electronizer Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Today I saw part of a large Atari collection. One interesting item was an original-style, brown 400/800 cartridge with what looked like a factory label that said, "Video Chess CXL4003." Below that, in an odd, outlined font almost like the Impact font used in Internet memes, it said "10 Computer Games." I know that the official CXL4003 cartridge released by Atari was Assembler Editor. Has anyone ever heard of/seen this Video Chess variant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Sounds like a home made menu put to eprom, computer chess was CXL4009, the 10 games seems the best clue, probably a cart of numerous carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Got a picture of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter83 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Id be interested in seeing this. the only launch titles that didnt match up from the original press release to what officially came out was CXL4003 Assembler Debug ---- Assembler Editor CXL4005 LIFE ----- Video Easel CXL4006 Super Bug ---- Super Breakout CXL8001 Home Financial ----- Checkbook. I think thats the full list of name changes and CXL8001 never was offically released but one member here has one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronizer Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 I wish I had taken a picture!!! My thinking was that it was a very early cart; they had the educational master cart and BASIC, so why not a game for CXL4003? And I've seen the "10 computer games" language on 2600 carts, so maybe that was a holdover from the VCS. I may have a chance to see it again in January, at which point I'll definitely snap a pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I wish I had taken a picture!!! My thinking was that it was a very early cart; they had the educational master cart and BASIC, so why not a game for CXL4003? And I've seen the "10 computer games" language on 2600 carts, so maybe that was a holdover from the VCS. I may have a chance to see it again in January, at which point I'll definitely snap a pic. Thanks. Who owns it? Are they a member here on AtariAge or maybe ABBUC that we could get in contact with them to see it sooner and perhaps a dump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronizer Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 The owner was having a garage sale and I noticed some Atari stuff off to the side. He said he may be having another sale in January to sell some of the Atari items, and I pointed him to AtariAge. I'm hoping we'll hear from him soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronizer Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 Good news! The owner ended up having several garage sales to sell off his *entire* Atari collection, which was substantial. I ended up getting the cartridge! My 800XL isn't currently set up, but I will have some time to put it together soon and I am excited to see if there are any differences between this and the Computer Chess cartridge. Here's a picture: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 That really doesn't look like a DIY label. But if it is, whoever did it was very talented at creating reproductions - Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Good news! The owner ended up having several garage sales to sell off his *entire* Atari collection, which was substantial. I ended up getting the cartridge! My 800XL isn't currently set up, but I will have some time to put it together soon and I am excited to see if there are any differences between this and the Computer Chess cartridge. Here's a picture: IMG_2690.JPG Can you dump this to confirm what it is? CXL4003 belongs to the Assembler Editor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 That is a super weird looking label. I've never seen anything like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 That looks so fake, the label material, and the way the corners are cut straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Also, was "Atari" ever printed in white?? It's always the same color as the CXL number on all my carts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) And finally, Computer Chess only has 8 games (as does 2600 Video Chess), and they're actually just skill levels. Edited February 16, 2017 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Sure looks like a fake label to me. First of all, the corners are cut at 45 degree angles. Second, the label is textured, seemingly as if it is made of paper. The rough edges also point to this. I just checked 3 of my brown label carts, all have identical type labels. Compare to the pic below (apologies for the flash - I wanted a quick example so used my cell phone) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Wow I just got an education in how to tell if an Atari cartridge label is a fake And with the examples Steve uploaded, now I definitely see it Thanks guys! - Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronizer Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 It certainly could be a fake, I'll have to play it/dump it for more information. I was also thinking it might be a very early prototype, created before Atari had standardized the label design, or finalized the initial cartridge number assignments. BTW, I've never dumped a cartridge before. Does anyone have tips on how to do that with an 800XL? I do have an SIO2SD, so I'm hoping it will be relatively easy