The first of the Smuggler run series and the best. What is it with all the police trucks tumbling over each other, you think I robbed Fort Knox or something.
PS1 Cyber Sled - $9.98 Shipped Amazon
A very old launch game based on a Twin Stick Arcade. The case is in good shape except for one of the tabs broke, common in the brittle cases. The Manual and Disc are crisp new. A nice feature is that since it is a pre Duel Shock game, the face buttons can selected to emulate a Twinstick arrangement. This is perfect for my Blaze Twin Shock arcade stick in which I modded the second stick to work as player one face buttons. In honesty the arena game is not that great, but it is another Twinstick capable game to try. I really wish PS1 Assault Rigs had the "twinstick" setting feature.
Panasonic 3DO Controller FZ-JP1X (Matsushita) - $3.00 Swap Meet
An uncommon find, buried with cables. Not that I plan on collecting 3DO, well just not yet. The Panasonic 3DO controller has a very solid metal encased nine plug on the end, better then any 2600/Commodore/Sega/Vectrex plug I've seen. Interesting that there is an earphone jack and volume control built in. A surprise hidden port at the other side for adding another controller. The daisy chain approach is unique, an early form of the USB concept of adding devices. For a wired controller arrangement it makes sense, only one cable back to the console. Not compatible with any other system though. If I can only find a couple spare Vectrex controllers in the wild!
3DO Controller FeaturesInland Pro Track 3000 Trakball - $1.00 Swap Meet
I love older Trakballs, they are huge! This was only a buck, but missing the Trakball itself. I went thru every box on top and under the table looking thru all the kids toys in case the ball was misplaced there. No luck, so my plan then was to find a hard rubberized plastic ball from a Toy or Sporting Store. I suspected the missing ball would be the same as a pool ball. Upon research, it is at 2 1/4 inches, just like a regulation billiard ball. I knew of certain Cue balls going down a separate track in coin operated Pool Tables and had to find out why. Turns out there is a larger 2 3/8 cue ball as well as a magnetic 2 1/4 version that may not fit or work as a replacement trakball. A visit to the local Pizza Pub which has "net" pockets confirmed that all the Pool balls fit just fine. For now I swapped with my Kenningston Expert Mouse Trakball which with a caliper measures at 2 1/4 inches.
I really like the Trakball, Mouse or Keyboard with a PS/2 connector. They work in all PCs and can also utilize a simple USB adapter as well. The best feature of the PS/2 connection is compatibility with a Playstation Console with a SmartJoyFrag. The large button on the bottom is the primary "Fire" button. Now I can play Centipede and other Trakball games in the PS2 with a regulation full sized Trakball! REZ I'm ready to hit you again with a beautiful controller!
IO Gear Serial Adapter GUC232A - $1.00 Swap Meet
The adapter is designed for Serial Modem connections thru USB, Thanks to Google Images to help me identify who made this. I downloaded and backed up the drivers for both PC and Mac. Pleased to now have the capabilities of my Kenningston Expert Mouse Trakball working thru USB! A perfect Trakball for Mame games. The ball is a standard regulation Billiard Ball size, easily drops out to fit the Inland Pro Track housing. I was going to order a spare Cue, instead placed an order thru Amazon for an 8 Ball in the corner pocket.
Now here is a custom look for the Trakball, its on the way!
Logitech Marble FX 804272-1000 - $7.00 Swap Meet
The seller wanted ten talked him down to five. He tried to get me to buy a smaller Trackman Marble 804122-00 for the five I offered, but I already have two of them. One can never have too many trakballs.
I mainly bought this to see if the red ball would fit the Inland. Turned out a little small, but nice to have a decent side spinning Trakball when I'm too lazy to lean forward and use a mouse.
Sony Remotes - $1.00 each Swap Meet
Good to have extras, still on a hunt for a spare remote with a Mem Stick button to supplement the spare WEGA HD CRT I bought a couple of weeks ago. Nice finding the silver remote for the Thumbstick, ANT Select Button and glow in the dark Number Buttons. There is some strange writing on the side of the controller which is easy to clean off with LiftOff2. In bright red orange marker: "TURN OFF ONLY." Anyone who has been following my WEGA Repair Guide knows of the fragile state of the power supply chips on the D board, evidently the Sony tied to this remote had the same issue. The warning was to prevent an accidental double power on surge.
NES 128 in 1 Famicom Pirate Cart - $5.00 Swap Meet
Actually an 888 in 1 with a ton of repeats, still worth getting considering the amount of individual titles on one cart for just five bucks. A usual run of various NES and Famicom games, one that stood out is a quirky game called Ding Dong. A Co-Op type game in the likes of PS2 Cookie and Cream. Weird how both remind me of a pastry treat.
In the NES version, control two characters on each side of the maze to meet at an exit. Both of the game characters move in unison, but in opposite directions horizontally. A trick of placing one in a holding corner while aligning the other character. There are spiders and webs to get around, Too hard to describe, oh just watch the video.
NES Ding Dong GamePS2 ALPS Interactive Controller INT001 - $4.99 Luna Games
I already own a Blue Alps, bought recently due to similarities of the PS3 prototype "Batwing" controller. Turns out this Red version is rare and was only available through EB Games. Both of the Alps controllers have a metal flake coating built into the shiny finish.
The controller is different, bought due to the unique History it represents.
NFO Admin wrote:http://nfgworld.com/mb/thread/403-ALPS-Interactive-Gamepad
When the Playstation ruled the roost, Sony made use of two companies to make their pads. Mitsumi, the same company who manufactured Nintendo's SNES pads, made them, and so did ALPS. You may have never heard of ALPS, but they're a fairly large company. They make Alpine audio gear, keyboards for Apple, touchpads for Sony's Vaio notebooks, etc.
Anyway, they made the controller for Sony, and for a very short time, they made their own pad too. The ALPS Interactive Gamepad was their first and only pad. It was designed to be smooth and ergonomic, and it felt amazing in the hands. It was released in the standard blue, shown here, as well as a premium-priced limited-edition red version available only through Electronics Boutique stores (at least in Canada). A smaller version was also released.
It's interesting to note that Sony thought enough of ALPS' unfortunate creation that they modeled their prototype PS3 pad off it. Luckily for every PS3 owner Sony came to their senses and released another Dual Shock instead.
Right Click for a larger pic. Imagine the Trakball with a Pool Table 8 Ball.
- 0 Swap Meet Trakball Finds May 2012.jpg (234.96 KiB) Viewed 2944 times
). And to top it off they had a half-off sale for all games. Most of them were sports titles, but I picked up the following for $1.50 each.
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