Re: [SWCollect] Home Computer Wars book

2004-06-15 Thread Howard Feldman

Here's a 'cheap' copy if someone cares:

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=262883290

and if thats gone and you want to pay $100:

http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?BID=8223523025pwork=2973045siteID=5Nv03vHgBCI-IKaHSR7l2ycgkVcaMgbY1w

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=293650530

 Jim Leonard wrote:
 
  Lee K. Seitz wrote:
 
   I noticed the book doesn't have an index, so I'm trying to compile a
   basic one as I go for later reference.  I'll publish it on the web
   when I'm finished.  Does this seem like a useful project?
 
  Not unless you plan to publish the book itself -- it's hard to find.
 
   BTW, I just finished _Hard Drive_, about Microsoft and Bill Gates up
   through c. 1993.  Next will probably either be _Hackers_, which I
   started once but didn't finish, or John Sculley's _Odyssey_.
 
  I'd like to recommend Accidental Empires by Robert X. Cringely.
  --
  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/
 
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Re: [SWCollect] Ultima III

2004-05-27 Thread Howard Feldman
BTW, I'd avoid that guy at all costs, he's a jerk.  Buddy sold me a hint
book and it arrived - with the pages unstapled!!  Ridiculous!  I asked
for a refund and he basically said tough.  Then he had the nerve to
leave ME negative feedback (after I left it for him).

  My Google skills fail me these days.  I can't find a site that has the
  pictures of the disk to Ultima III from the original (or 2nd) release
  vs. the Ultima Trilogy release.  Correct me if I'm wrong, this is the
  Ultima III disk from the trilogy, yes?
 
  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
  ViewItemcategory=62053item=8108022888
 
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Re: [SWCollect] ADD Aquarius

2004-05-23 Thread Howard Feldman
I think I can answer both questions.

Like you, I didnt know Aquarius Tarmin existed until I saw it at CGExpo
last summer.  Conveniently the Blue Sky Rangers were there, so I asked
them about it :)  It is not that rare actually, at least not any rarer
than Aquarius in general.  Anyways, I have searched eBay for it ever
since (about 10 months maybe?) and I have seen at least half a dozen
complete copies of it (usually with a bunch of other crap though).  When
it sells on its own, it went for about $20-30 typically if I recall (Id
pay about $20 max which is why I dont have it yet... must be patient...)

The white label ADD cart, I believe, is released by INTV corp, from the
period around 1984 onwards when Mattel was no longer supporting
Intellivision.  Most INTV games had white cartridge labels.  Thus it is
just a 'later printing' of the game.  Think of it as a Slash re-release
:)

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Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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Re: [SWCollect] So obviously Mt. Drash is no longer rare....

2004-05-12 Thread Howard Feldman
Is there really  1000 drash sold?  How do we know this?
On the other hand, Scott Adams Gold Collector Series were individually numbered 
and only 1000 copies were ever made (for each computer type??)  There are others 
that probably sold even less than this, but many are not worth collecting...

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 05/12/2004 1:28:38 PM Central Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


Let's say there are definitely rarer things out there... ;)


Like what Holger, are you talking about a computer game? If so which 
one? Even though Drash is showing up now I still think under 500 were 
sold and doubtful many survived. Are there many computer games that had 
less than 1000 sold (Akalabeth sold 3)? Even if so I'm sure they 
would pop up if the price was right, it's just because of the prices 
(note each auction uses info from a previous auction) that Drash is 
showing up now. And it will dry up, not sure how many before it does 
(but not a LOT).

Tom
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Visit its homepage at:  http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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[SWCollect] Zork question

2004-05-05 Thread Howard Feldman
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Zork was named after a mid-70's poetry
book called 'A Hastily Thrown Together Bit of Zork'.  Can't seem to find where I
read it with google.  Does anyone know if this is true?  Does anyone have the
book?  Is it also true that only 150 copies of the book were released into
general circulation?  Just wondered how 'collectible' the book is, since Ive
never seen it.

