Atari 2600 Activision Patch Contest - Winners announced

[InsaneDavid]

I dusted off the trusty heavy sixer for these first two scores...

Keystone Kapers: 38,100
http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/patches/Patches-KeystoneKapers01.jpg

Megamania: 48,480
http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/patches/Patches-Megamania01.jpg

The others are via emulation from earlier in the day...

H.E.R.O.: 82,575
http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/patches/Patches-HERO01.jpg

Robot Tank: 74 tanks destroyed (three patches)
http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/patches/Patches-RobotTank01.jpg

Plenty of moments of lucking out in Robot Tank, treads shot out and having the last enemy tank for the wave back out right in front of me, etc. :yipes:

[the 5th ghost]

So people don't get discouraged by this flood of scores: If a person gets all of the patches, the game isn't over until either two more people have done the same or March 31st has arrived! And if things go the way I hope, I would also like to get prizes for additional players too!



Thanks for the heads up, I changed it.

Also, do you have higher resolution pictures of Dolphin, Grand Prix, HERO, Megamania and Spider Fighter? I couldn't tell what your scores were from the pictures.

Hi,

My pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd liked. The images were all fine, but after cropping and sizing down to fit the parameters of the allowed file size, they look like crap.

I can email you all the original, uncropped pix, which are still on my desktop.

Here's the scores you requested:

Dolphin - score reads "Amazing" which is the secret message after maxxing the score. This qualifies for both Dolphin patches.

Spider Fighter - 41,250
Megamania - 68,800
H.E.R.O. - 84,060
Grand Prix - 33.01 on Race 1

As for the large amount of submissions by me at once...you're right to tell people not to be discouraged. All that's left for me are the Decathlon patches, Space Shuttle patches, Robot Tank patches, Laser Blast patches and Private Eye.

Decathlon is extremely hard for me, and my controllers are all pretty worn

Laser Blast is not one of my favs to max, but I have done it.

Robot Tank I never really played before

Space Shuttle and Private Eye, I never played period. In fact, my Private Eye is still sealed in it's original shrinkwrap. So, finishing this contest will take quite some time for me, if I even accomplish it at all.

I actually had to open four other games for the first time, which before yesterday, were sealed.

All that said, for me it was a great day of Activision games, and I enjoyed it VERY much. Thanks for the contest!

[Cornelius]

Aw... I thought my flurry was going to be impressive. Oh well, still has been great fun.

Barnstorming 53.37 game 3 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/barn 5337.jpg)

Chopper Command 11100 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/chopper 11100.jpg)

Freeway 21 game 3 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/freeway 21.jpg)

Grand Prix 34.20 game 1 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/GP 34 20.jpg)

Hockey (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/hockey 14 11.jpg) (bonus for the computer being knocked on his ass at the end?)

pitfall 2 109682 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/pitfall 2 109682.jpg)

River Raid 17860 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/river raid 17860.jpg)

Starmaster 5787 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/starmaster 5787.jpg) (2 patches, I believe)

Tennis 6-0 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/tennis 6 0.jpg). I think this tennis game may have more depth than Wii tennis!

[Pantechnicon]

I just want to say how great it is to see all these DP members - old and new - bringing some serious game to this competition. It's very encouraging to see folks grinding away at all this old school business. March 31 is still a long ways away so let's all keep at it.

[deteacher]

Ok, it's REALLY bad when you want to take the day off from work just so you can stay home and put more work into this contest. :) Well, at least I'll have MLK day off (Teaching does have it's perks sometimes.) :)

[Vectorman0]

In case someone wins this in the upcoming few weeks, I will not have your prizes ready, though I am hard at work on them. I didn't expect there to be such speedy participation. I can only promise prizes by March 31st, at the latest. I apologize, but I am working on it as fast as I can.


Hi,

My pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd liked. The images were all fine, but after cropping and sizing down to fit the parameters of the allowed file size, they look like crap.

I can email you all the original, uncropped pix, which are still on my desktop.

I'm glad you still have the originals! I'll send you a PM with your email.


Ok, it's REALLY bad when you want to take the day off from work just so you can stay home and put more work into this contest. :) Well, at least I'll have MLK day off (Teaching does have it's perks sometimes.) :)

Tell me about it, I feel like skipping class just to play.


I just want to say how great it is to see all these DP members - old and new - bringing some serious game to this competition. It's very encouraging to see folks grinding away at all this old school business. March 31 is still a long ways away so let's all keep at it.

