Atari 50: The First Console War

[atarifan88]

I was reading the description of part 2 for the Atari 50 DLC entitled "Atari 50: The First Console War." The description mentions there will be 19 new games added including several rare M-Network prototypes made available for the first time. So I go to Atari Age and get a list of the M-Network prototypes:

 

AD&D: Tower of Mystery	M Network
AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin	M Network
Anteater	M Network
In Search of the Golden Skull	M Network
Loco-Motion	M Network
Rocky and Bullwinkle	M Network
Records Found:

 

All of these are claimed to be under a copyright, but now that Atari owns Intellivision, I'm hoping to be able to play Tower of Mystery, Treasure of Tarmin, and In Search of the Golden Skull! Does anyone have information if these games will be included in the DLC to be released 11/8/2024?

[7800Knight]

These are all prototypes.  Are these even completed?  Or will programmers actually turn them into finished games?

[atarifan88]

1 hour ago, 7800Knight said:

These are all prototypes.  Are these even completed?  Or will programmers actually turn them into finished games?

I'm hoping they got the code to go back into making them more of a finished game.

[+jeremiahjt]

A prototype of the AD&D game surfaced within the last year or two, but it was sold privately.  I wonder if they are including Sea Battle and Sword Fight, even if both of those have been released on collections previously.

[+jgkspsx]

If you count up the Intellivision games and M-Network versions of them, there are going to be retail games not included here. The two Evercade cartridges alone have 24 games and that's not all of the retail games. Prototypes are not likely to be included.

[JPF997]

Imo  they shouldn't have made a first console war  DLC yet, they still haven't acquired the remnants of Coleco Vision,  it wasn't just Atari vs Intellivision Coleco Vision was also a part of that war as well.

Edited October 7 by JPF997

[Atariboy]

Colecovision was the next generation. While obviously the 2600 was still huge and the Intellivision was still doing well, the Colecovision's direct competitors were the Atari 5200 and to a much lesser extent the Vectrex.

Edited October 7 by Atariboy

[+DrVenkman]

5 hours ago, JPF997 said:

Imo  they shouldn't have made a first console war  DLC yet, they still haven't acquired the remnants of Coleco Vision,  it wasn't just Atari vs Intellivision Coleco Vision was also a part of that war as well.

The King of Bad Takes strikes again!

 

Intellivision was introduced in early 1979 and released to market in the fall of that year, two years after Atari VCS was released. ColecoVision wasn't released until late summer 1982. By that time Atari and Mattel had been battling for the hearts, minds and dollars of the buying public for almost 3 years.

 

But do please feel free to once again elucidate us on the Romantic truth you cling to so strongly. 

[atarifan88]

5 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

If you count up the Intellivision games and M-Network versions of them, there are going to be retail games not included here. The two Evercade cartridges alone have 24 games and that's not all of the retail games. Prototypes are not likely to be included.

Not according to the product description:

"19 new games including several rare M Network prototypes available here for the first time"

[+Stephen]

1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

The King of Bad Takes strikes again!

 

Intellivision was introduced in early 1979 and released to market in the fall of that year, two years after Atari VCS was released. ColecoVision wasn't released until late summer 1982. By that time Atari and Mattel had been battling for the hearts, minds and dollars of the buying public for almost 3 years.

 

But do please feel free to once again elucidate us on the Romantic truth you cling to so strongly. 

Don't bring facts into this.  It's easier to spout opinion as fact, especially about topics you weren't even alive for.  Because you know, then you have the true wisdom it takes to have such opinions in the first place!

[JPF997]

3 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

The King of Bad Takes strikes again!

 

Intellivision was introduced in early 1979 and released to market in the fall of that year, two years after Atari VCS was released. ColecoVision wasn't released until late summer 1982. By that time Atari and Mattel had been battling for the hearts, minds and dollars of the buying public for almost 3 years.

 

But do please feel free to once again elucidate us on the Romantic truth you cling to so strongly. 

The fact that Coleco Vision released much later into that generation and still managed to sell almost as much as the Intellivision (2 million vs 3 million ) tells you everything that you need to know about it, if it wasn't for the gaming crash a year later it would have easily outsold the Intellivision in the long run.

[+jgkspsx]

3 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

Not according to the product description:

"19 new games including several rare M Network prototypes available here for the first time"

Maybe they're not counting the 2600 and INTV games separately? That would be a first. Or maybe they just won't include the Intv versions at all?

 

Loco-motion is a Konami game so that is out. Rocky and Bullwinkle is probably out because of the license. Probably they will include the D&D games with the brand filed off.

[Razzie.P]

9 hours ago, JPF997 said:

Imo  they shouldn't have made a first console war  DLC yet, they still haven't acquired the remnants of Coleco Vision,  it wasn't just Atari vs Intellivision Coleco Vision was also a part of that war as well.

It wasn't, but I'll back you up here anyways. ☺️.  Why stop at Colecovision, though?   Let's consider NES, Genesis, and PS1 part of it too and make that war interesting.

[+jgkspsx]

These are the M-Network games AtariAge lists:

Taking out the licensed games only leaves 13:

So maybe there are unknown prototypes included?