to get the file on my MacBook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Don't take me wrong, I just mean visually fake compared to Atari production carts. I have no idea about the contents or who may have created the label. The first step would be to play the cart and compare it to the existing chess games for the Atari. You can picture some screenshots and post them here, and we'll help you, if you're not sure what to compare it to. The "Maxflash USB Cartridge Programmer Kit" is the easiest way to dump carts. It will dump any cart over USB to your PC (Windows only). Edited February 17, 2017 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) It certainly could be a fake, I'll have to play it/dump it for more information. I was also thinking it might be a very early prototype, created before Atari had standardized the label design, or finalized the initial cartridge number assignments. BTW, I've never dumped a cartridge before. Does anyone have tips on how to do that with an 800XL? I do have an SIO2SD, so I'm hoping it will be relatively easy to get the file on my MacBook. Section 9.3 of the A8 FAQ has some info about copying carts. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/ Basic knowledge is that an 8k cart is either A or B. B is from $8000 to $9FFF and is rare. A is from $A000 to $BFFF most simple carts. Your fancy cart probably uses all 16k. And uses bank switching to boot (also). You could use Omnimon OS to dump a cart. You'd still need to analyze the cart RUN address and INIT and put a header on the dump. I forget what you use to edit a dumped file, like to defeat the copy protection. Oh, it is a sector editor like ..... can't remember. But you need to be fluent in 6502C assembler. A disassembler. 'DISK WIZARD II' sector editor/disassembler. I no longer remember most of this stuff, if I ever knew. Edited February 17, 2017 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari8bitCarts Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 It certainly could be a fake, I'll have to play it/dump it for more information. I was also thinking it might be a very early prototype, created before Atari had standardized the label design, or finalized the initial cartridge number assignments. BTW, I've never dumped a cartridge before. Does anyone have tips on how to do that with an 800XL? I do have an SIO2SD, so I'm hoping it will be relatively easy to get the file on my MacBook. I have not seen an Atari labeled cartridge without striations. Even the earliest of Atari carts, even made in the lab. Can you open the cart and show the board inside it with the chips? Chess wasn't the first cartridge released, so I would be surprised to see such a different design attempt on a label by Atari. But it is cool, and if you can't show some screen shots, then open it up for us The chips and PCB will tell you a lot. And the original owner would have more items indicating the validity of it I would think. You said you got the cartridge(s)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fres Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Pretty good looking fake label. I've made a couple myself. Nice font, etc. Like others have said, corners are clearly not rounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Taking another look at it, it has to be a modern fake. You can clearly see where the letters are cut off due to poor compositing skills. The real question is WHY someone would make a strange fake like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 It's very odd. Back in the early '80s it would have been difficult to make something like that by hand so it must be somewhat modern (it looks a bit like the Castle Crisis labels I made on a laser printer and then laminated). There are a lot of things a faker could have done to make it seem more authentic. I've never seen the text crowded/overlapping like that. Are there any cartridges with a 10 (or any number) like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) I have to agree with those who believe it to be a "fake" label. The straight cut corners, the wrong CXL number, and just as glaring a proof, to me, the texture of the label and though not necessarily proof, but with the other facts here, is circumstantial evidence is the lack of light damage and the usual banding of brown shades often seen on cartridges with light induced fading. The only other way it could be real, is if it is an Atari Prototype with a prototype label printed with different paper and ink than manufactured cartridges. But did Atari ever do that? Do prototype cartridges exist with similar labeling? Edited February 17, 2017 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronizer Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Ok, I have some pictures. Here is "Video Chess" next to a production Computer Chess cartridge: Here is a screenshot of Computer Chess: Here is a screenshot of "Video Chess" I played them both briefly, and couldn't see any difference between the two. Both had 8 levels and similar gameplay (e.g. cursor flashing, movement delay, etc.). Finally, here is a picture of the inside of the cartridge: There are two EPROMs and another small IC on its back. A few pins on the IC are wired up to pads on the PCB. One EPROM is labeled "CHESS 5-4 HI" and the other is labeled "CHESS 5-4 LO." I'm learning a lot from this thread; interested to hear the continuing discussion! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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