Unreleased Atari 2600 Game Found At Flea Market

VonGuard writes "I was at the flea market in Oakland yesterday when a pile of EPROMs caught my eye. When I got them home I found that they were prototypes for Colecovision games. A few were unpublished or saw limited runs, like Video Hustler (billiards). Others were fully released, like WarGames. But the crown jewel is what look to be a number of chips with various revisions of Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in the Park for Atari 2600. This game was never released and has never been seen. It was a port of the version for Colecovision, and this lot of chips also included the Coleco version. So now I have to find someone who can dump EPROMs gently onto a PC so we can play this never-before seen game, which is almost certainly awful."

Comments

Where do you live ?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you told us where you live, it might be easier to find someone near you who could help...

Re:Where do you live ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Somewhere near Oakland?

Re:Where do you live ?

[CRC'99]

What else would have helped is the type of EEPROM, the manufacturer, and part number... Something like 27C512 in a 40 pin DIN or similar... Different types of EEPROMs require different equipment...

Re:Where do you live ?

[jimmypw]

Firstly, Its unlikely to be an EEPROM

Re:Where do you live ?

[Hal_Porter]

Some of these chips are clearly EPROMS, you can see the quartz window peeking out from under a label

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonguard/2429248669/

Remember this is an unreleased game. It's likely that they would use UV EPROMS right up until the final release when they'd commit to a binary to be produced as mask roms. That way they could use the time honoured method of burning a batch of EPROMS, testing them, erasing them under UV and burning a new batch.

Actually back when these things were still used I never worked on a project that was high volume enough to justify a mask prom. The break even point was about ten thousand chips IIRC. I worked on a system where the production run was only a few hundred per firmware revison so we always used EPROM. Then again you could get chips that were physically EPROM but had a plastic package and no window. They could be programmed in the field, but only once.

Here's a picture of the chip

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonguard/2429242881/in/set-72157604647023310/

It's a Intel D2763-4. Apparantly it's 8K*8, available in either windowed or OTP versions. It's not really clear how it differs from the very popular 2764.

http://www.cpushack.net/chippics/EPROM/2763/

Re:Where do you live ?

[ajs318]

They were more likely to be using OTP chips for production. These are electrically identical to UV EPROM but are encapsulated in a standard plastic envelope with no glass window, so you can't sun-tan them. You can, however, file off most of the plastic and remove the rest with solvents; or you can wipe them with a suitable gamma or X-ray source. This admittedly is beyond the capabilities of most Fred-in-the-Shed types, but it's genuinely amazing what some Freds keep in their sheds.

Re:Where do you live ?

[michrech]

Looking at google maps, he's probably in California.

Google Maps Linky

Further down the threads, he links to his Flikr photos of these roms.

Second Linky

Re:Where do you live ?

[IdeaMan]

I did a mask rom project once. That was scary business.
It was a voice activated clock, and after it was released they found a bug in it that made it off at the end of every day. However, there was a non-mask rom chip in the game, and we happened to have a communications protocol from it to my LCD that allowed reads and writes to anywhere in ram. My co-worker that was writing the voice chip (mine was the LCD microcontroller) wrote up a little patch that checked for the bug and patched it up when it occurred.
Felt so relieved that they wouldn't be throwing out 50,000 chips because I goofed.

Re:Where do you live ?

[WNight]

That's a pretty good fix, in it's way. Did the trick which is all that matters.

You should post that on the DailyWTF, which is I'm sure what some hacker ever thought if they disassembled (in more ways than one) their talking clock and found the voice code mucking with memory in some other subsystem to mutate code at runtime. They'd have wondered if it was some sort of anti-disassembler trick or something.

I'm sure many more stories like yours lie at the bottom of the tech all around us. Sort of scary in a way, because talking clocks are the least of our problems.

Origins

[bazald]

That is really cool, but this isn't the first story like this I've heard. My question is, how do these unreleased products make their way out into the world? Wouldn't any cartridges used by a major company have been wiped before being sold or trashed? Regardless, I shall continue to look forward to the next such find. Kudos.

Re:Origins

[PhantomHarlock]

Sometimes people are very careless about their trash. Notice the WTC plans that showed up in the dumpster trawled by the homeless guy the other day.

Dumpster diving has become both an art, a business and industrial espionage.

Also, it's quite likely that a programmer just took them home after an office cleaning or cancelled project or mass-layoff.

Re:Origins

[MichaelSmith]

That is really cool, but this isn't the first story like this I've heard. My question is, how do these unreleased products make their way out into the world?

A lot of people (like me) just don't like to see good gear thrown out. They are called pack rats.

Re:Origins

[TapeCutter]

"My question is, how do these unreleased products make their way out into the world? Wouldn't any cartridges used by a major company have been wiped before being sold or trashed?"

The company has to pay people to either wipe the data or securely destroy the device. Sure large corporations take these things a bit more seriously nowadays but minor companies don't become major companies by writing cheques.

Re:Origins

[porcupine8]

Atari was not doing so well - they probably didn't care much what happened to these once it was clear that they wouldn't make it to release. What, was some other company going to swoop in and steal all their crappy games and release them for a dying system?

I doubt this was the case here, but before it's clear that something's going to be a hit often companies are not careful at all about where things go. When Barbie first came out, Mattel let employees (like factory worker level employees) take home broken molds, prototype heads, things like that - all one-of-a-kind collectibles worth a fortune now.

nice

[PhantomHarlock]

Good find. My first job in HS was at Atari playtesting video games for the Tengen system. (I knew someone who worked there as a 'game councelor' on their help line, a fellow Amiga fanatic, ironically)

It's not surprising that the roms turned up there - it's close to Milpitas. Usually I say there's nothing more to be had at flea markets - all the vendors these days are selling various combinations of the same grey market goods from Asia...but every now and then I guess there's still a gem.

Re:nice

[StikyPad]

Game Counselor.. like a Horse Whisperer for software? I knew a few Amiga games that definitely could have used some counseling.

Launch Party

[glittalogik]

The unveiling and first attempt at this game requires:

- A projector.
- A camera to record footage for posterity.
- A celebrity guest, Either CmdrTaco, CowboyNeal, or one of the Diggnation guys.
- Huuuuuge quantities of alcohol.

This has the potential to be one of the most successful parties in /. history. There could easily be as many as 5, even 6 guests! Rock on!

Re:Launch Party

[PhantomHarlock]

Sounds like a Strongbad Email waiting to happen.

Re:Launch Party

[BillTheKatt]

It's not a real party without pr0n. Can we count on Taco to bring some?

Re:Launch Party

[Anonymous Coward]

s/bring/be/?

Re:Launch Party

[glittalogik]

Sun = warm. Ocean = damp. Taco = brings pr0n.

Re:Launch Party

[neomunk]

I've seen greasy tacos before, but a greased up Taco? *shudders*

Re:Launch Party

[skroops]

Perhaps more than that even

Re:Launch Party

[Mechanik]

DELETED!

Re:Launch Party

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Geraldo Rivera has experience with this sort of thing.

Re:Launch Party

[Bourbonium]

Send me an invite! I'm in the area, and drove by that flea market on my way to work today. I had an old Atari 2600 when I lived in San Francisco, but didn't consider it my first computer. That was my Atari 1040 ST system on which I learned all about this stuff. I miss it so much, but OS/2 was a great leap forward in my opinion.

I'll bring the projector and some homebrewed beer (another byproduct hobby shared by other hackers in the area).

What happens to today's games?

[wandazulu]

The great thing about the age of carts is just what the article touches on...here's a game that never made it to the store shelves but clearly a copy or two was made on actual hardware that somehow made it to this flea market.

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project?

Maybe someday someone will find a hd in a flea market labeled "Shenmue 3 SVN Repo", but it doesn't seem likely, sadly.

So while we revel in the curios of the past, we ourselves have none to give to future generations.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[FiestaFan]

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project?

Maybe someday someone will find a hd in a flea market labeled "Shenmue 3 SVN Repo", but it doesn't seem likely, sadly.

So while we revel in the curios of the past, we ourselves have none to give to future generations.
I'm sure a lot of these programmers aren't going to just erase something they may have spent months or years on.

Sometimes they even risk their jobs and lawsuits to see the game get played: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrill_Kill

You never know what might turn up on a DVD-R at a tag sale someday. Maybe the first 3 versions of Duke Nukem Forever. Heres hoping...

Re:What happens to today's games?

[earthlandrealms]

The great thing about the age of carts is just what the article touches on...here's a game that never made it to the store shelves but clearly a copy or two was made on actual hardware that somehow made it to this flea market.

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project?

Maybe someday someone will find a hd in a flea market labeled "Shenmue 3 SVN Repo", but it doesn't seem likely, sadly.

