Scott Stilphen Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) A beautiful-looking book, albeit a misnamed one. From the moment you flip open the front cover, you immediately realize the focus is on Atari’s VCS/2600 games, which is a shame since Atari was a coin-op company for 5 years before the VCS was released, and coin-op games are only briefly covered. The author probably should have stuck to the topic of game artwork, instead of veering into other areas (like prototype hardware), and attempts at being a historical reference book only succeed in making some of the factual errors within even more glaring. Starting at pg. 57, there’s plenty of photos of VCS game boxes, although some of the boxes photographed are noticeably creased or damaged – starting with the first box, Air-Sea Battle. Hundreds of thousands of copies were made and sold of the games in question. Time should have been spent finding better copies to photograph, considering the overall look (and price) of either edition. Also, the games appear in random order, not alphabetically, so finding a specific game requires use of the index. The first and last 3 pages are all screenshots of VCS games – except one. Of the 108 screenshots, one is the 7800 version of Galaga. Two are of games originally released by Coleco (Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior), and one is a bad screenshot of BASIC Programming (which was used again on page 98). Notable errors (considering Marty Goldberg is credited for his "fact-checking", I suppose this is yet another book he has corrupted): Pg. 18, 49 The 7800 was initially released by Atari Inc. in 1984, not Jack Tramiel’s Atari Corp., who re-released it in 1986. Pg. 61 Cliff Spohn talks about Atari wanting to cut the artwork off from the outer edges. Only the original, gate-fold Combat boxes included the full artwork as shown. The 2nd trimmed should have been included for comparison. Pg. 64 Atari’s coin-op Starship 1 was released in 1976, not 1977; the VCS version (Star Ship) was released in 1977. Pg. 66 There were 3 coin-op “snake” games released in 1976 - Barricade (Ramtek), Bigfoot Bonkers (Meadows) and Blockade (UPL, Gremlin). Pg. 76 “I thought of Monte Carlo, outdoors, images of the car…” Should be “images of the cards”. Pg. 86 Night Driver was the first VCS driving video game to offer a 1st-person perspective, but the arcade game was inspired by Nürburgring 1 (Dr.-Ing. Reiner Foerst GmbH 1976). Pg. 87 No mention of Outlaw’s artwork being a copy of that found on the poster for the movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales. Pg. 113 The interior manual artwork appears in the 1988 re-release of Pele’s Soccer. Pg. 115 As with Outlaw, there’s no mention of the artwork for VCS Space Invaders being a close copy of the artwork for Boston’s early albums, particularly their 2nd album, “Don’t Look Back”, except for in the book's afterword. The artist for the Boston artwork was Gary Norman, but the artist for S.I. is simply Norman. There's no other information the book about him or whether or not he's the same artist, or why an in-house artist wasn't used. Pg. 123 The Asteroids artwork is turned 90 degrees to the right, compared to how it appeared on the packaging. Pg. 130 Only half of the interior 5200 Missile Command artwork appears in the manual, and only in 1 color (red). Pg. 133 Both the coin-op and VCS versions of Warlords were developed concurrently. The coin-op version was released first and featured multiple balls. Programmer Jim Huether was the model Steve Hendricks used for his artwork, but the book makes no mention of this. Pg. 135 States the photo on the preceding page was for a 4-player Football ad, but the photo shows a baseball pitcher. Atari never released a 4-player Baseball coin-op. Pg 136 States the VCS wasn’t able to reproduce the arcade game’s speech, which is incorrect. Not only was the VCS capable of digitized speech, as shown with Quadrun and Open Sesame, Mike Mika released a version of Berzerk in 2002 that included voice samples during the game. Also, the interior artwork shown is cropped, compared to how it appears in the manual. Pg. 152 There’s no mention of this but besides Elliot’s expression, another change was made with the artwork – the “diamonds” around the center of the spaceship were made smaller. The large diamonds appeared on a promo box and the initial run of cartridges. Pg. 164 States, “Atari paid handsomely for the exclusive rights to bring Pac-Man to the 2600.” According to Al Alcorn, Atari signed a deal with Namco in 1978 for $1 million that gave Atari the rights to all of Namco's arcade games. Pac-Man (AKA Puck Man) didn't exist in 1978, and considering the success the game would eventually have, Atari paid far less than it was truly worth, and Atari also got Galaxian as part of the same deal. Pg. 170 States, “the technical aspects of the 2600 made creating a mirror image of the arcade counterpart nearly impossible”, which is incorrect. Several hacks and homebrews have been created in the last 15+ years to prove a better version could have absolutely been done with only 4K. Pg. 182 The RealSports cover art is reversed on the packaging. Also, only the 2nd interior artwork appears in the VCS and 5200 manuals, and both are in color. Pg. 202 Ralph McQuarrie - the most famous artist outside of Atari mentioned in the book - did the artwork for VCS Vanguard and yet there's