little, you would almost double the loading time. ;-)

      i had the first "Adventure" game on my atari and also on my XT. only on the XT the name was changed to "adventur" (8 character filenames, heh).

    4. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1


      Funny, my copy was called ADVENT.COM

    5. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by escher · · Score: 1

      Yeah! I grew up on those old Sierra games! My first computer was a PCjr so I got to see and hear the original King's Quest in all its low-res 16-color three-channel-sound glory.

    6. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by bogie · · Score: 2

      Yep I'm positive I still have the orginal Wolfenstein(with manual!), Karateka, Zork, Dr. J vs Larry Bird, and of course the greatest game ever Wizardy I. All for the IBM PCjr. Last time I checked years ago I needed a new floppy drive.

      Two questions:

      1) Think I'll be able to find another floppy drive for the PCjr?

      2) Think if I buy an 5 1/4 drive I'll be able to run any of these games on a DOS emulator? I still have DOS 2.0 in boxes, but I'm counting on that PCjr not working forever. I also have an old 486 I could throw an old version of DOS on.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    7. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by zonker · · Score: 0

      i wonder if my copy of adventure for trs80 on floppy with original manual (and a scrawled map of the game on graphing paper) is worth anything...

    8. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by Kymermosst · · Score: 2

      1) Think I'll be able to find another floppy drive for the PCjr?

      Yeah, check the local thrift stores like Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul's. I find all kinds of stuff at the one here.

      2) Think if I buy an 5 1/4 drive I'll be able to run any of these games on a DOS emulator? I still have DOS 2.0 in boxes, but I'm counting on that PCjr not working forever. I also have an old 486 I could throw an old version of DOS on.

      You might be able to use dosemu... and if you've got VMware, probably for sure... unless they use any PCjr specific features, of which I am not sure how many such features existed.

      You plan on doing this with Linux or that other OS?

      --
      "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
    9. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by WWWWolf · · Score: 1

      The Zork series on 5 1/4 disks.

      Umph... of the Infocom games, I have Zork II, Zork III and Suspended for Commodore 64. Bought them ages ago. Never figured out why Zork I was sold out and people paid ridiculous prices for it for - I got these for (I think) 50 mk (uh, about 8 euros?) each, and this was early 1990s for Christ's sake. I mean, if it was a hugely popular and a well known game, surely they produced large amount of them? =)

      And surely the originals can't be that sought after if only some years ago I could buy a big collection with almost all of the Infocom games, and Activision used to even give Zork series free from their web page?

      (Speaking of Zorkish puzzle games, I need to finish Zork Nemesis some day...)

    10. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      And not to forget the classics like "The twelve tasks of Hercules" (first rpg I played, I think...and it beat the shit out of most rpg's nowadays for addiction factor...or that's just because I was young then :) ) or "Conan the barbarian (one fiendish platformer where I could never get past the 6th (or was that 8th?) stage, with the shandelier...those were the days :)

      Damn, now I need a good enough emulator for my Palm to play these things on the go :(

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    11. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by pyman · · Score: 2
      They've got it all wrong!

      The #1 Collectable is surely...

      Duke Nukem Forever!

      --
      a ^= b; b ^= a; a ^= b;
    12. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by JimPooley · · Score: 2

      16 colours? Luxury. When I were a lad we just had black and white, unless we stuck coloured cellophane over t'telly, and we were lucky if we had so much as a beep...

      --

      "Information wants to be paid"
    13. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by Mirus+Nex · · Score: 1

      2) Maybe, maybe not. 5 1/4 disks from back then were not designed to last more than about 5 years. I started up my Apple //gs a few months ago and found the majority of my disks were unreadable. So, find a way to "back-up" these old disks before it's too late (of course you can probably now find just about every game from the 80's somewhere on the 'net)...

    14. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Begin loading Zork from cassette tape. Smoke joint. Play hoops for a couple hours. Return home to a checksum error. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

    15. Re:Original Castle Wolfenstein by CygnusTM · · Score: 1

      Yes, but what about "Castle Smurfenstein"? I was a hack of Wolfenstein that replaced the Nazis with Smurfs. La-la-la-la-la... BLAM!

  2. Sierra games! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Police Quest I, Kings Quest I, Space Quest I, and Leisure Suit Larry!

    Original EGA versions, not that mouse-controlled VGA shit! I'm talking about typing commands at the ] prompt.

    1. Re:Sierra games! by nogoodmonkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

      i'll never forget how long it took me to figure out the command at the end of heros quest:

      ] use candelabra

      i was only 9, i had no idea what a "candelabra" was. ;-) but i agree that these games shouldnt be overlooked. <flamebait>they were much more entertaining than the flashy fps-type games of the current generation. i guess the industry is just trying to cater to the short attention span of the current gamers.</flamebait>

    2. Re:Sierra games! by DrewCapu · · Score: 1

      Hey! I still have that first Kings Quest for the IBM PCjr. That game rocked! When I was playing that game as a little kid I always hated going into the witch's house. LOL

      The PCjr was really a CGA computer, but KQ was one of many games that actually came out in 16 colors.

      I still have the original packaging for it. I wonder if anybody has one still shrink-wrapped out there :)

      Ahh, the memories...

    3. Re:Sierra games! by NineNine · · Score: 2

      Do you have it in the clear plastic box that came from IBM?!?!

    4. Re:Sierra games! by Dephex+Twin · · Score: 1

      I do. I has this generic-looking knight on it. I'm pretty sure it was the very first version.

      --

      If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
    5. Re:Sierra games! by NineNine · · Score: 1

      Shit, that is so fucking cool. I wish I still had my copy. That was a hell of a game at the time. And, it is even more unbelievable that IBM was selling PC games directly back then, and they even had their own retail stores. I remember going to the IBM stores as a kid to get King's Quest, Flight Simulator (from Microsoft), etc.

    6. Re:Sierra games! by Monkelectric · · Score: 3, Informative

      You forgot "heros Quest I" later renamed to "Quest for Glory" due to a lawsuit by hasbro (which had a board game called heros quest). Rare item :)

      --

      Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    7. Re:Sierra games! by Cheapoboy · · Score: 1

      Alt-d ]tp Room #? 175 ahh, the old sierra UI. how i miss you

    8. Re:Sierra games! by XFriday · · Score: 1

      Remember this? ]get rock ]pick up rock ]grab rock ]move rock ]push rock ]get boulder DING!

    9. Re:Sierra games! by phorm · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, being that their early medium was a 5-1/4 (low density?) disk... these are definately rare in the original form. Mainly because, even though I know some who had them, many copies tend to have become demagnetized and thus are useless.

    10. Re:Sierra games! by Dephex+Twin · · Score: 1

      I was pretty young when we first got that game, and I would play it with my older sister and dad. For some reason, the witch scared the living shit out of me. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that you had to search through her house, and she could appear at any time with scratchy, loud "witch" sounds, and you couldn't do anything about it.

      I remember spending like a month trying to figure out what the magic mirror was. We wrote "pick up _____" with about a million things, like "shield", "rug", "board", "plaque", etc. Even if there was some place to get tips and stuff for games, it definitely did not occur to us at the time.

      I'm 99% sure my parents still have that original King's Quest in the basement, and since the box was plastic, I think it should be in near perfect condition. We still have the PCjr as well... I wonder if it still works?

      --

      If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
    11. Re:Sierra games! by dr_dank · · Score: 1

      Kings Quest did indeed rock, as did O-topos (sp?) and Articfox. Did anyone else have the cheesy outboard RAM upgrade for the PCJr?

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    12. Re:Sierra games! by escher · · Score: 1

      Yup. Upgraded to a whopping 256K on that sucker! (Actually, this required two of those add-ons. I had the widest PCjr in town!)

    13. Re:Sierra games! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      640K on mine, it was gigantic!

    14. Re:Sierra games! by bishmasterb · · Score: 1

      If you're talking about KQ1, then you have to have the ORIGINAL PCjr game (16 color, 3 voice sound) commissioned of Sierra by IBM (to show off the, ahem, advanced capabilities of the PCjr), and sold through the IBM Product Centers.

    15. Re:Sierra games! by NotAnotherReboot · · Score: 4, Funny

      I would have read your flame, but I got tired of reading.

    16. Re:Sierra games! by Skater · · Score: 1

      We have Mouser and River Raid in those cartridges somewhere. (Neither were Sierra games, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.) I wouldn't be surprised if we still have the full plastic box for Mouser.

      --RJ

    17. Re:Sierra games! by xingix · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah I remember I had that same kind of problem in Space Quest III--- commands like "get thermal detonator" or "drop claw" didn't always jump out at you. You had to play around with the words!

      --

      Confucious says: Man who runs behind car gets exhausted.

      // jeku.com

    18. Re:Sierra games! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I HAVE, in my possession, sitting in my lap right now, Police Quest (I), on 3.5" floppy disks, EGA, in the original box (though it's kinda ragedy)

    19. Re:Sierra games! by Tellarin · · Score: 1


      i guess even rarer than these is Hugo, where you also had to type commands at the prompt

    20. Re:Sierra games! by rootmonkey · · Score: 1

      Anybody remember thexder? That game was impossible.

      --

      Yes but every time I try to see it your way, I get a headache.
    21. Re:Sierra games! by Vladimir9 · · Score: 1

      This was one of my favorite Sierra games. Good thing I still got it. :)

    22. Re:Sierra games! by Vladimir9 · · Score: 1

      Those are the ones everyone has. Try Conquest of Camelot, Conquest of the Longbow, Heros Quest I, and the Colonel's Bequest.

    23. Re:Sierra games! by Dirtside · · Score: 2
      <flamebait>they were much more entertaining than the flashy fps-type games of the current generation. i guess the industry is just trying to cater to the short attention span of the current gamers.</flamebait>
      I'll bite.

      <flameresponse>

      You're a fucking idiot. You were nine years old then, and you're just looking at the past through convenient rose-colored glasses. The first games you play are always the best, in your memory, because they are the most mysterious, unknown, freshest, etc. Once you've played 500 other games, you stop seeing major surprises, and from then on, nothing seems to quite meet up to your standard from when you first got into it.

      </flameresponse>

      Glad to oblige :)

      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
    24. Re:Sierra games! by nogoodmonkey · · Score: 2

      no, its just that all FPS games are the same. there are always 9 weapons because *gasp* that is how many number keys you have. there is always a idiotic storyline that nobody follows, they just run around and perfect their deathmatch skill. i have played many games, and i wouldnt say that the first ones i played were the best.

    25. Re:Sierra games! by captainstupid · · Score: 1

      I believe it was Space Quest III that tripped me up for weeks trying to figure out how to get out of the ravine. The little alien guy told me "Just say the word and I'll show you the way out."

      Took me weeks of trying "let me out", "let me go", "show me the way" before I found out it was simply...
      "the word"
      ARGH!
      Then I had to navigate through that dark maze of tunnels being followed by the weird squid creature.

      --
      "Anyway, long story short... is a phrase whose origins are complicated and rambling...." - Abraham Simpson
    26. Re:Sierra games! by Dirtside · · Score: 2

      Yeah, they're all the same. Except for the ones with really well-done plot and story (Half-Life), or the ones with way the hell more than 9 weapons, not to mention an incredibly elaborate plot and highly detailed back story (Deus Ex), or the ones that aren't revolutionary but do a very good job with good level design, graphics, and excellent gameplay (Jedi Outcast).

      Every game in a given genre is exactly the same... except for the exceptions, of course.

      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
    27. Re:Sierra games! by dvk · · Score: 2

      Amen! Great games all-around, especially SQ1.
      Although I have to agree with one of the flamers in that a large portion of goodness of the games is nostalgic value (more so for me than probably most of the posters[1]), it still doesn't detract from the quality of the games and the fact that they were developing verbal skills as opposed to twitching.

      [1] SQ1 was:
      1) The first graphics-based computer game I ever played on IBM PC.
      2) Incredibly difficult for me (and thus very gratifying to play and win) due to the fact that at the time I lived in fUSSR and spoke very poor English. Had to fiddle a lot with the dictionary in a distributed effort with 2 friends to figure a lot of it out.
      3) Due to where/when I played it, associated with one of the 6 high points of my life[2].

      [2] That was a 1-month international computer camp near Moscow. The other high points (just to compare) were, in no particular order:
      * Winning Russian National math competition (yep, I still have the diploma on the wall to prove it).
      * Reciting an oath when i earned my US citizenship.
      * The look on my wife's face after her first orgasm (coupled with the fact that it was my first orgasm not involving myself ;-> - as well as the first sex either of us ever had - yeah, we are The Last Two People In America Who Married While Still Virgins :))))
      * The day my Dad brought home my first PC (self-soldered Sinclair Z80, back in USSR)
      * The day my first full-time paycheck arrived.

      -DVK

      --
      "The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it"-R.A.Heinlein
  3. Doom Anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Can't believe that my floppy disk version of the original Doom (4 disks) that I had to order directly from id isn't worth something. Still have the box and it's in mint condition.

    I would ebay it if someone wants to make an offer. :)

    (I have 71 + comments, 0 negatives)

    1. Re:Doom Anyone? by Kenshin · · Score: 2

      That's because they distributed something like 50 million of them.

      I had a box FULL of those.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    2. Re:Doom Anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you referring to the single episode shareware version?

      If so, yes I remember that they were plentiful...but no, this is the full, three episode version on four 3.5" floppy disks with manual and box.

    3. Re:Doom Anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to erase the demo disks and put my own files on them. They were right next to all of my erased AOL disks. It was cheaper to go into babbages and pick up a few doom demo disks than to by my own floppies. :-)

    4. Re:Doom Anyone? by Kracko · · Score: 1

      I will make an offer on such a box (seriously)! Contact me: adamb (at) wlgroup (dot) com.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
  4. The games that shipped with Windows 1.0 by JJAnon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh wait, they haven't changed since then, so I guess they don't qualify as rare. Unless you are talking about the number of people who play them. :)

    1. Re:The games that shipped with Windows 1.0 by phorm · · Score: 1

      You don't have any aunts/grandparents/older-parents etc that use computers do you?

      I think that all most of the semi-literate in my family know how to do are solitaire, minesweeper, and (most of the time) email...

    2. Re:The games that shipped with Windows 1.0 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite. Solitaire wasn't added until 3.0. Minesweeper was part of the first Entertainment Pack (again, 3.0) and added with 3.1. Hearts debuted in 3.11 (WFW), and FreeCell jumped from the Entertainment Packs with Win95.

      The only "game" (i.e., not the memory management game) available for 2.0 (also, presumably, 3.0) was Reversi, which disappeared in 3.1.

    3. Re:The games that shipped with Windows 1.0 by singularity · · Score: 2

      I actually happen to have a boxed copy of Windows 1.0 (opened, but...) and, after a quick glance, the only game it seems to include is Reversi, which is not included with Windows these days.

      It also included Windows Paint and Windows Write.

      (Oh, and I keep the box right next to my MacOS X 10.2 "Jaguar" box on my bookshelf. Also beside it is my Apple //gs manual).

      ObTopic: I think that one of the most collectable games was Pitfall II for the Atari 2600. It apparently had a custom sound chip, making it difficult to emulate. Other versions, such as for the Commedore and for the arcade, were not as fun.

      It was probably one of the most complex games for the 2600.

      --
      - (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
    4. Re:The games that shipped with Windows 1.0 by DavidLeblond · · Score: 2

      I believe freecell was first made available in the Win32 redistribution for Windows 3.x.

      And don't forget Pinball that was first released for Plus!

  5. X Com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The origional X-Com is also fairly impossible to find.

    1. Re:X Com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      x.com are now Paypal.

    2. Re:X Com by doormat · · Score: 2

      If it is, I've got the original XCOM and well as TFTD. Maybe its time to hit up ebay.

      --
      The Doormat

      If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
    3. Re:X Com by aborchers · · Score: 2

      X-Com UFO Defense for the Playstation is worth good money, in the range of $30-$50 US last time I sold one on ebay. Target unloaded a ton of the PC version a year or so ago and I bought multiple copies to share with my friends for $5 each, which seems to be about the current market value as well...

      --
      Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
  6. Post the list... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone want to grab some karma and post the list. GameSpy is blocked by my client's firewall.

    1. Re:Post the list... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they were smart they would block Slashdot too!

  7. Never Grew up! by Cokelee · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I don't care, before PC-gaming there was NES and SNES. I started playing them when I was a kid, and they're still all I can't stop playing. The Super Marios and the Zeldas are not the most rare, but in my book the graphics and gameplay make them GREAT.
    I love toying with the emulators of the two consoles as well.

    1. Re:Never Grew up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Unfortunately you gen-y folks will never know the sheer joy of playing Zaxxon or Centipede on a Coleco Vision. Nintendo was a poor substitute.

    2. Re:Never Grew up! by NineNine · · Score: 3, Informative

      NES and SNES before PC gaming? Are you crazy? The NES came around about, oh, I don't know, about 10-15 years after games first appeared on PC's.

    3. Re:Never Grew up! by Cokelee · · Score: 1

      in my mind, yes that would be the order.

    4. Re:Never Grew up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate to nitpick but the NES debuted in the states in late 85ish. There was no such thing as a PC 15 years before that.

    5. Re:Never Grew up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      eh? I remember zaxxon and centipede in the arcades.. . what's funny is that centipede and galaga are always busy at the local movie theater arcade.

    6. Re:Never Grew up! by tenton · · Score: 1

      Hmmm...NES came out in 1985, in the US. I'm trying to remember a PC in 1970-1975 (what was available wasn't really considered a PC, especially if you are referring to the IBM compatible PC types that the sheeple use now). What PC are we talking about here?

    7. Re:Never Grew up! by joshsisk · · Score: 1

      I hate to nitpick, but he said 10-15 years, and in 1975, IBM released the 5100, their first PC. That's 10 years before 1985, the year you claim the NES was released in the US. (However, it was actually released in 1986.)

    8. Re:Never Grew up! by Quill_28 · · Score: 2

      Terminals is what he's talking about.

      Think "Hunt the wumpus"

    9. Re:Never Grew up! by Kymermosst · · Score: 2

      I believe I still *have* my Colecovision. If I do, I have a bunch of games for it, and the expansion box that lets you play Atari 2600 games on it.

      --
      "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
    10. Re:Never Grew up! by Megane · · Score: 2
      I set up mine again just last night. With the ultimate expansion box. A Z-80 in-circuit emulator with overlay RAM. Who needs multi-carts?

      Damn, Tomarc The Barbarian is one hell of a sucky game! Those stupid controllers just make it so much worse. Give me a Wico with leaf switches any day.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  8. Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by docbrown42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...on cassette tape, for a TI 994a!

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
    1. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by finkployd · · Score: 2

      Boy was that a cool system, it was also my first computer. Tunnels of Doom and Parsec were my favorites.

      Finkployd

    2. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by boinger · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I still have a few working TI-99/4a decks with Parsec.

      And Hunt the Wumpus, and TI-Invaders, and bunch of other games.

      I should hook one up to the big-screen TV. hehe.

      --
      Send your friends messages of love at fuck-you.org
    3. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by finkployd · · Score: 2

      Unfortunatly mine broke, but there are some good emulators out there.

      Finkployd

    4. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by mgs1000 · · Score: 2
      Alpiner!!!!

      Ahhh, the TI-99/4A, not my first computer (I had a couple of Sinclair ZX-81s before), but it holds a special place in my heart because I did my first programming on it. (Saving programs on an audio tape was a real bitch, tho)

    5. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by British · · Score: 2

      You sure about that? Infocom faithfully released their text adventures on the TI, but never in cassette form.

      I DO want to see a version of Choplifter for the TI though. According to some sources, it was made.

    6. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by zaffir · · Score: 1

      It was also released for the Macintosh. Same text format, but just as fun. I have a copy if anyone wants it...

      --
      "Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers." -- JRockway
    7. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by mgs1000 · · Score: 2

      You can also play a java/web-based version here

    8. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by sjudd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I remember choplifter for the TI-99/4a - trust me, you dont wanna know. I was a Parsec legend

      --
      All women want is honesty, if you can fake that, you're in.
    9. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by clarkc3 · · Score: 1

      Parsec & TI-Invaders are 2 of the greatest games every made. Between those and munchman (the pac man rip off) I spent many hours in front of my old beat up tv that had the TI 99/4A. I still have the games, but my TI has long since been fried

    10. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by docbrown42 · · Score: 2

      My brothers and friends spent many an hour playing Tunnels of Doom. Once, because of a glitch in the program, my character had a " " that did 30pts of damage (the glitch caused the item to have no name). It was more than the best normal weapon (warball and chain, iirc), and could be used over and over. Ah, great memories!

      --
      Ed Wedig
      Graphic design services
      docbrown.net
    11. Re:Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy... by boinger · · Score: 1

      oh, yeah, MunchMan! I have that, too.

      --
      Send your friends messages of love at fuck-you.org
  9. Top 10 Collectible Games? by TimeReliesOnLadyLuck · · Score: 3

    I'll just stick to ones I know. First, Space War on the old Fairchild Channel 1 (remember that one?). Second, maybe Battle Tank??? Third, that one game where you play the colonizers, trade, and profit!

    No, not Colonization, the Civ-related game, the Commodore 64 game.

    1. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MULE. Multiple use labor element, I think

    2. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "7 Cities of Gold" ?

    3. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by TimeReliesOnLadyLuck · · Score: 1

      Thanks!! That's the one, 7 Cities of Gold. It's too bad that C64 is dying, or dead by now I guess.

    4. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2
      Uhhh.. Audio-format casettes of "Bombardier" for the Comodore PET, 4Kb?

      "You may fire when ready, Gridley."

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    5. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean M.U.L.E.

