Just got the Namco II direct to TV joystick

[vic user]

I got to open a gift early, and picked the right one

Very impressed with it, as the joystick is quite sturdy, and the games seem to be actual copies of the ones I played in the arcades.

Found out I had to twist the joystick to steer in Pole Position, but before I figured that out, I thought the joystick was broken

The only complaint I have, is that it only has one audio jack. So what if the games are in mono, at least give me two audio jacks so I can have sound out to two speakers, without having to get an adapter.

Kids are loving it though, as it was so easy to hook up, and the games are easy to pick up and play.

I really hope they continue to make more of these direct to TV game things!

Chris

[Tepic]

I have the first one with PacMan, Galaxians, Rally X, Mr Do and Bosconian on it.

Much fun all round

[vic user]

It was neat to read on the box, that they are PAL friendly.

and i am wrong about it going out of only one speaker

[carlsson]

I was looking at the whole selection of TV games yesterday. The two mentioned sticks, as well as several others are for sale in the toy store, but I find them too pricy to be interesting.

However, they had a no-name 25-in-1 gamepad on sale for 119.50 SEK, i.e. 17 USD. I was quite tempted to buy it, as it also includes a SCART adapter and among the 25 games was one Jewels copy. But then I thought, how often do I play games and I almost never go away and need to bring something to play with. So I didn't buy, but it was close..

We'll see if they will carry PAL C64DTV or for that matter Atari Flashback 2.0 and so on. Currently the bigger toy stores only sell Jakks units. Maybe it is the best selection or they have an exclusive deal. This niche seem to have taken at least the manufacturers by storm. I don't know how well the NTSC C64DTV sold in KB Toys etc, and what was its competitors, but it seems a unit need really good, playable games, high quality construction and an attractive price to make it. Nostalgia can be sold on mail order but perhaps not in bigger toy stores.

[Lloyd Mangram]

I agree that these items are generally too expensive for what they contain, especially the ones with just a few games.

Its annoying that the C64DTV STILL hasn't been officially launched in the UK - What are they playing at?

[carlsson]

Still the finishing touches in development - Jeri and the team want it to be as close to perfection as possible. The PAL unit seems to become even more polished than the first NTSC unit, more memory even. I don't know if a second run of NTSC units is planned, but the price you pay for waiting is that you get the crême-de-la-crême of a TV game.. at least if you find the Commodore 64 to be crême in the first place.

[C2N]

G'day,
The C-64 Plug n Play is sold in Target stores in Australia (Melbourne, anyway) for around AUS$30. Pretty neat because it's a lot easier than setting up the whole 64 (if you like the games on offer, that is!). Also, the Namco one with Galaga sold recently on eBay (2nd hand) for nearly AUS$90! Wierd because I bought one from Toys R Us a year ago for AUS$25. I have little more respect for the blue and yellow bundle of joy now!

[Jeff-20]

Yeah! What's going on in Australia...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NAMCO-TV-Plug-Pl ... dZViewItem

I can buy this for super cheap. They are everywhere here! It's a great example of how local economies work despite the internet.

[vic user]

i got the intellivision 25-in-1 controller for xmas, and i am very disappointed.

i wasn't expecting much, but i did expect the games to be very close emulations to the original intelli games, but this is not the case.

most of the sound effects are missing from the games, and if there are any, they are not very close at all to the original sounds. they sound more like atari 2600 sound effects.

one of the worst is SNAFU, where the music is probably the best part of the game, and there is none on this version!

and how they managed to butcher Nightstalker is beyond me.

they also used screen shots from the original intelli games and box shots, which is misleading.

there are also speed issues, where the games go way too quick compared to the originals.

the games are like anemic versions of the originals

i hope people who have never played intellivision games don't pick this up, because it will surely give them the wrong impression.

too bad, because i have found many of the direct to tv game things to be very good... the Namco controllers and the 64-in-1 nes controllers come to mind.

[ral-clan]

Most of the Jakks Pacific DTV games are great. I have the original NAMCO, NAMCO II, the CAPCOM one, and some non JAKKS ones like the TAITO games by Radica, and of course the C64DTV.

The Intellivision one (developed by the original Blue Sky Rangers) was universally panned. That's sad. Strangely it's been on the market longer than any of the Jakks games, which are better.

The Atari Flashback 2, C64DTV and Sega Master System Direct to TV games have the right idea - using original hardware designs, just reduced in size.

Anyone using NES on a chip to emulate these non-NES systems usually ends up creating a dud - the KONAMI one, the Frogger joystick, the original Atari Flashback 7800 and the Intellivision. They were all considered to be terrible.

I'm waiting for the new incarnation of COLECO to release a DTV ColecoVision! So far they have released only a Sega gameboy like handheld, which is supposed to be very good (and cheap), and another Head-to-Head DTV sports game, which was okay, but not based on any original 80s game other than in name only.

The C64 DTV was a triumph in terms of hardware design (I only wish the N. American version was flashable like the PAL version), but the games on it were a little disappointing, especially the bugs introduced into Sword of Fargoal. I realise liscencing issued prevented them from including all the game the retro community would have liked.

[vic user]

thanks for the info!

yep, a colecovision one would be great.
would love to play venture and zaxxon again

[Mikam73]

I did buy 48-in-1

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/index. ... ductId=194

Now only need cabinet to install it.

Sometimes later.. Need get my angle back in action first..

[vic user]

nice one Mika!

[gklinger]

I did buy 48-in-1

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/index. ... ductId=194

Wow! That's a really good selection of games! Looks like a panel with a joystick and a couple of buttons would take care of all those games other than Arkanoid. Add a spinner and you're set.

You are going to have a lot of fun with that one.

[Mikam73]

Yeah.. Only 60-in-1 did support trackball, but only with Centipede and Millipede. And those extra games it had werent so important for me.. Well.. Congo Bongo would have bee nice..

But 48 had loads of classic games. I try to get somewere to test Jamma board anc get capinet sometimes at spring.

I have already got criticism at Finland that its not real Jamma card and emulates Jamma card etc.. But games are orginal arcade versions and there is loads of games that I like a lot.