Collecting for the 2600+

[Ben from Plaion]

Just now, MikeM_ said:

I can only imagine how complex some of these IP arrangements are. PAC-MAN for example. The Atari version was written in house, but Atari doesn’t have the rights anymore, at least to the name. All the franchises that Disney owns now: Star Wars, muppets, Marvel. There are quite a few classic titles that would be wrapped up in their vaults. 
 

it’s no surprise that Atari 50 is all about the titles that they owned outright. 
 

I do wonder what it would take to get many of those games re-released. 

Combination of perservance and money.

[Ben from Plaion]

5 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

I can only imagine how complex some of these IP arrangements are. PAC-MAN for example. The Atari version was written in house, but Atari doesn’t have the rights anymore, at least to the name. All the franchises that Disney owns now: Star Wars, muppets, Marvel. There are quite a few classic titles that would be wrapped up in their vaults. 
 

it’s no surprise that Atari 50 is all about the titles that they owned outright. 
 

I do wonder what it would take to get many of those games re-released. 

As far as I see it its a twin conundrum. Who owns the game code and who owns the IP trade dress of the franchise. Both need to be satisfied for a deal to be done.

[+jeremiahjt]

I have always wondered if Atari could do a lifetime license for a particular game. Like could Atari get a license for 2600 Space Invaders from Taito that would only be for the 2600 version, but forever. Is something like that even possible, but nobody would be willing to do it? Or is it pretty much impossible.

[Ben from Plaion]

1 minute ago, jeremiahjt said:

I have always wondered if Atari could do a lifetime license for a particular game. Like could Atari get a license for 2600 Space Invaders from Taito that would only be for the 2600 version, but forever. Is something like that even possible, but nobody would be willing to do it? Or is it pretty much impossible.

Depends entirely on the person you speak to. Junior guy in licensing department that has a level of MG to hit on on a IP regardless....dont hit the MG and its a no. Speak to a higher up that values the proposal based on on brand recognition and it might be an ok. 

[Sean_1970]

46 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Combination of perservance and money.

I’ve been surprised that arcade Battlezone wasn’t licensed/purchased from Rebellion for one of the Classics volumes or Atari 50. I mean they bought the rights back when someone was just selling it all off (can’t recall, did Infogrames do that or was it earlier when Hasbro had the rights?) - surely they wouldn’t ask too much. I mean they only made one PS4 game with the İP (which I quite enjoy, despite “classic” mode not being Arcade emulated, but a skin).

[+jeremiahjt]

1 hour ago, Sean_1970 said:

I’ve been surprised that arcade Battlezone wasn’t licensed/purchased from Rebellion for one of the Classics volumes or Atari 50. I mean they bought the rights back when someone was just selling it all off (can’t recall, did Infogrames do that or was it earlier when Hasbro had the rights?) - surely they wouldn’t ask too much. I mean they only made one PS4 game with the İP (which I quite enjoy, despite “classic” mode not being Arcade emulated, but a skin).

Battlezone was sold off during the 2013 bankruptcy proceedings.

[MysticSword]

Over these last couple of months, here's the game controllers I've acquired to use with my 2600+ console.

I like them all in their own way. Depending on the game I'm playing, I may prefer one controller over another.

 

Starting from top-left;

• So I could play 7800 games that might require two buttons, I got a 'Hyperkin Sega Genesis Controller' from Amazon (it was fairly cheap actually) along with a '7800 Mega Controller Adapter' I got from the Atari Age store.

     Together it works well with 7800 and 2600 games and it was a less expensive option compared to something like the Retro Game Boys 7800 game-pads (which after currency conversion along with the shipping costs would be the expensive option for me).

 

• The classic Atari 2600 Joystick styled controller that came with my 2600+ console.

 

• A NES styled gamepad controller, which works good on the 2600+. It has really cool custom printed Pitfall art on the front and back. I got this on Etsy during a good discounted sale on it about a week before Christmas, and figured I'd treat myself to it.

