Nes Laserscope
JD
Chuck Whitby
news:8a671583.04100...@posting.google.com:
> Does anyone have any idea when and how many of the Laserscopes for NES
> were made?
>
Well, it's at least two, for I own two.
While I don't have an exact number, I'd guesstimate roughly 10-20K units
were produced. They're not commonplace, but certainly not hard to come by.
--
___
Chuck Whitby - Founder
}> - - - East Coast Gaming Expo - - - <{
http://www.ecgx.com
"It's the games"
lugnut
wrote:
>jessedz...@hotmail.com (JD) wrote in
>news:8a671583.04100...@posting.google.com:
>
>> Does anyone have any idea when and how many of the Laserscopes for NES
>> were made?
>>
>
>Well, it's at least two, for I own two.
>
>While I don't have an exact number, I'd guesstimate roughly 10-20K units
>were produced. They're not commonplace, but certainly not hard to come by.
>
As for when, the LaserScope and the game that took advantage of it
(Laser Invasion) were both released in 1990...fairly late in the year,
I think.
-lugnut
Dane L. Galden
news:Xns957A927631A47i...@130.81.64.196...
The rarest licensed NES accessory has to be GAMEHANDLER. Less than 5000
made and many of those went to Mexico.
Dane.
Chuck Whitby
news:TZY8d.6498$Vm1...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
> The rarest licensed NES accessory has to be GAMEHANDLER. Less than 5000
> made and many of those went to Mexico.
>
> Dane.
Ne'er heard of this one. Do share some details of it.
Dane L. Galden
> "Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in
> news:TZY8d.6498$Vm1...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
>
> > The rarest licensed NES accessory has to be GAMEHANDLER. Less than 5000
> > made and many of those went to Mexico.
> >
> > Dane.
>
> Ne'er heard of this one. Do share some details of it.
>
It's a one-hand controller for the original NES that actually changed games.
For example, you could run backwards in SMB 1 making it much harder to
complete the game. There were some other tricks as well that I don't recall
now, but it came with an instruction video showing some of them. There was
even an un-licensed Genesis version that also had about 5,000 made. I have
a bunch of them in storage. (If you Google this group you can find out
more.)
Dane.
Robert Morgan
>For example, you could run backwards in SMB 1 making it much harder to
>complete the game.
Oh yeah. The manufacturer sponsored EGM's "Tricks of the Trade" for a few
months, IIRC, and even announced a TG16 model of the controller.
Not sure I'd classify what the stick did as "changing the game" so much as
causing amusing quirks- it's akin to the trick in 2600 Berzerk where you can
make your character "drop" his gun... the game can't properly handle it when
the controller has multiple directions being pressed simultaneously.
Dane L. Galden
"Robert Morgan" <pure...@cs.comfrobozz> wrote in message
news:20041006224412...@mb-m02.news.cs.com...
> >It's a one-hand controller for the original NES that actually changed
games.
> >For example, you could run backwards in SMB 1 making it much harder to
> >complete the game.
>
> Oh yeah. The manufacturer sponsored EGM's "Tricks of the Trade" for a few
> months, IIRC, and even announced a TG16 model of the controller.
>
I'm surprised you remember that. Good catch on both.
And yes, the *quirks* were as you described. They really made some games
better, but were not predictable or definable from game to game.
Dane.
Mojo JoJo
jump backwards in the NES version?
Mojo
"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in message
news:6839d.6896$Vm1....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Dane L. Galden
news:pJ49d.10597$gs1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Is that the weird looking controller that showed the ad of making Batman
> jump backwards in the NES version?
>
> Mojo
>
I'm not sure. The controller looked like an F-14 fighter control stick
without the base. I don't recall Batman being in any of the commercials.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the main game that showed excessive jumping
around randomly in the game.
Dane.
Lee K. Seitz
Chuck Whitby <intv...@verizon.net> wrote:
>jessedz...@hotmail.com (JD) wrote in
>news:8a671583.04100...@posting.google.com:
>
>> Does anyone have any idea when and how many of the Laserscopes for NES
>> were made?
>
>Well, it's at least two, for I own two.