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[SWCollect] recent crazy prices

2004-04-30 Thread Howard Feldman

As has been mentioned, there have been some pretty crazy selling prices
on ebay lately for even not-so-rare games.  In some cases, people in
this list are partially responsible :)  However, I'm going to say what
everyone else is thinking - our 'friend' Jeff Cowe has been responsible
for a good chunk of these.  What could he possibly be up to?  I decided
to check his ebay stats, and in the last month alone, he spent $3000 on
eBay items!  Im sure many of us don't even earn that much after taxes. 
All the sellers are different, so it is unlikely he is just shilling,
and no one left him bad feedback.  But something caught my eye.  Mixed
in with all the games he won, what should we see but a Nikon Coolpix
Camera and 2GB RAM for it.  To take pictures of his new collection?  Or
perhaps something more devious?  He has also stopped selling movie
posters etc a few months ago - after he boosted his feedback rating
enough??

I think if he really is planning something, it is coming to its
culmination soon, so at the risk of sounding like a prophet of doom,
keep an eye out.
 
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Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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Re: [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business

2004-04-26 Thread Howard Feldman
Well, I do several hours of clever manual searches, once a week.  I can't tell 
you what I search for of course :)  It has managed to find me some good bargains 
that other people miss (especially when people misspell things..).  Lately 
though everyone seems to be finding all the good stuff I find too.  Since 
everyone pretty much snipes these days, I dont bother 'spying' on what other 
collectors are bidding on (one of the many advantages of sniping).  I also don't 
generally check particular users regularly, however sometimes if I find one good 
item, I will View Sellers Other Items and sometimes find something good that I 
wouldnt have found otherwise (see note about misspelling...).  My best finds are 
usually large lots of games, sometimes mixed in with hardware - people tend to 
avoid these kinds of auction with lots of 'stuff' and occasionally there is a 
good rare game in there that the seller doesnt usually know about.  I ask lots 
of questions in these cases.

That's about all my secrets..
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.
 
--

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Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
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Visit its homepage at:  http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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Re: [SWCollect] Retro PC game collecting officially became big business

2004-04-25 Thread Howard Feldman
 I 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 eBay…both 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, I’d 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:

I noticed there's a lot more sniping than usual too.. could this be
partially responsible for the higher prices?  People sniping crazy
amounts?  I know Im guilty of that at least a few times.

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Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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[SWCollect] Old games for sale (not from me)

2004-04-23 Thread Howard Feldman
I found a guy with a fairly large set of vintage games from mid-to-late
eighties including lots of SSI and Epyx stuff and many others.  Most are
shrinkwrapped although I think some may be re-shrinks and not factory. 
Anyways I got most of what I was looking for from him but if anyone is
interested in seeing what he's got just send me a note and I'll give you
his e-mail.  Unfortunately he doesnt have a nive typed up pricelist but
he does have lots of photos..  Anyways I thought Id just pass on the
info since he had some relatively hard to find stuff in good condition,
I'm not getting commissions or anything :)

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Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
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[SWCollect] eBay -ve feedback

2004-04-08 Thread Howard Feldman
I'm sure Im not the only one who's noticed, there's been a dramatic
increase in deadbeats and assholes on ebay lately.  Now I'm not one
afraid to leave negative feedback when someone pisses me off, so here's
a question..  Is there a way to deal with retaliatory -ve feedback? 
Don't get me wrong, I've done pretty good so far - only have 3 of them -
but 2 recently, both from assholes that I left -ve feedback for first.

As an example, here's what the second weenie wrote:

Item lost in mail-He knew that- implied I ignored him, left me Negative
Feedback 

(here's what I wrote: Item never arrived, seller unresponsive, doesnt
seem least bit concerned)

The guy promised me a partial refund - that was about 2 months ago :)  I
doubt he even sent it.  I've never had anything get lost in the mail
from the US, in 10 years of trading or so.  If it didn't arrive, there
was always a reason (like seller cheating me).

While anyone reading this can obviously see he's a moron, it does bring
my % feedback down.  I just find it annoying when people do that, and
wondered if anyone had a clever way around it.   Havent even figured out
how to reply to peoples' feedbacks but I know its possible as Ive seen
it before.

Any tips are welcome!

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Re: [SWCollect] SSI Poster

2004-04-05 Thread Howard Feldman
In case anyone's interested, these are full size posters (dd and Lock N
chase), I think 20 x 36 or whatever.  I believe I got them at a local
shopping mall back in the 80's, for free - they were promoting the games
I think.  Not sure if they were available outside of Canada..