 

• In the middle is a 'Hyperkin Ranger' gamepad. I do like the feel of this controller, though it has a 'looser' feel with the thumb-stick. The built-in Paddle is 'okay-ish', but I found it inconstant in feel and turning from left-side, middle and right-side (with the right-side being really stiff) and how the paddle is recessed into the main controller is also limiting range of movement, so to me it's not so good for playing paddle games as it often hinders my movement when playing a game. If I ever manage to get the 7800 Robotron game for a reasonable price, I was thinking I could perhaps get a 2nd Ranger controller to play it with (and maybe manage to even made a homemade coupler to join the controllers together).

 

And on the bottom;

• A couple days ago I just got the new Atari Paddle Pack with 4-in-1 games cartridge. Yay!

I had a good session on my 2600+ with a few of the paddle games I have.

I think the new paddle-controller feels great, is smooth and responds well.

So far, from my Paddle games in my collection, my favorite game to play with it is Super Breakout.

PS: With clear tape, I put a '1' on a paddle controller, so I don't need to guess which one to use for a single-player game (and it will probably be rare that I'll have anyone else to play 2-players games with anyways).

 

[Sean_1970]

6 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

Battlezone was sold off during the 2013 bankruptcy proceedings.

Ah cheers for clearing that up. Still odd to me they wouldn’t at least try to license it - Rebellion being unhelpful, pride? Especially for the 50 collection given the Abrams simulator version it’s a noteworthy bit of Atari history to omit.

[JetmanUK]

28 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Ah cheers for clearing that up. Still odd to me they wouldn’t at least try to license it - Rebellion being unhelpful, pride? Especially for the 50 collection given the Abrams simulator version it’s a noteworthy bit of Atari history to omit.

I've often pondered the loss of Battlezone and how Atari could get round making a new 3D tank game. I'm sure I've mentioned it on here.

I don't think Rebellion would sell it back for peanuts as it might not be of crazy value to them, but they know it's valuable to Atari.

 

My suggestion would be:

3D Combat

Combat 3D

Combat Tanks

Combat Zone

 

Something like the above, just make a similar game to Battlezone and slap the Combat brand on it, its a strong Atari IP and includes tanks. 💁🏻

Perhaps the Battlezone IP would be up for reasonable negotiation if Atari proved that they didn't need it. 

[JetmanUK]

1 hour ago, MysticSword said:

Over these last couple of months, here's the game controllers I've acquired to use with my 2600+ console.

I like them all in their own way. Depending on the game I'm playing, I may prefer one controller over another.

 

Starting from top-left;

• So I could play 7800 games that might require two buttons, I got a 'Hyperkin Sega Genesis Controller' from Amazon (it was fairly cheap actually) along with a '7800 Mega Controller Adapter' I got from the Atari Age store.

     Together it works well with 7800 and 2600 games and it was a less expensive option compared to something like the Retro Game Boys 7800 game-pads (which after currency conversion along with the shipping costs would be the expensive option for me).

 

• The classic Atari 2600 Joystick styled controller that came with my 2600+ console.

 

• A NES styled gamepad controller, which works good on the 2600+. It has really cool custom printed Pitfall art on the front and back. I got this on Etsy during a good discounted sale on it about a week before Christmas, and figured I'd treat myself to it.

 

• In the middle is a 'Hyperkin Ranger' gamepad. I do like the feel of this controller, though it has a 'looser' feel with the thumb-stick. The built-in Paddle is 'okay-ish', but I found it inconstant in feel and turning from left-side, middle and right-side (with the right-side being really stiff) and how the paddle is recessed into the main controller is also limiting range of movement, so to me it's not so good for playing paddle games as it often hinders my movement when playing a game. If I ever manage to get the 7800 Robotron game for a reasonable price, I was thinking I could perhaps get a 2nd Ranger controller to play it with (and maybe manage to even made a homemade coupler to join the controllers together).

 

And on the bottom;

• A couple days ago I just got the new Atari Paddle Pack with 4-in-1 games cartridge. Yay!

