Games Released in Canada

[intvgene]

Well, a couple of us are trying to piece together information on what games were/weren't released in Canada, and we need your help. Frankly, it's tough to tell what was/wasn't released by searching through old forum posts on AA, etc.

 

It is still in a very early phase. However, we need info and we need your help. If you can help us confirm/deny/add on to the information in this list would be much appreciated. We're just trying to get the 8-bit section done, but even that alone isn't easy.

 

You can find the list HERE.

[+davidcalgary29]

This is a great idea, but I'm not sure if it's too viable with respect to software for Atari systems. Many vendors imported titles from the US and abroad, and lists of available titles must have varied greatly by region across Canada. I've found a few ROMOX titles in the wild in Alberta, for instance, though I've never seen them elsewhere in Canada. Are these from "special" import collections, or did a local store carry them at one time? No one seems to know.

 

And I know that Atari Canada often carried items that didn't appear on any of their price lists.

 

It might be simpler to restrict a list to items that were only released in Canada. Several games for the 2600 ("Obelix" NTSC, "Mangia") were apparently released only in Quebec, and PB produced a small run of carts for the 8-bit computers ("Mr. Do!'s Castle") in Ontario and Quebec. Other products had equally limited distribution in other regions of Canada.

[sku_u]

Here's a list of all the International Edition carts Activision produced. The games with an asterisk at the end of them I can confirm exist in NTSC format because I have them:

 

Barnstorming International Edition *

Boxing International Edition

Chopper Command International Edition

Dragster International Edition *

Fishing Derby International Edition

Gran Rrix International Edition

Ice Hockey International Edition

Kaboom International Edition *

Laser Blast International Edition

Pitfall International Edition *

Seaquest International Edition

Sky Jinks International Edition *

Spider Fighter International Edition

Starmaster Internarional Edition

Tennis International Edition *

 

There's also all the Spectravision carts as well as the three Puzzy carts and 2 Zellers carts not listed in the AA DB.

 

Hope this helps.

[DracIsBack]

In terms of "never released in Canada", these Atari 7800 games fall into that category. As a kid when the 7800 was out, I remember reading about a lot of the new "NES like" 7800 titles and was frustrated to learn that Atari Canada pretty much wouldn't carry anything beyond TOWER TOPPLER, FIGHT NIGHT and DARK CHAMBERS. So a lot of the games featured in ATARIAN and in GamePro never made it out - even by special order from Atari. I had to go to the US.

 

Alien Brigade

Barnyard Blaster

Basketbrawl

Commando

Crack'ed

Fatal Run

Ikari Warriors

Jinks

Kung Fu Master (Not sure about this)

Mat Mania Challenge

Mean 18 Ultimate Golf

Meltdown

Midnight Mutants

MotoPsycho

Ninja Golf

Planet Smashers

Rampage (Not sure about this)

Scrapyard Dog

Tank Command (Not sure about this)

Water Ski (Not sure about this)

Xenophobe

[Christophero Sly]

Here's a list of all the International Edition carts Activision produced.

What distinguishes an International Edition...French text on the label? I have/had Activision carts with French and English text on the main label. Some have a little (N) sticker on the main label too. Are these International Edition?

[sku_u]

Here's a list of all the International Edition carts Activision produced.

What distinguishes an International Edition...French text on the label? I have/had Activision carts with French and English text on the main label. Some have a little (N) sticker on the main label too. Are these International Edition?

 

That particular subset I listed is for all the Activision carts that say International Edition right under the title.

[Ze_ro]

I guess most of my thrift finds are dubious at best, since Winnipeg is so close to the border that it's trivial for people to buy stuff from North Dakota... so take all of this with a grain of salt.

 

All units sold in Canada, except the original "Heavy Sixer"

 

I have a Heavy Sixer that I found in a local thrift store in Winnipeg. Also at the same store was a set of the original style joysticks, and a set of paddles that came with it, as well as a "01 combat".

 

Incidentally, a friend of mine had found a prototype of Secret Agent at a local flea market back in the '80s... how on earth a Data Age prototype found it's way into Winnipeg is anyone's guess.

