Atari 7800 Q*Bert Prototype Revealed!

[DamienC]

B*qert!

 

Clever. Besides not being able to pronounce it, I like it.

 

I just wanted to say, 7800 Beef Drop and Q*Bert have inspired me to really put my back into 6502/Atari computer programming. Keep up the good work, and keep inspiring people with good ideas to get up off their asses and CODE!  

[DamienC]

Stupid quote button.

[Ferris]

I tell you what.... you just keep the name Q*Bert on it and I'll burn my own cart and print my own labels. I want it to say Q*bert.... haha..

 

I hear ya. It would be one hell of a gorgeous 7800 game if we could keep the legit name.

[Fellow Atari Man]

It is not a long-lost prototype,

 

Especially since Parker Brothers never made a single 7800 game, ever (Surprised no one said anything about that yet.)

 

but a new homebrew game that Ken continues to work on and one that shows great promise.

 

Yeah, I was confused and wondering exactly what the deal was. That's cool, hopefully it won't take three years to finish or anything!

[Albert]

* Is there a finished version yet and if so, may we please try it?

 

The game is not finished yet, it's still very much a work-in-progress.

 

* Are we ever going to see this or anything else like it (ie: Beef Drop) released as a cartridge?

 

That is the plan.

 

* What other tricks do you crazy jokers have up your sleeves?

 

Would not be very much fun if we told you in advance, now would it?

 

..Al

[Albert]

It is not a long-lost prototype,

 

Especially since Parker Brothers never made a single 7800 game, ever (Surprised no one said anything about that yet.)

 

If you go back and read the news I posted (contained in the first message of this thread), I stated that Atari licensed the rights to produce the game for the 7800, just as they did with Q*bert for the 2600. So that makes it a little bit more believable, since there is some precedence for Atari having licensed rights from Parker Brothers.

 

..Al

[+FujiSkunk]

If you go back and read the news I posted (contained in the first message of this thread), I stated that Atari licensed the rights to produce the game for the 7800, just as they did with Q*bert for the 2600.  So that makes it a little bit more believable, since there is some precedence for Atari having licensed rights from Parker Brothers.  

 

..Al

 

Didn't Atari just buy Parker Brothers's video game catalog outright, along with Coleco's?

 

As for this "prototype," all I can say is, way cool. I hope it gets finished, and I hope it keeps the Q*Bert name. I know, copyright infringement and all that, but it would be such a shame to turn it into something else at this point.

[shining slade]

I cannot believe no one has come up with THE name for this new Qbert game yet

 

..Al*Bert!

[Bruce Tomlin]

I just noticed that this came from scans of a source code listing?  Any chance of the source code getting released?

Here is a little bit:

LDA SWCHB

AND #64

CMP ZLASTB

BEQ NOCH

INC CHEAT

STA ZLASTB

NOCH:

LDA CHEAT

CMP #8

BCS TITLESC2

JMP LPMAINTITL

Ha ha. You have me confused with the doubters. I'm thinking in terms of adding features. The most important parts of this thing are already done. It looks like just adding the other bad guys will be all that's necessary to get this thing esentially complete.

[TheWriteDude]

Do one that is a faithful reproduction of Q*Bert.

 

And do another game based on the code that has different levels, added weapons, expanded gameplay, different characters. I loved the idea of making a Beef Drop sequel where the chef is hopping around and shooting pepper, using a Robotron control scheme!

 

Both of the above sound cool! Start with finishing Q*Bert, then re-cycle the code for a new game.

[mos6507]

APRIL FOOL'S!

 

This rendition of Q*bert on the Atari 7800 was programmed from scratch by Ken Siders, much in the same way as Beef Drop (Burgertime) has been.  It is not a long-lost prototype, but a new homebrew game that Ken continues to work on and one that shows great promise.  Ken's done a great job so far and I look forward to the finished game!  

 

..Al

 

Who owns the rights to Q*bert these days, and won't they cause as much of a fuss over making carts of this than Atari did over Warlords, et. al.?

[DeV0]

awesome rendition of q-bert. Might encourage BUSHIE2600 to finish Turbo

[DracIsBack]

Who owns the rights to Q*bert these days, and won't they cause as much of a fuss over making carts of this than Atari did over Warlords, et. al.?