So while we revel in the curios of the past, we ourselves have none to give to future generations.
It's a lot easier to leak some files on the internet today, then it was to leak a cart back then, and a lot harder to stop.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

So while we revel in the curios of the past, we ourselves have none to give to future generations. I'd say we're more likely to get stuff like this in the future, rather than less likely.. old backup tapes.. possibly stuff the developers took home to show their friends/family (well, maybe that's strictly forbidden or something, it certainly would be with DNF :P ). But I doubt developers just wipe old projects as soon as they start a new one. They probably keep backups of all their code on a network fileserver, that's what any sane person/company would do.

Thanks to the internets, it's easy to find stuff like this online too - I wrote a game when I was 12/13 and sent it into Amiga Format. A couple of years ago in a fit of nostalgia I tried searching for it online, found a website mentioning the name, got in contact with the author, and he sent me a copy (I dont have an Amiga any more and if I still have the floppies for the game they're at least 10 years old and probably corrupt, although the version that I sent into Amiga Format wasn't my final version, so there are little touches that are missing :( ). I can now play my game on an emulator. Kinda cool.

Usually if a project is canceled, it's because it was no fun to play anyway, so don't feel like you're missing out or anything! Some companies just release their boring games anyway.. others, like Valve or 3D Realms, only release games that they know are worthy.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Peet42]

Maybe someday someone will find a hd in a flea market labeled "Shenmue 3 SVN Repo", but it doesn't seem likely, sadly.

Like this, you mean...?

http://waxy.org/2008/04/milliways_infocoms_unreleased_sequel_to_hitchhikers_guide_to_the_galax/

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Thrashing Rage]

Maybe an unfinished Duke Nukem Forever will turn up?

Someday....someday!

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Fred_A]

The great thing about the age of carts is just what the article touches on...here's a game that never made it to the store shelves but clearly a copy or two was made on actual hardware that somehow made it to this flea market.

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project? Imagine if that code could reused. The release date of Duke Nukem Forever could be advanced by weeks !

Re:What happens to today's games?

[iisan7]

Just this happened with Fallout 3 (Van Buren) years after the project was terminated...
(and we shouldn't miss an opportunity to mention that fact again and again!)

http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=35862

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Stormwatch]

Usually if a project is canceled, it's because it was no fun to play anyway, so don't feel like you're missing out or anything!

But sometimes, a canceled game could happen to be among a system's finest titles.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

You did NOT just equate 3D Realms with Valve. You didn't...omg you did.

One releases real software, the other releases yearly vapor-farts.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[AnotherUsername]

Maybe someday someone will find a hd in a flea market labeled "Shenmue 3 SVN Repo", but it doesn't seem likely, sadly. It'll probably be on the same table as the "Duke Nukem Forever version 23.0.0.1.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

Both have a dedication to quality though. Well, not that I've played that many of their games, but most of them were ahead of their time in terms of what they could do (viewable cameras and remotely detonated pipebombs on Duke Nuken 3D - put them both together and you could have a lot of multiplayer fun :) ), or at least in attention to detail. I don't think 3D Realms are in the business of creating vapourware, but I do think they need to stop striving for 'perfection' quite so much.. if they keep trying to incorporate the latest and greatest tech into their games then they're never going to get DNF out the door! And the trouble is that games like HL and HL2 usually took the expectations for storytelling, gameplay and physics in FPS games to a new level, so the longer they wait, the more their original ideas for DNF are likely to be out of date..

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to be a c64 artist, and lost the original floppies of my C64 artwork many years ago.

Thanks to the internet I've managed to get back nearly every piece of artwork I've produced, except for a couple of very early bits that weren't widely distributed. I even got sent a picture that someone found on a disk somewhere which I couldn't even remember drawing in the first place, but which turned out to be an actual piece of my artwork.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

True, though those were rather extreme circumstances. I hate political correctness. Even if I had a family member that died in 9/11, I wouldn't be looking to blame video games and movies (didn't one of the Spiderman movies have to be redone because one of the scenes involved the twin towers?), or accuse them of bad taste by releasing a game that was accurate in the time it was made. Admittedly a game where you can crash planes into towers could upset some people by digging up bad memories, but you can do that in pretty much any flight simulator.. it's not the game publisher's fault. If someone dropped some giant tetris blocks off of the top of a skyscraper (laced with explosives which would automatically go off when a line was completed, of course) and crushed/asploded lots of people, should we stop playing tetris? Or if someone dropped a giant pizza off the top of a tower and flattened a bunch of people, should we stop eating pizza? It's the highly dedicated person that setup these intricate acts of terror that is to blame, not computer games or food..

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

Sounds like you have a little in common with this guy, he's a C64 artist ;)

Re:What happens to today's games?

[brumby]

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project?

In my experience, everything gets backed up, just in case. The backups get stored. We reuse bits of code in our next project. The artwork just gets deleted to make space. Eventually, no one left remembers what was on those backup tapes/DVDs/discs, and they get tossed to make room for more backups.

I can think of two games where as far as I can tell, there is no trace we ever spent half a year on them, apart from us occasionally saying, "That would have been so cool if we'd finished it."

Re:What happens to today's games?

[korbin_dallas]

The developers take it home.

I worked for a small company back in the mid90s(biz sw not games). When we folded, I took all my code home with me.
My co-developers did the same.
I viewed it as my library of work, and for a while it was my reference material since it was full of generalized code for basic business apps. Now of course its quite antique.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[hansamurai]

The original Spiderman movie was set to release right around 9/11 but was delayed because you could see them in the background. Maybe they were even featured, wouldn't it have made sense to have Spidey capture something large in a giant web between the towers?

I also worked at Staples the night of 9/11 and we got a whole list of games to take off the shelves from corporate. Flight Simulator topped it off, don't remember any others, but it's not like anyone came in that night asking for them either. I'm pretty sure they were back on the shelf by the end of the week, if not sooner.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Joe The Dragon]

parts of the code and art gets reused in other games.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Machtyn]

Didn't we just have an article about lost Infocom games and e-mails obtained from an old HDD?

Re:What happens to today's games?

[brouski]

Maybe they were even featured, wouldn't it have made sense to have Spidey capture something large in a giant web between the towers?

One of the original trailers did exactly that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjtXUULtH4E

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone dropped some giant tetris blocks off of the top of a skyscraper (laced with explosives which would automatically go off when a line was completed, of course) and crushed/asploded lots of people. subscribe

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Thyamine]

Absolutely... I don't keep as much myself, but I certainly try. And I had one friend from college that kept everything he had ever worked on. (And this was 10 years ago now). Most developers are going to make sure they have backup copies at least, let alone things just hanging out on their systems.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Hatta]

They get leaked. Case in point, Half-Life for the Dreamcast. I'm sure there are other examples.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

I work in Tesco and we had to do the same thing with Apple Crumble.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone dropped some giant tetris blocks off of the top of a skyscraper (laced with explosives which would automatically go off when a line was completed, of course) and crushed/asploded lots of people, should we stop playing tetris?

Obligatory

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> Even if I had a family member that died in 9/11

Stop! This thread is about the lighthearted and pure nerdling joy of finding an unreleased Atari 2600 game at a flea market. If you're talking about family members dying during 9/11, then the thread's gone horribly wrong!

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

Get back into the picture box, Impy! Nobody is asking your opinion! ;)

Re:What happens to today's games?

[smooth wombat]

I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen."

Road to Moscow comes to mind. After playing the V for Victory series (and still have the original discs), this 'upgrade' to the deployment and combat system was something to look forward to. However, like DNF, the publisher and designer kept putting out, "Coming soon", "Delayed Release" and other related comments. Finally, the fateful announcement came.

The code still exists, as far as I know, but isn't being used.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

:O awesome.. me wanty!

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks to the internets

There is more than one internet? Cool! Are they spam free or just a series of tubes?

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

They are a supernet of a series of tubes.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[noidentity]

You never know what might turn up on a DVD-R at a tag sale someday. Maybe the first 3 versions of Duke Nukem Forever. Heres hoping...

Including the time machine used to bring these back from tens or hundreds of years in the future?

Re:What happens to today's games?

[kisrael]

Thinking about this, the way you take out small skyscrapers and other buildings in Earth Defense Force 2017 would probably trigger WTC flashbacks in someone susceptible to that. (A single rocket blast does the trick, and it looks a lot like the old CNN footage...)

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

Hahahaha.. guess what I found on the Idle channel?

http://idle.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/21/1551237

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Stormie]

Usually if a project is canceled, it's because it was no fun to play anyway, so don't feel like you're missing out or anything!

