RickR

And a bit more from me....I just want to state that no matter what I say about Pac Man on 2600, I hope to goodness no one feels offended in any way.  For example, AtariBrian loves the game, and I totally respect that.  It's a fun topic to talk about, but it's just a game.  Like all pieces of art, opinions may vary and it's totally acceptable. 

And a bit more from me....I just want to state that no matter what I say about Pac Man on 2600, I hope to goodness no one feels offended in any way.  For example, AtariBrian loves the game, and I totally respect that.  It's a fun topic to talk about, but it's just a game.  Like all pieces of art, opinions may vary and it's totally acceptable. 

And more from me (of course)....I always found it fascinating that the versions of Pac Man Atari created for other systems were all really, really good.  TI-99/4A, VIC-20, Intellivision, C64, Atari 800, 5200....those were all great. 

Agree with all these sentiments.  It's a fun game, it did get a lot of playtime from me when it was new.  But the game was NOT Pac Man, and it ended up eroding confidence in the 2600 and Atari.  At the time, you could see a superior version on the computers of the day, and even the lowly O2 had a better munching game.  Atari was more interested in suing other companies than making great games, it seemed.  Pac Man made me think twice before buying any other game from Atari.  Was a VIC-20 version available instead?  If yes, I'd probably just go with that -- that was my thinking after Pac Man.  So yes, it was a good game...but ended up creating a lot of baggage for Atari IMO.   

Agree with all these sentiments.  It's a fun game, it did get a lot of playtime from me when it was new.  But the game was NOT Pac Man, and it ended up eroding confidence in the 2600 and Atari.  At the time, you could see a superior version on the computers of the day, and even the lowly O2 had a better munching game.  Atari was more interested in suing other companies than making great games, it seemed.  Pac Man made me think twice before buying any other game from Atari.  Was a VIC-20 version available instead?  If yes, I'd probably just go with that -- that was my thinking after Pac Man.  So yes, it was a good game...but ended up creating a lot of baggage for Atari IMO.   

And more from me (of course)....I always found it fascinating that the versions of Pac Man Atari created for other systems were all really, really good.  TI-99/4A, VIC-20, Intellivision, C64, Atari 800, 5200....those were all great. 

PS - Kamakazi has a great blog post about this very topic.
 
http://forums.atari.io/index.php/blog/8/entry-27-pac-man-atari-2600/

Or you could have the ultimate Sega experience....

Bump.

I do have an extra original Genesis controller.  I can take a  pic if you are interested. 

Awesome trade with StormSurge. This was such a good trade, I almost feel a bit guilty!  Interesting, the booklet is printed upside down
 
Thanks so much!
 
 

PS - Kamakazi has a great blog post about this very topic.
 
http://forums.atari.io/index.php/blog/8/entry-27-pac-man-atari-2600/

Thanks Chas for the gorgeous Dragonfire nice and complete!  Also dig that retro font, from the real stuff.

Great trades!  You guys rock. 

Great trades!  You guys rock. 

My next project is to clean and test this box of stuff as step 1 in getting a bunch of NES systems ready for sale.

 

Great trade with Malak sent with decorations of the mighty one himself!

He even through in a D&D DVD choose your own adventure thingie that is right up my alley.

Thanks a ton!

Happy Atari Day!  I myself will be playing Colecovision tonight.  Don't worry though...I'll stick to Atarisoft games.

Laddersandcakes - I have three XEGS games for trade in the "For Trade" thread.  Check em out!

Whoa, happy Atari Day, peeps! I really need to get some gear to show the love. I may not own much Atari (yet), but I've been inspired to fire up the XEGS right now. Defender!
 

Well, that was then.  Now, it's... now, again.  Anyway, here's my next piece of evidence to support my theory.  Have a look at this Dig Dug re-release out of my collection, copyright 1986, Atari Corp:
 

 
Before we get back to my theory about Atari Corp not having the original cartridge label designs at their disposal...  holy smokes, look at that text up top!  VIDEO in one font (the original Atari Inc font), GAME CARTRIDGE and the rest in another?  It couldn't be more Atari Corp!      And on top of that, the sideways "5200" in the upper right logo?  It looks completely wrong, and nothing like any other Atari 5200 release I've seen -- it's almost as if it was cut and pasted in randomly.  Even that ATARI text itself is very slightly different -- if nothing else, it's a bit smaller.  Take a look at an older Atari Inc cart that I scanned to see the difference:
 

 
On Joust, the 5200 logo looks like the 5200 logo should, and like it always does.  But on the '86 Dig Dug cartridge?  Not so much.  I scanned both carts at the same resolution, and I cropped identical areas to compare:
 

 
The Dig Dug '86 label features the same outside-the-borders artwork that appears on the old box and manual design, just like the oddball Vanguard cartridge, and just like some Atari 2600 re-release titles I mentioned on page 1 of this thread.  With Dig Dug, the rectangular "artwork area" (i.e. the art minus the title and surrounding blue field) left space for the title to fit on the label, whereas Vanguard's "artwork area" is square -- again, probably the reason they couldn't squeeze the title on there.
 
To my knowledge, none of the other 1986 re-releases have differences like this, and that's where my theory comes up short.  One would expect to see something similar happen with Moon Patrol and Ms. Pac-Man, but they seem to have gotten those right.  In a way, though, that makes these strange cartridges even stranger.  Why was Atari Corp able to get most of their labels looking like the original Atari Inc labels, but not these few?
 
On that note... if anyone ever spots Mario Bros. or Space Invaders for the 5200 with a 1986 copyright on the game label, please let me know!  Those are the two remaining titles where, although Atari Corp boxes exist for them, every time I've seen the boxes they've had the regular old Atari Inc. cartridges inside.

My Closet Clean Out Continues!
Here's a copy of Task Force with its box, no manual. The box is missing the small piece cardboard inside that holds the cartridge near the top, so it falls all the way to the bottom. 

Man, you have a good eye.  I would have never made that connection.

I got the Sega Game Gear "X-Men" game for $2, but am too lazy to snap a picture. 

I can fix that.  I'm not sure what I have to trade that you would want though. 

Man, you have a good eye.  I would have never made that connection.