Ballblaɀer

Mountain King Atari 5200 Difficulty: Default High Score: 172,290 June 13, 2016

Definitely want that Atari Corp copy of Adventure! It would scratch off a missing game from my "no controller info" list. And what's more, it looks like it uses the Sears picture label font on the end label, too -- really weird. Anyway, I hope you'll please put that aside for me!

There's some excellent discussion (and a link to a talk given at the most recent Game Developers' Conference) about classic game preservation in general and how game companies have historically failed to embrace emulation over at Metafilter. The comparison to how many early films have been totally lost gets made, and the whole thing complements the current discussion about the just-announced NES Classic Edition, too.

You better not use that Championship Tennis for *anything* other than TV Color viewing! Some of what I got in return:

I'm in for VI. Probably it'll wrap up before October, but I'd definitely need to get the box before the last week of September.

I still have a fairly sizable Atari 2600 want list, but in terms of what I most want for my collection I'm now down to 4 Atari/Sears cartridges. Please let me know if you spot any of these for trade/sale at a good price. I'm at the point where I can't be too picky about label condition, either. Main and end labels should be intact, regardless. #04: Berzerk (yellow title picture label) -- I've seen a few of these pop up over the years. I can't decide if it's a major or minor variation in my mind, but for now it's on my want-list either way. #03: Asterix -- essentially a hack of Taz, it's incredibly hard to find this one in NTSC format. Some NTSC copies may be ©1985. Supposedly some copies that have the "P" for PAL are actually NTSC. #02: BMX Airmaster (Atari red label, NTSC) -- unfortunately one can't know if the cart is NTSC or PAL just by looking at it, and NTSC copies are super expensive #01: Superman (Sears picture label) -- I think there are 10-12 known copies of this. Not holding my breath!

I find that Activision games are some of the toughest games to get going. But most of them DO get going eventually, so I definitely wouldn't give up hope. Sometimes I'm able to get Activision carts working by pushing the cartridge in evenly, then just BARELY lifting up the left or the right side. Not lifting so far that any of the contacts slide all the way out, but just enough so that the PCB is angled slightly differently.

What's this, a package from "Nos W. Eargamer"? Not only did this fill a number of holes in my collection of manuals, Skate Boardin' completes my Absolute Entertainment collection* (4 games total), and Survival Run completes my Milton Bradley collection* (2 games total)! And the silver Atari Inc (original) release of Crystal Castles was one I didn't have, so that's a super welcome addition as well. The Atari Corp. version of Crystal Castles has more "complete" artwork, but you've gotta love the Atari Inc shine... Man, Activision was really mailing it in with their manuals by the time Ghostbusters came out. It's a folded sheet (as opposed to a booklet), and there's not even a cover image! Thanks, Mr. Eargamer! *Coming soon to a "Ballblaɀer's Collection thread" near you!

My dad really, really liked Tron -- so much so that I have a strong memory of watching him playing the Discs of Tron arcade game when I was incredibly young, long before I'd seen the movie. I cant' recall watching him ever play another arcade game, in all my years. Whether it was just that he was always saving the quarters/tokens for us kids to be able to play, or whether it was just that Discs of Tron is a very memorable game, or whether it was something else entirely, I don't know... I can't quantify it, but I'd argue that his love for the movie could ultimately be the catalyst behind much of my own love for computers, arcade games, and unique special effects. Seeing the sequel in 3D on the big screen is honestly one of the highlights of my movie-going life. I like to think that the awe and wonder that I felt wasn't dissimilar to what people felt when they first saw the original.

Love the idea of the portable, hate the design and the price. For a little bit more, one could pick up a handheld running Android (JXD 5110 for example), or Dingux (here's an A330 for $79), or something similar. Sure, they can sometimes take some extra legwork to get everything running exactly the way you want, but their versatility more than makes up for the extra cost IMO. I'm all for supporting ATGames and Atari, and I don't condone outright piracy (you do own all those games you have ROM images for, right?), but with the number of options one has to accomplish essentially the same thing -- i.e. running emulated games on a portable device that looks nothing like what it's emulating -- I can't see how this ends up being much more than a novelty item. I hope to be wrong about this.

