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UPDATE:

It was the Atari 2600 version after all! I've done a review of the various versions of the game on my page: http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/cpk/cpk.htm

Tempest

I run a website about unreleased Atari games called AtariProtos.com (http://www.atariprotos.com/). We've known about the existance of Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park for years now, but it was thought that programmer Ed English had the only copy. While I'm pleasantly surprised that it appears that it has finally turned up, I'm still a little skeptical that this is indeed the 2600 version and not the Colecovision version since it was found with many other Colecovision prototypes. We'll have to wait and see, but if it turns out to be the real deal, another long lost prototype will have be found!

On a side note, one of the other EPROMs he found is labeled "Sword". This may be the lost Coelcovision game The Sword and the Sorcerer that was thought to be complete but not released.

Oh and a little bit of trivia, Cabbage Patch Kids is actually a port of an MSX game called Athletic Land. It was simply hacked into CPK to fit the license.

Tempest

There's a large and fairly obsessive subculture associated with videogame prototypes. The ultimate goal for most people involved is to find prototypes 'in the wild' like this, but a lot of ultra rare video game stuff is found through dodgy deals and allegedly, bribery and outright theft.
http://www.atariprotos.com/ is a repository of Atari stuff and http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/ is a message board discussing the subject.
The big area for debate around prototyes is wheather or not they should be realeased. Regardless of the fact that this game never saw commercial release, it's still likely to be someone's intellectual property, and they may not be keen on seeing it spread around freely.
A lot of prototypes are worth serious money, this one as an Atari game will be too. A lot of collectors refuse to relase prototypes they've discovered incase it lowers the value of them.

Good old Desert Falcon.... although I think your sequence isn't Hold Sphinx & Warp.

These sites have a lot of good information on why E.T. was considered bad.

Objectively, the biggest problem with E.T. was its tedious and confusing gameplay. The graphics weren't bad by the standards of the day, but then again neither were Defender's or Pac Man's (unless you were comparing them to the arcades).

...the Atari Puffer. That was not a saleable idea either.

The game wasn't too playable WITH the comic book...

BTW here is the correct linky for the WaterWorld page: http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/waterworl d/waterworld.htm

The idea behind the SwordQuest games was unique, but the execution was terrible. Having to use a comic book to help solve puzzles was a brilliant as many gamers are also avid comic book fans (this was a bit truer in the 80's than it is now), and the comics themselves were fairly well written (typical 80's fantasy cheese, but entertaining nonetheless). Unfortunately where the SwordQuest series failed was in the games themselves. Each SwordQuest 'game' was really a series of mini games that all shared a common element theme (Earth, Fire, and Water). These mini-games were linked together by a series of rooms that shared a second 'hidden' spiritual theme (Zodiac, Kaballah, Chakara).

If you beat a mini-game you were rewarded with a choice of objects, these object were used to trigger clues that help the player discover the secret phrase which allowed you to enter the contest for the prizes. Clues were triggered by dropping certain combinations of objects in each room. You had to use the comic book to try and figure out which objects needed to be put in each room. However the comic book really only provided high level hints, most people had to figure out the correct combinations through trial and error.

Unfortunately the mini games were really hit and miss. Some were way too easy, while others were obscenely difficult. The only thing they really had in common was that none of them were any fun! Games are supposed to be enjoyable, having to wander from room to room only to be greeted by a tedious and difficult mini game isn't fun. I think the only reason the games sold at all were because of the contest, and once it was over most people never touched these carts again. The fact that the whole contest was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest from frustrated players (even after the third game's difficulty was toned down) and Atari losing oodles of money on it speaks volumes about the quality of the games...

Awhile back I wrote up some reviews of the games in the SwordQuest series (including the unreleased fourth game).

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/earthworl d/earthworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/fireworld /fireworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/waterword /waterworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/airworld/ airworld.htm

The idea behind the SwordQuest games was unique, but the execution was terrible. Having to use a comic book to help solve puzzles was a brilliant as many gamers are also avid comic book fans (this was a bit truer in the 80's than it is now), and the comics themselves were fairly well written (typical 80's fantasy cheese, but entertaining nonetheless). Unfortunately where the SwordQuest series failed was in the games themselves. Each SwordQuest 'game' was really a series of mini games that all shared a common element theme (Earth, Fire, and Water). These mini-games were linked together by a series of rooms that shared a second 'hidden' spiritual theme (Zodiac, Kaballah, Chakara).

If you beat a mini-game you were rewarded with a choice of objects, these object were used to trigger clues that help the player discover the secret phrase which allowed you to enter the contest for the prizes. Clues were triggered by dropping certain combinations of objects in each room. You had to use the comic book to try and figure out which objects needed to be put in each room. However the comic book really only provided high level hints, most people had to figure out the correct combinations through trial and error.

Unfortunately the mini games were really hit and miss. Some were way too easy, while others were obscenely difficult. The only thing they really had in common was that none of them were any fun! Games are supposed to be enjoyable, having to wander from room to room only to be greeted by a tedious and difficult mini game isn't fun. I think the only reason the games sold at all were because of the contest, and once it was over most people never touched these carts again. The fact that the whole contest was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest from frustrated players (even after the third game's difficulty was toned down) and Atari losing oodles of money on it speaks volumes about the quality of the games...

Awhile back I wrote up some reviews of the games in the SwordQuest series (including the unreleased fourth game).

