Re: [SWCollect] Comments
Magic Candle I was actually very well advertised. Glossy flashy ads in Computer Gaming World, not to mention a strong endorsement by Scorpia and high ratings via ye olde RID, gave it a good presence. Hmmm, I may have been hiding under a rock. I'm just poking around vintage sites and places like ebay and discovering there were Apple II versions of stuff I never knew was made for it (Marble Madness, Realm of Impossibility, Magic Candle...) Some of the other stuff may have best remained in anonyminity, but I'm grateful for the discussions that bring to light the gems. Speaking of Privateer, is there a CD version that comes in a standard-sized box? 'cause if there is, I haven't seen one, and would like it. Even the budget box, which is all I've ever seen or heard of, is worth $20 or so these days. Huh. I vaguely recall seeing one on the shelf of the local Babbages. It may be Privateer I or Privateer Gold or something, but I'll grab it for you if you're interested. As long as its Privateer I in some form of non-jewelcase, you're happy, yes? On a totally unrelated note, a Mockingboard Rev D fell into my lap last week. After 18 years, I'll finally know what the music to Ultima III sounds like. Did the C64 version (or any other version) have the music? Dan -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Anyone want me to pick these up?
This is pretty much what I do as well. I'll embellish a little... I had a copy of M.U.L.E. with a sticker w/a plastic coating, so goo-gone wouldn't soak through it (BTW, goo-gone $1.75 at K-Mart, its in a clear bottle and is a yellow color). First, remove the contents of the game box :) I took a blow dryer to the sticker for 2 minutes, and lifted the plastic coating off the sticker. I apply the goo-gone w/a q-tip to let the remaining part of the sticker absorb the liquid, so that it doesn't saturate the box (or if there's another sticker underneath the offending sticker). I usually finger nail it after 45-75 seconds. Peels right off. Usually. Some stickers I swear have been applied w/wallpaper glue. I've also used goo-gone to remove magic marker markings from boxes (Ultima IV for example). Careful not to rub too hard, you'll take the original ink off the box. - Original Message - From: C.E. Forman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 8:03 AM Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Anyone want me to pick these up? Crud. Before you buy these, let's start another topic of discussion: What's the best way to remove stickers/tape from boxes without damaging them? Hair dryer seems to work well for the stickers/tape themselves. For sticker residue, I've had other collectors suggest a product called Goo-Gone, or even lighter fluid (!) -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Labels and value (was: Ultimas)
Older drives use a mechanical switch (push-button), newer drives use a beam of light. While I've never done it, I can't imagine it being harder than connecting the wires that went to the mechanism to a toggle-switch... - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 8:54 AM Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Labels and value (was: Ultimas) In a message dated 07/28/2001 12:53:11 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Ah, no you don't! Just take your disk drive out and modify it to close the circuit on the write-protect mechanism. I have one drive modified this way specifically for this purpose. Don't cut a hole in your original disk. HOW exactly do you do this, can it be done with Apple ][ and C64/128 drives? That would be invaluable info :) Tom -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Anyone want me to pick these up?
1) You could always write a script and pipe it through DEBUG 2) When I was in HS or college I wrote a small assembly-language interpreter ( 400-600 bytes or so), and wrote a Pascal program that generated byte code. The interpreter was solely for making sector edits. The pascal program compiled the source and appended the resulting byte code it to the interpreter executable. Whenever the interpreter started, it just looked for the bytecode hanging on its own executable. Crude, but effective. I still have it if you want :) - Original Message - From: Jim Leonard [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 8:50 PM Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Anyone want me to pick these up? Chris Newman wrote: :) I need to write a program that will do a 4 byte patch of a save game file. Should I compile a 5K assembly routine that will do the job is 3 picoseconds, or should I use Visual C++ with 45 megs of inline compiled DLLs, and requires a Wise installation routine, and updates the registry, and permanently damages my browser's ability to process secure website documents? 5K? You should be shot at dawn. 50 bytes, yes, but not 5000. :-) -- http://www.MobyGames.com/ The world's most comprehensive gaming database project. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Shrink think
I was thinking about what C.E. said regarding holes, and thought the same thing Hugh said about a single hole. Chris, can you elaborate a little on a single hole, as I know I've seen them on original wrap. Anyway, in addition to what was already said, things I look for with original shrink: - No excessive thickness around the seams - If there are holes in the shrink, is it a single (small) hole with no thick edges - If there are several holes, are they consistently spaced - If there is overlap (folding, that is not heat sealed) on shrink, its probably original - Uniform tension on the wrap. If its stretched in someplace, its probably uneven use of a heat gun When I buy any game, I always check everything. Lots of newer games just use a clear circular or rectangular sticker on the top and bottom. I check to make sure there is no adhesive to the left or right of the sticker, a sign that it was opened and reapplied. I also check to see if it was double-stickered (stores usually have their own stickers). I remember I bought M1 Tank Platoon when it was originally released. Got it home, and the keyboard overlay was all cut up. I took it back and the (@(#*@#) manager just opened a new box, took the overlay and exchanged overlays. Like it would have KILLED him to just give me a new game! G. Why I remember this sorta stuff I have no idea... Dan - Original Message - From: Hugh Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 4:00 PM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Shrink think Another thing to look for is the small circular hole that appears in many factory shrinked packages. That will help you spot the real thing sometimes. Hugh -Original Message- From: Jim Leonard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 3:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Shrink think C.E. Forman wrote: I only keep shrinks if I'm absolutely convinced they're the original. Any slight wear under the plastic, any suspiciously cheap-looking wrap, any package that seems underweight, I open it and take the loss. In my entire collecting life I've opened fewer than 10 packages that turned out to indeed be original shrink jobs. I've gotten very good at spotting rewraps. For his benefit and others, didn't you write up something in a YOIS column at some point? URL please? Spotting rewraps is trivial to learn if you: 1. Have ever worked at an old software retail store when they used to rewrap returns (1992 and earlier) 2. Have a known rewrap next to a known original and can compare Rewraps are fairly easy to spot. They have things like: - Holes in the wrap (usually back only) where the guy with the blow-dryer blew too hard/long and made it open into a hole and was too lazy to rewrap it again - Messy/dirty/burnt edges where the shrinkwrap seams come together - The back of the box is upside down compared to the front (guy put the box on upside down before shrinking) - The wrap doesn't feel like it could give; isn't flexible (factory wrap always gives a little, like Reynolds/plastic wrap) - Vendor-supplied stickers (price sticker, etc.) are *under* the wrap, stuck right on the box (argh) Anyone care to contribute to the above list? I think I nailed most of the obvious re-wrap signs. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Double posts?
Am I the only one getting 2 copies of the same message? I get one copy w/the boilerplate at the bottom, and one without. Its intermittent, and only this list... -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Questron 3?
Ah, now this is good info. I beat Legacy of the Ancients for the Apple II, and loved it. Questron II on the IIgs, loved that too. I have Blacksilver (and never started it) so I guess that means I have to dig up Questron I (which probably didn't have a IIgs version). Add one to the list... thanks Tom. Speaking of the list, I got another EA flatpack I've been looking for today, but its a little different than the rest... Axis Assassin. I've had an original disk from god-knows-where for years, but have been looking for the package. Got a shrinkwrapped copy of it. No manual, and there's no pocket for one (Skyfox had no manual either, just a reference card. Ditto for Marble Madness I believe). The odd thing is the reference card... its heavy stock like all the others, but it has a typewriter-like font. No borders on this card, just black type on heavy stock. Can anyone (Hugh?) who has this let me know if I've found what I've been looking for (the original release)? I have gotten the cheap re-releases of several titles, and been irked by them. Super Boulderdash has the one size fits all reference card in its re-release, but still has the bi-fold cover. Marble Madness only had a reference card, and they printed it on paper instead of cardboard in the cheap release (grrr). So, is this a fluke? Its the only time I've seen an EA reference card w/o borders around the edge of the card. Thanks. Dan - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 9:06 PM Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Questron 3? In a message dated 08/14/2001 5:42:53 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: To my recollection, The Legend of Blacksilver is the third game in the Questron universe. It used the same interface and was published by Epyx as part of the Masters Collection series, but was only available for C64 and Apple II (there were problems writing the PC conversion and it never got finished). I think Legacy of the Ancients was the third in this set, LoBS the 4th. At least all 4 were done by Quest Software. Tom -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Questron 3?
That's all I needed to know. Thanks for the info. - Original Message - From: Hugh Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 1:44 PM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Questron 3? Unfortunately I can't be as much help on this as I'd like. The only version I have of Axis Assassin is the C-64 version, which is, of course, not the original version published. My version does not have pockets or a manual (game doesn't need one), but it does have a standard EA reference card (no black text) with the instructions on it. I haven't seen a slash version of this game, but it might exist. Hugh -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 11:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Questron 3? Um, yeah, gimmie a hit of that doobie when you've got a sec... I knew about Slash, I just never knew they did Apple titles. I've gotten burned many times by Slash. What kills me about Axis Assassin is its a tri-fold cover (no blurred edges, either), its the right disk, the EA sleeve... its just the cheesy reference card. Its on heavy stock, not paper. So close. Uncheck that item, keep looking... C.E. Forman wrote: What really angers me is that people will put stuff like this up on ebay and not properly take a picture or document it and pass it off as the original, MINT SEALED, etc. Whenever you see a sealed Mean Streets (Access, 1989), 99% of the time it is a Slash release. Another way to tell Slashes from normal is that the stickers on original boxes that have platform, requirements, and disk sizes included are usually screened (printed) right onto the box. I suspect a lot of them just plain don't know. They've seen Mean Streets sell for insane prices, but have no idea what Slash is, or that different packages even exist. It's up to us to educate them. (Camera pans around to view Chris Forman and Jim Leonard, in full Superhero garb) Chris and Jim: It's up to us! We are... ...The Re-Educators! Chris: Fighting the crime of confusing Infocom folios with Activision re-releases! Jim: Righting the wrong of calling packages 'RARE!!! MINT!!!' Chris: Striving for Truth, Justice, and eliminating sloppy ebay listings written in all upper-case letters! Jim: Destroying all Slash knock-offs so that only valuable originals remain! together: The ree-Educators!! Sorry, couldn't resist. :) -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Privateer
Was someone looking for Privateer not too long ago? If so... http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=1266326652 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Sniping
46 new messages, 44 from this list, its unlikely I'll contribute any new insight. But for the record, I'll snip anything except when the auction ends when I can't be in front of my PC. Anyway: - I use the watch list so people don't search for my bids - I also use the watch list to cut back on bidding on everything. Gives me time to think if I really want it. Also allows me to prioritize. - Cutting back on cost is good. When I started snipping, I did so at the 30 second marker. I've had people bid again within that window (+$50!) If I was more daring, I'd have saved the cash. And one absolutely dirty trick (in theory of course)... if someone is constantly warring with you (usually for multiple items from the same seller) you can get a feel for their limits, look at their bidding list, and crank up the bids on things you don't want that they're bidding on. They'll (hopefully) deplete their cash and not fight so hard for the items you really want. The risk is obvious, though. Did someone already say this? Not sniping has an advantage though. Intimidation. If someone is good and does a little research and sees that their opponent has deep pockets, they may reconsider bidding at all. This doesn't always work, but sometimes if I really could go either way on something, I'll stay away from vetran bidders. Or deep-pocketed newbies. I recently passed on a IIgs game that I saw was pursued by a list member. I passed solely on the premise of the bidder and it being a would be nice instead of a must have. The money I save usually scores me a half-dozen or so would be nice titles that go with one bid (mine). Dan -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Sniping
46 new messages, 44 from this list, its unlikely I'll contribute any new insight. But for the record, I'll snip anything except when the auction ends when I can't be in front of my PC. Anyway: - I use the watch list so people don't search for my bids - I also use the watch list to cut back on bidding on everything. Gives me time to think if I really want it. Also allows me to prioritize. - Cutting back on cost is good. When I started snipping, I did so at the 30 second marker. I've had people bid again within that window (+$50!) If I was more daring, I'd have saved the cash. And one absolutely dirty trick (in theory of course)... if someone is constantly warring with you (usually for multiple items from the same seller) you can get a feel for their limits, look at their bidding list, and crank up the bids on things you don't want that they're bidding on. They'll (hopefully) deplete their cash and not fight so hard for the items you really want. The risk is obvious, though. Did someone already say this? Not sniping has an advantage though. Intimidation. If someone is good and does a little research and sees that their opponent has deep pockets, they may reconsider bidding at all. This doesn't always work, but sometimes if I really could go either way on something, I'll stay away from vetran bidders. Or deep-pocketed newbies. I recently passed on a IIgs game that I saw was pursued by a list member. I passed solely on the premise of the bidder and it being a would be nice instead of a must have. The money I save usually scores me a half-dozen or so would be nice titles that go with one bid (mine). Dan -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Shrinkwrap again
Read the bottom of this description (about the shrinkwrap). Sound reshrunk? http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=1266478226r=0t=0sh owTutorial=0ed=999065385indexURL=0rd=1 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Bi-directional game value
Since people here have at least a better idea of what a game is worth, does that sense of values work both ways? For instance, C.E. has a used copy of Witness. The last 4 copies on eBay sold for $250. Sure Witness is a good game, but its not worth that much. Someone makes an offer to C.E. directly (on YOIS) for $30 (before you can list it on ebay). I'm assuming this is a fair price, but do you sell for $30 knowning the offer was fair, or try to get $250 for it? -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Quarterstaff on a PC
A little off the path here... Some of the experiments I've done recently got me an Apple II .NIB image of Choplifter (didn't think it was possible really with those wonderful spiral half-tracks). Other research produced a cookbook for configuring Basilisk (a free MAC emulator for the PC) to play Quarterstaff on a PC. I was kinda bummed when I read there was SUPPOSED to be a IIgs version of Quarterstaff (went the way of the PC version it seems). But for anyone who would like to play it, let me know and I'll send you my notes. Also, once you get it going, playing other Mac games is a snap. Apple was kind enough to build virtual drive support right into the OS (sort of, they provide a tool that mounts the images). Dan -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Infocom RPG list
Anyone got the list of all the graphic RPG titles Infocom made (Quarterstaff, Battletech, Journey, Arthur, etc.) and their platformshandy? I was looking around the usual places, and so far all I found was a page in Italian and this pink Ninja-looking guy...
Re: [SWCollect] New eBay fees
All of ebay's new features: Another case of over-engineering where the designers are not users. To add to C.E.'s comments, somewhere burried under all the crud is something that says Its you're auction, you're in control. That's why you can block bidders, cancel bidders, and end early. I think they're losing sight of this fact. Also, sellers are generally out to make the most money for themselves. Hence the links, etc. This usually translates to more money for ebay. Granted there will always be slime who want to leverage ebay's exposure for their own without compensating ebay (links to private stores) but they'll always be there regardless. The no-link rule was a bad call, and will inevitable end up hurting more than helping. Private links will go the route of NOSPAM (embedding links in descriptions that make it difficult to discover automatically). e.g. double-u double-u double-u dot myprivatesite dot calm Of course if you get nailed there's no way you can argue violating their terms. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Void me + new trend?
I was reading through the manual to Track Attack (Broderbund title for the Apple ][) and it said that in order to save your high scores to the (very copy protected) disk, you had to notch the disk yourself. If you do, it will void your warranty. It was right in the manual, in those words. How's that for sadistic? Also, all the game stores around here are displacing PC titles with console titles. Its almost to the point where the PC gets one shelf, and consoles get the rest of the store. Compound that with PC games now being published in boxes slightly larger than a paperback novel. Several times I've flat out missed new releases because the boxes were so small (better get my eyes checked or something).
RE: [SWCollect] Buy 1 get 2
I have a loose disk + a manual to it (lost the box somehow). Bought it new in Maryland when it came out (visiting relatives). I recall looking at it w/a sector editor trying to cheat :) when I saw references to a COPY PROGRAM embedded on the original. If that isn't asking for it, I don't know what is. I think Planet Miners (Avalon Hill) also had COPYA embedded on it too. Cool game, insanely original, a little slow (easily fixed nowdays). -Original Message- From: Lee K. Seitz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 9:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Buy 1 get 2 Jim Leonard spake thusly into the ether: Adam Baratz wrote: (Remember The Bilestoad?) No... please explain... The Bilestoad was an awesome Apple II game that was way ahead of it's time in terms of graphics, coding, and concept. You control a cyber knight as he battles with another knight. The weapon is a battle axe, and as you fight you can lose an arm, there is copious amounts of blood, etc. You also had a shield on the other arm, which you could also lose. In fact, you could even be decapitated, which meant of course that you lost. (Whereas you could run around without an arm, sometimes even two.) Here's some more Marc Goodman quotes from Halcyon Days, if you're curious: And some additional notes for Adam. First, Halcyon Days is now online in its entirety. You can find it at . . . well, the Dadgum server doesn't seem to be responding. When it comes back up, start at http://www.dadgum.com/giantlist and you can find a link from there. Also, Mr. Goodman is working on a new version of Bilestoad for the Mac. You can find more info at http://www.continuumsi.com/~marc/bilestoad.html. -- Lee K. Seitz * [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find?