From RickR, a cleaned-up, awesome set of VCS paddles, perfect for playing Astroblast with! And from chas10e, a super cool "Tom Boy" Taiwan Cooper box. Come for the weird title and cover art, stay for the broken English game description on the back of the box! Thanks!

Polygon just posted an article featuring some more (amazing) book previews: http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/7/4/12083190/inside-the-art-of-atari

An incomplete set -- Atari Corp picture labels with no controller info listed on the label: I love how the game titles are so all-over-the-place -- Circus Atari is especially wonky. But that's not all... - Atari Corp picture label games usually feature a small Fuji logo in the lower left hand corner of the artwork, and that's true for 8 out of 10 here. But Circus Atari still has the older-style (larger) Fuji, and Video Checkers doesn't have one at all! - Video Checkers also has the word "Model" embedded in the artwork next to the product number (CX2636). Only a handful of Atari Corp. pic label games have this oddity (Black Jack, Flag Capture, Golf, and Video Checkers are the only ones, I think). - Of course, you also have the different title font of Air-Sea Battle -- it's most evident by comparing the capital A to other game titles. We also see it on the end label for Pac-Man: I'm still missing a bunch of these (games with no controller info listed). Still need: Adventure, Berzerk, Brain Games, Code Breaker, Combat, Defender, Dodge 'Em (PAL only?), Haunted House, Indy 500, Math Gran Prix, Sky Diver, Star Raiders, Video Pinball. There's also a version of the weird orange-label Breakout without controller info. These can be super tough to find -- I don't think I've *ever* seen an Indy 500 in this style.

Time for another fun pirate / PAL multi-cart! This time, it's a 16-game extravaganza... (If a product has to convince you that it's exciting, well...) So here we are, another made-in-Taiwan release likely for distribution in southern Europe (Italy, Greece, etc), with some box art that looks sorta Soviet science fiction-like. What's that "path" or "road" or whatever that is that's made up of game box art? Maybe that'll tell us what's included on the cartridge! (Larger image linked here, so you can play along.) In the front row we see Pac-Man, for Atari 400/800. Star Battle, for the VIC-20. Star Wars Jedi Arena, for the 2600. And Android Attack, for the TRS-80 or Dragon 32/64 computer. ...um. Clearly, this will not tell us what's included on the cartridge. What we have here is generic artwork used on many of these multi-cart releases. Still, I think it's fun to take a closer look at. What else is pictured? Next row: Jumbo Jet Pilot (Atari 400/800), Wacky Waiters (VIC-20), some odd "Invaders" artwork that I can't identify, Parsec (TI-99/4A), Astrosmash (Intellivision). Following row: Space Invaders (2600 artwork, but design is unclear), Asteroids (Atari 2600 international version), a game that I'd love to identify (it shows five people standing around... something, and underneath them it says _____ _____ _____, where the middle word looks like either TOUR or YOUR)... and from here on out it gets difficult to discern what the games are. Amidar is definitely visible on the left side towards the back. There's a black box on the right with a jack o' lantern face, and the text on it appears to say HALLOWEEN, but I know of no game artwork that looks like this. Some of the boxes waaaaay in the back look like they might be Intellivision games. What an eclectic mix! Alright, let's flip to the back of the box. Perhaps THAT will give us a better idea of what's incl-- Hmm, 12 screenshot/art things -- maybe they're related? Maybe THEY can tell us which "COMPUTERS SYSTEM VIDEO GAME PROGRAMs" we have here! On the left we can see what might be Pole Position or Enduro, Pitfall, something with a helicopter (Chopper Command?), what looks like Freeway... And on the right, that front one with the shark looks like the image from Harbor Escape (Panda), there's a little Frog(ger?) shown in the corner of one of 'em, and toward the back is what looks like the robot-thing from the infamously horrible Pac-Kong. Alrighty, let's slide out the cartridge itself, maybe its label will give us a better ide-- ...never mind, then. Hey, at least the art on the V-case cart matches what's on the box! The cart's end label helpfully reminds us of what we have here, proper pluralization be damned: Okay -- no more messing around. Let's look at the label with game names and dip switch configurations on the back: Hey, I know some of those names! But of course with these multi-carts, even having the names is no guarantee of game content. The only way to be sure is to play. So, let's go to the games! (/NSG'd!)* Running down the list, 10 games have the same title as what we'd expect. The ones that are different: SKI RUN is Skiing (Activision) IQ WINNER ( ) is... Flag Capture (Atari) COW BOY is... Stampede (Activision) TANK WAR is... Combat (Atari) MATHMATIC is... Basic Math/Fun With Numbers (Atari) FISHING is... Fishing Derby (Activision) FISHING is, however, an interesting hack of the original Fishing Derby. The fishermen have differently shaped (fatter) bodies, and the fish are replaced with... crabs. (Shouldn't it be called Crabbing, then?) FISHING also appears on Atari's oddball "32 in 1" multi-cart release, where it's listed as "Fishing"... and its game description explains that "The object of this game is to catch the crabs..." :unsure: So... in the end, as best I can tell, all of ONE game on the multi-cart -- Freeway -- is *also* depicted on the outside of the game box. Did people buy multi-carts in generic boxes without having any idea what they were buying? I mean... I guess they must have. Craziness. *Huge old-school internet points if you get this reference.

