Help identifying the system for these cartridges

[Buckaroo]

These two cartridges arrived today in a bundle of 2600 games.

 

The shells are relatively the same as the 2600 size but the connector is wider. 

 

Pitfall appears to be for the ColecoVision going by pictures online and both cartridges appear to be for the same  system going by the PCB connector. 

 

I cant find anywhere online that Starmaster came out for the ColecoVision though. 

 

Starmaster is possibly a bootleg as there's no Activision branding on it. 

 

Unfortunately at the moment I only have an Atari 2600 for testing. 

 

Any help appreciated. 

 

 

 

 

[digress]

Yep, starmaster is atari 2600

That is pitfall for colecovision though the label is the pits. Masking tape might look better.

 

The cart shell is unique for coleco like below.

  ---------------

/     Coleco       \

|     Shape        |

------------------

[Pixelboy]

That StarMaster cart is indeed rather weird. It has 30 pins on the edge connector, while the Atari 2600's cartridge pinout is only 24 pins. For a moment, I thought perhaps this was a 7800 cart, but that doesn't work.

 

Perhaps this is for a Brazil/Argentina clone of the Atari 2600, which has its own custom cart pin-out?

 

[digress]

posibly HES version for PAL in austrailia?

 

I found that one other listing in the atari database.

[rietveld]

Pitfall looks like an Atari 600/800 

[Buckaroo]

3 hours ago, digress said:

Yep, starmaster is atari 2600

That is pitfall for colecovision though the label is the pits. Masking tape might look better.

 

The cart shell is unique for coleco like below.

  ---------------

/     Coleco       \

|     Shape        |

------------------

It's definitely not for the 2600, Starmaster has 30 pins and the PCB is wider (see picture, 2600 on top and unidentified one on bottom). 

 

I've had HES games and the labels are similar but they normally say HES or the original dev team (Activision in this case)

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Pixelboy said:

That StarMaster cart is indeed rather weird. It has 30 pins on the edge connector, while the Atari 2600's cartridge pinout is only 24 pins. For a moment, I thought perhaps this was a 7800 cart, but that doesn't work.

 

Perhaps this is for a Brazil/Argentina clone of the Atari 2600, which has its own custom cart pin-out?

 

I've got a 7800 being delivered over the next few days but like you say I don't think the pinouts are right. 

 

I've got a couple of those clone machines and an official Brazilian Atari 2600 but they all have the 24 pin slot.

There are other Brazilian ones like the Dactar though which I don't have. 

 

 

Originally bought the bundle as Starmaster looked like a 2600 cart that hadn't been catalogued or dumped. 

I've got a MaxFlash USB reader but annoyingly not the ColecoVision adapter. 

 

My guess is that this is a ColecoVision bootleg cartridge which isn't the game Starmaster that has just used the artwork. 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by Buckaroo

[Supergun]

All 2600 consoles made, regardless of region, used the same cartridge port with the same number of pins on the edge connector. So that strange 30 pin star master cart is certainly not for 2600. What is especially odd though is that the cartridge has the two guide pegs which were only used on 2600 carts.

 

So I believe what you have there is what WAS originally an Atari 2600 cart (possibly a clone of activision star master) where someone removed the board that was inside, and for whatever reason, another board for a different system was placed inside. (possibly ColecoVision)

 

Either way, i highly recommend that you do not plug that cartridge into anything until you open it up and verify what board is inside it. It could be something rare and it would be a shame to damage or destroy it.

[Buckaroo]

6 hours ago, Supergun said:

All 2600 consoles made, regardless of region, used the same cartridge port with the same number of pins on the edge connector. So that strange 30 pin star master cart is certainly not for 2600. What is especially odd though is that the cartridge has the two guide pegs which were only used on 2600 carts.

 

So I believe what you have there is what WAS originally an Atari 2600 cart (possibly a clone of activision star master) where someone removed the board that was inside, and for whatever reason, another board for a different system was placed inside. (possibly ColecoVision)

 

Either way, i highly recommend that you do not plug that cartridge into anything until you open it up and verify what board is inside it. It could be something rare and it would be a shame to damage or destroy it.

I tried heating the label to remove it but it's not like the standard Atari cartridges. It feels more like paper and the heat isn't loosening the glue. 

 

I'm not going to try any further as it's going to damage the label. 

 

There are three screw slots below it.  

 

 

[Buckaroo]

Just ordered the ColecoVision adapter for the MaxFlash USB, it's going to take a few weeks to arrive as I'm in the UK. 

 

I'll update this once it arrives. 

[youki]

The case of Starmaster looks like the one used by  Rainbow Vision games.

 

But i don't find Starmaster in the list of Rainbow Vision game. 

 

List of Atari 2600 VCS Games : Rainbow Vision, page 1, (atarimania.com)

 

 

 

[Buckaroo]

11 hours ago, youki said:

The case of Starmaster looks like the one used by  Rainbow Vision games.

 

But i don't find Starmaster in the list of Rainbow Vision game. 

 

List of Atari 2600 VCS Games : Rainbow Vision, page 1, (atarimania.com)

 

 

 

Yes it is really similar but when you see them side by side it's slightly different. 

[NIAD]

I don’t have pics on hand to reference at the moment, but from memory the Starmaster labeled cart shell looks similar to Bit Corp. shells 

[Buckaroo]

So it turns out it was a ColecoVision game but it wasn't Starmaster, it was Tank Wars. 

 

The MaxFlash USB dumped this at 32kb but it looks like only the first 12kb are used, find the ROM attached.

 

It appears to be identical to the ROM of this I found online. 

 

I was hoping for something more exciting. 

Tank Wars - Starmaster.bin

[Buckaroo]

On 2/28/2022 at 4:01 AM, NIAD said:

I don’t have pics on hand to reference at the moment, but from memory the Starmaster labeled cart shell looks similar to Bit Corp. shells 

Yes you're right it does look like them I found a Tank Wars cart here: 

 

The Starmaster/Tank Wars cartridge doesn't have the tapered edge though.

 

[NIAD]

26 minutes ago, Buckaroo said:

The Starmaster/Tank Wars cartridge doesn't have the tapered edge though.

 

Just saying that Bit Corp released 2600 warez and would have most likely made 2600 compatible shells. Could be a million explanations as to why a populated ColecoVision cart PCB was installed in a 2600 compatible cart shell.