schuwalker Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Is there a list our there of unreleased carts/tapes out there that was scrapped? Curious as to what was on the shelf before the chopping black. I mentioned on a thread earlier of a Lock n Chase that seemed to be in the pipeline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I don't know what was actually in development, but Aquarius software catalog list "upcoming" things like Lock 'N' Chase, Triple Action, Baseball, and Armor Ambush (I think). Mostly common early Intellivision titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaman Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I already find it heard to believe that some games should have been released (mostly on tape), without ever even seing a picture of these or heard someone actually ones it! http://www.geekvintage.com/mattel-aquarius-cassette-list.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 The Aquarius catalogs list "upcoming" games like Bump 'n' Jump, Lock 'n' Chase, Sea Battle, Reversi, and Masters of the Universe. To the best of my knowledge, no prototypes of these games have ever been discovered. There is also Shark!, the unfinished prototype of Shark! Shark!, but oddly, that one was never mentioned in any of the old catalogs. There were also lots of announced-but-unreleased products in the "Educational" and "Home Management" categories: Advanced Diet Trac, Tax Tips, Menu Planner, Hints from Heloise, etc. Mattel evidently had big plans for the Aquarius, and as unsurprising as it is in retrospect, it's too bad that the plug was pulled so quickly. I would have loved to see Aquarius Lock 'n' Chase in particular; the box art certainly looks intriguing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnieg Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 (edited) Might be useful if anyone can shed some more light on Custom Cables International Ltd and on the company who they turned in to (or merged bought out?) Add-On Electronics Ltd which I think was a joint venture with Radofin (or Radofin funded them in some way) http://www.worldofsp...Ltd$&loadpics=1 This is interesting as they seem to be offering the Aquarius printer for other systems: http://worldofspectr...kly04100056.jpg I think they were looking to fund further Aquarius development with Software & Hardware for other systems Edited April 8, 2013 by barnieg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaman Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Might be useful if anyone can shed some more light on Custom Cables International Ltd and on the company who they turned in to (or merged bought out?) Add-On Electronics Ltd which I think was a joint venture with Radofin (or Radofin funded them in some way) http://www.worldofsp...Ltd$&loadpics=1 This is interesting as they seem to be offering the Aquarius printer for other systems: http://worldofspectr...kly04100056.jpg I think they were looking to fund further Aquarius development with Software & Hardware for other systems Indeed a quite interesting find you made there! They could have some speccy games which where bound to hit the Aquarius but never came beyound prototype stage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvdsteenoven Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Might be useful if anyone can shed some more light on Custom Cables International Ltd and on the company who they turned in to (or merged bought out?) Add-On Electronics Ltd which I think was a joint venture with Radofin (or Radofin funded them in some way) Interesting idea. I have reviewed the tapes I own but I could not find any clues for a joint venture. Although Radofin bundled the Aquarius with a promotional tape with all Add-On/CCI software. I did noticed that one could became member of the Aquarius User club by writing to Add-On or CCI. Some other things I have noticed (see my website http://www.vdsteenoven.com/aquarius/cassette.php voor screendumps): "N"-Vaders, Gridbug, Aliens and Ed-On have a Spectrum logo on the inlay. On the inside Add-On is promoting their Spectrum software. The other tapes promote Aquarius hardware and software (text only). The Aquarius hardware mentions Aquarius MK II, Aquarius MK III, Floppy Disk Drive and Light Pen. The Aquarius cartridges mentioned: Maths & Mazes, Reversi, Lock & Chase, Sea Battle and Bump & Jump The Aquarius tapes does not contain any unknown Add-On titles Also I believe that Math & Mazes has been released as Zero-In; it is a maze and you have do math! Why do the Add-On tape-numbers start with KEB (e.g. KEB001)? Is this because their main programmer is KEvin Baker? Phrogger is also very interesting. On the inlay it is called "Phrogger", the game loads as "Froggy" and on the game instruction it is called "Road Toad". The copyright is by Kayde Software. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Also I believe that Math & Mazes has been released as Zero-In; it is a maze and you have do math! That makes sense. I never thought about that before. Bump n Jump on the Aquarius? Ugh, I can't imagine how that would have worked. Ick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnieg Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) Rather bizarrely the world of spectrum site lists many of the spectrum titles supposedly produced as missing in action http://www.worldofsp...Ltd$&loadpics=1 They do seem to have inherited some games from other publishers as well When I get some time I think I may do some digging on company history in the UK for Radofin and Add-on, has anyone ever made contact with K Baker? It would be feasible for a small team to have been working on new Aquarius models in the UK, particularly with the abundance of hardware available for the Z80 based Spectrum (& then later the Amstrad CPC) Hmm expansion cartridge with video out powered by a 6845 and some glue logic? IT would certainly be interesting to find out how high resolution was going to be implemented! Hmm they were re-manufacturing some kayde stuff like the spectrum keyboard and kayde had produced a ZX-81 graphics board http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue011/Pages/CVG01100099.jpg Interesting idea. I have reviewed the tapes I own but I could not find any clues for a joint venture. Although Radofin bundled the Aquarius with a promotional tape with all Add-On/CCI software. I did noticed that one could became member of the Aquarius User club by writing to Add-On or CCI. Some other things I have noticed (see my website http://www.vdsteenov...us/cassette.php voor screendumps): "N"-Vaders, Gridbug, Aliens and Ed-On have a Spectrum logo on the inlay. On the inside Add-On is promoting their Spectrum software. The other tapes promote Aquarius hardware and software (text only). The Aquarius hardware mentions Aquarius MK II, Aquarius MK III, Floppy Disk Drive and Light Pen. The Aquarius cartridges mentioned: Maths & Mazes, Reversi, Lock & Chase, Sea Battle and Bump & Jump The Aquarius tapes does not contain any unknown Add-On titles Also I believe that Math & Mazes has been released as Zero-In; it is a maze and you have do math! Why do the Add-On tape-numbers start with KEB (e.g. KEB001)? Is this because their main programmer is KEvin Baker? Phrogger is also very interesting. On the inlay it is called "Phrogger", the game loads as "Froggy" and on the game instruction it is called "Road Toad". The copyright is by Kayde Software. Edited April 10, 2013 by barnieg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnieg Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 In super-chunky vision obviously!! That makes sense. I never thought about that before. Bump n Jump on the Aquarius? Ugh, I can't imagine how that would have worked. Ick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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