no story as to how this came about. His name isn't even included in the index. Pg. 206 The photo caption states the artwork shown appeared in the Yars’ Revenge manual, but it didn’t. Pg. 211 The description for Big Bird’s Egg Catch says you have to catch eggs from one of two chutes, but different variations offer anywhere from 2 to 5 chutes, and a screenshot for the game on the first page shows 4 chutes. Pg. 221 The top photo caption states the color guide and marker comp was for the 400/800 version, but the illustrated screenshot is clearly for the VCS version. Pg. 222-223 The artwork shown is for the 400/800 versions, but the screenshots shown are for the VCS versions, which weren’t done by Atari but rather Coleco. Pg. 234 Incorrectly states players in Mario Bros. hurl fireballs. Pg. 238 The first interior artwork shown did not appear in either the VCS or 5200 manuals. Pg. 244 The Pole Position artwork shown is actually for Pole Position II. Pg. 246 The artwork shown on page 247 also appeared on the July/Aug 1983 V2N2 cover of Atari Age magazine. Pg. 262 Incorrectly states the winner of the SwordQuest FireWorld contest, Michael Rideout, melted down the Chalice prize to pay for college. The winner of the SwordQuest EarthWorld contest, Steven Bell, is the one who melted down his Talisman prize to pay for college. Pg 264 Claims the SwordQuest WaterWorld contest was held and the Crown prize awarded, but as of yet, there’s no evidence that any of this happened. Pg. 266 Claims the final 2 SwordQuest prizes were returned to the Franklin Mint and ultimately destroyed, but again, there’s no evidence that any of this happened. Pg. 258 No high-resolution packaging artwork for SwordQuest EarthWorld; instead, a picture of a box with creases. Also, Atari Age magazine is written as one word “AtariAge”. Pg. 260, 262. Atari Age magazine is written as one word “AtariAge”. Pg. 276 Jr. Pac-Man featured a side-scrolling maze in the arcade version, but the VCS version features a vertically-scrolling maze. Pg. 279 The first photo caption states this was interior manual art for the 2600 and 5200 versions, but it only appeared in the 5200 manual. Pg. 280 Incorrectly states the artwork shown was for the VCS manual. It didn't appear in the manual, but was featured in an ad for the game, on the back cover of Atari Age magazine (V2,N5). Pg. 291 Incorrectly states KLAX was released 12 years after the VCS system was released; it was 14 years. Pg. 298 The VCS model 2600A was a 4-switch version, not 6-switch as incorrectly stated. Also, the Space Age joystick is a copy of Milton Bradley's proposed HD2000 joystick, and not based on the prototype trigger controllers shown. Pg. 303. The 5200 controllers were not “spin-sensitive”. Pg. 317 Axlon is misspelled as “Axalon”. Pg. 321 “Tank II was to be the numerical sequel to Atari’s Tank arcade game.” Atari (under Kee Games) released a Tank II arcade game in 1974, the same year as the original. The “II” moniker for the home console was likely to indicate it was for 2 players. Pg. 328 Atari Age magazine is written as one word “AtariAge”. Pg. 329 Key Games didn’t just clone Atari games, they released many exclusive games, like Drag Race, Sprint One, Sprint 2, Super Bug, Tank, and Ultra Tank. Edited February 17, 2017 by Scott Stilphen Greyfox, GRay Defender, Atari 5200 Guy and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo-Yo Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 So? Atari 5200 Guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari 5200 Guy Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Maybe that's why I always have a soft-spot for Space Invaders besides it being the first video game I ever played. I am a huge fan of Boston and thought the label looked familiar. To be honest, though, it doesn't look the same to me. And the term "copy" usually means "exact duplicate". One might have influenced the other but Space Invaders' UFO artwork is not an exact copy. Not trying to step on toes or anything but just pointing this out. These have been a part of my life since my childhood and I have never thought about them being duplicates of each other. Lost Dragon and greenween 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) Maybe that's why I always have a soft-spot for Space Invaders besides it being the first video game I ever played. I am a huge fan of Boston and thought the label looked familiar. To be honest, though, it doesn't look the same to me. And the term "copy" usually means "exact duplicate". One might have influenced the other but Space Invaders' UFO artwork is not an exact copy. Not trying to step on toes or anything but just pointing this out. These have been a part of my life since my childhood and I have never thought about them being duplicates of each other. The same-shaped saucer, with a glass dome on top with a city/buildings underneath, a hole in the bottom with 3 rays coming down, with mountains all around? You don't think they look the same? Really? No, the S.I. graphic doesn't say "Boston" on it, and there's 3 saucers instead of one, and it's night instead of day, so it's not an exact duplicate. lol But there's no way in hell 2 different artists came up with the same design like that. I suppose you're going to tell me Outlaw's artwork is original too... It's like any artistic field - the artists of today are influenced by those who came before them, whether it's intentional or