Too anal? Certainly not for me, and I doubt for most people here... I didn't want to blab/stray off-topic or I'd go off for 50 pages. I image all the floppies (either normalize them or make nibble images) copy them over a string of computers and burn the images on CD for use on an emulator. The same images can be used to create real Apple disk images in the future if I want to play them on a real Apple. I hunt originals because I want to preserve as much of the original (no crack screens, etc.) as possible. Mega off-topic: There are emulators for PDA's... so where are the joysticks? Who wants to abuse the integrated buttons for those things, anyway? :) I guess its called the external keyboard. Sigh. Back on topic: Add Rescue Raiders to the list of gems. I never thought I'd get that, let alone a Demo copy (used the cheat keys/level skip keys... all the levels are intact. Demo copies of some titles are incomplete, some are full copies w/a DEMO sticker on them. This seems to be the latter.) Had the original receipt and some Sir-Tech dealer promo letter in there too. Cool. -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:ceforman;earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 10:36 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? Both sets have at least one error-free set of disks (why collect if you can't play)? I've been thinking about this... and wouldn't it be safer to play off backup copies? I mean, the disk could get munched in the drive, the label could get scratched going in and out... or is that attitude too anal for the rest of this group? B-) -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find?
Apple EA: I keep the stuff sorted by publisher, so I could certainly write up a list. I should clarify that its to the best of my knowledge (37 titles is what it looks like). I never had an official catalog of all published titles, but I'm 99% certain I have the kitchen sink. I've trolled archives, newsgroups, old mags, etc. to find names Most I paid for a game was what we'll call major oops. New to ebay, had only actively started collecting for a few months, I put in a safety bid to keep snipers away and someone apparently did the same. So for a shrinkwrapped copy of Starflight I coughed up $250 bucks. I learned two valuable lessions that day and in the coming months: 1) Only bid what you're actually willing to pay 2) In almost every case, no matter how uncommon, there's a high probability that once a title appears, additional copies will appear shortly thereafter. Needless to say the title, while highly prized, can be had for much less. CF had described many moons ago how new collectors skew fair value for titles by doing stuff like this. -Original Message- From: Hugh Falk [mailto:hughfalk;mindspring.com] Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 12:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? Thanks for the minor deity status! I'd actually like to see what the complete EA Apple II catalog looks like. Do you have a list you could send me? Also, does that include IIgs? That reminds me of another good poll for you guys. I mentioned some of the best games I got for free. But I'd be curious...what is the most you paid for a single game? I don't want to know about a group of games...just one game. For me it was Caverns of Callisto (NM), which I paid $111.38 on ebay. Considering I was looking for at least a couple of years, and this was the first one I saw, I'm surprised it didn't go for more. (April of this year). It's possible I've paid more for a single game in the past, but I don't think so (I might be repressing a horrible memory). Hugh -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:junk6;bellatlantic.net] Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 7:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? I spent about 22+ months tracking down every last EA title (complete) made for the Apple ][ (flat, box, game, utility, app, etc.) Of those by far the most satisfying to find: Marble Madness, Realm of Impossibility, One-on-One, Arctic Fox, Adventure Construction Set. Hugh is a tiny god for providing the EA Flatpack reference online :) I have all the Apple ][ Origin titles complete (except Caverns of Callisto, which I missed for $5 on a newsgroup last year). These two sets are by far my most valued, though there are buckets more that I prize as well (mostly RPG's). Both sets have at least one error-free set of disks (why collect if you can't play)? -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find?
Grrr... I stumbled on a complete VG/NM (somewhere in there) copy of Caverns for the Atari this year, but the Apple version keeps slipping away from me. As before, I'm trying to make disk images off the originals so I can play them in 20 years (or next weekend. Whatever.) The disks have lasted this long. Based on no scientific data whatsoever, I'd say 30 years (2x the max shelf life) is probably the most a disk can be expected to last w/o any special care. Origin apparently had an internal movement at one point to re-release all the classics (for the PC at least). I recall a newsgroup article by an employee at one point (or so they said) that they were going to remove the protection, redo the manual (probably as a PDF) and publish all the goods you can't find anymore (a la Lost Treasures of Infocom), but for free (download). The first one was supposed to be Auto Duel, but the idea was shot down (no suit likes to give away intellectual property for free and all). And for Auto Duel I'm sure SJG (Steve Jackson Games) might have something to say about that too. So, any of you coveted Apple Caverns owners want to let me borrow it for a week? :) (Raucous laughter subsides). Didn't think so. John: swamped w/Wasteland folders yet? -Original Message- From: John Romero [mailto:john;monkeystone.com] Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 1:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? I have all the Apple ][ Origin titles complete (except Caverns of Callisto, which I missed for $5 on a newsgroup last year). These two sets are by far my most valued, though there are buckets more that I prize as well (mostly RPG's). Whoa, nice collection! I also love collecting Origin titles; they were one of my favorite game companies (which is also why I loved working for them in the 80's!) I have a mint Caverns of Callisto...heh... ;) - John -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:junk6;bellatlantic.net] Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 9:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? I spent about 22+ months tracking down every last EA title (complete) made for the Apple ][ (flat, box, game, utility, app, etc.) Of those by far the most satisfying to find: Marble Madness, Realm of Impossibility, One-on-One, Arctic Fox, Adventure Construction Set. Hugh is a tiny god for providing the EA Flatpack reference online :) I have all the Apple ][ Origin titles complete (except Caverns of Callisto, which I missed for $5 on a newsgroup last year). These two sets are by far my most valued, though there are buckets more that I prize as well (mostly RPG's). Both sets have at least one error-free set of disks (why collect if you can't play)? -Original Message- From: Edward Franks [mailto:xyzzy;kc.rr.com] Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 10:22 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? On Sunday, November 10, 2002, at 12:45 AM, Hugh Falk wrote: [snip] I'm also proud of my complete collection of EA flat box games...not that they're rare or expensive. I just haven't seen another complete set...anybody on this list collect EA flats? The EA game I have are the common Bards Tale and Wasteland ones. Color me a classic RPGer. :) To expand on your point about not particularly rare or expensive games, I collect the old Avalon Hill computer games. They had some nifty hybrids (computer game with mounted map board and counters) and a messy listing of games. Trying to figure out what games are out there and then finding them is the fun for me. -- Edward Franks [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail- [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail- [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you
RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find?
BTW I have all 89 issues of Computist + the four errata issues. The Super IOB images are on Asimov. Mail me if you're interested in any sort of info, etc. I'm not great, but I've normalized a good stack that weren't in any of those issues. John, if you don't mind yet another question your way... classic game copy protection is one of those perverse fascinations of mine. Some of them (Nassir's 4+4 encoded, spiral quarter-tracked, self-modifying loader-that-sits-on-video-memory with a nibble-count mess) were just unreal. Mercifully, most schemes were home-grown almost-DOS 3.3 variants. When writing games that integrated with copy protection, what considerations did you have to make? Was development done w/the protection in mind, or was it normal file-based code until it was ready for commercial release? -Original Message- From: Edward Franks [mailto:xyzzy;kc.rr.com] Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 2:07 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? On Sunday, November 10, 2002, at 09:36 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: [Snip] I've been thinking about this... and wouldn't it be safer to play off backup copies? I mean, the disk could get munched in the drive, the label could get scratched going in and out... or is that attitude too anal for the rest of this group? B-) If you can make backup copies. Grrr. Magazines like The Computist can be invaluable if you just want to make your legal backups. -- Edward Franks [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect;oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find?
Awesome info. That's the sort of thing I wanted to know can't find anywhere. Thanks. I read this article a while ago... http://sch57.msk.ru:8100/~khim/hackers/part3/chapter19.html which describes the Ken Williams/Mark Duchaineau thing from at least 1 person's perspective. Unbelievable. (This is the TOC: http://sch57.msk.ru:8100/~khim/hackers/toc.html) Reading too much stuff like this makes you realize how little you've accomplished in life. Seems like everyone who's someone had already established themselves by age 20 (don't even start about Ray Tobey). A few messages back you'd said you'd written 50 or so games by age 20? One of Tom Leher's (has a compilation on Amazon) lines was something like By the time Bethooven was my age, he had already been dead for 2 years Sigh. Are there any old foggies out there (game developers who didn't start coding when they were 10)? -Original Message- From: John Romero [mailto:john;monkeystone.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 1:41 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? Back then, most games filled up all available memory and rarely ever did they have to load from disk, so most games back then were NOT keeping protection in mind. It was a very easy thing to tack on, though, because what would usually happen is the guy in charge of protection would get the game file, then break that up into various pieces himself and write a bootstrap loader that loaded a chunk of game in at a time, then loaded a chunk of loader for the next piece, then executed the loader chunk to load the next piece, etc. Usually they would only have a 256-byte loader (trk 0, sector 0) that would load in the first loader, which was usually the place where they pulled various tricks to hide the loader code. Sometimes they would load in a piece of code that loaded in at the end of the stack ($100+), over the input buffer ($200+) then when it was done do an RTS which would go to the address that was stored at $1FE-1FF, which ended up being the start of the next loader chunk... It was pretty crazy. I believe Tom McWilliams did most of Sirius' copy protection and he used the little ship graphic from Gorgon while loading the rest of the game.it definitely made it look like Nasir did the protection himself, but I don't think he did. I could definitely verify this for a fact if you need to know. BTW, did you know that Ultima II's release was held up because Mark Duchaineau didn't want to protect it with his normal code (he wanted to use his new SpiraTrack scheme) and Sierra was *locked* in to using his protection code.??? - John -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:junk6;bellatlantic.net] Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 10:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? BTW I have all 89 issues of Computist + the four errata issues. The Super IOB images are on Asimov. Mail me if you're interested in any sort of info, etc. I'm not great, but I've normalized a good stack that weren't in any of those issues. John, if you don't mind yet another question your way... classic game copy protection is one of those perverse fascinations of mine. Some of them (Nassir's 4+4 encoded, spiral quarter-tracked, self-modifying loader-that-sits-on-video-memory with a nibble-count mess) were just unreal. Mercifully, most schemes were home-grown almost-DOS 3.3 variants. When writing games that integrated with copy protection, what considerations did you have to make? Was development done w/the protection in mind, or was it normal file-based code until it was ready for commercial release? -Original Message- From: Edward Franks [mailto:xyzzy;kc.rr.com] Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 2:07 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] [ SWCollect ] What's your favorite find? On Sunday, November 10, 2002, at 09:36 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: [Snip] I've been thinking about this... and wouldn't it be safer to play off backup copies? I mean, the disk could get munched in the drive, the label could get scratched going in and out... or is that attitude too anal for the rest of this group? B-) If you can make backup copies. Grrr. Magazines like The Computist can be invaluable if you just want to make your legal backups. -- Edward Franks [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail- [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently
[SWCollect] Phantasie II
Anyone got an idea what the original box contents were? Of the few that I've seen, the manual says Phantasie I II on it. If anyone has it handy, can you enumerate what originally came with it? Thanks. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] Phantasie II
Many thanks. Not sure what gives that Phantasie II comes with what looks like a re-issue or value pack manual. I read somewhere that its almost suicide to play Phantasie II w/green characters, and that its strongly recommended to transfer veteran Phantasie I chars. If PII is a continuation of PI perhaps the manuals are the same for both games so they labeled it accordingly. -Original Message- From: Alexander Zoller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2002 7:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Phantasie II Probably incomplete, there should be some kind of reference card also. It's the only copy I had though. /Alexander -Ursprungliche Nachricht- Von: Dan Chisarick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Gesendet: Saturday, November 30, 2002 11:53 PM An: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Betreff: [SWCollect] Phantasie II Anyone got an idea what the original box contents were? Of the few that I've seen, the manual says Phantasie I II on it. If anyone has it handy, can you enumerate what originally came with it? Thanks. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] Micro League Baseball
Really? I found a shrinkwrapped John Madden Football (but for the C64) for $3 a little over a year ago on a clearance rack. Couldn't sell it for $5. Are you referencing a particular platform? -Original Message- From: Hugh Falk [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 10:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Micro League Baseball I've found Micro League baseball to be very common ( have about 6 for various platforms), but Micro League Baseball II is relatively rare...that might have something to do with the price (but I'd never pay near that much for it). I've found the original John Madden Football (from 88/89) to fetch a decent price as well (but not nearly that much). Hugh -Original Message- From: Jim Leonard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2002 12:29 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Micro League Baseball C.E. Forman wrote: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=4315item=1940428 873 You guys notice this one? Unbe-freakin'-lieveable. This is the only sports game I've ever seen that's fetched a good collector's price, wonder what's so special about it? I know I've gotten a lot of Shoppe requests for Micro League. The Micro League series was a hit (no pun intended) in the early days because they were pure statistical simulations -- like fantasy football but for more than just football -- and they were very thorough. The baseball series in particular was updated by several yearly update disks with complete team rosters. It was a mandatory thing to own if you were a baseball fan and used computers, kind of like how XOR Corporation's NFL Challenge was a mandatory software title for anyone into fantasy football. Useless detective work: The seller uses webtv, so he's probably an older retired guy getting around to selling his stuff. The buyers were half new, half experienced. Based on their previous purchases, they are all sports fans primarily and computer users secondary (more likely, a distant third :). Maybe that helps understand the high price -- some baseball fan out there was a big fan of (some team) in (some year) and wanted to simulate fantasy baseball using something universally known to do it well. (I knew those psychology classes would come in handy :) -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? Drop by http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.demodvd.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] Warez version of Masterpieces?
Yeah, but he pays for shipping. How bad can it be? Not as bad as this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=1940100411 I e-mailed the guy. No disk, no box, no manual. He'll e-mail you a file (that he downloaded from the Internet I'm sure). How can a file be in great condition? What would it be like if it was in fair condition? (eyes roll) -Original Message- From: Marco Thorek [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 10:25 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Warez version of Masterpieces? C.E. Forman schrieb: as well as a graphic of what the original box looked like Not to mention it has Zork: The Undiscovered Underground, which was only available as a free download from Activision's site, never included in any commercially released collection. I notice he only got one bid, whereas a genuine Masterpieces (even just a CD and jewel case) fetches at least $40 - $50. And he's at it again: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=1922980973 Infidel -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] Some people push it...
Title: Message Yeah, that is pretty bad. He cites in his description "this is an extremely rare game". Anyone who has anything that is truely desirable typically starts the bidding under $10 knowing that hordes will jump all over it. To change the change of topic slightly, anyone got some nominations for anthologies that really are worth having? I'd toss my personal favorite "First Ultima Trilogy" (for the Apple no less) into the ring (and after hunting for it forever I've seen no less than 5 on ebay after getting one). My reason, aside from being an Ultima/Origin person, is that Ultima II is branded "Origin" instead of "Sierra". That gives it value (to me). One more bit... I can't help but be annoyed at the "collector's editions" of games over the years. Collecting package variants, promo items, author's signatures, etc. of classic goodies made it a fairly personal experience. Now with "numbered limited editions" of too many major titles (Age of Mythology, Return to Castle Wolfenstien, Neverwinter Nights, Jedi Knight II off the top of my head) it seems to take the satisfaction out of it. Warcraft III takes the cake (Gift box edition, collectors edition, four different package variants for two sets of box sizes). Purely for exploiting their fans (IMHO). Now THAT'S greed. -Original Message-From: MASTER [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Pedro QuaresmaSent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 8:12 AMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: [SWCollect] Some people push it...Sorry for being a tad off topic, but couldn't avoid mentioning this. I think some people do push their greed too far? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3000880366category=11050 Yup that's right. A Quest for Glory Collection for $149 with a BIN of $160. And I wouldn't be too surprised if someone'd buy it...--Pedro R. QuaresmaSalvador Caetano IMVTDiv. Sistemas de Informação / Systems and Information DivisionAdministração e Desenvolvimento Lotus Notes / Lotus Notes Admnistration and Development[EMAIL PROTECTED] // +351 22 7867000 (ext. 3492)"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." - Albert EinsteinToyotaShopping - A sua Loja Toyota Onlinehttp://www.toyota.pt
RE: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE!
