Atari XP Physical Releases - Atari Releasing New Atari 2600 Game Cartridges!

[TrekMD]

My games have arrived.  I've not opened the box yet.  Once I do, I will post pictures. 

[CrossBow]

Mine arrived a bit ago as well. I immediately opened them because the shrink wrap is so tight it was already starting to show bowing in all three boxes with two of them already having holes forming in the shrink due to stressing. So you really need to remove that shrink wrap unless you want the boxes crushing themselves badly over time.

And yes... the PCBs are flipped around wrong inside the carts...

[TrekMD]

Took mine out of the box.  They are very tightly wrapped, like @CrossBow says.  The boxes are already showing some warping.  I'll wait until I learn what their solution will before cracking them open.  My guess is that they'll send new carts. 

[CrossBow]

Well, I might just use my heatgun on low heat to lift the labels and reverse the PCBs myself. And the labels are really poor looking compared to what we are used to from recent releases from AtariAge. Mine all have a very soft and semi washed out look to them with a lamination like effect on them that isn't the normal gloss we are used to. I do like that the boxes are standard Atari box sizes though because they do fit correctly in my box protectors. 

[Sabertooth]

My LEs arrived today.  They were also very tightly wrapped.  I removed the shrink wrap immediately to prevent warping.  I tested in the following:

• 7800 (x2)
• 2600 Jr. (x2)
• Coleco Gemini
• 4-Switch Woody
• 4-Switch Video Arcade
• Retron 77

They did not work in a Retron 77.  They did not fit my daily driver 7800 but DID fit my spare.  They were a little tight in my Video Arcade.  All other consoles worked fine for all three titles. 

I don't have any impressions yet aside from the acrylic tops are neat.

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Here are some photos of my XP Limited Edition copy of Saboteur.  With all of the discussion surrounding the Standard Editions and the assembly errors there hasn't been much discussion of the LE package. It's actually pretty nice.  

 

 

[CrossBow]

@Sabertooth That does look really good! I'd be concerned over time though of that paint on the cart getting scratched off over time. I've heard some reports of these carts being quite tight to fit in some consoles and as usual, 7800s. I can't vouch for this as my carts are still backwards on the PCB side so I'm using an extension to play them. But yeah, I could see at least the Atari logo over time easily getting scratched away.

 

[RickR]

That light up cart looks cool!

 

[TrekMD]

That Saboteur LE looks fantastic!  Love the light on the cartridge with the game's name.  That looks great! 

[Sabertooth]

I really like it too.  Whatever mistakes Atari made with the SE - and its not at all acceptable - they did a good job with the LE packages.  I'm not too worried about the carts wearing.  I'll probably use a Gemini or Jr.  to play these since they have the most clearance in the carts slots.  I'll share Aquaventure and Yars photos too. 

[Sabertooth]

Here is Atari's solution to the Standard Edition cart issue.

[Sabertooth]

I did note another print error. This time with the box on the LE version of Saboteur.

The back of the box erroneously credits Dennis Debros and Curt Vendel in addition to HSW.  Neither were involved in Saboteur. 🙄

 

[Sabertooth]

They are also replacing Aquaventure manuals in the LEs due to a print error.

 

[RickR]

Good on them for making it right.  Even a printing error. 

[TrekMD]

I got the email earlier today.  I will now open my games so I can get the cartridges swapped.  It's good they are offering this as a solution.

[Scott Stilphen]

On 9/14/2022 at 4:10 PM, Sabertooth said:

I did note another print error. This time with the box on the LE version of Saboteur.

The back of the box erroneously credits Dennis Debros and Curt Vendel in addition to HSW.  Neither were involved in Saboteur. 🙄

Looks like that was meant for the Yars Return box, so I wonder what the credit info is on that box.

I also heard the Aquaventure manuals are misprinted, with the Limited Edition manuals are missing a whole paragraph, and the Standard Edition manuals are missing a whole page!

As for the carts having the pcbs incorrectly mounted, considering the price of these carts, somebody should have at least taken 1 second to plug it into a console to test.  And someone on AA even said having one of those carts might make it more valuable.  As if I needed any more proof that some collectors in this hobby are nutzo...