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/earthworl d/earthworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/fireworld /fireworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/waterword /waterworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/airworld/ airworld.htm

The idea behind the SwordQuest games was unique, but the execution was terrible. Having to use a comic book to help solve puzzles was a brilliant as many gamers are also avid comic book fans (this was a bit truer in the 80's than it is now), and the comics themselves were fairly well written (typical 80's fantasy cheese, but entertaining nonetheless). Unfortunately where the SwordQuest series failed was in the games themselves. Each SwordQuest 'game' was really a series of mini games that all shared a common element theme (Earth, Fire, and Water). These mini-games were linked together by a series of rooms that shared a second 'hidden' spiritual theme (Zodiac, Kaballah, Chakara).

If you beat a mini-game you were rewarded with a choice of objects, these object were used to trigger clues that help the player discover the secret phrase which allowed you to enter the contest for the prizes. Clues were triggered by dropping certain combinations of objects in each room. You had to use the comic book to try and figure out which objects needed to be put in each room. However the comic book really only provided high level hints, most people had to figure out the correct combinations through trial and error.

Unfortunately the mini games were really hit and miss. Some were way too easy, while others were obscenely difficult. The only thing they really had in common was that none of them were any fun! Games are supposed to be enjoyable, having to wander from room to room only to be greeted by a tedious and difficult mini game isn't fun. I think the only reason the games sold at all were because of the contest, and once it was over most people never touched these carts again. The fact that the whole contest was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest from frustrated players (even after the third game's difficulty was toned down) and Atari losing oodles of money on it speaks volumes about the quality of the games...

Awhile back I wrote up some reviews of the games in the SwordQuest series (including the unreleased fourth game).

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/earthworl d/earthworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/fireworld /fireworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/waterword /waterworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/airworld/ airworld.htm

The idea behind the SwordQuest games was unique, but the execution was terrible. Having to use a comic book to help solve puzzles was a brilliant as many gamers are also avid comic book fans (this was a bit truer in the 80's than it is now), and the comics themselves were fairly well written (typical 80's fantasy cheese, but entertaining nonetheless). Unfortunately where the SwordQuest series failed was in the games themselves. Each SwordQuest 'game' was really a series of mini games that all shared a common element theme (Earth, Fire, and Water). These mini-games were linked together by a series of rooms that shared a second 'hidden' spiritual theme (Zodiac, Kaballah, Chakara).

If you beat a mini-game you were rewarded with a choice of objects, these object were used to trigger clues that help the player discover the secret phrase which allowed you to enter the contest for the prizes. Clues were triggered by dropping certain combinations of objects in each room. You had to use the comic book to try and figure out which objects needed to be put in each room. However the comic book really only provided high level hints, most people had to figure out the correct combinations through trial and error.

Unfortunately the mini games were really hit and miss. Some were way too easy, while others were obscenely difficult. The only thing they really had in common was that none of them were any fun! Games are supposed to be enjoyable, having to wander from room to room only to be greeted by a tedious and difficult mini game isn't fun. I think the only reason the games sold at all were because of the contest, and once it was over most people never touched these carts again. The fact that the whole contest was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest from frustrated players (even after the third game's difficulty was toned down) and Atari losing oodles of money on it speaks volumes about the quality of the games...

Awhile back I wrote up some reviews of the games in the SwordQuest series (including the unreleased fourth game).

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/earthworl d/earthworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/fireworld /fireworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/waterword /waterworld.htm
http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/airworld/ airworld.htm

I know of one 2600 game that was effectively impossible to play on a 7800: Space Shuttle. The problem was a hardware one, though, not software. Space Shuttle was so horrendously complex that they needed to remap both of the difficulty switches, the select switch, and the color/b&w switch to perform in-game functions. The problem is that the 7800 replaced the color/b&w toggle with the pause button. The pause button sent the exact same signal as the color/b&w button (Try it! Put something older like Combat or Space Invaders into a 7800 and press Pause; the game switches to black-and-white); the way it worked, though, was to continuously send a "color" signal except when the button was depressed; it then switched to "black-and-white" until the button was released, at which point it reverted to "color" again.

In order to play Space Shuttle on a 7800, then, there would be points in the game when you'd be required to hold down the pause button for minutes at a time. Unless you had a patient assistant to do this for you, though, you were doomed to lose; there were just too many other controls you had to manipulate to keep a finger thus occupied.

Yup. Mainly the coin-op, and also an Atari 2600 game.

In other words . . .

"Greetings Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada."

From The Last Starfighter.

The arcade version of the game, unfortunately, never existed, but there were alternatives.

It's not about what's good/convenient for you, it's about what's convenient for them (i.e. makes them the most money)

Yeah, but the problem is, people aren't stupid. Or, alternatively, people are stupid and hence difficult to reason with. DRM crap may work beautifully in computer world, but even if DRM crap has very long and glorious history in console world as well, the manufacturers have been smart enough not to annoy the hell out of the consumers with trivial garbage that should "just work".

There have been pay-for-play console services. For some reasons, they haven't caught on. And these days, people don't want consumer electronics that vitally depend on the manufacturer. And Microsoft is smart enough not to repeat anyone else's mistakes.

Sure, Microsoft might think that fascist DRM is the way of the future, but they're smart enough to think first. In console world, the DRM has to be silent and invisible, and not annoy the users. A network dependancy for its own sake would kill the console and they know it.

Reminds me a little of the movie "The Last Starfighter".

Funny that you mention The Last Starfighter, as it was an unreleased game for the Atari 800.

Lets take that moon into earth orbit, it could be fun.

Yes, we could play Moon Patrol on it!!