I had a pipe burst above one of my boxes of games once. They were spared because of some cheap loose-fitting bags sealed with a single piece of tape. Breathable but servicable too. Certainly one can't expect plastic boxes to protect them from everything, but I strongly agree with the 'strategically placed' comment. Perhaps just on one side? -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 9:31 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Agreed, but strategically-placed holes to allow a minimum of dust to get inside. - Original Message - From: Hugh Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 12:49 PM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Would this plastic case idea work if they simply had small vent holes in them? I'm most interested in them to prevent crushing during movement and damage from touching (or biting in the case of my dog or son). Hugh -Original Message- From: Alexander Zoeller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 10:23 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Agree on the air circulation issue - covering games in plastic for a longer period *may* prove fatal depending on the humidity you enshrine with them. Make sure to puncture ziplocs if you plan to store games in them for several years. As for the plastic cases I would order 100 or so if they were in the $1.50 range, more if they were cheaper. I don't quite care about the size, the bigger the are, the larger the range of games I could put in them :) I'd highly prefer ordering custom-sized cases though (i.e. something that snugly fits a specific box type so the package won't rattle around inside). Perhaps we could ask other collectors outside this mailing list and see if we can commission a larger quantity. I'm in dire need of at least 200 cases for the classic OSI boxes. Won't be able to attend a meeting although I'd certainly love to. /Alexander -Original Message- From: Marco Thorek [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 6:32 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Origin Museum schrieb: 1. C.E. and I got into a long discussion on how we store our collections. We agreed that plastic baggies were a 'short-term' solution, and tried to think up another (better) way to preserve our software for the long haul. We agreed on the idea that if we could find some sort of inexpensive, clear, plastic box of the clamshell variety, that would be ideal. I searched the net for anything that would match that description, but came up empty. We thought that if we could have a custom box made to a sof tware collector's exacting specifications, we may be able to have a plastics manufacturer actually create our 'software collector's box in a limited run! So, here are the questions: I already ventured into the idea of preservation some time last year and read some articles on how libraries and antiquaries preserve books. From what I read putting the boxes, which basically are cardboard and paper, into plastic boxes might prove fatal. According to the Library of Congress air circulation should be present: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/presfaq.html If you'd want to pay $1.50 for a plastic shell and order an amount of 1000, you'd might in the long run be better off to invest the money into a humidity and temperature controller, provided you have an extra room for your collection. 2. C.E. and I also spoke of the possibility of a software collector's 'meet and greet' at an agreed upon event. We could get together to swap stories, share a meal, and perhaps even bring along some of our prized collectibles to show to each other! The Philly Classic in Philadelphia this March, or Dragon*Con in Atlanta this August could be possible locations. I assume that some of you would be interested in seeing the Museum's original Akalabeth, or our genuine Wing Commander Kilrathi head! If we c ould make this happen, we could all at least go home with a ROMERO autograph (for a nomial fee, perhaps?) ;) Please let me hear some ideas on locations, dates, and enthusiasms for an idea like this. Would YOU attend? I'd love to attend, but I'm in Germany, which is a little far off for the occasion. Marco -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because
RE: [SWCollect] Chris Foreman's Gay Pride Shrine
Well the link is there but the actual offensive picture seems to have disappeared. I printed the auction out to a PDF file w/the aforementioned picture just in case someone needs some backup reporting this guy, if they haven't already. Speaking of pictures, if no one wanted their pic posted anywhere previously, this doesn't really help matters much. -Original Message- From: Jim Leonard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 1:20 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Chris Foreman's Gay Pride Shrine This is ludicrous. I don't have any spare time right now unfortunately, but someone please tell me that they've reported this to Ebay and gotten this guy's account shut down. Stuart Feldhamer wrote: Maybe you guys all noticed this part of the auction before, but I sure didn't... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3004111440category =4315 He's got an image from the YOIS vault, and some (presumably gay) porn on the monitor. This is a new low for Ebay... Stuart -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE!
Since everyone else is sharing... (ages, pictures, e-mail addresses, what next?) http://homepage.mac.com/chisarickd/dan.jpg -Original Message- From: Alexander Zöller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 8:09 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Same here, left for a few days and BAM! 120+ new messages :) Anyway, here's a recent pic of mine: http://uw3.de/me.jpg /Alexander -Original Message- From: Stephen S. Lee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2003 12:58 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! I go away for a week and this mailing EXPLODES! Sheesh :) Anyway, I'm 29. I'd tell you how many months but no one else seems to be either, so there :) Referring to another discussion: I also own an Ultima II large box. In fact, I don't have either of the other two package types available for IBM at all -- this is the only U2 solo I have at all. Some idiot put this up with a Buy It Now! of $25. Who was I to turn that down? It had even been up for like four hours when I nailed it, too. The box is in rough shape, unfortunately, so it's not worth the full $200 or so, but it's still one of my great prizes. -- Stephen On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Pedro Quaresma wrote: Actually the nestling must probably be Alexander. If I'm not mistaken he's 24. Dan is 28 IIRC, and John Romero is 35 (he's the only list member whose data we can find on the web ;) ) Alexander - 24 Steve - 25 Stefan - 26 Pedro - 26 Stuart - 27 C.E. - 28 Dan - 28 John R. - 35 Chris N. - 36 Joe - 38 (Average so far is 29.3 -- do notice the lack of any members in the 28-35 range ) Who's not on the above list, start talking ;) Tom? Jim? Edward? -- Pedro R. Quaresma Salvador Caetano IMVT Div. Sistemas de Informação / Systems and Information Division Administração e Desenvolvimento Lotus Notes / Lotus Notes Admnistration and Development [EMAIL PROTECTED] // +351 22 7867000 (ext. 3492) It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein Para: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A/C: Ref: cc: Assunto: Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE! Marco Thorek [EMAIL PROTECTED] 28-01-2003 18:36 Solicita-se resposta a swcollect Damn, and I thought I was the youngest at 30 :-) But I'd say we roughly all belong to the same generation, born between 1965 and 1975. You are the nestling, Stephen ;-) Marco Stephen Emond schrieb: I'm probably one of the youngest at 25... -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ ToyotaShopping - A sua Loja Toyota Online http://www.toyota.pt -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
RE: [SWCollect] Software collecting videos
$15 is reasonable. -Original Message- From: Jim Leonard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 3:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Software collecting videos Here's another quick question: Assuming I create a DVD of all these various videos, both VHS and (remastered) CDROM, what would you all be willing to pay for it? Or would it not be worth paying for? Me personally, I'd pay about $15 if someone did this and sold it. -- http://www.MobyGames.com/ The world's most comprehensive gaming database project. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Greetings
A few questions about InfoDOS... - I'm assuming it was written from scratch. What did it have that DOS/ProDOS didn't? Smaller footprint, faster, no Apple royalties :)? - How long did it take to write? - Last, were you pretty much on your own writing it (here's a buncha requirements, get us something in X weeks) or more interactive? The company I work for is big on processes (more than I'd prefer at times). You can't change a 3 to a 4 for a bug fix without notifying 10 people and spending an hour filling out forms. Sigh. On Sunday, February 9, 2003, at 01:54 AM, John Romero wrote: Ah, my fault. I forgot some of my Apple ][ history. I had forgotten how easy it for people to write their own OSes for the A2. Did you do anything different for the IIGS or was InfoDOS just targeted to the II+/e/c Apples? I never worked with the IIGS so I'm curious if much game development was done for or on the IIGS itself. I never did any //gs games...neither did many other people as the Apple II had started to wane in 1986... So, InfoDOS was really only for the II+/e/c series. - John -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
[SWCollect] Platform
Guess what platform its really for: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=3561item=3008682923rd=1 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] The Origin Museum is in DANGER!
Joe, That's a pretty gut-wrenching visual. I'm glad you saved the most prized items, and hope you can minimize any further damage. After reading your post I was wondering if dehumidifiers and silica gel packs (the do not eat packs in aspirin bottles and such) would help, but it sounds like you're doing the best you can. Keep us posted. Dan On Saturday, February 22, 2003, at 05:09 PM, Origin Museum wrote: Hello All! It is with a sad heart that I write this. After sustaining a major snowstorm here in the Washington D.C. area, The aftermath today of torrential rains and high temeratures have flooded The Origin Museum. The software has been saved from direct water damage, but the risk of future mildew is high. The continuing flow of water has completely soaked about half the carpets in the Museum, and there is no immediate end in sight. I sit here in the only dry corner of the museum, taking a break from my vigilant shop-vac duties. I am resolute in my efforts, but the contents of my basement (duplicates) and our beautiful Berber (read-extremly expensive) carpets are all but destroyed. We DID manage to save the Akalabeths (and many other irreplaceable artifacts)from certain doom, when I managed to lift the 150 pound safe off of the floor, with the water almost up to the door! Other neighbors didn't fare as well. Next door's basement is under 1 foot of water, and is still flowing in thru the door and windows. His entire lower level (that he just refinished last summer) is gone. I will continue my efforts thru the night, and hope that you will all give us your well wishes. --The Museum is safe, but my basement (and my self) are soaked with sadness. ...Preserving Worlds... Joe Garity Curator of The Origin Museum - Express yourself with a super cool email address from BigMailBox.com. Hundreds of choices. It's free! http://www.bigmailbox.com - -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Museum....Out of Danger?
I had a pipe burst over one of my boxes. Several books took the hit. Sadly one was the hint guide for the Ultima Collection (go figure). That was the full extent of the damage. Even though the books were soaked like they were tossed in the shower, no mildew formed on them (though they were stained as a result). Of course I run two humidifiers constantly in the summer (which is when it happened). Anyway, while I'm no expert, this is the first URL I hit on Google. Seems reasonable. http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/current/C767.html Dan On Sunday, February 23, 2003, at 10:19 PM, Origin Museum wrote: Hi guys. Thanks for the notes of good will and positiveness! The flood waters have receded (for now), and as long as we don't get any more rain for a few days, the water table will not be saturated enough to have this happen again. I need to contact my homeowners insurance people to see if water damage is covered. I heard that new policies (like mine) may *NOT* cover flood by default (a result of the Mississippi delta floods)--with such a hit to their companies, I heard a rumor that they now give minor flood insurance as an added option only! (wish me luck!) Not a drop of water has touched any of the software or artfacts (except for my sealed collection of UO2 figures--I'm afraid to look--two of every figure--ugh!--AND some minor doubles), but I want to replace (or remove) the carpets as soon as possible--I'm worried about mildew. The water seemed clean and clear (for the most part), so it doesn't seem as though the cardboard fibres had the potential to attract any more moisture than if they were near, say, a bathroom. Does anyone know anything about mildew? If water does not touch an item, is there still a chance for mildew to occur? Could the entire collection be in danger, even tho it was 5 feet from any water?? (thanks to the overnight bailing efforts of myself, and my wife.) I want to be sure that I am taking ALL necessary precautions to prevent any possible damage. I seem to recall someone saying that they had a water leak on/near their collection--was there any mildew damage? Please give me your suggestions--my collection's future may depend on it. ...Preserving Worlds... Joe Garrity Curator of The Origin Museum - Express yourself with a super cool email address from BigMailBox.com. Hundreds of choices. It's free! http://www.bigmailbox.com - -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Shareware collection
While I don't have any shareware in my collection (OK, I have the pile of DOOM levels but that's it) you do raise an interesting point. Some commercial games have been re-released as shareware (most notably through magazines that had optional disk subscriptions and certain computer clubs). Just one more variant for the obsessed. Hmm, there's also that stack of OMEGA tanks and maps, so I guess I have some. On Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 06:07 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Same here. I have a few adventure shareware CD-ROMs that look commercial, and some 3.5 floppy disks in paperboard pouches (Jungle of Doom, the Hugo series, etc). - Original Message - From: Hugh Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 2:49 PM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Shareware collection The only shareware I actually pick up are the published versions of shareware games (you could get these in stores). Like all of the Apogee/id stuff published by Wiz technology. Hugh -Original Message- From: Lee K. Seitz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 8:44 AM To: Software Collecting Subject: [SWCollect] Shareware collection Okay, you've all got shelves and shelves full of boxed games and such. What about shareware? Do you have CD-Rs full of zip files? What about those oh-so-prevalent disks published by people hoping to make a quick buck by providing the service of making shareware available in retail outlets? (You remember. Back before most people had heard of the Internet.) What about custom-made add-ons for commercial games? (All those homebrew Doom levels and such.) I tend to stay behind the curve on what's popular in games, so I sometimes download stuff that I know I won't play until no one else is playing any more. I'm just curious because I need to start my own project of copying these floppy disks that are cluttering up the place to CD. (These are mostly disks I created myself from BBS and Internet downloads. Remember the WU Archive FTP site?) Also, I recently came across a message I posted to Usenet some years ago. It mentioned a playable demo of Empire Deluxe. I don't recall ever successfully finding such a thing. Anybody happen to have a copy, just to satisfy my curiosity? -- Lee K. Seitz [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Surprised
For no particular reason I stopped in the local Game Stop. I've been grabbing all the fullsize Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale titles (and their add-ons) for $10-20 each lately. 6 down, 2 to go. Anyway, guy behind the counter, couldn't have been more than... 19. I mention something about the fullsize boxes and what a scam the re-release packaging is (no printed docs being the worst). He mentions how he has games from (some number of years ago). I said I had a few from '79. Imagine my surprise when he said his favorite game of all time is Wasteland. He was talking about wanting to write to Brian Fargo about making a real sequel to that (none of this Fallout or even Fountain of Dreams). I was quite surprised. He was at best in Kindergarden when Wasteland was released. He grabbed images of it from the Internet and played it on an emulator. Beat it several times. I was jealous (any may be loading it up again in the very near future). On an unrelated note, I saw someone with a Firaxis e-mail (or at least had @Firaxis.com) as part of his ebay ID bidding on SSI games. Hobby or research not known (but I hope its both). What I wouldn't give to see the big box SSI designers make something (of similar depth) today. Open the box of a game along the lines of Torpedo Fire and out pops a CD and a protractor for computing firing solutions :) -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Housecleaning
Yeah, the originals that I got my hands on when they were current and not collectors items definitely have the most value to me. The funny thing is, I remember what I was doing, where I bought it from, and other events surrounding acquiring these. I don't even remember what I had for breakfast these days. I remember getting Ultima IV as an xmas present. Flying over to the locked glass case, my father gestured towards the salesperson who handed me the box I held in absolute fascination for at least 20 minutes. Wings of Fury and Captain Goodnight I ordered from a catalog. When an EB first showed up I where I grew up, they had Apple II titles on the shelf, and that's where I got the Apple ][ version of Pirates (and the IIgs version eventually, which I had signed by Sid Mier). As PC titles started to gain in popularity I remember bartering my knowledge w/the local manager at a game store, scoring Microprose titles for his personal discount of $20/each (only allowed 1 copy of each, but he never played them so I got them). Not all memories are so enjoyable. I remember buying Ultima II for $40 (small box) at a department store. The title disappeared, but I found the galactic map a few years ago, all that remained of a title I really wish I'd still had. For reasons that defy sanity, I WROTE on my Ultima IV map (boo, hiss, etc.). Still have it as a monument to not thinking. But perhaps one of the best is writing off a title as lost only to find it at the very bottom of a really old box, and in great shape despite being covered (Windwalker). Joe had a fine post a few back about how the props pull you into the story (put the saucer on your head cracks me up). Certainly it ignites the imagination, but I'd take it one step farther in that it integrates itself into your being. I remember what I was doing 15-20 odd years ago because of what I was doing (playing what we now consider 'classic' games). While I worship at the RPG shrine, and pay tribute to strategy games (just got SSI's Six Gun Shootout, which I am going up to my parents this weekend JUST to image that :) I drool over thinking about combining certain classic games. M1 Tank Platoon and F-117 into an extended campaign. Pirates! and Swashbucker :) (too obvious but so what). And just about any RPG w/any SSI strategy game. To have fewer encounters but have to spend about 20 minutes on each engagement. Oh yes. Sure Darklands does a good job of that, and I still think about XCOM and Jagged Alliance, I'm sure there are much, much better combinations of 2 or 3 games that would make the ultimate game (I'm eager to hear others). Sigh. Oh yeah, speaking of combining classics, anyone going to see Freddy vs. Jason? :) On Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 07:33 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: Feldhamer, Stuart schrieb: You're dating yourself also, Jim. Now I'm curious how old you are exactly. : ) Some of my most prized gaming posessions are those that survived from when I was a kid, even if they may not be in the best shape. I have a Seastalker folio that my parents wanted to throw out when we moved, but I insisted on saving it. A few years ago when I started collecting in earnest, I raided all the boxes to find it. (I KNOW it's in here somewhere!). I also have a few other things, but sadly, my Dad's Starcross saucer was stolen not too long ago. (Doesn't that sound weird? Commissioner! The hope diamond has been stolen! And that's not all! A Starcross saucer! A Starcross saucer??? Good lord! Alert the mayor!) There was also a lot of stuff which I DIDN'T insist on saving when we moved. Oh well. : ( Oh, I can share that sentiment... One of my most prized possessions is the very first Infocom game I bought: a used copy of Moonmist, whose box back then was already tending more into the undesirable direction. I have one Moonmist box that is perfect, but still, I'd never sell that old, beaten up box. Same goes for all the other games I was given or bought myself when I was a child: Sublogic's Flight Simulator II, Firebird's Elite, etc. I guess that's what has driven me to software collecting in the first place - I can associate a memory with these old boxes and games. Marco -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Paypal protection plan
My $0.02... I can't help but noticed that a lot of the auctions I've won lately don't take PayPal. I use BidPay in those cases (whose fees are a little stiff at times but checks are for all intents and purposes like cash. BidPay gives me proof of payment sent so its worth the extra $1 to me). I've also noticed that the auctions that don't take PayPal I tend to win for less than I expected. PayPal's integration w/Ebay is pretty addictive, but my totally unscientific opinion is that that integration has a direct impact on who's willing to bid. As for refusing payment to PayPal, that's probably not the fight you want to take, at least not head-on. In an instant they smash your credit rating, then you have to pay fees plus the amount in dispute to restore it. Businesses constantly check your history (but of course consumers rarely check a business's rating w/the BBB or similar so bashing a business has little effect). Talk about getting the shaft, I'm leaving my apartment (rent keeps going up for no particularly good reason). I have to notify them within 60 days of the lease termination or pay a full month's rent penalty (and of course that month is calculated at the ANNUAL INCREASE RATE that starts the next cycle, not the one you just left). Of course I didn't give 60 days notice (45 days). Despite my extending the lease 60 more days to move to a new place (giving them 90 days to find a new tenant), they're still sticking that to me for 1 month's rent as a penalty for not handing in the form on time. Of course there are reams of contract that I signed to live there that says I agree to pay. The fee is totally outrageous. It should be illegal. But failure to pay brings down a whole world of pain, plus I'll still have to pay the amount outstanding. Refusing to pay is clearly not the move I plan to make (idiot me should have just submitted the form on time). Its just like missing one credit card payment and watching your interest rate go from 8.99% to %25 (no that didn't happen to me). Of course, they also ask nicely to keep the apartment as clean as possible so they can show it to future tenants. Yeah, I'm all over that one. And tape up my late fee notice on the entrance door just so I don't forget to pay it. With wallpaper glue. Parting note, as I log onto PayPal, I get more insta-spam from them, including this blurb: PayPal works hard to protect you When you send a money order, it's a lot like putting cash in an envelope - you may have no recourse if the payment is lost or stolen. That's why fraudulent sellers often prefer money orders. In contrast, PayPal provides protections like the Buyer Complaint Process and the Money Back Guarantee. When you buy on eBay, why use a check or money order? Trust PayPal - the fast, easy, and secure way to pay on eBay. Dan On Friday, August 8, 2003, at 10:31 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 08/08/2003 9:14:52 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I hope this strategy doesn't backfire on me... It's rough Stuart :( Bidpay is really good for ccard payments if buyer does not mind using them. I don't know what to do myself, the payment I got WAS a bank account transfer and it still didn't do me any good. But you are correct, much more difficult to reverse a bank transfer. Tom Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page
Re: [SWCollect] Ebay trader experiences
I've purchased items directly from their website, and from ebay and have generally been satisfied. My only complaint was that once I tried buying a game from their site (Legend of Blacksilver I believe) and got no response for days. Suddenly I see it listed on ebay a week or two later. I complained about the lack of response and got a reply something along the lines of I've been ill lately. Too ill to reply but not ill enough to list games on ebay it seems. Again, generally satisfied, and never really got shafted by them. As for the 2nd chance (you lose the auction but they offer you another copy for your max bid) that has been offered to me once or twice by different sellers, usually ones I've done previous business with. It can be argued either way if it benefits the seller or the buyer (damn market volatility and all) but generally I see it as a kind gesture. Haggling appears to have been taken as an insult in this case. A possible way to offset the small premium paid on such a deal is to ask if they have anything else you may be interested in, and negotiate on those. Also note that one of the worst ebay scams in history was where someone was selling collectable miniatures or something, took the winner's money, made a 2nd chance offer to the 2nd and 3rd place bidders, took *their* money, and split town. On Sunday, August 31, 2003, at 10:23 AM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: Ahoy mates! Just curious about a certain trader on Ebay who seems to be alot into vintage games, with over a 1000 feedbacks. The traders Ebay name and mailadress is [EMAIL PROTECTED] And I was just wondering if any of you have had any experiences with him/her/them.. and if so, what they are? The reason I ask.. well, I won a few of their auctions, including a high prized SSI one. I was outbid on one however, but was approached later by them asking if I wanted to pay my highest bid for another copy they had. My highest bid was more than double the listed starting price so I asked if we could come an agreement with would mean a 7$(from 32$ to 25$) cut in my offer. Listing price was 15$ so I thought that was a fair offer. No risks for them, no time waiting, and no ebay fees. I got a very short and rude reply. Surely more than one of you guys have dealt with them before.. what have your experiences been? /Stefan, wearing out the hangover in front of comp
[SWCollect] Doriath
Anyone ever hear of a game for the C64 called Doriath? I think it was published by Virgin. I found an image of it long ago, but I've never seen a copy for sale anywhere. I used to play it for hours (despite it being one of those super-annoying start from the beginning/one life/no save sort of games). -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Copyright confusion clarified
Good article. Grey areas I'd have to wonder about: - I'm a non-technical user who wants to backup my Commodore 64 copy of M.U.L.E. According to this I have a legal right to do so. However, I'm technically incapable of doing so on my own. This law says I have a right, but is it legal for (Joe Hacker) to publish information on how to accomplish this (so that I can make my legal backup)? - Nearly all schemes to defeat copy protection require some degree of reverse engineering. For some sufficiently integrated copy protection schemes, just who decides how much I can reverse engineer the code in order to accomplish this? - Say that someone decided to release a fully-functional Atari 2600 reissue console to the marketplace (or even re-issue the games themselves). If we previously had the right to archive 2600 titles, would re-issuance then revoke the right we just had? (Probably). Like most legal issues, I'd suspect whoever has more money is right. On Oct 31, 2003, at 11:37 PM, Hugh Falk wrote: -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Evil vs. Evil
While not game collecting per se, PayPal has gotten a good amount of debate here so I figured it was relevant. http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/20/technology/att_paypal.reut/index.htm? cnn=yes On an unrelated note, shocked that CE didn't take a swing at the Platypus stamps :) -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] How to protect against theft of big-money items?
