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Post by johnnyboy on Feb 14, 2005 9:28:04 GMT -5
I have vague recollections of the first batch of c64 carts not fitting into the machine. The cart cover was too close to the connection port.
I came around one Saturday morning to find Jon Woods, Gary Bracey and Steve Lavache with a massive pile of boxes. They proceeded to take each cart out of its packaging and mounting it on a vice. Then using a hacksaw a nick out was cut from it, then the cart was replaced back into the box. Unless my memory fails me, all 3 got together in a production line to work through some major order from Dixon's.
It made for a particularly surreal sight.
Gary can you confirm this?
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Post by Gary on Feb 14, 2005 10:38:18 GMT -5
God, I think you're right, John. I don't remember the company we ordered them through (I don't think Ablex did carts) but there wasn't enough time to send them back for replacements, so they had to be physically changed. I just can't remember details.....
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Post by Simon Butler on Feb 14, 2005 11:38:13 GMT -5
Blimey Charley...I remember that day...can't think what I was working on at the time but it required a weekend in the dungeons...and there was the man-who-never-smiled muttering sulphurously under his breath about Dave Collier (cos I think he was responsible somehow).
And the sight of the Godfather of Liverpool with a hacksaw in his hand was cause for a quick exit at any time.
I also remember gary's brave but futile efforts at levity to lighten the mood of the day falling on exceptionally deaf ears judging by the thunderous looks from Obersturmfuhrer Woods.
I don't think the monkeys in the basement have ever been on such good behavious.
I imagine they all saw themselves with concrete boots at the bottom of the Manchester ship canal if they so much as breathed wrong that day. I know I gave Jon a very wide berth that day.
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Post by Gary on Feb 14, 2005 11:54:57 GMT -5
Yeah, Simon. That makes it a little clearer and I do remember it better now (I'm serious - I do have a bad memory for these things).
I think it was also a main factor in Ocean subsequently showing lukewarm support for the format. They were very expensive to manufacture (compared to disks) and so the inventory control was much more critical. I guess an experience such as the one described above wade us reconsider the C64 cartridge thing.
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Post by Paulie on Feb 14, 2005 12:28:51 GMT -5
I just did a bit for Retro Gamer magazine about the 64 cartridges...
They injection molded all the carts but didn't check they fit in the newer 64C model (the white one) - Tim Welch still has nightmares about dremmeling out a couple of mils off each cartridge with Jon all through the weekend (after breaking the vaccum seal on all the boxes and unpackaging them then sending them back to the warehouse for re sealing!).
Fair play to JW though he was in there sleeves on his Hugo Boss suit rolled up drilling out the carts on shift with Tim. By the end of the week slapdash's room was a half inch deep in plastic shavings!
Slapdash actually made a good save the month earlier - in order to save 0.00000001p per cart Dave dropped a resistor (IIRC) from the PCB that slapdash had recommended - it transpired that that resistor made all the difference on the C128's - in that they wouldn't boot - luckily after much arguing it got added in the nick of time - otherwise we would have had to melt the carts open and physically solder a resistor on the board!!!
Ahhh memories. Shame, it was a nice bit of kit the whole banked cartridge stuff - Navy Seals in particular was spiffing with all those Jolly Steve bitmaps and virtual instant loads.
- P.
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