Champ Games - Turbo Arcade (2600)

[+johnnywc]

Hello all,

 

After 2 years+ of development, Turbo Arcade is nearing completion and will be available at the Champ Games booth at this year's Portland Retro Gaming Expo.

 

A huge thanks to @Nathan Strum and all of his hard work researching printers and producing all of the artwork for the game (box, manual, label and poster), as well as all of the in-game graphics and sounds! (is there nothing he can't do?!?!  )

 

Here are some images of the box:

I also want to thank @Albert for helping with the transition process with recommendations, suggestions and reviewing the text for the box and manual (Nathan and I are C+ grammar students at best  ).

 

We also plan on adding Turbo Arcade (both boxed version and digital download) to our Champ Games store after we return from the convention, most likely in early December.

 

If you're in the Portland area in mid-October, come on down and visit as we will have the games set up to play as well.  Our booth will be in close proximity to the AtariAge booth.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Thanks,

John

[Bomberman94]

I am very glad that the games will be available (also physically) and that everyone is working hand in hand for this. There would really be something missing!

[+sramirez2008]

That box art looks great. Can't wait to try this with the driving controller. Nice work gents.👍

[TrekMD]

Love the artwork!

[oky2000]

Couldn't see Turbo listed on the games in the Champ Games store, copyright problem?

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

16 minutes ago, oky2000 said:

Couldn't see Turbo listed on the games in the Champ Games store, copyright problem?

 

Turbo Arcade will make its boxed debut at PRGE in about two weeks. There is a demo you can download from the Champ Games website here: https://champ.games/downloads

 

Here's the quote from John about 5 messages up the thread regarding the release:

 

On 9/18/2023 at 5:39 PM, johnnywc said:

We also plan on adding Turbo Arcade (both boxed version and digital download) to our Champ Games store after we return from the convention, most likely in early December.

 

- James

[oky2000]

44 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 

Turbo Arcade will make its boxed debut at PRGE in about two weeks. There is a demo you can download from the Champ Games website here: https://champ.games/downloads

 

Here's the quote from John about 5 messages up the thread regarding the release:

 

 

- James

Many thanks, wasn't sure as I just watched a few videos of it, it's awesome, not just for the VCS but awesome for any 8bit system. Well done

[+johnnywc]

Champ Games is happy to announce the both Turbo Arcade and Elevator Agent are now available for purchase in our online store, both as physical cartridges and digital ROMs!

 

We have also added physical cartridges (including box, manual, and 10x14 poster) to our store for ten previously released games:

• Scramble
• Super Cobra Arcade
• Mappy
• Wizard of Wor Arcade
• Galagon
• Zoo Keeper
• RobotWar: 2684
• Lady Bug Arcade
• Qyx
• Gorf Arcade

For the cartridges, we have added a "Add digital ROM?" option when ordering if you want to buy both the cartridge and ROM at the same time (includes a $5 discount) or you can order just the ROM or just the cartridge.

 

NOTE: Cartridges for most Champ Games will only work on an original Atari 2600 or 100% compatible.  They will not work on the new Atari 2600+ or the RetroN 77.  I know Atari is actively looking into seeing if they can update the firmware to the Atari 2600+ to support the more advanced games - hopefully they can figure it out! 🤞

 

Additionally, if you are interested in the ROMs for Turbo Arcade or Elevator Agent, please be aware that since they are > 32K Melody/ARM based games, they do NOT work on a Harmony or Harmony Encore (or the Unocart or PlusCart, which is true for all Melody based games).  Right now the only way to play either of these games on a real Atari is with the physical cartridge.  The ROMs are supported by Stella 6.7 and Gopher2600 (latest version).  Fred @batari has plans on either a new Harmony-type cart or expansion module that will support these ROMs in the future (I'll let him add more details).

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my right-hand man, the one and only @Nathan Strum for all of his help the last few months setting up all of the publishing and printing, preparing for PRGE, helping with the online store, all while still making significant contributions to the games themselves (almost forgot about those!  ) including the graphics, artwork for the boxes/manuals/labels/posters plus the manuals themselves, game design and so much more.  Heck, he even did the sound effects for Turbo Arcade!  (is there nothing he can't do?  ) Certainly without his help these games would not have been possible, and definitely we would not be publishing our own games.   

 

Thank you also to all of the volunteer testers, including @McCallister , @Gray Defender, @Bomberman94 and @Machine , plus @ZeroPage Homebrew  for the countless hours of game testing and helpful suggestions!  A special shout-out to @McCallister for actually being the only one to finish the all 99 rounds during testing (yes, it's possible!)  🏆 

 

I'd also like to thank @Albert for his guidance, suggestion and assistance during this transition, and one last shout out to Fred @batari for supplying the boards and shells for the cartridges both at PRGE and for our online store.  

 

Here's looking forward to 2024 and hopefully more Champ Games! 🕹️ 

 

Have fun!

John

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

ZeroPage Homebrew is UNBOXING Elevator Agent with a LIVE Video Interview with John Champeau from Champ Games on tomorrow's ZPH stream LIVE on Twitch! Hope you can join us in the chat!

 

Fri Dec 15, 2023 | 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 2AM GMT+1Day

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Elevator Agent (Retail | 2600) by Champ Games / John Champeau @johnnywc (Coding & Design), Nathan Strum @Nathan Strum (Art & Graphics, Packaging), Pat Brady @Pat Brady (Music & Sounds)
• Turbo Arcade (Retail | 2600) by Champ Games / John Champeau @johnnywc (Coding & Design), Nathan Strum @Nathan Strum (Art & Graphics, Sound Effects, Packaging)

 

 

[Yosikuma]

I ordered the physical version of this (being a Harmony cart owner the digital was out of the question).  Can't wait to play this -- it's quite an achievement from the looks of it! I know the shift away from AA was a pain but glad you're still doing your thing!

[+sramirez2008]

Congratulations @johnnywc and @Nathan Strum on your AA Hombrew award win for Turbo Arcade. Special shout-out to all the testers!

[+Muddyfunster]

Congratulations guys!