      I loved that game on the Commodore64.

    6. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that one game where you play the colonizers, trade, and profit!

      Are you trying to tell me that Phase Two is TRADE? Ahhhh crap!

    7. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by VRisaMetaphor · · Score: 1

      It's too bad that C64 is dying, or dead by now I guess.

      No, they still use them in Afghanistan to play pirated movies.

    8. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that the missing step two?? 1. play the colonizers 2. trade 3. profit!

    9. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by eggstasy · · Score: 2

      MAKE MONEY FAST!!!!
      With this new program seen on National Television!
      Step 1: Play the colonizers
      Step 2: Trade
      Step 3: Profit!!!

      Yes this article is offtopic. Sue me, I am bored to death. Mod me to whatever you want, I have plenty of karma and consider it meaningless enough.
      Have fun.

    10. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just read some sad news on slashdot - Eight bit computer system the Commodore 64 was found dead in your basement this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the abandonware community will miss it - even if you didn't own one, there's no denying its contributions to computing. Truly an American icon.

    11. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by soupforare · · Score: 1

      Ye Olde Channel F, I have one of those. The first system to use cartridges.

      Also probably the most overlooked system... The controllers were wicked cool though

      Push/pull, twist, and 8-direction.

      --
      --- Do you believe in the day?
    12. Re:Top 10 Collectible Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Wicked Cool is right. The Fairchild Channel One controllers have NEVER been matched by any system since. A natural combination of joystick and paddle.

      2. ??? Some company hasn't thought of making these for modern systems ???

      3. Profit!!!

      Hopefully the patents have expired? Thank Allah the WIPO is dying!

  10. Rarest PC games by svallarian · · Score: 1

    There aren't any, thanks to the widespread abandonware sites !

    --
    I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
    1. Re:Rarest PC games by PurpleFloyd · · Score: 2

      I would imagine that the original disks and packaging would be worth something. Just because you can get ROMs for old Atari games doesn't mean that the games themselves are worthless; I would imagine that things are similar with classic PC games.

      --

      That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
    2. Re:Rarest PC games by cEnTiBeE · · Score: 1

      On my first IBM PC(1976), the text game Adventure took up most of my free time ... and I can still remember those caves.

      --
      cEnTiBeE ... Computers come in two varieties: the prototype and the obsolete. -- Anonymous
    3. Re:Rarest PC games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy sweet BeJesus, guy, the text game-Colossal Cave-Adventure has got to be one of the most COMMON games on the planet. The original was written in FORTRAN long before microprocessors, let allow the IBM PC abomination appeared!

  11. Great read by Mupp252 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can see collecting vintage video games becoming a hobby much the same as people who collect vinyl and record players.

    Sure, you can always get the emulated version of the game or the mp3 version of the album.. but it's just not the same.

    1. Re:Great read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      you're overlooking the fact that records and record players still have some utility: you can listen to the music and it's enjoyable to do so.

      old video games are crap: plain and simple.

    2. Re:Great read by BollocksToThis · · Score: 1

      Alert! Alert! Teenage boy posting!

      Actually, son, old video games can be better than many new video games, because they couldn't RELY on nice graphics to sell the game. Kids actually had to have fun in order to want a game.

      Oh, and guess what? Good old games sold millions of copies.

      --
      This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
    3. Re:Great read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I've been sort of acquiring a collection of older computers, trying to get them to work and on the Internet. When I tell people that I collect computers, they often ask "Why?" To which I reply, "Some people collect spoons."

    4. Re:Great read by Mupp252 · · Score: 1

      I disagree. Old video game systems still have utility. It's not like they're not compatible with new TV's. Just hook them into the good 'ol coaxil and you're good to go. It's still enjoyable to sit in front of the tv and play until your thumbs are bruised.

      "old video games are crap"

      How old are you now, 14? Old video games are what I consider to be "Heritage" to the present gaming scene. Nothing funner than playing "Star Fox" simply because of the use of polygon (Super FX) technology. Or breaking out the old Sega Genesis and playing a round of Zero Wing for.. well.. bad Japanese to Engrish translation.

      Games have come a long way since the old 8-bit NES. (I know of the systems before this but I'm dumbing it down for puberty boy.) Always good to remember your roots.

    5. Re:Great read by Andrewkov · · Score: 1
      Or breaking out the old Sega Genesis and playing a round of Zero Wing for.. well.. bad Japanese to Engrish translation.

      Zero Wing! For great justice!!

    6. Re:Great read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of my hobbies is collecting old PC games. I have over 3 gigs worth of them at the moment. Every Quest game(Police, Space, Kings, Hero's, For Glory) Quite a few text adventures, other classics like Star Control 1 and 2, the first 2 civilizations. I have over 400 seperate games total. The reason I do it?? Every game I have either I enjoyed immensely, or is a game that is just a "Classic". Like I didn't really enjoy DragonsLair PC, but it is worth taking up 9 Megs for all 3 of the PC games. I also love to see the awesome programming skills of those in the past. Being able to fit an entire game in 400K zipped. I mean come on, I have Quake 3 textures that are larger than 400K :) And thats Police Quest 1 thats 400K. Anyway, LONG LIVE ABANDONWARE

    7. Re:Great read by btellier · · Score: 2

      Zelda 1 for the NES: still the Best Game Ever

      And I defy you to say that all the fancy graphics in the world make any game more fun to play with a couple friends than Baseball for the NES.

    8. Re:Great read by wheany · · Score: 2

      No no no. Most old games are crap. But then again, so is 90% of everything.

    9. Re:Great read by nogoodmonkey · · Score: 2

      most new games are crap then too. Or should we just say most games? or most software in general?

    10. Re:Great read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >ABANDONWARE

      I hope you aren't going to rely on that 'concept' in court, if you are ever prosecuted for copyright infringement - there's no such thing. All the software you have will be in copyright for at least the next 50 years, and probably a lot longer.

    11. Re:Great read by wheany · · Score: 2

      90% of everything is crap.

  12. My favorite rare game... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My favorite rare game was written by a now dead transsexual for the Apple ][. And I am not trolling, Cytron Masters rocked and transsexuals wrote a lot of games during the 80s! Weird but true...

    1. Re:My favorite rare game... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, the 90s too... people complain about Diakatana, but she was the best level designer ever.

  13. WARNING: Noisy flash ad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those of you who, like me, are stupid enough to have flash enabled. I got a nice noisy flash advert popping up and screaming sound when I loaded the page. Those of you at work be warned.

    1. Re:WARNING: Noisy flash ad by Megane · · Score: 2

      Ha, three strikes and you're out! I have flash disabled by default (just move the damn plug-in until you need it), I run Mozilla with popup blocking, and I use headphones.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    2. Re:WARNING: Noisy flash ad by radish · · Score: 2

      For those of you who, like me, are stupid enough to have your speakers switched on. I got a nice noisy flash advert popping up and screaming sound when I loaded the page. Those of you at work be warned.

      headphones are your friend :)

      --

      ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

  14. Re:Can a good game be rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a pirated copy != a real copy, with original media, box, and instruction booklet

    I have plenty of ROM's of rare games. But you're right, most of them suck.

  15. OMG!!! by Exmet+Paff+Daxx · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A gold NWC cartridge recently sold for $6,500! Will their value increase in the future? It seems a safe bet.
    Holy Crap!!! My brother won this in 1990 and has one of these, I just called him! He's freaking out, he always thought it was garbage (though he apparently still plays it). Does anyone have any suggestions on how to sell this thing?
    --
    If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
    1. Re:OMG!!! by Dr+Caleb · · Score: 5, Funny
      Does anyone have any suggestions on how to sell this thing?

      Send it over to me. I'll take care of it for you. (does evil pinky finger thing).

      --
      "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
    2. Re:OMG!!! by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 5, Funny

      If only there were some sort of Internet auction site... :)

    3. Re:OMG!!! by jlower · · Score: 5, Informative

      Find a completed auction on eBay that did very well for the same or a similar item and emulate that auction as closely as possible.

    4. Re:OMG!!! by theguru · · Score: 0, Redundant

      There's a new site you may not have heard about yet.. it's called EBay.com :)

    5. Re:OMG!!! by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      better yet contact the next highest losing bidder and offer it to him for $5500.00..

      screw ebay, they just want their cut.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    6. Re:OMG!!! by Unregistered · · Score: 1

      keep it. the value'll only go up

    7. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I went to the championships in NYC in '90. It is a great idea for a game: Coimbining three great games in a tournament mode. I would love to play again.
      As I recall, you had to get 100 coins in Mario in under a minute, beat the first level in Rad Racer in under a minute or so, and score as many points as possible in Tetris in under a minute. I remember I bombed out on the Mario section but cleaned up in the last two...Ah, I'd pay 6,500 to have to one more chance to increase my score and move on to the Power Playoffs!

    8. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would be cool if *someone* made a rom dump of of that cartidge (for emulators) and spread it (as anonymously as possible, of course) across the net via p2p in the warez community. It would probably spread like wildfire. Anyone with Nesticle would want it in their collection.

    9. Re:OMG!!! by NeMon'ess · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The value will not increase indefinitely. Like many SNES games, as the system dies their price declines. As it becomes difficult to locate new copies the price goes up again. In time most every collector who wants a copy will acquire one and the price will decline again. Everything pre-NES was before I could ride a bike (age 5) and I don't remember them nor care about the games. The same will happen with the SNES in time. Do you think kids born in 1990 will be ebaying Contra III for a hundred dollars in ten years? I highly doubt it. Every gamer from that era probably has their copy already so there won't be much demand anymore. My personal target is a copy of Snatcher for the Sega CD for $40 or less. HEY how about that, ebay's got it for $33 and 18 hours left. I doubt it'll stay that low as most auctions end at about 55.

    10. Re:OMG!!! by tchueh · · Score: 1

      Dude, Did you finish reading your own quote?

      Why sell it now?

    11. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DON'T DO IT.

      There is a limit on the value, and that limit is the age of the collectors who actually played these games.

      In a generation or two, there'll be SQUAT-ALL people who want to buy this cartridge, because there is no nostalgia factor. How can you be nostalgic about a game you never played?

      The high price is not likely to last - sell it while there are still enough suckers-with-money who played the original NES.

    12. Re:OMG!!! by Steveftoth · · Score: 1

      The are only 36 gold cartridges in the whole world. I think that there is a very small chance that everyone who wants them will be able to get them.

      These are collectable games, it doesn't have to make any logical sense.

    13. Re:OMG!!! by ksw2 · · Score: 2

      Hmm, wonder if I could get a hold of the ROM image of this and sell that on ebay... mwuhaha

    14. Re:OMG!!! by Mitreya · · Score: 2
      Holy Crap!!! My brother won this in 1990 and has one of these, I just called him! He's freaking out,

      This is hardly a reason to freak out :). After reading that only 26 of these were ever made, I expected to see something on order of 100K or 1M rather than 6K :).

      At any rate, he should probalby hold on to it, since in another decade it would probably grow in price exponentially

    15. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The NWC cartridge has already been dumped, and it works in numerous emulators.

    16. Re:OMG!!! by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 2

      Except that I have seen some places that are making Famicom (and NES) knockoffs - fully compatible with both Japanese and US games. I expect that some other company will make a Super Famicom/Super NES machine shortly. I'm thinking about picking up one of these for my old Final Fantasy/Metal Gear NES cartridges to work in.

    17. Re:OMG!!! by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 2

      I can't seem to find it anywhere. Are you sure?

    18. Re:OMG!!! by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1

      I agree. This is what happened in the comic book market, when previously expensive books starting being dirt cheap. I think the same thing happened with Beanie Babies (I might be wrong). These prices don't stay high forever. Sell while you can.

      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
    19. Re:OMG!!! by 0x0d0a · · Score: 2

      You could call it "iBuy" or "eBuy"!

    20. Re:OMG!!! by theguru · · Score: 1

      Wow, that'll teach me to reply to a post I just got to without refreshing.. If I posted something an hour later it would be redundant. If I post within 10 minutes of the damn parent, and within 2 of the other replies, maybe I'm just a slow typist/reader :) I think I'll start meta-moderating again and keep an eye out for "redundant" moderations.

    21. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's awesome. My dad took me to one of the expos, I was about 10 at the time. They had demos of all these NES games, which for me was like heaven. My dad bugged me to compete in the competition, but I was too scared to get up on stage and play, partly because I was 10, and partly because I had never played Rad Racer II and I hated Tetris. Ahhh... if only. Congrats to your brother!

    22. Re:OMG!!! by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      Actually, more than likely the price will contnue to rise. Remember this well: there were many more nes' made than that cartridge. The number of carts in a series of 115 will decline, but more than likely there will still be NES' to play on a hundred years from now. And considering that rare will always be rare, that cart is only going to go up in price. Especially as there are more and more gamers, of who a percentage will always be 'Collecters'.

      As for games like Super Mario World and Contra III...same thing, to a much lesser degree. But considering gameplay is god to any gamer (and if it's not, you're not a gamer), there will always be a market for these things. I can already notice it for my original gameboy carts.

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    23. Re:OMG!!! by BrendanL79 · · Score: 1

      You are an over-simplifying troll. Sure they "want their cut," but they in fact NEED most if not all of it to maintain the system that lets us buy vintage Zork in seconds.

    24. Re:OMG!!! by n3m6 · · Score: 2

      infact u can easily buy a nintendo clone in thailand. the short cartridge version.(whatever the name is)

    25. Re:OMG!!! by PyroMosh · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've seen the ROM. Unfortunatly, the actual cart had a set of dip switches on it (here's a better pic, too) which were used for setting the time limit on the game.

      If you're interested perhaps you might find it online somewhere. Though don't ask me where. ( :

      If you do find it, be sure to read the documentation in the zip file explaining the dip switch hack. You'll need a good emulator too. NESticle, while good in it's day, won't cut it with this.

    26. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See this post.

    27. Re:OMG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes but he is a troll that has tons more karma than you , is usually modded up to a +4 or +5 and in this case still modded higher than you...

      so that makes you the troll :-)

      kinda nice isn't it? Have a wonderfully nice day and just remember It doesn't suck to be you... it just sucks to be around you :-)) Mmmmmmkay?

  16. Rare.. but bad? by RealBeanDip · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I read over the list at Gamespy (I know, this is slashdot, but I wanted to see the list).

    Quite frankly I didn't see a game there that looked worth playing. Is that why they're rare?

    As far as the 2600 goes, I'd have to say Pitfall and Dragster where the best there.

    Rare games for the PC: I have, in my posession, the full boxed version [with manual] of "Solo Flight" on 5 1/4" disk written by none other than Sid Meier! ... sad, I know, but true.

    --

    You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.

    1. Re:Rare.. but bad? by jgkastra · · Score: 1

      I own Radiant Silvergun. I think they really undersold it by saying most shmup fans call it "the greatest shoot-em-up of all time". The reason I think it's so cool is it's the only shoot-em-up that makes me feel like a ninja. Dodging a hundred bullets and a hundred enemies while the walls are closing in on you AND slicing through everything you can to stay alive is not something you'd expect from a shmup.

      I can't really describe it. You have to play it, and you'd understand why it's up there on that top ten....

    2. Re:Rare.. but bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly why most of them are rare...they were terrible games.

  17. Chuckwagon is not all that rare by freeweed · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is sort of an urban legend type thing amongst game collectors, but the cart itself isn't all that rare. Thankfully, the article even points this out:

    It is neither the rarest nor the most enjoyable Atari 2600 game


    The article isn't so much about the 10 rarest games, as it is the 10 most collectible/sought after games. And considering "Prototypes" is #2, it's not even much of a top 10 list at that :)

    Oh, and for anyone interested in that Gold NES cart - yes, it's been dumped. I know I won't be shelling out $6k+ anytime soon to play the real thing.
    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
    1. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by richlb · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Chase The Chuckwagon is not only synonymous with hunting for rare games, it's synonymous with the Great Video Game Crash of the early 80's.

      Part of what led to the video game crash was the proliferation of poor quality, quickly produced games that were flooding the market. Chase The Chuckwagon came to typify exactly the type of game that was being rushed out to "cash in" on the video game craze. Owning it is like owning a piece of Enron stock. Not exactly "rare", but it has a story all its own.

    2. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Schnapple · · Score: 5, Informative
      Part of what led to the video game crash was the proliferation of poor quality, quickly produced games that were flooding the market. Chase The Chuckwagon came to typify exactly the type of game that was being rushed out to "cash in" on the video game craze.
      You're right about the reasons for why the video game industry crashed. However, this particular game, due to its distribution method, low number of produced cartridges, and known ending (that many of them were destroyed) does make it rare.

      What did more to crash the industry circa 1982 was the horrible port of Pac-Man for the 2600 and of course E.T. for the 2600. In 1982 only 10 million of the 20 million 2600 systems were in active use, but Atari made 12 million Pac-Man carts, meaning they expected every single active 2600 user to buy the game, plus 2 million more (either new users or old users with new interest). It didn't work. And as for E.T., they spent $25 million to get the rights to E.T. and paid some programmer to get the game done in six weeks so they could shove it out the door. The game is literally impossible to finish and only sold 1 million of the 5 million cartridges made - most of the rest made it into a landfill in New Mexico.

      This is what killed the game industry in the early 1980's.

    3. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Megane · · Score: 2
      Mine cost 50 cents, so I'm not complaining. (Actually it was in the bag with some other random cart for a dollar). I have two items on that list (I still have my original Bounty Bob with gold label, plus I found one a couple of years back). Other holy grails I have are 5200 Asteroids ($1, same thrift store as Chuckwagon, plus a complete one I traded for before that) and 2600 Crazy Climber (I hounded a load of carts for two weeks until they were up for sale).

      Bounty Bob was a good game; it was just the 5200 controllers that sucked. Another good rare game is 5200 Gremlins, which is sort of like Robotron 2084 on downers.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    4. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Eraser_ · · Score: 1

      Gold cartriges? Like the one my friend had of Zelda? are those worth anything? What other games were put out on gold carts?

    5. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The game is literally impossible to finish and only sold 1 million of the 5 million cartridges made - most of the rest made it into a landfill in New Mexico.
      Beating E.T. is pretty easy if you can get past the nasty controls. You can even trigger one of the (many) bugs if time runs out while the spaceship is descending: it'll crash straight down on top of E.T., crushing him and crashing the console. It's actually pretty funny if you can pull it off.

      You're probably thinking of the NTSC version of the Atari 7800 port of Impossible Mission. True to its name, it actually *is* impossible to finish. You can't search for items under terminals, but the algorithm to randomly place items on the map doesn't skip over terminals like the other computer and console versions do. So unless you get a game where none of the pieces are placed under terminals (the odds against that are astronomical) you can't win the game.

    6. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by irix · · Score: 2

      Man, I can still remember how much I hated E.T. on the 2600 as a little kid. Some Atari 2600 E.T. karma whoring:

      More about the game.

      The author discusses coding it up in 5 weeks.

      --

      Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
    7. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by bm_luethke · · Score: 2

      Amusingly enough if anyone here gets G4TV (A channel only about video games) one of thier current sopts they run during commercial breaks has some older game deseigners talking and doing stupid dances. Probably the funnies (IMO) is some guy with a large beard (similar to a well know linux geek) and say basically (i'm paraphrasing) "I created yar's revenge, one of the most popular video games in history (with large smile and enthusiastic, then change to downcast look and low voice) and E.T., the worst game in video game history". The scene changes and has him doing some really hokey dances, it is quite amusing. (plus interesting the same guy did both those games)

      --
      ------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
    8. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by ndnet · · Score: 1

      Um, I beat it when I was 11. That was only 9 years ago.

      I also enjoyed getting to level 70+ on defender.

    9. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by kacp · · Score: 1
      The game is literally impossible to finish and
      only sold 1 million of the 5 million
      cartridges made

      I finished it as a 3rd grader. I know I'm tooting my own horn, but hell yeah, I finished it

      --
      To write a haiku - all you need is the correct - number of syli...
    10. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >This is what killed the game industry in the early 1980's

      Note - this statement does not apply to the UK. The early 80`s is where it all kicked off here.

    11. Re:Chuckwagon is not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ET was "literally impossible to finish"?? Did you PLAY the game, or are you just speculating based on a half hour gaming session of yours? The game was a trivial for me when I was 7 years old. No, I'm not a super genious, it's just the game was that easy... like all games it's figuring out the little tricks thrown in by the programmers that simplify your tasks. I could beat the game in a matter of minutes, sending ET on his way home.

  18. Alkabeth by nightsweat · · Score: 3

    Loved it on the old Apple ][+

    --

    the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
    1. Re:Alkabeth by Pope · · Score: 2

      I'll see you that and raise you "Karateka"

      Just don't "accidentally" step off the cliff right at the start :)

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  19. darn it... by greechneb · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. 1990 Nintendo World Championship Cartridge (Nintendo Entertainment System)

    I just sold my copy last week for $.25 at a yard sale... I thought it was funny the guy took off laughing after I took his money. ;)

    1. Re:darn it... by Megane · · Score: 2
      Did he say his name was "Sum Guy"?

      (Sum Guy is an old joke among the rec.games.video.classic crowd.)

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    2. Re:darn it... by rock_climbing_guy · · Score: 1

      Well, actually, if you get lucky, you can find these things at yard sales and flea markets. For example, at a local flea market, I found a VGA to TV adapter for for sale for $5 dollars. It turned out to be one of the nicer models and I got a good return on my investment when I sold it on eBay. I think that must have been about a year ago.

      --
      Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
  20. A wise investment? by Bigboote66 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A gold NWC cartridge recently sold for $6,500! Will their value increase in the future? It seems a safe bet.
    I doubt it. For technology items like this, the value of the collectable is function of the earning potential of buyer and the nostalgia value of the item. For example, classic cars slowly go up in value as the demographic that remembers them from their teenage years reaches the age of massive disposable income, then drop in value as the same group slowly dies off.

