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Post by gliptitude on Apr 22, 2013 21:11:19 GMT -5
Well I picked up my AtariVox+ at the post office this afternoon. Have spent the last hour or so playing with it. It's pretty cool!
It looks pretty well made to me. When you first turn on the Vectrex, the device announces "... AtariVox+ ... VecVoice activated..". It's most fun with Verzerk because there is lots of talking during gameplay. Space Frenzy is cool, but it mostly just talks during intermissions.
I didn't realize VecVoice and VecVox were two different and incompatible things. Verzerk uses Voice and Frenzy uses Vox, (though it says VecVoice on CGC website). So between these two games, you have to open up the case and change the dip switches.
The XMas demo is pretty cool. ... A Speak and Spell rom would be most welcome, to enable some experimentation. A musical version would be even better.
Would also be sweet to see some rom hacks of GCE games, to enable all audio to go through the Vox headphone jack.
Overall, a fun device. Hope to see more program for it.
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Post by TrekMD on Apr 22, 2013 22:12:27 GMT -5
Mine arrived today! I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, though.
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Post by hcmffm on May 2, 2013 15:38:34 GMT -5
Recently we discussed about the output of the AtariVox+. I worried a bit about connecting a headphone or a loudspeaker until Axel, a Vectrex friend, mailed me a good idea which is quite simple:
Why not just connect the PC speaker to the AtariVox+? I'm not sure about the standard for sound output in other countries, but the plug of my PC speaker will probably perfectly fit into the AtariVox+.
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Post by TrekMD on May 2, 2013 18:22:51 GMT -5
Recently we discussed about the output of the AtariVox+. I worried a bit about connecting a headphone or a loudspeaker until Axel, a Vectrex friend, mailed me a good idea which is quite simple: Why not just connect the PC speaker to the AtariVox+? I'm not sure about the standard for sound output in other countries, but the plug of my PC speaker will probably perfectly fit into the AtariVox+. That should work just fine. In fact, Ax had a limited supply of computer speakers he was selling with the Vox+ to those who wanted them. |
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Post by TrekMD on May 7, 2013 12:14:32 GMT -5
So, has anyone given this a spin?
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wazzal
Battlezoned
Completed Veccy Bird [1.5]!
Posts: 74
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Post by wazzal on May 7, 2013 13:14:07 GMT -5
^I received mine a few weeks ago, and have quite been enjoying it!
Verzerk has added quite a new experience such that I find it hard to go back to regular Berzerk without voice output as it just feels like something is missing.
YASI is also pretty neat with it, and I enjoyed the Zero Wing reference within it.
Those are the only 2 games I have tried out so far, but I rather aspire to pick up a copy of Debris Revisited to give it a run sometime. And the same goes for other Revival Studios releases, which all seem to support it.
It seems there are only two games out there that are near impossible to find that support it: Spike's Circus and Spike Goes Down [from Protector LE], which is unfortunate.
I do hope that future games support it [or that maybe somebody hacks voice into existing games] as it is a really cool device.
I am quite happy to own it!
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Post by TrekMD on May 7, 2013 14:05:25 GMT -5
Cool. I have mine but I have not had a chance to test it out. I do have Debris Revisited and I'm looking forward to playing it with the Vox+!
Spike's Circus is a shame that it cannot be found. I wish I had been able to get it but I wasn't collecting for the Vectrex when it was released. Hopefully, we'll see more games that will take advantage of the Vox+ in the future.
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wazzal
Battlezoned
Completed Veccy Bird [1.5]!
Posts: 74
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Post by wazzal on May 8, 2013 15:44:06 GMT -5
^Do post back when you get a chance to try it out!
I'm not sure if it's just me, but I find some lines difficult to understand. When playing Verzerk for instance, I sometime hear the same line with a different meaning.
Now I'm not sure if this is like listening to metal where you kind of have to train your ears to understand the lyrics, but I do feel that with enough play I could better understand what the Speaker Jet is trying to pronounce.
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Post by gliptitude on May 8, 2013 16:01:47 GMT -5
I have made numerous inquiries about Debris Revisited, which is supposedly still available. But I have gotten zero response from revival-studios.
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Post by vectrexmad on May 8, 2013 19:27:09 GMT -5
Cool. I have mine but I have not had a chance to test it out. I do have Debris Revisited and I'm looking forward to playing it with the Vox+! Spike's Circus is a shame that it cannot be found. I wish I had been able to get it but I wasn't collecting for the Vectrex when it was released. Hopefully, we'll see more games that will take advantage of the Vox+ in the future. The VecVox does add to the Debris game. The Vectrex plays music and the Vecvox adds the sound effects. However, there seems to be a software/hardware bug in Debris Revisited for sure. Sometimes the VecVox gets stuck and the only way to reset is to unplug and plug back in during the game. I have pointed this out to Revival studios but he says he cannot fix it. Also you sometimes see that actions that did cause a sound effect don't always make a sound. E.g. an exploding asteroid doesn't always make an explosion noise. Also sometimes get random R2D2 noises. It is only the Debris game that pushes the VecVox to the limit using it for voice and sound effects. The other games just use the VecVox for speech. So squirting all the serial data to the VecVox in the Debris game is really pushing the hardware to the limits. |
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Post by VectorX on May 8, 2013 20:40:34 GMT -5
I have made numerous inquiries about Debris Revisited, which is supposedly still available. But I have gotten zero response from revival-studios. That's odd, Martin has helped me out whenever I needed something for the wiki, and usually pretty quickly too. And on a similar note, I hope the AtariVox+ doesn't sell out before golden ax sees my blasted PM, since I want one  I've been waiting for like a week now and it said last night he hadn't even read my pm as of yet. |
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Post by TrekMD on May 8, 2013 21:11:43 GMT -5
No, you don't want to miss on it. Did you email him or PM him?
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Post by VectorX on May 8, 2013 21:35:58 GMT -5
PM on Atari Age.
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Post by TrekMD on May 8, 2013 21:37:20 GMT -5
You may want to send him an email to the address that I posted here before. Just to be safe.  |
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Post by VectorX on May 8, 2013 21:45:11 GMT -5
Thanks, I'll definitely shoot him an e-mail...I'm going to the bank tomorrow (unless it's raining) and that'll irk me pretty good if I have to make a second trip there later at some point for a money order for it |
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I've been waiting for like a week now and it said last night he hadn't even read my pm as of yet.