Scott Stilphen

Years ago I made some awards for some alumni (custom slot machine for David Crane and a custom chess board for Bob Whitehead) and used a JR with both.  Btw, the chess pieces are arranged to spell out his initials (BW).

More info about "My First Computer" AKA "2600 Computer" AKA "The Graduate":
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/unreleased.html#graduate

Here's everything I currently know about:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/controllers/controllers.html

The info Rom Hunter posted came from me, in an email conversation I had with Keithen Hayenga.  Here's all the current info I know about this title:  http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/unreleased.html#foxbat
 
 
 

I've done more research on the SwordQuest games than anyone else in the hobby.   Here's my SwordQuest Revisited article, which is a compilation of everything to date:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_revisited/swordquest_revisited.html
 
I also recovered the SwordQuest Archive of Adventure website that Lafe Travis created in 1997, which featured Russy Perry Jr.'s solutions for the first 3 games in the series which originally appeared in the 2600 Connection newsletter:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_archive_of_adventure/swordquest_solutions.html
 
My Revisited article was meant to be a companion to the AoA. I also created the interview webpage for the Michael Rideout interview (on Digital Press).
 
After reading Eric Grundhauser's article (which btw, features some of my photos but doesn't credit me for them) and seeing that he quoted Vendel and Goldberg, who are less historians and more historical revisionists, I expected it would include some incorrect and/or unproven "facts".
 
 
In the Volume 2, Number 10 issue of Atari Life (Atari's internal newsletter), CED Product Manager Joel Oberman claimed more than half a million EarthWorld cartridges were sold in the U.S., and of those, only 1% - 5,000 - were semi-finalists.
 
According to Robert Ruiz Jr., who created the "Adventurer's Club" in 1984, over 4,000 entered the contest.
 
 
 
Should have said neither were either completed.
 
 
 
 
Was this confirmed with Bell himself?  If so, why is there no proof of it online?  Why has this never been mentioned anywhere?  As of now, it has NOT been confirmed.
   
   
  Again, where's the proof behind this statement?  If someone won a $25,000 crown, you better believe we would have heard about it before now, either from the person who won it or someone who knows them.  Also, the SwordQuest Challenge was a nationally-advertised contest.  Vendel's claim that the WaterWorld contest had to be completed for the sole reason the game was released and people submitted entries for it doesn't ring true because the contest was comprised of FOUR games.  Each game's contest was part of reaching the overall contest- to win the sword!  Why else would Atari have paid off the winners of the EarthWorld and FireWorld contests if they legally didn't have to (because AirWorld was never released)?   From Michael Rideout:    
  So if Atari indeed had some "super secret" playoff, what of the rumor of Atari paying off the WaterWorld finalists?   If Atari paid off the 10 finalists at least $2,000 each, that would be nearly as much as what the Crown was valued at!   But again, no finalists have ever come forward to corroborate this semi-secret, non-public playoff, and IMO until someone does, this is just another unfounded rumor.   Finally, as to the whereabouts of the remaining prizes, there lies the ultimate rumor.    
  The Philosopher's Stone was housed in an 18K gold box, but the stone itself was actually a large piece of white jade, and not something that could be "smelted back down".  If the remaining prizes ended up back with the Franklin Mint, I'm surprised nobody there would have the foresight to hold on to them because, even though their base materials would always fluctuate in value, the prizes themselves would have eventually been worth more, being they would always be unique, one-of-a-kind items.    
  For one thing, that rumor stems from Vendel himself, from a post Vendel made on the rec.games.video.classic newsgroup back in 1998:   http://tinyurl.com/lqcybvk    
Curt Vendel   4/13/98   Other recipients: ah...@freenet.carleton.ca   Hi Bill,     Go to www.atari.nu, goto the Atari Archives Section and read the Other Atari Projects area titled: Atari SwordQuest, you'll find out quite a bit, also if you decide to play the game, there is also a link to the SwordQuest Solution Site, also go to www.atarihq.com, there is an interview with the winner of the Fireworld contest.      In breif, Earthworld and Fireworld were widely released, both contests were run, WaterWorld was only released to Atari Club members through Atari Age magazine, since it was released in limited quantities and the company was in the middle of being sold, the Waterworld contest was cancelled, as to what happened to the crown prize is unknown, AirWorld was never started and as for the Knowledge Stone prize, that too is unknown.   However I found out several months ago from a close friend of Jack Tramiel the former owner of Atari, that the $50,000 sword of ultimate power is hanging over his fireplace in his home in California.   Curt     So which story is it, and who was involved?  Was the unnamed person a close friend or an Atari employee?  What's the person's name?  Were they a man or a woman?  lol  He offered no other information other than it was a close friend... or an Atari employee.  In my experience, you need to identify your source(s) of information, so that others can independently verify the information, because without that, your story is just that - a story - and it has no value or meaning.   Vendel also claimed in his RGVC post that the WaterWorld contest was cancelled and that AirWorld was never started.  See my Revisited article for statements from Tod Frye regarding how far he got with programming AirWorld (20% completed, by his estimate):   http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_revisited/swordquest_revisited.html#aw   All I know is, if Tod Frye - the person who CREATED the SwordQuest contest to begin with believes the prizes ended up with Jack Tramiel, then until I see some definite proof otherwise, at this time that's the story.   Lastly, the Atari-Warner Bros.-Franklin Mint connection was found by John Hardie, as he mentioned in his Michael Rideout interview:    
   