Less trustworthy? Of course not. But there's zero recourse if anything goes awry with an overseas transaction, even if its simply damaged in shipping. He's referring to the policies, not the people. Personally I've sent things to the UK, Israel, Portugal and Australia with zero problems. On Nov 30, 2003, at 11:55 AM, Eduardo Alvarez wrote: On Sun, Nov 30, 2003 at 01:39:20PM -0600, Jim Leonard wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hehe, you weren't paying attention to my ranting and ravings about paypal? I did, but because I'm selling a physical item I wasn't worried about it as much. They must also have verified address (ie no overseas sale is safe). I accept only USA and Canada -- good point, thanks for the advice. Why? Are we, the people who live outside the USA and Canada _less_ trustworthy that those who do? I don't wish to get all riled up about what might be a triviality, but it is a little irksome to hear such a commentary. -- Eduardo Alvarez http://www.great-atuin.net/~punga (offline, at the moment) Stercus, stercus stercus, moriturus sum -- Rincewind the Wizzard, Interesting Times -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws
That reminds me about The Immortal on the PC. *Twice* I played it to the dragon, twice the @#(%@(#*% thing froze on me on that board. I swear I love the mood of that game (simple as it was). I called support and they said It shouldn't do that. Never got to the end. It'd probably take me an hour to do so, so I should probably try again some day. On Dec 4, 2003, at 11:26 PM, Hugh Falk wrote: One of my all-time favorites, Ultima Underworld, had a fatal flaw. I'm guessing it was hardware specific and not on everyone's PC. After spending a couple of weeks with the game, some items from my inventory floated out of my backpack and into the air...with no way to retrieve them and no way to win at that point. I called up tech support and they said there were other similar problems reported (although specifics varied). They sent me a patch, and then played the game to completion. (After restarting) Hugh -Original Message- From: Jim Leonard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 11:36 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws Chris Newman wrote: Mines of Titan by Westwood / Infocom from 1989 comes to mind. The game plot involves travelling to cities on the surface of Titan. The key city, Procesnium, was expected to be discovered and entered via an underground network. However, if you find the city on the surface of the planet and attempt to enter it the game freezes and throws up strange graphics chunks in the display window. At the time I assumed I had a bad copy, or played it on an incompatable machine (Tandy), etc. I went back to this game, on and off, for years but was hit with the same problem. I found out only recently that the problem is a coding bug. From Usenet: Because of an obvious yet uncorrected bug, the game will crash and burn every time you enter Proscenium the normal way from the overland map. Instead, you are required to go through a lengthy lava vents dungeon to enter the city. Then the game will give you some text that will leave you wondering why the hell the bug wasn't corrected--it would've been so easy, given the plot twist revealed in the text. With this knowledge, you should go back and try to finish the game; it's a great game. -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws
One word: Darklands. On Dec 4, 2003, at 10:26 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: Darksun 2 (SSI) was an excellent RPG with the exception that it was virtually unfinishable due to the huge amount of bugs it had. SSI later released a patch but some of the bugs remained (having your best weapons occasionally vanish can be the most frustrating thing on a RPG), so IIRC they officially canceled support for the game, on the grounds that it had too many bugs to patch. Later on there were other flawed games, like Shogo, that could not be finished unless you had downloaded and installed the 21Mb patch! The most serious case IMHO was Ubisoft's Pool of Radiance 2. The game couldn't be uninstalled because if you attempted to, it'd delete your windows partition! :O Many users found this bug the hard way. -- Pedro R. Quaresma Salvador Caetano IMVT Div. Sistemas de Informação / Systems and Information Division Administração e Desenvolvimento Lotus Notes / Lotus Notes Administration and Development [EMAIL PROTECTED] // +351 22 7867000 (ext. 3492) Toyota Prius '01, Verdi Steel, 37K km. x-tad-smaller /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerPara: [EMAIL PROTECTED]>/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerA/C: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerRef: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallercc: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerAssunto: Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerChris Newman [EMAIL PROTECTED]>/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smaller04-12-2003 15:23/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerSolicita-se resposta a swcollect/x-tad-smallerMines of Titan by Westwood / Infocom from 1989 comes to mind. The game plot involves travelling to cities on the surface of Titan. The key city, Procesnium, was expected to be discovered and entered via an underground network. However, if you find the city on the surface of the planet and attempt to enter it the game freezes and throws up strange graphics chunks in the display window. At the time I assumed I had a bad copy, or played it on an incompatable machine (Tandy), etc. I went back to this game, on and off, for years but was hit with the same problem. I found out only recently that the problem is a coding bug. Drove me nuts! I spent many hours playing that game only to give up completely frustrated. - Original Message - From: Dan Chisarick [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 9:13 AM Subject: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws > Just wondering if anyone has any good stories of an older game they > were playing that was somehow unbeatable due to a coding flaw, or just > downright not fun for design reasons. I've been looking for an > original 'Doriath' for years. I stumbled on this site, and my free > time being what it is these days, say what the hell and just read the > walkthrough. The game is unbeatable! That's not in the good sense: > > http://members.shaw.ca/Doriath/Walkthru.htm > > If you read the walkthrough and then follow the links at the bottom, > you never get an acknowledgment from the game that you've won. There's > a link to an interview w/the developers that explains you've > essentially won once you make it to a certain room. Its sad to see a > game never being polished because of artificial deadlines (like that > never happens anymore) or even more frighteningly, running out of > memory/disk space. > > Second to this are games that take hours to beat, give you one life, > have no save feature, and you can put the game in an unwinable state > and not realize it. Console games (at least earlier ones) seem > particular guilty of such offenses. Thrown in certain Mindscape games > (Spell of Destruction and Fairlight I think fell into this hole, at > least partially). > > Third would have to be needless player frustration: Jumping puzzles, > tedious movement puzzles (Sierra 3D games are notorious for this), and > I'd have to throw in my entering the words of Truth, Love and Courage > in the wrong order after spending 2.5 hours getting to the bottom of a > certain 8-level dungeon to get the Codex of Infinite Wisdom just to be > kicked back to the surface. Augh! (Its corveramo , no veramocor > :) > > Last, and somewhat humorously, ever type in a game in Basic or assembly > from a magazine, and it didn't work? Seems the feature title ALWAYS > had some little typo in it that would require you to buy next month's > issue to resolve? :) > > With DVD-ROM titles, cheat codes, strategy guides, and every game > either being Real Time Strategy or 3D shooter, endings are very well > defined :) How else would they sell level add-on packs? > > > -- > This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to > the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, s
Re: [SWCollect] Sandalwood box (was: Vintage games w/fatal flaws)
It sounds like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction :) Still, I would have never made that connection. I had to stare at the wall thinking for a bit to remember it from U5. On Dec 9, 2003, at 4:02 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: I never understood the reasoning behind needing a sandalwood box. I'm assuming this was some sort of inside joke at Origin or at least from Lord British. Can you, John (or anyone else), shed some light on this subject? Only info I have is from a Daikatana interview with... John Romero :) Q: So what exactly is all that about the sandalwood box? JR: Heh... this is a joke that very few people will probably get. You needed to have played Ultima 5 all the way to the end, where you go through the Dungeon DOOM to rescue Lord British from his imprisonment in a mirror by the 3 Shadowlords. When you reach him, he asks if you brought the sandalwood box. If you don't have it, you get to spend eternity with LB in his little room. If you *do* have the box (which is very difficult to attain), the game will end at it should. BTW, the sandalwood box makes an appearance in Ultima 9. So apparently the box also shows up on Ultima 9 and Daikatana (two games I haven't played much). -- Pedro R. Quaresma Salvador Caetano IMVT Div. Sistemas de Informação / Systems and Information Division Administração e Desenvolvimento Lotus Notes / Lotus Notes Administration and Development [EMAIL PROTECTED] // +351 22 7867000 (ext. 3492) Toyota Prius '01, Verdi Steel, 37K km. x-tad-smaller /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerPara: [EMAIL PROTECTED]>/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerA/C: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerRef: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallercc: /x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerAssunto: RE: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerJohn Romero [EMAIL PROTECTED]>/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smaller05-12-2003 16:39/x-tad-smallerx-tad-smallerSolicita-se resposta a john/x-tad-smallerYeah, you're correct about being kicked back to the top of the Abyss. Pretty uncool. Another Ultima with a big problem is Ultima 5. When you find Lord British in the mirror at the bottom of the Dungeon Doom, which is at the bottom of the Underworld, if you do NOT have the Sandalwood Box that's hidden behind his bookcase in his magically locked bedroom atop Castle Britannia, you are screwed and are stuck in the room with him forever. If you do have the box, the game ends normally. And you don't get any kind of warning whatsoever that this will happen. - John -Original Message- From:MASTER [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf OfPedro Quaresma Sent: Friday, December 05, 2003 1:25 AM To:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws Jim Leonard wrote: >> I'd have to throw in my entering the words of Truth, Love and Courage >> in the wrong order after spending 2.5 hours getting to the bottom of a >> certain 8-level dungeon to get the Codex of Infinite Wisdom just to be >> kicked back to the surface. Augh! (Its corveramo , no veramocor :) >Which Ultima game was that? OK let's see if my memory doesn't betray me (again!) It was Ultima 4, but veramocor was the word used to get into the final dungeon, not the word to be used in the end of it. In the end, the word infinity had to be used (after the principles and its virtues), but if you typed the wrong word you'd get kicked back to the surface. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. It's been quite some time since I played Ultima 4. -- Pedro R. Quaresma Salvador Caetano IMVT Div. Sistemas de Informação / Systems and Information Division Administração e Desenvolvimento Lotus Notes / Lotus Notes Administration and Development [EMAIL PROTECTED] // +351 22 7867000 (ext. 3492) Toyota Prius '01, Verdi Steel, 37K km. ToyotaShopping - A sua Loja Toyota Online http://www.toyota.pt ToyotaShopping - A sua Loja Toyota Online http://www.toyota.pt
Re: [SWCollect] eBay's Latest
While ebay and paypal are the root of all evil, its possible its also to prevent bots from harvesting user info for targeted spam. Most ebay users use their exact e-mail address as their username. Something else I noticed is sometimes I have a hard time logging in. It has told me more than once that my user ID doesn't exist. On Dec 20, 2003, at 4:16 PM, Alexander Zöller wrote: I ran a ton of search runs for completed items last week and didn't have to log in, I sure have to do now, they must have changed this very recently. Alexander -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 9:55 PM To: Software Collectibles Mailing List Subject: [SWCollect] eBay's Latest Has anyone else noticed this? I just went to do a completed-auctions search on eBay, and it made me sign in first! There's a page that now says you have to be registered with eBay to do a completed search. It's only a matter of time before they start charging for this. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] TomMage's Holiday Auctions!! (worth a look ;))
How much extra for the autographed copy of the RARE item? On Dec 24, 2003, at 1:23 AM, Hugh Falk wrote: x-tad-biggerHa! Thats great!/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger-Original Message-/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerFrom:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerSent:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerTuesday, December 23, 2003 10:57 AM/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerTo:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger[EMAIL PROTECTED]/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerSubject:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger[SWCollect] TomMage's Holiday Auctions!! (worth a look ;))/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggereBay.com Seller List: www_tommage_com/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerVisit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash,/x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerTom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-bigger
[SWCollect] Technology never ceases to amaze
While I was visiting my parents for xmas I did another marathon archiving session (Floppy - disk image - CD). I've lost track of how many times I've said this is the last time. The sessions get further and further apart, but each time I flip the switch(es) the machines keep coming back for more. Not bad for 17+ year old boxen. When I was done w/this batch (61 disk images) and waiting for the lot to transfer over the serial AppleTalk network (think 10.5MB over a 115KB/s connection), I was leafing through the stack I just did wondering where things have gone. Aside from the usual gripes (the manuals use to be awesome, the attention to detail was great, story lines were more involving, etc.) I'd have to say technology breakthroughs aren't as exciting. Remember HAMming mode on the Amiga? Getting 16+ sprites on a C=64 through multiplexing? Rainbow backgrounds on an Atari 2600 (I think by shifting the color pallet on the VBI signal)? The 'speech' in Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple? Elite? :) In addition to all the wonderful things that vintage games had going for them, many of them had that wow, how'd they do that sort of feeling. Even Mode 0x13 for the PC (320x200 256 colors, and I think it was a linear frame buffer too instead of interlaced), even though it was more or less just poorly documented, was a big thing. Now some of the advances you've seen in years past: deformable surfaces, colored lighting, inverse kinematics, more colors, more polygons, better frame rates, full-screen anti-aliasing, hi-res textures, etc. while visually impressive, don't seem to have the same impact. There was an article I read a few months back how James Bond films don't get quite the draw they used to. One of the reasons is that 30+ years ago, the technology in the films was futuristic and fascinating. Now it all seems so plausible, as if its only bleeding edge, or even just new. So two questions: Can you think of any technical innovation in games in the past few years that really jumped out and made you say gee whiz? Any classic favorites whose technology at the time was just awe-inspiring? geek Merry Xmas from the gang: http://homepage.mac.com/chisarickd/FamilyPhoto.jpg Ed (IIgs, back left), Eep (PowerMac 6100, back right), The Apple, bottom front left, Eep2 top front left. They all still work (especially Eep2). /geek No comments on the background items, ok? Its a storage room now. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] When did you discover ebay?