 

The Colecovision was released in Canada, with a white sticker on the top of the unit, giving the instructions for operation in both languages.

 

I don't think all CV's had this sticker. In fact, out of the three or four CV's I've found in the wild here in Winnipeg, only one had this sticker. My family bought one of these back when I was too young to remember, and it never had this label (Either that, or it was a sticker that was not applied by the factory, and we just threw it out).

 

As for CBS label variations, I'm 100% positive that I used to have a CBS version of Donkey Kong Jr that was indeed sold here in Winnipeg. I no longer have the cartridge though. There were others too, but my memory is a little spotty, and most of my ColecoVision stuff is on loan to a friend at the moment. I believe Space Panic was also available from CBS, but I have no proof.

 

Supposedly, the Atari 5200 system saw a release at least in Ontario, and through Atari Canada by mail order.

 

A friend of mine managed to find a 5200 locally in Winnipeg, although he bought it used through a Buy 'n' Sell ad, so I can't confirm that it was bought locally (although he got a lot of stuff with it, including about 12 games, the track-ball, and a Wico controller I believe, so I find it unlikely that this family would have bought all that from trips to the States).

 

The 5200 is definitely not common around here though... aside from that find, neither me or my friend have found any other 5200 stuff at all.

 

Atari 7800 (was sold here by Toyville and Toys 'R' Us)

 

My brother's girlfriend has a 7800 as well as a number of games that she's had since she was young, so it was mostly likely available in Winnipeg. Like the 5200 though, I've found no 7800 stuff at thrift stores or flea markets. A friend of my brother's also found an XEGS at the local thrift store, and I've come across a small number of XEGS cartridges over the years.

 

Although it's not on your list, I can confirm that the Jaguar was sold in Winnipeg. I bought mine brand new from a small, basement-run outfit that dealt directly with Atari, and mostly sold Atari ST's... I also got most of my games through them as well as a JagCD. There was at least 2 stores that used to rent Jaguar games, and I've run across a small amount of Jaguar stuff at flea markets. All the manuals for games and hardware sold in Canada had tri-lingual (English, French, and German) manuals and packaging, which I assumed were also used in Europe.

 

I hope that helps... or at least provides some information for speculation.

 

--Zero

[DracIsBack]

In Ottawa (back in the day), the Atari 7800 was sold at K-Mart, Toy City and Toys R Us. You had different games at each - K Mart was only early titles, Toys R Us had the 3rd parties and stuff like Ballblazer. Toy City had a mash of everything.

[tyranthraxus]

Its been discussed in the 5200 forum and on the CGCC site with no

firm answer but it looks like the 5200 had a limited release in Canada

probably Ontario only. Its definatly rare in Vancouver, I've found stuff

but only once. It either was imported from the US or its release was

really badly mangled in Canada. Strange since the Colecovision was

quite successful here you'd think its main rival would have been

heavily supported here too.

 

The Colecovision seems to have a number of games with Canadian

packaging variants. Some came with a French label you could stick on

yourself. And some others have B&W and colour variations, B.C. II

and Damn Busters come to mind. Also I think Heist and Miner 2049er

had different labels too.

 

That white sticker can be easily removed but I've noticed that

Canadian CVs have a bilingual front label. And what is the deal with

CBS stuff? I thought it was sold only in PAL countries after the crash?

I've found one CBS label in Victoria.

 

I'm very sure I recall seeing Jag stuff for sale in Future Shop. And I've

met younger people who remember the Jag's brief life.

[intvgene]

First of all, thanks for everyone who helped out so far. If anyone wants credit further than just their username in thie list, give me a PM.

 

@Sku_u: Is your list exhaustive? Does that mean that the other titles outside of our list (we had Megamania, River Raid, Robot Tank) shouldn't exist? Or are you just giving a list of what you know? I've had people, like SniperCCJVQ confirm those games are/were in their possession.

 

Can anyone else confirm/deny what Ze_ro was saying about the Colecovision? I've not come across many in Canada without that label, and assumed that it was there for legal reasons. Maybe it came in the box and was optional for the customer to apply themselves. I am killing myself to try and remember now!