I created that map for the first issue of Jeff Adkins's newsletter, Classic Systems and Games Monthly, way back in October 1991, using my crappy Okimate 10 printer and Atari Artist (attached). 
 
Here's more notes about the game:
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/easter_eggs/vcs/26fathom.html
 
I interviewed Rob Fulop years ago, and he mentioned Fathom wasn't a particular favorite of his:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/rob_fulop/interview_rob_fulop.html

I created that map for the first issue of Jeff Adkins's newsletter, Classic Systems and Games Monthly, way back in October 1991, using my crappy Okimate 10 printer and Atari Artist (attached). 
 
Here's more notes about the game:
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/easter_eggs/vcs/26fathom.html
 
I interviewed Rob Fulop years ago, and he mentioned Fathom wasn't a particular favorite of his:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/rob_fulop/interview_rob_fulop.html

Here's everything I currently know about:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/controllers/controllers.html

"fergojisan" is correct.  According to the box, the game was conceived by IRS Agent Darrell Wagner and developed by Investment Advisor Todd Clark Holm.  In actuality, this is basically a modified version of Porkys, and as it happens the same programmer (John Simonds) and software company (Dunhill Electronics) worked on Porkys. 

I created that map for the first issue of Jeff Adkins's newsletter, Classic Systems and Games Monthly, way back in October 1991, using my crappy Okimate 10 printer and Atari Artist (attached). 
 
Here's more notes about the game:
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/easter_eggs/vcs/26fathom.html
 
I interviewed Rob Fulop years ago, and he mentioned Fathom wasn't a particular favorite of his:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/rob_fulop/interview_rob_fulop.html

"fergojisan" is correct.  According to the box, the game was conceived by IRS Agent Darrell Wagner and developed by Investment Advisor Todd Clark Holm.  In actuality, this is basically a modified version of Porkys, and as it happens the same programmer (John Simonds) and software company (Dunhill Electronics) worked on Porkys. 

Here's everything I currently know about:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/controllers/controllers.html

See the auto-fire modules section of this FAQ:  http://www.2600connection.com/faq/controllers/faq_controllers.html

More info about "My First Computer" AKA "2600 Computer" AKA "The Graduate":
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/unreleased.html#graduate

The info Rom Hunter posted came from me, in an email conversation I had with Keithen Hayenga.  Here's all the current info I know about this title:  http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/unreleased.html#foxbat
 
 
 

I've done more research on the SwordQuest games than anyone else in the hobby.   Here's my SwordQuest Revisited article, which is a compilation of everything to date:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_revisited/swordquest_revisited.html
 
I also recovered the SwordQuest Archive of Adventure website that Lafe Travis created in 1997, which featured Russy Perry Jr.'s solutions for the first 3 games in the series which originally appeared in the 2600 Connection newsletter:
 
http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_archive_of_adventure/swordquest_solutions.html
 
My Revisited article was meant to be a companion to the AoA. I also created the interview webpage for the Michael Rideout interview (on Digital Press).
 