[+Sauron]

26 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

The fact that Coleco Vision released much later into that generation and still managed to sell almost as much as the Intellivision (2 million vs 3 million ) tells you everything that you need to know about it, if it wasn't for the gaming crash a year later it would have easily outsold the Intellivision in the long run.

That doesn't change the fact that the Intellivision beat it to market by almost 3 years. So yes, the first console war worth mentioning was the 2600 vs Intellivision. Your feelings on the matter don't change the facts on the ground.

 

[+jeremiahjt]

I wonder if they might have Football and Super Challenge Football as a comparison. If so, all 19 games may not be M Network.

[mr_me]

20 hours ago, 7800Knight said:

These are all prototypes.  Are these even completed?  Or will programmers actually turn them into finished games?

https://history.blueskyrangers.com/mnetwork/

The old intellivisionlives list shows Treasure of Tarmin, Anteater, and Sharp Shot as "unreleased". Tower of Mystery and others as "unfinished". They could include Tower of Mystery and Golden Skull as is, this is a historical collection afterall. 

 

5 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

...

Taking out the licensed games only leaves 13:

...

Anteater was originally developed by Stern, so it might be okay to publish. Unlike the Intellivision version, Atari 2600 Deadly Discs doesn’t have any infringing graphics and should be okay to publish.

 

10 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Colecovision was the next generation. While obviously the 2600 was still huge and the Intellivision was still doing well, the Colecovision's direct competitors were the Atari 5200 and to a much lesser extent the Vectrex.

I'd include the Commodore 64 there. Its price came down drastically in 1983 and ultimately took over by 1984.

 

15 hours ago, JPF997 said:

Imo  they shouldn't have made a first console war  DLC yet, they still haven't acquired the remnants of Coleco Vision,  it wasn't just Atari vs Intellivision Coleco Vision was also a part of that war as well.

I don’t see that happening. Even if they find the owner of the game properties, they are mostly ports with secondary licenses. Atari SA should already own a few Colecovision titles.

[+DrVenkman]

8 hours ago, JPF997 said:

The fact that Coleco Vision released much later into that generation and still managed to sell almost as much as the Intellivision (2 million vs 3 million ) tells you everything that you need to know about it, if it wasn't for the gaming crash a year later it would have easily outsold the Intellivision in the long run.

Wow, you not only continue to lob bad takes about games, systems and entire gaming eras you never experienced yourself, you also change the topic when called out.

To remind you: the point to which I was responding (YOUR supposed point, btw) was nothing about unit sales. Feel free to go back and re-read. 

[polyex]

I suspect there might be problems with the licensing of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons name.

Edited October 8 by polyex

[+jeremiahjt]

33 minutes ago, polyex said:

I suspect there might be problems with the licensing of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons name.

The games have been released before sans the AD&D license, so that is not a big problem. Although with D&D's 50th anniversary nearing an end, it would make sense for Hasbro to license it cheap for a celebration.

[+pboland]

13 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

The King of Bad Takes strikes again!

 

Intellivision was introduced in early 1979 and released to market in the fall of that year, two years after Atari VCS was released. ColecoVision wasn't released until late summer 1982. By that time Atari and Mattel had been battling for the hearts, minds and dollars of the buying public for almost 3 years.

 

But do please feel free to once again elucidate us on the Romantic truth you cling to so strongly. 

I agree 100%. With that said I would also add that before Space Invaders came out for the Atari VCS, Magnavox Odyessy2 also competed fairly well with Atari (being released in 1978). So it wasn't just a battle between two console, but three. (maybe?)

[JPF997]

1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

Wow, you not only continue to lob bad takes about games, systems and entire gaming eras you never experienced yourself, you also change the topic when called out.

To remind you: the point to which I was responding (YOUR supposed point, btw) was nothing about unit sales. Feel free to go back and re-read. 

 It doesn't matter that the Intellivision was out three years before the Coleco Vision, it was never real competition for Atari, in one year  (1982-1983 ) Coleco sold almost as many units as Intellivision in four years (1979-1983), the only console that was truly a threat to the 2600 during it's reign was the Coleco Vision.

Edited October 8 by JPF997

[JPF997]

14 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Colecovision was the next generation. While obviously the 2600 was still huge and the Intellivision was still doing well, the Colecovision's direct competitors were the Atari 5200 and to a much lesser extent the Vectrex.

The 5200 and the Coleco Vision were both second generation consoles, more powerful than what came before ( 2600, Intellivision, Magnavox Odyssey 2 etc ) but they  still belong to the second generation , it's only after the gaming crash that the third  generation of consoles begins (NES/Master System/7800 era).

Edited October 8 by JPF997

[+DrVenkman]

9 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

 the only console that was truly a threat to the 2600 during it's reign was the Coleco Vision.

Somewhere, George Plimpton is rolling over in his grave and laughing his ass off. You are so utterly clueless about this entire era. 

[JPF997]

4 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Somewhere, George Plimpton is rolling over in his grave and laughing his ass off. You are so utterly clueless about this entire era. 

Explain to me how Intellivision was a threat to Atari, 3.7 million units in four years (1979-1983) vs 2 million in a single year for Coleco Vision ( 1982-1983).

 

Also the 2600 sold over 10 million during the same period Intellivision was "relevant", like I said before it wasn't real competition.

Edited October 8 by JPF997