TrekMD

And the cart.
 

Sorry so blurry.  Here...a bit closer.
 

Here is the back of my box to Stargate.

hi everyone,
 
stargate was the sequel to defender, it was a warner/atari release. as you know when jack took over, licensing was a no no, they just changed the name. it was williams i think that owned the game. jacks atari had 1/3ed interest in williams and the atari coin op division.
atari games released many atari brand named games on other platforms, and the lynx. for jack renaming them like fatal run, avoided royalties with the other two atari entities.
 
lance
www.atarisales.com
 

This is a really interesting topic that has fascinated me in the past.
One of the most interesting things I've found about Stargate is that some of them have 1985 Atari Corp copyrights on the back of the box. There was very little of anything at all coming out for Atari video game systems in 1985. Most all copyrights found on cartridge boxes jump from 1984 Atari, Inc. to 1986 Atari Corp. Stargate I believe is the only Atari cartridge game I own with a 1985 copyright printed on the back of the box. I believe Gremlins on Atari 5200 is another one.
 
You're right to think that's not true. The movie and game are a decade apart and unrelated. I remember after receiving Stargate via mail order directly from Atari in 1993, really enjoying the game - already then as a classic - and seeing that a movie called Stargate was coming out in Fall, 1994. I remember Stargate was in theaters at the same time as Star Trek: Generations. Stargate the game and Stargate the film and television franchise should not be conflated.
The real issue is why and when did Atari release Stargate as Defender II? The Atari 2600 game was originally released as Stargate, the same name as the arcade version of the game. Only later was the 2600 version released as Defender II, as was the NES version.
I've never located anything definitive as to why this happened, but there are lots of guesses and assumptions out there. Clearly it may be pertinent to legal issues pertaining to the usage of the "Stargate" and "Defender" trademarks - possibly "Stargate" had not been fully secured, or they were looking to bolster their claim to the "Defender" trademark. It may have also been a marketing decision - arcade gamers may have been familiar with Stargate, but far more people already knew Defender. It's possible marketing research showed that the game would sell better as Defender II than Stargate.
Stargate was listed on the Atari Mail Order Form as Defender II. In 1993 my memories of most 2600 games were vague, and I had nothing to go by (no internet) except for the Atari Catalogs that came with the E.T. and Asteroids cartridges I had found on clearance at Kay-Bee Toys earlier that year. I knew Defender and people remembered it pretty fondly - I thought it looked pretty archaic, but knowing it was a "classic" I wanted to give it a try and ordered Defender II from Atari. (You can see all of this on my hand-written list of games I was ordering shown below - I only knew of "Defender 2" and not Stargate.) I will say, when Stargate showed up and I gave it a play, I was really, really impressed at the time by what they were able to do with a 2600 game. Stargate looked and played lightyears beyond what the original Defender had been. I was really into the Atari 7800 at the time, and I thought 2600 Stargate / Defender II looked and played nearly as well as what I would have wanted to see from a 7800 version of Defender. I thought it was a really well done game, and I'm glad 2600 gamers were able to get something like that on their system. I thought it blew away everything from the Intellivision, 5200, and ColecoVision.
 

 
 
Atari 7800 6th Grade Strategy Guide.pdf

S2:E6 - Lost in Translation.  This one is totally a classic Star Trek story. 

Mego released various Star Trek toys in the 70's but there are two that I just saw on this video from TrekWorld that I was not aware of.  The Star Trek Phaser Battle and Telescreen Console.  The latter is an early video game console!  Has anyone seen these before?
 

OK  guys.  To find me at PRGE, it will be easy.  I'll be wearing one of these...



This last one is my banner for my AA profile here.  🙂

The new Atari is trying very hard.  Those do look nice, though.

I did not say that.  You just reached that conclusion on your own.  😆

The new Atari is trying very hard.  Those do look nice, though.

S2:E5 Charades.  We liked this one very much.  Kind of rom-com and a lot of fun.
I guess we are plowing through these (1 per day for the past 5 days), which is unusual for us.  I think that speaks to how much we are enjoying this show. 
 

Glad that you're OK.  I feel so bad for the firefighters who lost their homes. 

Episode 4 was very interesting and well written.  Going back to that planet was also something cool. 

S2:E4 - Rigel 7!  I liked this one, although it was a little goofy.  I also LOVE they are keeping the show episodic.  1 hr stories. 
 

If you guys like one of these, would wear one, and can spare the change, ordering one might be a nice way of showing Atari our support and gratitude for their efforts - especially if more expensive items like the Atari VCS and Atari 2600+ aren't on your shopping list. Just a thought 

The new Atari is trying very hard.  Those do look nice, though.

This is sadly heartbreaking though: 
Fire chief and half his members lose their own homes while fighting the wildfire
Thirteen of the 24 members of the Wilson's Landing Fire Department lost their homes.
https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/VIDEO_Fire_chief_and_half_his_members_lose_their_own_homes_while_fighting_the_wildfire/
 
 

Sounds like there’s really little reason to play the official release 😂

I always wanted to do this for Atari I/O. Now Atari has done it themselves. There's a lot of Atari clothing out there that you can get at Target, etc. but I think "Atari Summer Camp" really takes the cake:
https://atari.com/pages/club
 

I did not know Star gate was harder to come by.  This one is the Atari Corp. release.  I thought there was a Atari Inc one?

I got the book but I was not aware there was a limited edition!  Did you order it from the same web page?

Some good stuff there!  I see you were able to get a boxed Stargate (rather than the later Defender II).  Stargate is harder to find.  It is such a cool port!  The other titles you got are also really good.

The original version is 4K.  This one is 32K, so you know it has a lot more features than the original release, just with that.  The rooms fill in, they grow as you enter them and shrink as you exit (that's not on the original), you have the treasure screen, the proper start screen with your main character moving around the treasure screen to pick up the bow and arrows before going down into the dungeon, etc.  The updated port also has faster movement that matches the arcade.  The original port  is slow as molasses!  

The original version is 4K.  This one is 32K, so you know it has a lot more features than the original release, just with that.  The rooms fill in, they grow as you enter them and shrink as you exit (that's not on the original), you have the treasure screen, the proper start screen with your main character moving around the treasure screen to pick up the bow and arrows before going down into the dungeon, etc.  The updated port also has faster movement that matches the arcade.  The original port  is slow as molasses!