I had a good session on my 2600+ with a few of the paddle games I have.

I think the new paddle-controller feels great, is smooth and responds well.

So far, from my Paddle games in my collection, my favorite game to play with it is Super Breakout.

PS: With clear tape, I put a '1' on a paddle controller, so I don't need to guess which one to use for a single-player game (and it will probably be rare that I'll have anyone else to play 2-players games with anyways).

 

Handy to know which paddle is which!

 

I might do something like put a small cable tie/tie wrap/zip tie (these things have so many names) around the cord near the controller, less chance of stickyness and less visible. 

[JetmanUK]

8 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

I’ve been surprised that arcade Battlezone wasn’t licensed/purchased from Rebellion for one of the Classics volumes or Atari 50. I mean they bought the rights back when someone was just selling it all off (can’t recall, did Infogrames do that or was it earlier when Hasbro had the rights?) - surely they wouldn’t ask too much. I mean they only made one PS4 game with the İP (which I quite enjoy, despite “classic” mode not being Arcade emulated, but a skin).

Touching on the Rebellion Battlezone game, it was made as a PSVR game and then adapted into a standard game. It's an ok standard game, but a fantastic VR game, I played it for hours when it came out in 2016. 

[Sean_1970]

1 hour ago, JetmanUK said:

Touching on the Rebellion Battlezone game, it was made as a PSVR game and then adapted into a standard game. It's an ok standard game, but a fantastic VR game, I played it for hours when it came out in 2016. 

I played it online quite a lot. Not interested in VR, so I bought the gold edition hoping that “Classic” was the actual arcade game and disappointed that it wasn’t, but the main game is good and I played many hours 👍. It does make me wonder though: did Rebellion’s purchase include the game code or just the brand? If the latter then Atari could do a “Defender II” and change the title screen as you suggest and that would be fine by me. I suspect, however, that Rebellion does own the original game code and just couldn’t be bothered emulating it - kinda like that Defender game on GameCube/PS2/Xbox which disappointingly didn’t include the arcade game either.

 

Still, 8-bit computer Battlezone is apparently included in the 400Mini, so it would appear Rebellion will license it out. Be nice if Atari forked over the dish for some DLC for 50!

 

In the meantime Robot Tank is pretty cool. I just need to wait and see if I’ll be able to upgrade my 2600+ to play it or break down and buy a PAL copy to replace my NTSC one 😅

[JetmanUK]

2 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

I played it online quite a lot. Not interested in VR, so I bought the gold edition hoping that “Classic” was the actual arcade game and disappointed that it wasn’t, but the main game is good and I played many hours 👍. It does make me wonder though: did Rebellion’s purchase include the game code or just the brand? If the latter then Atari could do a “Defender II” and change the title screen as you suggest and that would be fine by me. I suspect, however, that Rebellion does own the original game code and just couldn’t be bothered emulating it - kinda like that Defender game on GameCube/PS2/Xbox which disappointingly didn’t include the arcade game either.

 

Still, 8-bit computer Battlezone is apparently included in the 400Mini, so it would appear Rebellion will license it out. Be nice if Atari forked over the dish for some DLC for 50!

 

In the meantime Robot Tank is pretty cool. I just need to wait and see if I’ll be able to upgrade my 2600+ to play it or break down and buy a PAL copy to replace my NTSC one 😅

That is interesting that Battlezone is included on the 400 Mini, conversations/deals have taken place then. It would be great as part of Atari 50.

[Dr Karnov]

3 hours ago, MysticSword said:

Over these last couple of months, here's the game controllers I've acquired to use with my 2600+ console.

I like them all in their own way. Depending on the game I'm playing, I may prefer one controller over another.

 

Starting from top-left;

• So I could play 7800 games that might require two buttons, I got a 'Hyperkin Sega Genesis Controller' from Amazon (it was fairly cheap actually) along with a '7800 Mega Controller Adapter' I got from the Atari Age store.