    With geek items like this, the half-life is even shorter. Magic The Gathering cards are already past their prime in terms of collectable value; once the people who played the NES in their youth are past the age of buying this stuff, watch the prices plummet.

    -BbT
    1. Re:A wise investment? by ianjk · · Score: 1

      For example, classic cars slowly go up in value as the demographic that remembers them from their teenage years reaches the age of massive disposable income, then drop in value as the same group slowly dies off.

      mabey for a '74 Nova, but any true collectable car is not going to drop in price. This list was for the top 10 gaming grails, not top 10 games that everyone had when they were young. These are truly rare and collectable.


      With geek items like this, the half-life is even shorter. Magic The Gathering cards are already past their prime in terms of collectable value; once the people who played the NES in their youth are past the age of buying this stuff, watch the prices plummet

      again apples/oranges.

    2. Re:A wise investment? by fymidos · · Score: 1

      well, if that game came out let's say 20-25 years ago, and people bought stuff like this when they were 10 years old... then now they are at 30-35.

      I think most of them are not nostalgic just yet. I believe the price will continue to grow for at least ten more years:)

      --
      Washington bullets will simply be known as the "Bulle
    3. Re:A wise investment? by len_harms · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you collect JUST because it MIGHT be worth something, find a different hobbie like stamps, coins, or gold.

      You need to go into collecting because you like it. I have a fairly meager collection of about 1000 games. Thats not even close to being hard core. I am mearly casual about it. I snag things only I like. I could care less about what its worth. That is secondary to why I buy the games. I buy them because I like them.

      With DVD's I am the same way. I buy movies I like. Even got a copy of 'They Live'. I had NO idea it was a 'rare' dvd. I bought it when it came out and gladly paid my 20 bucks for it. Because its a fun movie.

      The example you gave of Magic the gathering is one of the pitfalls of collecting things I dont really care for, some collecting is a fad. You have to watch out for it. Also collecting takes time and sometimes lots of money. I had the same thing happen to me with baseball cards. I got into it because I thought it MIGHT be worth something. Not because I like baseball, and find the cards cool.

      Forget 'collectors editions'. Those are usually HUGE runs with a sticker slapped on em. RARE things are almost always things that were never 'popular'. Junk people never wanted. For example Star Wars toys. Most of the toys are worth about what they originaly came out for. However RARE, and thefore valuable, are the toys that never got opened. Still has the box is rare, but not as rare as unopened. Mail ins are usually rare also. Not a lot of people do it, and they are usually small runs of things.

      Another thing to keep in mind is things do not become valuable overnight. Sometimes it takes YEARS. Think of the fun quote from Raiders. "take this watch, 10 dollars from a street vendor. I bury it in the sand for a thousand years. Priceless"

      My rarest PC game? Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga. I didnt buy it to 'collect' it. I bought it to blow some Kilrathi scum from the sky!

    4. Re:A wise investment? by Eskarel · · Score: 1
      Well we can't really say much on the car front, because cars in general, haven't been around all that long(about a century give or take), and sports/muscle cars(which are those which seem to be most sought after), are more recent than that. However I sincerly doubt that cars will seriously ever drop in collector price, just because I wasn't alive in 1963 doesn't mean I don't know that the 63 corvette with the split rear window isn't a cool car, nostalgia or not.

      As for games, its hard to say, personally I find no collectable value in games, I have a lot of really old pc games simply because I never throw anything away(I'm a packrat not a collector), but I wouldn't seek to buy more of them because they aren't really functional. I don't have a pc capable of running half of these things(heck the updated version of Heros Quest calculates timing based on processor speed, as does Leisure Suit Larry 3, which makes them both almost impossible to finish(anyone who has the patience to click the up and down arrow something like 300 times for each of 4 excersizes to bulk up larry has well, just about as much patiences as me)). I don't understand the motivations of a game collector, and so I don't know how much of a role nostalgia plays in it, and how much just wanting to be associated with something that was viewed as cool plays a part.

    5. Re:A wise investment? by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

      Wow, thanks for the heads up! I've got the Kilrathi Saga and I just checked eBay on it. It's sitting on my bookshelf between all my other WC games I had no idea it was rare though. I was just very happy to pick up a set of Win32 based Wing Commander games.

    6. Re:A wise investment? by ubermenschen · · Score: 1

      You'd be right if you weren't totally wrong. people collect old cars because of their beauty, power, etc. It is not a total function of nostalgia or vicarious vitality. For example, I am only 24 but I would really enjoy a 57 Chevy Bel-air or a 57 Thunderbird. My PARENTS weren't even born then.

      And this whole thing about Magic cards... boy'o'boy. You're someone who used to play, became disenchanted (pun-not-intended), and quit. Well I hate to tell you this but magic is alive and well and the cards are worth a truck load. A beta Black louts goes for $300 - $500 dollars on a routine basis. Newer, chase rares can go for $15 - $30. And, even in a stagnate economy, you can make more money playing Magic professionally than you can being a freaking code monkey.

      I'll let you return to whatever world you live in now.

    7. Re:A wise investment? by clarkc3 · · Score: 1
      You'd be right if you weren't totally wrong. people collect old cars because of their beauty, power, etc. It is not a total function of nostalgia or vicarious vitality. For example, I am only 24 but I would really enjoy a 57 Chevy Bel-air or a 57 Thunderbird. My PARENTS weren't even born then.

      At least from what I have see - the price those 57's are going for is going down, and the price of late 60's/early 70's muscle cars is going up (hemi chargers/challengers/cudas have been going way up in the past few years which follows the previous posters logic). As for Magic cards, What I could get for most of mine (beta-4th edition) the price has gone way down from what I could've gotten a few years ago. Many Rares were reprinted, and the value went down because it was now only worth something because it was rare, not because it was a good card. I used to be able to sell my dual lands for $30 each - now I can get maybe $5-10 if I am lucky

  21. Nerds!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nerds!!!
    Ahem.

    Sorry about that. This story just triggered something inside.

    Collecting old video games??? I mean Jesus! What are people thinking??? Paying $6500 for a goddamn Nintendo cartridge???

    Oops. Sorry about that again.

  22. few rare games i own by Cheapoboy · · Score: 1

    Anyone remeber the porn games vivid made for the 3do back in the day? those are pretty rare and on a rare system.. anyone remeber a series of games for the 2600 all with world at the end of the title ? 'waterworld, fireworld, earthworld' etc? i had these as a kid and loved them.. i remeber them as being mostly puzzles of some kind.. can someone help me out with the name of these?

    1. Re:few rare games i own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Swordquest. That's all I remember about them.

    2. Re:few rare games i own by schnell · · Score: 3, Informative

      anyone remeber a series of games for the 2600 all with world at the end of the title ? 'waterworld, fireworld, earthworld' etc? i had these as a kid and loved them.. i remeber them as being mostly puzzles of some kind.. can someone help me out with the name of these?

      They were part of Atari's "SwordQuest" challenge. The idea was to hide Easter Eggs in the four games that gave you hints towards winning a $25k "treasure." It was (at least initially) a great marketing gimmick, and each game came with a mini DC comic furthering the plot. Alas, despite all the excitement, the games sucked rather hard, as they were purposely inscrutable (like the Atari 2600 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" game) and sales of the last couple games in the series were dismal.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    3. Re:few rare games i own by NineNine · · Score: 2

      Anyone remeber the porn games vivid made for the 3do back in the day

      No, but I *DO* remember ascii porn that you could print on daisywheel or dot-matrix printers.

      type hotblond.txt > prn

    4. Re:few rare games i own by chez69 · · Score: 0

      I beat raiders of the lost ark, the last part where you had to parashute into the hole was a pain in the butt.

      --
      PHP is the solution of choice for relaying mysql errors to web users.
    5. Re:few rare games i own by CSG_SurferDude · · Score: 2

      Geezzz, what a pervert.... Is that all you ever think about?

      Oh wait a minute....

      This is NineNine that made that comment.


      Never mind.....

    6. Re:few rare games i own by theperplepigg · · Score: 1
      they are called swordquest. there was supposed to be four of them, but airworld didn't get made. each game came with a comic book, but more important was that each game/book combo contained five clues, and players had a chance to win a real-life treasure. a quick googling could tell you more.

      --paul

      --
      -- Every time you kill a kitten, God masturbates.
    7. Re:few rare games i own by theperplepigg · · Score: 1
      Man, Raiders of the Lost Ark was my favorite atari game! I still remember how to beat it (takes 15 mins or so once you know how).

      --paul

      --
      -- Every time you kill a kitten, God masturbates.
    8. Re:few rare games i own by Fjord · · Score: 2

      What an aptly named device to send it to.

      I too remember the ASCII porn. Then I remember the programs that came later that coverted GIFs into ASCII. Then I remember the programs that converted ASCII pictures into greyscale pics.

      That's when I felt it got rediculous.

      --
      -no broken link
    9. Re:few rare games i own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      sales of the last couple games in the series were dismal.


      Not so dismal considering they were never released...
      Airworld apparently doesn't even exist.

    10. Re:few rare games i own by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 2

      Right, but beating the game wasn't all there was to it.

      There was the search for the secret message, the Yar, and of course the desire to get your "Adventure Points" as high as possible.

      As it turns out, the Yar is in fact in the game, and uncovering it gives you a higher rating. But I think I read one time that the secret signature was removed from production cartridges, so some parts of the game were cut out to prevent the player from ever being able to reach the score needed to unlock the "message".

      Still, there is a lot of little hidden crap in that game that most people don't know about since none of it is required to beat the game.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
    11. Re:few rare games i own by dbCooper0 · · Score: 1
      Raiders of the Lost Ark for the 2600 was not so bad...the wife and I each finished it and fought over it in the divorce, as well as the console and Trinitron as well.

      Even considering those raunchy joysticks - it was playable, and made sense.

      --
      db
      Cig:
      ôô
      /`
  23. lol, how about by SHEENmaster · · Score: 1

    the TI-92+!!!!

    --
    You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
  24. Not even close! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where the hell is "Custer's Revenge" for the 2600??? Talk about rare! Offensive and controversial in the early 80s...talk about being ahead of its time!!!

  25. Ebay by snol · · Score: 1

    obviously.

  26. Star Raiders by EvilBudMan · · Score: 1

    I wonder if my original 1979 version of Atari's Star Raiders for the Atari 400/800 is worth something. The game play is still good to this day. Only 8K of code too.

    1. Re:Star Raiders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      only if you have all original packaging (box, manual, etc.) though Star Raiders was a reasonably common game so even in mint condition I wouldn't expect it's worth terribly much.

  27. phantasy star by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    woah.. that mega drive phantasy star makes me drool. I didn't even know about it. I have the original SMS Phantasy Star 1, which is not all that rare but is nice to have. I am guessing the Mega Drive one is just an emulated one, or did they enhance it in any way? And why only 1000? That is a classic.

    1. Re:phantasy star by SScorpio · · Score: 1

      IIRC, The original japanese mega drive had the master systems hardware in the console, and the US system didn't.

      Phantasy Star 1 was on a Mega Drive cartriage that had a prevouisly unused pin. This triggered the master system hardware to take over.

      It's kinda like how Sony included the original PSX's cpu in the PS2, only the PS2 still does some hardware emulation of video which is why it can improve it.

  28. you have to be a freak by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    if you would pay $6500.00 for that #1 on their list.. I actually played that game it sucked, and just to get your hands on one of the gold-plated ones someone paid more than the cost of a Kia Rio!
    Holy cow, I though I was wacked for wanting my home computer automated... I dont feel bad now for spending 1/2 that and actually having something I can use!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:you have to be a freak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, actually the base price of a Rio is $9095 USD (according to Kia's website). So unless you're talking used cars (and if you were, why restrict yourself to Rios?), that rare game is still worth less than a Rio.

      But I think we all got your point. Whoever would pay $6500 for a video game, collectible or not, is either really fucking rich, crazy, or both.

  29. Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Good'. by Bonker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    'Chase the Chuckwagon?' WTF I would have thrown that game away with other favorites like 'Avoid the Noid' and '7-up Spot'. Seriously...

    Top Ten Games that Don't Suck and I'd still willingly pay money for:

    Doom - PC - FPS Grandaddy.
    Battlezone - 2600 or any other platform since.
    Super Mario Bros. 3 - NES, SNES - Miyamoto's best work, IMHO.
    Metroid - NES. I once saw a prototype/display cartridge at Sears Roebuck in which Samus had a heart meter instead of a power meter.
    Burgertime - Colecovision? Arcade classic, at any rate. I can still play Burgertime for hours at a time on Mame.
    Galaga - Ditto.
    Legend of Zelda - NES - Excellent game design by Miyamoto before there really was such a thing.
    ChronoTrigger - SNes - All kinds of RPG Goodness from Square.
    Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis. The first 'Twitch' game I ever played. Sonic rocked my world.
    Excitebike - NES - One of the first games you could truly edit. My friends and I would spend hours making nasty, yet well designed tracks to race through. We went so far as to write the letter/number track parts down because the save feature never worked quite right. I always assumed it was for the floppy-endabled Famicom.

    --
    The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
  30. What about rare PC games? by Toasty16 · · Score: 3, Informative
    I have a retail, boxed copy of Out of This World, released by Interplay in 1991. It's in mint condition, complete with 5.25" and 3.5" diskettes and the bizarre security wheel used to enter the correct images on the installation screen. Any takers? ;-)

    But the real find would be the European version, called Another World.

    1. Re:What about rare PC games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That game was Sweet!
      Those were the days eh?

    2. Re:What about rare PC games? by Toasty16 · · Score: 1

      If you're feeling nostalgic, you can check it out for yourself, that link to the game in my 1st post has it available for download (about 1 MB).

    3. Re:What about rare PC games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Who is "Gator Corporation" and should I trust software from them? Clicking the link you supplied, I got a popup asking if I wanted to install their software which would send me offers (!) based on the web sites I visited.

      It sounded too good to be true. Will my dad be pissed if I install this on his computer? Thanks.

    4. Re:What about rare PC games? by BeazleyR · · Score: 1

      ahhh memories, my dad bought me and my brother this game along with a new SVGA monitor for christmas one year, the codewheel was gone in less than a week.

  31. Rare games by Lord_Of_The_Beer · · Score: 1

    Anybody esle remember adds for "Flesh Gorden" in the mag EG?

    They were black and white ads in the back....Never played it my self.

    The game was for the atari 2600.

    My vote for the rarest games is an arcade machine. It was a Laser disk game whose name i can't remeber, About a spy. At one point you were jumping over these barrars. Then there was this sceen in a clock.

    Good game though.

    The rearest game must be ANY game from the original Odyssey system. I never even saw that system.

    --
    D.A.K.D.A.E.---- Deny all Knowledge, Destroy All Evidence
    1. Re:Rare games by UserGoogol · · Score: 0
      The rearest game must be ANY game from the original Odyssey system. I never even saw that system.
      Extremely rare. The original Odyssey didn't use cartridges, but rather had all the games built into it. (Various varients on a pong-like theme, but a bit more complex than classic pong.)
      --
      "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
    2. Re:Rare games by NightParrot · · Score: 1

      If you fondly remember Cliffhanger, you might enjoy the movie: The Castle of Cagliostro.

    3. Re:Rare games by TheKid965 · · Score: 1

      Not exactly. The original Odyssey *did* use "cartridges" of a sort, although they weren't cartridges in the sense you probably mean. The Odyssey, as you might expect, was an extremely primitive system, capable of only drawing two paddles and a ball, with *maybe* a line down the middle of the "court" for a Pong-type game. Movement and placement of these objects was controlled by the placement of jumpers on the motherboard; the system's cartridges were nothing more than removable, hard-wired jumper settings. In other words, you're technically correct that the Odyssey did contain all of its games internally, but the cartridges were necessary before anything useful could be done with them. Changing a cartridge was no different than flicking the switch on a later Pong-type system, and unlike later cartridge-based systems could even be done while the unit was on.

      As shipped in 1972, the Odyssey came with ten cartridges, numbered 1-10. There were two additional cartridges manufactured as add-ons. These add-on packages, as well as the Odyssey itself, also shipped with various screen overlays (for both 13" and 19" TVs) to provide additional graphics, play money for gambling-type games, rub-off scoreboards, dice, chips, gameboards, and various other elements of games that the unit itself was too "dumb" to handle by itself. The later "Master Strategy Series" games for the Odyssey2 system, which were hailed as being among the most innovative of the Golden Age, simply carried on the tradition of the grandaddy of all game consoles.

  32. Square nipples by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's so odd about that?

  33. Top 10 MOST collectible? by medscaper · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would want to collect these :
    - Unreal Tournament 2044
    - Doom CXVII
    - Ultima Online '72
    - Grand Theft Aircar 16
    - Age of Empires 13 - the 20th Century
    - Quake IIIIIIIIII
    - LOTR 12 - The return of the grandson of the guy who heard about the king (Live 5-d action)
    - Wolfenstein 16-d (Now with time-travel gameplay)
    - Medal of Honor 9 : Assault the Allies

    Oh...and Starcraft 2, for crying out loud.

    --
    Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
    1. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by Isbiten · · Score: 1

      Oh...and Starcraft 2, for crying out loud.

      DAMN I wet my pants when you said that!! mmmm starcraft 2!

      No it's not warcraft in space... :)

      --
      I fought the corporate America, and the corporate America bought the law.
    2. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by EngMedic · · Score: 1

      you forgot these :
      Team Fortress 2
      duke nukem forever

      --
      filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
    3. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by David_Bloom · · Score: 1

      Microsoft Solitare for Windows 95^H^HNT^H^H98^H^H2000^H^H^H^HME^H^HXP^H^H.NET???( etc).

      It's still unchanged (OK, the card backs are not 4-bit color in Windows XP, but that doesn't count).

      --

      Karma: Excellent (fuck, even in the future moderation doesn't work!)
    4. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by slaker · · Score: 2

      Cripes I'm a nerd.

      sol.exe for Windows 2000 is a 32-bit .exe unlike previous versions (I don't have an NT4 machine handy to check that far back).

      If you play solitaire on Win95 or 98 long (hours!) enough, you probably WILL crash the machine.

      Also, the Win2000 version has an autoplay feature (right-click) that isn't present in earlier versions.

      Oddly, the 2000 version of Sol.exe does not work on previous versions of Windows.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    5. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every version of NT sol.exe was 32-bit.

    6. Re:Top 10 MOST collectible? by David_Bloom · · Score: 1

      So, the most collectable (the other collectable) version of Solitare must be the one for Windows NT 3.51. Was Solitare on Windows 1-2.0, though?

      --

      Karma: Excellent (fuck, even in the future moderation doesn't work!)
  34. missed a damn good one. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd say Pac-Man for the ColecoVision is pretty damn collectible. It was so much better than the 2600 version that AtariSoft never released it to the masses.

  35. I know a game that would outsell them all by gmhowell · · Score: 1

    The rarest, most special, never before seen game that would trounce them all. The non-sucky version of E.T. for the 2600.

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    1. Re:I know a game that would outsell them all by DaytonCIM · · Score: 1

      E-l-i-o-t! Ouuuccchhh! Sorry, I know I know that was bad, but I couldn't resist. :)

  36. masterblaster! by dubbreak · · Score: 1

    anyone remember masterblaster?

    ooh those simulated 3d levels gave me a hardon, and just the pure challenge. I could play masterblaster all day.

    have to say it once more: MasterBlaster

    --
    "If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:masterblaster! by Pope · · Score: 2

      Who runs Bartertown!?

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    2. Re:masterblaster! by Schnapple · · Score: 2

      There's a new Master Blaster game, Master Blaster: Blasting Again for the PSX. It's cheap and worth a look.

    3. Re:masterblaster! by Glytch · · Score: 2

      If you mean Blaster Master, I agree. My god, the music in that game was actually enjoyable! And it was for the NES!

      Not to mention the pure evil thrill of getting your gun up to level 8 and mowing down anything that moved. Oh god, I want to play it again now. Good thing there's that nice NES emulator for the Dreamcast.

    4. Re:masterblaster! by dubbreak · · Score: 1

      don't forget the psx emulator (course you need a modchip).

      Seems Matel (or whoever own nintendo now) is sitting on a gold mine.. buy the rights to all the old games put out for the orignal systems (they were just licensed to run on nintedo not own by nintendo right?), then put out an official emulator for the gamecube.. then watch gamecube sales rocket.

      --
      "If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
    5. Re:masterblaster! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, sed -e 's/blaster/bater/g'....now on the PLAYwithyerselfSTATION 2!

    6. Re:masterblaster! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it was a great game for us lazy people too. Only game i've ever played that let you kill things while the game was paused. (Is it sad that i still remember cheat codes for these things?)

      Brought to you by the ACCLU!

    7. Re:masterblaster! by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

      Um... Nintendo owns Nintendo. Why would you think Mattel has anything to do with them? (As far as I know, the Power Glove was the extent of their involvment) Nintendo's 113 year history can be found here

  37. Top ten rarest PC games by Kelerain · · Score: 1

    Duke Nukem Forever
    Master of Orion III
    Team Fortress II
    Half-life II
    Counter-strike II
    Everquest II
    ... you get the idea.

    1. Re:Top ten rarest PC games by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      I think today is the day for MOO3 otherwise we all have to wait for January, and Microprose's owner, is it hasbro now? doesn't have a merry Christmas.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
    2. Re:Top ten rarest PC games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MOO3 has been re- re- re-scheduled for Feb 28th last I heard.

