RickR

Games! 

We're working on an Atari I/O Open House for Atari Day, just not sure what events we'd have. Like the idea!

Brain flash:  How about we make this coming 5/26 Atari Day a special edition "Atari.io" Day?  Tell a friend about this great site, and say thanks to our hosts for providing this resource to us. 
 

Brain flash:  How about we make this coming 5/26 Atari Day a special edition "Atari.io" Day?  Tell a friend about this great site, and say thanks to our hosts for providing this resource to us. 
 

I was at a shop just yesterday, and they had Atari bowling (text labels) in both red and blue.  Didn't know what to make of that. 

Back to the 2600...
 
Wacky foreign cartridge time?  Wacky foreign cartridge time!  I'm not really a collector of boxed cartridges -- or PAL cartridges, for that matter -- but I now have two in my collection, and I haven't yet decided whether I'll keep/trade/sell them.  Here's the first one:
 

 
Wha... what in the name of Nolan Bushnell is that?!
 

 
Ahhhhh, say no more.  "There's your answer, fishbulb!"  Taiwan seems to have a fairly convoluted history of producing unique and sometimes unusual Atari 2600 products.  Some excellent work has gone into untangling how many of the various manufacturers are related -- the best-written explanation I've come across was published in the Digital Press Guide (and was re-posted over at AA last year).
 
Anyway, let's take a closer look.  First, we have the cartridge shell: these are commonly known as "V-Case" games, due to the triangle/V-styled shape at the top of the cart.  It's a multi-game cartridge that features three sliding DIP switches, where the user can position them to choose from eight games.  Simple yet clever, and especially so when compared to Atari's official multi-cart (32-in-1), where the only way to choose games was to cycle through them one by one BY TURNING YOUR CONSOLE ON AND OFF.  Pure insanity, and a fantastic way to wear out your power switch really fast.
 
So, what's actually on this cart?  Let's take a look at the box...
 

 
Oh.  Huh.  Okay.  That's... not a lot of help.  Even close-up it's not really clear what some of those are supposed to be.  But at least we know it's "FOR USE WITH THE VIDEO COMPUTER GAMES."  Let's try the back of the box, instead!
 

 
If that arrow is to be believed, it's got some pretty familiar titles, except for "Mafia".  Man, I wanted to play some "Chinese Konfu", or "Cow Boy", or "Airbone Assault"! 
 
Well, guess what?  Big surprise: that arrow is not to be believed.  It's a generic box, and NONE of those six lists matches the cart that's inside.  Let's check the cart's end label -- that'll tell us:
 

 
Okay, enough screwing around -- WHAT GAMES ARE ACTUALLY ON THE CART?!
"Base Attack" is Z-Tack, by BOMB.  Unexpected. "Missile Attack" is Missile Control, by Video Gems, a Hong Kong publisher that distributed games in Europe.  It's a PAL *original* game, and it's actually quite good, I think!  Difficulty ramps up fast, though. "Sky Diver" is Parachute, by Home Vision.  Another PAL *original* game, sold in Germany as Vom Himmel durch die Hölle, which translates to "From Heavens, Through Hell".  Badass!  The gameplay music is... well, it's worth a listen.  It sounds a bit of a mess, but it's meant to be the main theme from the 1962 movie The Longest Day -- written by Paul Anka!  And... guess who adopted the theme as their own regimental march?  The Canadian Airborne Regiment (1968-1995)!  That is some stellar work, Home Vision programmer guy. "Circus (See Saw)" is Circus Atari... but it uses a joystick instead of paddles!  Yeah, that's not gonna be a good time.  It's not as bad as you might think, but it's not good, either. "Mega Force" is Mega Force, by 20th Century Fox.  An okay game.  "Tank City" is... Thunderground, by Sega.  I would have guessed Combat, or Battlezone, or Robot Tank.  Or the last few seasons of Philadelphia 76ers basketball!  Another somewhat unexpected title. "Volley Ball" is... RealSports Volleyball.  Yawn. "Tennis II" is... Tennis, by Activision.  Meh. Pretty neat, all things considered!  Admittedly, I bought this and the other game (coming soon!) at a great price with a plan to re-sell, but... I'm not sure how I can part with this.  It's got an interesting back story, a few fun games that can't generally be found anywhere local, and it's in decent condition, too.
 
Of course, it *is* PAL format, which means my TV cuts off a number of the top and bottom scanlines.  But the picture doesn't roll, so at least the games remain mostly playable.  I just spent 30 minutes playing Parachute and Missile Control, and I'm heading back for more now! 

Winston looks like a good boy.  Happy birthday to him. 

Special delivery from Senor Fergojisan!
 
This is a game I've wanted for oh, 26 years now. The only times I played this was during basketball season of my junior year in high school. Before nearly all of our games, we would grab Burger King & gather at my buddy's house & play this before leaving for our games. He had created our HS baseball team & was playing a season with them. We were captivated by it. Thank you Ferg!!
 

 
Tomorrow (May 19) is my boy Winston's 7th birthday, so I had him pose with my score. (Don't worry, he gets presents other than CIB NES games)

Who else remembers this monumental event?
 

 

 

 
 
More info here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-35-years-ago/393557/
 
 
And here was the view from my front yard...about 70 miles to the south.

 

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

Who else remembers this monumental event?
 

 

 

 
 
More info here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-35-years-ago/393557/
 
 
And here was the view from my front yard...about 70 miles to the south.

 

It should work with any joystick I would think.  My guess would be that it's broken, or possibly just needs to have the pins cleaned. 

http://rs382.pbsrc.com/albums/oo268/Sr-Ferraz/Atari%202600%20-%20Others%20Items/PointMasterFIRECONTROLBydiscwasher.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

Who else remembers this monumental event?
 

 

 

 
 
More info here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-35-years-ago/393557/
 
 
And here was the view from my front yard...about 70 miles to the south.

 

Who else remembers this monumental event?
 

 

 

 
 
More info here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-35-years-ago/393557/
 
 
And here was the view from my front yard...about 70 miles to the south.

 

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

http://rs382.pbsrc.com/albums/oo268/Sr-Ferraz/Atari%202600%20-%20Others%20Items/PointMasterFIRECONTROLBydiscwasher.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

It's a turbo fire button doohickey.

2600 Games for trade
 
First, what's new.  If you haven't tried Astroblast with paddles (it also works with joystick), you haven't lived.
 

 
Second, the full box.  That's Racquetball and Cosmic Ark in the middle.
 

2600 Games for trade
 
First, what's new.  If you haven't tried Astroblast with paddles (it also works with joystick), you haven't lived.
 

 
Second, the full box.  That's Racquetball and Cosmic Ark in the middle.
 

"Popeye" for the Atari 8-bit computer.  The label is in very bad shape -- the top portion is missing.  But it is tested and works. 

I found this Vizio 13" analog LCD TV for $11.  I figure these things are going to get harder and harder to find, and they are perfect for playing old consoles.  Very light and easy to move around, and nice picture quality.