not. But that S.I. artwork certainly is something the artist for Boston's albums could have had a very good case for, and probably should have received some money from Atari for, esp. considering how many copies of VCS S.I. they sold. Scott's is someone very much like myself by the sounds of it, when your paying £30+ for a book... That's just it. If this was some quick-publishing thing somebody cranked out for $9.99, I'd say, you got what you paid for. But I paid a lot more than that (and I bought both versions). This was something I was looking forward to ever since the author announced it 3 years ago (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/220583-), and according to him, he had already been working on it for several years before then. So considering the quality of some of the photos included, It's hard to believe better copies could not have been found anywhere within the last 5 years. At least have someone Photoshop some of the creases out. Besides Atariage, I don't know if he asked for help anywhere else, but not everyone is on that site. Questionable photos aside, some of the factual errors are just maddening, like claiming SwordQuest FireWorld winner Michael Rideout is the one who melted his prize down (!?), or that the 5200 controllers are "spin-sensitive" (??). I get that Tim Lapetino isn't a 'history' guy; clearly his focus was on artwork. But to have someone like Goldberg fact-check your book? He can't even fact-check his own book. I wonder if Tim ever read that awful book Goldberg put out. Why not have someone like noted author Leonard Herman (http://www.rolentapress.com/) do your fact-checking? Edited September 11, 2017 by Scott Stilphen Lost Dragon, Greyfox and Ballblaɀer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 It's like any artistic field - the artists of today are influenced by those who came before them, whether it's intentional or not. But that S.I. artwork certainly is something the artist for Boston's albums could have had a very good case for, and probably should have received some money from Atari for, esp. considering how many copies of VCS S.I. they sold. I am fairly certain that the cover artwork for Don't Look Back and the Space Invaders artwork were created by the same person: Gary Norman. As Scott points out, the art is unmistakably similar, for one thing. But if you look at the (vinyl) album cover for Don't Look Back you can see the other half of the artwork that's not usually seen. Compare the artist signatures: I'd be surprised if those signatures weren't from the same person. That said, I can't seem to find a hint of additional information about Gary Norman. He doesn't seem to have done any other album artwork as far as I can tell, and I haven't been able to locate any other fantasy artwork by an artist with that name. Perhaps it's a pseudonym? Roger Huyssen was the artist who first created the Boston "city-within-a-guitar-spaceship" (see the portfolio on his website) for the debut (self-titled) album in '76. The credits for Don't Look Back have Gary Norman credited for "Cover Art", while Roger Huyssen is credited for "Cover Illustration". I suppose this credit may be a result of Norman using the Huyssen spaceship concept in his own artwork. I may try contacting Mr. Huyssen to see if he can fill in any of the blanks here... Lost Dragon and Justin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2017 (edited) I am fairly certain that the cover artwork for Don't Look Back and the Space Invaders artwork were created by the same person: Gary Norman. As Scott points out, the art is unmistakably similar, for one thing. But if you look at the (vinyl) album cover for Don't Look Back you can see the other half of the artwork that's not usually seen. Compare the artist signatures: It's possible, but we don't know. I noticed the "M" in both signatures is written a bit differently, and the sig in the S.I. artwork doesn't have a first name. Typically artists always sign their works the same way with every piece they do. Lapetino certainly didn't dig any deeper on it, since he simply lists the artist as "Norman". Apparently this Norman wasn't an in-house artist, as none of the other artists had anything to say about him or his artwork. And if this was an outside contract job, why? Why not turn to your own in-house artists? Maybe Huyssen can offer more info about him. Let us know if you have any success contacting him. Likewise, what's the story with Ralph McQuarrie - the most famous artist outside of Atari mentioned in the book - doing the artwork for VCS Vanguard? The book only mentions he's worked on many films. His name isn't even included in the index. @ Lost Dragon Yep, the book is called "ART" of Atari, not "History of". A book shouldn't try to be something it was never intended to be to begin with. I mean, you don't set out to write a cooking book, and spend 1 or more chapters on the history of stoves and cooking utensils. What you end up with is some glossed-over section that ultimately doesn't need to be included. There's plenty of books already on the history of game consoles and vaporware hardware, so why bother covering the same ground, especially when that's not the focus of your book? Well, it seems Lapetino is certainly going to "milk" the topic for a bit longer, as he already has 2 more books out on it. There's Art of Atari: Capsule Edition and Art of Atari: Poster Collection. Not