Indeed. I was working on a game based on quite a high-profile license, which had quite an internet fan community waiting for the release. It got cancelled, and I'm sure a lot of people would have dearly loved to see the work-in-progress leaked. But frankly, it was cancelled because it didn't work, there were bugs and performance problems that were just too great for the publisher to have any confidence in continuing. Some great artwork, but no, you would not have had a fun experience if you'd gotten hold of the game and tried to play it.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[Doggabone]

But what happens to games today when they're cancelled? I read about games being put on "indefinite hiatus", or just being cancelled with the company essentially throwing their hands up in the air and saying "ain't gonna happen." What becomes of all that code? Since it just sits on the developer's machines, does it just get wiped when they start on a new project?

"The Escapist" is running a few articles on that theme:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_146/4814-Cyberpunked-the-Fall-of-Black9
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_146/4817-Inside-David-Jaffe-s-Heartland

Also, somebody got their hands on an old Infocom drive: http://waxy.org/2008/04/milliways_infocoms_unreleased_sequel_to_hitchhikers_guide_to_the_galax
(The follow-up comments also tell a helluva tale.)

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

Scott Miller, is that you? ;)

Re:What happens to today's games?

[werewolf1031]

I hate you, and my newly-dead brain cells hate you.

Re:What happens to today's games?

[somersault]

If they hate me, then they must have some un-dead life.. and if they are undead braiiiins, are they going to go cannibalistic and eat themselves?

Re:What happens to today's games?

[MidVicious]

Or if someone dropped a giant pizza off the top of a tower and flattened a bunch of people, should we stop eating pizza?..

I think you meant, "should we stop playing BurgerTime?"

Re:What happens to today's games?

[iwein]

Don't forget backup tapes. There will be more than enough for posterity, don't worry.

TMN!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Too Much Nerdiness!!!

Great score! Once you've dumped them please post a 2600 emu so folks can try it out!

This could spark a revival that rivals Ms Pacman...

Re:TMN!!!

[Rhapsody Scarlet]

Too Much Nerdiness!!!

Too much what? You do realize you're on Slashdot, right?

Re:TMN!!!

[khellendros1984]

I'm thinking he'd just need to post a link to the ROM. It's cake to find a 2600 emulator.

Re:TMN!!!

[Nimey]

It sounds like he doesn't have the equipment to dump ROM images, so an emulator wouldn't be helpful.

Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[dunezone]

I love stories like this. I used to go to Goodwill stores and browse their selection of old computers they would take in(they don't sell old computers anymore I think). I came across an old Macintosh and it wasn't that it was a Macintosh that caught my eye. It was a "black" model Macintosh, I had never seen a black Macintosh before. I paid $10 for this thing, brought it home, worked perfectly fine. I later find out this is a Macintosh TV, a computer that only saw a life span of around 6-12 months, featured one of the first TV tuner cards, it was the first Apple product to come in black and only 10,000 were ever produced.

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[lightversusdark]

It's a TAM - the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh
The integrated sound system was designed by Bose (after an initial design by Bang & Olufsen was deemed not good enough), and it marks the first time Apple externalised the PSU of a desktop machine - it is contained within the floor-standing subwooofer. The design is a clear forerunner of the modern iMac all in one, but is thinner than any production iMac. Noteworthy was that your purchase was delivered in a limousine, and set up for you by a concierge.

I have two, but one is missing its "fatback", meaning I can't upgrade it - not even to add ethernet :o(
If anyone could help me source the part, I'd love to hear from you before I gut it to retro fit the innards of an Intel MacMini.

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[Anonymous Coward]

No, as he described, it's the Macintosh TV. Download mactracker for the full story.

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it was not:
http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=tv

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[tonywong]

um, I highly doubt that it's a TAM. TAMs are not black, Macintosh TVs are black though.

http://lowendmac.com/500/macintosh-tv.html

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a TAM - the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh
The integrated sound system was designed by Bose (after an initial design by Bang & Olufsen was deemed not good enough), and it marks the first time Apple externalised the PSU of a desktop machine - it is contained within the floor-standing subwooofer. The design is a clear forerunner of the modern iMac all in one, but is thinner than any production iMac. Noteworthy was that your purchase was delivered in a limousine, and set up for you by a concierge.

I have two, but one is missing its "fatback", meaning I can't upgrade it - not even to add ethernet :o(
If anyone could help me source the part, I'd love to hear from you before I gut it to retro fit the innards of an Intel MacMini. No, it's a Performa 5400, not quite (or really, even vaguely) as impressive. I know, because I've got two of *those*, and being CRTs they're certainly not thinner than current iMacs..

I'm going to assume no seperate PSU as well, considering the number of times it's tried to kill me.

You do not pay $10 for a 20th anniversary Mac, no matter if it's second hand or not ;)

Re:Flea Markets, Goodwill, Bargain Bins

[lightversusdark]

I stand corrected.

Games Better Left Buried...

[kd4zqe]

I have to chuckle. A Cabbage Patch Kids game? There was probably a reason those ROMs never made it to mass production. I remember E.T. for Atari. If THAT game made it to press run, how bad does the CPK game have to be?!?

Now a Garbage Pail Kids game... THAT I'd play. Even now.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[dosun88888]

Cabbage Patch Kids was actually one of the best games for the Colecovision. If you google reviews the only one you'll probably find is a bad one, but I assure you that the reviewer in question never actually played the games. If he had, Donkey Kong would have been given far less than an A.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[Alarindris]

Ha! I remember ET! It was absolutely terrible! I couldn't figure it out for the life of me either.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[Dekortage]

Honestly, I always thought Cabbage Patch Kids was one of the best games for Colecovision. Seriously. It had more diversity than most games, and was difficult in the right ways: you needed dexterity and timing to get the vine-swinging and jumping just right, and not be knocked out. Think "Metroid for Kids" or something.

Dang, now I have to dig out my Colecovision and revv up my carpal tunnel again.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[DrXym]

Who says games have got to be good to be released. Look at the Wii's lineup and it's virtually 80-90% shovelware - either PS2 ports, TV / cartoon franchises, or budget trash comparable to "White Van Racer" (an infamously crap PS2 game).

Studios know they can push out shit like this because people keep buying it. The problem is compounded on the Wii because the console supposedly appeals to non-gamers who have even less of a clue about quality titles than is usual for some consoles.

I expect that if a Cabbage Patch Kids game had released which consisted of moving a dot from one side of the screen to the other, it would still have sold in measurable quantities. Maybe it just never appeared because the studio ran out of money or the Cabbage Patch Kids fad faded before they could cash in.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[Anonymous Coward]

Big Rigs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB1zWEhgrLs

enough said.

Re:Games Better Left Buried...

[gauauu]

ET really wasn't that horrible of a game. I had plenty of Atari 2600 games as a kid, and I had plenty that were less fun than ET. Sure, it was a mediocre game, but all the modern whining about it is mostly a result of the game magazine industry swapping stories about how bad it was (mostly because of the overproduction and landfill fiasco).

The game itself, once you figured out what was going on, was mediocre but ok. The pit thing was tiresome (especially until you learned not to exit them on the top side), but the overall gameplay, with managing your energy, calling Elliot to scare off the FBI guy, locating all the pieces and significant places before making a mad dash to grab them, wasn't too bad.

Never been seen?

[Anonymous Coward]

The game has been seen before, but not by the general public. The developers, their bosses, and most likely the previous owner have all laid eyes on this glorious piece of history.

+1 semantic nazi

Re:Never been seen?

[fbjon]

The game has been seen before, but not by the general public. The developers, their bosses, and most likely the previous owner have all laid eyes on this glorious piece of history.

No no, you don't get it. These ancient jewels of computing actually developed themselves! Powerful artifacs of magic they are. Bind them with an emulator only with the utmost care.

Re:Never been seen?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Look, the nerd's trying to do comedy. Cut him some slack!

My secret plan, now I know this...

[thrill12]

1. Get access to some eproms, preferably the old, worn-out kind.
2. Put a cryptic label on them, something like "P0N 13S OMG", or "SR0 CKS TH1", plus some brandname like "Coleco" or "Atari"
3. Go to the nearest auction site
4. ...
5. Profit !

Re:My secret plan, now I know this...

[cougarnation]

4. Sell the carts?

Seems like we're jumping the gun here...

[Guido del Confuso]

How do we actually know that's what's on the EPROMs? They could be mislabeled, or the data on the chips could be unreadable. EPROMs do have a tendency to degrade over time, especially if they're not well taken care of.

Besides, even if they do contain some version of the game, and even if it's readable, there's no guarantee that it's actually a playable game. It could be an unplayable version, or even a test or demo of some sort.

Sorry to rain on the parade. If this turns out to be the real McCoy, I'll be as excited as anyone. But I'd put up even money that this ends up being a disappointment. I hope I'm wrong, though.

