Name This Game

[Pitfall Harry]

I know it's not the most beloved title in the Atari VCS library of games, but shouldn't Name This Game at least get a mention in the AtariAge Archives section under "Atari 2600 Contests"? Whenever I think about Atari games with associated contests, that's always the first to spring to my mind, because the name of the contest is right there screaming at you in the game's [unofficial] title. How can ya miss it?!

 

 

-Ben

[BillDMatt]

I agree.      I like that game, I still have a vivid meory of picking that up at Ames as kids and sending in my entry to the contest.      Found one on eBay that was in pristine condition.     I think it has a small space in the Atari 2600 lore  

Edited March 26 by BillDMatt

[BassGuitari]

I always liked Name This Game. I discovered it on a thrifting/game hunting trip years and years ago; I'd heard of it but it didn't know anything about it (other than the title was funny and odd). When I got it home and tried it out, I thought it was pretty good! My favorite thing about this game is the green maniac in the boat with his hair on fire. 😆 (At least that's what he looks like to me!)

 

What would you have named it? 🙂

[Absalon]

44 minutes ago, BassGuitari said:

What would you have named it?

The pal version of the game is simply called octopus😉😅

[Pitfall Harry]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:25 AM, BassGuitari said:

What would you have named it? 🙂

 

I think a perfect name for the game would have been The Adventures of a Green Hair-on-fire Maniac Diving Air Hose Facilitator.

 

-Ben

[Pitfall Harry]

I was surprised to notice this about Name this Game for the first time tonight, and I thought someone else might find it interesting. There seem to be two different label variations of Name this Game. In one version, the "name" of the game printed on the main label of the cartridge simply reads, "Name this Game." In the other version, the label reads, "Name this Game and win $10,000." I also noticed (by looking through my collection and then by sampling a dozen or so images on eBay) that every time the cartridge label was of a particular variation, that variation style was consistently duplicated in the Instruction Manual and printed on the Box as well. That consistency is not surprising. But what IS surprising, is that every time the cartridge label (and game box) includes "and win $10,000" then the cartridge case is of the beveled variety; and every time the cartridge label is missing the "and win $10,000" then the cartridge case is of the standard (square) variety.

 

Why is this important?  If you are looking for a sealed copy of Name this Game, but only with one particular cartridge case style in mind, then you can tell without ever looking inside the box what style the cartridge case inside will be with certainty.  U.S. Games released five different games with the two different cartridge case styles, but Name this Game is the only one of those five with this unique, identifying property.

 

...that is, if the "Rule" I noticed based on a dozen samples is actually true.  So c'mon, folks!  Show me a counterexample, or chime in with more supporting evidence, please.

 

 

-Ben

[+Psionic]

On 3/30/2024 at 2:08 AM, Pitfall Harry said:

But what IS surprising, is that every time the cartridge label (and game box) includes "and win $10,000" then the cartridge case is of the beveled variety; and every time the cartridge label is missing the "and win $10,000" then the cartridge case is of the standard (square) variety.

 

You have it backwards.  The earlier cartridges in standard cases have the contest text, whereas the later beveled cartridges lack it.  The beveled cartridges also lack the contest form inside the box.  This shouldn't be surprising at all, since the beveled cartridged were obviously produced as the contest was nearing its deadline or after it had ended.  For what it's worth, no one ever actually won the contest or received the $10,000 prize.

 

On 3/30/2024 at 2:08 AM, Pitfall Harry said:

If you are looking for a sealed copy of Name this Game, but only with one particular cartridge case style in mind, then you can tell without ever looking inside the box what style the cartridge case inside will be with certainty.

 

None of the NIB examples of U.S. Games titles that I've come across over the years were "sealed" per se.  They may have been taped shut in some cases but these games did not come shrinkwrapped from a factory case.
 

On 3/30/2024 at 2:08 AM, Pitfall Harry said:

U.S. Games released five different games with the two different cartridge case styles, but Name this Game is the only one of those five with this unique, identifying property.

There are eight altogether that exist in both variations, not five.  The beveled version of Gopher being very rare, and the standard versions of Entombed, Picnic, Piece 'O Cake and Raft Rider being extremely rare.  There are actually subtle graphical differences to the artwork and fonts on several of them that can be used to distinguish versions.  Additionally, some of the later boxes that go with the beveled versions have a UPC, whereas none of the earlier standard ones have them.  I know my beveled versions of Eggomania and Piece O' Cake are in bar coded boxes.
 

[Pitfall Harry]

2 hours ago, Psionic said:

 

You have it backwards.  The earlier cartridges in standard cases have the contest text, whereas the later beveled cartridges lack it.  The beveled cartridges also lack the contest form inside the box.  This shouldn't be surprising at all, since the beveled cartridged were obviously produced as the contest was nearing its deadline or after it had ended.  For what it's worth, no one ever actually won the contest or received the $10,000 prize.

 

 

None of the NIB examples of U.S. Games titles that I've come across over the years were "sealed" per se.  They may have been taped shut in some cases but these games did not come shrinkwrapped from a factory case.
 

There are eight altogether that exist in both variations, not five.  The beveled version of Gopher being very rare, and the standard versions of Entombed, Picnic, Piece 'O Cake and Raft Rider being extremely rare.  There are actually subtle graphical differences to the artwork and fonts on several of them that can be used to distinguish versions.  Additionally, some of the later boxes that go with the beveled versions have a UPC, whereas none of the earlier standard ones have them.  I know my beveled versions of Eggomania and Piece O' Cake are in bar coded boxes.
 

 

Wow.  This is truly a wealth of information. Thanks!  I don't really consider myself a Box collector, so I don't know these things. But yeah. I know a LOT of Atari 2600 games did NOT originally come from their manufacturers in shrink wrap.

 

Yes, you are correct. I got it exactly backwards. It is when the label (and box) includes the phrase, "and win $10,000", that's when the cartridge inside the box will have a standard (square) case. When the "and win $10,000" phrase is missing from the label (and box), that is when the cartridge inside the box will be beveled.  But the RULE I stated (when stated correctly) does still seem to hold.  And this RULE will only be valid, of course, if the cartridge inside the box originally belonged to that box, and was not acquired separately from the box. Many eBay'ers do tend to put CIB sets together piecemeal to sell, and if the CIB Name the Game was put together in this fashion then all bets are off. The RULE would only be useful if you found a sealed boxed Name this Game out in the wild,  or in a box you otherwise cannot open to look inside, or from someone that you know did not put the CIB game together piecemeal.

 

What you said about "later boxes" doesn't align with what I've read about Name this Game. My understanding is that the $10,000 prize  (and the other Sweepstakes prizes) was never awarded because Name this Game was released very shortly before U.S. Games filed for bankruptcy to relieve them the responsibility of awarding the prizes.  This suggests to me that there was no time for "later" boxes with beveled cases.  But beveled cases of Name this Game do exist. How do you explain it?

 

MY theory (What do I know, right?) is that there was no time for two separate production runs for Name this Game (non-beveled and beveled cartridge cases) before U.S. Games was no longer financially solvent, and that the two cartridge case styles were produced during the exact same time period but at different production facilities. 

 

 

-Ben

Edited March 31 by Pitfall Harry
Corrected a mis-statement.