Edited October 5, 2022 by Scott Stilphen

[CrossBow]

13 hours ago, TrekMD said:

I got the email earlier today.  I will now open my games so I can get the cartridges swapped.  It's good they are offering this as a solution.

Except you can't because it states they are wanting the original carts returned and providing a return shipping label in the process. So they are sending replacements and want the original carts back.

Therefore, it does in essense make owning one of the original messed up carts now somewhat collectable since the question will be whom is actually willing to return their originals back to AtariXP? 

What will AtariXP do to those that decide to not send them back the originals? I assume they would charge for the replacements using whatever payment information they have on file for when the purchases were first made? But then, what if those people have changed bank accounts or the CCs they used are no longer valid? Hmmm?

 

 

 

[TrekMD]

I think you may have misunderstood me, @CrossBow.  I'll swap the carts I have with the ones they are sending.  I haven't opened the boxes yet because I was waiting to see what Atari was going to offer.  What I do have to wonder is what happens if someone returns a cart that they fixed by opening them and installing the PCB correctly.

[CrossBow]

10 hours ago, TrekMD said:

I think you may have misunderstood me, @CrossBow.  I'll swap the carts I have with the ones they are sending.  I haven't opened the boxes yet because I was waiting to see what Atari was going to offer.  What I do have to wonder is what happens if someone returns a cart that they fixed by opening them and installing the PCB correctly.

I imagine that AtariXP plans to receive the hosed up ones...make sure the PCBs are flipped right way around, and then likely sell them off cheap as cart only fire sale items.

But that is only my guess. So if they have some returned that owners already corrected, then hopefully they check them ahead of time before assembling.

Another thought I had, is that they could just wipe the PCB contents, and use them for the other releases. That way, the only have to put them into the newer shells. Unless they do decide to offer SE releases for Warlords and stuff. Then they just reload the PCB with whatever game they want on it, and apply a new label to the cartridge.

 

[TrekMD]

I'm going to guess they may just do that last thing you mentioned.  Erase the PCB's and use them for other releases. 

[CrossBow]

18 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

I'm going to guess they may just do that last thing you mentioned.  Erase the PCB's and use them for other releases. 

When you think about...it is likely the cheapest solution overall because then they aren't actually out of the cost of the hardware at least. Yes they are having to spend more to have more carts made of games they already paid to release. But... at least they can reuse the hardware and just slap new labels onto the carts once done. So they are only out the labor spent to assemble them initially and the shipping. Still a big chunk of coin I'm sure, but they also just got hardware stock back in hand they don't have to have made up either.

 

[Sabertooth]

I "love" I LOVE.  This is a fun overview of the issues. 

[Sabertooth]

Here's gameplay only footage of Saboteur including the AA cart, XP LE cart, VCS standalone ROM and VCS Vault version.  I compared the four different versions of Saboteur head-to-head and cross-referenced against the information on AtariProtos.com.    It looks like the version on the Atari VCS Vault Vol 2 is the 9/2/1983 version of the ROM.  The version in the Atari VCS store appears to be the final build and is the same as the XP LE cart and the cart in the AA store. The cartridge footage was captured using my LHE modded 7800.  This accounts for the slightly lower audio in one channel on the cart version.  The LE cart wouldn't fit my UAV modded 7800 (daily driver).

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Sabertooth

[Scott Stilphen]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:38 AM, TrekMD said:

I'm going to guess they may just do that last thing you mentioned.  Erase the PCB's and use them for other releases. 

They could do that, except the cartridge shells are custom painted for those games, and I doubt they would just throw the shell out to reuse the board for a different game.  No, they'll just fix the carts and reseal them and resell them.   With the Limited Edition carts, that plan would only work if they didn't already sell and ship all of them, and they're using the unsold carts to replace the ones they sold.  And if they are limited as to how many were made, they should be numbered, otherwise how would anyone know exactly how many are out there?

[RickR]

Beyond the production error and its solution, can I just say one thing?  These three games are AWESOME.  So much better than I was anticipating.  At $3 each for the digital versions on the Atari VCS, they are a total bargain.  I can't decide which one I like best. 

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by RickR