Re:Seems like we're jumping the gun here...

[Anonymous Coward]

you would be excited to see a 25 year old cabbage patch kids game? Thats the weirdest thing I think I have ever heard on teh internets... even weirder then the recent guy complaining to a national news outlet that battlestar gallactica doesnt look as good as it should in hd.

Re:Seems like we're jumping the gun here...

[clickclickdrone]

>Thats the weirdest thing I think I have ever heard on teh internets
Internets? You have more than one at your disposal?

Re:Seems like we're jumping the gun here...

[Alioth]

EPROMs are more robust than you may think - I have some 25+ year old ones with their original program in my BBC Micro, which work just fine. They are typically in cerdip packages which are much more durable than plastic (the plastic used for chips can sometimes absorb moisture). I've had more problems with ancient RAM chips than EPROMs.

So long as the window was covered and they've not been zapped by static, there's a good chance that they will read perfectly.

Re:Seems like we're jumping the gun here...

[Anonymous Coward]

But I'd put up even money... Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a sponsor.

It's not unusual

[clickclickdrone]

For 2600 betas or indeed any other system's betas/unreleased ROMs to turn up. Check out www.atariProtos.com for news/reviews of many.

MAME Dumping Project

[Thorwak]

"The Guru" at the MAME dumping project would probably be very interested in your find! Dumping those kinds of ROMS would be trivial to him.

http://www.mameworld.net/gurudumps/DumpingProject/

Re:MAME Dumping Project

[OSS2021]

Don't forget Atariage ;) can be found at www.atariage.com

Somebody is getting their comeuppance

[bluemetal]

Somebody was paid to spend time and work hard on that game, no matter how horrible it is. This is your time lonesome programmer... your moment of fame has finally arrived after so many long years of obscurity. Will the effort of years past pay off now, or will you simply fade away from whence you cam to that cold, bleak corner of gaming history.

Re:Somebody is getting their comeuppance

[Anonymous Coward]

That somebody is Ed English, who also wrote the Atari 2600 versions of Frogger, Mr. Do, Roc'n Rope, Front Line, and Looping. He's now the CEO of Intermute, an Internet security company that's owned by Trend Micro.

http://www.intermute.com/company/management.html

Re:Somebody is getting their comeuppance

[Anonymous Coward]

Somebody was paid to spend time and work hard on that game, no matter how horrible it is. This is your time lonesome programmer... your moment of fame has finally arrived after so many long years of obscurity. Will the effort of years past pay off now, or will you simply fade away from whence you cam to that cold, bleak corner of gaming history.

Bud Light presents... Real Men of Genius.

*real men of genius*

Today we salute you, Mr Obscure Archaic Console Programmer...

One word for ya AtariAge ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

these guys are Helpful and I know more than a few in your area that could come to your house and dump them for free.

Rob Fulop of Imagic inc comes to mind as he is still actively working with the community and can help tremendously as he and many others worked at Atari in it's golden days.

the link is: www.Atariage.com
join the fourms and ask away I know someone will help you out and talk to moderator Tempest he is the resident expert on Prototypes he has extensive collection and knows how to tell a fake from the real deal.

hope this helps.

"Ancient" games

[ulash]

I am a big fan of 8bit era games even though the closest I got to them was on the PC since I haven't had a game console until the Sega Dreamcast. I have tried to satisfy my curiosity through emulators on the PC and my modified XBox but it is a completely different feeling to play the games in their original 8 bit glory. Now that I moved to Japan, these games are much easier to find and are dirt cheap. There are stores in Akiba selling games for less than a few dollars each as well as emulators of Famicom (hardware) so you can pick up a used game and play it at home.

awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

i look forward to downloading this rom and then never playing it.

Reading EPROMs

[Gordonjcp]

You can get a Willem programmer from eBay for about 15 quid. You'll need a USB port for power and a parallel port for data (remember parallel ports?), and the software is Windows-only but runs Very Nicely Indeed under Wine.

Bear in mind that some EPROMs may have somewhat non-standard pinouts, and will need an adaptor. You can probably figure out how to make one from two IC sockets.

Dude. You're in the SF Bay area.

[marxmarv]

You probably can't swing a cat without finding someone who has a proper EPROM reader/programmer or can cobble together a little circuit to read out each location in the PROM. It could be terribly simple; two chips, a socket for your EPROM, a parallel printer cable and a bit of bit-banging code.

But to echo what Guido said, EPROMs typically aren't rated for "eternal" data retention and depending on storage conditions there could be anything from bit errors to blank chips. If both copies of the Park roms were the same you've at least got something to work with.

Putting your post in context

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry to rain on the parade. If this turns out to be the real [Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in the Park for Atari 2600], I'll be as excited as anyone.

Maybe the cart has Duke Nuke 'em Forever on it

[Anonymous Coward]

Just a thought...

Re:Maybe the cart has Duke Nuke 'em Forever on it

[dintech]

You're thinking of "Duke Nukem A While Ago"

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

What's an Atari 2600?

(just joking)

Although I can imagine some teenager asking that question. The Atari VCS/2600 is older than many people alive today (almost 31 years). As for why Atari did not erase the EPROMS, in 1984 they were on the verge of collapse and probably didn't care. They had more important things to worry about... like not going bankrupt.

Best Atari games?
- Space Invaders
- Breakout
- Defender
- Missile Command
- Berzerk
- Phoenix
- Joust
- Jr. Pac-man (only VCS version of Pac-man that was arcade-accurate)

Re:Cool

[Anonymous Coward]

he didn't find NES roms.

cuttle cart

[nawcom]

There's those Cuttle Cart readers, which of course aren't made anymore. But...

Ebay is your friend. ($152.50 as of now)

Buy that fucker! Don't have enough money? I'll nag CmdrTaco; I live in the same area as him.

And you should actually take glittalogik's idea seriously - the Slashdot Launch Party. :)

Re:cuttle cart

[nawcom]

bah nm. i haven't had my coffee. stupid me. it doesn't extract roms.

Re:Dude. You're in the SF Bay area.

[Anonymous Coward]

Contact http://www.atariprotos.com/

No! Don't do it!!!!!

[erroneus]

Some things are better left alone!! The "pappach" as my niece once called them died for a reason. Do not bring the parent of "Chucky" back to life. Nothing good could come of this.

reading them

[ajs318]

You can read them with a standard EPROM programmer ..... something like a Dataman S3 ..... they're probably up to S5 or S6 by now, but the S3 is the one I remember. The S3 also had some built-in RAM with its own power supply, so you could load it up with data and use it in a circuit in place of a real EPROM. Nice hacker tool, back in the days.

Note that if you try to use a standard 2732 or 2716 EPROM in an Atari 2600 cart, the chip enable (on pin 20 -- driven by A12) needs to be inverted. (The OTP parts used by Atari had this inversion logic built in.) Just use a BC547 and a couple of 4k7 resistors (one in series with the base and one as a pull-up from collector to +5V). If it seems a bit temperamental, drop the collector load down to 3k3 or 2k2.

You can use bigger chips eg. 27512 to hold several ROM images -- just attach 4k7 pull-up resistors to each of the high-order address lines, with switches to pull them to 0V.

Carts with ROMs > 4K need some extra logic to switch the high-order address lines, dependent on values being written to some address somewhere. Carts with integral RAMs (yes, they existed; all of them TTBOMK were static RAM which at least makes it simpler, no need for refresh logic ..... it'd hafta be async refresh anyway, lovely, there goes your MW radio, unless you pulled some weirdy stunt with a phase-locked loop and gotta watch what you're asking that poxy little PSU for) need the RAM mapping to two distinct address blocks; one for write and one for read, because the R/W line isn't brought out on the 2600's cartridge port.

Re:Cool

[Cinnaman]

What's an Atari 2600? I guess that's something people of each decade faces, people born in the 2000's will lament that people born in the 2010's haven't heard of the Playstation 3 or Windows XP.

Or in the not too distant future senior citizens won't have participated in WW2 or remember a time before TV...

Re:Cool

[suckmysav]

I don't understand what all the excitement is for. The game is not "unreleased", it has just not been released on a specific platform.

BFD

It's not as if its never been seen before, like when a never before heard Steven Stills tape was found at that dump recently.

Dont worry, they will all be released...

[patrixx]

bundled with Duke Nukem Forever. (When they are ready!)

Re:Cool

[EllisDees]

>I don't understand what all the excitement is for. The game is not "unreleased", it has just not been released on a specific platform.

The differences between the 2600 and the Colecovision were considerable. Imagine trying to port GTA3 to the original Nintendo system and you'll have some idea how bad this game probably is.

Get thee to AtariAge!

