Pitfall Harry

This post brings to mind other ethical questions: 1. Is it ethical to play copyright protected video games in emulation when you don't own legitimate originals of those games? 2. Is it ethical to manufacture and accept cash payment for the sale of reproductions of copyright protected video games, when you are neither the copyright holder nor have you secured permission from the legal copyright holder(s) to manufacture and sell such games? 3. Is it ethical to purchase reproductions of copyright protected video games from a seller who has not secured permission from the legal copyright holder(s) to reproduce and sell such games? 4. Would a defense such as "Everybody does it", or "These games haven't earned a dollar's worth of sales in decades" stand up in court if the legal copyright holder decided to sue you for engaging in any of the above activities? I'm neither a lawyer nor a saint. But if you genuinely are interested in ethics, then you ought to give the above ethical questions a moment's worth of thought, too.

Did Anyone Get Anything Useful From The Previous Clue? Maybe Everybody's Already Well Beyond This Point.

Just find diagonal words in Epyx cartridge values. Hidden data becomes understandable going clockwise and translating.

See attached image.

Of course, it is possible. Haven't you ever played 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe? Atari did that one back in 1978.

Hey hey, my my Atari carts can never die There's more to the picture Than meets the eye Hey hey, my my.

nope, you can program them once and then throw them away, they are not erasable If you take out a big hammer and smash the chip to dust, who says it's not erasable once?

The contest is posted. Look for it in the "Contests" forum. Or just click on the link below. Pitfall Harry's Private Eye Video Game Contest Have fun, and good luck! - Ben

Welcome to Pitfall Harry's Private Eye Video Game Contest! Details about this contest are puposefully scant, because it is up to You to determine what it is you are supposed to do (which isn't really all that hard, anyway). All you have to work with is the image given at the following URL: http://atariage.com/images/forums/GameLot227W836R902.png Once you figure out what it is you are supposed to do, feel free to collaborate in small groups via private email, instant messaging, etc. Privately exchange ideas, theories, and discoveries. Publicly, use this thread to post general comments, irritations, compelling questions (which may or may not get answered) or progress in a way that doesn't give away any of the puzzle's secrets to other contestants. Anyone who publicly posts spoiler info that gives away the puzzle's secrets are subject to disqualification, depending on the severity of the information leaked and upon my own personal judgment. Don't get too hung up about the disqualification clause. I'm easy. Only a blatant breech of critical information would result in disqualification. Lesser breeches are subject to the scorn of your peers. I will be using this thread to periodically post additional clues, at whim's desire. So, be sure to come back and check this thread from time to time, especially if you get stuck. This puzzle contest is completely self-contained. That is, there are no additional clues related to this contest to be found on my personal Web site or anywhere else. Furthermore, it is possible to solve this puzzle without the aid of any additional clues. You may want to look for them, anyway, if being FIRST matters to you! The puzzle is WYSIWYG -- What You See is What You Get. But be warned! Any private eye worth his salt always has a good magnifying glass close at hand. This puzzle is HARD! You will not complete it in a single day, unless you are craftier than I am. If you are craftier than I am and you solve this puzzle in less than 24 hours of this posting, your prize will be doubled. The prize for being first to solve the puzzle contest is a $25 AtariAge Store credit (or $50, if you solve it in 24 hours). There are no prizes for finishing second or later, other than honorable mention on Pitfall Harry's Lost Video Game Cavern and the warm glow of satisfaction that comes from a job well done. If you work in a group, it is up to your group to decide how (or if) the meager prize shall be distributed among you. The 24-hour clock for the doubled First Prize bonus starts right NOW. Don't say I didn't give you plenty of advanced warning to read this post on this date! The solution to this puzzle contest will be posted 5 days after a First Prize contestant has been identified, or immediately after three contestants have solved the puzzle and notified me of its correct solution. If the puzzle contest remains unsolved as of October 31, then the solution will be posted November 1, and the First Place prize will be awarded via random drawing, limited to those who register as official contestants of Pitfall Harry's Private Eye Video Game Contest. Registration for Pitfall Harry's Private Eye Video Game Contest is easy, and optional. All you have to do to register as an official contestant is e-mail me (myname_is_ben @ yahoo) or send me, Pitfall Harry, a message via the AtariAge messaging software with either a subject line or message content that identifies you well enough to be contacted in the event you become a winner via random drawing. You need not register to win First Prize, provided you are first to solve the puzzle contest. Please DO NOT use this thread for contest registration (those posts will be ignored anyway). We want to reserve this thread as an easy resouce to those working the contest puzzle. Registration begins NOW and closes October 15. Those who register as contestants after October 15 will not be eligible for the random drawing, should it be necessary. Have fun, and good luck! - Ben