 

I know the XE was here in Canada, not sure which games though... how about the Supercharger? I had one when I was a kid, but my Dad was always in Buffalo, so they could have gotten it there...

 

Yea, it's not going to be a perfect list. But, we will just try and collect the info that we get. Of course, since the days of Ebay especially, it is hard to tell what games were sold in Canada. And can't just go by someone finding something in a thrift/pawn. The Jag and stuff is going to have to be later. I think the more crucial info is the early stuff, and the hardest to figure out.

 

Anyway, thanks again for all that helped out.. if anyone can comment more, or figure out anything else, keep them coming!

[tyranthraxus]

Well the XE and its other 8-bit predecessors have been in Canada for a

looong time so that will be pretty challanging to sort out. But eBay is still

a good way of guaging Canadian releases. Do a search on items

sold in Canada and you'll find tons of 2600, INTV & CV but very

few 5200 listings.

[DracIsBack]

The Atari XE was released in Canada, though it was damn near impossible to find. I do remember seeing the system for a brief time at Zellers but they quickly got rid of it. One of the local Atari specialty computer stores in Ottawa had the XE computers but not the game system. Toy City had Atari 400/800 games, but to be honest - I don't remember ever seeing the blue XE game boxes on the shelves of any store.

[sku_u]

@Sku_u:  Is your list exhaustive?  Does that mean that the other titles outside of our list (we had Megamania, River Raid, Robot Tank) shouldn't exist?  Or are you just giving a list of what you know?  I've had people, like SniperCCJVQ confirm those games are/were in their possession.  

 

 

My list is definitely not exhaustive. I've added those three titles to my don't have list as a result of your post. The games I listed were definitely released by Activision with the International Edition labels, but I haven't been able to confirm which ones were available in Canada, although I suspect most if not all were.

 

The only Coleco game from Atari I know of that is NTSC with a French label is Schtroumpf (Smurf), but there may be more of those out there as well.

 

You can also take the ? off Mangia. That game is availabel in NTSC format and most copies I know of came from Canada.

BTW, this is a great project!

[angusjake]

As far as I recall most everything was released in Canada except the 5200 (thats still a sore point). Interesting to learn not all 7800 games were released here. In view of Atari's inept marketing, its surprising they had as much success as they did.

[Ze_ro]

Strange since the Colecovision was quite successful here you'd think its main rival would have been heavily supported here too.

 

Perhaps the 5200's near-absense was one of the main reasons the CV was as popular as it was.

 

I've noticed that Canadian CVs have a bilingual front label.

 

In fact, all of the labelling on Canadian CV's seems to be bilingual. They even translated "Reset"!

 

And what is the deal with CBS stuff? I thought it was sold only in PAL countries after the crash? I've found one CBS label in Victoria.

 

I've always wondered this too. I've found quite a few CBS games here in Winnipeg (I really wish my friend would give me back my CV games so I could list some of them). Perhaps they cut a deal with Coleco or something?

 

I'm very sure I recall seeing Jag stuff for sale in Future Shop.

 

The Future Shop's here in Winnipeg definitely never carried Jaguar stuff. I had a very hard time finding games outside of that one family that dealt with Atari. In fact, if it wasn't for those two stores that rented Jaguar games, I would have thought that the Jaguar never even had a commercial release in Winnipeg. If it didn't, then I have no idea where those places got games to rent (and who else was renting them? I know I wasn't the only one, because some of them were occaisionally out). One of those places also rented NeoGeo stuff though, so maybe they catered to us weirdos with unpopular systems.

 

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

By the way, while we're on this subject, can anyone verify that any of the following consoles were released in Canada? I'm not saying that they weren't, but I certainly haven't seen any evidence of them throughout my years of collecting here in Winnipeg:

 

Entex Adventurevision

APF MP1000 & Imagination Machine

Bally Astrocade

Fairchild Channel F

Creativision

Mattel Aquarius

Magnavox Odyssey (the original)

RCA Studio II

 

--Zero

[DracIsBack]

The Future Shop's here in Winnipeg definitely never carried Jaguar stuff. I had a very hard time finding games outside of that one family that dealt with Atari. In fact, if it wasn't for those two stores that rented Jaguar games, I would have thought that the Jaguar never even had a commercial release in Winnipeg.

