(mildly O/T) hooking up a game to TV/VCR

We would assume you are selecting the front or rear a/v inputs on the vcr for the vcr to select those inputs and not the vcr tuner???

There are two rear sets of inputs and one front set of inputs. I've tried all three, and I've used the appropriate menus to select which input was being used.

And I'm selecting channel 3 for playback, and the video option of tv/video. My hunch is that I'm just overlooking a simple setting when going through the VCR. I just don't know what it is.

If the vcr is connected to the A/V inputs on the tv set, why are you chosing channel 3 for playback?

If you are using the vcr as a modulator for the game, are you selecting the tv/vcr to switch the rf output of the vcr to its source rather than the cable or antenna input?

Sorry, I am completely confused now.

The game is connected to the rear A/V connectors of the VCR.

The VCR is set to channel "AU"

The TV is set to channel 3.

There is a mode selection and the mode is "game"

The TV/video is set to video.

And the game doesn't play.

But it DOES play if I just connect the game directly to the TV set. Could you either "dumb down" what you say above, because I don't understand it, or parse what I've said here and point out something I'm doing wrong?

Where is the vcr connected to the tv set? If it is the A/V inputs on the tv set, then the tv should not be on channel 3 but on whatever AUX A/V input the vcr is connected.

Which AU input on the VCR is actually the rear a/v inputs? Make sure you do not have the game connected to the A/V outputs on the rear of the vcr by mistake.

Okay, with a couple calls to Hasbro, I figured it out.

For some reason, the game only will play on the television AFTER I:

1. Start playing a videotape.
2. Stop the tape.

1. Hit the TV/Video button on the remote once or twice.

So it works. Yippee!

But the Hasbro folks said that it would be my job to figure out why I have to do all this to make it work, whether by reading the JVC manual (it's a 1996 VCR and there's nothing in there about connecting a game via the VCR) or by calling JVC directly.

Any ideas here? At least now I can make the game work, but I'd love to know if there's a way to not have to do the tape > play > off sequence first.

Well that should be obvious, the game is clearly putting out a signal, the problem is with the VCR or the way it's configured.

Perhaps the VCR is broken?

Sounds to me that you hooking your vcr up to the tv through the antenna coax. (the cable you have to screw on) If you are that is your problem. You need to use the audio / video output on the back of the vcr and hook it to the input on the tv. Then after you confirm that the vcr works like this you need to hook the game up to the vcr and set it to to L1 or L2 or line in 1 or 2 something to that effect.

- Mike