Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

I know Paul, might find a hidden gem. Never know!

 

I've had a quck flick through the floppies and there are 80 in total. Half of them look to be pirated compilations and the rest a mix of Page 6 library titles, Printshop style programs and a couple of originals like Home Filing Manager, English Smash Hits etc. I won't get the chance to try out the drive and any of the disks before I go on holiday so they will need to wait a while.

Current thinking is that I may hold on to the 1050 and 1029 at least for display purposes and sell the 800XL on (already got two) to cover some of the costs. If anyone here is interested in it just let me know.

 

Nice...Fierce like a Jaguar...

 

Hi Richie, sent you a message back mate.

 

Just had a shot at Commando on expert level. It's hard! Highest score so far is 22100.

 

Just got home, lads.
Heading out the door Sunday morning to go and watch the Mackems home to Cardiff but if I get 15mins sweet Atari time tween now and then, you betcha I'll be trying to catch yer, Al
Hope you and Richie can sort a deal out for the 800XL - nice when it benefits folks on here then everyone's a winner.

 

Cheers, Al.
Flight from CDG Paris delayed which meant missing our earlier connection to Hum'side Airport (4:40) so had to wait until 9.30 for next flight... ne'er mind, home now and the ruddy washing machine's on already!
Yeah, that 800XL just needs a good old clean and Richie'll check & sort that sticking key problem and hey presto, another 8bit Atari as good as new and given a fresh start in retro life once more.
Good luck with testing some of those games disks and have a cracking weekend ahead, fellas.

 

Thanks Andy. I know nothing about Mac gaming either so looking forward to finding out more.

Quiet day here, had a walk and Celtic just about to kick off on Sky Sports. Got an early rise tomorrow as I head down to Blackpool - looking forward to visiting Arcade Club

 

Absolutely - always a curious pleasure dipping into "other" systems, Al, and you're sure to take a lot of pleasure from Blackpool's bracing prom and seafront, mate. Me dad's heading there shortly with his missus to take in the lights. I'll tell him to join you in Fight Club... I mean Arcade Club.
He'll be the one at the door raging - don't waste yer money, suckers, they're just a bunch of bugger bastard ping pong machines (what he used to shout in me mate's faces whenever they turned up at our front door and he wanted rid of them/me!).
Enjoy, me ole muckah - many happy returns, Al - 23 again?! ;-)

 

Just about lol.
Overnight in Blackpool for Arcade Club before five days in Wales and next weekend in my old favourite, Scarborough

 

Loving the VCS additions Matt.

 

Like you, I have been watching the escalating war over there, the human shield scenario that is inevitable disgusts me.

As for your project, no nay-saying from me, you have given this considerable thought and hard work. The picture looks great, you won't get the detail that is there via the way you are taking the picture, which is totally understandable. Epic work..

My stomach and head have been so bad I put off replacing the 120G SSD with my brand new 2TB Samsung SSD. The dementia at the in laws is so bad it's causing problems here, numerous overly repeated phone calls, attitude towards Cindy who is doing a 101% sterling job of supporting them, and still it's not enough in their minds. Dementia is a nightmare to deal with, I've had to do it twice and now a 3rd time that I'm partially involved.

Anyway, as always Matt, you are re-enabling this old gear and giving it new life, hats (if I had one) off to you. I'm hoping the extended summer (of sorts) has meant a bit of extra work for you (hey, more cash = more new additions )

Have a wonderful time over there, always good to see all of us having a bit of fun..

 

It's so maddening re this and past wars between them. They both grew up in the exact same place, and basically almost believe in the same faith (ie Jesus etc). I don't know the history too well, but I believe some of the land was taken by Israel and this is where it's lead to over the years. I'm not a big fan of extremists and sadly there's mega extremists on both sides of that coin.

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread more, keep the work up Matt...

 

The more current issue with the Mid-East situation stems from the 6-days war back in the late 60's or early 70's some time when Israel was attacked on multiple fronts. The resulting win by Israel gained them land that wasn't initially given by you Brits as part of their state (however was part of Israel back in Roman times), and they kept it as a "buffer zone" against future attacks & wars and over the years Israel colonized it all. But that's just the Palestinian excuse, as they really want Israel completely gone and turned back into Palestine. That bit goes back to thousands of years before the Romans and Christ. And has been changed between Israel and Palestine for hundreds of years and many different wars since before the Roman occupation and eventual rebellion quelling. After that the people of Israel were scattered until 1948 and it was Palestine from post Roman to 1948, and Israel again since.

 

Cheers Andy

Keeping my retro 'habit' on a tight budget at the moment but that just makes things more fun to be honest

I bought a second hand book from Amazon (retro but not computer related) which I think you and a few of the guys would like. I'll start up a new thread later this week around it

 

I was referring to all the old magazine reviews and other game review sources online from over the years in which every single one complains of a low-res screen...when the *ucking games are lower res than the screen! Morons! The picture is as good with a Jag game on the screen as a full-size, full-standard definition Sony LCD screen with the same Jag game on it.

Now DVD's onwards in media and Dreamcast resolution onwards the Dynovisor/Scuba/JagVR HMD's would be too low res for...but that's not what they were made for either!

 

Liking those footie clips you just sent the You Tube vidz for, Matt.

