On the Bally Arcade/Astrocade discussion forum, a thread was started by MCM called, “THE ULTIMATE ASTROCADE,” here:
https://groups.io/g/ballyalley/topic/the_ultimate_astrocade/105079702
Michael Matte posted a new video on his YouTube channel that is dedicated to him showing and explaining his hi-res Astrocade:
https://www.youtube.com/@mcmsastrocades9366
I enjoyed watching this newest, well-made video showcasing the hi-res aspect of the Bally Arcade/Astrocade’s custom chipset. The Bally’s hardware had to be highly modified by Michael to quadruple the normal 160×102 consumer screen resolution to allow it access the 320×204 commercial mode used in the arcade games, such as GORF and Wizard of Wor. The wonderful part is that isn’t all that was done by Michael to expand his Astrocade. This project has many more extra features.
Here is Michael’s, slightly edited, post about his “The Ultimate Astrocade” video:
The infomercial video for my final hi-res Astrocade has been published, here:
This video is really a boasting of all the features this final hi-res Astrocade will have. As I see it, considering all the time I spent creating, testing and building my low/hi-res Astrocade visions, I’m entitled to boast of my final creation.
It’s true that this Astrocade like typical modern tech devices will be “over designed” likely having features that may never be used. I just want to see if it can be done.
Admittedly, when you view the video for the first time, you will likely focus on the awesome soundtracks, rather than read the Astrocade specs. That’s what happened to me.
The YouTube video description will point to the Bally Alley and the Astrocade discussion group sites just in case a viewer outside of the Astrocade community watches the video and desires to check out the Astrocade home computer system.
The video was recorded using the Elgato video capture. I’m done attempting to capture Astrocade programs on my CRT or LCD TV using my Canon camera. It’s just too aggravating.
Since my hi-res Astrocades output composite video, using the Elgato is really easy resulting in a video comparable to or in some cases even better than my previous camera recording attempts.
I will still use my camera for Astrocade related hardware, which is fairly easy to record in HD.
MCM Design
March 2024
BallyAlley 