I am in the process of posting the contest right now. Stay tuned... - Ben

About a month ago, I made a commitment to develop an Atari video game themed puzzle contest and have it ready for posting on the AtariAge Web site by Christmastime this year. Well, I had a pretty good idea to start with and I ran with it. The contest I promised by December is finished, tested, and ready right NOW. To give everyone who wants to participate in my new contest a chance to start at the same time as everybody else, I'm posting this "Heads Up" message to let everyone know the contest is coming. The contest and its details will be posted in the "Contests" forum exactly one week from today. Mark your calenders. Tell your friends! For those of you who participated in the "Pitfall Harry's Mystery of the Map" contest I posted here years before (Wow! Has it really been seven years?), my new contest is equally as mysterious and just as challenging. Yet, from the moment you see it, you will know the the game has radically changed. That's all I have to say about it until next Friday. Be sure to check the "Contests" forum on Friday, 9/11 for the posted Contest, rules, hints, etc. - Ben

I nominate 20th Century Fox's Crash Dive as the "Crash and Burn" title. Just look at the title! Look at that flying sub crash nose-down into the ocean!

Well, for one thing the corn is made of plastic. And for another thing it runs on 120 C cell batteries.

It's possible for the power supply to get warm from taking in house current, and yet it can fail to deliver power to your Atari console if the transformer secondary is blown or if there is a broken wire in the power cord. You can easily check for power being delivered to your console, without locating a multimeter, by this simple test: 1. Plug your power adapter into the wall and switch your Atari power switch to the ON position. 2. Connect and disconnect the power jack from the console. 3. Look for a small spark forming at the jack tip every time you connect/disconnect. If you never see a spark (particularly if you do this test in dim lighting), then you can rest assured that your power adapter is faulty and needs replacing.

But you can do that with any calculator, except maybe an abacus.

Heavy Sixer for me. Although I have other models, I always play my Heavy Sixer for all of the following reasons: 1. Nostalgia - It's the model I had as a kid. 2. Retro - The faux wood look is just too cool to ignore. 3. Shielding - Heavy metal internal shielding provides unparalleled video clarity. 4. Convenience - Big, easy to manipulate toggle switches in front make life easier. 5. Cable - Non-detachable video cable means one less thing to hunt for before gaming up. 6. Groovy - The top panel grooves make a convenient stage for folded game strategy note cards. 7. Thermodynamic - Mammoth size, dark color, and ventilated grille provide excellent heat dissipation characteristics to ensure extended life. 8. Indestructible - Built like a tank, the heavy sixer can take a licking but keep on ticking. 9. Original - Being the very first model of Atari video computer system adds to its charm. 10. Musical - When you run your thumbnail across the grooves, it makes the same, really cool Rrrip! sound it did 30 years ago.

I think American "football" should be called prolate spheroid ball.

I don't think anyone is going to be able to spot anything wrong with your Atari from examining those pictures alone. What would be far more helpful is if you were to explain in detail what's wrongwith your Atari. Or, tell us what's right with it. Is there picture and no sound? Sound and no picture? Does the Power On indicator light light up? If not, it could be that your 9v power adapter is dead, and the console works fine. If you do get the Power On indicator light to light up but none of the games work, it's possible that your games are dirty and a little clean-up work on the cartridge contacts will get them working again. Try cleaning the cartridge contacts with a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. It works wonders. Be sure to allow them time to dry before plugging them back in to your Atari to test them out.

I'm still holding out hope Atari will rise from the ashes and put out a 2600 C++ programming cartridge.

