Cloak and Dagger

[WatchVenusSpa]

Back in about 1983-84 or so an epic kids movie called Cloak & Dagger came out and it was centered around a kid, (Elliot from E.T.,) who found a video game that had nuclear secrets in a microchip in the game. If you hit a certain score, it was the code to get these plans. Awesome movie but the game itself that you saw was even cooler. Unfortunately in spite of TONS of Atari product placement all over the film, the game was never released commercially. There is more than enough evidence to suggest that Cloak & Dagger was indeed made as an arcade or 7800 prototype but I have tried for years to find it and have been unsuccessful.

 

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

[+Allan]

Back in about 1983-84 or so an epic kids movie called Cloak & Dagger came out and it was centered around a kid, (Elliot from E.T.,) who found a video game that had nuclear secrets in a microchip in the game. If you hit a certain score, it was the code to get these plans. Awesome movie but the game itself that you saw was even cooler. Unfortunately in spite of TONS of Atari product placement all over the film, the game was never released commercially. There is more than enough evidence to suggest that Cloak & Dagger was indeed made as an arcade or 7800 prototype but I have tried for years to find it and have been unsuccessful.

 

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yes. There are a number of threads about the movie here. There was no 7800 prototype but there is a 5200/800 prototype.

It is available here on AA somewhere.

 

Plus you can watch this.

 

Allan

[jaybird3rd]

Just a quick recap (there are several old Cloak & Dagger threads here) ...

 

Cloak and Dagger was developed by Rusty Dawes and released as an arcade game; in fact, it was a recording of the arcade game being played by Dawes that you saw in the movie (it was edited onto the television screens; I believe the actors were actually playing Donkey Kong during filming). I don't know if a 5200 version was ever planned; the cartridge that you saw in the movie was a mockup. A home version for the Atari 800 was being developed by Dave Comstock, but with the Tramiel acquisition of Atari in 1984, the game was canceled and Comstock was laid off. Years later, the source code for the prototype was discovered on an old diskette by Curt Vendel, and Comstock began working on completing his prototype during his spare time. I haven't heard any recent news on this, but I do know that Comstock has since changed jobs at least once, so I'm sure he's been busy.

 

By the way ... welcome to AtariAge!

Edited September 26, 2009 by jaybird3rd

[djpubba]

Rusty Dawe sold me the game they used.

 

http://www.o-sd.com/arcadecollecting/forum/index.php?topic=83.0

 

The game was originally called Mad Bomber. ;D

 

http://www.arcadecollecting.com/pics/madbomber/atarimb02.jpg

Edited October 23, 2009 by djpubba

[jaybird3rd]

Rusty Dawe sold me the game they used.

 

http://www.o-sd.com/arcadecollecting/forum/index.php?topic=83.0

 

The game was originally called Mad Bomber. ;D

 

http://www.arcadecollecting.com/pics/madbomber/atarimb02.jpg

Damn, I misspelled his name in my post! Sorry, Rusty! I did check it against a few other websites, but I guess they got it wrong, too.

 

Thanks for posting those photos and all that information. What an amazing item to have in your collection!

[Tempest]

That is so cool. I'd kill for a C&D machine in my game room. I'll just have to settle for a marquee on the wall (for now).

 

Tempest

[Arjak]

I love this movie!

 

I also love the game, but that came later.

 

I heard that the original title for the game was going to be Agent X, and they actually reference this in the movie! There's a scene where Jack (the imaginary secret agent) is reminiscing about the old days with Davey (the kid) and mentions that he was once called Agent X. Once I got the in-joke, I thought it was quite clever.

 

Anyways, I love this movie! I thought the plot was well constructed, and the message about growing up and understanding what really makes a person a hero was well done.

 

Stop rambling? OK.