September 17, 2000. I originally joined to hunt down some comic books (Lobo and Golgo 13). A few months later I discovered they had vintage games. Typical newbie syndrome I overbid on lots of stuff. Over time I discovered A) patience and B) that ebay wasn't the best outlet (cost-effective wise) for everything. On Dec 27, 2003, at 8:29 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Just curious, I first signed up May 17 1997, how about you? :) Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page
Re: [SWCollect] Technology never ceases to amaze (long)
Good god. Ok, tell me you just rattled all that off your head... Apple or Mac? Both. Actually Apple II, IIgs and Mac. Nearly all the IIgs and Mac titles can be fast copied or at most have one protected track (which I'll skip). I use Apple's built-in disk imager for the Mac and Asimov (http://www.ninjaforce.com/html/products.html) for the IIgs. I'll just sector-edit out the protection call on the image. Due to time constraints I'll skip format-protected titles for either (there aren't many I've seen). For the Apple II at least 50% aren't format-protected, so same strategy (Asimov images 5.25 or 3.5). I'll use Super IOB (ftp.apple.asimov.net) to normalize everything else, many times w/the swap controller (capture the program's DOS and use it to read the protected disks). Dos 3.3-based stuff is far more reliable to get a solid image out of than 3.2. Might be better error checking, might also be that 3.2 is so old the media is WAY past its shelf life. For those oh god I will not be complete without this titles, I will dissect (boot trace, disassemble, etc.) the loader for however long as need be (and no I don't have a cookbook from Computist for these) until I have decoded data in normalized form. These would be stuff like Caverns of Callisto, Sherwood Forest, Elite... All of these have stories that would go for pages :) And last there are titles that are so heavily protected I just don't try (almost anything Broderbund and definitely anything Sirius). They have been beaten 15+ years ago by The Disk Jockey and the Apple Bandit, and because the formats are so far out there, I see no value in repeating these feats to only get the identical results (yes real men rewrite loaders, if you have 2 months to work 1 title). Oh yeah, SST will make nibble copy IMAGES of many protected titles (as long as there is no nibble count). I've used this as a last resort, but because its so hard to tell if a sector was misread using this tool, I try to avoid it where possible. Stuff I have in this form includes: Choplifter, Russki Duck, Wings of Fury and the original CP Ultima I. I wish I knew more, I wish I had more time, but I do what I can with what I have (and I would give my right eye to have the read routines from Copy II+ as a callable library... those things are just so good). And Copy II+ 9.1 to do the 'refresh' copy (make a copy first, THEN normalize from a fresh copy greatly enhances reliability). Pushing hardware beyond its limits is so cool: Hit the nail on the head. I pity the people who had to PORT titles like that :) Unlikely we'll ever see that pushing again for that reason (portability, diverse hardware platforms). Wonder if we'll see 2Ghz PC emulators in cell phones someday (we never expected to see 2600, Nintendo and Intellivisions run in such small packages, who knows). Sid tunes: I have SidPlay2 on my Mac and the HVSC library in it. I've listened to it for hours and burned a non-trivial number of CD's from it. Of course I also bought the Mac version of all the Doom II episodes to get all the music files (they're in QuickTime MIDI format... iTunes burns them straight to CD :) I wish I could make a site w/the 'minimal crack' images I've made (along w/the original bytes if you have a better way) and not get sued from here to hell. I just *know* I've got images of stuff no one else has, and clean copies of stuff (like Rescue Raiders) that's been covered in 'graffiti' everywhere else, mods to images to make them work w/the real hardware AND emulators, etc. I think in 2004 I'm going to start scanning in all my issues of Computist (much like the Andover project) into PDF files. Tedious but its at least a known quantity of work (probably 1 hour per issue to assemble). I thought I had them all. I'm shy about 9 (mostly the really, really early ones.) Oops. I have (no kidding) at least 10 copies of 'Omega', probably more. I still can't bring myself to destroy just *one* copy of the massive manual to scan it :) On Dec 29, 2003, at 5:57 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Dan Chisarick wrote: When I was done w/this batch (61 disk images) and waiting for the lot to transfer over the serial AppleTalk network (think 10.5MB over a 115KB/s These are Apple II images or Mac images? Protected or not? If protected, what program are you using? In addition to all the wonderful things that vintage games had going for them, many of them had that wow, how'd they do that sort of feeling. Even Mode 0x13 for the PC (320x200 256 colors, and I think it was a linear frame buffer too instead of interlaced), even though it was more or less just poorly documented, was a big thing. MCGA didn't need to be documented, it was brainless to program for. 64000 bytes of video RAM at 0xA000 that you could linearly address; no paging or funny business, and each byte was exactly one pixel. Talk about simple! The neato modes were the tweaked ones, like
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
I don't know if there's any pattern to what I will shell out for. I wouldn't pay much for Mt. Drash, Akalbeth or a shrinkwrapped 'saucer' box. I just can't see myself doing anything with them other than putting them on a shelf. I've tried the Pokemon strategy (gotta catch/get them all) in trying to get every LAST title from certain publishers (EA, Origin, SSI, Muse, Sir-Tech, etc.) Even when I swore upside down I had every last EA title ever made for the Apple II... *whack*. One I didn't know existed pops up (its the add-on data disk for Earl Weaver Baseball if you're wondering. Wasn't about to buy a 15-game lot for the disk only, either). Seems there's ALWAYS one more. Games that I've actually played I value highly. Games I might actually play someday on an emulator I value highly. I won't bother with collecting 'variants' generally (but I will avoid most re-issues and value packs with a few exceptions). Truly ancient games are good but only if I'd actually play them (as above). I've done some downright stupid things (once I bought an Ultima II box just for the 1st edition manual w/the typo + the card that says this is one of the first copies... The disks were copies (didn't care, had a set), there was no map (I already have one), the box was beat (see above), the card was good but THE MANUAL WAS A PHOTOCOPY. I couldn't tell from the auction because the original was BW. But I badly wanted that card, and the seller would get back to me (never did). So, I was an idiot there and that was pretty much the end of variants for me (and yes I see the shiny 1st edition manual up right now). I remember I bought Star Trek III it came w/a movie ticket for Insurrection. My friend chastised me because I'd never sell the game, so why was I holding onto the ticket? (No one here needs an answer). Its like the sick-o who says Hey buy the collector's edition of (whatever) and get a $15 rebate. Part of the rebate requires cutting out a UPC symbol, etc. Who would bother buying a collector's edition to chop it up? Sigh. What would I *really* love to have? Source code. To anything. Old Atari games. Any Ultima (yes the original U1 is in basic), Empire, Karateka, Paradroid, whatever. Don't care. Sure many games were probably pure assembly, why bother with comments :), and most ancient source has likely deteriorated or simply lost. To me, that would be the ultimate find (and worth a few bucks, even though there's really no 'original'). I'm surprised there aren't a bunch of incidents where classic game's source code was taken home by its developers, just to have. If that's inaccurate, I've never heard of it. Ok, not 100% accurate... there are rare cases like this: http://killerbeesoftware.com/kbsgames/edee/empireseries.shtml .. and I know people have acquired the rights to Command HQ and Global Conquest (I bought the add-ons to both at one point) but I would *really* love to see the code. On Jan 5, 2004, at 9:09 PM, Brian the Fist wrote: BRAIN DUMPAye karumba. Looks like that Vic auction lasted just 3 hours too! I fail to understand how people find these things so fast. Personally I can't afford to search eBay more than once a week.. Personally I don't believe in the collectibility of disks/tapes, I go for the manuals/boxes mostly - after all these are the true 'pieces of art', a disk is a disk is a disk. Heck, anyone can make a disk from a disk image of an old game, so big whoop right? The value is an interesting issue though, which I have pondered endlessly recently. When it boils down to it, a rare game is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, its that simple. I have seen incredibly rare games (Scott Adams Gold Colelctor edition comes to mind, 1000 total made I think) sell for much less than they should. And I've seen rare, but not impossible to find, games gor for absurd amounts (some of you folk here were the buyers in fact!). I sill can't believe the original Starcross and Suspended regualarly go for $300 and up for example, they're just not that rare. I've seen dozens on eBay over the last couple years. And come on, almost $200 for Origin's re-release of Ultima I?? I'm almost ashamed to see people pay that much for it (though that won't stop me from selling the extra one I have soon :) ). On the other hand, there are some games I have been searching for for years and have not seen EVER on eBay (or anywhere else), even once, thus making them even more rare than Akalabeth or Mt. Drash technically. And when I come across one like this by some rare fluke, I may get it for as low as $10 (maybe no one else wants it, who knows). I have sold things and received far less than a guy did the week before. Is it because I'm in Canada? Who knows. I've also found the level of detail in the description of the item and its condition can have a big impact on the final price of a rare item,
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
I saw what I think was a re-packaged Doriath in the last 2-3 months but other than that, zip. Black Magic for the Apple was the first Apple game I bought off ebay. That was 2+ years ago, and I might have only seen one since then. Superb game. Does not take long to beat. Tower of Myraglen has a puzzle where you can only enter a certain passage (rather early in the game too) at midnight. And that's midnight on the computer's system clock :) The first day I played it it happened to be near midnight, and I walked right in. The next day I couldn't figure out how to get in. On Jan 6, 2004, at 8:56 PM, Brian the Fist wrote: Not to pick nits, but the true piece of art is the game code itself. The extras -- manual, cloth map, etc. -- are what make it collectable, but the art is the entire package, which includes the game. What good is the manual if you can't play? Perhaps I wasn't clear, I meant 'art' in reference to art collecting mentioned earlier. Thus I was being quite literal - I collect 'box art'. On the other hand, there are some games I have been searching for for years and have not seen EVER on eBay (or anywhere else), even once, thus making them even more rare than Akalabeth or Mt. Drash technically. And when I come across one like this by some rare fluke, I may get it for as low as $10 (maybe no one else wants it, who knows). Like what, out of curiousity? One that immediately comes to mind is Destiny by Software Investments Plus. Doriath was also incredibly difficult to find (an excellent C64 game if you've never tried it). Got both cheap, but not until several YEARS of searching eBay weekly. Also Tower of Myraglen and trolls and Tribulations. Another C64 title, Spirit of the Stones, and Savage by Rainbird/Microplay/Probe were also cheap but hard to find (not as hard as the others though). Also Talisman by Polarware. Might and Magic I pre-box version (was just sold as a huge manual with map and disks). While I may have seen an odd loose disk for one or two of these, I rarely saw one appear complete and as soon as I did, I grabbed it and no one else seemed to want them Incidentally, here's a few games I have never once seen (other than perhaps a loose disk) on eBay, in several years of searching - no idea why - Labyrinth of Crete (Scott Adams), Birth of the Phoenix, Black Magic (Datasoft, US Boxed version), Coveted Mirror (Comprehend version), Crypts of Terror (In-Home software, saw loose disk once..), Dungeons Dragons and Other perils (XLent software), Fraktured Faebles (American Eagle), Gelfling Adventure (Sierra), Palace in Thunderland (Micro Lab), Quarterstaff (Simulated Environment Systems, before Infocom bought it), Secret of Easter Island (Three Sigma), Seventh Sword of Mendor (Grandslam), Sorcerer of Siva (Epyx), most Synergistic Software early games, Spirit of Glenmore Castle (On Target), Troll's Tale (Sierra), Zombies (Bram). And my personal holy grail of hard to find games, Dungeons of Despair (Wizardry Zero??). There are very few references to this latter one, though it is on the Giant Game Programmers list, and from what I can scrounge, this may have been a Wizardry I beta demo, released to the Apple user group community as the game was being made? Anyone know any more on this one? and as for the other games listed here, have any of you ever seen any of them, ever, anywhere? Maybe I've just had bad luck? I suppose some of these, might not exist though I know most do. Anyhow, these all appear to be rarer than Akalabeth and friends. Oh yes, there's also the Dysan 3 1/2 Infocoms, and DEC Rainbow ones... -- -- Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game Visit its Homepage at http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
Absolutely. I try to keep everything as immaculate as possible (unpunched, uncut, unfolded, no stains on the disk label or manual, you get the idea) but still play the game (bye-bye shrinkwrap). For collecting purposes I'd consider a signed copy as a variant. Its an original issue item with some limited-edition or hard-to-come-by extra. The one quirk of that analogy is that the quantity of those items in existence can increase at any time so long as the author is still alive. There will never be more than (I think CE or someone said 5,000) pins in the first few copies of Battletech, more Ultima cloth maps, etc. Though Microscopic Space Fleets seem to be in high availability... While Mt. Drash itself could probably be considered 'exotic', a signed copy would probably be 'unique', especially if it was personalized. The best of both worlds is to have a spare copy. That said, is that offer for Wasteland many moons back still good? Anyway, these all come to mind as titles I've lost entire weeks on: Moebius (Greg Malone) Castle Wolfenstien (Silas Warner) Legacy of the Ancients (John or Chuck Dougherty) Sword of Kadash (Chris Cole) On Jan 8, 2004, at 3:16 AM, John Romero wrote: I have an interesting question for you guys Would you consigder a classic game more valuable if it was signed by the author? If so, and you'd like your classic Apple II games signed, I might know where the author is and could persuade him to sign em. :) I have a few old Apple II games signed by their authors and I've gotten some nice reactions from them - john The goal of the works of a genius' existance lies only in itself. -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 2:51 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value I saw what I think was a re-packaged Doriath in the last 2-3 months but other than that, zip. Black Magic for the Apple was the first Apple game I bought off ebay. That was 2+ years ago, and I might have only seen one since then. Superb game. Does not take long to beat. Tower of Myraglen has a puzzle where you can only enter a certain passage (rather early in the game too) at midnight. And that's midnight on the computer's system clock :) The first day I played it it happened to be near midnight, and I walked right in. The next day I couldn't figure out how to get in. On Jan 6, 2004, at 8:56 PM, Brian the Fist wrote: Not to pick nits, but the true piece of art is the game code itself. The extras -- manual, cloth map, etc. -- are what make it collectable, but the art is the entire package, which includes the game. What good is the manual if you can't play? Perhaps I wasn't clear, I meant 'art' in reference to art collecting mentioned earlier. Thus I was being quite literal - I collect 'box art'. On the other hand, there are some games I have been searching for for years and have not seen EVER on eBay (or anywhere else), even once, thus making them even more rare than Akalabeth or Mt. Drash technically. And when I come across one like this by some rare fluke, I may get it for as low as $10 (maybe no one else wants it, who knows). Like what, out of curiousity? One that immediately comes to mind is Destiny by Software Investments Plus. Doriath was also incredibly difficult to find (an excellent C64 game if you've never tried it). Got both cheap, but not until several YEARS of searching eBay weekly. Also Tower of Myraglen and trolls and Tribulations. Another C64 title, Spirit of the Stones, and Savage by Rainbird/Microplay/Probe were also cheap but hard to find (not as hard as the others though). Also Talisman by Polarware. Might and Magic I pre-box version (was just sold as a huge manual with map and disks). While I may have seen an odd loose disk for one or two of these, I rarely saw one appear complete and as soon as I did, I grabbed it and no one else seemed to want them Incidentally, here's a few games I have never once seen (other than perhaps a loose disk) on eBay, in several years of searching - no idea why - Labyrinth of Crete (Scott Adams), Birth of the Phoenix, Black Magic (Datasoft, US Boxed version), Coveted Mirror (Comprehend version), Crypts of Terror (In-Home software, saw loose disk once..), Dungeons Dragons and Other perils (XLent software), Fraktured Faebles (American Eagle), Gelfling Adventure (Sierra), Palace in Thunderland (Micro Lab), Quarterstaff (Simulated Environment Systems, before Infocom bought it), Secret of Easter Island (Three Sigma), Seventh Sword of Mendor (Grandslam), Sorcerer of Siva (Epyx), most Synergistic Software early games, Spirit of Glenmore Castle (On Target), Troll's Tale (Sierra), Zombies (Bram). And my personal holy grail of hard to find games, Dungeons of Despair (Wizardry Zero??). There are very few references to this latter one, though it is on the Giant Game Programmers list, and from what I can scrounge, this may