I feel the same way. Let me once again encourage everyone old and new to try out this competition, regardless of experience. Even if you have never played an Atari and doubt you can do well enough, download an emulator and get started! All you need is one patch to be eligible for the random prize, and some of them aren't too difficult.

[InsaneDavid]

Pitfall! II: 193,600
http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/patches/Patches-PitfallII01.jpg

Yes, I'm pissed about that score. :angry: LOL

[dlopez9069]

Megamania right here
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/Fairychaos/Megamania1982Activision.png

and freeway
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/Fairychaos/Freeway1981Activision_1.png

[dlopez9069]

starmaster ensign.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/Fairychaos/Starmaster1982Activision.png

[deteacher]

I couldn't wait to get home to work on this some more! Here's what I got:

Kaboom!: 4,283
Megamania: 147,870
Oink!: 29,088
Pitfall!: 33,000
Seaquest: 63,300

Ok, back to work! :)

[deteacher]

Frostbite: 41,320
Plaque Attack: 39,055
Pressure Cooker: 51,710

I'm done for the night. Bring on the 3 day weekend for some of the marathon games! :)

[dlopez9069]

spider fighter
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/Fairychaos/SpiderFighter1983Activisiono1.png

[PapaStu]

I've only got one. Appearantly not the TOP River Raid score, but it'll do for now.

Played on our 2600 and got a score of 26610
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k252/PapaStu/IMG_0900.jpg

[Pantechnicon]

21 chickens on Freeway (Game 3, difficulty A):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pzcortez/activision/DSCN1089.jpg

Performed on a 7800. For the record, all of my submissions will be done on either a 2600 or 7800 depending on which TV I'm using. I counted up carts last night and it turns out I own every one for which one can earn a patch so no emu will be necessary. I'm going to have to crack open a NIB copy of Space Shuttle, but what the hell. I bought it to play, not to worship.

[le geek]

On a real six switch...

Chopper Command 16600
Megamania 145780
River Raid 87020
Sea Quest 109840

Thanks again for doing this!

Cheers,
Ben

[the 5th ghost]

I think I may have improved my pix, this is an experiment...

[the 5th ghost]

Ok, experiment was a success!

Before I was using GIF, but now I changed all the pix to JPEGs and they look way better.

I edited all my previous posts with the redone pix (I didn't even have to crop!)

[Keir]

Awesome contest! Please add me to the list. My first submission is Frostbite. Can't wait to get home and work on some more!

Oh, I see the 5th ghost is playing. Well, there's always second place. ;)

[Lurker Boy]

Here's a few more for me: Seaquest, Ice Hockey, Megamania, Pitfall II, and Chopper Command. More to come tonight!

[the 5th ghost]

Vectorman...

I think you gave my 2 Dolphin patches to yourself :P

LOL

[the 5th ghost]

Not a personal best, but enough for the GOLD!

My arms are killing me!

[deteacher]

Trying to keep up with Ghost, but it's getting tougher and tougher. Anyway, please add these two patches to my collection:

Crackpots: 81,110
Stampede: 4,997

[deteacher]

Pitfall 2: 146,757
Starmaster (for 4 patches): 9,174

[dlopez9069]

barnstorming game 1
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/Fairychaos/Barnstorming1982Activision.png

[Mattiekrome]

Guess I'll throw my hat in the ring as well... No real chance of winning, but its fun. I've never really been a huge fan of the Atari days, so it gives me a chance to play it more than I usually would :)

[Vectorman0]

Vectorman...

I think you gave my 2 Dolphin patches to yourself :P

LOL

Thanks for the heads up, I made the necessary correction. I don't even own Dolphin. :(

Here are some of my own scores:

[Vectorman0]

Last one, for now.

[deteacher]

Spider Fighter: 59,780. Had to play it on emu since the wife is still upstairs in bed.

[Keir]

I earned 2 more patches last night. Also came within 0.04 seconds of a Barnstorming patch and 2000 pts of a Crackpots patch. :(

Going away for the weekend, but maybe I'll try some of the easier ones when I get back.

[Cornelius]

Sky Jinks 36.41 (http://home.comcast.net/~evanwink/images/games/activision/Sky Jinks 36 41.jpg)

[Vectorman0]

I earned 2 more patches last night. Also came within 0.04 seconds of a Barnstorming patch and 2000 pts of a Crackpots patch.