     Together it works well with 7800 and 2600 games and it was a less expensive option compared to something like the Retro Game Boys 7800 game-pads (which after currency conversion along with the shipping costs would be the expensive option for me).

 

• The classic Atari 2600 Joystick styled controller that came with my 2600+ console.

 

• A NES styled gamepad controller, which works good on the 2600+. It has really cool custom printed Pitfall art on the front and back. I got this on Etsy during a good discounted sale on it about a week before Christmas, and figured I'd treat myself to it.

 

• In the middle is a 'Hyperkin Ranger' gamepad. I do like the feel of this controller, though it has a 'looser' feel with the thumb-stick. The built-in Paddle is 'okay-ish', but I found it inconstant in feel and turning from left-side, middle and right-side (with the right-side being really stiff) and how the paddle is recessed into the main controller is also limiting range of movement, so to me it's not so good for playing paddle games as it often hinders my movement when playing a game. If I ever manage to get the 7800 Robotron game for a reasonable price, I was thinking I could perhaps get a 2nd Ranger controller to play it with (and maybe manage to even made a homemade coupler to join the controllers together).

 

And on the bottom;

• A couple days ago I just got the new Atari Paddle Pack with 4-in-1 games cartridge. Yay!

I had a good session on my 2600+ with a few of the paddle games I have.

I think the new paddle-controller feels great, is smooth and responds well.

So far, from my Paddle games in my collection, my favorite game to play with it is Super Breakout.

PS: With clear tape, I put a '1' on a paddle controller, so I don't need to guess which one to use for a single-player game (and it will probably be rare that I'll have anyone else to play 2-players games with anyways).

 

Regarding Robotron and dual wielding Hyperkin Rangers, that's exactly how I currently play the game. It works really well, since even the cable can be swapped for each controller for comfort 

 

Having a controller with thumbstick in each hand makes it feel like one of those modern VR game setups!!

[Sean_1970]

Well so much for abstinence. I’ve just ordered a new in box (hopefully the condition is decent) copy of Klax - which I would have happily passed on, but given it was a PAL-only title and the condition and I like the game and it looks like a decent port, I CANNOT PASS, it up 😅

 

And I was watching a CiB copy of Robot Tank PAL and the guy offers %15 off so, eff it. Now the only incentive for me to eventually upgrade firmware is Star Raiders, but I’m getting the sense that peripheral support is lower priority than homebrew for whatever reason. I’ll hang onto my copy just for nostalgia’s sake I suppose if nothing else and play it on PS5/Evercade 🤷‍♂️

[JetmanUK]

22 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Well so much for abstinence. I’ve just ordered a new in box (hopefully the condition is decent) copy of Klax - which I would have happily passed on, but given it was a PAL-only title and the condition and I like the game and it looks like a decent port, I CANNOT PASS, it up 😅

 

And I was watching a CiB copy of Robot Tank PAL and the guy offers %15 off so, eff it. Now the only incentive for me to eventually upgrade firmware is Star Raiders, but I’m getting the sense that peripheral support is lower priority than homebrew for whatever reason. I’ll hang onto my copy just for nostalgia’s sake I suppose if nothing else and play it on PS5/Evercade 🤷‍♂️

Welcome to the club 😋

 

It's a fun game, I played it on the Spectrum back in the day. Much better graphics in that version, the 2600 version is a little bare. 

[Sean_1970]

37 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

Welcome to the club 😋

 

It's a fun game, I played it on the Spectrum back in the day. Much better graphics in that version, the 2600 version is a little bare. 

Wish I hadn’t seen that, mine is £20, though p+p is free 😅. I suppose it’s still cheaper than when it was new 😂

 

Now if they added voice and arcade sound effects in an enhanced version I’d double-dip 😉

[JetmanUK]

12 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Wish I hadn’t seen that, mine is £20, though p+p is free 😅. I suppose it’s still cheaper than when it was new 😂

 

Now if they added voice and arcade sound effects in an enhanced version I’d double-dip 😉

Ah sorry, mine was a particular steal and an unusual deal I think. Yours is still good, under the original price is always nice for a CIB copy.