sure why the Asteroids artwork continues to be shown at a different angle than how it was originally used, but I'll stick with my original poster I guess. Edited February 15, 2017 by Scott Stilphen Greyfox and Atari 5200 Guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari 5200 Guy Posted February 15, 2017 Report Share Posted February 15, 2017 It's possible, but we don't know. I noticed the "M" in both signatures is written a bit differently, and the sig in the S.I. artwork doesn't have a first name. Typically artists always sign their works the same way with every piece they do. Lapetino certainly didn't dig any deeper on it, since he simply lists the artist as "Norman". Apparently this Norman wasn't an in-house artist, as none of the other artists had anything to say about him or his artwork. And if this was an outside contract job, why? Why not turn to your own in-house artists? Maybe Huyssen can offer more info about him. Let us know if you have any success contacting him. Likewise, what's the story with Ralph McQuarrie - the most famous artist outside of Atari mentioned in the book - doing the artwork for VCS Vanguard? The book only mentions he's worked on many films. His name isn't even included in the index. @ Lost Dragon Yep, the book is called "ART" of Atari, not "History of". A book shouldn't try to be something it was never intended to be to begin with. I mean, you don't set out to write a cooking book, and spend 1 or more chapters on the history of stoves and cooking utensils. What you end up with is some glossed-over section that ultimately doesn't need to be included. There's plenty of books already on the history of game consoles and vaporware hardware, so why bother covering the same ground, especially when that's not the focus of your book? Well, it seems Lapetino is certainly going to "milk" the topic for a bit longer, as he already has 2 more books out on it. There's Art of Atari: Capsule Edition and Art of Atari: Poster Collection. Not sure why the Asteroids artwork continues to be shown at a different angle than how it was originally used, but I'll stick with my original poster I guess. I learn something new everyday about the 2600 artwork. After seeing the signature on both S.I. and Boston's Don't Look Back it is very possible that the same artist did both labels. And overtime the artist(s) may change their signature on their work. I know...I have done it...especially during college. Either that or a very slim chance that two different, but very talented, artists have close to the same writing and art style. Look at it in this perspective: Release Date - Boston - Don't Look Back - August 2, 1978 Release Date - Space Invaders (2600) - 1980 Two years between these two now pop-culture icons attacking the public's eye. And we all have to eat so it is possible that someone at Atari loved Boston and wanted a similar appeal for the Space Invaders game being produced for the 2600. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't S.I. on the 2600 be the first game to use artwork that didn't use the same style found on Othello, Video Chess, and others before it? Interesting conversation for sure. If nothing else, see if Gary Norman is still alive and ask him. The worst he could say is "No" or ignore any messages asking about it. Lost Dragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2017 Poster edition I get, but what is the capsule edition?. Don't know, but I will soon. My guess is it's just a "light" version of the original that doesn't include everything. ...overtime the artist(s) may change their signature on their work. Sure, but you already answered your own question, as we're only talking about 2 years between pieces Until someone finds out more about the artist (and that person should have been Lapetino...), we just don't know for sure the same person did both or not. Lost Dragon and Atari 5200 Guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted February 15, 2017 Report Share Posted February 15, 2017 Don't know, but I will soon. My guess is it's just a "light" version of the original that doesn't include everything. Sure, but you already answered your own question, as we're only talking about 2 years between pieces Until someone finds out more about the artist (and that person should have been Lapetino...), we just don't know for sure the same person did both or not. The Capsule Edition is a limited run version made exclusively for subscribers to LootCrate DX, the monthly mystery gaming-and-geeky-stuff box delivery service. I don't have one so I can't comment on how condensed/abridged the book was for this edition. Roger Huyssen kindly wrote me back and said that he was not at all involved in the artwork that was used for Don't Look Back -- he'd created entirely separate cover artwork that went unused. So he's unfamiliar with Gary Norman (like the rest of us). As for the similarities of the DLB and SI artwork and the signatures, he shares my opinion -- that while the artwork style is somewhat different and the signatures aren't exactly identical, he "would guess it's the same artist." I've written again to ask if he might point me toward anyone else who could shed additional light on this. Will report back if I get any further... Atari 5200 Guy and Lost Dragon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Roger Huyssen kindly wrote me back and said that he was not at all involved