Barnstorming is one of those games you just need to keep practicing, but practicing too much without success is really frustrating. I had to take a break from it for a couple days and come back to it. After that I got the needed time pretty quickly.


I also have one more patch of my own, Enduro:

[le geek]

Lots of near misses on other games, but...

Pitfall! 87784

[le geek]

Barnstorming 0:33.27
Oink 38928
Sky Jinks 0:36.76

[deteacher]

One more for now:

Laser Blast: 100,890 (sorry for the crappy pic, but you can clearly see there are 6 digits there.) :)

It took me 25-30 minutes to get 100K on game 1. I'm not sure I want to spend 2.5-3 hours getting to 1,000,000. So, I guess I'm going to have to practice on the faster levels so I can roll it faster.

I came so close to crashing Dolphin. I also spent time with Grand Prix, H.E.R.O. and Beamrider, with no luck yet. Still have 2 days to go before I have to go back to work. :?

[the 5th ghost]

Barnstorming #2: 50.18
Barnstorming #3: 52.57
Grand Prix #2: 51.03
Grand Prix #3: 1:22.04
Grand Prix #4: 2:28.55

[lonewolfette]

Four games, all emulator so far, but I used my Stelladapter to play using the joystick. I used no cheats or anything like that. I played only the initial game setting as well.

Frostbite: 208700
Keystone Kapers: 16150
Pressure Cooker: 2570

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/th_DSC01175a.jpg (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/DSC01175a.jpg) http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/th_DSC01177a.jpg (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/DSC01177a.jpg) http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/th_DSC01178a.jpg (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/lauren9847/videogames/DSC01178a.jpg)

[deteacher]

I was dreading this one, but it's finally over with:

Decathlon: 10,177

[deteacher]

Barnstorming #2: 50.18
Barnstorming #3: 52.57
Grand Prix #2: 51.03
Grand Prix #3: 1:22.04
Grand Prix #4: 2:28.55

Ghost, I have a question for you. Grand Prix is kicking my butt. I just can't seem to get the hang of it. My question for you is: Do you have to keep on the accelerator the whole time in order to finish under the "patch" time? Or can you let off from time to time and coast by some of the cars?

I'll understand if you don't want to share your secrets, though. ;)

[lonewolfette]

I'm so mad... I had a 70K+ score on Gyruss, but I hit the trigger button too quick & started a new game before I could get a pic of the score! Argh! :bad-words:

[InsaneDavid]

I'm so mad... I had a 70K+ score on Gyruss, but I hit the trigger button too quick & started a new game before I could get a pic of the score! Argh! :bad-words:

Um, we're not playing Gyruss, or Othello. This is an Activision VCS competition, the entire VCS / 2600 catalog isn't up for play.

[deteacher]

I'm so mad... I had a 70K+ score on Gyruss, but I hit the trigger button too quick & started a new game before I could get a pic of the score! Argh! :bad-words:

Lonewolfette,

Welcome to the contest! :) This contest is for Activision titles, only. Check the first couple of posts in this thread for the list of games involved with this contest, as well as the requirements to earn the patches. Best of luck to you! :)

[Vectorman0]

Lonewolfette,

Welcome to the contest! :) This contest is for Activision titles, only. Check the first couple of posts in this thread for the list of games involved with this contest, as well as the requirements to earn the patches. Best of luck to you! :)

Exactly what he said. :D

[deteacher]

Robot Tank: 52 Tanks. This one seems to go from easy to killer hard instantly. I might be able to squeeze out the second patch (with a little luck) but getting the 3rd one will be really tough. I'll switch to real hardware (that's usually a little easier to control.) But this'll do for now. :)

[the 5th ghost]

Ghost, I have a question for you. Grand Prix is kicking my butt. I just can't seem to get the hang of it. My question for you is: Do you have to keep on the accelerator the whole time in order to finish under the "patch" time? Or can you let off from time to time and coast by some of the cars?

I'll understand if you don't want to share your secrets, though. ;)

Deteacher,

I'm always happy to share tips if you need any.

You want to go at top speed as long as you can but you don't need to be perfect to qualify for the patch. (My race #4 time involved a few crashes.)

For each race, take it a sequence at a time, to learn where you need to be to avoid the cars and oil slicks. The pattern wil stay fixed as long as you don't crash or slow down. But, each race involves at least a couple spots that require precision steering.

Just pick a lane and stay there till you crash. Then, memorize that spot and determine if you need to go up or down to avoid that crash. Use this trial and error technique till you make it safely to the finish line. Eventually, you want to find the path that requires the least amount of maneuvering.

