MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Call me crazy, but since I'm in a comic book mood tonight a thought just popped into my head: Atari has both a Superman and a Spider-Man, but there was never a licensed game devoted to the Dark Knight. I realize this is probably because the Batman licensing craze didn't hit the big time until the blockbuster first movie, and all the home video games and cartoons that popped up after that. Yet Spider-Man was clearly past his TV prime and not to star in an action blockbuster for two decades (and for a lot of us it was a wait a LONG TIME COMING) and Superman was just barely in theaters before a VCS appearance, which means he was probably still as well if not better known as a comic book star to many people. Why not Batman then, who had just as long a run in comics as either of the other two, not to mention a cult hit TV show? A licensed Batman game for VCS could have been the cat's meow. Or, it could have been a skunker, but it still would have been nice to have a Batman cart to collect label variations for. That's a mock-up art cart I'd love to see. :sigh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhindle The Red Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 That's a mock-up art cart I'd love to see. :sigh: OOOO! A challenge! Give me a few minutes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhindle The Red Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Here you go! A first try. I'll look for a better image, or I'll change that background. It's a picture of a model and I think it's short size is obvious in this picture - still I like the pose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 I like that one, although I'd opt more for the boots'n'rubber suit look of Michael Keaton, or the pissed off smug smile of the Dark Knight circa animated Bats of the 90's and his Justice League knockoff. I enjoy the camp, but I crave the serious Bruce Wayne far more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhindle The Red Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 But those wouldn't have been done in the 1980's. I'm all about the realism, man. That's why it's a 20th Century Fox cart, they did the show and movie. And in the early 1980's Adam West still was Batman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 But those wouldn't have been done in the 1980's. I'm all about the realism, man. That's why it's a 20th Century Fox cart, they did the show and movie. And in the early 1980's Adam West still was Batman. I didn't say it wasn't a good cart though, or authentic to the time period. It looks like a real 20th Century Fox Batman would look, hands down. That and my imagination are different. In my imagination, the darker more gothic Batman peers out at me from a silver label, Atari style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaoNakamora Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Why are you babbeling about a batman title???????? on the 2600 games are fun.......but not the comic book, TV series, or sports are very good looking on the 2600 at all!Just stick to the simplistic roots of Missle Command and Defender I say! Note: Im not insulting you, just putting in my 2 cents, not to be mean........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 Actually Tao, I think Spider-Man looks really good, in it's simplistic way. Why not fantasize? We've all seen the great arcade ports like Missile Command, and the great exploration games like Pitfall II, and the great mind-expanding homebrews like Marble Craze and Thrust+. Really to say anything is impossible on VCS is defeatist. That said, this was only a "Hey what if?" pondering post, inspired by my overall interest in all things comic tonight. Not like I expect somebody to PROGRAM Batman, especially since it could never get licensed by Fox anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaoNakamora Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Well........Your kinda right....some people......like you....do like 1 or 2 of those kind of games........even I like a couple........Its just that....you have to agree that most of them were total overall flops dont you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 Some people.. like me.. like those kind of games? I'm not sure where you're really going with this Tao, but I'm not interested in finding out. Good night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaoNakamora Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Good Idea lets just agree with your aforementioned statement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmeroid Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Excellent mock-up Phil! Keep 'em coming As for 'fantasy titles', Al seemed to think that they were a fine idea & personally I think they're great as well as being novel. http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24399 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtboy69 Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 you'd wonder why a cart for batman didn't come out hell when i was five which was 1888 that old adam west show was still on heavy rotation with reruns. i can just imagine how popular it was around the hieght of popularity of the 2600 too. it's weird that didn't happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I didn't know that you were alive in 1888 Of course, he was called Chief Man Of The Bats back then Anyway...Batman was run around here up until the middle 70's, and wasn't run again until cable became the norm in the mid-80's. Chances are, they may have opted for a more serious characterization for a game cart, more in line with the DC character at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmiteReturns Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 You know, as a long time Batman fan this is something that really upset me as a kid. We had Superman and Spidey on the VCS. Superman came out due to the popularity of the 1978 movie and Spiderman was probably due to his TV show in the late 70's as well. I do remember reading in the early 80's that the rights were licensed for a Wonder Woman game as well as a New Gods game. My first reaction was "Why the hell are we getting New Gods before Batman?!?!?!?!?" As a matter of fact, there wasn't a Batman game until Data East/Ocean released one on the PC in 1986 or 1987 which was based solely on the comic. Great job on the mock Adam West cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numan Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 That cart label looks great. The Spiderman TV series lasted two small seasons from 1976 to 1978. The Sci-FI channel ran them all so I finally was able to tape them, including the episode that was never made into a TV movie, "The Captive Tower." Subsequently, they made the TV movies available on VHS, and one of them includes an extra scene not on the regular series. I think it was around the same time, you had the Spiderman cartoons. There was a series that starred just him then you had the Spiderman and his Amazing Friends (with Firestar and Iceman). This was on during the Atari 2600 hey day. I think there was a Batman cartoon on CBS in the mid-1970's that had Batmite, but I know it did not last as long as Spiderman. Unfortunately, most superhero games are trash in the media, the latest victim being Batman: Dark Tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Spider-Man was clearly past his TV prime You're forgetting Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends which ran on Saturday mornings on NBC in the early to mid- 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 You're forgetting Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends which ran on Saturday mornings on NBC in the early to mid- 80s. You're right, I am. Odds are I either never watched it or saw so little of it at that young age it didn't make an impression - either way I don't even have any vague recollection of it at all. If I look through that website long enough though I might, or at least convince myself that I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 You're forgetting Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends which ran on Saturday mornings on NBC in the early to mid- 80s. You're right, I am. Odds are I either never watched it or saw so little of it at that young age it didn't make an impression - either way I don't even have any vague recollection of it at all. If I look through that website long enough though I might, or at least convince myself that I do. Saturday mornings on the Family channel @ 10:00 am. It's followed at 10:30 by the Spider-Man Animated Series from the 90's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Batman would most definitely NOT have appeared on 20th Century Fox's label. Why? Because Batman is a DC Comics character just like Superman. DC Comics was (is???) owned by Warner Communications who also owned . . . So Batman would have been easy for Atari to liscense and produce. Was Superman not a good seller? I was hoping for a Batman cart as soon as I picked up Superman in the old days. I always preferred the caped crusader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Why would Parker Bros make a Spidey game? Parker was fanatical about attaching their games to existing brand names. I believe that Monetzuma's Revenge was the only original title in their history. So Parker needs some titles to launch their label. They were the only video game company legally able to license Star Wars so that was a gift from the gods, they wanted some hit arcade games so they went with Frogger and Sky Skipper (good call with that last one). Since the video game warket was almost exclusively made up of teenaged boys at the time, publishers looked for other products with teen male appeal to attach to their games, such as action figures (GI Joe) and rock bands (Journey Escape - another good call). Comic books were a natural, but since Warner owned the DC characters, all that was left was Marvel. Yes, there were essentially only two superhero comic publishers in the world at the time. Marvel's most popular titles were Spiderman and the Hulk, so why not buy the rights? Hulk was supposedly not fit for releases, I suspect we'll find out the truth on that title soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Man, there are some Photoshop magicians around here! I think we're gonna actually need an Atari Special Edition cart in the Superman style next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted May 3, 2003 Author Share Posted May 3, 2003 :lmao: That's more like my mental image, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAtari Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Great job Guys... Lets see a Frank Miller Cart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.