Keatah Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Wow. I love seeing ©2015 on 2600 screenshots. Yeh it's pretty surreal. I remember back in the day some random winter evening in 1977 we brought home a VCS(1). And I was thrilled to have 4 or 6 games to play straight away. And continued to get new ones at the rate of a couple two or three per month. Parents were really into the idea of an expandable system. And for all their ignorance when it came to tech, I clearly recall them saying that someday the cartridges will do the thinking and not be tapes anymore. Tapes that can do more than just playback in the console. Tapes that can make the game. And here in 2015 we have exactly that. Computational cartridges with their own microprocessor in them. A nice fusion of new tech and old tech. (1) All that remains of my first VCS is the grey colored AMI TIA chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Love love this idea. Or "AtariAge Arcade"? And what about standardizing the label style.. A simple standard and stylized bit of text above the game title might be enough to do the job.. If it says "AtariAge Arcade" it's a triple AAA title to be sure. Just the words atariage arcade of course, not the whole tagline. Edited November 18, 2015 by Keatah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Ooh! Ooh! And if an Atarivox+ is connected, have it say, "Eat it, Plimpton!" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Love love this idea. Or "AtariAge Arcade"? And what about standardizing the label style, maybe with the transition to the new shells? Same look across all the carts so that they *look* like a series instead of the typical motley assortment of homebrews. Wouldn't that look spectacular on the shelf, and maybe even rope some of the collectors into buying more well-made games, as folks were lamenting on that other thread? From a collector's perspective you may be right. But for a homebrewer (at least for me) that seems pretty boring. If I create a new game, I wouldn't want to be restricted with the packaging. Instead I always want the best individual solution for my game. Star Castle Arcade is a great example what a talented artist can do. Or look at Nathan's work. A label template would make things look uniform and dull. IMO. Edited November 18, 2015 by Thomas Jentzsch 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I think there's a teeny bit of OCD in me in that I enjoy looking a shelf full of uniform game or book spines. But then I realize that can very quickly get monotonous, especially for the designers, but also for anyone looking at the same thing over and over. I say keep the variety in the boxes and labels, and then we as players can decide for ourselves how the games should be organized and presented. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveD Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Part of me loves the "AtariAge Arcade AAA" game label idea. But part of me wonders if that would amount to a "buy these AAA games and ignore the others that didn't make the cut" mentality. Personally I love the variety of home-brews and the "anything goes" landscape that currently exists here at AtariAge and the people creating the games. I'd hate to see a smaller section of people being officially endorsed and the rest being ignored. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDS Games Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 But for a homebrewer (at least for me) that seems pretty boring. If I create a new game, I wouldn't want to be restricted with the packaging. Instead I always want the best individual solution for my game. Star Castle Arcade is a great example what a talented artist can do. Or look at Nathan's work. A label template would make things look uniform and dull. IMO. You lose individuality but you also gain harmony and symmetry. There's a reason collectors like sets—they have a classic beauty all their own that is greater than the sum of the parts. I was actually thinking Star Castle Arcade would be a perfect prototype for the template. Each new game (Scramble, Draconian) would get its own distinctive stylized lettering ala Coleco's carts. Either take it from the cabinet or come up with something new. The art will of course vary for each game, though naturally Jordi will have to do them all. With the Star Castle design there's very little that would need to stay the same. AtariAge logo, copyright font, and have the A R C A D E below the game title be the official "series" marker. Anyway, them's my 2 cents..if I ever put anything on cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 You lose individuality but you also gain harmony and symmetry. There's a reason collectors like sets—they have a classic beauty all their own that is greater than the sum of the parts. Well, we homebrewers are individualists, we do not want to be 7 of 9. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeguychicago Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Looks pretty awesome, especially for the 2600. It still amazes me on what people are able to coax out of an almost 40 year-old machine. Edited November 18, 2015 by bikeguychicago 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Nice game! You lose individuality but you also gain harmony and symmetry. I think a recognizable styling is very powerful. The philips videopac also had recognizable where games where more or less styled in the same way: But I dislike the idea of classifying games as AAA titles. The game is good enough to be published or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s0c7 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Not everything developed is an "arcade" game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 There is a standard Atari console game box size that only a very small handful of games broke away from, courtesy of Epyx and Absolute. There is also, pretty much by necessity, a standard cart design for homebrew cartridges released for the consoles. I'd say that's good enough. As part of his talk at the Houston Arcade Expo, Darrell Spice showed a picture of his homebrew collection. You can see it on the first page of his Keynote presentation here. I'd say the picture shows how there is already a good balance between uniformity and variety. Sure, a couple of cartridges buck the trend, but a little "extra" variety never hurt anyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 (edited) Made a quick video of this excellent WIP to see it in action on actual hardware. Sorry for the blurriness as my camcorder has trouble focusing on the television unless there is other light shining on it, but washes out the video too much. This was played on my LHE AV modded 7800 through a first release Harmony. Enjoy! http://tinyurl.com/qdqdupk Edited November 19, 2015 by -^Cro§Bow^- 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDS Games Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I think a recognizable styling is very powerful. Yep. Activision and Imagic sure thought so. Coleco. I seem to have hit a nerve here and I'm not sure why but in any case this is one awesome port. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 With the Star Castle design there's very little that would need to stay the same. ... I seem to have hit a nerve here and I'm not sure why... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Activision and Imagic sure thought so. Coleco. AtariAge is quite a bit different than Activision, Imagic and Coleco. AtariAge publishes the games of others, while those companies published their own games. AtariAge is more like a book publisher. The styling for AtariAge is that this logo appears somewhere on the box: Much in the same way that this logo appears somewhere on a book published by Del Rey: I seem to have hit a nerve here and I'm not sure why You have no idea why people would have an issue with being told they should conform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU78wkEpmY8 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Conform, or be cast out, quoth the Geddy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I'd love to have a boxed cart of this one. Doesn't matter to me who publishes it, but I do shop here frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 This was ported over to the TI-99/4A too (if anyone is interested). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFmBEAXUpBo 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I have considered using a more "uniform" label style for any games published by AtariAge, but I don't like to restrict artists to such a template. I really prefer the artwork to use the entire space of the label, rather than being constrained inside a box as Atari did with their labels. ..Al 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I have considered using a more "uniform" label style for any games published by AtariAge, but I don't like to restrict artists to such a template. I really prefer the artwork to use the entire space of the label, rather than being constrained inside a box as Atari did with their labels. ..Al Bah, those artists are just a bunch of high strung prima donnas. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBillTX Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I have considered using a more "uniform" label style for any games published by AtariAge, but I don't like to restrict artists to such a template. I really prefer the artwork to use the entire space of the label, rather than being constrained inside a box as Atari did with their labels. ..Al I like the full-sized labels like Starcastle too but the template styles are also cool when they look like something Atari, Activision, Coleco etc would have released back in the 70's and 80's. Overall I think the label design should be the game author's choice. These cartridge label contests have been a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDS Games Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) Comment deleted. Carry on. Edited November 20, 2015 by CDS Games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGR Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The game is aaawesome, thank you very much. Here is my longplay 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 The game is aaawesome, thank you very much. Here is my longplay You're welcome! Good video - it seems to be running about 1/2 speed though. Is that because of the video or is the game that slow on your machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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