After reading Eric Grundhauser's article (which btw, features some of my photos but doesn't credit me for them) and seeing that he quoted Vendel and Goldberg, who are less historians and more historical revisionists, I expected it would include some incorrect and/or unproven "facts".
 
 
In the Volume 2, Number 10 issue of Atari Life (Atari's internal newsletter), CED Product Manager Joel Oberman claimed more than half a million EarthWorld cartridges were sold in the U.S., and of those, only 1% - 5,000 - were semi-finalists.
 
According to Robert Ruiz Jr., who created the "Adventurer's Club" in 1984, over 4,000 entered the contest.
 
 
 
Should have said neither were either completed.
 
 
 
 
Was this confirmed with Bell himself?  If so, why is there no proof of it online?  Why has this never been mentioned anywhere?  As of now, it has NOT been confirmed.
   
   
  Again, where's the proof behind this statement?  If someone won a $25,000 crown, you better believe we would have heard about it before now, either from the person who won it or someone who knows them.  Also, the SwordQuest Challenge was a nationally-advertised contest.  Vendel's claim that the WaterWorld contest had to be completed for the sole reason the game was released and people submitted entries for it doesn't ring true because the contest was comprised of FOUR games.  Each game's contest was part of reaching the overall contest- to win the sword!  Why else would Atari have paid off the winners of the EarthWorld and FireWorld contests if they legally didn't have to (because AirWorld was never released)?   From Michael Rideout:    
  So if Atari indeed had some "super secret" playoff, what of the rumor of Atari paying off the WaterWorld finalists?   If Atari paid off the 10 finalists at least $2,000 each, that would be nearly as much as what the Crown was valued at!   But again, no finalists have ever come forward to corroborate this semi-secret, non-public playoff, and IMO until someone does, this is just another unfounded rumor.   Finally, as to the whereabouts of the remaining prizes, there lies the ultimate rumor.    
  The Philosopher's Stone was housed in an 18K gold box, but the stone itself was actually a large piece of white jade, and not something that could be "smelted back down".  If the remaining prizes ended up back with the Franklin Mint, I'm surprised nobody there would have the foresight to hold on to them because, even though their base materials would always fluctuate in value, the prizes themselves would have eventually been worth more, being they would always be unique, one-of-a-kind items.    
  For one thing, that rumor stems from Vendel himself, from a post Vendel made on the rec.games.video.classic newsgroup back in 1998:   http://tinyurl.com/lqcybvk    
Curt Vendel   4/13/98   Other recipients: ah...@freenet.carleton.ca   Hi Bill,     Go to www.atari.nu, goto the Atari Archives Section and read the Other Atari Projects area titled: Atari SwordQuest, you'll find out quite a bit, also if you decide to play the game, there is also a link to the SwordQuest Solution Site, also go to www.atarihq.com, there is an interview with the winner of the Fireworld contest.      In breif, Earthworld and Fireworld were widely released, both contests were run, WaterWorld was only released to Atari Club members through Atari Age magazine, since it was released in limited quantities and the company was in the middle of being sold, the Waterworld contest was cancelled, as to what happened to the crown prize is unknown, AirWorld was never started and as for the Knowledge Stone prize, that too is unknown.   However I found out several months ago from a close friend of Jack Tramiel the former owner of Atari, that the $50,000 sword of ultimate power is hanging over his fireplace in his home in California.   Curt     So which story is it, and who was involved?  Was the unnamed person a close friend or an Atari employee?  What's the person's name?  Were they a man or a woman?  lol  He offered no other information other than it was a close friend... or an Atari employee.  In my experience, you need to identify your source(s) of information, so that others can independently verify the information, because without that, your story is just that - a story - and it has no value or meaning.   Vendel also claimed in his RGVC post that the WaterWorld contest was cancelled and that AirWorld was never started.  See my Revisited article for statements from Tod Frye regarding how far he got with programming AirWorld (20% completed, by his estimate):   http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/swordquest_revisited/swordquest_revisited.html#aw   All I know is, if Tod Frye - the person who CREATED the SwordQuest contest to begin with believes the prizes ended up with Jack Tramiel, then until I see some definite proof otherwise, at this time that's the story.   Lastly, the Atari-Warner Bros.-Franklin Mint connection was found by John Hardie, as he mentioned in his Michael Rideout interview: