Popular Post Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 It looks like the current iteration of Atari is getting back into physical 2600 releases via a new imprint called AtariXP. Carts are made in small quantities here in the US. The first three releases are Yars' Return, Aquaventure, and Sabateour. Of course, all of these exist on various collections and Sabateour was released by AtariAge years back. Still it's kinda cool to see an official cart release. Standard edition cart only packages are $49 plus tax and shipping. Limited Collectors Editions are $149 and have premium boxes, manuals, a digital copy for the new VCS, poster, certificate and enamel pin. I might pick up the Standard editions just to see what's up. They are all pretty solid titles. https://atarixp.com/pages/about Justin, Atari Creep, Mr SQL and 5 others 6 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 Very cool. Do you really think the Standard versions are boxed with manual? If so, that seems like a fair price. But their website was a bit confusing. DegasElite, Sabertooth and Justin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 I think so. The standard edition photos have the box. Might be worth clarifying. 😬 DegasElite and Justin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/atari-is-releasing-three-lost-retro-games-as-cartridges/ According to CNET, the $49 versions are cart only. Editing the first post. DegasElite, RickR, Justin and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 Interesting. Seems pretty steep in price if you want the box then. Well, something to think about. DegasElite, Gianna, Justin and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 9 minutes ago, RickR said: Interesting. Seems pretty steep in price if you want the box then. Well, something to think about. Agreed. I sprung for Circus Convoy but that was a more reasonable $99. I could have gone for that with the bells and whistles. DegasElite, RickR and Justin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gianna Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 Check out this video as well! 🙂 Justin, Mr SQL, Sabertooth and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 Great take @nosweargamer! Personally, I'm more curious than anything. How will the quality compare to what we've come to expect from AA? Sabateour is an interesting choice because we can make that comparison head-to-head. Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 An AA user posted the press kit which appears to have two versions of the box: standard and limited. Arenafoot, Gianna, Justin and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 So I picked up the Standard editions AND the boxed AA version of Sabateour for the sake of comparison. And I genuinely like supporting AA releases a few times a year. Let's see what we get! Justin and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 I got an email about this today. I want to check these out. Sabertooth and Justin 2 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 I get the feeling we may see SwordQuest AirWorld released, or possibly a nice little box set of all four games. What would be really nice is if they could "fix" E.T. and release something incredibly fun and engaging for the 2600 Sabertooth, Atari Creep, AtariSphinx and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 11 minutes ago, Justin said: What would be really nice is if they could "fix" E.T. You ever see this? A really nice set of fixes for ET that you can download and play. http://www.neocomputer.org/projects/et/ Sabertooth and Justin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 17 minutes ago, Justin said: I get the feeling we may see SwordQuest AirWorld released, or possibly a nice little box set of all four games. Now THIS is a great idea! How about they add in little charm replicas of the 4 (or 5?) prizes. Chalice, crown, sword, etc. That's something a respectable nerd could not say no to. Justin and Sabertooth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 14 minutes ago, RickR said: Now THIS is a great idea! How about they add in little charm replicas of the 4 (or 5?) prizes. Chalice, crown, sword, etc. That's something a respectable nerd could not say no to. I was thinking something along these lines but with a hardbound version of the comics! Justin and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Sabertooth said: I was thinking something along these lines but with a hardbound version of the comics! We have some great ideas here! I never in my right mind would have thought I'd be excited for the Swordquest games....but here we are. Justin and Sabertooth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximumRD Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 Well they are in no way "LOST" games as they are suggesting, all 3 of those games were on my Atari Flashback 2 console, at the time Yars Return was glitchy and had issues so I wonder if they fixed it? Well, I may not have the AtariVCS but I guess I can still play these games. 🤷♂️ Justin and Sabertooth 2 Quote I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday." - M. Bison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) I don't think Atari have called them "Lost", that was CNET. They are indicating that these have never received an official cart release from Atari. That's true. Yars' Returns is the most problematic of the three. It's a rom hack of Yars' Revenge that was made for FB 2. As such, it uses a lot of HSW's game but he didn't design it. That they're painting it as something ever slated for release in '83 needs to be corrected. There was a fixed version but who knows which rom they're using. The other titles I have no issue with. Those were truly cancelled back in the day and have only been released in Vault or FB compilations, as roms or via AA or other unlicensed cart producers - whether sanctioned by the author or not. Their website has also been updated and it appears both versions are indeed boxed. So $49 for the