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! One of my most recent purchases was squashed like a bug. And this was from someone who sells vintage games, not someone cleaning out the attic (no one here). I wasn't overly concerned about the title's condition, but I sent a message that I would have happily paid more had I known it would be shipped in a thin plastic envelope. The reply was that they would have happily upgraded the carton had I offered to pay more. Now there's a no-win argument. The first time this happened to me I had a boilerplate reply stating my shipping requirements on every purchase going forward. It was tedious (I eventually stopped) and even that wasn't 100% effective. The only time I got shafted on ebay was some lady selling a bunch of goodies for a low price. She had a religious theme to her auctions, and a link to her church. When I said how I needed it shipped, she said it would take time. Around then the negative feedback piled up (paid but no delivery) and eventually her account was summarily revoked. Of course since it was past 30 days, no recourse. Perhaps poor shipping was better than no shipping. It just seems there's no rhyme or reason to this sort of thing. I wish people were more paranoid about packaging. On Jan 10, 2004, at 12:37 AM, C.E. Forman wrote: It's still up on my news page (www.yois.biz/news). I still get pissed when I think about it or look at the package, so I don't think I'll retype it here. - Original Message - From: John Romero [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: C.E. Forman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 10:23 PM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value Hey therewhat happened with Dan Kitchen? He was my exec producer on my GBA title about 6 months ago... I personally don't have respect for him after that debacle. - John -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 6:28 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value I've got a number of signed items, from authors I've tracked down on my own, and I consider them more valuable than an unsigned package in similar condition. Right now I'm still letting the wounds heal after my disastrous run-in with Dan Kitchen, but maybe down the road I'll take you up on the offer, John. B-) - Original Message - From: John Romero [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 2:16 AM Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value I have an interesting question for you guys Would you consigder a classic game more valuable if it was signed by the author? If so, and you'd like your classic Apple II games signed, I might know where the author is and could persuade him to sign em. :) I have a few old Apple II games signed by their authors and I've gotten some nice reactions from them - john The goal of the works of a genius' existance lies only in itself. -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 2:51 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value I saw what I think was a re-packaged Doriath in the last 2-3 months but other than that, zip. Black Magic for the Apple was the first Apple game I bought off ebay. That was 2+ years ago, and I might have only seen one since then. Superb game. Does not take long to beat. Tower of Myraglen has a puzzle where you can only enter a certain passage (rather early in the game too) at midnight. And that's midnight on the computer's system clock :) The first day I played it it happened to be near midnight, and I walked right in. The next day I couldn't figure out how to get in. On Jan 6, 2004, at 8:56 PM, Brian the Fist wrote: Not to pick nits, but the true piece of art is the game code itself. The extras -- manual, cloth map, etc. -- are what make it collectable, but the art is the entire package, which includes the game. What good is the manual if you can't play? Perhaps I wasn't clear, I meant 'art' in reference to art collecting mentioned earlier. Thus I was being quite literal - I collect 'box art'. On the other hand, there are some games I have been searching for for years and have not seen EVER on eBay (or anywhere else), even once, thus making them even more rare than Akalabeth or Mt. Drash technically. And when I come across one like this by some rare fluke, I may get it for as low as $10 (maybe no one else wants it, who knows). Like what, out of curiousity? One that immediately comes to mind is Destiny by Software Investments Plus. Doriath was also incredibly difficult to find (an excellent C64 game if you've never tried it). Got both cheap, but not until several YEARS of searching eBay weekly. Also Tower of Myraglen and trolls and Tribulations. Another C64 title, Spirit of the Stones, and Savage by Rainbird/Microplay/Probe were also cheap but hard to find
[SWCollect] Early MPOG
Most of the more recent games that I would have mentioned have already mentioned... (whoever mentioned Deus Ex, what about System Shock 2, and Thief)? SS2 was really good, but Thief didn't really do it for me as far as gameplay. I love the atmosphere, but the game struck me as tedious in places. One class of games that may not fit the category of 'collectable' but was still fun would be BBS games. Log in, take your handful of turns, come back the next day and see what happened. I've never seen any of these games in a 'boxed' format, and even if they were, I have to wonder if they'd be worth anything. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Ethical question
I guess that depends on how you assess the value. No one here has bought a classic game that they themselves wouldn't have paid a few more dollars to have. Some come at the breaking point, but I'd reckon most don't hit that level. Also, sometimes you see two newer collectors on ebay overbid on something, lets say by $50. So what's the value of that title? Ok, now garage sales. Someone cleans out their son's closet and has $500 worth of comics they're selling for $5. Are you going to offer them more? What if someone is selling an antique gold pocket watch at a flea market instead of a jewelry store? So many factors come into play: The item, who they're selling to, where they're selling it, how much effort they put into selling it, etc. Most people have a max they'll pay, but practically no one has a minimum guilt value. But the scenario you're probably in is a private seller has a shrinkwrapped Suspended mask and they ask $15 and you offer $10. Your conscience bothers you. Now consider the same seller but the buyer is someone equally clueless as to its value (they wanted it as a halloween mask). You hear about the sale. How would you feel? People can always get more for their titles if the put more work into it (how many bundles we've seen that could fetch 2x as much or more if sold individually). I feel that the sale of the item could have just as easily gone to someone else for that price, and its a factor of the environment. So no, I don't feel guilty that I just so happen to know I could resell it for more. One of the finest additions to my collection came when I noticed someone on ebay consistently sold really good stuff, shrinkwrapped in many cases, for only a few dollars per title. I emailed them and they agreed to just send me nearly their entire collection... for $3-5 a title. I got some good stuff, and a few things I *really* wanted: A shrinkwrapped Origin Ring Quest, Hard Hat Mack, The Last Gladiator, dozens of SSI titles, and so on. Some of the titles were so-so, but for that price, I took them all anyway. The seller worked in an EB in the 80's. They knew games. They may have been able to get more for them, but if I didn't inquire, they would have just as easily gone to someone else for the same price. And no, I don't feel I ripped them off. I did not and will not resell a single one of those titles. On Jan 21, 2004, at 6:51 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Just curious, how do people here feel about buying an item you know is valuable but the person selling does not? Such as collectable software. Do you feel funny bargaining down a price when you know it is worth a lot more than what you are paying? I kind of figured myself that the knowledge of what is valuable justifies paying a low price, the person selling does not have that knowledge, we do (when it comes to collectable software at least). I just sold an item I've had since the early 80s (not software). Got what I thought was a so so price, but turns out it was worth about 4-5 times what I sold it for (not a cheap item either). Felt kind of bad but learned something from the deal which will help me in the future. What do you all think? Ever feel guilty buying a game for $5 that you know is worth maybe $100 or more? Tom Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
Between games being super-realistic (compared to classic games at least) and most new gamers not knowing how good a well-packaged game could be, the buyers don't know what they're missing and could probably care less. I bet these same people don't watch AMC either. Gotta love writing for that mass market/mass appeal/maximizing profit. What I *wish* happened is that big publishers take some of the profit and put it aside for risky (non-mainstream) titles. If they do this already, can anyone name some of the titles? On Jan 21, 2004, at 4:19 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I don't have more specific data handy (out of town right now), but here is a breakdown of UK sales across all platforms: 1 - NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERGROUND 2 - GRAND THEFT AUTO: DOUBLE PACK 3 - THE SIMPSONS: HIT RUN 4 - FIFA 2004 5 - LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING 6 - NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 2004 7 - THE SIMS: BUSTIN' 8 - MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING SUN 9 - TONY HAWK'S UNDERGROUND 10 - TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2004 Note that EA has 6 of the top 10 slots. Hey I love big boxes too and can make lots of comments about game quality, but it isn't hurting EA's sales in the least. Sorry to be the messenger...don't shoot me. No argument here that the console business is doing much better than the PC business right now. There are always exceptions (Sims, Blizzard games, etc.), but it will likely stay this way until closer to the end of this console cycle, and may never end. Hugh -Original Message- From: Marco Thorek [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Jan 21, 2004 11:09 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics (Darn, my reply first landed at Hugh's personal address, sorry about that) IMHO opinion that's because of console sales. Look at the numbers the PC version of a game sells. It is because of this that PC development is becoming a mere afterthought. Marco [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb: EA is doing better every year financially (including Europe). If DVD cases are a mistake, there is no evidence yet. Hugh -Original Message- From: Marco Thorek [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Jan 20, 2004 5:21 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics Jim Leonard schrieb: It's not the calculators: It's what makes money. You shouldn't be scared that accountants and suits are ruining the industry; instead, you should be scared that the core sales of most computer and console gaming are the way they are. It is a hard pill to swallow that adventure games simply don't sell enough units to make a profit. True. It's only that once upon a time the profit didn't matter as much. You could singlehandedly or in a duo write a game and find a publisher easy enough, even if your game was totally obscure. Nowadays profit is the prime directive and who knows better about profits than the suits? Those managers sure know a thing about finances, but apparently not much about how the creative side of this industry works. For example, whoever adviced EA to ship games in DVD cases immediately cut down production costs, but failed to realize it'll lower the number of units sold, as there won't be much left that distinguishes a bought game from a warez version. It is the same as with the music industry: Some managers found that instead of expensive talent scouting and sponsoring bands that might fail, they should simply manufacture boy- and girlgroups, who specifically cater to the target audience that spends the most money on its idols and music: teenagers. Now the music industry blames P2P for the slump in music sales, instead of realizing we had one too many Boyzone, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync et. al., and no real talent in the charts for some time. Imagine Meat Loaf trying to get a record contract these days. There are a *few* sequels, maybe 5 a year, that are indeed worth playing. I just recently finished Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, and it was a surprisingly deep game with a lot of replay value. But that is the exception. True again. What also irks me as a PC gamer these days is that we are mostly given gruesome console ports. Most recent example there being Deux Ex: Invisible War. The game may be perfect for the Xbox and its audience, on the PC the graphics, the simplified story and character generation, the idiotic UI and the lack of any depth is horrifying. Marco -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at:
Re: [SWCollect] Ethical question
Ok, you win that. Just curious, how often does that particular piece of code see instruction pointer (the one that lowers bids)? On Jan 21, 2004, at 6:36 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: How many sellers would tell a buyer they are paying too much? Yo. B-) The Shoppe, anyway. If the person uses the Shoppe's offer button and goes way too high, it's coded to cut the price down to a more reasonable level (albeit the maximum reasonable price I have entered in the database). -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 5.25s vs. 3.5s
Guilty of the exact same thing. My friend was over one day and say Why don't you try walking around instead of just rebooting? Then I remember frantically searching FOR the whirlpool not long afterwards. Ultima III is on the top 5 games I want to replay. On Jan 22, 2004, at 1:08 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: I can remember playing Ultima III and trying to beat the disk drive if my party died. It was a bad habit to get into though.I used to restart the game when a whirlpool nailed my ship God, yes!! Those were the days -- days when you were actually faster than your computer. I remember frantically ripping the disk out too. -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Deal on the side???
While certainly it could be for legitimate reasons, when all of a sudden a cluster of desirable, related items is ended early, I can't help but wonder if there was a little backroom negotiation. I've only done it a few times myself (usually the seller declines) but in all cases is was because there was a bundle with only one real prize in it. All's fair in love and war? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073130126 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073156032 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073168547 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073161520 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Deal on the side???
Impossible. Oldskool is a state of mind :) I admit I didn't particularly enjoy trying to pull a fast one on the bidding community at large. I suppose though that if a truly desirable item appears, its good to chat w/the seller to, at a minimum, let them know there are several interested parties. Sigh, things can get so complicated. Sort of on that note, I have (like many others I'm sure) engaged in side conversations w/sellers for fun. Sometimes it yields unexpected benefits (items not yet on ebay find their way into the shipment). Usually when people tell me how much they've enjoyed a game they sold me I tell them that I archive them and play them on emulators. Surprising how many people didn't know that was possible. Several of them asked how to get started, went onto the local site, downloaded a few favorites and wrote back how thrilled they were to relive games they thought they'd never see again. Share the joy. On Jan 27, 2004, at 8:39 PM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: This guy had lots of other interesting stuff as well for sale, was tracking it myself only to find them all closed. Well, for a good enough offer I guess anything goes, anyone can be tempted :) I rarely ask myself, only done it once actually, couple of weeks ago but that seller accepted. Not one of these 20 year old games, only 6 years old. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said that.. it is not oldskool.. I might get banned from the list.. bugger.. - Original Message - From: Dan Chisarick [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Software Collectibles Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:18 AM Subject: [SWCollect] Deal on the side??? While certainly it could be for legitimate reasons, when all of a sudden a cluster of desirable, related items is ended early, I can't help but wonder if there was a little backroom negotiation. I've only done it a few times myself (usually the seller declines) but in all cases is was because there was a bundle with only one real prize in it. All's fair in love and war? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073130126 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073156032 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073168547 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3073161520 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Rarity Scale
Ultima II is also in the Ultima Trilogy :) Distinct from the others because the splash screen says Origin and not Sierra. On Jan 28, 2004, at 1:18 PM, Howard Feldman wrote: Sounds cool. I'd agree that TWO ratings might be better - one for 'rarity' and one for 'value'. The Giant list of Classic Game Programmers is a good source of game names and authors for starts. Digital Press publishes a rarity guide for video game cartidges (and some computer games), avaiable for $25. Thus I imagine it would be something along these lines? I agree the best way to start is we all make our own rarity lists and then we average the results or something. It would also be important to distinguish between different versions of the same game, which may very greatly in value. For example, Ultima II comes in a large box, a small sierra box, and a small Black on-line box. Wizardry II comes in a flat folder package, and a shiny box like wizardry I. Each of these has different rarities. Even the rarity for different computers can vary although this is generally less important since most of us (?) do not collect the saem game for multiple computers unless there are other differences besides the floppy disk. Common Uncommon Rare Imaginary Oddity Unique Shameless placeholder to complete acronym -- Howard Feldman Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game Visit its homepage at: http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Talking about rarity/value
As an aside I've gotten creamed by this guy on several occasions. I think he just 'safety bids' on everything :) I'd love to see his collection. Perhaps an invite to the list? On Jan 30, 2004, at 12:10 AM, Stephane Racle wrote: Wow... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemcategory=3561item=3073649958 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Weird Ultima auction on eBay
Member since '99, no activity for years, then has 10 of these fine items. Hell, even if they ARE fake, I don't mind a spare map to play with. I think I'll send some questions... On Feb 1, 2004, at 8:40 PM, Per-Olof Karlsson wrote: Did anyone see this auction? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemcategory=11050item=3075606212 Seems pretty peculiar to me.. Why would somebody have 10 copies of these thingies?? Apparently he's had more of these auctions out as well, suggesting he's got at least 10, possibly more. Smells fake all over if you ask me, eh?? I'm no Ultima expert so I can't see if the pic looks suspicious or not, perhaps somebody can? Cheers, Peo -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Weird Ultima auction on eBay
Did a Google on Lord_Pall (including the underscore, no quotes). Several hits in newsgroups to that handle around the time his ebay account was created in '98. All hits... referenced Ultima Online. Ya know, for $18, I can live down being scammed :) I bought one. On Feb 1, 2004, at 9:44 PM, Edward Franks wrote: On Feb 1, 2004, at 8:20 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: Perhaps someone who worked at Origin in some fashion? Location is Austin, TX... Good catch on the location. I wouldn't necessarily suspect they worked at Origin, but I imagine Origin's games would be easier to find there than most places. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Weird Ultima auction on eBay
My PayPal/ebay confirmation came back w/his name: D Rubenfield, which does xref to Lord Pall/Dan Rubenfield working for Origin. Maybe I should get two. On Feb 1, 2004, at 9:44 PM, Edward Franks wrote: On Feb 1, 2004, at 8:20 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: Perhaps someone who worked at Origin in some fashion? Location is Austin, TX... Good catch on the location. I wouldn't necessarily suspect they worked at Origin, but I imagine Origin's games would be easier to find there than most places. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] spam?