in the artwork that was used for Don't Look Back -- he'd created entirely separate cover artwork that went unused. So he's unfamiliar with Gary Norman (like the rest of us). As for the similarities of the DLB and SI artwork and the signatures, he shares my opinion -- that while the artwork style is somewhat different and the signatures aren't exactly identical, he "would guess it's the same artist." As an artist, he should know how critical his signature is when determining proof. Just to give one example, with the U.S. TV show Pawn Stars, how many times have you seen the owners bring in an expert to prove/disprove the signature or do a writing analysis on something (usually memorabilia, but quite often for documents or books)? Something simple like that 'M' would have been enough to raise doubt in an expert's mind (why would the same artist take the time to PRINT it differently?). I agree, it's likely same artist did both pieces, but then again who's to say the S.I. one wasn't faked in the style of the original artist? I for one would like to see this mystery put to rest. 37 years is long enough Atari 5200 Guy, Lost Dragon and Ballblaɀer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 As an artist, he should know how critical his signature is when determining proof. Just to give one example, with the U.S. TV show Pawn Stars, how many times have you seen the owners bring in an expert to prove/disprove the signature or do a writing analysis on something (usually memorabilia, but quite often for documents or books)? Something simple like that 'M' would have been enough to raise doubt in an expert's mind (why would the same artist take the time to PRINT it differently?). I agree, it's likely same artist did both pieces, but then again who's to say the S.I. one wasn't faked in the style of the original artist? I for one would like to see this mystery put to rest. 37 years is long enough I hope to unearth something more on this, but Robert Conte mentions in the book's afterward that "months of research" weren't enough to verify it. I agree - it'd be pretty cool to solve this mystery! Lost Dragon and Atari 5200 Guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari 5200 Guy Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just a theory...what if (I know...big word) Gary did change his signature on the Atari cart to separate that work from other works just in case something went wrong. In doing so he would be able to protect the work enjoyed and deny work that failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) I hope to unearth something more on this, but Robert Conte mentions in the book's afterward that "months of research" weren't enough to verify it. I agree - it'd be pretty cool to solve this mystery! Thanks. I missed that. It should have been mentioned somewhere -in- the book, and not -after- it. I also updated my comments about Pg. 164 regarding Atari paying "handsomely for the exclusive rights to bring Pac-Man to the 2600.” I knew that wasn't true, and I tracked down comments about it from Steven Kent's "The First Quarter/Ultimate History of Video Games" books. In them, according to a quote from Al Alcorn, Atari signed a deal with Namco in 1978 for $1 million that gave Atari the rights to all of Namco's arcade games. Pac-Man (AKA Puck Man) didn't exist in 1978, and considering the success the game would eventually have, Atari paid far less than it was truly worth, and Atari also got Galaxian as part of the same deal. Here's the quote from the book: "Skip Paul and Ray Kassar told Joe [Robbins], "You go over to Japan and talk to Namco, but don't sign anything with them." We [Atari] felt that they owed us money. A week later Joe comes back. He's had his picture in the paper, signing this deal with the Japanese and playing with [Masaya] Nakamura on a golf course. He agreed to give them $1 million, and they got to renew their contract, but we got the rights to their coin-op games. At that point they had no hits at all. It was like Jack and the Beanstalk, and Joe came back with these worthless beans. Well, one of those beans was a little game called Pac-Man. In retrospect, it was the best buy of the decade, but at the time, I think it pretty much cost him his job." - Al Alcorn The deal would have covered Galaxian and Pac-Man - both of which were released in 1979. So Atari had a good 2, almost 3 YEARS to port both games, and what we got was a lousy 4K port of Pac-Man, done in the 4th quarter of 1981, and finally released in March 1982.. VCS Galaxian wasn't released until a year after VCS Pac-Man, and even then was contracted out to GCC. Atari had all the time in the world to do both, and didn't. Makes me wonder how many games Atari licensed to port, and didn't for whatever reason (never assigned, forgotten about, etc). Btw, the deal didn't cost Robbins his job, since he was with Atari until 1982. If anything, Robbins should have lost his job over the $50,000 Centipede contest fiasco (http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/search?q=joe+robbins). Alcorn was right about Namco not having any hits. In fact, they didn't have much of anything at that point, other than Gee Bee. How long (how many years) the deal was effective is unknown, but it didn't cover Pole Position, which was released in 1982, which was part of a different deal Atari made with Namco. Edited February 17, 2017 by Scott Stilphen fergojisan and