I'm impossibly busy this weeked with work (yes, days, nights and weekends at the new job!) and trying to get as much done with the book before Monday's deadline, but I just had to quickly release this press release for Adventure II: Limited Edition on the Atari 5200 SuperSystem from AtariAge. The homebrew was just released after a long, long wait, and from all reports it's been worth it. On top of that, this package also includes lots of goodies ("feelies" if you will), creating a tremendous value and opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts of the system, alike. There's only a few boxed copies left, so I suggest you hurry, hurry, hurry!

The press release:

Search for the Stolen Crown Jewels 2: ColecoVision screenshotCheck out the following announcement from the ColecoVision Programming Yahoo Group... I already ordered my own copy of "Search for the Stolen Crown Jewels 2" for the ColecoVision:

Good News!
Two NEW Colecovision games are about to be released through GameConsoles.com! 'Search for the Stolen Crown Jewels 2' - the sequel to Philipp Klaus Krause's original- plus his Colecovision port of 'Monster Masher' are available for pre-order! Both are complete productions, with cartridge, label, instructions & box.

VECFU Screenshot from Emulator: www.vectrex.nlThanks to www.vectrex.nl for the heads-up on, details about and download for the demo for VECFU (Vec-Fu), a one-on-one fighting game for the GCE/Milton Bradley Vectrex (and related emulators). As Vectrex fans know, a game type such as this has yet to grace the suprisingly versatile and unique vector platform, so this is exciting news. I can't wait to download this and play it on my real Vectrex, as superficially anyway, it looks amazing!

And the story, such as it is:

The evil Daimyo and his minions have laid Waste to your temple and killed off all of the other monks while you were away in another province, and now you are on to get your revenge. First off you have to fight against the daimyos champions of martial arts, before you can face the evil one himself.

Search for the Stolen Crown Jewels (2006) screenshot: ColecoVision - Adam formatNot much more to say here than in the blurbs provided below, but two new cartridge games, "Search for the Stolen Crown Jewels", which is loosely based on the 1981 Rock-Ola arcade game, "Fantasy", and "Schlange CV", which is a "Snake" remake, are available in cartridge form for the ColecoVision/Adam in limited supply from the GameConsoles.com Website. Downloadable trial ROM versions provide a nice demo-before-you-buy option in the emulator of your choice or for direct transfer to a flash device.

Sunrise MSX Game ReaderOne of the first USB cartridge readers called the "MSX Game Reader" from Japan, is currently available (also under the Sunrise USB-GAMEREADER name as an alternate English supplier), and essentially allows you to play real MSX cartridges on a standard Windows XP PC. The product comes with the MSXPLAYer, which does a good job with emulation. However, the latest version of the freeware blueMSX, 2.6, now supports the device as well. This is great news for those who want the MSX experience without having to maintain an MSX computer or even multiple systems for maximum compatibility (MSX 1, MSX2, Turbo-R, etc.), so the more options, the better (I only have a Sony HB-F1XD MSX2 computer myself). It's unfortunate then that the hardware is so relatively expensive, but perhaps this will inspire others to implement related technology for other classic systems as well.

Visible Solar System (Commodore, 1982) for the C-64: Screenshot from www.lemon64.comWell, the final decision has been handed down and Pluto is no longer a planet to the chagrin of many and to the relief of others. It was an exciting several days in the world of anstronomy and science when we could have had as many as 12 planets, but in actuality ended up losing one of the 9 we've known for roughly the last century. It actually saddens me that the 12 planet resolution didn't pass, as it seemed to make the solar system a bit more interesting, but based on the science of it all, it's better to reclassify Pluto and its pivotal twin, Charon. Full story here. A rather agressive blog entry here (8/24/2006 entry).

3D Lord of the Robots packaging for the GCE/Milton Bradley VectrexCan man survice on homebrew software alone these days? Thanks to a heads-up from Vectrex News, I found out that "3D Lord of the Robots" is now out of pre-order and available for purchase for $50, with worldwide shipping included. It's available here. After receiving "Spike's Circus" yesterday, I felt it was my "duty" to order this game too, which is among the first 3D specific-games released for the original 3D and new homebrew imagers with color wheels for the Vectrex since the original three games. A 2D version of the game for those without imagers is included on the same cartridge, all within a box with a neat, engraved metal lid. How I'll find time to get around to playing these is a different story, but I'll definitely try. Look for coverage of these Vectrex games in future issues of Armchair Arcade!