  38. DO you need the box and manuals for the zork games by Unknown+Poltroon · · Score: 2

    I think ive go those!!

    --
    All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
  39. Never heard of any of these games by nitefallz · · Score: 1

    in all the 22 years of playing games never heard of one of those, heck some of those systesm i never heard of

    1. Re:Never heard of any of these games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Never heard of the Phantasy Star Series? PS1 was the first 4MB game ever! PS2 was the first 6MB game ever! Still the best RPG series. PS1 was for the Master System, PS2-4 was for the Genesis. Then there was an online version similar to Final fantasy 11 that was released a few years back from the Dreamcast.

      Althought the first 8MB games went to Strider.

      Either Sega put a lot into their games, or they were bad coders!

  40. NWC by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 3, Informative

    More info on the Nintendo World Championship ROM available here.

    Anyone got a copy of the ROM?

    1. Re:NWC by g_attrill · · Score: 1

      Try alt.binaries.emulators.nintendo through your favourite binary news archive (must go back to at least 6th Dec)

      Gareth

    2. Re:NWC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again, check out this post

    3. Re:NWC by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 2

      Yeah, i got it, and i was trying to find a good emulator. FCEU came closest, but in order to start the game, it appears you need to hit start on controller 2. And try for the life of me, i can't figure out how to do that with FCEU. I even downloaded the source and poked around for a few.

  41. All your base... by uncoveror · · Score: 2

    Does anyone actually have a copy of Zero Wing? THat would be quite a holy grail of gaming. How about the E.T. Game that they buried thousands of in the desert? Does anybody have that one?

    --
    The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
    1. Re:All your base... by Unregistered · · Score: 1

      i think my friend does. It's not that rare.

    2. Re:All your base... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I've got E.T. It blows. As a child I could never figure out why a game with a title as cool as ET sucked... I thought I must be missing something.

      nope, it just sucked.

    3. Re:All your base... by Fjord · · Score: 2

      I too have E.T. and it's available at our local flea market. With 1 million copies sold and no body really wanting it, it's not really rare.

      --
      -no broken link
    4. Re:All your base... by joshsisk · · Score: 1

      They sold one million or so copies (of five million or so made) of ET, so it's not at all rare.

    5. Re:All your base... by ndnet · · Score: 1

      I actually have it. I once beat it, almost enjoying it.

  42. I'll bite: WTF is a "Kia Rio" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure that $6,500 is more than the cost of
    a lot of things, but what is a "Kia Rio"?

    1. Re:I'll bite: WTF is a "Kia Rio" by phong3d · · Score: 1
    2. Re:I'll bite: WTF is a "Kia Rio" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A car called Rio, made my Korean car company Kia. Duh...

  43. Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by Junks+Jerzey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It has always been crap, and even it's creator has stated that it's not a good game. Just because something is rare doesn't mean it's worth collecting.

    1. Re:Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by sporty · · Score: 2

      Define worth. Worth money? Worth joy of having? Worth of rarity?

      --

      -
      ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

    2. Re:Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by Jonboy+X · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but don't rule out campiness. The Atari 2600 in and of itself has that special naive charm about it, and, well, a promotional game about dog food? Camp score 9.9.

      --

      "In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
    3. Re:Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by ackthpt · · Score: 1
      It has always been crap, and even it's creator has stated that it's not a good game. Just because something is rare doesn't mean it's worth collecting.

      This reminds me of Miner 2049'er, which seemed to be on almost every platform, but totally sucked. I think it got by on the cover art.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    4. Re:Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by Junks+Jerzey · · Score: 2

      This reminds me of Miner 2049'er, which seemed to be on almost every platform, but totally sucked.

      Funnily enough, I was addicted to that game for a number of months. The Atari 800 version was great. It's generally remembered as a classic.

      Chase the Chuckwagon, though, didn't have anything going for it except the dog food tie-in.

    5. Re:Chase the Chuckwagon is crap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chase the Chuckwagon has the in-joke factor going for it (if you were reading rec.games.video.classic in the mid-90s).

  44. Only NES game with nudity? by FourDegreez · · Score: 1

    Kid Icarus had a female flying creature that was topless. I don't think I ever got to that level in the game, though.

    1. Re:Only NES game with nudity? by outsider007 · · Score: 2

      not to mention all the hacks.
      my favorite: nude super mario brothers

      --
      If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
    2. Re:Only NES game with nudity? by SweetAndSourJesus · · Score: 1

      There was a rom hack called Nuts & Milk, a whacky little game where you were a giant penis.

      Bizarre stuff.

      NES pr0n.

      --

      --
      the strongest word is still the word "free"
    3. Re:Only NES game with nudity? by SweetAndSourJesus · · Score: 1

      Erk, let me clarify that. Nuts & Milk was a Hudson game that got hacked. Someone named Firestorm released it in 1997. Search around for nuts.nes and you'll see what I'm talking about.

      --

      --
      the strongest word is still the word "free"
    4. Re:Only NES game with nudity? by battlinbill · · Score: 1

      I gotta bring up the last level to the original Contra game. Think about it, you have to shoot a huge phallic beast that shoots out white / pink things. After that, you gotta take out a heart type beast that's kinda like an embryo. I don't know about you, but I always thought that Contra was an abreviation for Contraception.

  45. Quake III Arena by CoffeeJedi · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have a metal-boxed copy of Quake III for Linux! I guess it can't be that rare, about 2 months ago i actually (i'm 100% serious about this) bought it at the Dollar Store, for a dollar!!! They had all the usual crappy $1 Store games there, and a stack of Q3A for Linux sitting on the bottom shelf. I should have bought 5 and kept them shrink wrapped!

    --
    May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
    1. Re:Quake III Arena by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · · Score: 2

      At dollar stores throughout western Canada a few years ago (or maybe last year) you could get as many boxed copies of Shogo you could carry for a buck each.

      What's funny is all the local pawn shops had 5 or 6 copies of Shogo, obviously brought in as "trade-ins" - given that a few were still sealed, I would wager people bought copies and brought them to the pawn shops for credit against other games :)

      --
      Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
    2. Re:Quake III Arena by 512k · · Score: 3, Funny

      Microcenter in Cambridge was selling QIII for linux for $3-5 (can't remember)..there was a sticker slapped to each one explaining what you needed to download to run it under Windows

      --
      ------ Work is so much easier when you don't
    3. Re:Quake III Arena by dmaxwell · · Score: 2

      My wife bought me one of those a couple of years ago. Isn't she a sweetie?!

    4. Re:Quake III Arena by Fnkmaster · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the tip to the Cambridge crew. I'll check it out next time I'm cruising Mem Drive.

    5. Re:Quake III Arena by ndnet · · Score: 1

      I can confirm this. In my area, a local electronics retailer ditched their copies (Metal Linux case including SUSE 6.2 install CD) to a nearby dollar store about 4 months ago. I picked up 8, selling 2 and keeping the rest for LAN parties. ;)

  46. Rarities Reprinted by robbway · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Activision recently released Activision Anthology for PS2. In addition to almost all the Activision line, some Imagic, and an Atari game or two, it has a couple games called Kabobber and Thwacker that were either not USA releases, as they don't sound American, or they were prototypes.

    This shows that: 1) there is a market for crappy old games, 2) there is a way to get crappy old unreleased games, 3) the rarest games are still out there, and 4) I'm dumb enough to buy it.

    I can't say I'm not enjoying the old stuff, but Laser Blast is way too boring to go for the !!!!!!! score. I can't believe I ever did that.

  47. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by nelsonal · · Score: 1

    Excitebike was one of my favorite NES games, I wasted many an hour designing tracks and then slaghtering the computer players. There was nothing more fun than smacking the computer players into an oil patch or off the track.

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  48. You mean by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    square nipples, anyone

    women don't actually have square nipples?

    DAMN I need to get out more.

  49. Had then all, played then all! by Pac · · Score: 2

    I guess I am getting old.

    1. Re:Had then all, played then all! by Valiss · · Score: 1

      "getting"?

      =]

      --

      -Valiss
  50. Monty Python anyone? by wirelessbuzzers · · Score: 1

    From the last page:
    "There are far more than 10 holy grails out there..."

    Arthur and his knights went to all that trouble and they never even found one of them???

    --
    I hereby place the above post in the public domain.
  51. KQ, anyone? by NineNine · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone know where I can get a copy of King's Quest? This was one of the first EGA colored games I ever played, and one of the very early adventure games. You had free reign to do anything you wanted (to a certain extent), so this one felt really ground breaking to me. Anyone have a copy of this sucker? I've long since lost the box (actually, this one was distributed in a plastic case for the IBM PCjr by IBM themselves).

    1. Re:KQ, anyone? by theperplepigg · · Score: 1
      not sure about original king's quest, but you might be able to find the kq collection in a bargain bin or on ebay or something, and this includes all of them (except maybe the last one). i bought it a few years ago, and it even included a remake (new higher-res graphics) of the first king's quest.

      --paul

      --
      -- Every time you kill a kitten, God masturbates.
    2. Re:KQ, anyone? by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 2

      Don't know about the original, but these guys have done a remake of both KQ1 and KQ2.

      --
      Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
    3. Re:KQ, anyone? by LordHunter317 · · Score: 2

      My grandfather may still have a copy of this, for the IBM PCjr, but not the plastic case. I was still playing that game well until the 1990's, until the PCjr failed to POST anymore.

    4. Re:KQ, anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should play the entire Quest for Glory series also from Sierra. Its the same format as Kings Quest, but had better graphics, better gameplay, and a better story. Better yet, you get to save your character (magic user, thief or fighter) at the end of each game and import them into the next game in the series. Each game had a night-day cycle that impressed me greatly in the very early 90s and the ability to move at your own pace and do what you want.

    5. Re:KQ, anyone? by CoughDropAddict · · Score: 2

      Ironically enough, "Kings Quest: Collection 2" is no longer made and has itself become rare. On Amazon they are offered second-hand starting at $199!

  52. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by DdJ · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Doom - PC - FPS Grandaddy.
    Actually, the FPS grandaddy would have to be Wolfenstein 3D. That was a hell of a game when it came out, and created the hype for Doom. The day Doom first came out for download, network traffic all over the internet ground to a halt, and the experience people had playing Wolf3D was one of the reasons.
  53. strip poker.... ooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can still remember wanking it to a CGA strip poker back in 4th or 5th grade or so. looking back on it, they were basically drawings... but hot damn, hormones makes it allllll better.

  54. gaim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://gaim.sf.net/

  55. Rarest Video Game by miracle69 · · Score: 2

    Blackjack for Linux.

    --
    Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
  56. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a Copy of Chrono Trigger for SNES. I bought it for $80 and I still play it

    I Even got all of the endings...

  57. Underdogs website. by nlinecomputers · · Score: 2, Informative

    This site here has a lot of links to old games that aren't published anymore. Not the same as owning the orginal but if your dying to play an old game of Jumpman this is a place you can find it and a lot of other old games.

    --
    Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
  58. Re: MULE by bracher · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm pretty sure you mean M.U.L.E.

    http://www.eidolons-inn.de/mule/
    http://weber.u csd.edu/~amany/mule.html

    I wasted _many_ an hour playing this game as a kid...

  59. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Toasty16 · · Score: 1

    How about battlezone for PC? Came out in 1997 as a sort of combination RTS/Action, but it tanked (forgive the pun) because it was too far ahead of its time. Play it now, you'll be amazed by the graphics, the music, the gameplay, and even the voice acting was above par.

  60. Hey... what about Virtual Boy??? by H0NGK0NGPH00EY · · Score: 1

    Okay, they listed a Sega Saturn game... as long as we're listing games for systems that flopped big time, what about Insmouse for Virtual Boy, or some of the other ultra-rare Japan-only released VB titles? (I have all the US released titles, but I'm obviously not a real collector, because I just can't bring myself to shell out $500 for one of these.)

    --
    Do not read this sig.
  61. Infocom (Planetfall, etc.) for Atari 800 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have Planetfall and some of the others in the original packaging. Later on, they switched to the generic "gray boxes" but these are the originals.

    Somehow I still can't bring myself to get rid of them. They were great games.

    1. Re:Infocom (Planetfall, etc.) for Atari 800 by Dudio · · Score: 1

      I used to have a couple of the Infocom originals for the PC. I remember Suspended came in a box with a plastic face mask and included a gameboard-quality (i.e. heavy, laminated stock) map of the complex with plastic tokens for all of the robots to help you keep track of where everybody was. For all I know, that stuff might still be in the closet at my dad's house. I really need to organize an expedition to see if any of it survived. I wonder what copies of the New Zork Times/Status Line would go for these days (I see nothing on eBay)...

  62. Me too!! by Pac · · Score: 2

    I still have Wolf3D installed and I play it now and then. The graphics are obviously lousy compared to newer games, but it still feels good. "I am Death Incarnate" using just a gun in any night mission is still a hell of a good game. :)

  63. Apple II by Deanasc · · Score: 2

    A text based game called 'Kabul Spy' for the Apple II. Suddenly it seems amazingly ahead of it's time. I don't remember much from it except that you spent a lot of time in a jeep up in the mountains looking for caves.

    --
    I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
  64. Another rare game for NES... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

    was the Tengen version of Tetris that came in the snazzy black cartridge that all Tengen games came in. Nintendo tried to put the clamps on Tengen because they refused to get licenses to make games for the NES.

    As a result, I remember that game being very hard to acquire even way back when. It would typically go for $100 at Funco...back when Funco only existed as a mail order company that advertised in the gaming mags.

    1. Re:Another rare game for NES... by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 2

      I had a copy of Tengen's port of Gauntlet for the NES. It's probably worth even more than the Tetris game now.

    2. Re:Another rare game for NES... by funkhauser · · Score: 2

      Tengen Tetris isn't nearly as rare as some other NES games. While it's a cornerstone for a good NES collection, it really isn't that rare, but does sell well because everyone thinks it's really rare and it really is the best version of Tetris for the NES. The Panesian games mentioned in the article are significantly harder to find.

    3. Re:Another rare game for NES... by funkhauser · · Score: 2

      Tengen Gauntlet is pretty common, both licensed and unlicensed versions. To find out just how rare the games in your collection are, check the NES Rarity List.

    4. Re:Another rare game for NES... by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

      Wow... wierd.

      I go to this place all the time (the physical store). And this is the second reference I've seen online to it in as many days. Is the quaint little shop I've known since I was in high school a definative resource for the net as a whole?

  65. Texas Chainsaw Massacre for ATARI 2600 by tezzery · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How about The Texas chainsaw massacre game for Atari 2600. Apparently this game was banned from a lot of retailers for violence (pixelated blood!) I've seen it go for well over $100 on ebay. Not sure if its worthy of making that top-10 list, but certainly a worthy mention.

  66. The rarest PC game (or console game)... by neutron2000 · · Score: 1

    ...a good one?

  67. Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter? by cdipierr · · Score: 2

    There was a game out around 1993/4-ish that was one of the best of its time. It was a top-down scrolling space shooter where you'd compete in various levels.

    Each level began by a big set of "doors" opening across the screen and they'd close again at the end of the level. It was highly addictive and had a great SoundBlaster (and Gravis) soundtrack of techno music.

    Anyone remember the name?

  68. along the same lines by deus_X_machina · · Score: 1

    Does anyone remember that Starfox competition that Nintendo sponsored? It featured a custom StarFox cart for the SNES that you could play in all of the major toy stores. Gamers could play as many times as they liked to compete for the high score, and at the end, all of the high scores were submitted to Nintendo.

    The winner of each store took home a black StarFox bomber jacket, top ten got a T-shirt, and everyone got pin for playing. The grandprize winner scored a trip to Hawii. In my neighborhood, it caused a huge stir about StarFox and I'm willing to bet Nintendo sold a boatload of copies.

    I've managed to get the .rom for my emulator, but I'd imagine the cart itself is pretty rare. I thought that it was a pretty cool contest. (possibly due to the fact I took home a nice big StarFox jacket, which I never wore in order to avoid getting beaten up).

    --
    "In a Democracy, people get the kind of government they deserve." -Winston Churchill
    1. Re:along the same lines by rogueuk · · Score: 2

      i remember that. played it at woolworth's (must have been about 3 or 4 years before they went out of business). was it really the top 10 of each store that got t-shirts? me and two of my brothers each got shirts..damn that was a good game

    2. Re:along the same lines by deus_X_machina · · Score: 1

      Yes, if I'm not mistaken. However, T-shirts were handed out immediately upon getting into the top ten, so you got one just by getting in that percentile at one point or another.

      --
      "In a Democracy, people get the kind of government they deserve." -Winston Churchill
    3. Re:along the same lines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I ended up getting the Jacket at my store and I also later picked up the Cart. I wonder how much it goes for now a days ^_^

  69. Excitebike by JordoCrouse · · Score: 1

    Excitebike - NES - One of the first games you could truly edit. My friends and I would spend hours making nasty, yet well designed tracks to race

    I have Excitebike in a 10 in 1 Nintendo cabinet (along with Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers, and Duck Hunt among others). What a great toy, I gladly sacrifice half of my home office space for it.

    Nothing insightful, just bragging... :)

    --
    Do you have Linux and a DotPal? Click here now!
  70. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Osty · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, the FPS grandaddy would have to be Wolfenstein 3D.

    Actually, you're not quite right, either. The real FPS grandaddy is actually Hovertank, with Catacomb 3D coming shortly after that. Catacomb 3D evolved from Hovertank's engine, and Wolf3D evolved from Catacomb's.


    Now, I'm sure you can find some other first-person shooting game prior to 1991 if you really dig (Battlezone, perhaps?), but that's the history of the FPS and id.

  71. rare systems by paradesign · · Score: 2
    even more rare than the rare games are rare systems, especially all the ones made grey market in Korea. For someone who,is looking to collext every system, it makes things a pain.

    also what about Dev kits, im supriseed theyre not rare. id love a xbox dev kit or a ps2 dev kit. rare in 20, hell yeah.

    --
    I want 2D games back.
  72. Rarest PC game by QuantumRiff · · Score: 3, Funny

    Duke Nukem Forever...
    That was relased what, 3 years ago, or, wait, its still "When its done!"

    --

    What are we going to do tonight Brain?
  73. IN SOVIET RUSSIA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Video games collect YOU.

    1. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chuckwagon chases YOU!

  74. Police Quest by kingkade · · Score: 2

    Police Quest was so cool. Even though the story line was linear, the text command interface and real-life duties and police situations made it feel like you were in a living world.

    Also, walking in on someone in the shower in the locker room and listening to them complain was my first experience of virtual sexual harassment.

  75. Oldest Game? by perotbot · · Score: 1

    How about the lunar lander game that was in the back of the TRS-80 model one manual? I blew about 3months of lunches in High School (yeah I'm getting old) programing this in, as well as learning to type. Half the period was spent loading it and then backing it up on the cassette deck storage unit...... oh and after it's all said and done, no pictures...just numbers....

    CRASH

    --
    ~corporate tool, but employed~
    1. Re:Oldest Game? by $0.02 · · Score: 1

      I played lunar lander on Univac 1110 (big O mainframe).

      --
      If enithin kan gow rong it whil. (Murfey)
    2. Re:Oldest Game? by UrGeek · · Score: 1

      Oh, my dear YoungBlood, truly old games are text only and only work on mainframes with teletype machines. The Colossal Cave Adventure, Star Trek (with 64 "quandrants" and no map of the galaxy - you had to write it out by hand), or probably Chess is much older than any microprocessor including the Z80 in that TRS-80. I recall playing on an IBM 370 but I am sure someone will remember before that.

    3. Re:Oldest Game? by killmenow · · Score: 1

      I remember playing Dungeon (the one written by those kids at MIT before they made it Zork) and some war simulation strategy game (can't remember the name) on a PDP-8 (I think it was...mighta been a 10). Those were fun.

  76. NES game with nudity by Ryne · · Score: 2, Funny

    And they say Nintendo doesn't aim for the adult crowd...

  77. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're wrong - "Wolfenstein 3D" was inspired by the original "Castle Wolfenstein". It was an old game for the Apple II.

  78. Re:Huh? by joshsisk · · Score: 5, Informative

    Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."

    Don't shoot your mouth off if you don't know what you are talking about.

    Wolfenstein 3D (1992) was the THIRD Wolfenstein game, following Castle Wolfenstein (1983) and and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (1984). Those games were indeed 2D.

  79. Uhh.. by Viewsonic · · Score: 2

    GenX falls into the category of Colecovision AND Nintendo .. GenY is after Nintendo...

  80. Re:Huh? by RobL3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."
    Um, sorry, but maybe you're just not as old as the rest of us. There was a 2-d Wolfenstien, It shipped in a clear plastic bag, and featured German soldiers shouting at you in German. In fact, the instruction manual even had a translation guide (like you could understand what was coming out of the Apple ]['s crappy little speaker.) This was the real precursor to W3D, and allowed you to pick up bulletproof vests, shoot nazi's, and steal gold. The objective was to find the secret war plans and escape from the castle.

  81. no one playing them? are you crazy? by nebenfun · · Score: 1

    What are you talking about?

    Solitaire is the main reason people have computers!!!

    In fact, the only way MS will start to lose market share is if they stop including solitaire.

    nbfn

  82. What about Battle Cruiser 3000? by El_Smack · · Score: 2

    The best thing about that game was the flame wars on usenet between the creator and all the suckers that shelled out for it. Ah, Derek Smart, where art thou?

    --


    There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
    1. Re:What about Battle Cruiser 3000? by RollingThunder · · Score: 2

      Rumor has it he can be found here - opinionated as ever.

  83. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about...