 And Howard from Computer Game Museum has this:
 http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/intvother/adndposter.jpg
 
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Re: [SWCollect] Video Game Invasion

2004-03-30 Thread Howard Feldman
I watched it already, that was cool, thanks!  Was it supposed to be in Black and
White or is my computer just messed?

Marco Thorek wrote:
 
 Got it the other day, but failed to thank you in time, so here it goes:
 Thanks Jim!
 
 Marco
 
 Jim Leonard schrieb:
 
  Has everyone grabbed this yet?  I'm taking it offline Saturday and it's a slow
  link so start downloading it *now*.
 
  Jim Leonard wrote:
 
   Okay, the documentary that everyone missed is online here:
  
   ftp.mindcandydvd.com:/pub/misc
  
   There is a modem-bitrate version and an ISDN-bitrate version.  I will be
   taking these offline in a week so please snag them now.  (BTW I'm going
   on vacation Sunday - Wednesday so I may not be contactable during that
   time.)
  
   The documentaries were edited in an extremely busy fashion -- I
   counted the number of shots in a minute and it was over 30 (!!) so the
   video is constantly moving and changing.  As such, I didn't even try to
   concentrate on motion, but rather sharpness and clarity so that you can
   actually see detail in the video.  So the framerate on the modem version
   is about 4 fps and about 8 fps on the ISDN version, but hey, you can
   actually see what they're talking about instead of it being a blurry mess.
  
   BTW Dan, I tried Quicktime -- Sorenson refused to hit ISDN bitrates, and
   the MPEG-4 didn't have audio... so much for that.
 
  --
  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/
 
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Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
I have the Vic-20 Drash emulator image file, I can send it to the list if you 
want, its quite small.  Works on emulators too (like Pfau-Zeh).  I didn't think 
it seemed like such a bad game, for a Vic20 game...

Per-Olof Karlsson wrote:
The image is out on the net, but I forget where.

One of the Dragons has also converted it as well, into an IBM program.  
I'll look them up for you, if you wish.

Joe
 

If you can find the Vic 20 image Id be really happy!

 

- Peo

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Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
Interesting, it seems to have mysteriously disappeared from the FUNET archive 
where I got it (search www.alltheweb.com, FTP search for Drash and you will see 
it, but the links are all dead).. bizarre.  Anyhow I'll send it when I get home 
tonight.  Am I really the only one on this list who found the game image, I find 
that highly unusual...  Anyways something as precious as this can't afford to be 
lost e.g. if my HD dies so I'm happy to share it with you all, between all of us 
it should be preserved in electronic form even if its not on the 'net anywhere.

Per-Olof Karlsson wrote:
Go for it, Howard! :)

Thanks a lot,
Peo
-Original Message-
From: Howard Feldman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: den 15 mars 2004 18:04
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.

I have the Vic-20 Drash emulator image file, I can send it to the list if
you want, its quite small. 

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Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
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?


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Re: [SWCollect] How did you find your Drash?

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
I guess my luckiest find (that I can recall) was probably Softporn
Adventure.  I got it complete for $5 on USENET.  Ironically, although I
knew it was the precursor to LSL, I had no idea of its value.  Since I
mostly collect RPGs I was hesitant to even buy it!  Glad I did though :)

Oh, and I got not 1, but 2 copies of the original release of Beneath
Apple Manor - for free! (Donations to the 'museum' - which are welcome
anytime btw, lol) (someone on this list is the happy owner of one now :)
)  For some reason thats just not a popular game among collectors I
guess.

Also picked up tons of bargains from C.E. (does that count?)

Found Troll's Tale cheap too.  If anyone's in the Syracuse area, there's
a great little store (see http://www.waynes.com/) that still has tons of
Apple II software and hardware.  (But dont get too excited, I took most
of the good stuff already).  He's got dozens of old games though, many
still in the original boxes, for relatively cheap. He told me he had
crates more of the stuff in 'the attic' but he wouldn't let me go look
:(

 Or any of your most prized software posessions, for that matter?  Any
 good stories out there?
 