Lost Dragon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 I received the Capsule book today. It's only 119 pages, or 1/3rd as many as the original edition, and much smaller in dimensional size as well (see photo). There's an abbreviated Introduction and image credit section. All other sections were removed. Basically all the book has are photos of boxes and packaging artwork for mostly VCS/2600 games and some 5200 games, with a few pages devoted to artists or 2-page spreads for ads and artwork. jmjustin6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Roger Huyssen was the artist who first created the Boston "city-within-a-guitar-spaceship" (see the portfolio on his website) for the debut (self-titled) album in '76. The credits for Don't Look Back have Gary Norman credited for "Cover Art", while Roger Huyssen is credited for "Cover Illustration". I suppose this credit may be a result of Norman using the Huyssen spaceship concept in his own artwork. I may try contacting Mr. Huyssen to see if he can fill in any of the blanks here... The Capsule Edition is a limited run version made exclusively for subscribers to LootCrate DX, the monthly mystery gaming-and-geeky-stuff box delivery service. I don't have one so I can't comment on how condensed/abridged the book was for this edition. Roger Huyssen kindly wrote me back and said that he was not at all involved in the artwork that was used for Don't Look Back -- he'd created entirely separate cover artwork that went unused. So he's unfamiliar with Gary Norman (like the rest of us). As for the similarities of the DLB and SI artwork and the signatures, he shares my opinion -- that while the artwork style is somewhat different and the signatures aren't exactly identical, he "would guess it's the same artist." I've written again to ask if he might point me toward anyone else who could shed additional light on this. Will report back if I get any further... Can you ask Roger about whether or not he was involved with this German flyer for Atari's Starship 1 coin-op game, since the artwork is near-identical to Boston's first album (in 1976)? http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=6192&image=1 Lost Dragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Can you ask Roger about whether or not he was involved with this German flyer for Atari's Starship 1 coin-op game, since the artwork is near-identical to Boston's first album (in 1976)? http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=6192&image=1 Per an email reply from him today: no, he was not involved with this advertisement art. "This is a rip off of the original cover art and then they painted over it in spots. Europe back then was able to get away with knocking off/copying and sometimes using the original album cover……that is what they did here." Lost Dragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Thanks for asking him. I suspected it was something done only overseas (by Atari UK?), since no U.S. flyers used the same art. Also not sure if it was only used in Germany, as Arcade Flyers database isn't complete (they rely on contributions). Lost Dragon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Loved the book! The Capsule Edition doesn't sound as interesting, has anyone seen the Poster Edition? Atari was still making posters recently - I recieved a Pong Poster signed by none other than Nolan Bushnell in 2012 for competing in the Pong Challenge Contest for the iphone, was supposed to be a lithograph initially. Lost Dragon 1 Quote ATARI FLASHBACK BASIC! Make games for the AFP with awesome graphics, animation and a built in tracker/sequencer! Compatible with all Atari consoles! The IDE is already installed on your PC! Atari Flashback BASIC is cross compatible with the SuperCharger too! AFB games can be recompiled with no changes using the SuperCharger BASIC compiler, available at Relationalframework.com/vwBASIC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDN Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 The library is holding this book for me. I'm excited to see what it's like. Atari art is so sublime. RickR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari 5200 Guy Posted September 30, 2021 Report Share Posted September 30, 2021 Found some info but not exactly concerning SI. https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/gary-norman-american-20th-century-boston-don-t-look-back-album-cover-1978acrylic-and-airbrush-on-board25-x/a/8030-71060.s I found an auction site selling Gary's work. If you scroll down you will see more of his work up for sale. Two of these are work for 20th Century games (I assume); Sky Attack and Fast Food. Other works I looked at and the styling is the same as that used on SI. I'm still researching so hopefully I dig up something. Justin and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted October 4, 2021 Report Share Posted October 4, 2021 That isn't just any auction site. It is Heritage Auctions. Why does this not surprise me? Justin 1 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Bear Posted August 1, 2022 Report Share Posted August 1, 2022 The artist for both Space invaders and the Boston album are in face the same person Gary Norman. the signatures are exactly the same on his other artworks and the Invaders one. btbfilms76 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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