Some very good points, Brain. My only concern is with the nature of the MegaCart; that is, the fact that it makes all other cartridges obsolete. Once we have our Megacarts, what use would we have for other cartridges for the Vic 20?
OTOH, I wonder if the same money could be put towards molds for new breadbin cases. This could set the stage for brand new Commodore 64's and Vic 20's.
VIC-20 Cartridge Case Reproduction Plans
Moderator: Moderators
Yes, this is one limitation of Behr-Bonz and MegaCart.Mikam73 wrote:Maybe we get new games released at carts..
Or maybe even collections
As new carts are developed, there is no way to add them to either cart in a permanent way.
MagaCart does allow user to load from floppy Disk any new ROM image into RAM (up to 32K + 3K), and execute. But, traansfer is limited by 1541 speed and when power goes off, then ram contents are gone.
The 8K NVSRAM hack offers a good solution for new 8K ROM images, but it would be nice to have larger capacity. A 16K NVSRAM is pretty simple to do and relatively cheap.
Last edited by 6502dude on Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mega-Cart: the ultimate cartridge for your Commodore Vic-20
It is a question of what else the initial investment could be used for. 35 or even 10 dollars per cart might be hard to justify if it is only for VIC 20 carts, but perhaps the same tooling and supplies could be used with some small (read: inexpensive and reversable) adjustments to manufacture something with a more substantial market.
I for one would love to see us make some new carts for VIC, but if there is a retro market for other systems, perhaps the same equipment could be put to use for these as well.
A more ambitious project would be for some of us actively to develop a market for such cartridges, VIC and otherwise, and sell them on a more widespread and commercial scale. Certainlty some market research would need to be done to ascertain exactly how many people in the world are actually avid VIC (and other systems) users and how willing they would be to put their hands into their pockets to get some new carts.
ANd why stop at carts? ALready there are many of us doing new software - why not hardware as well. Who knows?
Perhaps a tall order and I might just have my head in the clouds, however between all of us regulars here with our many and varied skills, experiences and connections all around the world, I don't think it would be impossible.
I for one would love to see us make some new carts for VIC, but if there is a retro market for other systems, perhaps the same equipment could be put to use for these as well.
A more ambitious project would be for some of us actively to develop a market for such cartridges, VIC and otherwise, and sell them on a more widespread and commercial scale. Certainlty some market research would need to be done to ascertain exactly how many people in the world are actually avid VIC (and other systems) users and how willing they would be to put their hands into their pockets to get some new carts.
ANd why stop at carts? ALready there are many of us doing new software - why not hardware as well. Who knows?
Perhaps a tall order and I might just have my head in the clouds, however between all of us regulars here with our many and varied skills, experiences and connections all around the world, I don't think it would be impossible.
There are only three kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can't.
Paul Lambert
Berlin
Federal Republic of Germany
Paul Lambert
Berlin
Federal Republic of Germany
Well, on potential use would be for all the folks who bought one of those vic-rel clones on ebay. The vic-rel had the vic cart case on it, you could print a new label and Voila! you have a nice "new" Vic-rel.
Another thought would be to produce some vic cart boards like we have for the 64.
Or maybe some of 6502dudes flash carts, they are cool too!
The possibilities are endless.
What about a Denial cart containing the denial collections?
Another thought would be to produce some vic cart boards like we have for the 64.
Or maybe some of 6502dudes flash carts, they are cool too!
The possibilities are endless.
What about a Denial cart containing the denial collections?
I agree with you, i have at least 40/50 cartridges on the box that i don't use anymore but i think that collectors disagree with youDigitalQuirk wrote:My only concern is with the nature of the MegaCart; that is, the fact that it makes all other cartridges obsolete.
Using EasyLoad by simply holding F7 on boot is not too bad, quite fast in my opinion.6502dude wrote:MagaCart does allow user to load from floppy Disk any new ROM image into RAM (up to 32K + 3K), and execute. But, traansfer is limited by 1541 speed...
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.
I believe there are multicarts on other systems, e.g. Atari 2600, NES (pirated) and Vectrex. They don't make the original cartridges worthless, rather the opposite. However if you are a serious collector you probably look for complete boxed games instead of loose cartridges.
If the production costs are reasonable, I really think we should consider this. I agree with Jim (he only posts under his surname here) about old plastic gets fragile. As far as I understand, the MegaCart has a built in reset switch which means that every recycled cartridge shell needs to meet Mr. Driller or Mr. Dremel before reaching its full potential as a MegaCart.