If you look on the far left of the screen, you'll see little lane markers. Use these as visual cues to position your car during the race.

Good luck!

[le geek]

Enduro (Day 6) 952.9
Pitfall 2 135553
Spider Fighter 42810

Think I am getting the hang of Frostbite, Pressure Cooker is kicking my ass!

Cheers,
Ben

[le geek]

Freeway game 3 (via emu) 20

[AlanD]

Here's my 3 today though you may not want to count Pitfall II since in all honesty I did use a map to get that far. :( Would have taken me forever if I had had to re-discover everything after so long away from the game. That's why I used an emulator for that one instead of PS2 Anthology since I could play in a window and check out the map. Anyway count it or not depending on if you consider that cheating. Just wanted to be open about it.

Appreciate the contest. Been a long time since I have played some of these and this was a good excuse.
Al

[deteacher]

PLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE say this score counts:

Robot Tank: 72 Tanks

The only reason I ask is because on the spreadsheet, it says >72 tanks, yet the manual says 72 tanks. I'd hate to go through more hours of playing just to get one more tank. :mad:

[Vectorman0]

PLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE say this score counts:

Robot Tank: 72 Tanks

The only reason I ask is because on the spreadsheet, it says >72 tanks, yet the manual says 72 tanks. I'd hate to go through more hours of playing just to get one more tank. :mad:

Yes, it counts. If there is any confusion in the future, I will be going by the original patch requirements that were laid out in the manual. I copy and pasted from the DP patch page, and some of the requirements there will say > or < when the manuals said ≥ or ≤.

[Vectorman0]

Here's my 3 today though you may not want to count Pitfall II since in all honesty I did use a map to get that far. :( Would have taken me forever if I had had to re-discover everything after so long away from the game. That's why I used an emulator for that one instead of PS2 Anthology since I could play in a window and check out the map. Anyway count it or not depending on if you consider that cheating. Just wanted to be open about it.

Appreciate the contest. Been a long time since I have played some of these and this was a good excuse.
Al

I'm going to say no to maps, unless you have made the map yourself.

I'm glad you like the contest.

[deteacher]

I don't know how much time I logged to get this one but:

Grand Prix: 34.36.

Thanks to 5th Ghost for the help! If it takes me over an hour to beat a 35 second track, I'm not looking forward to the next 3 tracks! Ugh! *_*

[InsaneDavid]

PLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE say this score counts:

Robot Tank: 72 Tanks

The only reason I ask is because on the spreadsheet, it says >72 tanks, yet the manual says 72 tanks. I'd hate to go through more hours of playing just to get one more tank. :mad:

Robot Tank = a total bitch.

[Keir]

Think I am getting the hang of Frostbite, Pressure Cooker is kicking my ass!Ah, 2 of my favorite Activision games! Pressure Cooker is a tough one. I consider myself pretty good at it and it still took a few tries to get the patch. I wish I had some good advice for you, but all I can say is keep practicing!

I got 4 more patches last night (I'll post the pictures later). Keystone Kapers was harder than I expected. As you get to later levels, you get so few points with each level that it's hard to reach 35k. Plaque Attack is a hard one too, mostly because it's not much fun. River Raid, on the other hand, is a joke. I played a quick game and did rather poorly (I thought) so I checked the chart to see how much better I would have to do. I was surprised to see I had earned a patch!

BTW, all of my scores are (and will be) on a real 2600.

[deteacher]

Enduro (Day 6) 952.9
Pitfall 2 135553
Spider Fighter 42810

Think I am getting the hang of Frostbite, Pressure Cooker is kicking my ass!

Cheers,
Ben

Since 5th Ghost was nice enough to help me with Grand Prix, allow me to continue the trend. :)

Le Geek,

Here's my tip for Pressure Cooker. When a level starts, while the music plays, look at the order board and verbally say what you need, out loud. Here's an example:

Let's say you have an order that needs Tomato, Lettuce and Cheese. Say out loud "I need Tomato, Lettuce and Cheese." Now, let's just say the cheese comes out. As you grab the cheese and head to the burger, say out loud "I need tomato and lettuce." Keep refusing ingredients until you get one or the other. Finally, let's say the tomato comes out. As you are taking it to the burger, say out loud "I need lettuce."