--Zero

 

Future Shops in Ottawa and Toronto didn't carry the Jaguar either. However, it was pretty common at Electronics Boutique, Microplay and at a few SAM THE RECORD MAN stores around here.

[+davidcalgary29]

ColecoVision

 

ColecoVision seems to have been very popular on the Prairies and was, perhaps, more popular here than in other areas of the country. I find CV carts about once every three weeks in "the wild", and have seen only three carts, in total, that had bilingual labelling / stickers.

Perhaps CV units and games in Western Canada came from a US distributor, although that would seem to be unlikely.

 

Atari XEGS

 

All XEGS games were sold in Canada and/or were on Atari Canada's pricelists. I do not recall seeing either Thunderfox or Crime Busters for sale anywhere in North America, but they were probably released in limited quantities. The XEGS does, in general, seem to have been popular in the Maritimes. Most XEGS units on eBay have an Eastern Canadian distribution.

 

Atari Canada's pricelists would probably give you a very indication of what was sold in Canada, though I do recall that some vapourware products were listed on them.

 

Jaguar

 

Jag units and games were definitely sold in Alberta. The Video Game Trader chain of stores in Calgary still carries Jag games, and displays the Jaguar logo outside. I'd have to assume that I'm not the only one who frequents these places.

[DracIsBack]

Atari XEGS  

 

All XEGS games were sold in Canada and/or were on Atari Canada's pricelists. I do not recall seeing either Thunderfox or Crime Busters for sale anywhere in North America, but they were probably released in limited quantities. The XEGS does, in general, seem to have been popular in the Maritimes. Most XEGS units on eBay have an Eastern Canadian distribution.  

 

Atari Canada's pricelists would probably give you a very indication of what was sold in Canada, though I do recall that some vapourware products were listed on them.  

 

Atari Canada's price lists were always "questionable". As a kid, I remember trying to order games from them and having them tell me "no - that isn't in stock. No - we won't refund your money. You'll have to choose something else!"

 

I ended up with FIGHT NIGHT (a game I didn't want) because they didn't have XENOPHOBE.

[Ze_ro]

Future Shops in Ottawa and Toronto didn't carry the Jaguar either. However, it was pretty common at Electronics Boutique, Microplay and at a few SAM THE RECORD MAN stores around here.

 

I don't think Winnipeg had any EB's or Microplay's at the time. I know at least one of the Microplay's has a Jaguar logo on their sign, but to my knowledge, I've never seen any Jaguar stuff on there (They also have a 3DO logo on their sign, and they've specifically told us they wouldn't pay $2 for a 3DO if someone brought one in. Asses.)

 

I never thought to check Sam the Record Man though... we had a number of them in Winnipeg (although they all closed years ago), including one that was quite closeby to me. Damn, I wonder if I missed out on stuff they had back in the days?

 

I find CV carts about once every three weeks in "the wild", and have seen only three carts, in total, that had bilingual labelling / stickers.

 

When Coleco released games in Canada, they took another step and wrote completely seperate French-only labels for their carts, and then included them in the box so that you could put it over top of the english one if you were french. I still have a french Donkey Kong label that I stuck on the back of the ColecoVision ad book that came with the system (it's since stained the entire back page with it's glue, making the other side hard to read)

 

I imagine in the prairies, most people probably just threw out the french labels.

 

Out of the carts that I have (which haven't been loaned out), the only actual bilingual label I have is on a BC II: Grog's Revenge cartridge (label is black and white). Everything else is english only.

 

--Zero

[intvgene]

All XEGS games were sold in Canada and/or were on Atari Canada's pricelists. I do not recall seeing either Thunderfox or Crime Busters for sale anywhere in North America, but they were probably released in limited quantities. The XEGS does, in general, seem to have been popular in the Maritimes. Most XEGS units on eBay have an Eastern Canadian distribution.

 

I had Crime Busters for the XE when I was a kid (in Ontario).. no idea about Thunderfox though... I didn't play my XE much, and didn't get alot of new games for it.