    Umm, sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. There were two Wolfenstein 2D games way back when. I played them both on my Apple ][e. There were little mazes you walked (or limped, if you had been shot) through. There were guns, bullets, passkeys, uniforms, and money you could collect along the way. The best was pointing your empty gun at a guy, then stealing his bullets and shooting him. The SS guys were really nasty. I can't search for links, since I'm at work, but I will look around Google when I get home and paste whatever I can on those games into this thread.

  84. At the risk of being redundant... by Xenographic · · Score: 2

    These are, of course, the rarest/most "collectable" games, rather than the best. Despite being the only porno NES game, Bubble Bath Babes is CRAP. It's just another derivative 'line up the colored ___s' game with pr0n in the background. Of the lot, Phantasy Star was one of the few that stood out as actually being a GOOD game.

    If you don't mind, I'll go back to playing all the FUN classics now (all the Marios, Zeldas, Guardian Legend & the good RPGs) somewhere that supports our right to fair use (consoleclassix.com) ...

  85. the dollar store by asv108 · · Score: 2

    This is true! My goofy neighbor bought Quake III for Linux at the dollar store only to discover that the game did not run on windows. When he asked me why laptop looked all funny, I said it ran Linux. Subsequently, he gave me the game, but he lost the tin. I was amazed that any retail outlet carried Linux games, let alone the dollar store.

    1. Re:the dollar store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ummm.. the dollar store doesn't "carry" linux games.

      they buy excess inventory / odd lots and then sell them to the unsuspecting public.

      in other words, someone discovered that Q3 Linux wasn't selling so-hot and so they dumped it, and dollar store picked it up for pennies on the dollar.

  86. find who purchased it by Brigadier · · Score: 2



    my suggestion is find who purchased it. These will have teh most value to someone who has a set or best yet all of these cartagies. e-mail the person who wrote the article, and follow the lead to who purchased it. more than likely they have teh same cash to pay for yours. Having two of a set of collector item definately raises the individual value of each.

  87. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by KshGoddess · · Score: 1

    Oddly enough, I never played Excitebike until I bought Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing, while being a very strange game in itself, contains both a NES emulator and 8 (I think just 8) NES games. But they're hard as hell to get a hold of in the game.

    --
    It's a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable. It's a lot wrong to say it's a suspension bridge.
  88. Lease valuable cartridge? by ShieldWolf · · Score: 2

    If you ask me there is no competition:

    E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the 2600

    A local electronics shop is selling them for PENNIES ($CDN! ;) ) and they have BOXES of 'em.

    Anyone else remember how unfun, and unlike the movie that game was? You would fall down a hole and just get stuck with that stupid flower - god I hated that game!!!

    --
    just = (My)Opinion.toCents();
    1. Re:Lease valuable cartridge? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember that! Just wanted to show you my support! It did suck!

  89. Re:Huh? by rock_the_casbah · · Score: 1

    //The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D." //

    Nope. He's right, junior. Know your history before you spout off. "Castle Wolfenstein" was indeed a 2-D game, much like the arcade classic, "Bezerk"--but you're prolly way to young to even remember that, much less know what an arcade even is.

    I had Castle Wolfenstein for my C-64. As I recall, it had purple-colored walls, and you had to use the I-J-K-M keys just to point your pistol (only weapon) in the right direction.

    "Acthung!" "Kaput!"

    --
    - -- --- --- -- - Frammin' at the jim-jam, frippin' at the krotz!
  90. Re:Huh? by AngryPuppy · · Score: 1

    Ummm...Someone doesn't know what they are talking about.

    I played Castle Wolfenstein when I was in jr. high on an Apple IIe.

    This was years and years before Wolfenstein 3D came out....

    Supporting docs at this link

  91. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Schnapple · · Score: 2
    I'd still willingly pay money for...Excitebike
    You're in luck - there's an adapter for the GBA called the e-Card reader. You swipe special cards in it that have data along their edges. The decks are NES games - one of them is Excitebike. Once you get past the $70 GBA investment and the ~$40 for the card reader, the decks are $5 each. There's also some more NES titles. This, coupled with the ulockable Metroid in Metroid Prime is proof to me that Nintendo hasn't forgotten their roots.
  92. Pre-order letter from Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Greetings from Amazon.com.

    We have contacted our supplier concerning the status of your order for
    "Master Of Orion 3."

    The representative we spoke with indicated that this item has not been released, and is not expected to be released until February 28, 2003.
    If we receive additional information about this, we will let you know.

    We are very sorry for the disappointment.

    1. Re:Pre-order letter from Amazon by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      Great another Duke Nukem Forever, we won't see that game before retirement.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  93. New verb? by sczimme · · Score: 2

    I would ebay it if someone wants to make an offer.

    Apparently 'ebay' is now a verb. (The infinitive form must be 'to ebay'.) I guess enough precedent was set with 'leverage', 'antique'*, and 'blog', and I know all nouns can be verbed, but still... Oh, well.

    ('To antique' means to go looking/shopping for antiques.)

    --
    I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
    1. Re:New verb? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



      Actually to "antique" means to throw a hand full of flour over someones head (preferably when theyre sleeping).

    2. Re:New verb? by SnapShot · · Score: 1

      "all nouns can be verbed"

      I guess that proves it...

      --
      Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
    3. Re:New verb? by susano_otter · · Score: 2

      Technically, "to blog" isn't all that much of a neologism: "to log" (as in "to make an entry in a logbook') is a venerable verb that has long been accepted.

      Also, you forgot "to google".

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    4. Re:New verb? by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      And of course there's /.-ing, google-ing and of course verbing :)

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    5. Re:New verb? by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      You forgot the one that is quite possibly the most annoying - "to itch" (which appears to have replaced "to scratch" in American English).

  94. Re:rarest game? anything besides halo on the xbox by lukegalea1234 · · Score: 1

    Good call! There is nothing on that system but Halo.. and all there is to look forward to is Halo 2!

  95. dont forget the most collectible game in the world by nebenfun · · Score: 1

    Duke Nukem Forever....

    nbfn

  96. Re:What's that Linux ICQ client that you all like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, Trillian is Windows only. There was a Linux one that Slashdotters were raving about in an article a few months ago.

    Thanks anyway.

  97. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 1

    Interestingly, back at UCSC in the early '80s (83-84), I had some buddies who were working on an FPH&S (First Person Hack & Slash) game, running on ASCII terminals (ADM3a at 1200 bps anyone)?

    --
    Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  98. *Who* doesn't know what they're talking about? by kiwimate · · Score: 2

    You wouldn't care to put money on that, would you? I can remember the surreptitious Wolfenstein games being played on the Apple ][ machines in my high school's computer lab back in 1983. I never could understand what the horrible noise emanating from the little speaker was saying.

    1. Re:*Who* doesn't know what they're talking about? by Pope · · Score: 1
      I never could understand what the horrible noise emanating from the little speaker was saying.

      Mein lieben!

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  99. Forget Consoles - Get Arcade Cabinets! by Guiness17 · · Score: 1

    Yup, I've got a few that I've picked up...surprisingly cheap a few years ago when the arcades were really going through tough times

    My best pieces are:

    Tempest cocktail
    Battlezone - yup, with the sticks and periscope
    Kiss pinball
    Wacko cabinet

    The Tempest machine, BTW, is largely considered the 'Holy Grail' of this search.

    --
    Imagine for a moment a world without hypothetical situations...
  100. Strike Commander? by Pope · · Score: 2

    Did that ever come out? Back in university I had a friend who would play Wing Commander incessantly. We kept seeing the ads for Strike Commander in magazines, but I wasn't a big gamer so I never went looking for it (not that it would have run on my 386SX at the time anyway ;)

    --
    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    1. Re:Strike Commander? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2

      Yup, it did, and it wasn't a bad little game, either.

      I think I actually got it in a bundle with Privateer/Privateer: Righteous Fire.

      Home of the Underdogs has it here: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?name=Strike+ Commander

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    2. Re:Strike Commander? by ictatha · · Score: 2

      Speaking of Wing Commander, did anyone else buy the Wing Commander III special pre-order deal? With the round movie tin, t-shirt, book, etc. (and, of course, the game)? I was shocked to find that I couldn't one on ebay. I still have most of that stuff... I remember begging my parents for that.

      --
      "... the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy" - Janov Pelorat
  101. JEEZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Okay, god, jeez, stop jumping all over me. SORRRRRRRY. I had no idea that this many Slashdot readers were so old. :P After looking at some of those links though, it looks like those first two games were not id Software games? So why should they be considered "official" Wolfenstein games then? I guess I'll always consider the first one to be Wolf 3D, since it's from id Software and is the one I played as a little kid. But there are apparently two that are older, whether they are "real" Wolfenstein games depends on your point of view I guess!

    1. Re:JEEZ by AngryPuppy · · Score: 1

      I would instead consider the early games to be the "true" Wolfenstein games since they are the originals.

      ...and to clue you in you're *still* a little kid. :P

    2. Re:JEEZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering that you told the OP "you don't know what you're talking about," you deserve the insults you're getting.

    3. Re:JEEZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm, yeah, *I'M* the troll.

    4. Re:JEEZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ur a litle bich.

    5. Re:JEEZ by joshsisk · · Score: 1

      But there are apparently two that are older, whether they are "real" Wolfenstein games depends on your point of view I guess!

      What kind of mindset does it take for someone to consider something that comes AFTER something else the original?

      Castle Wolfenstein was released first, it features a similar storyline and, if I recall, the same character. Of course it is the original, and of course it is "real".

    6. Re:JEEZ by BollocksToThis · · Score: 1

      What the hell is that meant to be? A grammar/spelling-troll? Or are you just trying to look like a retard?

      --
      This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
  102. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    ...point your pistol (only weapon)...

    Must have been Beyond Castle Wolfenstein then where you had the dagger for those kewl silent kills. Dirty Krauts always screaming "Aaaiiiieeeeee!!!" when you shot them. Sneaky bastage dagger kills were eleet!

  103. Please be kind to their website by SScorpio · · Score: 2, Informative
    Tierra http://www.tierraentertainment.com/

    Has recreated the VGA version of KQ1. They also had the person who voice acted Graham in KQ5 & 6 do the voice for him.

    Overall it's a great free game. It's not a nostalgic as playing the 16 color AGI version; however, it's the same game in a prettier package.

    As for an original copy of King's Quest, your going to need to use eBay. Sierra has unfortantely stopped selling the Collector's Editions that included all these classics. You should be able to get just KQ1 for a few buck; however, a Collector's Edition can easily hit $50 or more.

    1. Re:Please be kind to their website by SScorpio · · Score: 1

      One thing I for to mention is that they also have a VGA version of KQ2. It a rewritten story and some new puzzle, but it's true to the original. Only enhanced.

  104. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Kymermosst · · Score: 2

    Yeah, it was good for single player.

    Playing online sucked, though. Gotta be the only game in the world where high ping/packet loss increased your chances of winning.

    When someone's connection started to go sour, everyone else saw their tank jittering and disappearing, and it was impossible to hit.

    Then, the rampant cheating began...

    I quit playing after that.

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
  105. Starflight for the PC by Ryu2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That has got to be one of the rarities out there, at least in terms of finding an original boxed version. I remember being absolutely engrossed by that game back in 1986 when it firsrt game out. Even though it had to run on primitive hardware of the time (CGA graphics, PC speaker sound), it was still a both a design and a technical masterpiece (they fit a whole universe of 300+ star systems, 20 sentinent alien races, 1000+ planets, each individually mapped, with unique terrain, artifacts, economies, etc.) on two 360K floppy discs. It was amazingly open ended and non linear, and yet had a completely fleshed out history, storyline, and universe.

    I remember many happy hours spent mining, trying to get the most money, upgrade my ship, find out all the secrets, make alliances with alien races, etc. Very fun, and almost impossible to find now (not counting downloading it from a abandonwarez site, of course.)

    --
    There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
    1. Re:Starflight for the PC by killmenow · · Score: 1

      One of the best things about Starflight was how they handled the code-wheel thing. Not that I enjoyed the code-wheel, just what the game did if you entered the wrong code: you could potentially play for a long time, then all of a sudden you're flying around in space and these space-cop ships surround you and you can't get away. It was really funny and showed (to me) a sense of humor in the designers.

      It was like they were saying, "Look we know you don't have the code wheel, and that you're probably playing a copy of the game you got off a friend, so we'll let you play for a little while...but don't expect to beat the game." It was like trial-ware before the term existed.

      Oh, and I loved how the little space-man would tap his foot if you just let him stand there at the space-port.

    2. Re:Starflight for the PC by dennisr · · Score: 1

      I have this in original packaging with receipt ($55.00!) and the "Interstel Security Access Code Wheel". I found it half price books for $2. I agree that this was the most engaging game I ever played

    3. Re:Starflight for the PC by crystall · · Score: 2

      I remember playing with on a copied version with a copied code wheel.

      Yep, we were thinkin' ahead. Pried that baby apart and copied both layers, then a little crafty-type work at Kinkos with the laminator, exacto knife, a hole punch and a paper brad and ... voila, more code wheels.

      Of course, we were just callow middle-schoolers then ...

  106. Re:Extension by Mupp252 · · Score: 1

    Oh, but you can't leave out these games:

    NES

    Mega Man 1 - 6 (Need to kill a saturday afternoon? Pull out any of these titles.)

    Zelda II (How could you forget this one!)

    Super NES

    Mega Man 7 (Costly on Ebay but well worth it)

    A Link to the Past (Obvious)

    Star Fox (Not the regular cart but the one distributed with the 15 minute timer.)

    Sega CD

    Snatcher (Never played it and still am dying to try.)

    Willy Beamish (Full talkie.. fun as hell if you don't mind being patient with load times.)

    Final Fight CD (Not much coverage on this but an excellent port. One of the truly best fighters of it's time.)

    Sega Saturn

    X-Mas Nights (Does anything other than the demo exist?)

    Die Hard (This one was truly the arcade version.)

  107. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by prockcore · · Score: 2

    Silpheed?

  108. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    --Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis. The first 'Twitch' game I ever played. Sonic rocked my world.--

    Chronic the Hemphog was cool too!

  109. Elite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Original Elite on the Acorn Electron. With box, tape, manual and Dark Wheel Story. A true classic it must be worth somthing.

  110. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."

    Oh dear.

    I'm afraid it is you who are mistaken.
    (Hint: scroll down a bit)

  111. What about C=64 and Atari 800? by Grackle · · Score: 1

    PC games, what about the great titles for Commodore 64 and Atari 800, back in the day?

    My favorite old game was M.U.L.E. for C=64. Great gameplay (including one-to-four-player mode!) plus an infectious SID soundtrack.

    A close second was the Sentinel, a pretty damn spooky strategy game with interesting polygon grafix.

    Or "Elite," a 3D graphix game along the lines of "Space Trader."

    1. Re:What about C=64 and Atari 800? by killmenow · · Score: 1

      I still have a cartridge for Atari 400/800/1200 of Jumpman Jr.

      Hell, I still have my Atari 1200 and <ahem> tape drive that it came with. I used to play Jumpan Jr. all the time. And once I got that floppy drive, Zork I,II,III, Enchanter, Sorcerer, and just about all the old Infocom games.

      I even remember punching in the hex code for Lunar Lander out of the back of a Compute! magazine and playing that...man, was I a geek.

    2. Re:What about C=64 and Atari 800? by boomgopher · · Score: 1

      CHOLO was another great Firebird game...

      --
      Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
  112. Re:Huh? by AngryPuppy · · Score: 1

    Yep. I used the dagger more than anything. If there were two guards in the room, it kept the second from throwing the alarm and making the game much harder. ... the memories...

  113. pr0n on NES? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, that game mentioned in the blurb above might be the only AMERICAN pr0n game for the NES, but as I was downloading ROMS the other night, I came across one called Pussy City Pimps for the NES emulator (it was part of a whole pack of ROMS with the JNES emulator). You run around like a miniature double dragon type character punching and kicking dudes with their pee-pee's sticking straight out of their pants (your peepee sticks straight out of your pants too), and beating up naked strippers and ho's. It's a pretty retarded game, but you're apparently trying to save all the ho's from your Pussy City High School where everyone "bangs and screws in giant orgies all day long."

  114. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by DdJ · · Score: 2

    Knew about Catacomb 3D, didn't know about Hovertank. But, at least around CMU campus back then, nobody really knew about any of these until Wolf3D. That was the one that popularized the genre, at least here.

  115. from the article by nege · · Score: 3, Funny

    ""Chasing the Chuck Wagon" has become a synonym for hunting for rare games in thrift stores, pawn shops and other such locations."

    oh...i had ANOTHER meaning for that...

  116. Can still buy these by moc.tfosorcimgllib · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a store in Nebraska that still has old games like this on the shelf for $10 a pop. Instruction manual and everything. They are classics, but rare, lord no.

    1. Re:Can still buy these by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where in Nebraska? Store name?

    2. Re:Can still buy these by moc.tfosorcimgllib · · Score: 2

      > Where in Nebraska? Store name?

      Infolinc Computers in Lincoln, NE. About 30 minutes after I posted that, I realized that I haven't been in Lincoln since 1998, and I the last time I visited that store was 1996 to buy a computer (A very solid system). Then I pretty much realized I'm old.

      It's worth a look though, who knows, they might still have some of those games.

  117. Not the only game with nudity by Kaeru+the+Frog · · Score: 1

    Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudity

    There are two other games for the NES that contain nudity. There's Peek a Boo Poker which, as the title suggests, is a strip poker game and there's Hot Slots which is a stip slot machine game. Roms of all three of these games can easily be found.

  118. Rarest in terms of numbers by Schnapple · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Quick story:

    There was this company called Active Enterprises. It basically amounted to a guy in his garage making games. They had a cart called Action 52 for the NES which had 52 games on it. Of course to call these things "games" was a stretch - most were like quick coding excercises. The idea was that they would make up for in quantity what they lacked in quantity. At an asking price of $199.99 its unclear if his target audience was Blockbuster (which is used to getting hosed with rental pricing) or parents who figured that 52 games at the price of four was a deal.

    One of the games on Action 52 was The Cheetahmen. Apparently Active Enterprises also wrote a game called Cheetahmen II . I say apparently because Active never released it. It appears that what happened was Active ordered 1,000 copies of Cheetahmen II and then couldn't pay the manufacturer for the carts, so after a year or two the manufacturer just sold them to people (which is legal).

    So, Cheetahmen II is probably one of the rarest cartridges ever made.

    1. Re:Rarest in terms of numbers by Slurm-V · · Score: 0

      Something Awful's take on Action52

      --
      Of course it's going off the rails. How else is it ever going to fly?
  119. n00diez by fo0bar · · Score: 2

    More screen shots and badly translated text (although not AYB-style bad) here.

  120. Final Fantasy Tactics by brood · · Score: 2

    Until they reissued it, Final Fantasy Tactics for the Playstation was quite the collectors item too. I remember I bought it used twice for about $10 at my local blockbuster, and both times sold it for $40-50 on eBay. I remember seeing auctions for new versions of it go as high as $120. And of course now you can buy it at pretty much any Wal-Mart for about $14.99.

  121. Business Plan by coopaq · · Score: 1
    1.) Write cheesy game with poor sales
    2.) Obtain small cult-like following
    3.) ????
    4.) Profit!!! ( 20 years later )

    -J

  122. Sarien is your friend.... by dmaxwell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://sarien.sourceforge.net/

    This is not an emulator. Those old Sierra games were developed with a system called AGI. Pretty much the same data files were used on all supported systems with an AGI interpreter tweaked to run the data files. Sarien is a GENERAL AGI interpreter and works quite well. As a matter of fact, I finished Leisure Suit Larry on my Debian box last week. I also tried out but haven't seriously played Kings Quest I and Space Quest with it as well. If you still have some old IBM PC versions of these games laying around (or aren't above some abandonware digging...) then Sarien will take care of you.

    One pisser is that it only has one save game slot but there is a workaround. The saved games can be copied and renamed elsewhere allowing arbitrarily many games to be saved albeit in a PITA fashion.

    Oh yeah, If you try this be sure to get the ID database file. It is a separate download for some reason and Sarien won't correctly run most games without it.

    Cheers!

  123. Other Rarities by stratjakt · · Score: 1

    Panzer Dragoon Saga (US Version) for Sega Saturn
    Steam Hearts (TurboDuo - Japanese)
    Arcade Card (TurboDuo)
    Kisado Adaptor (Not a game - a Jap/US adaptor for TurboDuo - pricey and rare as hell)
    Virtually any PC-FX game

    and some pseudo-rarities
    Mike Tyson's Punch-Out (quickly replaced by regular 'Punch Out' after Mike became a rapist and lunatic)
    A whole slew of unofficial bible games for NES by some company (i forget now) that found a way around the NES' boot method.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  124. TRS-80 games... by wowbagger · · Score: 2

    Defense command - it actually played sounds out the cassette port ("PREPARE TO DIE, HUMAN").

    SpaceWar - ran in 4K total memory.

    Paddle Pinball - Not only was this a fairly cool little game, but I have a fond memory of playing it with a couple of friends. Bit was ahead, Darren was behind, but catching up. In the heat of the game, Darren says:

    I'm coming up on your ass.

    Bit, for once not being a bastard, decides to let him have a second chance

    Excuse me?

    Darren repeats his mistake:

    I'm coming up on your ass!

    Bit reverted to normal form:

    I know, and it's getting sticky

    By some strange co-incidence, Darren lost the ball shortly thereafter....

    1. Re:TRS-80 games... by wass · · Score: 2
      Defense Command, I loved that game. Well, actually no, it was okay. I liked Eliminator and Sea Dragon (I think those were the names) more. But Defense Command was pretty cool.

      Yeah, I had the speaker hack attached to my computer, so I definitely got to hear them say the "Prepare to die, human!" part. Didn't it only do that when you shoot that giant spider-looking mother ship that drops those little people that you protect off?

