A few nights back, Nan and I were bored and looking for something fun to do. We were both tired from work so we didn’t really feel like going out, but there wasn’t anything good on TV either. A couple of years ago, I started messing with some of my vintage machines including an Apple II Plus, and an Atari 5200. My HTPC project took my attention away, and I never really got back to doing anything with them until recently. I remembered that I still had the Atari in the attic, so I asked Nan if she’d be interested in playing some Pac Man. After finding all the pieces we got it hooked up, and to our surprise it still worked great. (ok, only 1 of the 4 controllers is still in really good shape, but one other is usable for most games..) The two of us must have played for a couple of hours. It was great! We played through Pac Man, Space Invaders, Missile Command and River Raid. Simple as they are, I still find these games to be just as fun as the first time I played them. In fact, one of the things I most look forward to when we go to our favorite Japanese restaurant is the vintage Mrs. Pac Man game in the waiting area. I also found out, before heading off to bed, that I can still hold my own in Defender. (one of my favorite Atari games of all time) 208,500 on level 14 baby! More pics here.

Yet another milk and cookies find. Someone out there spent some time creating a half-life/quake 2 style shooter in Shockwave called Phosphor. It even has a deathmatch feature. Pretty cool considering all you need is a web browser and the Shockwave plugin.