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[ArcadeStickMonk]

So my brother bought this thing...

...because he wanted to play Galaga. I thought it was a little overkill just for Galaga, but he hooked it up to an old C64 monitor so I gotta admit that it's class.

Anyway, so Galaga is fun, Xevious is awesome, and Mappy sucks. Then there's Pole Position. Now, I'd've rather it was Pole Position II, but I wasn't buying and we couldn't have done split screen anyway. Point is, you can't steer in Pole Position. You boot this game up and we cannot steer your car, you can just choose how fast you will be going when you hit the first sign.

How in the hell does this happen? You only got five games to worry about, and somehow the racing game loses it's steering.

He'll never take it back, because he won't make the trip, and it's not mine so I don't really care, but I just felt it was odd enough to mention.


That stick is balls, BTW. It's like jamming a plastic fork through an old styrofoam Big Mac container and jerking it around.

 

[olimario]

I'm getting this for my gf's dad for this birthday.
He's a huge Ms. Pac-Man whore.

What I hate about these things is all the different variations. I just want Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, Xevious, Pole Position, and like Dig-Dug on one machine. Do they have one like that?

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

This is the only one with Galaga that I know of.

This thing sucks for Pacman anyway, the stick is an 8-Way!!!!



*crickets*



What that's not earth shattering to anybody?
Pac-Man is a four way game and does not accept diagonal inputs. So if you goof on that shit stick go up and left, Pac-Person will just slam into the next wall or ghost, and then blame you!

 

[Whimsical Phil]

Actually, a lot of people seem to miss how the steering works in this version of Pole Position, even though it's explained in the instructions.

Don't try to steer by moving the joystick left and right...you actually rotate the joystick as if it were a tiny, spherical steering wheel mounted on a stick. It actually works surprisingly well.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

you actually rotate the joystick as if it were a tiny, spherical steering wheel mounted on a stick

Dude, you better not be lying.

 

[Price Drop]

Hmm looks pretty cool. We're giving one of these away at Punch Jump (the Pac-Man one) and that Arcade Legends Genesis 6-pack plug and play TV thing. But ya gotta register

http://news.punchjump.com/article.php?id=116

 

[Saint Cornelius]

I played one of these for the first time yesterday, and holy shit does that joystick fucking suxxor.

 

[Whimsical Phil]

Dude, you better not be lying.

Nope...no lie...check the instruction sheet that came with the thing. I think it's actually a fairly innovative way to implement steering control into a standard joystick.

That being said, yes, the quality of the TV Games hardware sucks. Jakks uses bottom of the barrel parts to make these things.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

I can see where it's trying to emulate the arcade controls and not Atari controls, but I still think rotating such a cheap stick is stupid.

And I think anyone can be forgiven for not reading the instructions on five games we thought were old about twenty years ago.

 

[WarPig]

Yeah, that fooled a LOT of people. Including us when we covered the thing on 1UP. The original run of units didn't explain the Pole Position controls in the docs or on the box, so you had to just sorta stumble on the controls.

Once you figure it out, though, it works great.

DFS.

 

[Spike]

Hahaha, funny that you mention this. I just came back from the local TRU where they had one display unit that you could try out. I figured it out after a couple of trys.

 

[8bit]

The first one has Pac-Man, Galaxian, Rally-X, DigDug and Bosconian, but the versions all seem a bit off.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

I can now confirm that Whimsical Phil is not a liar

 

[belgurdo]

He could have saved about 15 bucks by Getting Namco collection #1 for the PS1

 

[jooey]

He could have saved about 15 bucks by Getting Namco collection #1 for the PS1

so, wait, you're saying namco museum is free?!

 

[Whimsical Phil]

I can now confirm that Whimsical Phil is not a liar

Actually, I'm not all that whimsical. I am teh lair.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Nope...no lie...check the instruction sheet that came with the thing. I think it's actually a fairly innovative way to implement steering control into a standard joystick.

Bally Astrocade! A console release just prior to the 2600 had the same kind of controller idea. Very cool for being flexible in the way back days when there were a lot of paddle games.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

He could have saved about 15 bucks by Getting Namco collection #1 for the PS1

Not if he didn't have a PS1

 

[dark10x]

I can now confirm that Whimsical Phil is not a liar

Wewt, it's all about that hawt Pole Position action!!!!111

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Wewt, it's all about that hawt Pole Position action!!!!111

Hey, dick, he's trying to share what he enjoyed as a kid with his kids. Playing anything post C64 is out because it's too close to "really" playing video games, or something, but this is something that my 4 1\2 year old niece can enjoy, on her own, with his approval.

Next up is Estes model rockets, apparently.

 

[dark10x]

Hey, dick, he's trying to share what he enjoyed as a kid with his kids. Playing anything post C64 is out because it's too close to "really" playing video games, or something, but this is something that my 4 1\2 year old niece can enjoy, on her own, with his approval.

Next up is Estes model rockets, apparently.

Hey, I'm not making fun here. Seriously.

 

[The Guivre]

I can't argue with the 'ease of use' angle for these plug and play guys but I can't conceive or buying them instead of something like the PS1 collection or the Mueseum for the GBA SP.
You get your Galaga, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Ms. Pac-Man and Pole Position. It may also be worth noting that the Pole Position controls function decently enough.