THE CURIOUS CASE OF ATARI XE RE-RELEASES: DONKEY KONG AND EASTERN FRONT
Entry posted by Video 61 in Lance's Laboratory
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THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ATARI DISTRIBUTOR
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the ninth entry of what will be my personal Blog, sharing small slices of life with you from around the Twin Cities and from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself: My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer, and an independent developer of new games for Atari machines. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for over 40 years!
Have you ever wondered why only two older Atari 400/800/XL titles were re-released in the distinctive blue boxes of the Atari XE Game System (XEGS)? While the XEGS saw many new titles between 1987 and 1990, these two stood out as re-releases from Atari’s 8-bit home computer line; Donkey Kong and Eastern Front (1941).
So, why these two games? And why didn’t Atari give more older titles the same treatment?
The Repackaging of Donkey Kong and Eastern Front
When Atari launched the XEGS, the goal was to revitalize the Atari 8-bit computer line with a 64K A8 compatible XE Game System that felt fresh and supported to new customers. With beautiful blue packaging, a detachable keyboard, light gun, color-matching CX40 joystick, and Flight Simulator cartridge, it had tremendous appeal. Atari’s CEO at the time, Jack Tramiel, made a promise to us as Atari distributors: he would repackage older games in new XEGS boxes, re-shell them in modern XEGS cartridges, and even re-label them to match the aesthetic of the Atari XEGS, making the new system look consistent and very well supported with lots of game titles to choose from. On top of that, Jack boasted to us about enhancing many older game titles to take advantage of the XEGS’ 64k of RAM.
The first re-release to get the full XEGS treatment was Donkey Kong. It came in the outstanding new blue box with an updated cartridge shell and label to match the XEGS brand. This, however, is where Atari began to cut corners and things started slipping away. We were also supposed to receive a new enhanced 64K XEGS version of Donkey Kong—but as usual, when Jack found out that would come at a considerable expense, he figured the existing game was “good enough already” no need to enhance, just plop it in new packaging to fool the customer.
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"Even the cost of repackaging alone was too expensive in Jack's book. Every step of the way, the rule was save a penny to lose a dollar." |
Eastern Front was next. It was a good seller, with impressive scrolling and colors. It followed Donkey Kong as the second re-release, and received the new blue XEGS box and label. However Atari was already shaving pennies. Instead of receiving a new XE cartridge shell, the game came housed in the old, brown Atari 400/800 cartridge with the new blue label slapped on. It was another obvious cost-cutting move by Jack Tramiel.
The Decline of the XEGS Re-Releases
Despite the initial effort to make Donkey Kong and Eastern Front feel new, Jack deemed the cost to be prohibitive, and began consistently cutting corners with the XEGS. Atari resorted to simply adding big green stickers on older, unsold merchandise—Warner-era 400/800/XL box releases, with the message:
“Also plays on XE Game System and XE/XL computers”
While this was a practical solution, it didn’t help the XEGS brand image. On the silver-boxed releases from the Atari XL era, the green sticker was passable, but on older black box releases—especially the larger ones—it looked cheap. Just terrible. The green sticker served as a reminder that these products were far from new, and customers noticed.
A Missed Opportunity
Looking back, it’s clear that the lack of follow-through on Jack’s promise hurt the XEGS’ potential—and worse, Atari’s already-damaged reputation. Sales of the XE system started strong, but the lack of new titles and the decision to repurpose old games without proper investment led to its decline. Just imagine what it could’ve been like being a kid, with the XEGS as your first gaming system, and seeing beloved classic games like Asteroids re-released in those beautiful blue boxes, and with additional features and better graphics that took advantage of the XEGS’ 64K RAM. It could have made a lasting impression, and placed Atari in a highly competitive position leading into the end of the ‘80s.
Sales of the new Atari XE Game System were strong at first. As usual, Atari’s lack of support for new game titles despite strong XE hardware sales, combined with Jack’s half-hearted repackaging effort, ultimately contributed to the XEGS’s failure. If “Business Is War” why take half measures?
Thanks for reading,
- Lance
Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
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