They improve in the order which you list them - my personal opinions on (International) Sensible Soccer are the same as I;ve always had - it;s OK but really, compared to the other two you show there, it looks a joke - it's like watching ants that all rush around as one and it is so unrealistic. It's almost like watching bar football where the player spins a handle and all the players on a particular row all spin together - it's not very convincing from my viewpoint. I cannot for the life of me work out why it is such a fave amongst so many (mainly Amiga) gamers when for me - and I accept this is just IMHO - it is so arcade-like, unrealistic and simplistic in its gameplay. Kick Off 2 (on the Amiga) beats the pants off it - it looks so much better, plays so much better and I believe demands greater skills from the player and the controller used.

Anyhow, I digress - this portion of the What's New Pussycat Too thread is all about some super Atari Jaguar footie action and the other two titles, Fever Pitch and FIFA International, are really really impressive - particularly the latter - as the players and gameplay are leagues above Sensi!!

Many thanks for showcasing em, Matt - some ab fab games which I had no idea existed on this platform and I sure as hell would get drawn into playing those last two offerings - soccer sensations!

 

Lovely, Al - brilliant for you and fans of this game but for me, it's Alien Ant Farm!

 

That's a great shout, Matt.

Al, are these available as mouse pads/A2 sized posters etc?

Guess they might if they're going out on canvas.

 

You must have responded while I was editing Andy, as I decided to add my latest purchase by editing my post about the mouse pad...

 

My latest isn't exactly something new, but I've finished a mod for my Dreamcast overclocking the system by replacing the 33.3Mhz crystal (200Mhz system speed) with a 40Mhz crystal (240Mhz system speed), a 20% increase. Now this clock rate mod keeps everything compatible, and while it doesn't make a game that averages 30FPS or 60FPS (the usual for DC 3D and 2D games respectively suddenly runs at a 20% higher frame rate, but it does make sure that the 30/60FPS games do keep a rock-steady frame rape with no dipping down when tons more of 3D polygons or 2D sprites are on screen than usual like did happen on some DC games that pushed the hardware. But, some of those poorly programmed games that fell short of the 30/60FPS, 3D/2D standards do get a notable FPS increase of about 20%.

I figured if I was spending time making a PS1 steering wheel DC compatible, I might as well make sure all those 3D racing games are fast and smooth with no stuttering in frame rates. I believe my PS2 already runs PS1 games faster than on a PS1 regarding frame rates, though I may look into if there are any over-clocking mods for PS2 games.

The DC mod has a toggle switch to go between 200 and 240Mhz just in case I come across games that are too fast or just have issues running at the higher speed. But so far, out of about half a dozen games tested everything works great, and with a slightly more powerful fan installed should not run any hotter shortening the life of the IC's. There were DC mods that up to 400Mhz, IIRC, but software compatibility goes down and the DC isn't a 32/64-bit generation system that struggled much of the time to do 15-30FPS where doubling system the clock rate might be needed to ensure 30-60fps games, where a higher than 20% boost might be needed. The DC is a 128-bit system that the worst programmed games, as far as frames per second go, are still above 20FPS, so I kept it as conservative as one can while still making a significant improvement.

No pics this time showing the hardware mod, as it was very simple, literally hooking up 3-4 wires between the motherboard and a crystal.

The Dynovisor HMD for my Jaguar is still not quite finished, but will be soon, I had to wait to order something I need for part of it's upgrade/mod but I'll be ordering it this week. I still need to add a 3DO and possibly OG Xbox compatible cables to my steering wheel, but I'm enjoying my DC and PS1/2 racers with it atm.

 

Hey, a very nice set of purchases there, Al - very well done indeed and all for a reasonable amount really which deffo caps the day with a cherry on the top, me ol muckah!
Love the old signs - esp. Horace Goes Ski-ing - never seen that one before - get it nailed on NOW!
Nice post, mate - glad yer keeping well and enjoying the retro scene as much as ever.
PS. Santa tells me that Baz has just received delivery of his Retro Xmas Cards for 2023... stand by to nail up yer letterboxes and pull up the drawbridge etc. What bizarre design(s) will adorn his cards... this year??? ;-)
Discuss.

 

Nice gear there Al, enjoy..Andy, no nakedness on the card please, there was way too much wood on show last time I look forward to the clever madness of the card. I was never brought up as a card person, the family never sent any. I think it's a nice way to stay in touch, but way too organised for my crazy brain.

 

Amazon delivered my Atari 2600+ console today. Not had a great deal of time to play it but tested a few cartridges and they all worked well, albeit a couple needed a clean and a little jiggling but that was the age of the carts not the console.

The feel of the console and the joystick is spot on and I even managed to get a new high score on Centipede 7800
It's nice to have a machine that takes cartridges again and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Atari bring out for it in the future. HDMI display looks very sharp, so much so that I've already moved the system from my mancave to the living room so I can play games on the "big telly" just like I used to when I was a youngster.

Will post some pictures over the weekend if anyone wants a closer look.

 

Yes please, Al.
I can feel your excitement from here, mate
Nowt better than plugging your new pride n joy into "big telly"!!
I've got some new games for me VIC so I'll post those too.
You can't beat a bit of good ol hands-on real McCoy Atari/Commodore/Sinclair/Oric/Acorn RETRO GOODNESS!