[Megane]

atariage.com is the place you need to go. There are plenty of people all over the country who will go out of their way to your place to dump the chips. There are also prototype version collectors who will be interested in dumping all the rest of your chips as well, in case there's an undiscovered version in your pile of chips.

And bare EPROMs are the easiest to dump. If you have a standard programmer, assuming these are standard EPROMs, which they should be, you can do it yourself. Just don't read the important chip first until you know you've got the procedure right.

In the meantime, keep the chip windows covered and keep the chips away from light. The older they are, the more likely they will be vulnerable to "bit rot", which is the chip erasing itself even with weak light, usually after 15-25 years. Once the process begins, it can take weeks or months for the whole chip to be blank.

Re:Get thee to AtariAge!

[Anonymous Coward]

There are plenty of people all over the country who will go out of their way to your place to dump the chips. There are also prototype version collectors who will be interested in dumping all the rest of your chips as well

Woah there nerd buddy, lets try to calm down a lil, huh? Keep this conversation above the belt! Yeow!!

And bare EPROMs are the easiest to dump.

Heyooooooo!!! You betcha!!

In the meantime, keep the chip windows covered and keep the chips away from light. The older they are, the more likely they will be vulnerable to "bit rot"

Now look here, Charlie, the way my wife has aged is perfectly normal for her exposure-rate, thank you very much! Some of us find "bit-rot" (as if it were a bad thing) to be rather enticing after a long day! So why don't you just cram it!

I worked at Coleco Advanced R&D in '79-'80...

[Two99Point80]

...and can vouch for the "dumpster diving" approach. For a while, physical mockups (without the electronics) were just tossed in the dumpster; I saw neighborhood kids brandishing their "prizes". Later on, one of the guys took to hanging them in a tree outside our 2nd-floor office window; that didn't go over well when our VP found out...

Re:Cool

[suckmysav]

Oh, OK, so we are excited about how bad the game probably is.

Sort of like a vintage Daikatana?

Re:Cool

[aplusjimages]

PS3 is future proof though.

Re:Cool

[xtracto]

Best Atari games?
IMHO:
Seaquest, Warlords, GI Joe AAAAND: E.T. (hehe... just joking)

Private internets

[tepples]

Internets? You have more than one at your disposal? RFC 1918: read it and weep.

do not want!

[cashman73]

A cabbage patch kids game? Are you kidding me?!?! Was it packaged in bright pink packaging that had OMG PONIES!!!!!!!!!!1 on it, too? Maybe there was a reason it was never released,. . .

On the bright side, I bet CowboyNeal would probably play it (and enjoy it),. . . ;-)

Profit!

[countach]

1. Find some old EPROMS
2. Write the names of old video games on stickers and attach.
3. Go to flea market.
4. Profit!!

Re:Profit!

[MarkGriz]

Change "flea market" to "ebay", for some real profit.

Re:Profit!

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Find some old EPROMS
2. Write the names of old video games on stickers and attach.
3. Go to flea market.
4. Profit!! Well this has been done, but generally they are sold on Ebay for very high prices, not at flea markets for pocket change.

Re:Cool

[gronofer]

What's an Atari 2600? I guess that's something people of each decade faces, people born in the 2000's will lament that people born in the 2010's haven't heard of the Playstation 3 or Windows XP. Or in the not too distant future senior citizens won't have participated in WW2 or remember a time before TV...

Lament an ignorance of the Playstation 3 or Windows XP? You must be joking. I hope that Sony and Microsoft will be only footnotes in dusty history lessons for the 2010's generation.

I wouldn't worry about WW2 either, there will be plenty of other wars to talk about. I hope I live to see a time after TV.

So why should we care?

[LS]

If this were any other item (visual art, books, songs, etc), no one would care that some shitty unreleased piece of work was found by some unknown author. Why is it any different because it's a video game?

LS

Re:So why should we care?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a moron. Most certainly someone cares when something new is discovered. Even if it's just one basement nerd.

Why do you ask such pointless questions? We get it. You don't care about this article. Now go away and let people that do care discuss it.

Re:So why should we care?

[Stray7Xi]

Perhaps because this is from the dawn of video gaming. If this had been unreleased footage of the silent film era people would make a big deal of it too.

Not impressed

[Anonymous Coward]

That's nothing. I found an EPROM last week with Duke Nukem Forever on it.

Re:Cool

[es330td]

In the cool list I have to go with Circus Atari over Breakout. My personal favorite was Kaboom! in part because I have yet to meet someone who has beaten my 45K high score. I know people are out there that have done it but I haven't met one yet.

"Them"?

[mgkimsal2]

that didn't go over well when our VP found out...

I imagine the kids didn't care for hanging in the tree either.

Re:Cool

[frankm_slashdot]

It's too bad witty farkicisms aren't appreciated on /. otherwise I'd have to give you a "this".

If only I had mod points...

Re:Cool

[MrEkted]

2 words: Warlords

Re:Cool

[Jason1729]

Although I can imagine some teenager asking that question. The Atari VCS/2600 is older than many people alive today (almost 31 years).

Thank you so much for making me feel old :P

I had one of these when I was a kid (actually a colecovision with the Atari 2600 adapter.)

I'm going to go play "Adventure" now.

I want to see the DNF side-scroller game that was

[Joe The Dragon]

I want to see the DNF side-scroller game that was to come other after duke3d and be in 2d some at 3drealms has it on a disk in a passworded zip file.

Best Atari Games

[phorm]

You forgot "Mouse Trap" and perhaps some of the "Donkey Kong" (DK, DK Jr, etc) games. It's still fun to whip out the old system (or an emulator, but that's not quite as neat) and relax with some of the old classics.

Re:Best Atari Games

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

My kids love to play the Atari as much as they play the Wii. It's cool enough without being kitschy. I just hook it up to the projector and play Combat or Air-Sea Battle on a 90" diagonal display.

Re:Cool

[Machtyn]

I know you all could have found it yourselves, but I'll take the middle step out of it... Berzerk Commercial. It's pretty good!

/Take that, turkey!

Atari 2600!

[Neo-Rio-101]

Atari 2600 - it's for the children!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8LbtuabMuY

Re:Atari 2600!

[maxrate]

that's hilarious!

Re:Cool

[sharkey]

What, no Custer's Revenge?

Laney Flea market rocks

[JonnyDomestik]

That place always has the best stuff.

Re:Cool

[SpiceWare]

You might like Medieval Mayhem, my homebrew version of Warlords for the Atari. You can even play online, though note that the mouse makes a poor substitute for a paddle.

That's funny

[wwphx]

I used to work for Flying Buffalo (the makers of the Nuclear War card game and Tunnels & Trolls RPG) and they had an agreement with Coleco for Coleco to produce a T&T game for their system. Coleco gave FBI a Colecovision, it was an amusing little game. What was funny was that perhaps our favorite game to play was the Smurf game as it had an amusing little bug at the end.

Now I live in New Mexico, originally near Alamogordo, which is famed for being the dumping ground for Atari's ET game cartridge. Apparently they trucked thousands of the unsold cartridges, dumped them, ran over them with a bulldozer, then covered them with concrete. I wish I could find out where that was, that'd be a cool place to explore and maybe find one.

Re:That's funny

[patrixx]

http://atari.digital-madman.com/content/part4/part4-index.html

Re:That's funny

[Anonymous Coward]

What was funny was that perhaps our favorite game to play was the Smurf game as it had an amusing little bug at the end.

As a ColecoVision collector and aficionado, I assume you mean the bug where you enter the room with Smurfette, then exit the room without going over to her, causing her dress to disappear.

We need to find the sequel

[yAm]

Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in Traffic.

Re:Cool

[Jason Levine]

My favorite Atari game was Star Raiders. It was a complex, 3D space simulator years before X-Wing and the like. Sure the space ships you were battling were basic shapes, but you still could fly around in space, fire at them, watch your fuel level, refill at the service station (or blow it up! ;-) ), travel in hyperspace (trying to keep from veering off course) and toggle your shields/weapons/etc to save on power. I only wish I could play a version of that on my PC today.

I have a list of undumped pinball games that need

[Joe The Dragon]

I have a list of undumped pinball games that need to saved and put in to pinmame.

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-- PINBALL GAMES -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-- Sega / DE / Stern -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Arnon Milchan, Total Recall, Flip Out '91, Joel Silver, The Pinball ,Michael Jordan, Wild Horse Saloon, Kabuki, Richie Rich, Tommy Prototype layout, king kong , Viper mini ,Viper Prototype layout

Aaron Spelling -Still missing one display rom dump
[url]http://pinmame.cvs.sourceforge.net/pinmame/pinmame/src/wpc/degames.c?revision=1.42&view=markup[/url]

Deathball 2000 - Is this just a joke? In WWF it says this game is coming soon

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Alvin G -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

AG FOOTBALL -same roms as AG Soccer-Ball?