For me, verbalizing what I need as I play has allowed me to score tons of points, even on the faster levels. I managed a score of over 250K in the High Score Club over at AtariAge several weeks back, using this strategy. I know it sounds weird, especially if people hear you talking to your tv, but it works for me! :) Good luck!

[le geek]

Thanks for the tip deteacher! You have some really nice scores on the High Score club BTW.

And Keir, nice to see you posting again :)

Cheers,
Ben

[the 5th ghost]

Laser Blast: !!!!!!

[deteacher]

H.e.r.o.: 79,590

[Vectorman0]

Anyone have tips for Dragster? Lowest I have ever gotten is 6.14, and rarely can I get within .10 seconds of that. I thought you were supposed to stay in the red as long as possible, but it doesn't seem to make a difference either way. I also blow out my engines over 50% of the time.

[InsaneDavid]

Anyone have tips for Dragster? Lowest I have ever gotten is 6.14, and rarely can I get within .10 seconds of that. I thought you were supposed to stay in the red as long as possible, but it doesn't seem to make a difference either way. I also blow out my engines over 50% of the time.

That's where I'm stuck as well. I've tried popping the clutch at the start and then clutching to squeeze a bit more power when going flat out in fourth gear but I still can't get under six seconds.

[Keir]

And Keir, nice to see you posting again :)Aww, shucks! :embarrassed:

Here are my pictures from last night. I was only able to fit in one game of Beamrider tonight which was not quite enough to earn the patch (made it to sector 18, but only got 35k points).

I haven't tried playing Dragster yet. I never liked that game, nor was I ever able to get under 6 seconds. Looks like I got the high score for H.E.R.O. though. Cool!

[the 5th ghost]

Anyone have tips for Dragster? Lowest I have ever gotten is 6.14, and rarely can I get within .10 seconds of that. I thought you were supposed to stay in the red as long as possible, but it doesn't seem to make a difference either way. I also blow out my engines over 50% of the time.

Dragster is kinda hard to explain without being able to show but I'll try...

When the count-down gets to around 2, rev the engine and time your first tap right at zero, then quickly (immediately) tap again to get to 3rd gear. In 3rd, wait till the red line is about an inch long then tap again to go to 4th.

From there, it may take 3 or 4 light taps (to pop the wheelie) to reach the end without blowing the engine.

After getting the feel, sub 6 times will become automatic.

My 5.67 time came on my first attempt.

[Keir]

OK, I couldn't go to bed without giving Beamrider another try. :)

Since I'm only the second person to earn the Beamrider patch in this contest, I'll offer some tips:
1. Don't shoot the yellow rejuvenators. Those are your bonus ships! This may seem obvious but it happens a lot, especially if you're new to the game and don't know what you're looking at or at later sectors when there's a whole slew of objects on the screen.
2. Always shoot the sentinel at the end of each sector. I don't know how many points you get for shooting it, but if you don't shoot it you won't get any bonus points for the ships you have left. I believe the formula for that is (100 + 10 x sector) x (# of ships remaining) but you only get it if you shoot the sector sentinel!
3. Take your time. There's no time limit and all you need to do to progress to the next sector is shoot 15 enemy saucers so focus on avoiding all the other objects first.

[Pantechnicon]

I've been :frustrated: against Skiing for a couple of days now. I think the best I've gotten so far is 28.75 seconds, still a half-second short, and in this game 1/2 second is comparatively an eternity. No matter what I do I can't seem to close the gap.

Does anybody have some good tips for this game other than the obvious ones about memorizing the path, skiing the shortest distance, or tapping the stick lightly? I'd be much obliged.

[Keir]

Since Jenny's at preschool and Ben's happily playing with his trucks, I have a little free time this morning. Of course, I should be doing dishes or laundry or any other useful thing like that, but instead I chose Freeway. After a few tries I got a patch and a high score!

[Vectorman0]

I've been :frustrated: against Skiing for a couple of days now. I think the best I've gotten so far is 28.75 seconds, still a half-second short, and in this game 1/2 second is comparatively an eternity. No matter what I do I can't seem to close the gap.

Does anybody have some good tips for this game other than the obvious ones about memorizing the path, skiing the shortest distance, or tapping the stick lightly? I'd be much obliged.

You covered probably the most important things, but I'll see if I can describe to you how I did it.

First thing you need to know, is the course layout. You need to know when you can just go straight, and when you are going to have to start moving to make make the next flags. This is because you can do the whole course without having to change your "skier's angle" from the most straight one you start with (though you do change the direction he faces). Use the number at the top as a reference so you so you can know in advance when you need to start moving towards a flag off your current course as early as possible in order to not change your "angle" and slow down.