Some additions to the collection this weekend... 1) The rare 1986 Atari Corp re-release of Sky Diver with white text in the "new" style font. I alluded to this release back in my post way back when about the Breakout and Hangman re-releases -- the end label of this one also has the extra large text. Unfortunately, the Sky Diver cart I picked up had a shredded end label. Whenever I finally get a clean copy, this one will be for trade/sale. 2) The most off-center, crooked print I've ever seen on an Atari cartridge! Guess whoooo? Oh, Atari Corp... RealSports Volleyball is also the only Atari Corp release that has a red title bar that doesn't go all the way across the front of the cartridge. Bizarre, and makes it look a little like a pirate cart, I think. Also, the font/text they used for the copyright info on the bottom just seems... slightly off. Like, the letters are off-kilter, some are raised, some are tilted. Is it just me? It can't be just me... 3) And yes -- I paid actual, real, legal tender for a copy of Combat. I'd never seen this particular type before, that has the end label text in the "fat" style font. It's a little out of focus in my photo, but all the letters touch each other and the "holes" inside the letters are smaller than usual. It's version "S" on the VGV page.

We could all start sending you Wico Boss sticks -- it could be like that one guy who has people send him Jerry Maguire on VHS. There's a leaderboard and everything.

I may have a dupe 2600 Pengo coming my way soon. If it works out, I'll have one for trade -- I'll keep you in mind. All the other VCS carts are ones I'm still after myself...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/06/21/dynamite-tuesday-the-art-of-atari-deluxe-edition-to-include-100-games/ Is that puddle on the floor from me drooling or from my wallet crying? Maybe both.

Thanks... I'm especially happy with this ROTLA post since I don't think anyone has ever tried to really figure this weirdness out before. Matching up the date stamp with the closure of the Atari plant in PR was a real aha! moment, and it's one of those things that just *feels* like it's the right answer. Well, at least to me, it does.

I love the 2600 version of Berzerk. It's a good level of difficulty and invites marathon play, unlike the 5200 version which is just punishing. I don't mind the missing voice synth at all. There are a TON of arcade ports on the 2600. Here are more not yet mentioned, and I still may be missing some: Amidar Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom Bump 'n' Jump Burgertime Carnival Circus (Atari) Congo Bongo Crazy Climber Dig Dug Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Jr Double Dragon Front Line GORF Gravitar (yeah, vectors!) Gyruss Ikari Warriors Journey (Escape) Joust Krull Kung Fu Master Mario Bros Moon Patrol Mouse Trap Mr. Do! Mr. Do!'s Castle Night Driver Omega Race Pengo Phoenix Pole Position Pooyan Popeye Q*Bert Q*Bert's Qubes Reactor Roc'n Rope Sky Skipper Solar Fox Space War Strategy X Super Cobra Tac/Scan (yeah, vectors!) Tapper Time Pilot Track & Field Up 'n' Down Vanguard Venture Wizard of Wor Xenophobe Zaxxon One could also make an argument for Warlords (as the arcade version was released first) but supposedly development of the 2600 version started before the arcade version. Of everything now mentioned, my personal ten favorites (not in any order): Asteroids Berzerk Bump 'n' Jump GORF (even with the missing level) Gravitar Joust Mario Bros Night Driver Space Invaders Tapper