I have one, so make it at least three. 8)
--
lkseitz (Lee K. Seitz) .at. hiwaay @dot@ net
Learn more about Pac-Man Fever, both the album and the song, than you
ever wanted to know: http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/cvg/pacmanfever/.
Lee K. Seitz
Dane L. Galden <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:
>> "Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in
>> news:TZY8d.6498$Vm1...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
>>
>> > The rarest licensed NES accessory has to be GAMEHANDLER. Less than 5000
>> > made and many of those went to Mexico.
>It's a one-hand controller for the original NES that actually changed games.
Wait a minute. Were there any *other* one-handed controllers for the
NES, because I've seen these (or something like them) and didn't
realize they were so rare. ARGH! Well, before I get upset, maybe I
should ask what the demand for them is.
>There was
>even an un-licensed Genesis version that also had about 5,000 made. I have
>a bunch of them in storage.
I have two of these, possibly. Actually, now that I think about it, I
believe the ones I have actually have a two-sided plug at the end of
the cord. One for Genesis and one for NES. Are mine something
different?
--
lkseitz (Lee K. Seitz) .at. hiwaay @dot@ net
"The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the
unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
-- Consumer Reports on Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 (1984 Buying Guide)
Dane L. Galden
news:10malcs...@corp.supernews.com...
> In article <JL09d.10387$gs1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> Dane L. Galden <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote:
> >> "Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in
> >> news:TZY8d.6498$Vm1...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
> >>
> >> > The rarest licensed NES accessory has to be GAMEHANDLER. Less than
5000
> >> > made and many of those went to Mexico.
>
> >It's a one-hand controller for the original NES that actually changed
games.
>
> Wait a minute. Were there any *other* one-handed controllers for the
> NES, because I've seen these (or something like them) and didn't
> realize they were so rare. ARGH! Well, before I get upset, maybe I
> should ask what the demand for them is.
Not much demand I suppose, because they're not that well known. They were
sold in 3 Toys "R" Us test market stores, and available nationwide at
Kohl's, Ames, Software Etc., and a few other places before the factory
produced a knock-off that forced us out of business.
> >There was
> >even an un-licensed Genesis version that also had about 5,000 made. I
have
> >a bunch of them in storage.
>
> I have two of these, possibly. Actually, now that I think about it, I
> believe the ones I have actually have a two-sided plug at the end of
> the cord. One for Genesis and one for NES. Are mine something
> different?
>
The double ended plug version is a Taiwan knockoff that put us out of
business. They offered them to our customers at half price, then when they
had no takers (because all of our customers alerted us to this) they dumped
them at Odd Lots/Big Lots who retailed them for $5. The original has a
detachable plug that allowed for future expansion (I still have mock-ups of
these expander modules somewhere), and the Genesis one was a stand-alone
version with blue buttons. The TG-16 prototype has orange buttons. There
are 2-4 computer prototypes with white cases and blue buttons that were sent
to Radio Shack's corporate offices in Texas. I'd love to get one of these
back if anyone finds one.
Dane.
Mojo JoJo
curious about other projects you worked on :-p
Mojo
"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in message
news:dTc9d.7154$Vm1....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Dane L. Galden
> Damn Dane, I didn't know you were involved in the industry. Now you have
me
> curious about other projects you worked on :-p
>
> Mojo
Well, let's see. The bottom of the GAMEHANDLER has a slot in it for a
future planned force feedback. This was back in 1991 ! Nintendo knew why I
put the slot there, but I certainly can't confirm whether that was any
influence on the rumble pack. The other EXPANDER SERIES add-ons that I
showed at that 1991 CES show are reality in the gaming industry
today--microphone and RF remote--but I didn't work on these for other
companies.
One area, though, where I think there was some direct influence with
Nintendo was packaging. In 1991 it was very radical to have video game
controllers or accessories packed in a clear clamshell and hung on peg
hooks. Today that is very common, but Nintendo fought us over having the
product in a clear clamshell and protruding out so that you could see the
product you were buying. They wanted us to put it in a blue box like all
the other Nintendo controllers and accessories. I insisted on the clear
clamshell and eventually they relented. Now everyone does it.