 

That's collecting carts though, some games we get for a bargain, some we pay a moderate amount, some we go crazy on, I have gone crazy over the last few days. 😬🤦🏻

 

I just bought Crazy Climber, Beamrider, Frankenstein and Subterranea, all crazy prices on eBay, but I managed to do some bartering with the 'make offer' option on there and get good discounts... still paid to much though. 🤷🏻🤣

Edited January 24 by JetmanUK

[Dr Karnov]

16 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

Ah sorry, mine was a particular steal and an unusual deal I think. Yours is still good, under the original price is always nice for a CIB copy.

 

That's collecting carts though, some games we get for a bargain, some we pay a moderate amount, some we go crazy on, I have gone crazy over the last few days. 😬🤦🏻

 

I just bought Crazy Climber, Beamrider, Frankenstein and Subterranea, all crazy prices on eBay, but I managed to do some bartering with the 'make offer' option on there and get good discounts... still paid to much though. 🤷🏻🤣

You'll have to keep us posted how they are when you get them. Especially Beamrider, I've always wanted that game 

[JetmanUK]

1 hour ago, Dr Karnov said:

You'll have to keep us posted how they are when you get them. Especially Beamrider, I've always wanted that game 

I played around with the ROM quite a bit, to check it was worth spending on. It really scratches the Tempest itch, really cool game. 👍🏻

[+Intellivision Master]

8 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

I've often pondered the loss of Battlezone and how Atari could get round making a new 3D tank game. I'm sure I've mentioned it on here.

I don't think Rebellion would sell it back for peanuts as it might not be of crazy value to them, but they know it's valuable to Atari.

 

My suggestion would be:

3D Combat

Combat 3D

Combat Tanks

Combat Zone

 

Something like the above, just make a similar game to Battlezone and slap the Combat brand on it, its a strong Atari IP and includes tanks. 💁🏻

Perhaps the Battlezone IP would be up for reasonable negotiation if Atari proved that they didn't need it. 

It would be nice to see Battlezone come back to Atari.  Then maybe we could get an updated version of it on the 2600 or 7800.  If not, perhaps something similar like you said.  Whatever ends up happening, hopefully it's one or the other.  

[Sean_1970]

4 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Ah sorry, mine was a particular steal and an unusual deal I think. Yours is still good, under the original price is always nice for a CIB copy.

 

That's collecting carts though, some games we get for a bargain, some we pay a moderate amount, some we go crazy on, I have gone crazy over the last few days. 😬🤦🏻

 

I just bought Crazy Climber, Beamrider, Frankenstein and Subterranea, all crazy prices on eBay, but I managed to do some bartering with the 'make offer' option on there and get good discounts... still paid to much though. 🤷🏻🤣

True and I’m not actually sad about it. I use the same philosophy as when I’m haggling in a market: pay what it’s worth to _you_ and don’t worry about getting the “best price” 😉

[JetmanUK]

7 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

True and I’m not actually sad about it. I use the same philosophy as when I’m haggling in a market: pay what it’s worth to _you_ and don’t worry about getting the “best price” 😉

Absolutely, the prices are the prices and I've paid what I've paid. I've got an awesome collection of carts, some cheap... some not so, and I can see from all the posts on here others have great collections too. We are all enjoying these 45 year old pieces of plastic aren't we?!

 

I have to admit though, it will be nice to hop off the rat race for the classic carts and just enjoy the new releases. Knowing a guaranteed price and easy availability will be a more gentle way of buying. 

[Sean_1970]

12 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

I have to admit though, it will be nice to hop off the rat race for the classic carts and just enjoy the new releases. Knowing a guaranteed price and easy availability will be a more gentle way of buying. 

Especially not having to clean them or worry about compatibility!

[JetmanUK]

6 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Especially not having to clean them or worry about compatibility!

Yes! Imagine just taking a cart out of a box and put it in the Plus and it just works. 🤷🏻😱😱🤣