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Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
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Re: [SWCollect] Preserving original games

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
I have to agree with Vincent.  If we start living in fear of preserving
the games in our collections digitally because of the Eyal's out there,
then the terrorists have won. (sorry, couldnt resist)

 I am only a few days from finishing a fully working version of Disk2FDI,
 then will start imaging any original game I have or may find. I will also
 scan all documentation, box, disks, etc. at 600 dpi. I think the motivation
 behind this obvious: the scanned original material will not age, the FDIed
 floppy disks will not get corrupt, nor will the WAVed tapes, and the dumped
 cartridges. The digital version of the game will be as close to the
 original as can be as of 2004.
 
 On the other hand, I completely agree to what both C.E. Forman and Josh are
 talking about. I have read the Eyal Katz case on vintage-sierra, and was
 shocked to see this.

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Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/


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Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....

2004-03-15 Thread Howard Feldman
 I too have been offered A LOT more than 2K for mine….

Not that I doubt it, but let me just comment that what people offer, and
what they will actual pay are not always the same thing...  This is my
personal experience anyways.  One time I offered someone something like
$150 for a game I wanted (Scott Adams Gold actually).  He told me
someone else wanted it too, and they offered him $250, or whatever, so
did I want to offer more (bluffing me?  Who knows).  So I said
'whatever, let him have it, I'm not that crazy - Ill find another'.  As
luck would have it, it showed up on eBay within a month and I snatched
it for a paltry $75 or so.  A week or two later, I get an e-mail back
from buddy again 'Errm, hey, you still wanna but the Scott Adams from
me?'  I couldn't help but break a smile.

Anyway all I'm saying is just because someone offered $5K or $10K for it
via email is no indicator that the deal ever would have gone through for
that amount; in fact I highly doubt it.  Just my 3 cents..

-- 
--
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/



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Re: [SWCollect] Ultima bucks :)

2004-03-13 Thread Howard Feldman
Tom (and anyone else), please stop sending such large files as
attachments.  Some of us have size limits to our inbox and you may burst
them..

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
 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
 
  [Image]

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--
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/


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Re: [SWCollect] Ebay sucks

2004-03-05 Thread Howard Feldman
I feel your pain Josh.  We've both been ripped off together before.. 
Thanks for metioning this BTW, I was about to bid on the KQ :)  I have
learned that as long as eBay gets their fees they couldn't care less
about dishonest sellers, especially for petty amounts, and then tend to
favour whichever side involves them doing nothing.

The only useful suggestion I have is to take a look here if you haven't
already:

http://www.auctionguild.com/

It is a sort of We Hate Ebay site, with lots of very useful and
interesting information, including phone numbers etc.  Of course, I also
learned they generally refuse to discuss matters like this on the phone,
as they require a paper trail, and so prefer e-mails.  But that doesn't
stop you from calling and harassing them, ask to speak to management,
etc. and if you're lucky or persistent you may get somewhere.  The site
also has some good articles on how to avoid fraud, or what to do about
it.  Hope it helps a bit!

-- 
--
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/


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Re: [SWCollect] Xenos

2004-03-02 Thread Howard Feldman
I think I gave that to you, right?  If I recall, I got that along with 
the Personal Software Zork for about $100 :)  So hard to say what it was 
worth alone.  It looked boring to me or I wouldnt have parted with it 
but maybe I was wrong?

C.E. Forman wrote:
Most of these TRS-80 large manual adventures sell for around $15 - $20.  
I see Xenos a lot less than the others, though.  (Pyramid 2000, Bedlam, 
Raaka-Tu, etc.)  I think when I got mine I traded what I considered to 
be a $30 item.
 

- Original Message -
*From:* Freddie Bingham mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*To:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*Sent:* Tuesday, March 02, 2004 1:33 PM
*Subject:* [SWCollect] Xenos
Can someone give me a general value of this game as I am not
familiar with it.
 
http://www.figmentfly.com/xenos/
 
Vintage Gaming - http://www.vintagegaming.org
 
--

Howard Feldman
Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game
Visit its homepage at:  http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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Re: [SWCollect] Sierra/Lucas/Tolkien/Ultima/ADD/SSI - info and questions

2004-02-25 Thread Howard Feldman
 I haven't followed the current gaming for some time;
 is either Full Throttle 2 and Sam  Max 2 anymore on production?

Yes to the latter, hope they dont mess it up!

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/freelancepolice/

--
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/


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Re: [SWCollect] Sierra/Lucas/Tolkien/Ultima/ADD/SSI - info and questions

2004-02-24 Thread Howard Feldman

Hey Jukka, glad you found this list, welcome!