Perhaps the people who will do the hacking (Brian alone?) is very skilled with cutting in 25+ year old plastic, but I'd hate to hear about how many cases that were too brittle and broke in the process. Better in that case if the newly made shells can have a custom made opening for a switch, and it is up to everyone whether their project will utilize the hole or not.
If the production costs are reasonable, I really think we should consider this. I agree with Jim (he only posts under his surname here) about old plastic gets fragile. As far as I understand, the MegaCart has a built in reset switch which means that every recycled cartridge shell needs to meet Mr. Driller or Mr. Dremel before reaching its full potential as a MegaCart.
Perhaps the people who will do the hacking (Brian alone?) is very skilled with cutting in 25+ year old plastic, but I'd hate to hear about how many cases that were too brittle and broke in the process. Better in that case if the newly made shells can have a custom made opening for a switch, and it is up to everyone whether their project will utilize the hole or not.
Anders Carlsson
just my opinion...
as a vectrex owner with the 32 game multicart I am glad I have this item..
it has enabled me to play games that are quite simply not around anymore or so rare they fetch ridiculous premiums (mr Rich on veccy classic example.. same game as clean sweep, different logo on box 20 times the price !!)
im all for mulitcarts...
It is also nice to have original hardware too though, my son is fascinated by all the large bits of plastic, mole attack and dig dug are firm favourites !!
as a vectrex owner with the 32 game multicart I am glad I have this item..
it has enabled me to play games that are quite simply not around anymore or so rare they fetch ridiculous premiums (mr Rich on veccy classic example.. same game as clean sweep, different logo on box 20 times the price !!)
im all for mulitcarts...
It is also nice to have original hardware too though, my son is fascinated by all the large bits of plastic, mole attack and dig dug are firm favourites !!
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Richard James
- Vic 20 Devotee
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:06 am
Where is the buy-in for independent game developers. Although we could buy the cases most of us can't manufacture the PCB inside or burn the ROM.
Then even if we had those things how would we sell them? Most of us I assume are not interested in making money just having fun.
If I had ten decent games or 1 excellent game I could see myself distributing carts. But the cost is very hard to justify versus just uploading to my website.
In other words we need someone to consume the carts we produce. Are people actually interested in acquiring and playing new games?
Note: My game development has come to a halt due to having a 2 month old son.
Then even if we had those things how would we sell them? Most of us I assume are not interested in making money just having fun.
If I had ten decent games or 1 excellent game I could see myself distributing carts. But the cost is very hard to justify versus just uploading to my website.
In other words we need someone to consume the carts we produce. Are people actually interested in acquiring and playing new games?
Note: My game development has come to a halt due to having a 2 month old son.
Change is inevitable except from a vending machine.
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eslapion
- ultimate expander
- Posts: 5037
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:50 pm
- Location: Canada
- Occupation: 8bit addict
I will be on vacation between january 2nd and 19th.
During this period of time I could pay a visit to the Mega Bloks factory here in Montreal and ask them if they could help us...
I'd just like to know if this initiative would be welcomed or not by the Denial community.
During this period of time I could pay a visit to the Mega Bloks factory here in Montreal and ask them if they could help us...
I'd just like to know if this initiative would be welcomed or not by the Denial community.
Be normal.
I'm interested in any solution that will produce a usable case with 0-$1500 tooling and $5-10 per case cost. If Mega Bloks can do it, I'm interested.eslapion wrote:I will be on vacation between january 2nd and 19th.
During this period of time I could pay a visit to the Mega Bloks factory here in Montreal and ask them if they could help us...
I'd just like to know if this initiative would be welcomed or not by the Denial community.
Jim
In my case, yes.eslapion wrote:...I could pay a visit to the Mega Bloks factory here in Montreal and ask them if they could help us...
I'd just like to know if this initiative would be welcomed...
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore/Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org/
At least I'm willing to pay a premium. I would love to see new VIC releases being sold like Back in time. Just bought Blue Star from Chronosoft, it's nice to have these new releases on a cassette too. Of course it would be a lot more costly to release a new VIC game on cart with box nowadays. I'd still buy some. Robotic Liberation would be a must.
But if 1500 $ is put to a project, I'd rather see the birth of the ultimate VIC book, a collaborative effort of the Denial community
But if 1500 $ is put to a project, I'd rather see the birth of the ultimate VIC book, a collaborative effort of the Denial community
Surely such a book does not require that much up-front cost? lulu.com and such can print anything on demand, so only the articles and some editing is needed, no?Iltanen wrote:
But if 1500 $ is put to a project, I'd rather see the birth of the ultimate VIC book, a collaborative effort of the Denial community
Jim