I can understand you would have bought it. Everybody has different goals when it comes to collecting. For me, I have never looked at video game collecting as a source of income. I have always enjoyed finding old video games out in the wild for the sheer challenge of it. Virtually every item in my video game collection was acquired from doggedly scrounging through thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets, and very occasionally, by means of trades with other collectors. I've never sold anything on eBay, and I have no inclination of ever doing so. That's not an indictment on eBay or on eBay sellers. All I am saying is, that just isn't me. Video game collecting has always been a hobby for me, pure and simple. If I see a Frogger II out in the wild, it is enough just to have spotted it. I'm a bit like an explorer who ventures deep into a forbidding jungle to track down rare game. Not to capture it per se'. The satisfaction I glean merely from sighting a rare jungle beast often justifies the safari. Of course, if I spot a game I don't already own (not bloody likely), or if it's a game I don't have at least one backup copy of and I play it a lot, then I'll buy it and add it to my collection. But I cannot see the logic in buying a game for the sole purpose of selling it. It is fun for me just to have seen the game and left it there for some other collector to discover and get a great deal on a rare item he or she did not already own. If I buy to sell, then video game hunting becomes more of a business and less of a hobby. I do not savor the idea of pitting one video game collector against the other on eBay, who will then invariably drive the price to a point where neither will get a good deal on a game I bought for much less and didn't even want in the first place. Now, I realize the overwhelming likelihood has it that the Frogger II game I left behind will not be found by another video game enthusiast. Far more likely, it will be swooped up by one of the legion of iPod-toting business tycoons who scour five or six flea markets every day to buy anything and everything they have the slightest inkling might have "collectible" re-sale value on eBay. I can't stop the rain. And I surely can't stop it by becoming one of them. That is their business, not mine. But if I leave rare video games where I find them, then I have done my tiny little part of keeping the dream alive for the next intrepid game hunters who doggedly follow in the paths I blaze.

I think this is pretty odd...

I didn't grab the Frogger II cart because I already have duplicates of it, three deep. And that strikes me as having the perfect number for this particular game.

I know a little bit about your Yars' Revenge album. The Yars' Revenge album is a 12-inch, 33 1/3 RPM vinyl record produced by Kid Stuff records under license from Atari, Inc. in 1982. There is a listing for it in the Video Game Music database. It contains 3 music tracks. There exists another Yars' Revenge record (a 45 RPM record, also by Kid Stuff), which includes a story book that you can read along with as the record tells the you the backstory for the Yars' Revenge video game. The Yars' album is one of a set of 8 different video game related albums produced by Kid Stuff records for Atari. The complete set of titles is listed here. Since Kid Stuff records was only in business for 2 years, and since so few on the AtariAge Web site know anything at all about the Yars' Revenge record (or about any of the others made by Kid Stuff), I would imagine your Yars' Revenge record is very rare, indeed. As for value? Because the item is obscure to the point of being virtually unknown to both record and video game collectors, the demand side of the Law of Supply & Demand would tend to hold your rare album's monetary value fairly low. Personally, I think it's a pretty cool item, and I'm really sorry I did not know about the auction until just now. There is a big-time collector on the AtariAge Web site who has owned a shrinkwrapped copy of the Yars' Revenge album for some years. He hangs out in the 2600 forum and goes by the user name Philflound. If you send him a private message, he may well have more information about the album for you. And if you do, please tell him Pitfall Harry sent you!

I hit a flea market today. It was my first such visit in quite some time. I was rather surprised to see a few Atari items still out in the wild after all these years. First, I spotted an Atari 600 XL Home computer in its factory original box. At a different vendor's locale, I spotted 30 or so loose Atari 2600 game cartridges. None were too rare, nor were there any games that I didn't already have in my collection. So I left them there. From memory, some of the games were: Pitfall (2 copies) Pitfall II Centipede Missile Command Combat Ice Hockey Fishing Derby Private Eye H.E.R.O. Frogger Frogger II: Threedeeep! G.I. Joe Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back Pac-Man Joust Kangaroo Demon Attack and others At least I didn't walk out of there empty-handed. Near the end of the day I spotted a guy selling old NES games for $2 each. I picked up 3 Wisdom Tree games that I did not have. I know it's nothing at all great to brag about, but Ned Flanders would have been envious. I'm just amazed this stuff is still out there.

Warlords will play all the way through a game once you kick it off. It can easily run for 10 minutes or more before one of the 4 computer players wins five battles.