 1. Did old SSI fantasy games (non-ADD) have
 clue books other than Realms of Darkness?

I bought most of these new back in the 80's, and the answer is no, none
came with a clue book except Realms of Darkness. (Eternal Dagger has a
'strategy guide' that came with it..
 
 2. Did these SSI ADD-games have clue books:
   * Neverwinter Nights (1991)
   * War of the Lance (1989)
   * DragonStrike (1990)

Nope.  These games are not amenable to clue books really since they are
action/strategy games (the last two anyways)
 
 4. Do you have knowledge on Sierra, Lucas and/or SSI catalogs
 or even pictures of them?
 There are listing of these catalogs I know at my site with pics, too.

I have SSI catalogs from 1984 onwards - I'm not sure how many catalogs
exist prior to this, but probably only conatining their war games (which
I dont collect).

For Sierra I have a pic of an early On-Line systems catalog, date
unknown.  It is just a 2-page sheet of cardboard with lots of text. 
After that I have 1987 and onwards.

 I also haven't seen these though I've seen the titles somewhere:
 - SSI Summer 1986
 - SSI Spring 1987
 - SSI Spring 1988
 - SSI Spring 1989
 

I have (pics of) the 86 and 87 ones but dont have a Spring 88 or 89 -
these probably dont exist (sinc eI have gone through a LOT of SSI games
from this era and never had one).

BTW, I noticed you had a pic of the LOTR limited edition Nazgul hologram
- any idea how rare this is?  Did you pick it up somewhere or are you
the original owner?  These things were expensive so I cant imagine they
sold many??

-- 
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Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/


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[SWCollect] Presenting the reincarnated Computer/Book RPG/Adventure Museum

2004-02-24 Thread Howard Feldman
After several months, I finally found a host for my 2 GB+ museum
website.  I ended up sticking it on a buddy's computer, go figure.  It
should be fine as long as I don't end up sucking too much of his
bandwidth since he has a limit.  Anyhow, please update your links, for
those of you who were linked to me before, and please check it out and
let you know what you think.  It is now entirely PHP/MySQL driven, and
pretty fast and bug free I think.  Its new home is here:

http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/

(for reference, the old link was
http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/, which can still be
reached for now at http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/)

-- 
--
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/


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Re: [SWCollect] LF website host for a classic gaming site

2004-02-15 Thread Howard Feldman
Let you know if you find anything.  I've been looking for a new home for
my site (about 2 gig) and havent had much luck.  if-legends doesnt have
the space for it right now apparently, and classicgaming.com want me to
'pretty up the site' not to mention plaster GameSpy ads all over it. 
Not sure what other free hosting sites are out there that allow 2 gig
websites!

Stephane Racle wrote:
 
 Hello everyone,
 
 I'm looking for someone to host a website related to classic gaming.
 Yes, I know... yet another one? I'd prefer not to reveal too many
 details in public right now, but I can say that the information included
 on the site is, to my knowledge, not readily available anywhere else on
 the web, if it is available at all. It needs about half a gig of space.
 It's sitting on my hard drive right now, not quite finished, but nearly
 ready to go... If you have space available somewhere, or know someone
 who may be able to help, please send me an e-mail - I'll give you all
 the details.
 
 Thanks!
 
 Stephane
 
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Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/


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Re: [SWCollect] Rarity Scale

2004-01-28 Thread Howard Feldman
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
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Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics

2004-01-15 Thread Howard Feldman
I released 1.0 in 1994 I believe, and there were two minor updates to 
v1.2 in 1995 or 1996.  It was actually one of only about 4-5 'real' 
shareware RPGs available at the time.

Pedro Quaresma wrote:
Howard,
How old is The Search for Freedom? About 7 or 8 years ago, when RPGs 
were hard to come by, I scavenged the net for about every shareware RPG 
in existance, and I remember playing one that looked a lot like tSfF.

