Tom??? Where the **** is Tom?? Now I feel like I didn't win this legitimately Oh well, I'll take it

It definitely is a classic. Had some fun along with the frustration.

Surprised as well. Guess he's busy.

Yeah, I get what you mean, it seems like winning a contest without Tom is not the same. Now that we have Tom, we just can't go back to a no-Tom contest

But your score still rocks so don't let this undermine your well deserved victory

Thanks, Guil! I appreciate that

JOUST RESULTS

1st: 277,750 – ookii_risu +11 points
2nd: 247,250 – Vectrex280996 +10 points
3rd: 167,750 – guillavoie +9 points
4th: 164,500 – bearcat-doug +8 points
5th: 139,500 – treismac +7 points
6th: 106,000 – EgasKrad +6 points
7th: 87,750 – gutsman004 +5 points
8th: 75,750 – WickedWonka +4 points
9th: 73,500 – Caleb47 +3 points
10th: 57,000 – Krunch +2 points

PARTICIPATION

43,000 – Darkjudge1 +1 point
41,750 – UPN +1 point
35,500 – GibbyVA +1 point
31,250 – RetroDave +1 point
16,750 – Crabmaster2000 +1 point
15,750 – dropkickorange +1 point
13,250 – hitmantommy +1 point
2,500 – dev(2) +1 point

Sorry dev, but I couldn't count the 78,000 score since it wasn't played on the NES version of Joust. However, I accepted the later scored you posted.

Maybe he lost track of time because he has been playing since Monday morning and still hasn't lost all of his lives yet.

Nice, I slip in with the phony last-minute 10th place. Even though I only put about an hour in that was fun.

Yeah, I wan't even expecting to make the top 10 with a score below 100k.

Sorry I missed out on this one.  Had a busy work week and then was entertaining company all weekend.  Not a fan of Joust anyway, so it was a good week to miss for me.

Nice going with the scores everyone!

I know this might make more than a few of you want to tar and feather me, but here goes:  I wish this week's contest was with Ice Climber's black box cousin, Balloon Fight.  I feel that it is significantly easier than Joust, so last week would have served as a grueling training session that would have been paying off big as we bust through Nintendo's spin on single screen aerial fighting.  Above all, give me lightning over that damn pteradactyl.

^Don't worry, I'm sure we will play it soon. I also have been wanting to try that one out but any black box contest is a good one.

Ah, it's alright, Krunch. I definitely enjoy Ice Climber even with the endearingly strange jump mechanics being what they are.  Although I grew up with Joust on the 2600, the moment I tasted Balloon Fight I was converted.  Sure. I enjoy Joust still [a good bit, actually], but Balloon Fight just controls considerably smoother and it feels so much more fair with its wonderfully pteradactyl-free skies.