No but I run a spam blocker so even if there was there's a good chance I wouldn't see it. I didn't think it was even possible for spam to get past the subscription mechanism. On Feb 23, 2004, at 6:32 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Is anyone seeing spam on the swcollect list? -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) World's largest electronic gaming project:http://www.MobyGames.com/ A delicious slice of the demoscene:http://www.MindCandyDVD.com/ Various oldskool PC rants and ramblings: http://www.oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Castle Wolfenstein
I think Castle Wolfenstein should win the most package variants of any software title ever. Not counting overseas packing and I don't think they had 'budget' packing, there's like 4-5 variants of the Apple II version perhaps? I never saw this one before: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=2791458202category=4610 Sheesh. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Funny typo
Its a very long description, but the typo (about 2/3 of the way down) is priceless: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemcategory=1183item=3178965064 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Wireless Optical Mouse and ebay
While the MX 700 is a wonderful piece of hardware (its what I'm using now) it is REALLY fussy about how far away it is from its base station. They advertised a max of 6'. More like 2' for truly reliable use. Of course I have a wireless network and possibly other sources of RF interference. I almost returned it until I moved it within 18 of its base and it has been dead on ever since. Also (don't remember where I read it but it *seems* to be accurate), the batteries last longer if the laser doesn't have to work too hard. I taped a piece of white paper to my mousepad. I didn't actually benchmark it, but it *seems* that the charge lasts longer. Someone club me over the head if this is known BS. On Mar 9, 2004, at 8:29 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: Well, the Porsche among the wireless optical is Logitech's MX 700 (MX 900 if you want it as Bluetooth). It uses double the dpi your standard optical uses and is as accurate as a corded mouse. It also uses rechargeable batteries, which is a lot cheaper in the long run than buying batteries again and again - at night or during breaks you put it on its recharge station. Only problem: The mouse is beyond your price range. At the moment it should sell for 79, which should be about the same in $. Your alternative would the Cordless MouseMan Optical, which I used until I replaced it with the MX 700. It is not as precise as the latter, but if you aren't into FPS that shouldn't matter much to you. On Ebay you should be able to get a used one comparatively cheap. (Or heah, buy mine! :-) Marco [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb: Need wireless rechargable optical mouse. Anyone have suggestions (want cheap, maybe $25 shipped?). Tried ebay but most sellers have shipping cost of $11-20 (yes for one mouse), I refuse to buy from such a seller. Ebay needs new search function, shipping cost search, taking way too long to find one with reasonable s+h (probably searched 20 auctions, don't have time for that crap). Thanks, Tom Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
Collect games so I can play them: Guilty (though as of late its collect games so I can rip my hair out imaging them so that SOME DAY I can play them). Also, thanks for all the tape-archiving advice. I have 1 or 2 tapes and was meaning to get around to them sometime real soon now. I have a 96Khz USB audio capture box (made by Edirol) that I had planned to use. Was originally going to use a Griffin iMic but when I heard occasional spikes in the sound I almost ripped it out and tossed it on the spot. I sometimes won't get to verifying an image for over a year, and it would really SUCK to image a tape only to find out it was corrupted. (The most recent surprise was that Sir-Tech's Operation: Copernicus... damn thing verified the disk volume number. Had to dig the disk up again to find out what it was. Bastards.) Oh yeah, nice to come home to 89 (and counting) posts in one day. Yikes. On Mar 15, 2004, at 2:31 PM, Howard Feldman wrote: Ok Ok, don't want to upset my fellow collectors, though I still fail to see your logic. You can't make a fake anything from the 4K computer file and I highly doubt it will devalue the game as a collectible to anyone. Are you going to suddenly not want it anymore once you have the emulator image? How many of us really collect the games so we can play them?? I guess some of you must but certainly not I.. I will still provide to people upon request however (send me e-mails directly, not to the list that is). Josh Lulewicz wrote: I totally agree. Howard I don't think distributing this image of your is a good idea and I encourage to think twice and not do it. -josh -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 12:58 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Here we go. I'd just like to (as always) voice my concern about how widely these images would get distributed. Not that I'm against preserving it, I'm just worried about it falling into the wrong hands and we get inundated with fakes being sold as originals. Before actually sending the game to the high bidder, do you think you could completely preserve it? There are so few copies that any image of the original tape is *very* important. Nobody knows where this tape will go and if it can be properly preserved after you sell it. Also, the game will have another trip to the high bidder, which can even more damage the game... What you would need to do is to scan *all* documentation, box, tape (both sides), etc. at 600 dpi. The most important is to record both sides of the tape at a very high rate (44100 Hz, 16 bit), with proper sound level adjustment. Do you have the hardware to do this? -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- Howard Feldman Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game Visit its homepage at: http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] PhillyClassic
I realize it wasn't organized like last year, but is anyone going? Its this weekend. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Announcing the CGW Museum
I just got a chance to take a look (its been a truly awful week @ work), and it is a thing of beauty. Crisp scans, good color, (an appropriate watermark)... definitely a next best thing (to owning the actual mags). I was going to scan my Computist collection as PDF files. While I've never used it apparently Adobe has a free plug-in that does OCR of scanned PDF files so you can search the text? Anyone have any experience w/how effective this is? On Mar 17, 2004, at 3:01 AM, Stephane Racle wrote: I'm pleased to announce that my web site, the Computer Gaming World (CGW) Museum, is finally on-line! The Museum is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of all CGW items related to the time period covered by the first 100 issues of Computer Gaming World magazine. Currently there is not a whole lot of textual information available, but you will find scans of the covers of most of the first 100 issues, among other things. The goal is, of course, to expand as time allows, and all suggestions/constructive criticism/comments are welcome! Anyhow, you are all welcome to take a look! I am hoping that this will prove to be a useful resource for the vintage gaming community, as I do not believe that the information provided by the Museum is available elsewhere on the web. You will find the museum at cgw.vintagegaming.org. Many, many thanks to Freddie Bingham for hosting! Oh, and never mind the March 20th date on the news page. Amazingly, we're 3 days early... :-) Stephane -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Sam Max II
Appears to have been shelved: http://lucasarts.com/press/releases/85.html An appeal from the masses for reconsideration: http://www.petitiononline.com/LACOSAM/ Sigh. OK everyone, back to your 3D shooters and RTS eye candy... -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] PhillyClassic
I went for all of an hour. If you're into console games, specifically the 2600, its a blast. Lots more custom 2600 games (I love how perfectly they reproduce the style of the original game's artwork and manuals, etc.) A surprising amount of material (hardware, software and manuals) for creating your own 2600 games. Other than the 8 PDP-11 floppy that had the original Pac-Man source code on it (for the 2600, shock) that was on display, there was nary a disk in sight. x-tad-biggerHoward Scott Warshaw was there (wrote Yar's Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. I think) Nice to see a classic developer trek all the way over from CA. /x-tad-bigger On Mar 20, 2004, at 9:22 PM, Stuart Feldhamer wrote: To tell you the truth, I was not so impressed last year. The software collector's meeting was awesome, but the rest was sort of blah. In the absence of the software collectors, I see no reason to go. Stuart -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 12:24 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [SWCollect] PhillyClassic I realize it wasn't organized like last year, but is anyone going? Its this weekend. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] PhillyClassic
Yeah, I did the same thing :) Great guy. The people ahead of me were yapping away for what seemed like forever and he didn't seem to mind. He had a game there called Saboteur. $45, signed. (c) date was 1984, so it looks like he finished his last effort that was never released. I was happy w/the DVD. On Mar 21, 2004, at 1:12 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: Dan Chisarick wrote: Howard Scott Warshaw was there (wrote Yar's Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. I think) Nice to see a classic developer trek all the way over from CA. He was cool. I bought a copy of Once Upon Atari from him and he autographed it for me. -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I'll be the first to say..
Wow, I'd have thought it'd be more than that. Anyway, I sent an invite to Byron this morning. He seems to be into archiving game disks, too. That'd bring the total on this list up to... four? Five? I can't help but draw some of the visual imagery from the museums in Questron, Legacy of the Ancients and Legend of Blacksilver and see a vintage game collection in there... In this exhibit you see 'Sword of Kadash'. It requires one red gem to view... (Supposedly you could beat 'Kadash' in a matter of minutes. The walkthrough is in an issue of Computist.) That was another of the games that got me trolling ebay for vintage software. Kinda reminds me of a primitive version of Dark Spyre. On Mar 23, 2004, at 4:03 PM, Edward Franks wrote: On Mar 22, 2004, at 8:08 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] I'm hoping the higher-than-expected sale price of Drash will allow you to keep some of your prizes that you were planning to sell. Though the final value fee from ebay will probably be painful. The fee is $67.20 which is minor given the final price. I'll be selling some other stuff I have extras of or don't want, but nothing that is highly wanted by collectors (for example, I have an extra Quest For Glory collection). I've also mentioned the email list to Mr. Olafson and invited him to join. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Roadtrip to Washington, D.C?
H sounds good. I'll probably go. On Mar 29, 2004, at 1:18 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi all. just thought I'd open an invitation to a historic event, that officially justifies our hobby. The Smithsonian Institution is now having a seminar on 'An exploration on the art and science of electronic game design', appropriately called Games People Play. It's scheduled for Sunday, May 16th. Here's a link to the details: http://residentassociates.org/com/games.asp The Origin Museum will be there (after all, Doug Church, lead programmer of Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 will be featured!), and it would be a fun reason to come and see our great Capitol city. Paula and I would certainly show you all the town on Saturday, and perhaps even have a 'round table' at The Museum on Saturday night for anything related to collecting! The first round of drinks would be on us! :) Please reply and let us know if there'd be any interest in a get-together in May. (John--two words--Shigeru Miyamoto!) Joe Garrity Origin Museum -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Adventure Construction Set
I have very vague memories of that. I *think* I beat the mini-adventures as well as ROL but to be honest, I don't remember. Possible I didn't. I searched Google for hours (figuring you've probably already tried that) and the only reference I found was someone asking that very same question back in '96 (and guess who that was). Now I've got to light it up and see if I can't find out myself. BTW, what platform did you play on? Where did you get the game from? (There are people here who've beat games that have typos in their parsers :) Did anyone beat Rivers of Light?) On Apr 3, 2004, at 7:16 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Dan, I too spent a large portion of my childhood with ACS. Could you possibly tell me how to find the mouth in Rivers of Light (the one you're supposed to give to the ghost in the pyramid)? I edited the game and searched EVERY SQUARE for it, to no avail. - Original Message - From: Dan Chisarick [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: swcollect Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 6:14 PM Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Adventure Construction Set Two people who had the same urge at the same time. I know I had a little trouble finding a reference card for the Apple II version, but I've since found one and seen about 3-4 of them afterwards. I did spend buckets of time playing with this, though. On Apr 3, 2004, at 10:33 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nothing particularly different about this version as far as I can see. Just typical eBay craziness. Hugh -Original Message- From: Per-Olof Karlsson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Apr 3, 2004 6:44 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [SWCollect] Adventure Construction Set I noticed this too.. I'd call that a mental blackout if anything! Somebody wanted it badly, and bid way too high, I think. It's not particularly rare, in my opinion. Cheers, Peo -Original Message- From: Tomas Buteler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: den 3 april 2004 15:18 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [SWCollect] Adventure Construction Set I know it doesn't compare to the amounts the Drashes and the PS Zorks have been gathering, but this got me puzzled: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=3085478069category=4315 No newbies... big bids, for what I'm used to seeing of flat-boxes. Am I missing something here? Best regards, Tomas __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/ - - This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ - - This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ - - This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Is this particular version rare?????
Always seems someone has unlimited disposable income... right about the time you see something you'd like to have. For insanity like this, I wonder how insurance companies would compute the value of such an item. Purchase price? Average cost? Replacement value (whatever that is)? When you take into consideration that almost no two copies of vintage goodies are in the same condition, it makes it all the more exciting. On Apr 7, 2004, at 6:12 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Peter Olafson wrote: I don't think -any- of the versions of Maniac Mansion are rare. Apple releases are some of the rarer releases of MM, but I think the current bid price of $157 is about $57 more than sane :) -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) World's largest electronic gaming project:http://www.MobyGames.com/ A delicious slice of the demoscene:http://www.MindCandyDVD.com/ Various oldskool PC rants and ramblings: http://www.oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Another Is this rare?
Deluxe Edition of Wasteland??? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemcategory=4610item=4121816523rd=1 Aside from lines like Casual collectors may wish to pass this by and each disk verified by Copy II Plus (which I'd love to know how he did that since the protection on Wasteland was the same on Strike Fleet, Legacy of the Ancients, Chuck Yeagar and Deathlord, e.g. the most brutal that I know of that EA did for the Apple). If he did a bit copy that doesn't prove anything. I'd be led to believe that the album cover came FIRST, then the box, as the last few Apple II games came in boxes (John Madden and Earl Weaver did). Thoughts? Interestingly, there's no picture :) For all I know he took the box from a different platform and stuffed in the guts from a flat pack. I have 4 copies of Wasteland, and they were relatively easy/cheap to get. Hugh? Can I get a ruling? -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare....
The Seven Drashes sounds like the title of a modern-day RPG. Of course I'm not sure I'd care for the quests (go to the office, get stuck in traffic, work a second job instead of killing monsters for extra cash, etc.) On Apr 21, 2004, at 7:34 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Tom, Can you list the owners of the seven Drashes (owner, complete-or-cassette, etc?). Also, this box looks...familiar. Could it be one of the ones that has already been sold? Also--you have TWO?! WOW! Tell us about them--please! Joe From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2004/04/21 Wed AM 06:20:06 EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare In a message dated 04/21/2004 3:22:29 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Though now there seem to be many rarer early Sierra-games. Will be interesting to see where it fetches this time. I don't know about that, not many Drashes were made and most were destroyed. Almost for sure under 1000 sold, probably a lot less. Doubt many of those survived, especially for an obscure platform like VIC. Other Sierra games, PERHAPS some harder to find now (but even with this one there are only 7 Drashes confimed), other games would probably surface too if price was high enough. Tom Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page In a message dated 04/21/2004 3:22:29 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Though now there seem to be many rarer early Sierra-games. Will be interesting to see where it fetches this time. I don't know about that, not many Drashes were made and most were destroyed. Almost for sure under 1000 sold, probably a lot less. Doubt many of those survived, especially for an obscure platform like VIC. Other Sierra games, PERHAPS some harder to find now (but even with this one there are only 7 Drashes confimed), other games would probably surface too if price was high enough. Tom Visit my web page for many games for sale/trade and screen shots of Ultima Escape from Mt. Drash, Tom's Ultima, Infocom and RPG page
Re: [SWCollect] CURIOUS Guide
Very nice. A few things: - Searching works well (but what does the icon w/the X-ed out glasses do)? I saw no visible results. - All the links (year, publisher, title) all lead to the same destination for a given title. - The scrollbar down the left gives erratic results - Not sure if everyone knows that the percent sign is the wildcard for database like queries. Perhaps imply it at the end (or both ends) if not specified? Other than that, I dig it. Now for that dynamic feedback model to adjust the rarity ratings... How much work (in hours) did it take to get to this point? On Apr 22, 2004, at 1:06 AM, Hugh Falk wrote: x-tad-biggerAfter weeks of frustration and experimentation, I finally have a DB solution for the CUROIUS Guide up and running. You can get to it from my site (/x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerhttp://www.classicgaming.com/gotcha//x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger) through the menu, but here is a direct link to the DB page: /x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerhttp://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~gotcha/PHP/curious_view.php/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger /x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerThere are some nice features like sorting, filtering and a printable view, but there is still some more functionality I want to add (like alphabetical tabs). For now I think it is very usable./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerId really appreciate some feedbackspecifically if it works since so many people had problems with the last version./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerKeep in mind that this is only the beginning. There are likely many errors and obviously there are many many games/box variations still to add./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerThanks,/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerHugh/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger
Re: [SWCollect] CURIOUS Guide
- I don't get hover-over help. Tried with IE, Mozilla and Safari for OS X. - Links lead to the same destination: You said what I meant. I just worded it badly. - Hmmm, scrollbar seems happy now. Either browser glitch or PEBKAC On Apr 22, 2004, at 9:44 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks for the feedback, Dan... - Searching works well (but what does the icon w/the X-ed out glasses do)? I saw no visible results. [HF] There is actually hover-help for the buttons. Just mouse over it. That button clears any filters you have applied. - All the links (year, publisher, title) all lead to the same destination for a given title. [HF] It may seem that way when you mouse over the links, but clicking those links won't take you anywhere. Instead, it selects that row and puts the game in the Detail View at the bottom. If you can't see it, scroll down. It's useful for extra long titles, publishers, etc. Let me know if it isn't working for you please. - The scrollbar down the left gives erratic results [HF] Actually, just hit the up or down arrow (at the ends of the scroll bar) to move one page at a time (25 games per page). Click on the bar itself to go to that location in the entire list. Seems to be working right. - Not sure if everyone knows that the percent sign is the wildcard for database like queries. Perhaps imply it at the end (or both ends) if not specified? [HF] Very good point. I should at least put instructions. Other than that, I dig it. Now for that dynamic feedback model to adjust the rarity ratings... How much work (in hours) did it take to get to this point? [HF] Probably about 12 hours of actual workand about 2 weeks of waiting on gamespy (my host) to make changes or answer questions. Also, I originally tried to use MS SQL with ASP instead of MySQL with PHP and had to scrap and start over. Now that I know what I'm doing and am set up on Gamespy, I could do the whole thing in an hour or so. It helps that I'm using a PHP generation utility as the basis for my web page. It does a lot of the PHP work for me. Hugh -Original Message- From: Dan Chisarick [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Apr 22, 2004 6:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] CURIOUS Guide Very nice. A few things: - Searching works well (but what does the icon w/the X-ed out glasses do)? I saw no visible results. - All the links (year, publisher, title) all lead to the same destination for a given title. - The scrollbar down the left gives erratic results - Not sure if everyone knows that the percent sign is the wildcard for database like queries. Perhaps imply it at the end (or both ends) if not specified? Other than that, I dig it. Now for that dynamic feedback model to adjust the rarity ratings... How much work (in hours) did it take to get to this point? On Apr 22, 2004, at 1:06 AM, Hugh Falk wrote: After weeks of frustration and experimentation, I finally have a DB solution for the CUROIUS Guide up and running. You can get to it from my site (http://www.classicgaming.com/gotcha/) through the menu, but here is a direct link to the DB page: http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~gotcha/PHP/curious_view.php. There are some nice features like sorting, filtering and a printable view, but there is still some more functionality I want to add (like alphabetical tabs). For now I think it is very usable. I?d really appreciate some feedback?specifically if it works since so many people had problems with the last version. Keep in mind that this is only the beginning. There are likely many errors and obviously there are many many games/box variations still to add. Thanks, Hugh -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] New Article from The Origin Museum
Ya think he'd send us a link ;) Good lord that was amazing. Its good to be the king (or at least his curator...) On Apr 24, 2004, at 2:09 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thought people would be interested in seeing a new article. Please check it out, and tell me what you think. Go to my site, and click on the STORIES section--It's called,One Last Goodbye From The Creators of Worlds...-- I think you'll be pleased. Thanks for looking. ...Preserving Worlds... Joe Garrity Curator of The Origin Museum -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I don't like this at all...
