After watching one of Marks latest videos, it got me thinking about some of my favorite video gaming memories. We're all getting older- a point driven home every time I notice the yellowing of the boxes on my older games.. and it suddenly dawned on me just how much gaming history I've actually lived through.

So.. anyway. The point is, we all have gaming moments that we hold dear.. Not necessarily because they relate to amazing games... sometimes it's the people, events or times that those memories are attached to..

A link to a great comparison video by http://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHistorySource
http://youtu.be/a9FDaHxVrCE

Zaxxon, I believe this is one of the first isometric arcade games out there. It was developed and published by Sega in 1982 and one could call it a so called 'isometric shoot'm up'.

Many ports were created on various platforms like: Apple II, Atari 8bit home computers, MS-DOS (CGA), Atari 2600, MSX, Commodore 64, Dragon32, Colecovision, Intellivision, Sega SG-1000, TRS 80 Coco.

The 2600 and Intellivision versions didn't use the isometric viewpoint and are much unlike the others.

The Amstrad CPC, BBC micro computer and Ti/99 reveived well done but unliscensed ports.

Soundtrack intro created by
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZombieAndy1979

NOTICE:
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Rob Daviau in Mortal Peril!Attention all Armchair Arcaders: Rob Daviau, YouTube sensation and longtime friend of the site, has suffered a terrible accident! Foolishly modding a badly wired ColecoVision he received in a mysterious box from "The Doctor," Rob has been ripped out of our spacetime continuum and projected into a terrifying alternate reality! The photo you see here was sent just before the portal vanished; apparently Rob thought it was more important to alert us to his predicament than to use the portal to return! As you can see from the agony on the man's face, this is not a realm he wishes to be, and we must do all we can to save him. Please, if you have a ColecoVision and a Sonic Screwdriver, Rob needs your aid to bring him back home.

Wait, what's that? Another transmission! Transcript follows (breaking news!):

(begin transcript)
Rob: "Matt, DO NOT BRING ME BACK!"
Matt: "Hold on, Rob, we can't just leave you there. I know you must be worried that you'll bring back a strange germ or something from that other dimension, but don't worry, we'll be sure to hose you off good when you get here."
Rob: "Matt, NOOOO!"
Matt: "That's right, Rob, just hang in there, we're working as hard as we can here."
(end transcript)

As you can see, the situation is becoming more serious by the moment. Get to work, folks!

The CAT Scheduled Oil Sampling GameI thought this type of discovery deserved a bit of a higher profile, so here goes. Digital Press forum member, "Seaquest", posted about a game his father found about four years ago. I'll let Seaquest's words describe the finding:
"The Cat S.O.S game (Caterpillar scheduled oil sampling game)along with a colecovision was given to every cat dealership in 1983 to support the S.O.S. program. The customers would play it while waiting in the lobby. The game was made by the company Nuvatec. It was never sold commercially and could only be found exclusively in cat heavy equipment dealerships. My dad (who worked at cat) found that they were about to discard of both the game and the console so he saved it and gave it to me to add to my collection.

I am pretty sure I have one of the last copys left in existense. If anyone knows anything about the value or has any questions please send me a message. Thanks!"

As you can see in the forum topic - which also contains more images - someone has already taken the charge to get the data off the cartridge and create a ROM of this amazing find!

MaximumRD Indicted!: MaximumRD, aka Rob Daviau, is in big trouble (arrest photo).Some sad news for those of us who know and love MaximumRD, host of the popular YouTube program dedicated to classic gaming hardware. A Canadian investigation into his activities has led to his arrest and indictment. While the details of the case are still vague (repeated calls to the Toronto officials revealed little info), it appears that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have accused him of tricking local residents into thinking that the ColecoVision and games such as Lady Bug and Donkey Kong are just as fun as modern games. Indeed, apparently a few people who bought ColecoVisions from him enjoyed them intensely for months before realizing they weren't awesome. I was able to get in touch with a few of these poor kids, who still think that playing Mr. Do is just as satisfying (if not more so) than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Rob's ColecoVisions were confiscated along with several other contraband consoles that clearly weren't nearly as good as anything out today because they suck.

I will continue to reveal information as it comes to me, but by all means do *NOT* insinuate to anyone that classic games and consoles are "just as fun" as the latest offerings from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Doing so isn't just libelous; it's immoral.

Exciting news for ColecoVision fans, as Opcode Games' in-development expansion module for the classic platform, which, among several other things, will provide much needed RAM to the 1K console, has been officially blessed by Coleco Holdings, and will leverage the name of Coleco's original advertised - but never released - Super Game Module, a device with which it shares some similarities. Read about it here for the announcement and here for the details on the module. For those interested, one of the first games out of the gate that will make use of the low cost module is Donkey Kong Arcade...

Check it out, I'm very happy with these, especially the two part look at the ColecoVision USB 128-in-1 multicart! Let me know what you think guys, thanks!

Zippy RaceFrom the guys who brought you the Mr. Chin MSX conversion, comes Pyramid Warp/Battleship Clapton II, which ships next week and Zippy Race, which is accepting orders now. Each game is $60 and comes boxed with a manual. I'm looking forward to mine.

Check out their Website for more information on the games, with more details on the announcement below: http://www.colecovision.dk/collectorvision.htm

Pyramid Warp/Battleship Clapton II: http://www.colecovision.dk/coll-warp.htm

Zippy Race: http://www.colecovision.dk/coll-zippy.htm

Check it out! Daniel Bienvenu contacted me to narrate a video for his latest COLECOVISION project. He is a homebrew programmer deeply involved in programming new titles for the classic Colecovision system. This title will be worked on throughout 2009 and hopefully debut sometime in 2010! Here is the resulting video, it is just one of a series of sneak peek teaser videos to get the word out on this exciting new project for Colecovision enthusiasts!