PROBALLY A STUPID QUESTION BUT I JUST HAD TO ASK XANTE GAME

[wrldstrman]

On the topic of the xante games.I know that the games are very rare and probally only found in areas where the stores that had the machines to make the games are But my question is should the xante games be individualy listed on the rarity guide or just simply any xante game would be a rarity 10. If someone had pac man put on an xante cart and it was the only one ever made there would be no way that any more than one person could ever own a xante pac man. Because ( and this is just my opinion so dont beat up on me to bad) if you list each xante game individually as their found Like xante pac man. xante glib xante missile command for example ,shouldnt then any 2600 game found thats one of a kind be on the 10 list. Its not that the game its self that is rare its thats fact that the game is programed on the unique blue xante cart that makes it rare. Theres always a chance that someone can find a xante game in the wild or maybe on ebay but to list them individually really doesnt give anyone else a chance to own that certian game. as super rare as air raid is there is always a chance someone might stumble across one .but just like xante solar storm on the list it may be the only solar storm ever made.I dont want anyone to think im trying to say xante games arent desreving a 10 rating which I think they are I just dont think listing them individually is really fair.Just my opinion. ANY THOUGHTS.

[Alex]

You are probably right, although I'm not sure how we should list them. Maybe simply a single entry under Xante as an EPROM cart? I think it's important that they be in the guide as a company and as a cartridge because it was available commercially even if it was a test market.

[Pitfall Harry]

my question is should the xante games be individualy listed on the rarity guide or just simply any xante game would be a rarity 10.

 

Since only a handful of Xante games have ever been found, any newly discovered Xante title would deservedly and automatically be crowned a 10, as you have surmised.

 

Should Xante titles be individually listed? For right now, there are only six titles which have been found, confirmed and listed. That's not so great a load for the AtariAge games database to bear. Listing them individually answers the obvious question anyone curious about Xante titles might raise, "Which games did they make?"

 

 

If someone had pac man put on an xante cart and it was the only one ever made there would be no way that any more than one person could ever own a xante pac man.

 

That's true, provided your assumption of "it was the only one ever made" is a valid one. But nobody knows how many people called on Xante to have a Pac-Man cart made. A second copy of Xante Pac-Man (or even a First copy, for that matter) could be discovered at any time.

 

The same thing is true for so-called "one-of-a-kind" prototypes. They're always called that, until somebody comes along and shows they've got one too.

 

Because ( and this is just my opinion so dont beat up on me to bad) if you list each xante game individually as their found    Like  xante pac man.   xante glib   xante missile command for example ,shouldnt  then any 2600 game found thats one of a kind be on the 10 list.

 

A rarity 10 cartridge, according to the AA guide is:

 

"Unbelievably Rare - These games are almost impossible to find in the wild. Even collectors who have been at it for years may never run across one of these, and they often make up the showcase of an individual's collection. These rarely show up even on Ebay, and if they do there will most likely be a bidding war."

 

A "one-of-a-kind" title, by every measure, fits the description of a 10 listed above.

 

Maybe what you are contending is that Xante carts shouldn't be judged on the 1-10 scale as other commercial releases are, because they are categorically different somehow. Such an argument has merit. After all, prototypes, those few-of-a-kind EPROM jobbies are all rated a 'P,' each of which is presumed a 10 without listing it as such. But dubbing the Xante carts a 'P' is misleading, because they really weren't prototypes. They were reproductions of commercial games.

 

Well, now. The AtariAge Rarity Guide indeed has a category for reproductions of commercial games (they are rated as an 'R'), but the definition for the category limits 'R' explicitly to "newly manufactured" games. Otherwise, the 'R' category is dead-on exactly what a Xante title is.

 

Two improvements to the categorization of Xante games immediately leaps to my mind.

 

1. Expand the existing definition of the 'R' category to include reproductions of commercial carts, without regard to the time in which they were made.

 

2. Create a new category for the Rarity Guide, which exclusively represents reproductions of commercial cartridges which were made back in the day. Let's call the rating a 'Z' for the sake of argument. Then all Xante carts and all Beagle Brothers carts would be given the Z.

 

Its not that the game its self that is rare its thats fact that the game is programed on the unique blue xante cart that makes it rare.

 

Yup. And that's radical enough a varaition to make a lot of collectors interested in the details of that variation. So, it makes sense that the AA Guide should provide those details, without being misleading, as much as possible.

 

Theres always a chance that someone can find a xante game in the wild or maybe on ebay but to list them individually really doesnt give anyone else a chance to own that certian game.

 

I've re-read this last bit several times. I'm really not sure I see what you're driving at here. You say there's a chance of finding a cart in the wild or on eBay, but because a list exists which documents the rarity of those carts...the existence of that list somehow removes your chance of finding that cart in the wild or on eBay??

 

 

as super rare as air raid is there is always a chance someone might stumble across one .but just like xante solar storm on the list it may be the only solar storm ever made.

 

But you just have no way of knowing whether or not there was only one Xante Solar Storm. Nobody knows. Another one could show up. It could even be you who finds it.

 

 

I dont want anyone to think im trying to say xante games arent desreving a 10 rating which I think they are I just dont think listing them individually is really fair.Just my opinion.  ANY THOUGHTS.

 

I'm with you. I think the Xante carts would be better placed in a different category.

 

Ben

[MegaManFan]

Xante is on rarity 10 and should be dropped altogether.