Most people on this list are probably collecting for reasons other than financial gain (though nothing wrong with collecting to sell for profit or a mix, especially if the profit goes to buying more games). While I'm no economic theorist, I think prices will settle down after a bit. Why? As we've said, games are worth what people are willing to pay. Why are they willing to pay? For most/all people here, they are passionate about vintage games and all that comes with that, and are willing to pay a few bucks. Sometimes something truly rare comes along, and we go a little crazy (or a lot). Sometimes you have dueling newbies who will bid three digits on everything. But unless you have generous resources, experienced collectors will pass on something too expensive, even if they're like to add it to their collection. Now we have a situation where all of a sudden people are bidding vast sums on some reasonably desirable stuff (but the prices are consistently high). If the prices continue to soar, eventually the passionate collectors, the folks who provided the spark that got this whole thing going, will take a back seat. The prices will continue to escalate as investors keep kicking up the price (with the intention of selling, not keeping). Finally as the investors have had about enough, and the collectors are shaking their heads, no one is willing to pay the exorbitant price anymore. They investors may hold out, praying for a resurgence, but its not likely it will come. The prices will then not so gently make their way back to sane levels (for Road Runner fans, think Wile E. Coyote going 100MPH and suddenly running out of ledge. Momentum only carries you so far...) Forces that can perpetuate this cycle is the collector/investor who shifts a little more to the investor side. There is no shortage of people (again, nothing wrong) who buy anything they can get only to resell, or buy lots and resell what they don't need. At a sizable sum given the current climate. They would require less capital to keep abreast with someone with greater means. But, no problem if things don't pan out, they can always trade, as they are in it for the games as well, not purely profit. My concern (obligatory save the media plug, hold your ears if you must) is the aging disks/tapes/whatever. While I doubt this cycle will last years, the repercussions will exist in pockets long after the frenzy has died down, possibly holding captive a few desirable. And the longer they sit on a shelf instead of a disk drive, blah blah blah yougethteidea. Final comment: This surge in value should expose more titles to the open market than would have been had the prices stayed where they were (when's the last time you saw so many gems)? People will know not to toss that shoe box of disks or that crate of Infocom games. Overall its a good thing, but for the moment it does sort of suck for the average collector. If prices are exploding all around, at least kick back and enjoy the fireworks. On May 10, 2004, at 1:00 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: BL wrote: Why would you hope it fades back to normal? I think it's great - if I thought that 50 years from now all the games I've collected were going to be worth the same amount of money, I wouldn't feel any urgency to collect. I have never collected purely as an investment. I collect titles that mean a lot to me personally, or titles that I respect very highly due to what they did/meant to the industry. But never for money; it's too volatile. There are people out there who just want to play the games and think downloading Abandonware is collecting, for example -- there will always be people like that, so the industry will shift all the time. Until we get to be a bigger industry, we won't have the same common-sense protection that, for example, the comic book industry has against reprints being considered as worth a lot. -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) World's largest electronic gaming project:http://www.MobyGames.com/ A delicious slice of the demoscene:http://www.MindCandyDVD.com/ Various oldskool PC rants and ramblings: http://www.oldskool.org/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Ouch
Ok, generally I keep out of the grading discussions because I toss shrinkwrap on games like I would on sandwiches (in contrast to the death-threat below). Question: How do you handle funk? Basement funk (game stored in a damp cellar), smoker's house, cat used the space 10 away as a litterbox, etc. All of these categorize a few boxes of games I own (and all from the same seller). They're in fine condition, but they'll curl your nose. You can't possibly say that something could be visually immaculate but conjure images of the corner bar could be graded near mint, etc. They didn't come from the factory this way... On May 10, 2004, at 11:13 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I enjoyed reading this thread, considering that MS is one of my passions (ripping the shrinkwrap from an old game is much akin to breaking the binding on my new magazine--I've threatened to KILL people for this!) ;) I've never had the time to do it, but I always wanted to do 'The ILLUSTRATED Moby Scale'--3 to 5 detailed pictures of example games showing every grade (and modifier). It would clear up a lot of confusion, and also give everyone insight and input into opinions about grading. We could also cover some of the lesser-talked about modifiers-- Fading Crushed corners blemishes (what's an 'acceptable' blemish, anyway?!) Box warping Cover 'ripple' Spotting reshrink Is anyone interested in doing something like this? If we each took a certain grade, we could accomplish a lot: *We could show off some of our finer pieces *We could have a laugh at some of the things we still keep (you KNOW you each have that piece of garbage that is in horrible shape, has no monetary value, and refuse to throw away! *It would be a valuable addition to the Moby Game page (providing we all donate the pictures to the website) *It would sure help to 'nail down' what we all agree on *It would start all NEW discussions on the topic *and may make this dry text more...stimulating. Just a thoughtI'll even dust off my camera too, if anyone else wants to pitch in... Joe G From: Jim Leonard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2004/05/10 Mon PM 05:28:20 EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Ouch Freddie Bingham wrote: I still maintain the guide is confusing since you have one situation where a grade and modifier can not be used together. Taken at face value, yes, I can see how this might be confusing. However, if someone understands the motivation behind software collecting and the terms used, then it becomes clear why Mint always needs Sealed. Maybe there is confusion over why the term Mint was chosen? Because mint condition implies, in numismatics anyway, freshly minted or in the same condition as it was created in the mint. The pinnacle of condition in most grading scales implies Mint condition, and since a wrapped package is the only condition that can be considered factory perfect, the Sealed part was added quite intentionally. It seems to me that the biggest problem is that the scale deviates from other, much more established grading scales in use in other fields of collecting. I can not find any scales that define a near mint rating as actually being mint and this is the biggest problem I have with this list. I don't see how having shrink-wrap, means that we need a scale that deviates from other scales. It is precisely *because* our hobby has different indications of quality that the MobyScale was created. Sealed items are worth more than unsealed items, so the fact that it is sealed is a gradiation of quality, and should be noted. When researching hobbies and grading scales in creating the MobyScale, I couldn't find any particular one that was a good match; most of them didn't apply to a hobby where factory authenticity can be verified (wrapped, sealed, etc.), and the ones that did mention it didn't regard it highly. I would be interested to learn of other hobbies that value shrinkwrapped/sealed items to be of higher quality, and also what grading systems they use. I know it won't be changed but I just want to it to be known that there are others who disagree with it. Duly noted, and I (and others) value your input. The goal of the Scale was to avoid confusion; if you use your own scale, just make sure it can be referenced -- on a web page, in a listing, etc. -- so that further confusion can be avoided. It's no secret that the primary motivation of myself (and others who contributed to it) was purchsing things online labeled as Mint when it was received opened, or seeing items described as Very Fine ++ and Good Near Fine and wondering what the hell that meant :-) -- Jim Leonard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) World's largest electronic gaming project: http://www.MobyGames.com/ A delicious slice of the demoscene: http://www.MindCandyDVD.com/ Various oldskool PC rants and ramblings: http://www.oldskool.org/ -- This message was
Re: [SWCollect] SSI Ziplocs
I have an SSI Ziplock copy of Epidemic. The manual just barely fits the bag (needs a little work actually but once its past the opening, it fits snug). It has a red white sticker that says its for the Apple platform. On May 9, 2004, at 6:29 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 05/09/2004 12:09:08 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Yes, I only have one. I will post a pic, but not for another weekmy wife has the digital camera and my scan doesnt do a good job on the bag. Can you tell me how big the baggie is? Does it fit the manual or is it bigger? Thanks, Tom
Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare....
So that's two (albeit incomplete) copies on ebay concurrently. And neither have bids. Anyone care to make guesses as to how much they sell for? I'll say $300-400 tops. On May 14, 2004, at 1:20 PM, Freddie Bingham wrote: I wouldn't consider anything sold without a box when determining a game's availability. Freddie Lucasarts Museum - http://lucasarts.vintagegaming.org -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 10:16 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare They're coming out of the woodwork! This now officially makes 5 available on the open market--according to Hugh, this game is now only 'Rare'. Uncommon is possible by the end of the year...looks like Drash is 'Trash'. (...but I always considered myself a trash collector) ;) Joe From: Holger Bachert [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2004/05/14 Fri AM 11:52:35 EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare Well it was fun while it lastedguess I should have sold mine when it was rare. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=4315item=810 5218187rd=1 Let's say there are definitely rarer things out there... ;) And while we are at it... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=62053item=8105 492467rd=1 8) -- Holger Bachert / Tel mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bachert.cx ICQ#:369991 -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare....
Hmmm, yeah. I think my estimate was a bit too low. It is one of the most desirable Ultima collectables you could hope to bid on (you seem to have all the ones you can't, though). Of course there's no saying what the reserve is, either. As an aside, I'm also speculating that Keith Z, given past comments about his reluctance to talk about the game, probably wouldn't be willing to autograph one :) On May 14, 2004, at 8:40 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 05/14/2004 7:25:23 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: So that's two (albeit incomplete) copies on ebay concurrently. And neither have bids. Anyone care to make guesses as to how much they sell for? I'll say $300-400 tops. I'll say at least $1000 for the one with the manual. Two at same time will not help price though. Tom
Re: [SWCollect] Talk about boneheads...
Likely story :p On May 7, 2004, at 11:47 AM, Josh Lulewicz wrote: Heh actually that was supposed to be 9.99 blushes I didn't realize it until after the end of the auction :( Damn IE autofiller... -josh -Original Message- From: C.E. Forman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 07, 2004 7:26 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Talk about boneheads... Unfortunately this bidder didn't do his/her homework and paid $100 for a disk that is probably worth less than $5 by itself. Um, not to criticize, Josh? But i'n't that you who bid $99 on it? -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Change to feedback ratings?
In my otherwise pristine ratings on ebay I won a single neutral comment when I backhanded someone for not being responsive (30 days no answer, and for that I was called 'impatient'). At the bottom of what had to be a 4-page auction description was a blurb that he's sometimes out of town. This was about... 2 years ago. Today I noticed that this neutral has disappeared, and my feedback score is at 100% positive. Huh? Compound that with another counter I never noticed 0 feedbacks mutually removed. Granted I live in ignorance of the world around me and all, but did I miss an overhaul of the feedback system? I looked at my history, and sure enough 5/11/01, there is my single neutral comment. But it doesn't score in my summary. I read the link below the feedback summary and nowhere in there did it mention an expiration date for scores. The person who left me the neutral is still active, so that's not it either. How odd. http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewFeedbackuserid=danc256items=200page=2frompage=-1item=-1de=off Mercifully the list doesn't keep a feedback score on my comments :) (How brutal would that be if every mail message came with a voting link). -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Talk about boneheads...
$100 for the disk to a Donkey Kong clone. Nice. This keeps up people will start selling individual games a la carte ($25 for the manual, $50 for the disk, $15 for the reference card, etc.) On May 6, 2004, at 10:22 PM, Josh Lulewicz wrote: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=8103158348category=4 315sspagename=STRK%3AMEBDW%3AITrd=1 rolls eyes -josh p.s. If the winner is on the list I offer no apologies... -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] FYI
Looks like the advertisement wasn't the only thing that was framed. Nice catch (as always). Ask him if he'd like to trade for a hypothetical 2600 prototype... On May 3, 2004, at 9:13 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Just in case any of you were thinking of bidding on this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=8103195577rd=1 .be aware that it's not an original advertisement flyer, but a page cut out of a magazine and framed by the seller (which I suspected after seeing this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemcategory=4315item=8103195600. (Note how the other side of the page shows through.) The seller has confirmed this to me, but hasn't mentioned it in his auctions so I wanted to pass along the word. -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business
I should offer him my copy of Muse BLACKJACK. At $450.00 its a steal (I think it cost me $15-20. Not sure. I was on a MUSE kick back then. Then I realized that they had more titles than I previously knew about and calmed down shortly thereafter.) On Apr 25, 2004, at 5:32 PM, Hugh Falk wrote: x-tad-biggerSorry to call out another person (not sure if he/she is on this list), but one auction in particular that amazed me was:/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=4315item=8100294021rd=1ssPageName=WDVW/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerHugh/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger-Original Message-/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerFrom:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger Hugh Falk [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger /x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerSent:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger Sunday, April 25, 2004 2:28 PM/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerTo:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger [EMAIL PROTECTED]/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerSubject:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerI was waiting for things to die down a bit before bringing this topic up, but the last few weeks have brought an extraordinary amount of activity on eBayboth in the number of good, old PC games for sale and the prices being paid. My watch list has never been so full. In fact, Id say my watch list over the last few weeks was as long as the previous six months (maybe a year). At least 3 individual sellers had lots to offer:/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerHopey/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerRbgamehunter/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerCarol!yahoo/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerCombined with lots of one-off sellers./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerBut what really struck me was that even with all the supply, the ending prices were just so much higher than Ive ever seen before. I would have expected prices to drop with so much stuff on the market, but it didnt happen. Things Ive seen go recently in the $10 - $30 range were going for over $100. Many of the usual suspects were bidding, but the most noticeable was Peter (sorry to call you out Peter), who by my rough calculations has dropped AT LEAST 10 grand in the last 2 months./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerIn some ways it is really great to see games appreciating in value so much. Maybe well remember March and April 2004 as the months that Retro PC game collecting officially became big business./x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerHugh/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger/x-tad-bigger
Re: [SWCollect] New Article from The Origin Museum
I won't startup the semi-annual archive/preserve debate again (it hasn't been 6 months since the last one :), but since we have a few new folks, anyone else do the 'media archiving' thing? On Apr 25, 2004, at 8:01 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ** Marco Wrote: Very cool, Joe! You won't rip the sealed ones open, will you? Please don't, they look so..pristine. Marco ** Don't worry, Marco--we won't. :) The Museum specializes in 'preserving' Origin games. We already are very proud of our 'MINT-SEALED' collection, and these titles just add to them. Trust me, we always keep 1 copy of an 'opened' game, and 1 copy that is sealed, whenever we can. There was an interesting discussion some years ago in the newsgroups with another great collector, who shared a different viewpoint--They thought that collecting sealed games was ludicrous--that the games were meant to be PLAYED, and the extras were meant to be touched, read, and played with. I respect that opinion, but I disagreed. My thought is that some games go far beyond the concept of playing--they're ART. Keeping them in their original form is just as important as the game itself. The thoughts and concepts behind the original presentation of classic games is just as important as the game itself! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: It's more than cardboard and floppy disks. I have complete confidence that the data will survive--I'll leave that aspect to the collector-types that dig THAT aspect of collecting (Jim, Dan, etc.--VERY capable hands!) I prefer to distinguish what WE do as 'preservation'. It shows respect for the MEDIUM, as well as the MEDIA--and with that, a fuller respect for the hobby as a whole. Joe -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business
When I started collecting a few years back, I had an entire 8.5 x 11 sheet of titles, search terms, publishers, etc. You name it. It would take me an hour a day to dig. I found some pretty interesting stuff. I also had more cash to buy goodies with. But I relied purely on ebay's search tool. Now-a-days I rely on a few saved searches on ebay, and rarely I will look at someone's purchase history (only to marvel at the sheer number of things that have passed me by). I deliberately don't search intensely, because I'm trying to cut back. I pretty much bottom feed these days. If I see something cool I'll low-ball it. If I win, great. If not, great. Seems when I think I have it all, I find something that I A) don't have and B) is either very rare or unique. (Ok, I'm ranting, you get the idea.) For the more obsessive who have custom search bots, perhaps they can add social engineering to their techniques, borrowing strategies from fellow collectors to augment their mighty arsenal of discovery tools :) Anyway, these days, 2 searches, 5 minutes a day to pour over the lists. I'll add stuff to my watch list just to let it go by. I also rely on the generosity of others who toss URL's and drop names of people who have gems to sell. Other than that, zilch. On Apr 26, 2004, at 11:20 AM, C.E. Forman wrote: What I'd like to know is how people (the same people all the time)are finding the rare items. Granted, I'm aware of a few sellers putting a ton of stuff up, so people watch their auctions. Everyone searches on Infocom, Drash, etc. But I've also seen some really obscure stuff by an atypical seller go for a lot, stuff I didn't think anybody else would have found, especially since eBay has screwed around with the categories to the point where everything is essentially buried. It's pretty much public knowledge that I wrote my own automated eBay search tool, but if a few of you don't mind sharing how you find your stuff, I'd be interested to hear it. Do you rely on eBay's saved searches and automatic notifies? Do you save the URLs for the results of a bunch of your own searches? Do you spy on other known collectors and see what they've come across? About how many searches do you do, and how often? C'mon, don't be shy. x-tad-bigger- Original Message -/x-tad-bigger x-tad-bigger /x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerFrom:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-biggerx-tad-biggerStephane Racle/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerTo:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger[EMAIL PROTECTED]/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger /x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerSent:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger Sunday, April 25, 2004 5:39 PM/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerSubject:/x-tad-biggerx-tad-bigger Re: [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business/x-tad-bigger I was actually thinking along the same lines, and I'm sure I wasn't the only other one. Some of the prices make it seem like $100 for a game is nothing... I don't know, but to me, $100 is a lot of cash! The other thing I've noticed too is that there's at least a couple of bidders who seem to be doing more than just collecting. I think Bryron, for one, would still be ready to pay big bucks for a game even if he already had ten copies of it - perhaps an investment? I believe C.E. made a similar statement not too long ago regarding Starcross saucers and Suspended masks. I found this one particularly interesting since I got a copy off eBay only three or four months ago and I was the only bidder. Now all of a sudden, there's 10 bids: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=4315item=3091242158rd=1ssPageName=WDVW I think the fact that knowing people are bidding high is driving more people to bid even higher. While I'm glad my collection is worth more, I wouldn't be overly thrilled if this hobby became a business. I'm not exactly sure it would be a good thing if every game sold for $100+. On the other hand, I'm almost tempted to sell some of my stuff at these prices. :-) Stephane Hugh Falk wrote: x-tad-biggerI was waiting for things to die down a bit before bringing this topic up, but the last few weeks have brought an extraordinary amount of activity on eBayboth in the number of good, old PC games for sale and the prices being paid. My watch list has never been so full. In fact, Id say my watch list over the last few weeks was as long as the previous six months (maybe a year). At least 3 individual sellers had lots to offer:/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerHopey/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerRbgamehunter/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerCarol!yahoo/x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerCombined with lots of one-off sellers./x-tad-bigger x-tad-biggerBut what really struck me was that even with all the supply, the ending prices were just so much higher than Ive ever seen before. I would have expected prices to drop with so much stuff on the market, but it didnt happen. Things Ive seen go recently in the $10 - $30 range were going for over $100. Many of the usual