      It's amazing, when you think about it. That sound is entirely 1-bit. Who the hell would think that a single-bit DAC could make any sounds remotly resembling speech?

      --

      make world, not war

    2. Re:TRS-80 games... by wowbagger · · Score: 2

      Remember - most modern CD players use a 1 bit DAC to play the sound - the trick is to get the sample rate up high enough that the quantization noise can be filtered out (i.e. a 1 bit DAC running at 2.048 Megasamples/sec with proper filtering is equal to or better than a 16 bit DAC running at 44.1 kilosamples/sec).

      But to think that a 1 MHz Z80 could drive it well enough....

  125. Cannot remember the company, but the game ... by TheLoneGundam · · Score: 1

    Clowns and Balloons. An Atari home computer game, a clown with a pin is bounced from a trampoline (trampolines?) to pop balloons. Simple and addictive. This would probably make a good phone game or even a GBA version would be fun.

    1. Re:Cannot remember the company, but the game ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Commodore cloned this for the VIC-20 in a cartridge called just "Clowns". There were two guys (stick figures), a see-saw thing, a couple of landing points, and three rows of balloons. You could get some interesting things going since the rows went different directions - two right, one left.

      I've tried to play it recently with VICE. The trouble is that it gets way too fast, even with the emulator set to 50% speed. Yet, I know I used to play it as a kid and could keep up with it just fine. Maybe it's just because I had paddles then and have to use a keyboard now. Or maybe I'm just old.

    2. Re:Cannot remember the company, but the game ... by phillymjs · · Score: 2

      This was available for the Atari 2600, and called "Circus Atari." The Sears-branded version was called simply "Circus." It was a paddle game, kind of fun.

      I'm sure there's a 2600 emulator floating around the net somewhere, and a ROM dump of every cart ever made for the Atari wouldn't make a dent in a Zip disk's capacity.

      ~Philly

  126. games with built-in editors by lightspawn · · Score: 2

    Excitebike was one of my favorite NES games, I wasted many an hour designing tracks and then slaghtering the computer players

    I remember spending a couple of hours with a friend on Mr. Robot (Atari 8-bit computers) to design a level that would use conveyer belts, magnets and trampolines to move Mr. Robot automatically around the screen collecting everything without human intervernsion.

    What other games had great editing abilities? I remember the pinball construction set (Remember the BBS area full of CGA pinball games, all alike?)

    1. Re:games with built-in editors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From the NES (ones that I remember and spent too many hours on): Wrecking Crew, Mach Rider, and there was this other one (I've forgotten the name, I think it was Dr something) where you use the d-pad to move and the buttons to control red and blue coloured moving walls

  127. Solomon's Key by Quill_28 · · Score: 2

    OK there was a NES game that I played called Solomon's Key or something like that.
    Did anyone else play this game, it turned out to be one of my favorites.

    Ever even hear of it?

    1. Re:Solomon's Key by EllF · · Score: 2

      I played the game, was never a big fan. You can find information on it here.

      --
      We who were living are now dying
      With a little patience
  128. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Doom made two huge improvements that created the FPS genre we know now, non-grid based maps, and the DeathMatch (and put that term into our vocabularies). Those two things really paved the way for the mainstream popularity of the hundreds of FPS games released since.

    -B

  129. Re:Huh? by Kymermosst · · Score: 4, Informative

    Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."

    Man! You had me laughing so hard I spit out of my nose. (Ewww!) I've got a copy of the original "Castle Wolfensten", written by Silas S. Warner, and published by MUSE. Your statement quoted above was a joke, right, or are you really that ignorant?

    I just booted it on my IIgs (it still works) and it says Copyright 1981. This is interesting, because all the screenshots and docs I find say Copyright 1983.

    Come a little closer so that I can smack you around with a clue-by-four.

    Oh, and look here if you want to see it for the Commodore 64: http://www.desktopgames.co.uk/wolf/castlewolfenste in.html

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
  130. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by cdipierr · · Score: 2

    Silpheed did indeed rock. But it was produced by Sierra and only had Adlib & Roland MT-32 support (albeit beautiful sound...used on the MT-32 demo tape even), but no...

    The game I'm remembering came out a while later and had better graphics and I *think* was a shareware game by one of the bigger players at the time.

  131. M.U.L.E. by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I've probably got the first Zork game for Apple][ computers, back before they called it Zork I. It was simply Zork.

    I've tried a couple times to buy M.U.L.E. with the original packaging, manual, disk, etc. on eBay and see it regularly surpass $35. When accounting for inflation it's still lost some value, but I can't imagine an E.T. VCS cartridge doing better, what with 10 million or so of them disposed of. ("Just when did Earth get that second moon?")

    I've still got a stack of Apple magazines from 80-81 and a couple promotional posters, one for Sneakers and the other, IIRC, for Beer Run. Rest assured, they're safely stowed.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  132. They missed a big one. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    "Ultima: Escape from Mount Drash"

    This is the biggest Ultima rarity in existance. A cartridge-game done by Sierra without Garriott's knowledge, using the Ultima name.

  133. Re:Huh? by Gudlyf · · Score: 2
    The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."

    Egads, I remember long nights in front of my Apple //e playing the original Castle Wolfenstein on my green monitor. *sigh*...the memories. I recall having to take out Nazi soldiers with your pistol (only weapon, IIRC) and steal their pass ("ANCE PASS!") to get around. If you weren't careful, they'd sound the alarm and all hell would break lose. I remember one night finally reaching Hitler and his crew sitting at a banquet table where I had to place a load of dynamite. I remember how triumphant I felt finally getting there.

    Incidently, a few years ago one of the more popular gaming web pages had a sound-byte trivia contest, and the sound byte of "HAIL!" from this very game was amoungst them.

    --
    Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
  134. Try These by TTMuskrat · · Score: 2, Informative

    Quite frankly I didn't see a game there that looked worth playing.

    Phantasy Star is a great rpg series by Sega. Phantasy Star 2, 3, and 4 were made for the Genesis (PS3 had you play characters and their children over three generations; PS4 was the largest game cartridge (96megs?) of its time and quite expensive when it came out - $99.99 anyone?). Phantasy Star Online was made for the Dreamcast. Phantasy Star Online 2 is out now for the Gamecube, and I think its also coming for the PS2 and Xbox as well. It was Sega's "answer" to the Final Fantasy Series and I always found it to be more entralling than the FFs.

    I have also heard nothing but great things about Radiant Silvergun. Never got the chance to try it out myself since I didn't have "connections" in Japan like many of those people on a BBS I frequented.

    --
    Support bacteria! It's the only culture most people seem to get.
    1. Re:Try These by wampus · · Score: 1

      And god help you if you want to get PSO for your gamecube... the modem and ethernet adapter are just about impossible to get right now because of Nintendo's underproduction of the damn things, and don't even get me started on the keyboard issue...

    2. Re:Try These by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

      Are you looking for one? Because perhaps it's a regional shortage, or they're selling disproportionatly by region. They've got them in every Wal-Mart and Gamestop around here. I see them every time I go to pick up a game. By the way, I'm located in Central New Jersey.

  135. Teddy Boy? by docbrown42 · · Score: 2

    My mother is still addicted to Teddy Boy on the Sega Genesis. One of the only card-cartridge games I ever saw...

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  136. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    None of those improvements were particularly innovative though - mere incremental improvements, easily predicted. Right angles get boring quickly, and playing against others is an idea as old as the game itself. I'd believe the same ideas were in simultaneous development already when Doom came out... if it hadn't been Doom, it would've been another game.

  137. Indiana jones last crusade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember back in the day playing a game called indiana jones and the last crusade or whatever, it was an old SCUMM engine game, like day of the tentacle, etc, I have looked far and wide for this game, and cannot find it anywhere, the only thing I could find was another game with the same name that was a sidescroller. Anyone know where I could get this game?

    1. Re:Indiana jones last crusade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I got it off Kazaa Lite. (I had owned it once but lost it many years ago)

      Also, do a search for the SCUMM engine in Google, there's a Windows port that works perfectly, all the way up to WinXP.

  138. Should have planned ahead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You should have told him you'd pay him $20 for it. He'd be happy, and you could be six grand richer! No one plans ahead...

    Quzah.

  139. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by LiteForce · · Score: 1

    Tyrian ?

    It was originally distributed by Epic Megagames (of Unreal Tournament fame) but I don't know who has the rights to it now.

    This is *definitely* one game which I would buy again if it was updated to run on Linux (or worst case, Win32).

    --
    "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wuntime ewwors!" - Elmer Fudd
  140. Heck I have an original Atari 2600 by Gudlyf · · Score: 2

    I was cleaning up my folks' basement earlier this year and found my Atari 2600, complete with joysticks and tons of carts. I have to wonder if this thing's worth anything out there.

    --
    Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
    1. Re:Heck I have an original Atari 2600 by phillymjs · · Score: 2

      Depends... if everything is in good shape you might be able to get a fair price on eBay for the whole thing, for someone who is just starting out collecting and wants the (presumably) large amount of commons you (likely) have.

      You might want to jot down the game titles and do a little Googling (be sure to check rec.games.video.classic) and see if you've got any hidden gems that are actually worth something by themselves.

      ~Philly

  141. Don't forget about Team Fortress 2. by dave-fu · · Score: 1

    It won all sorts of awards at the E3 in '99 and I totally can't get enough of it!!!
    I think it was totally awesome of Valve to build it with Prey technology because it really makes the most of my Glaze3D.

    --
    Easy does it!
    This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
  142. Heh by wantedman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I own a copy of "Street Cop" an A+ rare Nintendo game, that people don't believe existed. Its not listed at Funco Land, its rarely listed anywhere. Here's why, its a powerpad game, you're a fat cop, and you have to chase the bad guys, with Uban Champ graphics...

    Only like a few hundred were made, and my mother drove 3 hours to get it...

    I still love that game...

    1. Re:Heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Power Pad: that's the thing where you and a friend sit on the floor next to it, and then beat the hell out of it with your fists? I remember that...

      It was fun when you did the track and field game with that thing. You could jump OFF the pad's sensors, then jump back on for really long jumps, assuming you timed it right.

  143. Re:Huh? by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

    Wolfenstein was better than Wolfenstein3D in some regards.

    If you were out of ammo, you could sneak up behind a Nazi, hold him up, take his ammo, and then put a bullet in his head.

    Awesome.

  144. Arguments for opensource by AxelTorvalds · · Score: 2
    I don't know how many countless hours I lost to some games in the mid 1980s. I had these disks of shareware and freeware games, maybe 10 disks with about 20 games a piece on them. Willy the Worm, Janitor Joe, and several others. It would be awesome to see those games alive and well on Linux. I wouldn't be surprised if the source code was inaccessable anymore on some 5.25" disk that won't play on anything anymore, lost forever.

    Same thing with some of the early games. Star Con 2 went opensource recently and the original PC source is gone. Fortunately there is a workable base to use but I'm not sure that's the case with the early Sierra games and the early Epix games. Sierra is out of business, they aren't doing games any more. The legend will live on for ages. Too bad the games won't. There was some real craft to games back in the day, in retrospect I'm amazed that TestDrive one fit on a floppy disk.

    Look at what Doom and Quake did. The availability of that code changed the gaming world, the benchmark got raised alot and you can get Doom or quake on just about any platform around.

    It's not just games either. There have been times when I'd kill to have Bank Street Writer or Dr. Halo on Linux. I know there are better things today but damn if it wasn't simple and fast. Maybe I'm just rememeber the past in too good of terms but BSW fit on 2 disks (you only needed the first, it had a 60,000 word dictionary and all the basic editing and word processing you could use. Or 1-2-3...

  145. Dragon Warrior IV for NES? by seagar · · Score: 1

    I dunno, but I always remember hearing how rare of a find this Cart is. Now with E-bay, it seems to be fairly easy to get...but still, i'm sure there werent that many released in the US..plus, Dragon Warrior kicks ass!!!

    --

    home of the original cupholder
  146. Re:Huh? by Keith+Maniac · · Score: 1

    What do you mean only weapon?

    Don't forget the grenades! After killing the guards in a room, finding a large enough chest of grenades would allow you to blow out nearly all of the walls.

    Just don't shoot open the chest with grenades in it, or you get the icky white noise explosion sound. Dead, dead, dead.

    Grenades were also almost the only way to dust the SS guys (in their bulletproof vests).

  147. Re:Huh? by mgs1000 · · Score: 2

    Actually, your are describing "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", the second one in the series. Although both were awesome games. BTW, the original wolfenstein game had grenades, which were the only defense against the SS guards that wore bulletproof vests. (And the SS guys also chased you, while the regular Nazis just stayed in their room.

  148. Snail Maze by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any one remember the hidden easter egg game in the Master System. If you turned on the system with out any cartridge in it and pressed the correct keys you would play Snail Maze where you were a snail that had to find its way out of the maze! The Master System was pretty good system with both cartidge and card based media, and games like Phantasy Star and R-type.

  149. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 2

    Raptor. It was huge in the BBS world.

    http://www.3drealms.com/raptor/index.html

  150. Important one missing... by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

    Where's Doki Doki Panic, otherwise known as a re-packaged Super Mario Bros. 2 in the States?

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
  151. Oldest games I can recall by OrbNobz · · Score: 1

    On my TRS-80....

    Sargon (yeah!!)
    Lunar Lander (course I remember this on magnetic tape for that old TI calculator as well).
    Then there was a third I can't remember, think it was an adventure game on a few tapes. Help me out out, someone.

    - OrbNobz
    In Soviet Russia...The bombs set up Us!

  152. I nominate Tim Willits' Kick Attack Doom wad. . . by Sialagogue · · Score: 1

    It was given away free with a Mountain Dew knock-off called Kick around 1995. The only commercial Doom level ever, it has Mel Torme as a bad guy shouting "take it baby" as he attacks you, and it ends with this huge Alpine Spew can with double machine guns.

    The level design was actually done by Tim Willits (lead level designer for Doom III) before he even worked for id.

    Surreal, and yes, I have a copy. Anybody wants one can email me at dave@dma.net.

    --
    The only acceptable defense of scientific results is to say that they were the product of the Scientific Method.
  153. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

    Did you collect money and have to pay for repair and upgrades at the end of every level?

  154. Re:What's that Linux ICQ client that you all like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DUDE THE GUY ALREADY RESPONDED!

    GAIM!

    ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!ffs!

  155. Bible Games by Sho0tyz · · Score: 1

    When I was a kid my parents gave a couple of these to me for Christmas. As lame as they may sound, they were actually fun. One of them was a Noah's Ark game. You were sent to different levels to collect animals with a lot of obstacles in the way. The birds were tough! The other game had something to do with Moses, but I don't remember much else. They came on blue cartridges which were obviously not authorized by Nintendo. Are these actually worth anything? They're probably still down in my parents' basement somewhere.

    1. Re:Bible Games by stratjakt · · Score: 1

      Like any collectables, they're worth what someone will pay for 'em.

      I know they're rare - so you might get lucky on eBay. I found a couple at a funcoland once for 25 cents apiece, but then I find lots of shit that they have no idea what it's worth.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  156. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tyrian has within it one of the best [mini]games I've ever played. I can't remember what it's called, perhaps just 'Assault,' but it's like a version of Scorched Earth on steroids. Both this game and Raptor are indeed awesome, awesome games. Someone needs to take this concept by the reigns and make a rehash for the new era. Unfortunately, it seems as if these kinds of games only fly in Japan first (ala Raiden).

  157. Re:rarest game? anything besides halo on the xbox by jordanda · · Score: 1

    Splinter Cell.

  158. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  159. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by nojomofo · · Score: 2

    Does "Stellar 7" qualify as a FPS? Methinks it must, and was certainly around before 1991.

  160. hmmmm by tzimsce · · Score: 1

    Anyone else think that slashdot has slipped a couple of nothes in recent months? First, it's the repeat of articles, now it's the borrowing of other sites' data :/

  161. Nude Super Mario Brothers???!!!??? by burgburgburg · · Score: 2
    I'm not going to be able to sleep for a week just on the mental image of that and that's your favorite?

    It doesn't help that I'm commingling the video characters and Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Oh, that's bad.

  162. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by kwashiorkor · · Score: 2

    Hmm... I'm pretty sure that Midimaze for the Atari ST preceded Hovertank and Catacomb 3d. If not the first FPS it was probably the first networked multiplayer FPS (using the built in MIDI ports on the ST (hence the name)).

    --
    -- kwashiorkor --
    Leaps in Logic
    should not be confused with
    Jumping to Conclusions.
  163. Herzog Zwei by Xandar01 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Herzog Zwei is one of my favorite games of old times. I believe the real time strategy aspect of the game was the first of it's genre.

    One time (no not in band camp) I played a game head to head with a friend for four hours with neither of us doing much damage to each other's main base. Had to quit the game.

    --
    Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -FB
  164. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by Cat_Byte · · Score: 1

    Haha..yeah I helped grind it to a halt with my 9600 baud slip connection in college too. Oh wait...I was getting max throughput...nm.

    I remember finding Doom in college before I even knew what it was. My roommates & I played for weeks on twisted pair 1Mb NICs before the hype was made public. What a nice thing to find in alpha ;) (Back when version Xa meant alpha and Xb meant beta).

    --
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
  165. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by cdipierr · · Score: 2

    Raptor was nice, but that's a scroller (and it came out later I think)

    In this game, your ship was on the bottom of the screen and big gray "blast doors" would open to reveal the enemies upcoming. It was also purely set in space, no ground scenery.

  166. OT but... by Syriloth · · Score: 1

    Your Sig is incorrect. Socrates wasn't banished; he was made to drink hemlock tea. Hemlock, when ingested, causes the body to go into spasms so violent that eventually the spine snaps, killing the victim. He was actually broken out of jail (so the story goes) on the night before his execution, by his students. However, due to his rather absolutist view of Justice, he made them leave him there, and went ahead and drank the tea the next morning, which, of course, killed him. Talk about putting it on the line for your principles... Anyway, you probably won't even read this, but I thought you should know. After all, it's an interesting story.

    1. Re:OT but... by freeweed · · Score: 2

      he was made to drink hemlock tea. Hemlock, when ingested, causes the body to go into spasms so violent that eventually the spine snaps, killing the victim

      I can't think of a more thorough way of banishing an individual from society. Look it up, it's effectively what they considered it.

      --
      Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  167. that sale was at least a month ago.. by 512k · · Score: 1

    I didn't see any last time I was there..(they used to be out by the registers, for impulse buys)

    --
    ------ Work is so much easier when you don't
  168. Galactix. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember it well. It came preloaded(along with Duke Nukem 1, Commander Keen 4, a bunch of Moraffware, and about 20 other games) on my dad's first computer - a 486DX 33MHz.

    You flew with the mouse, fired shots that took out ships of varying sizes/speeds/power, used a grappling hook to grab powerups like missiles and bombs, and by the 5th level you got your rear handed to you by about a half dozen of the large ships. It started out with a news report about how the ACME Toothpick Co. had cut down the last tree in the rainforest.

    I don't remember it having any music(then again, that fancy VESA Bus-equipped 486 had a pro sound editing card in it, so it wouldn't work with a SB in it), but there were PC speaker sound effects. It had VGA(256 color! woohoo!) graphics.

    I'm pretty sure the name was Galactix... I'm sure it *wasn't* Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, or any of several other console game names.

    1. Re:Galactix. by LiteForce · · Score: 1

      Yep, 'ACME Toothpick Co.' was definitely Galactix.

      I even think this is the game that cdipierr is talking about - it even had the opening and closing 'doors' - if you can call them that!

      --
      "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wuntime ewwors!" - Elmer Fudd
    2. Re: Galactix. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Galactix was written by Mountain King Studios who also did Raptor (released as an Apogee game) and a few others.

    3. Re:Galactix. by cdipierr · · Score: 2

      You, sir, rock my world. That is indeed the game I was referring to, and trust me the music/effects rocked (for the time) if you had the right card. Thanks for all the help.

  169. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by cdipierr · · Score: 2

    Nope, but looks interesting. Same idea, but there were no ground targets, etc.

  170. don't forget the classic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MMORPG Middle Earth

  171. Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudity? by sludg-o · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ok, so it was only briefly, but if you finished Metroid quickly enough, the dude would strip and turn into a chick. I'm pretty sure I saw some nipples in the process too.

    Want to see it yourself? Enter "justin bailey" in passcode area (use 12 spaces to fill in the last 12 spaces) and you will start in very good shape. Just get the freeze gun, the power tank (the one closest to the start of the game) and go kill Mother Brain.

  172. I think that was my favorite game ever by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Funny

    I loved a lot of things about that game, how you'd have to randomly discover what controls would do for you in certain situations - like kicking a gaurd in "a most effective spot" to put it politley, or even better when you are trapped inside of the vehicle in the arena! Few moments in gaming have brought me such glee as that, though Half-Life came pretty close. I also loved the ending, possibly the best ending I've ever experienced in a game.

    I played it on an Atari ST though, not a PC... and it was still called "Another World" at that point as I remember.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  173. Noah's Arc 3-D by mrbrown1602 · · Score: 1

    Was anybody else surprised not to see the SNES game Noah's Arc 3-D on the list?

  174. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by Dudio · · Score: 1

    Major Stryker?

  175. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by MrDolby · · Score: 1

    You do understand that supply and demand are a big factor on prices.

    For all the games you listed. There is a large enough supply and small enough demand to keep the prices low on those items.

  176. NES games with nudity by An+Ominous+Cow+Erred · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There were actually a fair number of games for the Famicom (the real name of the NES before the name was changed for the American market) in Japan that had nudity -- and even sex. The trick was that they were all for the Famicom Disk System, the floppy disk add-on, that wasn't released in the States.

