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I've finally gotten around to updating the sorely out-of-date Links section. It needed it badly -- many of the links on it had moved or were gone entirely, and there were a ton of new sites I needed to add. In particular, I recommend you visit these sites:
To all you site owners who had requested me to add links, I'm sorry it took so long. It's been difficult to overcome the inertia I built up on this site (he says, sheepishly). I hope I'm doing better now! If you have an Odyssey-related site you'd like me to add, e-mail me.
The new section I promised earlier is finally here! I am pleased to introduce the Odyssey² Database, the first step in creating a comprehensive guide to all Odyssey/Videopac cartridges and games released all over the world. Browse the cartridge lists by region, then look up specific games for screenshots, box scans, foreign equivalents, and descriptions! I plan to constantly add to the database, making it as complete as possible. For now it's still somewhat bare, although I believe it does contain (nearly) every known cartridge title.
Longtime visitors to this site may notice a similarity to the FAQ page, and that's no coincidence. My aim for this database is to outdo the games listing portion of the FAQ – to be more complete, and better laid out. The problem with using the FAQ as a games database was that it was too hard to update, and there was no way to integrate it with the rest of the site easily, or to make it searchable. With a real database, all of that is possible, and I plan to do it eventually. Also, I wanted to gain some experience with ASP programming, and this project was a great way to do that.
So I invite you to take a look at the database and tell me what you think. It's been tested, but there's always the possibility of an error being overlooked. If you notice a problem such as a performance error or incorrect information, please e-mail me. (You don't need to point out missing information; I know there are many gaps. :) I'll be filling them in over time.) Suggestions for improvements are welcome as well. Thanks!
I've been laying the groundwork for a nifty new section that's very close to completion. I'd hoped to have it up today but it's just shy of being ready. I've been working on and off on this for a few months now, and I think it's going to be great! Stay tuned...
While preparing to announce the new section, I noticed some rough spots in other places, so I've cleaned some areas up a bit. First, I picked up a program to compress images more effectively, so now the front page should load faster, but with no loss of quality. I'll be compressing the rest of the site's graphics over time. Here's some other changes I made:
I realize I've been doing a lot of cosmetic updates but not adding any real content, and I'm sorry about that. However, the new section will be packed with content, a good portion of it completely new. And it'll be easy to update, plus I've got a lot of content that can be added to it later. So I'm really excited about it. It's great to get back into maintaining this site again after neglecting it for so long.
If you check your viewscreens you'll notice we have a new Game Review for your perusal, the Odyssey² answer to Star Raiders, Cosmic Conflict! This review was submitted to me eons ago by Michael Worrall, and it's now ready at long last! There are still more submissions lurking in my Inbox which I hope to publish before too long.
Starting with Cosmic Conflict!, the articles in the Game Reviews section will be laid out a bit differently. Soon, each review will have scans of game boxes (both their front and back covers), and cartridge labels. Also, the game reviews will contain more detailed international release information, and the reader ratings are displayed more prominently. I'm also going back and rescanning all my box covers, since the old scans were of low quality. You can click on the scans in the new game reviews to see larger versions. So far, only Cosmic Conflict! and Alien InvadersPlus! use the new format, but the others will be converted over time.
Well, if you've seen ClassicGaming.com today you'll notice that I'm no longer working as the Site Director there. I can't really discuss why I left, but rest assured that neither I nor GameSpy (ClassicGaming's parent) really wanted it to happen; it just couldn't be helped. It was a great job while it lasted!
ClassicGaming itself will continue, as will this site. Please note that I have a new e-mail address now. You can contact me at address removed - use contact form from now on. It may take me a few days to update my e-mail address on every page of this site, but that's the one you should use. I still have all the Odyssey²-related e-mails I received at my old address too. Who knows, now that it looks like I'll have a little more free time I might be able to start updating this site a little more often. :)
In my time at ClassicGaming I relearned something I already knew: that the retrogaming community is very special. It's populated by many bright and clever individuals, united by a love of videogames that transcends their age or "obsolescence." I definitely plan to stay involved with that community. If all goes well, I'll still be at Classic Gaming Expo, and I still plan to hang out with my good buddies the Southern California Classic Collectors. And definitely, all the vintage consoles and emulators I have in my possession will get lots of use. :) Thanks everybody for making this hobby so great!