Dual-Pool, Max Badazz, Slam 'N Jam, A-MAZE-ING Baseball

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- BALLY / WILLIAMS / Midway -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

high speed prototype? with 4 X 7 Digit (16 Seg. Alphanumeric) + 2 X 2 Digit 7 Seg
[url]http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1176&picno=4504&zoom=1[/url] this was talked about on the old [url]www.pinmame.com[/url] forums
Pinball Circus -free play only and pay to play
Cirqus Voltaire prototype roms with old ringmaster voice
Ticket Tac Toe gum ball -it is just a rom hack
Flash Gordon 6803 / 68701 hardware? with blue displays - still missing 1 rom
Still Crazy -only 2 made

MAZATRON, Ramp Warrior, Ice Castle ,Player's Choice ,Ghost Gallery

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Gottlieb / Premier -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Rescue 911 rom ver /2 pinmame has /1, cue ball wizard rom ver /4 pinmame has 0
Amazon Hunt III -Conversion Kit , Brooks & Dunn , Ace High system 80b prototype

Other Gottlieb / Premier games that have later rom versions that are not in pinmame

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Atari -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-
4x4 and Neutron Star

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- GamePlan-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

LochNessMonster

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-Capcom-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Gas Attack - Breakshot mod
Red Line Fever -whitewood / prototype only likey less work done then was done on king pin

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-(NUOVA) BELL GAMES-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Top Pin (WMS Pin*Bot conversion) - same roms as pin*bot?

World Defender, U-Boat 65 ,Dark Shadow ,Skill Flight ,Cobra ,White Shark ,The Hunter ,Bloody Roller

They also made clones of other Bally games with different names..

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-Juegos Populares games.-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Aqualand ,Faeton ,Halley Comet ,Olympus ,Petaco 2

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-MR GAME-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Mac Attack

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Redemption-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Sega / DE / Stern-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Wacky Gator de pinball hardware?
sega sports -coin pusher , austin powers, cut the cheese -coin roller ,Wack-A-Doodle-Doo ,Irons & Woods ,Roach Racers / Derby Daze
Udderly Tickets [url]http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyer&db=arcadedb&i

Re:Dude. You're in the SF Bay area.

[Anonymous Coward]

So use the joystick ports to read the prom.

That's how I got the firmware from the 810 disk drive.

Re:Cool

[Hatta]

A few more:

Enduro
River Raid
Star Raiders
Circus Atari

At least, those are the ones I still play from time to time.

!crownjewel

[Anonymous Coward]

Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in the Park? For shizzle?

A large subculture

[sharopolis]

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.

Re:A large subculture

[mrjoshuaw]

Funny that you mention that, my father used to be part owner and wrote for a video game bulletin, back before glossy mags and what not, the kind of paper that reminded you of the penny saver material where if you handled enough of them you had ink on your fingers, but I digress...

So the other day he shows up with a trash bag with older game cartridges and says"don't know if they would be worth anything but you played them all the time, so here you go." When I went through them I found quite a few prototypes for a lot of our systems that we had, atari, coleco, intellivision, etc.

The funny thing is when I was playing them I had no idea that they were pre-release demos or prototypes, and that my dad was watching me play them for his articles...wonder if I can get some back royalties for something like that, anyways. I told a guy at work about what I had, and he absolutley flipped out, wanted to see them, touch them (he is a friend but that kind of weirded me out) and then offered to buy or trade for them, almost did it but decided that for now, would rather keep them, sentimental attachment kind of crap so go ahead and call me a schmuck if you want. Anyways, just thought I would chime in with the overzealous obsessive sub culture that is out there. Maybe I should by a safe?

Re:A large subculture

[pla]

The big area for debate around prototyes is wheather or not they should be realeased.

I don't think the question involves "should", so much as "at what price". Pretty much everyone except the physical owners agrees that these things should hit the 'net for the benefit of us all.



it's still likely to be someone's intellectual property

While technically and legally true, these things come from companies that went under years ago. Many in the emulation community have even tried establishing various chains-of-IP-ownership, to get official permission to play/own/distribute them, only to end up with such a murky end that you have to wonder if it really counts to get "permission" from the son-by-another-marriage of the widow of a random developer who went unpaid in company X's collapse.

But morally and ethically, this amounts to a no-brainer. As much interest as we enthusiasts may have for getting our hands on an unreleased game, they essentially have zero commerical value aside from the physical collectibles, such as the EEPROMs themselves as found by the FP author (and you could argue that you can't even legally sell those, since no plausibly kosher path exists from the dev's lab to physical possession).

Hell, these things don't even have any serious play value... The small percentage of "fun" Atari 2600 games (out of the roughly 2600 games (auspiciously enough) known to exist) attests to that. Given a random ancient video game, you can pretty much presume it will suck. ;-)



A lot of collectors refuse to relase prototypes they've discovered incase it lowers the value of them.

And we burn wheat rather than give it to starving third worlders. That doesn't make it right.

Prepare to be served...

[Anonymous Coward]

...with court papers by the copyright owner of those unreleased games.

You should've kept your mouth shut instead of blabbing it all over Slashdot.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, the copyright owner of that code will be after you in very short order.

Re:Prepare to be served...

[HTH NE1]

IMO, using copyright to enforce the destruction of the work is antithetical to the goals of copyright. It's a violation of the "limited times" clause: if it ceases to exist, the time is no longer limited as it can never enter the public domain.

Re:Prepare to be served...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Antiethical"?

Re:Prepare to be served...

[HTH NE1]

"Antiethical"? Ha! That too!

Re:Cool

[Hatta]

Atari 2600 ROMs and emulators are easy to come by, but if you like Star Raiders, you should look up the Atari 800 version of it. It's very much improved over the 2600 version. There's Atari800 for the(you guessed it) 800, and Stella for the 2600. Games are a little harder to come by, underground-gamer.com is down atm. You could try the Pleasuredome though.

Re:Cool

[Yvan256]

Nah, more like Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Re:Cool

[Gr8Apes]

I doubt it. PS3 was an evolutionary step in the entire video console sequence.

The entire attraction of things like the Coleco/Intellivision/Atari 2600 were that they were the first, and each provided uniqueness in how they approached the video console concept.

The thing they may lament is that they don't remember the Wii, the one console that actually broke new ground this round.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

I don't know why you're busting on Warlords? That was an awesome game for parties. 4 people trying to kill each other's castles.

Fun!

It Finally Surfaces! Maybe...

[Tempest_2084]

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

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

If I may interject:

I'd recommend the Commodore=64's Elite over Star Raiders. It's the same basic concept (defend yourself), but on a much more massive scale (hundreds of planets). After I discovered Elite I never played Star Raiders again.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

>>>"Imagine trying to port GTA3 to the original Nintendo"

Now, now... it isn't that bad. Porting a Colecovision game to an Atari 2600 is more like porting Final Fantasy 7 to Nintendo64. Basically the same game, but with some graphical limitations (i.e. no bitmapped backgrounds).

Evolution of the controller

[gosand]

I think I'd have to say the best game was either Pitfall or Yars Revenge.

When I think Atari 2600, I immediately get angry thinking about those damn plastic joystick pieces that would eventually break. (the ring around the base, that would push the movement buttons) I actually took apart the joysticks, and would play them like a nintendo-style controller. It was really hard, because the buttons were so far apart, but I have to wonder if that is how that type of controller evolved.

Re:Cool

[2names]

Your score took up 45K? That must have been one helluva high score!

Re:Cool

[ah.clem]

Best Atari games?

M.U.L.E. - 'nuff said.

ah.clem

Ugh

[DreamingReal]

From TFA:

OK, now I was getting a boner. Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures in the Park for Atari 2600.

Is it just me or did this creep out anyone else?

Re:Cool

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> though note that the mouse makes a poor substitute for a paddle

Richard Gere might disagree.

Re:Cool

[Hatta]

Since we're going off topic anyway, I'll mention that the NES port of Elite is recommended by the authors as the best Elite experience.

Re:Cool

[billcopc]

Sure, except the CPK won't make you their bitch.

Yet.

+infinity (wicked cool)

[Stavr0]

You might like Medieval Mayhem, my homebrew version of Warlords for the Atari. Dammit, just lost my mod points a few hours ago. Wishful thinking: Could you port that to Flash and WiiCade API.

Re:Cool

[poot_rootbeer]

Imagine trying to port GTA3 to the original Nintendo system and you'll have some idea how bad this game probably is.

You could imagine it, or you could actually do it.

I find back-ports of game titles from more to less powerful hardware to be fascinating -- paring down a complex premise into something more simple really exposes a programmer's cleverness, and it really does give credence to the idea that it's gameplay, not high-quality graphics or sound, that makes a game fun.