 

Hasboro did a few years ago. My buddy was one of the coders on the new Playstation QBert game for them.

[Curt Vendel]

APRIL FOOL'S!

 

This rendition of Q*bert on the Atari 7800 was programmed from scratch by Ken Siders, much in the same way as Beef Drop (Burgertime) has been.  It is not a long-lost prototype, but a new homebrew game that Ken continues to work on and one that shows great promise.  Ken's done a great job so far and I look forward to the finished game!  

 

..Al

 

Who owns the rights to Q*bert these days, and won't they cause as much of a fuss over making carts of this than Atari did over Warlords, et. al.?

 

 

From what I hear, Sony bought the rights for Qbert from Atari, need to doublecheck.

 

 

Curt

[Albert]

I have started a new thread to discuss development of Q*bert:

 

New Q*bert Atari 7800 Homebrew.

 

Let's please move discussion of the game over there. I also removed the game from the main rarity guide (which was there to help support the joke) and into our In Development section.

 

..Al

[+Mitch]

APRIL FOOL'S!

 

This rendition of Q*bert on the Atari 7800 was programmed from scratch by Ken Siders, much in the same way as Beef Drop (Burgertime) has been.  It is not a long-lost prototype, but a new homebrew game that Ken continues to work on and one that shows great promise.  Ken's done a great job so far and I look forward to the finished game!  

 

..Al

 

Who owns the rights to Q*bert these days, and won't they cause as much of a fuss over making carts of this than Atari did over Warlords, et. al.?

 

 

From what I hear, Sony bought the rights for Qbert from Atari, need to doublecheck.

 

 

Curt

 

I thought Gottlieb was the maker of Q*Bert. When did Atari ever own it?

 

Mitch

[Albert]

I thought Gottlieb was the maker of Q*Bert. When did Atari ever own it?

 

I never knew Atari owned the rights to Q*bert, but if Hasbro did indeed own them, then it's likely they were transfered over to Atari when Infogrames purchased the Atari name and assets. At a minimum, Atari at some point owned the rights to produce Q*bert for the 2600, but beyond that, I have no idea. It would be good to find out who presently owns the Q*bert rights.

 

..Al

[+Mitch]

I thought Gottlieb was the maker of Q*Bert. When did Atari ever own it?

 

I never knew Atari owned the rights to Q*bert, but if Hasbro did indeed own them, then it's likely they were transfered over to Atari when Infogrames purchased the Atari name and assets. At a minimum, Atari at some point owned the rights to produce Q*bert for the 2600, but beyond that, I have no idea. It would be good to find out who presently owns the Q*bert rights.

 

..Al

 

I thought Atari just subliscensed it from Parker Bros., it's not like they coded a new game or anything.

 

Mitch

[Jet-X]

killing some time today....

[Clint Thompson]

Jet-X, ok, that rocks! Now do the label for the 7800 cart!

[+FujiSkunk]

Going back to the name thing...

 

For what it's worth, there was an Apple II Q*Bert clone released back in the day, named Cubit. Some pf the characters had slightly different shapes, but otherwise it was Q*Bert in all but name.

 

I can't say for sure the company that released Cubit didn't face the wrath of Gottlieb and/or Parker Brothers, but I'm assuming they didn't. So, simply changing the name may be enough to keep the lawyers happy, or at least looking the other way.

 

I'd still rather see Q*Bert in all his 7800 glory, but if I can't, some cube-hopping dude with a different name will be the next best thing.

[Alexius Wronka]

It sure would be sweet if more people started programming for 7800. 2600 is cool and all but the games get diluted by shear volume of preexisting titles. However if you make only 1 7800 game youv'e made over 1% of all existing games

[AtariDude]

How do we know this isn't a fake?  It looks like a fake.  And its April 1

Because it runs? See the main AA page.

 

Here's one with an a78 header to make it easier to run on an emulator.

 

Thanks for including the file. I was able to get it to play on MacMess. It is neat to be able to play Q*Bert for the 7800 on the Mac

[CV Gus]

If it only has the red balls, isn't it like a rip-off called "Q*Bopper?"

[Bakasama]

*AHEM*