Now that Collectibles! is on-line, the next step for the site is to update the Game Reviews to use SSI Includes. I have several volunteer reviews ready to be published. Once I get the Includes created I can get them up. After that, I'll be converting the existing reviews. At the same time, I'll be making a couple design changes to the reviews that I think make them look better. Not big changes, but good ones.
After a long wait, it's finally time for a major update. The Collectibles! section is back on-line and looking better than ever! This section has evolved considerably, and can now be considered a nearly complete guide to all the "real-world" objects related to Odyssey², apart from the games themselves. This update became necessary when Marty Goldberg (from the Museum of Home Video Gaming) provided me with scans of Philips promotional materials from the 1983 Consumer Electronics Show. Then, Michael Worrall sent me his collection of Odyssey Adventure magazines and game flyers. Suddenly I had tons of photos of all kinds of rare merchandise, including tons of stuff I'd never seen or heard of before! It took a long time to go through all of that material, scanning and cropping images to make thumbnails, but it was worth it. Here are some of the things you can see in the new Collectibles section:
What's more, I redesigned the section while I was adding everything, dividing up the pages with Odyssey-style graphics, like bars and buttons scanned from an actual Odyssey² keyboard sticker. Even after all of this, I still have some stuff to add! It's hard to believe there are that many Odyssey²-related collectibles out there. But now, you can find out about most of them, and see photos of almost all of those, in the new Collectibles! section.
Note that the URL of the Collectibles section has changed slightly. That means some old links to it may be broken, but I'm working on finding and fixing them. The reason for the URL change is that I've discovered the wonderful world of Server-Side Includes, which allow me to create a single header file for use with all the pages. If I want to change it, I only have to change one central file rather than update 100 different pages. However, to use SSI, pages have to end in a .shtml extension. This will make my life MUCH easier when it's implemented across the site. :)
Well, I was waiting to announce this until I had all my updates finished, but I can see now that it will take forever to get everything done, so here goes...
I recently received scans of Philips' 1983 CES brochure, which contained lots of information on the infamous Pink Panther game. You can read all about it and see some pictures here! Long story short, I don't think we'll ever see an O2 prototype of this game. At least we know what Philips was planning, though.
Plus I've reviewed Ralph Baer's Pinball demo, a limited-edition game released at Classic Gaming Expo 2000. Complete with a cart scan and a screenshot!
Great news! The Probe 2000 prototypes Troy Lukkarila informed me about are on their way to being archived! The ColecoVision version of Power Lords has already been archived, and several specially-produced cartridges will be available exclusively at Classic Gaming Expo 2000. After the Expo, the ROM should be made available as well.
The other proto, Lord of the Dungeon, is proving to be difficult to archive as it uses on-board RAM, but the tech gurus are working on it. :)
Lots of updates this time! I've been rather busy with classes and work, but I have had enough time to do a couple of updates here and there, only I haven't taken the time to note them here. Well, time to play catch-up:
And there you are!
Wow, has it been this long since I updated this page? Well, with all the new stuff that's happened, I guess I just didn't have the time! Here's a quick rundown:
And that is a decent update, I must say!
Whoa, major update time! After almost three weeks of work, I am pleased to announce that I am launching a new feature for the Odyssey² Homepage!: "In-Depth" Game Reviews! Unlike the quick-reference reviews on the Game Reviews! section, these In-Depth Reviews will feature longer descriptions, more images, JavaScript enhancements, even interactive games (eventually)! I'll continue to add more regular Game Reviews as well. Only now, that section will contain links to both the normal and the In-Depth reviews.
I'm excited about this feature's potential. It gives me an opportunity to showcase specific games, and to make the O² Homepage flashier without unnecessarily bogging down the main pages. The first game to be showcased is The Quest for the Rings, a fairly obvious choice. Because of all the cool artwork that goes along with this game, the review is graphics intensive. It may take a while to load some of the pages of the review, but I think it's worth the wait. BTW, I freely admit borrowing some of my inspiration for this review from The Videopac Home. Go there and check out their Quest review some time!
I'm also be calling my Showdown in 2100 A.D.! page an In-Depth Review now, although it's not as detailed as the Quest review. My next In-Depth review will feature an interactive Web-based quiz, but it won't cover a game nearly as fun as the first two... :) As always, I invite you to let me know how well you like this feature.