Supergun

I also seem to remember the scorpion behaving that way. It might have to do with some detail we’re overlooking. Maybe it only happens on certain screens, or in particular places, or while under a ladder, etc.

Back in 1998, when I finally obtained Berenstain Bears (Coleco) and River Patrol (TigerVision) both within a month or so of one another, I felt what you are describing here. Elation and satisfaction. I was finally “done” and had the complete collection. …or so I thought…as it was short lived… After awhile, I soon came to realize just how many of the “relatively unknown obscure limited elusive odd ball almost impossible to find controversial titles” were now being considered “legit and official”, and, my celebration was short lived as the second half of my quest began. Yeah, it’s like that.

A quick 2 minute test before packing and shipping these out to a customer would have caught that.

I think another cool option (rather then a game) would be some kind of “bios” or “splash screen” (like say for example the ColecoVision has). I’m sure 4K is enough space to put together a screen that has a main title that says “Atari 2600 VCS” in large fonts and multicolored and then below that some plain text like “please turn off power before inserting or removing a cartridge” And then possibly a small display on the Left and Right sides with “up, down, left, right, fire, for testing the joysticks and the difficulty switches, b-w/color, select, and reset. (Like they could highlight when activated.

I think that the position on the board where you can solder in a rom chip was only ever present on the original 6 switch consoles. Don’t think a JR will work.

All my childhood memories are with the 2600 version, but, I will never forget the day I saw the screenshot of the Intellivision version with the mother ship in the Imagic catalog. I was salivating at it! But, I was also furious that they had added something so hugely different to another consoles version that we didn’t get.

In public posts that Kitchen has made here, as well as in conversation that I personally had with Kitchen at a past gaming convention, he was not restrictive in the LEAST with regards to what had and/or would become of that rom data. His position was “of course” at best and “indifferent” at most. But CERTAINLY not a “no”. He quite specifically wished for it to be shared and enjoyed by everyone. That’s why he donated to a museum. He assumed that it was the best way to ensure this. Therefore, the “hold up” here, in this case, is NOT on Kitchen’s end, and certainly not a “legal” one either. Rather the holding pattern is 100% pure squarely on the museum’s end. So, if what you say above is true, that the “museum” was simply just not aware, then hey, great, no problem. Consider this the moment when they have indeed been made aware. It doesn’t get any simpler or clearer then that.

Almost any common Atari 2600 game cartridge (say Pac-Man for example) could be used for a 4K game. You would need a 4K eprom, a 7404 hex inverter, and some minor wiring. But there is no plug & play with common cartridges. (some Apollo cartridges do have EPROMs which is much easier, but you have to know what to look for out there) As for an 8K game, no way. No luck my friend. You will need to buy a blank Atari board from the AtariAge store and an eprom.

In all sincerity, my apologies for razzing you. It was meant to be funny, so if you didn’t take it that way then I should have worded it more gracefully. And I know it takes talent and a good imagination to create art. (I’m terrible at it!) And I have seen some of ColecoVision labels in that sub forum and they are excellent!

The reason why I’m being overly critical of both BSR and Atari in this scenario is because they have both proven through the years that they are incapable of making good decisions. Some M-Network titles (Sword Fight, Sea Battle, Rocky & Bullwinkle) are out there while others (Anteater, Locomotion, Golden Skull) are not out there. And what difference does (did) it make? None whatsoever! BSR should have just released what they had long ago. Especially when you consider that other copies could always turn up at any moment anyway. And even in a “perfect” scenario where Atari acquires these roms and decides to release them, take a guess what will happen. Atari will “enhance” and “improve” and “update” these games for an “Atari +” market. And we don’t want that. We want the original unaltered 1984 rom data. Same thing with Kitchen’s creations. By all means, make all the Circus Convoys and Gold Rushes that you want. But as a kind gesture to the very gaming community which supports & purchases these new creations, (as well as for the sake of historical preservation), release the original rom data. Allow it to be preserved and saved for eternity through the redundancy of public ownership; just as your released games (like Keystone Kapers and Crackpots) are safe for eternity.

And so with the above, you indirectly bring up my next point of contention. So, how exactly does Atari (who allegedly now “owns” the m-network library) go about releasing something that THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE? In other words, the current “Atari” which has been bought and sold and chopped up into pieces and moved across the country, etc. doesn’t have so much as a file cabinet, or a hard drive, or a cartridge, (or any other copy) of say for example the Atari 2600 Anteater data. They simply DON’T have it. Period. Yes, it happens to be in the hands of BSR, and we happen to know this, but Atari doesn’t know this. (it can’t even be proven for that matter!) And even if/when informed of this, so what?! What can they do? It’s NOT their property (physical or digital) Unless BSR SELLS it to Atari, (by their own choice) why should or would they give it to Atari? They aren’t compelled to do so by any means. (I’m no fan of BSR but in this example they certainly have rights) The entire situation is laughable! Imagine an old man losing his watch at the beach in the 1980’s and some kid finds it 10 years later, hangs onto it for 30 years, and suddenly after 40 years, the old mans son comes out of nowhere and says: “oh yeah, that belonged to my father and you have to give it back.”

Not only that, all 3 labels you generated have c.1982 when they should have 1983. come on man!

Yes, whereby making the INSTANTANEOUS release of the rom of absolutely no consequence to the museum. As they still maintain the original and received it for free anyway. One other point I’d like to make here (which subsequently paints these so called “museums” into an even darker light) is that they often receive these items as donations. (as was the case here, and twice in a row no less) And these museums are entities, consisting of multiple people, as opposed to an individual person. Where as an individual may have hunted down and acquired a rare game at a great personal loss and expense of time and money. We are quick to vilify these individuals as “rom hoarders”, with no regard given to their loss or sacrifice. Yet we are quick to defend these museums which are mostly “non profit” and whose acquisitions are funded by the very public (us) that supports them, or even worse from free donations?! Look, I’m not trying to discredit or destroy all of these museums/websites whose founders and members function as modern historians or preservationists. But don’t call yourself a museum if you’re really just a repository. There is something inherently WRONG when getting a games rom freed from a “museum” is literally HARDER to accomplish than trying to get it freed from a rom hoarder! And trust me! It is! Because while items at a museum are “not for sale”, when it comes to individuals, money talks and bullshit walks.

That’s a fair question. We do use the term “proto” quite loosely. We say “alpha, beta, proto, dev, loaner, sample, test, etc.” all in the same context, yet they all describe a game at different stages. But I think your question is more “when does a game program enter the stage where it is called a “prototype” and when does it pass from the “prototype” stage to the “final” stage; eventually becoming a “released” game.” With regards to UA’s games one thing is certain. We have no evidence of them ever having been sold at a retail store and/or having been made available through a mail order offer; during the natural lifespan of the console. And that is the required criteria to be called a “released game”. So are these games protos or finals? Not sure. But I am sure that fully dressed or not, they are NOT released games.

I think Cat Trax was their killer AP. Or at the very least, their flagship title, being a Pac-Man clone when Pac-Man was king. So it would make sense that it had more “production samples” then the rest of their product line and that it was also marketed through the multiplexer device as a “pack in” bonus title. Again, there is a HUGE difference between finding 1 or even a small handful or so production quality samples of UA’s titles over the span of 40 years, versus dozens or hundreds of them surfacing. And, I’ll go even further with this… At this point in time, even if hundreds of cases of these games were or are someday found in some long forgotten warehouse someplace, it would still not elevate the status of these games to “released”. Rather it would be a scenario similar to Off your Rocker.