    These games were sold without Nintendo's approval, but they are full, original games, not simple ROM hacks with changed graphics.

    If you do some searching (searching in Japanese helps :-) you can find quite a few adult games for the FDS for download.

    Anyway the article's list seems kind of U.S.-centric... It does list a couple of Japanese games, but there are in fact much harder games to find (that constitute a much greater prize) than those. ^_^ Well, aside from Phantasy Star for the Megadrive, which really IS rather hard to find.

    Quite a few ArcadeCD (as opposed to SuperCD) PCEngine games are rather rare. The Arcade Card games were among the best ports of many arcade games, (very notably among them, the best version of Strider).

    No matter what the origin though, rare games are expensive. ^_^ It's fun to find all the great hard-to-find classics (like Suchie Pai Remix for the Saturn, which undid the censorship of the original Suchie Pai port -- Suchie Pai Special, but was produced in far smaller numbers).

    1. Re:NES games with nudity by transient · · Score: 1
      Phantasy Star for the Megadrive

      Eh? Are you saying they re-released the original Phantasy Star for the Megadrive? Or are you talking about the Sega Master System? Just curious -- Phantasy Star was my introduction to RPGs and I still absolutely love it. If there's a Megadrive/Genesis version of the original, I will track it down. ;-)

      --

      irb(main):001:0>
    2. Re:NES games with nudity by An+Ominous+Cow+Erred · · Score: 2
      Well, my response here is a bit late, but perhaps you'll see it if you check your posts on your info page like I do. ^^;;


      Anyway, yes, there is a Phantasy Star for the Megadrive -- it's even mentioned in the article this story links to. It's hard to find, and it was only released in Japanese. It's currently the best version of Phantasy Star available. However there are remakes of the original Phantasy Star games under development now for the PS1/PS2, and they are looking much nicer! (Not to be confused with the recent GBA versions, which are straight ports).


      Don't complain to me about not knowing Japanese. :-) I consider learning Japanese to be a requirement for all fans of console games, especially RPGs. Japan is the holy land for console RPGs and you need to learn it just like Jewish people should learn Hebrew. :-)

  177. Re:Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudit by JimRay · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought the "dude" in Metroid was always assumed to be a woman?

    Besides, most guys I know have nipples, too.

    --
    My other computer is your Windows box
  178. Lord of the Balrogs,.. C64 by AbRASiON · · Score: 0

    Damn do I miss that game.........

    Can't be found on any freeware archives either :(

  179. Infogrames is the publisher for MOO3 now. by MrDolby · · Score: 1

    Infogrames got the rights to Hasbro's video game thing/division/subsidiary/whatever.

  180. Attack Of The Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens by meehawl · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think the coolest, rarest game I ever saw an advert for was Attack Of The Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens From Mars (starring Zippo the Dog) for the old Spectrum (Timex-Sinclair 1000). The vapourware advert cassette cover art was amazing -- anyone who somehow still has a copy please scan it!

    --

    Da Blog
  181. Re:Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudit by tidge · · Score: 1

    samus IS a chick

  182. I have #2! Prototype of Poerlords... by TheGreenGoogler · · Score: 2

    My uncle used to work for Magnovox, and somehow got a prototype of this game for me... wonder what it is worth/how much it would fetch on the open market... this article can't hurt the situation! hehe

  183. Help me remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    One of my favorite console games was a boat/water based action game, where you would drive your boat around, shoot things & hit ramps. Does anybody remember what this one is called? I've searched the whole net over looking for it...

    1. Re:Help me remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would it happen to be Cobra Triangle on NES? It's not only fairly rare, it's also by a company called Rare.

  184. Re:Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudit by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Samus Aran is a chick.

    There were no nipples.

    JUSTIN BAILEY
    ------ ------

    Is the code you are refering to. Caps are required, as are the dashes.

    Alternatively, this code can be used.

    y19ZVz YMRU83
    WB--00 0000Zg

    It starts one off in BRINSTAR with Ice Beam and leaves the Energy Tank three sections to the right and hidden in the ceiling just before the large wall that can only be passed using Maru Mari. Getting this tank will refill Samus's energy allowing the player go to straight up in Brinstar to Tourin and defeat Mother Brain. (The Zeebetites are already destroyed).

    --

    "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

    Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
  185. Re:Bubble Bath Babes, the only NES game with nudit by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 2

    I hate to reply to myself -- but I should clear one bit up...

    Samus Aran --IS-- a Chick, as I said.

    Defeating the game once in a set amount of time will have her remove her power suit.
    Defeating it again without the power suit will end the game with her in a Bikini.

    Using the codes provided will allow one to play her without the Power Suit and start the game with enough time remaining for the player to get the final energy tank, trek up to mother-brain, and still see the Bikini ending.

    There are no nipples.

    --

    "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

    Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
  186. as much fun as correcting you would be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone else already did. So I'll just say that Castlevania (I played it on NES) was a ruling series of games. I can't remember if I ever played the original or not, but this was a little while ago (1988-ish?).

  187. Vectrex by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 2

    They didn't even mention the vectrex - best console of all time! I have one and almost all the carts, and the light pen and 3d imager. Them puppies bring in decent $$ if you sell them.

    --
    This space available.
  188. Video game pr0n by t0rnt0pieces · · Score: 1

    Speaking of video game pr0n, anyone remember Sex Games for Commodore 64? I have fond memories of that as a child. I may still have the disk. Hmm, what could that be worth...

    --
    Karma: Excellent (In Soviet Russia, karma pimps YOU)
  189. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by phillymjs · · Score: 2

    There was nothing more fun than smacking the computer players into an oil patch or off the track.

    Spoken like someone who's never played the later games in the Road Rash series (on Genesis, or even better, 3DO). Don't get me wrong, I liked Excitebike a lot at one time-- but taking a pipe, chain, or nunchucks to the head of one of your fellow riders, or kicking him/her into the path of an oncoming car, is much more enjoyable. :-)

    ~Philly

  190. you neddily know it neighbourino by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Remember when Sierra came out with that mouse interface around King's Quest V? At that point I officially declared that Sierra was garbage, and they only turned out to prove me right.

    In my opinion, King's Quest III is the greatest game of all time. Hero's Quest (as a side note, when they were forced to rename it to "Quest for Glory", I also had the impression things were going downhill) was also pretty good.

    The Space Quests and Police Quests were okay I guess, but I was more of a D&D geek for sure.

  191. boring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    *YAWN*

    oh boy, they sure had some hard to find hot games in their top ten list, must've taken the author about half an hour to put that article together!

  192. Amiga's F/A-18 Interceptor by funkdancer · · Score: 1

    This is most likely the game I have the fondest memories of. Reviews found here (no pics) and here (German, but with pics). The last one sums it up nicely: "Absolute Kult-Flugsimulation, leider mit recht wenig Missionen [sadly with too few missions]". An absolute classic, that one, indeed.

    --
    ISO certified == THX certified
  193. Truly rare PC games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I used to have an Atari ST. There were some great games for it; anyone remember ST Raiders? It was kinda like the great, great, great grandaddy of descent (except y'know.... GOOD). other favourites included International Karate (the great grandaddy of Street Fighter, back when games had discipline!) and Ninja Mission. Star Wars was also pretty neat, tho it had harsh copy protection that vaped the disk if you so much as looked at it cross-eyed. Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of packaging for these games as I pirated most of 'em from a buddy and the ones i did own (uh... ST Raiders?) have long since been overcome by random clutter and lost to the sanitary world.

    hm. i see now i also don't have a working power supply for my ST. god damn external power supplies. who the fsck puts the computer in the KEYBOARD, anyway? not the soviet russians, i tell you what. *waits for it*

  194. Jumpman by JMZero · · Score: 2

    I surely hope you played the original Jumpman (try it on a C64 emulator for best experience), to which Jumpman Jr. was sort of a less-inspired sequel. Amazing game.

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...
  195. Demon's Forge! by BTWR · · Score: 2

    Anyone remember this game??? I think it was on the Apple ][e, and it rocked! I used to love playing it, esp the part where if you cursed it brought you to a mirrored-room that said "You shouldn't've said that - there are mirrors all around!"

  196. Re:Xenon (2) ? by z3ngine · · Score: 1

    It sounds like Xenon2 (I guess if I had Xenon2 then there is a Xenon1). Levels began with sliding bay doors and levels would end with a shop where you could buy ridiculously large weapons for your ship going into the next level. "Boss" creatures included big space snails and octapi etc.. Soundtrack was by "Bomb the Bass" and was great for getting pumped during levels. I have urges to play it again but its somewhere in amongst all the 5.25's. z3ngine

    --


    I therefore think I am.
  197. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    kiloblaster?(or shooter or whatever the name was, KILO however was in the name, had some freaky drumm menu or something to play some sounds too.)
    by epic megames..

    just suggesting because didn't see you got the right answer yet... and kiloblaster(fighter? i'm having doubts of the second word in the name ;)) didn't have any scrolling if i can remember right..

    never digged it too much.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  198. Earthbound Zero by Natestradamus · · Score: 1

    So rare it was never released. The game was finished, but the NES was at its end, so they scrapped it and remade it for the SNES. Somebody got hold of the rom, ripped it, and now you can play it on an emulator.

    --
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke
  199. does anyone remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Intellevision? I especially loved B-17 Bomber, Bomb Squad, and Astrosmash. I never hear about this console. Does anyone still play it?

  200. Out of this World by BTWR · · Score: 2

    Holy crap that game ruled! It had a sequel - didn't it?

    1. Re:Out of this World by Bigboote66 · · Score: 1
      It had a sequel - didn't it?
      Not exactly. The developer (Delphine) later made a somewhat similar game called Flashback, but it didn't really have the same charm. It didn't have the same characters or story, but it had a similar format (the screen based side non-scroller genre, I guess). It wasn't a bad game, but it was more like Prince of Persia than OOTW.

      -BbT
    2. Re:Out of this World by BTWR · · Score: 2

      Flashback

      Yup. That was it. It was out for the genesis. And OOTW was on the SNES...

    3. Re:Out of this World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the OOTW sequel was called Heart of the Alien for the Sega CD. A bit later than the others, but it was the sequel. It had OOTW on the same CD, I believe. Delphine also did Flashback, but it wasn't really a sequel, more of an evolution. And Flashback also has a sequel, Fade to Black for the PC (And Playstation also, I think). Still have most of those, very good stuff.

    4. Re:Out of this World by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      And they both started life on the old pc :) God, great games those; excelent graphics, mocap better than Prince of Persia, and (still somewhat a rarity for games) a great, compelling story...for both games.

      Damn, I'm getting misty eyed now :)

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
  201. A good conversation piece, but... by badasscat · · Score: 1

    These lists are never accurate at all in terms of rarity, and so much of what constitutes the term "collectible" is subjective. Take Radiant Silvergun, for instance - is a game so easily available really all that rare? It may be desirable, but it's hardly a rare game. Contrast that with Chase the Chuckwagon, which I've seen maybe once in the entire time I've been checking out Ebay (and it sold for around $500, if I recall), and you see the obvious difference.

    A lot of games are rarer than any of those on this list, but nobody wants them because either a) there's no story behind the game (this is why people want Chase the Chuckwagon), b) the game sucks, or c) both. On the other hand, a lot of games are a lot more desirable to most people than any of these, but they're quite common. When coming up with a list like this, you're obviously trying to find the balance of games that are ultra-desirable and at least fairly rare - but then I don't think the intro of this list (where the rarity alone is hyped) is all that descriptive of what the list really represents.

    If I sound overly analytical, it's because I am one of these collectors myself. When deciding how much is a fair price for a game you really, really want that you know you'll probably never see again, these are the kinds of questions you mull over.

    As far as PC games go... no way Zork, Wolfenstein, Leisure Suit Larry or any number of other games I've seen mentioned here are in the same league as a game like Chase the Chuckwagon in terms of rarity. These games were on regular store shelves for years and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people bought them. All of my friends had them, and I still have them. They're obviously somewhat rarer *now* than they were at the time - but think about it. Chase the Chuckwagon was rare when it was produced (and by "rare" I mean you could not ever walk into a store and buy it, you could not and cannot find it at flea markets or garage sales, you cannot find it online). Just imagine how rare it is now 20 years later.

    Regardless, "rare" PC games are generally not nearly as collectible as console games because they're not as much of a commodity. I've never personally seen anyone pay $500 or even $200 for a rare PC game, although it's possible someone has at some point.

  202. Re:Extension by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1
    Star Fox (Not the regular cart but the one distributed with the 15 minute timer.)


    Huh? What's this about a timer?
    --
    I'd rather be lucky than good.
  203. Zero Wing! by moosesocks · · Score: 2

    All your collectibles are belong to zero wing!

    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  204. For what it's worth, I own Nekketsu Street Basket. by Rahga · · Score: 2

    And there's the auction I won it in. I'm not sure where it ranks with some of those, but this is "rarest" games in the article, not "most valuable"... This one is a mix... one of the most valuable famicom games, one of the rarest official famicom games, and definitely one of the best. It had a production run that was cut short by the death of the 8 bit systems and possibly money trouble at technos. Cost me a bit over $100 (cart only) to get it in, and even more to ship, but it was definitely worth it.

    As far as value goes, in the Famicom department, it is beat out by the gold Punch-Out cart, a few RPGs, Metal Slader Glory, handful of others.

    As far as some of those "rare" non-Nintendo-authorized games... my opinion is that all of them sucked, and I don't care how rare they are, I wouldn't want to play or own them.

    BTW, the Nekketsu games are the same line that "River City Ransom" and "Super Dodge Ball" came from. This was the last NES Nekketsu game.

    Here's a javascript thingy I made for the passwords in the game. Also, check my site for Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu info, and stuff you can use to rewire your Four Score to make it Famicom compatible ;) ...

  205. Why the 3 adult NES games are so rare. by bzurcher · · Score: 0

    The 3 US games with nudity(Bubble Bath Babes, Hot Slots, and Peek-a-Boo Poker) were made by a company called Panesian. The reason there were VERY few US released games with adult content is that the US release nintendo was designed so the games had to have a special "authorization" chip built into them to be played. Nintendo would approve the games before giving the companies the use of the chips to use in the games, hence the infamous Nintendo Seal of Quality. Very few companies could figure out a way to get around the authorization chip, but panesian and Color Dreams/Wisdom Tree did. Panesian quit producing games after they were threated with a lawsuit from Nintendo of America, causing very few of these games to be made. Color Dreams/Wisdom Tree fought nintendo in court, and won, therefore allowing them to continue making unauthorized NES games.

    --
    "But the smell-o-scope is brilliant I tell you! Just think of the astronomical odors you'll smell thanks to me!
  206. Populous by ender-iii · · Score: 1
    --
    ender-iii
  207. pacman by Uniball · · Score: 1

    The old round pal ;)

  208. Thor Aackerlund!!! by BTWR · · Score: 2

    I remember that guy! Wow! I even remember him advertising those non-NES-sanctioned games! I remember wondering why the hell he'd endorse those crappy games. Oh well...

  209. One of the most infamous video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...was Custer's Revenge. I remember watching a discussion on Donahue about that game.

  210. Whee.... I gotta reply.... by Rahga · · Score: 2

    First of all, "Spot" was quite a nice version of Attaxx for the NES. If you are talking about the other 7-up games, though, I'm with ya! :)

    On Excitebike, though... we got hosed. I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a battery feature save, because the Famicom Disk System version is almost completely different. "Vs. Excitebike" (the name is only an homage to Vs. unisystem, I'm not talking about an arcade rom) featured a 2 player mode and the ability to save up to, if I recall, 10 tracks, each one with thier own spot on the disk.

  211. Megalomania by PascalJedi · · Score: 1

    This was the greatest game ever. Father of all RPG's to come, but alas its downfall is the stupid manual that came with it. It held the passwords to enter the game, and once it is gone the game is worthless.

  212. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For those of you who went to the address given by the parent, and are now wondering what that sampled nazi's saying, here's what it is to (my) German ears:
    'lammschirähne' (meaningless)
    I think it's meant to be:
    'Alarmsirene' (alarm siren)

    I had to listen to it a few times to figure it out, but now I'm quite confident. It's not really high fidelity (as if you thought it was).

  213. Why Collectible? by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Games are software.
    Software is bits.
    Bits are infinitely copyable.

    Why is any game rare? If it is rare, it must mean few people are copying it. If few people are copying it, it must mean it's not popular. If it's not popular, chances are better than fair that it sucks.

    I could give a ratfuck about the original packaging.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
    1. Re:Why Collectible? by oGMo · · Score: 3
      Why is any game rare? If it is rare, it must mean few people are copying it. If few people are copying it, it must mean it's not popular. If it's not popular, chances are better than fair that it sucks.

      This isn't necessarily the case. While (as your next statement attests to) you may not care about original packaging, some do.

      There are games that are quite good that are quite difficult to find even copies of. Some of these are due to the fact there is a small release, and a great game goes unnoticed, whether it's from a small no-name publisher and it's not hyped by the media, or what. It happens.

      Also, there is bit decay. The attitude that digital media and information does not die is a wrong one. The copy on that floppy disk you made 5 years ago you just haven't played in awhile may now be corrupt. That dye on that CDR you burned may have faded. You might have forgotten about when your hard disk crashed. (And worse, you might have lost access keys or the original hardware to play it.)

      All in all, this makes actually collecting games pretty fun. It's mostly affordable (their top game listed is $6500, which compared to collecting antiques or something is nothing), and finding an original copy of a game, with manuals and packaging, can provide quite a challenge.

      Heck, there are games I have a hard time finding that are only a few years old: Dragon Warrior VII (PSX) and Suikoden 2 (PSX) you have to hunt for. Stores don't have them new or used.

      Which brings us to the third possibility: games made in limited run that people like and aren't willing to get rid of.

      You might be able to find copies of these someplace, but that's not exactly legal nor is it as much fun. Although, at some point it becomes more important to preserve the game than worrying about legality or packaging.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    2. Re:Why Collectible? by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 2
      There are games that are quite good that are quite difficult to find even copies of. Some of these are due to the fact there is a small release, and a great game goes unnoticed, whether it's from a small no-name publisher and it's not hyped by the media, or what. It happens.


      I know this very well; some of my favorite games are ones that never seemed to be very popular. That's why I said "chances are better than fair" -- that wasn't sarcasm, I really do think that there are a decent number of good games that never got a chance in the market due to bad positioning, bad timing, or fickle audiences who only eat what they've gotten used to being spoon fed.

      As for bit rot, there's good backup schemes and hardware emulation. There's some specialty hardware you can't duplicate easily, but most games don't require it. Even if your backups fail, the bits very likely still exist somewhere on the internet where you can download them for free, if illegally.
      --
      You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  214. Re: Metroid Endings by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    IIRC,

    If you beat Metroid in one life (and maybe under some number of minutes?) you'd get the good ending with the words M. Hadua or something similar (it's been awhile).

    Anyone else remember this?

  215. Radiant Silvergun by Spacelem · · Score: 1

    Radiant Silvergun may be one of the rarest games out there, but it sure as hell deserves to be bought. My flatmates (one of whom works in a videogames shop) managed to import a copy from America for £150, and for quite some time it became the most played game in our flat.

    It's made by Treasure, who are responsible for other amazing games such Bangio (which feature all the missiles) and Ikaruga (essentially a much easier sequel to RS), as well as Sin & Punishment, Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers etc. Truly one of the greatest developers out there.

    BTW, we are still no way near to completing RS - it's probably the most unfair game in existence, but the satisfaction of completing a level without dying rivals that completing most games. Well worth seeking out.

  216. Re:Huh? by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

    So which one was Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, for the apple? I can still hear the digitised speech, crackling away :)

    --
    -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
  217. Re: JEEZ (admit you're wrong already) by pjrc · · Score: 2
    Okay, god, jeez, stop jumping all over me. SORRRRRRRY.

    Ok, you're "sorrrrrrry" (but in all caps). Doesn't sound so apologetic, does it? You've got lots of reasons why you're not actually wrong, despite clearly being wrong factually.

    I had no idea that this many Slashdot readers were so old. :P

    Reason #1: Those who pointed out your mistake are "old".

    After looking at some of those links though, it looks like those first two games were not id Software games? So why should they be considered "official" Wolfenstein games then?

    Reason #2: The original game was made by Br0derbund, and since you don't really believe you're wrong (despite clear factual evidence), you'll now attempt to substitute the word "official" for "original". Yes, it's a desparate attempt, as the parent posts spoke of "original", but maybe, just maybe you can avoid being wrong.

    I guess I'll always consider the first one to be Wolf 3D, since it's from id Software and is the one I played as a little kid.

    Reason #3: It doesn't matter what the facts really are. It doesn't matter that the plain, undeniable truth might be. Because you played id's 3D version as a "little kid", you'll always consider it the first one. Truth and undisputable facts be damned.

    But there are apparently two that are older, whether they are "real" Wolfenstein games depends on your point of view I guess!

    Reason #4: If all else failes, as in reason #2, attempt to re-write history, this time subsitution the word "real" for "original".

    As you said in the beginning "stop jumping all over me"... perhaps you should step back and look at yourself. I'm "jumping all over" you, not because you were wrong, but because even after being proven wrong, you post this crap claiming that even though you are factually wrong, it's somehow not so wrong, and you're "sorrrrrrry", yet not actually in the least bit sorry.

    Since you're too young to remember 8-bit computers, you're probably also too young to have watched the old television sitcom "Happy Days". Briefly, "Fonzie" was one of the main characters who was ultra "cool". He road a bike, had girls hanging all over him, etc. In one famous episode, Fonzie was wrong about something, and he couldn't admit it. Every time he tried to, he'd say "I was wr, wr, wrrr" and couldn't say the word "wrong". It was quite humorous. Here's a page with a brief summary in the first paragraph, and then transitions onto a very christian-oriented sermon, which could do you some good.