Shareware RPGs... ah... those were the days! :D

Pedro

PS: A big Bem vindo! (Welcome!) to the other portuguese-speaking 
member, Tomas :)

--
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, Aqua Ice Opalescent, 37K km., Esperanza

'People don't quit playing because they grow old. They grow old because 
they quit playing.' - Oliver Wendell Holmes

	

 
	   
Para: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A/C:
Ref:
cc:
Assunto: Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
	*Howard Feldman [EMAIL PROTECTED]*
13-01-2004 18:51
	Solicita-se resposta a feldman



Not to toot my own horn, but you may want to try The Search for Freedom
(see my sig) - it meets most of your criteria and still works in a DOS
window (albeit without sound - I havent gotten it to work with VDMsound
yet either but it may be possible)
  So, any refinements to your suggestions?  :)
 
  To everyone:  This is great fun, keep the suggestions coming!
--

Howard Feldman
Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game
Visit its homepage at:  http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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http://www.toyota.pt
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Visit its homepage at:  http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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Re: [SWCollect] Paranoid seller and tax evasion

2004-01-14 Thread Howard Feldman
Stephane Racle wrote:
We have a similar issue here in Canada as anything that comes in with a 
value of more than CAN $20 (or CAN $60 if it's declared as a gift) is 
taxed at 15%. I've actually had items shipped to me where the seller had 
Don't forget the $5 'processing fee'.  On a $20 item, this can be painful.

declared a higher value than the eBay auction value, thinking it made no 
difference. So now I always indicate in my e-mails that it's important 
that the declared value not be higher than the final auction value. If 
the seller chooses to put a lower value on it, then great, but as long 
as it's no higher than the actual auction value, I can't really complain 
about it. If it's a traded item, then I will ask for a low value since 
no money has changed hands. Otherwise, I can kind of understand that it 
doesn't look good on you to ask the seller to be dishonest. Still, the 
guy does sound somewhat over the top.
Personally, I like to think the gov't are the criminals here ;)  I mean 
sheesh, trying to collect sales tax on used items, thats like taxing 
things I buy at a garage sale! (Which by the way, you are supposed to, 
but they have no way to enforce it of course).  I always ask on items 
over $10 US for them to put value $10 or less if they can, but no one's 
ever freaked out on me.  Some have occasionally refused, especially if 
its a business.  As long as there's no sales receipt inside, I don't see 
the big deal though, no one can prove anything, and customs has better 
things to do, like stopping terrorists ;p

--

Howard Feldman
Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game
Visit its homepage at:  http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics

2004-01-12 Thread Howard Feldman
If you like Wasteland, you absolutely MUST try the Bard's Tale series 
(III is the best, but the others are great too) and Dragon Wars ('Bard's 
Tale IV').  You might also try Fountain of Dreams, the real sequel to 
Wasteland.  You've also got another 5 gold box games to go

Entire Pool of Radiance gold box series (all four games)
Wizardry 1 (haven't tried 2-8)
Fallout (haven't tried Fallout 2)
Wasteland (my #1 favorite game of all time)
Arcanum
Hack
I got through half of Lands of Lore 1 but never finished it.

With that in mind, what would you recommend?
--

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Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game
Visit its homepage at:  http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value

2004-01-08 Thread Howard Feldman
I went to the Classic Gaming Expo in Vegas in August.  There were tons 
of 'famous' people there, including Activision's founders, almost a 
dozen Blue Sky Rangers (Intellivision programmers), Nolan Bushnell 
(founder of Atari and Chuck E Cheese, among other things).  They all 
gave 1-2 hour 'lectures' where they told stories etc about the 'good ol 
days' and took questions, and afterwards they gladly autographed stuff 
people had brought.

So since you ask, I think it would be cool to have something like that 
for vintage computer games.  I'd love to meet some of the authors 
myself, and hear some of their stories first hand instead of reading 
about it in some book.  As far as I know there isn't a meeting like this 
that I know of.  I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'd be 
willing to fly halfway around the country to attend something like that 
(especially if it was in a cool place, like the CGExpo was).  As a bonus 
some of us could meet each other in person too.  Just a thought..

As for your actual question, personally I wouldn't place a big value on 
autographed games compared to non-autographed ones.  In fact I'm not 
sure if I'd want them defacing my game :)  I did manage to track down 
Don Worth, author of Beneath Apple Manor, if anyone wants to contact him 
(want yours signed Tom?)

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.
--

Howard Feldman
Author of the Search for Freedom Computer Role-Playing Game
Visit its homepage at:  http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman
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