Standard editions seems pretty reasonable. Plus you get the digital copy for the new VCS, which I do have. I think that's a smart tie-in and adds some value to fans of the PC-console hybrid. Edited November 17, 2021 by Sabertooth Justin, RickR and MaximumRD 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobu Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 I keep hearing that these games have 1000+ units produced. That'll be hard to sell through plus turn off those who are interested in rarity. Playing back seat driver I'd consider buying into flashable boards and just-in-time/on demand friendly packaging and manuals. Keep it inexpensive for everyone involved and publish exactly what is needed as it is needed for as long as possible. Justin, Sabertooth and MaximumRD 3 Quote Please check out my Atari 2600 party favors at https://theloon.itch.io/ Downloadable games include Upp Plus Plus, Stranglehand, Nitebear on Sleepystreet and more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 33 minutes ago, slobu said: I keep hearing that these games have 1000+ units produced. That'll be hard to sell through plus turn off those who are interested in rarity. Playing back seat driver I'd consider buying into flashable boards and just-in-time/on demand friendly packaging and manuals. Keep it inexpensive for everyone involved and publish exactly what is needed as it is needed for as long as possible. They stated that as they believed these games were slated to be released back in 1983, that 1,983 copies will be made. But they haven't stated if that just 1983 copies of the limited editions or all of them...or what. The biggest issue is that they have also stated that HSW was involved in all of these titles. Only Saboteur is his creation as Aquaventure was done by Tod Frye and another programmer and as was already stated Yar's Return (which should be corrected to say Yars' Return), was a hack off the original game that Curt Vendel had commissioned for the FB2 but was glitchy as get out. It was fixed along with some other changes by Dennis Debro, but apparently Atari never approved of the corrected ROM so it is unknown what version is being used for this at this point. There is also quite a bit of talk in regards to how much AtariXP seems to have lifted inspirationally in regards to the artwork they are using from Saboteur and Yar's Return to how similar it appears design wise to other artwork for the game. The logo for Saboteur especially was designed by others in the community and not by Atari back in the day. Seems Tempest over on the AA forums especially is curious to see what manuals they include with that one as he designed and did the original that AA still sells. Howard also states he was never consulted about this and how no idea this was being done. Albert did know but didn't know specifically which, titles would be chosen. I did order all three f the standard version of the games if for no other reason than to see what actually arrives, the quality of it, and because...hey! Atari released is going to put out 'new' 2600 physical carts. Sabertooth, Justin and MaximumRD 3 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...
Justin Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 @Atari Creep had some nice coverage of the Atari XP games as well: Mr SQL, TrekMD and Sabertooth 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 A bit of additional info that Howard Scott Warshaw posted on Facebook: TrekMD, greenween, Sabertooth and 2 others 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted November 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 Atari have since updated the AtariXP website to address some of the most egregious issues. Specifically, HSW is no longer attributed as the developer of either Yars' or Aquaventure. They also changed the photos so it's clear the Standard editions come with a regular box and Limited with a larger box, presumably to hold the goodies. Regarding art and manual assets for Saboteur, I appreciate that these were community developed but they also were part of an unlicensed release. It will be interesting to see how that's resolved. May be a bit of a gray area in terms of copyright and attribution. Lastly, I wonder if HSWs sequel will be on the 2600 or the new VCS? MaximumRD, RickR and TrekMD 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted November 18, 2021 Report Share Posted November 18, 2021 6 hours ago, Sabertooth said: Lastly, I wonder if HSWs sequel will be on the 2600 or the new VCS? Someone quoted a post from HSW earlier where Howard stated he is working on an official sequel for Yars' and it will kick ass on the 2600. So, pretty sure he is developing it for the beloved 2600. I'm sure it will end up on the VCS as well. RickR and Sabertooth 1 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...
RickR Posted November 18, 2021 Report Share Posted November 18, 2021 17 hours ago, Sabertooth said: Atari have since updated the AtariXP website to address some of the most egregious issues. Specifically, HSW is no longer attributed as the developer of either Yars' or Aquaventure. They also changed the photos so it's clear the Standard editions come with a regular box and Limited with a larger box, presumably to hold the goodies. Regarding art and manual assets for Saboteur, I appreciate that these were community developed but they also were part of an unlicensed release. It will be interesting to see how that's resolved. May be a bit of a gray area in terms of copyright and attribution. Lastly, I wonder if HSWs sequel will be on the 2600 or the new VCS? The thing I appreciate most is the positive discussion here. On social media, I see people going over the deep end. I feel about this just as I do about the Amico -- let them release what they want and let the market decide. And how cool is it that they fixed the issues noted on the web site? Justin and Sabertooth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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