Re:Cool

[sootman]

Missing option: Yar's Revenge

Speaking of Space Invaders, remember when the big cheat was to hold down reset while turning it on? That gave you the ability to fire two shots. None of this up-up-down-down or IDKFA crap. :-)

Zork

[trueguru]

I am still trying to get out of the cave in my Adventure and Zork games.
Oh wait, let the bird attack the dragon!

Re:Cool

[Just Some Guy]

Best Atari games?

How can you leave out Pitfall and Pitfall II?

Why is this on Slashdot?

[Simonetta]

This is an ROM chip, for a defunct platform (long gone), for a 'game' designed for very young children, that was determined to be so mediocre that it was never commercially released. So why is this a headline story on a site that claims to be a news forum on the leading edge of technological developments?

Re:Why is this on Slashdot?

[Tempest_2084]

It actually wasn't designed for small childern, despite the Cabbage Patch Kids license. The game is actually quite hard, as it was a port of an action game for the MSX computer called Athletic Land.

I think the reason it got a mention is that long lost games are being found all the time, and it's interesting to speculate how they go from the testing lab to a flea market and finally to the gamers (who would have bought it originally) over 25 years later.

Tempest

Re:Cool

[HeronBlademaster]

Actually "warlords" is only one word.

Re:Cool

[Anonymous Coward]

you forgot E.T. that game was awesome! with the great controls, awesome graphics, and awesome sound it still holds up today.

actually its terrible. i actually have a copy that survived the being crushed and buried.

On that same note...

[jskline]

I was digging through my garage some time back, and ran across a pile of old floppy disks that used to go to my old TRS-80 4 and 4p that I had years and years ago. A few times I thought about buying one of those that show up on Ebay from time to time...

But then I came to my senses.

This is the year 2008. Processors now have no issues going from 2.6ghz on up. Why on God's green earth, would I want to revert to a machine that ran at a few Megahertz and with 128k of RAM. Yea; that was "k"!!

Oh well; Fun find but if it were me, I don't think I'd spend any time on it.

Re:On that same note...

[poot_rootbeer]

Why on God's green earth, would I want to revert to a machine that ran at a few Megahertz and with 128k of RAM. Yea; that was "k"!!

"Luxury."

The Atari 2600 dreamed of having 128 "k". Instead it had only one hundred twenty-eight BYTES of RAM. As in, not enough to fit this whole paragraph as ASCII text.

Quite frankly the hacks that those game developers had to resort to in order to create a decent game on such meager (even by 1977 standards) hardware is more than a bit awe-inspiring. And that's why this new find is so exciting.

Re:On that same note...

[jskline]

You are probably right on that point. I never participated on those machines back then mostly because I was focused on the business markets and aspects of the computer in those venues. Gaming was axillary at that point in my life. Games and Atari were almost synonymous at that time if memory serves me right.

RE: Never released!

[Anonymous Coward]

It must have escaped!

Re:Get thee to World of Spectrum!

[Anonymous Coward]

No! Get yourself to www.worldofspectrum.org instead! The Sinclair Spectrum is _far_ superior to the Atari , Commodore, and Apple crap you people keep churning out! The Spectrum has brighter colours and a better processor then all that 6502 based crap!

Spectrum! Spectrum!! Spectrum!!!

The only thing worse than the game...

[Bones3D_mac]

... is being one of the poor saps who developed it!

Think of how this would be for the guy who developed this game knowing he'd never personally get credit for his work while at the same time being envious of the dead for being stuck with such a god-awful product. Only to then have the project canned, flushing all that time and effort they were forced into putting into a product they probably otherwise despised with a passion, right down the toilet. And for what? To become a 5-second joke blurb on some random website 25+ years later, credited entirely to a fluke incident?

God, now I've gone and depressed myself again...

Same way I found a C64 for $2 mixed w/ keyboards

[Anonymous Coward]

The workers at one nearby thrift store must have thought a Commodore 64 was just a keyboard, and was therefore priced the same as PC keyboards. I suppose to a non-tech person, it does look like one.

Second best deal ever (aside from a $1 original Atari Pong from some old guy at a flea market.)

Re:Cool

[mistert2]

Warlords rocked, especially with four people.

Re:Cool

[beckerist]

Nah, by then they'll be on the PS9

Re:Cool

[mistert2]

I was a star raiders junky, too.

Re:Cool

[mistert2]

How many ET cartridges did they bury in the desert because they couldn't sell them?

Systems other than Atari in the mix?

[Mr Z]

Any chance any of these EPROMs are for systems other than Atari 2600? Coleco did games for the Intellivision and their own Colecovision also.

Re:Systems other than Atari in the mix?

[Tempest_2084]

From the looks of the boards, it doesn't appear so. Those all look like Colecovision boards to me. It's possible that some of the loose chips could be for other systems though I suppose.

Tempest

Re:Systems other than Atari in the mix?

[Mr Z]

Now that I've had a chance to look through the photos, I'm pretty sure none of those are for Intellivision at least. :-) Intellivision EPROMs come in pairs because the system used 10-bit wide ROMs back in the day. They emulated them by pairing up 8-bit EPROMs and just filling the upper 6 bits with 0s. That netted you with "hi/lo" pairs. The "hi" half typically had a really small checksum, too.

Re:Cool

[genner]

Sort of like a vintage Daikatana?
Now avaiable on gametap......*crickets*

Re:Cool

[skuzzlebutt]

Crap, I wasted all of my mod points on some stupid Linux discussion yesterday...cryin' shame, that.

Re:Cool

[pcraven]

Don't forget to pick up the secret dot, so you can get to that hidden room.

Emulation

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe we'll soon see the ROM on http://www.theoldcomputer.com/ or http://www.atariage.com/

Re:Cool

[graphicsguy]

Yar's Revenge!

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

Really?

Hmmm. I wouldn't think the NES had enough space to hold all the various missions.

It's much better on the real thing

[SpiceWare]

You can order up a cartridge from AtariAge for play on a real Atari. They have a number of other homebrews as well.

Re:It's much better on the real thing

[electrictroy]

People say that stuff, but I've never agreed. An Atari connected to a real television suffers from dot-crawl, color blur, and RF interference from neighboring channel 2/3 stations.

An emulator suffers none of those flaws.

Re:It's much better on the real thing

[SpiceWare]

I've modified my Atari with S-Video and Stereo and it generates a crystal clear picture on my old C= 1084S. The other key thing is Medieval Mayhem is a paddle game and paddle emulation leaves much to be desired. Something like the Stelladaptor helps, but I only have one of those which limits me to 2 players and Medieval Mayhem really shines when played with 4 players.

Tagging for posts

[WNight]

I think it means we need tagging for posts.

Which overlaps a lot with moderation, being the same thing but without a formal point system... Maybe with some distributed trust system a tag system could replace the moderation system.

We need a way for people to say "I Agree!" without modding the post up with 'Insightful' or something. And vice-versa. Many people moderate down anything they disagree with just because they have to disagree somehow but aren't prepared to write a message. If they could tag something quick they might be satisfied. (Or if not, in comes that distributed system of trust to reduce the value of their always exaggerated claims.)

Re:Cool

[CedarPlank]

Someone in this thread will probably mention the Starpath (Arcadia) Supercharger, which added a datacassette to the 2600. The free game which was included, Phasor Patrol, was my favorite in the Star Raiders / Starmaster spaceflight-sim genre. The A/B switches raised and lowered shields on your ship, and the crosshairs changed color to offer target tracking. It was extremely smooth and immensely playable. Another great game for the Supercharger was Dragon Stomper...

Re:Cool

[Skevin]

> What's an Atari 2600?

It's a whole new treasure trove of source material for Uwe Bolle.

Solomon

Re:Cool

[petermgreen]

I kind of got bored with elite after I got to the first mission but the trail went cold and I couldn't find any info online on what to do next.

I tried the nes port and found the controls horrible. having to move along a sluggish icon bar to get screens that were one keypress away in the BBC micro version.

Are you kidding?

[Weaselmancer]

One of the great joys of being this age is listening to people your age whine.

I don't blame you though. We got all the cool games, bought houses before the bubble, got jobs before the dot-com crash, had gas cheap enough to have a pastime called cruising (that's were you simply drive just for pleasure)...and we got all the good music.

Your games are pretty, but not nearly as playable. Houses are now in the quarter-million range commonly - good luck paying that off. New cars can easily run 30k. Gas will be $4 a gallon by the end of the summer, so you're going to be home a lot. As for music, the thumping crap you have to force yourself to like if you're going to be cool is more like electronic artillery rather than anything musical. I only hope that continual exposure to high decibel low frequency bass causes sterility by jangling your balls into non-functionality.