A more recent example of indirect influence is the VMU in the Dreamcast and
the link cable between the GBA and GC. I showed a working prototype to
Nintendo back in 1997 of a Gameboy screen attached to a N64 controller to
provide football play selection and other secret information during
gameplay. At the time they told me they were not interested in pursuing it
because they sent it to Japan and Japan vetoed the product. I didn't have
contacts into other game companies at the time, so I went to EGM magazine
and got the editor to write a "Coming Soon" article on it (Sept., 1997
issue). Sega saw this and put it in the Dreamcast, but my patent was not
granted because of an error in it so I never got anything from this. Then
Sony had their short-lived screen in Japan (presumably to copy Sega), and
Nintendo introduced their link cable. The press release for the Dreamcast
VMU and the Nintendo link cable almost mirror the release information I sent
around with my prototype. Oh well, never made a nickel from this and don't
have any recognition other than the magazine article (which mentions me by
name, but was too early to know of the coming use of the concept by Sega or
Sony or Nintendo).
The other neat story is that my company had a chance to license the Virtual
Boy technology before Nintendo got it. Mattel had just pulled the plug on
this project and the developer was shopping for another company to make it.
I think this could have been a success if it stayed closer to its original
design--and it came out earlier. I saw this in summer of 1992 and it could
have been ready to go just the way it was, but Nintendo didn't bring it out
till Christmas of '94 when it had to compete against Saturn and PS1. In
1992, when I saw the unit it was like a Vectrex in a helmet. It was running
off a portable computer so games would have been easy to make without the
need for developing new hardware. The only game I recall was a helicopter
sim, but it was pretty impressive--like Armor Attack, but with true 3-D
movement and head tracking with the helmet. You actually felt like you were
taking off straight up in the helicopter, and could look from side to side
and see enemies below you while you controlled the helicopter with a
standard joystick. Way ahead of its time, but Nintendo got it too late and
took too long to make it into something that became too complicated and too
expensive. My company couldn't do it, though, because I just started
dealing with the knock-off situation with GAMEHANDLER, and couldn't raise
the money or count on future sales to fund this.
Anyway, sorry for the long-winded answer. There are probably other stories,
but I think these are the most interesting for people in this group who
care--all three of you. :)
Dane.
Mojo JoJo
that. I guess I like reading stories. Now I was trying to remember, didn't
the videogame show Videopower advertise the joystick you developed?
Mojo
"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in message
news:a8l9d.8152$Vm1....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Dane L. Galden
Power. Terry Torok (the host) liked us and our product, and we became
friends at the time but I haven't talked to him in years. Whenever someone
won a GAMEHANDLER, I always thought he gave us a little more camera time.
Another interesting story is that I provided GAMEHANDLERs to Lightmotive who
was doing the SMB movie. Apparently the product was placed in King Koopas
lair, but the only scene where you could see the controller ended up on the
cutting room floor and my contact there didn't have access to any outtakes.
Dane.
"Mojo JoJo" <jf2273...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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Mojo JoJo
child. I remember seeing the adverts for the joystick on the show. That's
pretty nifty, I'm sure we're not the only people that remember that.
hehehehe
Mojo
"Dane L. Galden" <chigroup(at)ix.netcom.comCHANGE(at)TO@> wrote in message
news:DMl9d.8417$Vm1...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Daniel A. Mazurowski
> "Mojo JoJo" <jf2273...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:jhg9d.10962$gs1....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > Damn Dane, I didn't know you were involved in the industry. Now you have
> me
> > curious about other projects you worked on :-p
> >
> > Mojo
>
> Well, let's see.
<snip>
> Anyway, sorry for the long-winded answer. There are probably other stories,
> but I think these are the most interesting for people in this group who
> care--all three of you. :)
>
Fascinating! You really should write something up, either for a
webpage or perhaps a story for the next DP Guide. I'd love to see
photos of said projects, especially of the protos!
Dane L. Galden
news:7d763a23.04101...@posting.google.com...
They're in a box in the basement (with over 100 other boxes of my
collection). Maybe one of these days I'll dig them out and take some pics.
Dane.