Hopefully that makes some sense to you. I re-read it and tried to have it make more sense, but I failed. It's hard to convey some gaming strategies into words.

In a nutshell, you need to know the layout so you can complete the whole course without changing the angle of your skier from the default one. Once you can do the whole course like that, you will probably get a time between 28.24 and 28.30. At that point, you will need to work on minimizing your movement and staying stationary as much as possible.

[Pantechnicon]

@Vectoman0: Thanks and yes that does all makes sense. I can do the whole course without changing my skier's angle from the skis pointing straight down. I guess I'm still just being too sloppy inside the gates; not cutting the corners close enough or something.

I take heart at least that only 3 contestants have thus far earned the Skiing patch, so it's not like I'm screwing up something that's easy for everybody else.

I'll put another day or two into this and then switch to another game, pass or fail. Time's a wastin'.

EDIT - Managed to get it down to 28.56 seconds during lunch. That's a little encouraging...

[Vectorman0]

This has been sitting on my camera for a few days. I wanted to get some more to go along with when I posted, but that didn't work out.

[Vectorman0]

Two more!

I'm starting to run out of carts I own that I can get patches with.

Decathlon - I have been daunting this one. I don't know how you guys have done it, I don't know if I ever will.
Kaboom! - I have gotten over 3k multiple times before this contest, but I can't do it on my LCD TV. The lag is too great.
Keystone Kapers - I can't seem to get past 28-32k points. I guess I just need much more practice
Laser Blast - I'm not ready to spend the time on this one yet.
Space Shuttle - I haven't played this one yet!
Spider Fighter - I really don't like this game, and can't top 15k whenever I play it. I might need to look into the difficult switches.
Starmaster - I'm terrible at this game, or I just don't know the strategy.

[Keir]

I had a good night - got 6 more patches including 2 hard ones! Took another stab at Crackpots and got that one out of the way. Also tried Dolphin several times which was definitely the most stressful game for me so far. I was doing well and got 70k+ but I had no lives left and the squid was right on my tail. The seagull had been flying so fast lately I wasn't sure I could even get it. One lucky jump later and there's my patch. :)

Also got patches for Chopper Command, Ice Hockey, Pitfall and Sky Jinks.

I was looking at the manual for Tennis and it doesn't say anything about a patch. Are you sure that one isn't for a different system?

[the 5th ghost]

I was looking at the manual for Tennis and it doesn't say anything about a patch. Are you sure that one isn't for a different system?

Nope, Tennis is a 2600 game only.

It's patch requirement wasn't mentioned in the instructions, but rather in the "Activisions" newsletter (if you happenned to be on the mailing list)

[the 5th ghost]

Super Sleuth patch!

[the 5th ghost]

Done with Robot Tank!

80 tanks destroyed

[deteacher]

Dolphin: Amazing!

Still trying to keep up...but this is me, playing Grand Prix, still: :frustrated:

[Keir]

Keystone Kapers - I can't seem to get past 28-32k points. I guess I just need much more practiceI was stuck there for a while as well. The problem is that on the later levels you get so few points each time. The way I was able to get to 35k was by perfecting the early levels to maximize my score then.

Today, Spider Fighter was my big challenge. I thought I was doing pretty well but couldn't get past around 30k. My strategy was to just blow up everything as soon as it came on the screen. Usually you can get the nest and the spy pod right away and that's it. Sometimes, though, either the spy pod or the nest gets away and after you chase it down you can't get back to the left side fast enough. Also, every fourth wave you get nests that don't lay a spy pod right away and when they do it's right above your head. Those are tricky. Using this strategy I was able to get the patch and a high score.

I also took a stab at Starmaster. Never was a fan of the Star Trek genre of games, but it's not too bad I guess. Got the Ensign patch without too much trouble but I'll need some practice before I go after the higher ones. I included my whole setup in this picture so you can see I'm using a real 2600:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9235/20080123001iq4.th.jpg (http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=20080123001iq4.jpg)

Last time I forgot to attach my Sky Jinks picture, so I've included that one here too.

[deteacher]

Cool prizes...especially the signed Keystone Kapers. Way cool!

It's gonna be tough to catch 5th Ghost now, but here's hoping I can have a good run tonight and grab a couple more patches and close the gap. WTG, Ghost! :)