Tempest Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 I saw an auction on Ebay for Decathlon on TAPE! http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?V...item=1286964058 I don't think I've ever seen an Activision game on tape before. I know tapes were popular in the UK (cheaper manufacturing costs I guess), but why would Acitivision bother making a tape version when it already had a nice cart version mass produced? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 Probably because tapes were pretty well it in the UK at the time. Consider the market in the UK: Sinclair Spectrum, Sam Coupe, BBC Micro ... all primarily tape-based systems. Microdrives were available for them, but not terribly popular due to the cost involved and the fact that no commercial vendors were supporting games on disk. I suppose this is largely because the Microdrive was the "big" idea over there, while the North American market stuck with the more standard 5.25" floppies, which enjoyed much better success, particularily with commercial companies making games for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 This standard also making it easy to have more than one format of a game on either side of the floppy. Half my software had C64 versions on one side and Atari on the other. I have C64 disks that have Apple II on one side as well. I think I even had an SSI title for the Atari at one point that had Apple II on the other side. Thus reducing publishing costs for the diverse pc market of the day. Although I also remember US software on tape that had another format on the other side too. Microdrives I believe don't have two "sides" to work with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callipygous Posted October 19, 2001 Share Posted October 19, 2001 Tempest, its a good question. I have seen Activision on tape. Recall a Pitfall II and at least one other. The common sequence was a disk title in the US followed by a cassette in Europe and then perhaps a cart version. Still, Atari sold cassettes of carts like Chess and Pole Position in Europe. Price must have been the reason. Carts cost $35-$45 new while cassettes were $20-$30. They could sell more cassettes despite the inconvenience of loading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callipygous Posted October 21, 2001 Share Posted October 21, 2001 Here is an auction for a Pole Position tape: Pole Position Tape Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 21, 2001 Author Share Posted October 21, 2001 Cool! I'm going to try and win that one. I collect Atari tapes as well as carts. The only cart game I know that Atari also offically put out on tape is Space invaders (I believe the tape came first). Very odd. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callipygous Posted October 22, 2001 Share Posted October 22, 2001 Go for it. I would be interested if the tapes have a CX or some other catalog number. I've never seen a listing. Perhaps a UK member can help? now playing the elusive Crystal Castles on my 800xl, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 22, 2001 Author Share Posted October 22, 2001 I've despertly been searching for Crystal Castles, but I can't seem to get one. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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