Kids today are screwed. And I actually feel pretty bad about it - except in your case.

Re:Are you kidding?

[Omestes]

Kids today are screwed

Which explains the continuation of the species...

Thank you for the clarification.

Re:Are you kidding?

[Anonymous Coward]

Enjoy dying abandoned, unloved, and alone.

Re:Are you kidding?

[mattack2]

Quarter million range.. HAH. Twice that for the low end houses in the SF Bay Area.

Re:Are you kidding?

[Weaselmancer]

Aww, did I hit a sensitive spot? There there. It's ok, men cry too. Men cry too.

Here, have a copy of Madden 07 and a Ludacris cd to make you feel better.

Kcalc bug ;)

[mrmeval]

LOL kcalc has a bug, try to get the score you mention by using it. 2^45000000 is what I was using, maybe it hates me for not using 2^(45000*1024) ;)

Re:Cool

[Dogtanian]

if you like Star Raiders, you should look up the Atari 800 version of it. It's very much improved over the 2600 version. Uh, the "much improved" Atari 800 version was actually the original! It came out in 1979 (or at least is copyright dated then) and was one of the first games for the system.

Although the 2600 itself was the older system, its version of Star Raiders came out much later (1982 according to Wikipedia). I haven't played that version, but given how primitive the 2600 hardware is compared to the 400/800, I'd give credit to *anyone* who could get a passably faithful version of Star Raiders on that system, regardless of the limitations.

Anyway, the 1979 original was an incredible feat for its time. Yes, it was running on (what was then) state of the art hardware, and of course more polished games came along later (for both the 400/800 and other 8-bit machines). But by the standards of its contemporaries, it's just incredible- relatively advanced "full" 3D graphics, basic strategy elements and (for what is basically a shoot-'em-up) real hunter-killer depth to the fighting itself. Yet running in 16K (8K ROM + 8K RAM) on new and relatively unknown hardware.

This was just a year after Space Invaders had first been released, and it wasn't even running on "arcade" hardware, but a home system (albeit an expensive one).

Yes, Elite probably had more depth (and deserves credit for its influence too), but that came out five years later, during which time both the market and experience in developing software on the 8-bit machines had improved massively. Look at the first and last games to be released for a long-lived console and you'll see a massive difference in technical quality- experience with the system and techniques is just as important as having advanced hardware.

Star Raiders came out around three years before the Commodore 64 was even released!

Re:Cool

[Anonymous Coward]

Signature:-

I USE 50k PHONE LINE TO DOWNLOAD DOCTOR WHO (about 6 hours per episode). Who needs broadband? ;-) Well, if you're having to tie up your phone line for six hours just to download a single episode, I'd say that *you* need broadband. It's also clear that you're not sharing your flat/house with anyone else who might actually want to make a phone call(!)

I don't know what broadband prices are like where you live, but is using a slow (and inconveniencing) dial-up Internet connection any cheaper? Either you pay for your phone calls or you at least pay for unlimited dial-up access... which probably isn't much cheaper than ADSL broadband.

Even if the cheapest ADSL service around is slow and rubbish, it's going to be faster and more convenient than trickling a download over a phone line for six hours.

Re:Cool

[xtracto]

mmm, I was serious about warlords, seaquest and g.i. joe... and I was joking about E.T.

Tempest #1

[Squeedle]

I love stories like this.

A friend of mine and I went to an ex-Atari developer's house in South San Jose to pick up a few old things he was selling. He just happened to have an old Tempest game . . . with a paper printout overlay. The serial number was 001. Yes, he let us play it. It was in near-perfect condition.

He also sold my friend another old (pinball?) game, unreleased, which previously had been thought to have only one model of. Wrong, there are definitely two. Wish I could remember what it was :P

Anyway, I hope he's able to recover the game. Even if it's a piece of crap, it's a piece of historical crap :) And you never know, it could be good (for kids) - sometimes games get canned for all the wrong reasons.

Re:Tempest #1

[Squeedle]

sorry, I just remembered - it wasn't just a printout overlay but it was also hand-colored.

Re:Cool

[Dun Malg]

As for why Atari did not erase the EPROMS, Actually, the most probable reason they didn't erase the EPROMS is that the only way to do so is with a hammer. EPROMS are not erasable. EEPROMS are the ones you can erase.

Re:Cool

[Dun Malg]

disregard. It's been so long, I forgot about the horrors of the Quartz Window....

Re:Cool

[Anonymous Coward]

Although I can imagine some teenager asking that question.

Not if they're gamers. The 2600 is treated as iconic as pacman, and the gamer rags like to review things like the Flashback 2 - which I should emphasize you can hack a gameport into to play any cartridges you might pick up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback_2

If anyone wants a quick review, yeah they did a pretty good job and it deserves all the nice things people say. If you want to get nostalgic without tracking down an original, this IS exactly the unit for you. Get it.

And if you didn't have a 2600 and are just curious to try all those game titles? Don't. Sorry, but this bit me too. I'm an even older gamer and remembered these titles from the arcades -- the 2600 versions are just sad, cheapened shadows. This Moon Patrol is not the Moon Patrol you remember, & so on. Only get a Flashback 2 if the 2600 is what you used to play. [...gotta go chase some kids of my lawn now.]

Re:Cool

[slyborg]

For three minutes...which is about 10 percent of the time it took to erase one. We used to cook them up during lunch.

Romero LIVES!

[slyborg]

Sort of like a vintage Daikatana? That is just cold, man....

Never before seen Windows OS

[greysunrise]

I've got some Ancient zip disks, maybe I can print off some artificially aged labels and sell the disks as a "never before seen Windows OS." Unfortunately, Windows releases every piece of garbage they develop. Vista, the new Windows ME???

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

I have $15 DSL at home.

But when stuck in a hotel (a weekly event), I use their phone line because it's all they have.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

The Atari 2600 version is essentially the same as the Atari computer version. It's a static screen & every now and then an icon (representing a ship) pops up in front of you. The secondary screen is your galactic map, which is also a static display. Not really complicated at all.

It wasn't the first 3D flight sim created for the Atari console; there was an earlier one created in 1978 where you blew-up asteroids coming towards you.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

Because I thought they were dull. Pitfall 2 was fun for about one week, but after I beat it, it just collected dust.

I prefer games that I can play again-and-again.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

Atari was stupid. There were 25 million consoles sold. They published 30 million E.T. cartridges. Hmmm. Obviously they are going to have to toss some in the trash.

That said, I enjoyed E.T. back when I was a kid. Yes it was challenging but once you learned to avoid the pits, it was a very well-done game..... reminded me of Adventure where you try to find all the missing pieces.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

Some of us NEVER visited the arcades.

For us the Atari console versions are the "true" versions that bring back all the nostalgia. For example, I think the arcade version of Missile Command sucks (too many buttons), but the Atari console version is fantastic to play.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

I hope somebody ports Final Fantasy 7 to the N64 someday (even if it's just a ROM for an N64 emulator). That oughtta be cool seeing how well it translates w/o CD technology.

I imagine it would be somewhat similar to the Resident Evil 2 port.

Re:Cool

[electrictroy]

The Atari console never had M.U.L.E. on it. That is why I did not list it.

Re:Cool

[Just Some Guy]

Well, OK, I'll give you that one. The replay value on Pitfall II was rather low. It's biggest draw for me was the sheer amazement that they'd packed that many levels and such relatively good graphics into a single game.

That's awesome!

[RamenRa]

The Atari 2600 was my very first console, and to be honest...I kind of liked E.T. OK, there, I said it. But I don't know if I could play Cabbage Patch Kids, I mean, I do draw the line somewhere... :)

Re:Cool

[ah.clem]

Yup, you're right. We played it on the C64, not the console. Better memory than me.

ah.clem

Re:Cool

[Viperpete]

You forgot about "Combat" as far as I know it's the first multi or mini games found on 1 cartridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_(video_game)

Re:Cool

[Dogtanian]

The Atari 2600 version is essentially the same as the Atari computer version. It's a static screen If it's true that the 2600 version has a static background, then I really don't see how you can say that it's "essentially" (or even remotely) the same as the 400/800 version.

Part of the reason that the home computer version was so impressive for its tiime was the full-depth 3D effect, with objects and background "stars" moving past in response to your ship's movements (also in full 3D) as if seen through a moderately wide-angle lens. It was anything but static!

The only way that what you say makes sense is if you were referring to the absolute core gameplay minus the pretty graphics, but I really don't see how you could replace the original Star Raider's 3D with static backgrounds without fundamentally altering the playing style of the game.

(BTW, thought I'd replied to this earlier, but the post apparently didn't go through).

UPDATE: It Was The 2600 Version!

[Tempest_2084]

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