Kung Fu Master box

[+Mitch]

MegaData and I were having a discussion over on the Jag board about the 7800, so I decided to bring it over here.

 

OK, for those of you that collect 7800 boxes, I have a question for you. As you probably know, the Absolute 7800 games came in larger sized boxes than the rest of the 7800 games. But the Absolute release of Kung Fu Master that I have came in the normal sized box with an oversized manual. Does anybody have an Absolute released Kung Fu Master in the oversized box?

 

If you have either the normal or oversized box, please post.

Thanks.

 

Mitch

http://atari7800.atari.org

[MegaData]

This discussion basically started because I have a Manual for Kung-Fu Master that is larger than the sealed box that I have. Naturally, I thought that there must be a large box variation for the larger-than-box Manual. I had listed the large box on my wanted list. Now, the last thing that was posted on the Jaguar board was that the Manual that comes with Kung-Fu Master is actually folded inside the box to fit? I don't know of any other game that did this, to the best of my knowledge. If this is the case, that's cool. I can stop looking for the larger box variation.

 

I just looked at my manual and the sealed box I have. The manual sides come right up to the edges of the box. However, the manual does look like the top of it was folded at one time... So, my next question would have to be, "Why would they do that?" Did they have a team work on the box and another team work on the manual. Then, when they got together, they looked at each other and went, "Ooops!"

 

lol

 

That's funny.

[Albert]

It could be that the manual was designed first, with a larger box in mind and then Absolute decided for some reason to go with the smaller box style. And maybe all the manuals were already printed, so better to use them than throw them away. Especially if the box was changed as a cost-cutting measure. I'm not fond of those large boxes, Epyx also used them, and I know I have other oddball shaped boxes. Such as Bounty Bob Strikes Back for the 5200 (and no, I don't have the cart yet!)

 

Unfortunately I don't have the box, so I can't verify the existence of a smaller version. However, I'd be quite surprised if two different runs of boxes were produced, given the 7800's brief flirtation with life. Perhaps Ken @ Activision knows the answer. I'll ask him (or at least direct him to this thread).

 

..Al

[Lemmi]

I wish i still had my boxes, then i could have helped you out, but it was 12 years ago when i got these games and i cant remember what mine looked like (big or small)

 

My F-18 hornet manual is about 1/2 an inch larger then the standard 7800 boxes and is bent along the bottom of it just above where it says Flight Manual, but my Kung fu master manual isnt bent at all

[Tizoc]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mitch:

If you have either the normal or oversized box, please post.

Thanks.

---

 

I always wondered about that too. I have the normal size box, and the oversized instructions. The instructions are folded at the top. The 7800 Kung-Fu Master scans on this site are actually of my copy.

 

At one time I had an extra copy of the instructions, and those were oversized too.

 

Maybe the oversized box doesn't exist.

[Atarian75]

My copy has the smaller style box. I don't know about the manual cause I haven't opened it in awhile, but I have never seen a large style box for that game.

[Albert]

What's interesting about this title is that it was released by Activision for the Atari 2600. Could it be that Activision had plans to release it for the 7800 but sold the rights to Absolute? If you look at the 2600 box and then the 7800 box, you'll see that the artwork on the front is virtually identical. It might have just been easier for Absolute to use the same-style box and tweak the art as necessary.

 

..Al

[MegaData]

If Absolute was "tweaking the (box) art as necessary," they forgot something! That is NOT a 7800 screenshot on the back of the box! I think I noticed that when I got it too. The Atari 7800 version of this game has different graphics than the 2600 version. The back of the box shows the 2600 version, though the box clearly states that it is "for the 7800."

 

Where's my large style box? I want it now, mister!

 

What a goofy thing to do.

[+Propane13]

Hi guys (and gals),

 

I happen to have the small box version of KFM. I think my main question has to do with Absolute release dates. Did KFM get released after the slew (slue? How many games sconstitue a slew anyway?) of Absolute games or before them? If before, then I'd tend to believe it had something to do with Activision, as previously mentioned. So, which came first?

 

-John K. Harvey

[Callipygous]

A "slew" is more than a "raft" and a lot more than a "tad". It is a little less than a "beaucoup", however. 12 tads make 1 slew , IIRC.

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by John K. Harvey:

Did KFM get released after the slew (slue? How many games sconstitue a slew anyway?) of Absolute games or before them? If before, then I'd tend to believe it had something to do with Activision, as previously mentioned. So, which came first?

---

 

Well, if you take a look at the games Absolute released for the 7800, you'll see that Kung-Fu Master has the lowest model number (AM-039). The next in sequence is Title Match Pro Wrestling (AV-041), and then F-18 Hornet (AV-044), Pete Rose Baseball (AV-045), Tomcat F14 (AV-046), and Super Skateboardin' (AV-047). These model numbers don't mean the games were released in this order, but they probably were assigned in this order. Which likely means that Kung-Fu Master was one of the earlier titles Absolute worked on. I'm also curious why the prefixes are different (AM, AP, AV).

 

I guess one way to know for sure would be to ask an employee of Absolute, like Garry Kitchen. I better start writing down a list of questions to ask the various VIPs for this year's Classic Gaming Expo.

 

..Al

[+Mitch]

There is only one problem with the model number theory. For the 7800 games, they just used the same model number as the 2600 games, except the two that don't have 2600 counterparts.

 

Mitch

http://atari7800.atari.org

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mitch:

There is only one problem with the model number theory. For the 7800 games, they just used the same model number as the 2600 games, except the two that don't have 2600 counterparts.

---

 

Woops, I didn't even think about looking at the 2600 model numbers to see if there was any relation to the 7800 model numbers. Oh well, so much for that theory!

 

..Al