    Next time, when you respond, rather than telling people to get off your back, and then make a feable attempt to deny that you could have been wrong, try something like this:

    What you SHOULD have posted

    It looks like I spoke too soon. Kymermosst was right that there was a 2-D Wolfenstein game in the 80's, long before I played when I played id's 3D game, thinking it was the original.

    I didn't realize people would react so strongly. I'm sorry I provoked such a reaction with the words "Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about", when in fact I was the one who didn't know what he was talking about.

    This probably won't be the last time I'm wrong about something, but I'll try to make it the last time I fly off the handle like that without even investigating the facts first.

    Had you posted something along those line, many people including me would not be "jumping all over" you. I hope you can learn to understand this... if not today, perhaps when you grow older and have an opportunity to mature a bit.

  218. Tengen's Tetris for NES by Vegan+Pagan · · Score: 2

    I'm surprised this article doesn't mention Tengen's Tetris.

    This game represents the legal battles Nintendo fought with Atari, and it's better than Nintendo's version. "Game Over" by David Scheff explains it in depth, but basically, Atari thought they got the rights to make Tetris for the NES, but Nintendo actually got it, so although Atari's version (published under the Tengen label) was superior (various two player modes, better difficulty curve), Nintendo's version was legal. Before the court decision, Atari managed to sell about 100,000 copies. Afterwards, they had to recall the other several hundred thousand and destroy them.

    About the same time, Nintendo and Atari were also fighting over the legality of the NES's "lockout chip", which let Nintendo create artificial regions, fee and censor 3rd parties. Atari stole Nintendo's "10NES" (lockout chip) patent from the patent office and made their own unlicensed NES games that circumvented it. Nintendo sued and I believe won, not because Atari was making unlicensed games but because they stole a patent to do it. Other companies, such as Camerica and Color Dreams made games with reverse engineered lockout disablers.

  219. Cat got your tongue? (something important seems... by lsd4all · · Score: 1

    Most of the posts I see for fav games are for Mario Bros 99999 & Shooting Guy in 3-D: the Extreme Bloody version.

    I remember truly addicting games like Tetris (how many of you had nightmares about this?), Neuromancer for the C64 and Herzog Zwei for Sega Genesis (the best two person wargame EVER on 16-bit)

  220. Sorry... by shepd · · Score: 2

    There's far more Nintendo games with nudity than that. First thing that comes to mind is a nudity hack for SMB.

    I haven't even gotten started, though. Here's more.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  221. Re:gator by Toasty16 · · Score: 1
    Funny, I use Netcaptor and I never get pop ups on ANY website. So I wouldn't know which websites want to annoy me with popups. And popunders are trivial; they open in a tab next to the currently open webpage, and i just middle mouse-click the tab to close it without even looking at the ad.

    But to answer your question, you probably should ask daddy before installing any software on his computer.

  222. Leisure Suit Larry 4 by Tellarin · · Score: 1


    of course the rarest PC game is "Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies" or "Leisure Suit Larry
    4: The Case of the Missing Floppies"

    it's so rare that no one know the real name
    not even Al Lowe (Larry games creator) :-)

    some links about it:
    http://www.allowe.com/L-4.htm
    http://www.mob ygames.com/game/trivia/gameId,408/
    http://members .aol.com/craizie11/larry/four.htm
    http://www.revi ewgames.com/pageIndex.htm?Reviews/L eisure_Suit_Larry_4/index.htm&0
    http://www.lysato r.liu.se/adventure/Sierra_On-Line ,_Inc/Larry.html

  223. and here i thought.... by tq_at_sju · · Score: 1

    I was the only one with 10-yard fight, goes to show you thousands of other people got ripped off too...

    --
    http://www.vanillaafro.com - take me seriously and I will shoot you
  224. SMAX by xX_sticky_Xx · · Score: 2

    Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire, the Alpha Centauri expansion pack is exceedingly rare and it's only 3 or so years old. I have never played it but only because I can't get my hands on a copy of it. Ebay always comes up dry and local video game stores never have used copies of it. I don't know why there were so few copies made, but demand for the game still far outstrips supply.

    --

    ---

    I didn't want to leave this space blank.
  225. Favorite BBS Text Games! by 8bahl · · Score: 1

    Telearena - One of the greatest MBBS online D&D style RPG!

    Trade Wars! - Who could forget this timeless classic. Crawl through the universe, setup your world(s), ships and all.

    Legend Of The Red Dragon (LORD) - Another D&D style RPG. Oldie but goodie!

    1. Re:Favorite BBS Text Games! by benzapp · · Score: 2

      Barney Splat! all the way. That was the only door game I had on my system. That game fucking ruled.

      --
      I don't read or respond to AC posts
    2. Re:Favorite BBS Text Games! by slasher_14 · · Score: 1

      BRE was also another good game.

      Anyone remember LORD2, it was a game in ANSI colour, and you controlled a little smilie face character, and you could walk around the different maps, talk to people, etc.

      Then you had all the Adult Games, Bordello, Studs, Studdettes (I think that was the female version). Funny as hell those games now that I think about it.

      A friend of mine who ran a BBS also wrote his own games, including a LORD style game called War Of The Sysops (WOTS). You had to get money (going out and fighting monsters), upgrading your PC (and BBS), upgrading your modem, selling registrations on your BBS, etc. Then you could organise a hack on one of the other Sysops BBS and bring it down. Quite fun.

  226. The Last Dreamcast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you look around, there are interviews with the head of Sega America that indicate the last dreamcast shipped in North America had something special about it... something "more valuble than gold" ( in response to the reporters suggestion of a solid gold dreamcast! ).

    This is killing me. What the hell was it? Did anyone ever find it, or is it still sitting on a shelf somewhere?

    B.

  227. Re:Does anyone remember an old PC 2D space shooter by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

    You have to be talking about Xenon...and probably Xenon 2, at that. It scrolled vertically, and had a shop where you could buy upgrades. A truly great shmup :)

    Bitmap brothers, I beleive. They also did the great Speedball 2 (they seem to be good at sequals) and are working on Speedball Arena...which I'm really looking forward to, but there hasn't been any news on it for a year or so.

    --
    -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
  228. Re:Extension by Mupp252 · · Score: 2, Informative

    There was this special promotion. I believe it was called "The Star Fox Weekend" where Nintendo set up booths all over the US to see if gamers could beat Star Fox in 15 minutes. After this contest was over the game carts, with the special timers, were available to Nintendo Power subscribers for purchase. I, sadly, was unable to get my hands on one.

    Same concept as the number 1 cart in this article, just different platform and a little more recent.

  229. E.T. is not impossible to finish by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 2

    I beat E.T. plenty of times. It's not impossible.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  230. How about The Bards Tale by meatplow · · Score: 1

    Remember The Bards Tale. For my Apple IIc.

    I spent hours and hours resaving the game and doubling all my gold. (and getting lost in the sewers.)

    Meatplow

  231. And what about... by TitusC3v5 · · Score: 1

    ...the original System Shock? It was far ahead of it's time, both technologically and as far as fun/fear factor. Just giving credit where credit is due.

    --
    And the masses cried out, "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0!"
  232. Re:Sierra games! - Arthur C. Clarke's RAMA by teamhasnoi · · Score: 2
    Hard game - Still haven't finished it. It makes you learn Binary and Octal!! (For a musician who's only messed with Basic, that's pretty rough.) I got through that part and was hollering...w000t!

    Got the save games around somewhere...

  233. Vintage Games by mabu · · Score: 1

    Original version of Choplifter for Apple.

    SNES game "Parodious" - an excellent shooter that was banned in the United States because executives felt it was politically-incorrect (pilot your star ship between the legs of a Las Vegas showgirl in one of the scenes). In another scene, the boss is a red, white and blue Eagle that when defeated, loses it's feathers and crashes to the ground. (PS: Game is available via MAME tho)

    Original Space Wars Arcade cabinet

  234. Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash Vic20 game by dayeight · · Score: 2

    http://home.hiwaay.net/~rgregg/ultima/collectibles /Title_Other.html#MtDrash

    http://members.aol.com/barbgame/Drash/drash.html

    May not be a good game, but it took years for the fairly massive ultima community to find one, and Sierra even released it!

  235. Informative? by TheFrood · · Score: 2

    No, this post is (+5, Funny)

    TheFrood

    --
    If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
  236. MOD PARENT UP by TheFrood · · Score: 2

    The Underdogs is an indispensible resource for those who enjoy retro PC gaming. Highly recommended.

    --
    If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
  237. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by subsolar2 · · Score: 2

    'Chase the Chuckwagon?' WTF I would have thrown that game away with other favorites like 'Avoid the Noid' and '7-up Spot'. Seriously...

    I actually liked the 7-up Spot game, but I'm a bit weird, and wish they would make a 3D version.
  238. The Material World by Mulletproof · · Score: 2

    You're right, the data itself can be copied indefinitely, but that has no bearing on its rarity, since most of these games have distinct physical aspects that can't be duplicated, or at least not quite so easily. Sure, you can MAME Pitfall all day long, but you'll never have the physical cartrige, box or manual that came with it. You got that CD-R of Metal Gear Orta, but you don't have the gold etched art CDROM it was original pressed to. It's not the data itself that determines rarity or how much/little it's played. It's the stuff you can't duplicate. You could give a ratfuck about the original packaging, but that's what makes it unique from the thousands of ROMs being played. For everybody else, it's just nostalgia.

    --
    You need a FREE iPod Nano
  239. Rare Atari 2600 game found by buckhead_buddy · · Score: 1

    I was digging in a landfill in New Mexico and came across what I think was a prototype for a game called ELECTION TIME for the Atari 2600.

    You play a hobbling little politician (who seems remarkably similar to Strom Thurmond). You wander around an unnamed town (though since everything is Green, I call it Greenville) and you collect money and "political favors".

    Of course as time goes by, people become disenchanted with you. You can increase your popularity by spending the money you collect.

    To help you in your quest is a young boy named Chad. He helps you in a few ways. If you collect nine donations you can give these to Chad and he will arrange a political favor for you. If your popularity ever falls to zero, Chad will come to your help and "merge" with you. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a sexual merging or something like a photo-op. Chad will come and help you out three times before you have to retire. Chad is apparently an opium addict though, and if you find a flower and "revive" it Chad will come to your aid an extra time.

    Working against you is an election official in a trenchcoat. If he touches you, he'll take one of your "political favors" that you've collected. Another fellow is apparently a doctor or judge of some sort. He's wearing a white robe and tries to take you back to do your real work in the capitol. You want to avoid him at all costs so you can keep collecting money and favors.

    When you get three political favors you want to "call them in" which will ensure you get re-elected. What isn't obvious though is that the real point of the game is to collect money. Due to Chad's help you will ALWAYS win re-election if you get to the end of the round. Notice that Chad keeps going into the schoolhouse (and probably rigging the vote!)

    Of course I'm only assumig that the name of the cartridge is "ELECTION TIME". The cartridge itself just has the initials E.T. on it. But the picture on the opening screen of the main character is a splitting image of Strom Thurmond. :-)

  240. Dragonball GT Final Bout by incom · · Score: 1

    I have this game for PSX and they sell for 150-250USD$ on ebay regularly. Only the american port is rare, the japanese one is quite abundant.

    --
    True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
  241. The Lost Crown of Queen Anne by siliconwafer · · Score: 1

    ... I used to play it on the C64 way back ... anyone know if it was ever ported to PC? I can't remember the authors name. It was a text-based adventure... damn it was fun.

  242. PARSEC!! TI-99-4A by A55M0NKEY · · Score: 1

    Flying Bynites are approaching Watch out for the Saucers!! ( I thought the saucers were the hardest. ) MUCH better than Defender. And the speech synthesizer ( my neighbor had it not me :-( rocked! It sounded better than anything I've heard since! 16 K of PURE POWER!!! And I could draw cool houses with PRINT statements in TI BASIC! Load from casette player and play music tapes too!! Adventure ruled too. ( The mongoose must've been a squirrel! HA! ) Great fun for my Kidnerdgarten-First Grade years...

    --

    Eat at Joe's.

  243. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Um, sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. The first Castle Wolfenstein game was made by id Software and was called "Wolfenstein-3D."


    Man! You had me laughing so hard I spit out of my nose. (Ewww!) I've got a copy of the original "Castle Wolfensten", written by Silas S. Warner, and published by MUSE. Your statement quoted above was a joke, right, or are you really that ignorant?

    Wow, it's really not that funny. Are you really that much of an asshole, or is the idea of somebody not being aware of a 1983 video game that unimaginable to you? Either way, get a life!

  244. Tas Times in Tone Town by seangw · · Score: 1

    I had this game called "Tas Times in Tone Town" where you'd chase this lizard guy via a text interface.

    You would start in a house where you had to type:

    throw switch
    enter hoop

    in order to enter the game

    Anyone else remember this game? It was pretty cool for it's time (Apple II), and extremely hard to play well (I could never get anywhere really interesting, when I did, I couldn't get there again).

  245. No surprises here by poopdik · · Score: 0

    Makes me wonder what the top ten rarest PC games are...

    Jesus.. makes me wonder if anyone on Slashdot has a fucking brain any more. Rare PC games? How the fuck exactly would you measure that, and why exactly would a PC Game be rare? Have you ever heard the term "abandonware", and seen the hits on those sites? No? Well, then you're in the right place, for Slashdot is where clueless, dickless, thoughtless fucks go to die.

  246. Ancient Art of War by Vladimir9 · · Score: 1

    Does anyone remember this Broderbund game. They made a sequel Ancient Art of War at Sea. I loved those games.

  247. Re: Metroid Endings by wass · · Score: 1

    I thought that when you win, you play the subsequent game without the helmet, with long hair. But if you win quickly enough, then you play the next game in yellow spandex, or similar. at least that's what i vaguely remember.

    --

    make world, not war

  248. Original Pong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The one that was just a console with knobs on it that YOU had to sit next to in order to play. Even then the idea of 3 or 4 seperate games being made out of basically one graphic and idea was coo. The fact that your TV could somehow broadcast that signal on channel 2 or 3 (what was it about these channels anyways?)was absolutely bizarre to me at the time.

  249. Re:few rare games i own - Atari pr0n by chimpo13 · · Score: 1

    I've got a few of the Atari ones done by Mystique.

    The best/worst is Custer's Revenge. You're General Custer and you rape a squaw tied to a cactus. Arrows come from off screen and if they hit you, your boner shrinks and you die.

    You play it and think, "man I can't believe they did that". But I guess back then, National Lampoon was a funny magazine in their non-pc way.

    Another one was "Beat 'em and Eat 'em" where a guy is rockin' it on top of a building and you're three nekkid girls trying to catch the spooge.

    The other 2 I have are Bachelor Party & Bachelorette Party knock-offs of Breakout.

    They did a few others, but my all time favorite Atari game is still Yar's Revenge.

  250. BotSequitur V1 by BotSequitur · · Score: 0

    Non Sequitur \Non seq"ui*tur\ [L., it does not follow]
    n 1: a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it

    AutoGoogle
    AutoSlashBack
    AutoEverything

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    Is this useful to you? Reply!
  251. Re:KYRANDIA! by NeuroKoan · · Score: 2

    Aaaahhhhhhh.... I still have 1 and 3 (I never got 2, I just never had money at the right time).

    I should go find them and play them again. Damn they were fun. And no, I won't sell either of them to you : )

    I think they are right next to my old "Sam & Max Hit the Road" disks...

    --

    "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
  252. Mmm, Burgertime by auffers · · Score: 1

    What timing - I just spent hours playing that on an Apple ][ emulator. Like Hours!

    Time to dust off the apple //c - pity i only have a greenscreen :(

  253. Re:Extension by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

    Mega Man: nothing else like it. I never played the first one. I bought the second one, and from that day on, I kept waiting in vain for the first one to go down in price.

    Zelda II: All I can say is that I'm glad there are two of us. (: I'd be willing to bet that the poster didn't forget Zelda II, that he/she just didn't like it. It was my favorite, but I've met hardly anyone that shares my views.

    Never Played Mega Man 7. Are you sure you're not thinking of Mega Man X?

    Link to the Past: Totally agree.

    Star Fox competition version: I remember this one well! I had the regular cart the day it came out. And I remember coming home each day from school and practicing for the competition. I won a bunch of Star Fox swag, and I still have most of it.

    I can't comment on the Sega CD or Saturn games, I never played those systems except for Sewer Shark on Sega CD.

  254. Microprose Labs /rarest by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 1
    I can name a Role-Playing-Game that is rare to buy everywhere including eBay. Everyone who tried playing it the first time usually became bored or angry and stopped, only to try again afterwards and find it fun. This game was, I believe, the first to use one of the first stupidest copy-protection attempts... Do you remember those days? "What is the word at the bottom of page 169, paragraph 2, sentence 9?" or "Please take out your cool game manual and press the number for this symbol." Those kind of copy-protection questions...ha-ha-nice-try.

    The game is Darklands. Try looking at darklands.net, hoping it is still available and abandoned.

    I enjoyed leading my party of four amish warriors into a town of satan worshippers and I burn their hamlet to the ground. Of'course, one of them gets away and says he'll have his revenge on some day and I take note of that and where it takes place for future demon-slaying action. Then, I go up the hill a little ways with my three other buddies, "Hogget", "Helga", and "He-Man" and we call out the demon and grind him to hashes under our feet. As we leave the ruined hamlet, I always make sure nothing is left alive by going back in and...nothing. When I'm strong enough, I go looking for the dragon and the dragonslayer. I kill the dragonslayer to get his stuff, and then I slay the dragon and am more famous than the dragonslayer now anyways. Then there is the mine hauntings; full of gnomes, knockers, vulcans, and dwarves. Lots and lots of stuff and flexibility in this game.

    It's a verry rare game and actually took a few historians to contribute to for (yes) historic accuracy on how all the fruitloops of a thousand years ago behaved. I think it was released in 1989, I'm not sure. First time I ever seen this kind of cool and fast VGA graphics on a blazingly fast 386 20MHz desktop, SoundBlaster, MIDI, with Mouse control on MSDOS. Then came *cough* Doom and I that evil Romero and Carmack fellas I hear about all the time forced me to upgrade. At least I played mostly Duke Nukem 3D more than Doom... And those were the history of my days in IBM PC DOS, Novel DOS, and MS DOS. :) FreeDOS is where it's at now!

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
  255. Elite has to be in the top ten somewhere.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For the amount of hours spent blasting thargoids in witchspace, first on the Beeb, then the Spectrum anbd finally the PC.

    I still fire it up now and then, but getting sound working in DOS is dying art...; )

  256. Re:Huh? by bryan1945 · · Score: 2

    I think that was the first one. And how scary was it when the SS guy would storm on screen and scream at you to stop?! Much more fun than Wolf 3D.

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  257. Re:Huh? by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

    When the ass keeps claiming that the 3rd game in a series was the 1st, this guy is justified in whacking him. And go fuck yourself, too, either you know games or you stay on the sideline, junior.

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  258. ROM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone got the Wolfenstein rom for an emulator?

    All this talk is making me wax nostalgic.

  259. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by nonos · · Score: 1

    The 3D first person shooter was certainly The Eidolon for the Atari800.

  260. Alice for Mac by johnrpenner · · Score: 2


    written by Steve Capps - a nice 3D figure of alice moves around on a chessboard being chased by chess pieces. make a wrong move, and she falls through a hole in the board. the 'menubar' is a 'cheshire cat'.

    came out in 1983 for the original macintosh, in a nice little 'book volume' which contained the floppy disk.

    cheers
    john

  261. Virtual Boy? by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    How about any game for the short lived but ultra-cool Virtual Boy from Nintendo?

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  262. PCjr Cartridge Games by DrewCapu · · Score: 1

    Yeah, those cart games were fun too. Probably my favorites were Scuba Venture and Mouser. IIRC, I only got up to the end of L2 or L3 in Scuba Venture and completed about 3 or 4 rooms of Mouser. This was as a 10-12 year old tho :)

    I'm sure with my l33t gaming skillz now I can "pass" those games. LOL

    Darn, now I got that Mouser music stuck in my head.

    I wonder if anybody ever bought ALL of the available PCjr carts.

  263. NWC by Cire · · Score: 2

    I know... there's already 600 comments on here, and no one is going to read this. BUT. I have spent a better part of the workday trying to play this game. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was a 13 year old kid at the time and has wanted to play it ever since. Hopefully someone will come back and read this and it will help them play the game.

    The rom is available online. I'm not going to help you. Use google, you'll find it.

    Once you do, use FCE Ultra, it seems to be the only emulator that is capable of dealing with this ROM.

    Cire

  264. Re:Note that 'Collectable' don't exactly mean 'Goo by kookbox · · Score: 1

    Alternately, you could pick up a Gamecube (I like Lik-Sang's modded Japanese Panasonic Q--import GC games and region-free DVD!) and GC game Animal Crossing, which includes Excitebike among other old NES titles (My favorite is Donkey Kong Jr. Math).

  265. I Remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that it took forever for me to come up with ERASE BRIDGE.
    that it took a disassembler for me to come up with SMOKE GRASS.

  266. Thanks by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1

    Thanks. And wow, beating Star Fox in 15 minutes sounds pretty tough!

    --
    I'd rather be lucky than good.
  267. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 1

    As to house maintenance, does it involve problem solfing? If so,
    your hacker can safely be left to deall with the panning (for the
    musement value, if nothering ese).
    -- Telsa Gwynne

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...