Well, I'm a little late with it now, but here it is anyway. Yesterday, June 12, was the 35th anniversary of the premiere of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. With that in mind, here's a new label variation recently added to my collection: If you collect for the 2600 long enough, you know right away when something looks unusual, and... yep, this looks unusual! This end label uses the Sears Tele-Games picture label font in place of the red font that's normally used on the end labels of Atari's silver label cartridges. What happened here? Is this yet another Atari Corp screw-up? It sure seems like that kind of thing, upon first glance... Raiders of the Lost Ark was reportedly the first Atari-branded cartridge to be sold at Sears. Until that time, all Atari products at Sears were sold with proprietary Sears branding on them; e.g. there was the Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade instead of the Atari VCS, game cartridges with alternate titles (and sometimes artwork) like Gunslinger (Outlaw), Race (Indy 500), Pong Sports (Video Olympics), etc. The release of ROTLA at Sears would have been in Fall of 1982, probably sometime in or around October. ROTLA was also one of the first Atari games to sport the new "silver" 2600 labels and come packaged in the more contemporary-looking silver-colored boxes, and the games shipped for sale at Sears were no exception. Now, getting back to this cartridge for a second... My understanding is that the date stamps on the end labels of cartridges indicate when the cartridge was assembled, not when the label was printed. The date stamped on this odd end label is 1 7 4 -- the 17th week of 1984 (so, the last full week of April). This was, of course, before Atari Inc. closed up shop and Atari Corp took over production. You're off the hook this time, Atari Corp! However, April 1984 is also a FAR later date than all other dates stamped on Sears picture label cartridges -- the latest date reported I've seen is the 44th week of 1982 (Star Raiders). So -- what happened here? My best guess is that, given that ROTLA was one of the first (if not the first) silver label games to be released, Atari printed a run of ROTLA end labels for Sears *before* Sears learned that Atari was changing the look of their game packaging and labels. Atari's move to using silver foil for their new game labels may very well be what prompted Sears to finally abandon their self-branding policy: i.e., wanting to keep up with Atari's new, more modern-looking aesthetic, Sears rejected these older-style end labels. However, for reasons unknown, some sheets of the unused Sears labels somehow managed to make their way into an assembly line in April 1984. One plausible reason for how *that* happened: Atari's manufacturing plant in Fajardo, Puerto Rico -- which assembled VCS cartridges starting in March of 1981 -- ceased operations on April 27th, 1984. Yep -- the 17th week of 1984! Considering that the announcement of Atari Caribe's shut-down came on April 6, that would have given the Fajardo plant three weeks to assemble stock from materials they had remaining on-site. It'd be pretty easy for, say, an assembly line worker who was more concerned with finding a new job to load in some old ROTLA end label sheets by mistake. Or who knows, perhaps Atari HQ instructed them to use anything and everything they had on hand. It's interesting -- the Atari Engineering Information System in-house master parts list from early 1984 shows the ROTLA Sears end labels alongside the usual Sears suspects, but right there with them is SQ Earthworld, SQ Fireworld, and Frog Pond (unreleased). Those four titles all have "REV LVL" (revision level) codes of 00, possibly meaning that they weren't ever "officially" used. That said, given the existence of carts with these ROTLA end labels, one might wonder if there aren't also a precious few Swordquest cartridges with Sears-font end labels floating around out there somewhere... EDIT: There exists a Sears version of the manual! Check it out over on the excellent "SwordQuest Revisited" page on Digital Press. Well, *I* wonder about things like that, anyway. Given that a scan of the Sears picture label version of Superman wasn't posted online until 2005 (because nobody in the online collecting community had one!), and an ununsed sheet of Tank-Plus picture labels turned up sometime in the late 90s or early 2000s, I think it's pretty clear that new finds along these lines remain possible even now!

I just couldn't leave this VTech Learning Window to sit unwanted next to alarm clocks, junk cameras, and VCRs. For being a toy computer from 1985, the thing is pretty amazing. Dot matrix animated LCD display, accepts a voice module cartridge, runs additional cartridges (that come boxed with keyboard overlays). It still works; takes six C batteries. Anyone here into collecting these kinds of things? I've got this and an original Sears Computron (with box and AC adapter) if someone has interest. I didn't know until just now that the Computron was also a VTech product. Cool.