Did you get NTSC Ikari Warriors when it was new?

[+Random Terrain]

According to Computer Entertainer The Newsletter (The Video Game Update), Ikari Warriors was supposed to be released in the fourth quarter of 1989, but other games were delayed, so there is a good chance that Ikari Warriors was also delayed.

 

Did you buy NTSC Ikari Warriors or receive it as a gift when it was new? If so, do you remember the month and year?

 

The only box at videogamevariations.com has a 1990 date on it.

[CPUWIZ]

I have a NTSC Ikari from back in the day, I'll check when I get a chance.

[Zwackery]

My copy came from the great South American find of the early 21st century. The box has a manufacture date of 10/1990 as does the manual. The back of the box is stamped copyright 1990, Atari Corporation. Interestingly, the cartridge has copyright 1989.

[BassGuitari]

I always wondered how many people actually had games like Ikari Warriors, Xenophobe, and Motorodeo new back in the day. They used to be quite rare until the aforementioned South American warehouse find 10-12 years ago (or whenever it was); the AA rarity guide used to have them listed as 7s IIRC, but I bet they were even rarer than that.

Not only that, but the 2600-purchasing demographics of the time. Who was still actively using/supporting the Atari 2600 in 1989-90 (or later)? Was it existing 2600 fans from years earlier? Was it budget-conscious consumers (low-income or otherwise) who got it and its new games because they were cheap? Was it a low-cost novelty to younger players raised on Nintendo and Sega or people who just thought it was cool that the 2600 was still around? Something else?

It's interesting to me because I vaguely remember that time frame (I was, like, 5) and at no point did "Atari"--2600, 7800, XEGS, or otherwise--fit into the picture in any meaningful way. I think I saw some 2600jr. systems in Sears once, but that was about it. Even the kids I knew with older siblings who had "Atari" had firmly moved on to the NES or PCs by then. Even the poor kids had Nintendos. If somebody at school were to talk about Ikari Warriors or Xenophobe then, it would have been the NES versions. [/derail]

Anyway, my copy of Ikari Warriors was a NOS copy from South America, as well.

[Tempest]

I'm guessing you had to order it directly from Atari. I think I *may* have seen Motorodeo in a Toys R Us, but that might be a false memory of some sort. I do remember them still having some 2600 stuff in the late 80's, but by that point I had my NES so I didn't care.

[+save2600]

Atari 2600 games were still being sold in stores like Child World and Suncoast by the early 90's in Chicagoland. I picked up stuff like Midnight Magic and some of the blue label Activision and Imagic games back then. The Absolute games were also in abundance then as there were bulk stacks set up at the end of aisles.

 

Can't remember ever seeing Motorodeo or Ikari Warriors though.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I don't recall them being available in the stores around me either back then. However, I also had moved onto PCs by 1989. Last games I got that were Atari related back in the day in the late 80s would have been 7800 games and possibly some 2600 games. I do recall that Midnight Magic, Solaris, Double Dragon, and Rampage were some of the later games I received when I was playing on my 7800 back then.

 

I do recall that two of the last major chain stores to sell Atari games here where I live was Toys R Us and Service Merchandise with SM selling them longer than most as I recall.

[BassGuitari]

I'm guessing you had to order it directly from Atari. I think I *may* have seen Motorodeo in a Toys R Us, but that might be a false memory of some sort.

That might partly explain why Motorodeo, Ikari, and Xenophobe was such a rare title for a long time, and why the overwhelming majority of the copies that turned up ended up being NOS warehouse items. The other parts being, obviously, that the 2600 was a hundred years old and everybody had new systems.

 

(Now...when will a couple dozen palletfuls of Atari red label BMX Airmaster turn up? )

[Skylark68]

Yeah there were still plenty of new Atari 2600 games floating around in the early 1990's at local toy stores. I remember seeing Xenophobe but not the others. Never bought it though, I didn't think the translation to a home console would be any good. I remember the plethora of black and white boxed Atari games though (re-releases of Breakout, etc.) that had the huge instruction booklets (thick) with multiple languages. I remember buying a few Imagic titles that were the blue label Activision style cartridges also, as well as the relabled old Coleco branded games like Venture. I mainly still bought the games because I always loved Atari 2600 games even though I had an Apple IIGS (and slightly later a PC) as well as an Atari Lynx. It was a cool time to buy those games because they were dirt cheap and come to find out had interesting label variations.

[jhd]

Not only that, but the 2600-purchasing demographics of the time. Who was still actively using/supporting the Atari 2600 in 1989-90 (or later)? Was it existing 2600 fans from years earlier? Was it budget-conscious consumers (low-income or otherwise) who got it and its new games because they were cheap? Was it a low-cost novelty to younger players raised on Nintendo and Sega or people who just thought it was cool that the 2600 was still around? Something else?

 

I purchased a used Atari 2600 at a flea market in about 1990, and a handful of local stores still had cartridges available for purchase. Now, these were all clearance titles/remaindered stock -- I clearly remember purchasing Defender II, Commando, Robot Tank, and Skate Boardin'. I never saw any of the late-release Atari titles for sale, nor any new hardware.

 

I only knew one other person who had a 2600 and a handful of games; he was no longer growing his collection. His family was financially quite well-off.

 

The system was effectively dead in the mainstream marketplace. Games (and systems) were very widely available on the second-hand market, however.

[WIZZARD77]

Our Pamida store had all of those titles in stock at the time. Ikari Warriors was more expensive than other titles so we never got that one.

[ubersaurus]

I think it's worth noting that Atari's internal US sales document for 1990 doesn't list Ikari Warriors at all (or Sentinel, or Motorodeo), which makes me wonder if they limped out the door in early 1991 before Atari pulled the plug on the 2600 in the US market.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/144750-2600-sales-86-90/

 

Edit: The Atari 2600 Connection newsletter notes that they shipped in the spring of 1991: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/2600_connection/2600_connection_4_spring91.pdf

Edited November 3, 2017 by ubersaurus

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I remember Service Merchandise having a 2600 set up with Joust to play in the store, right next to an NES. That was probably '89-'90. I don't specifically remember what games they had for sale though. By that time anyone I knew who was still buying 2600 games was buying them used at flea markets and pawn shops.

Edited November 3, 2017 by KaeruYojimbo

[+Random Terrain]

I think it's worth noting that Atari's internal US sales document for 1990 doesn't list Ikari Warriors at all (or Sentinel, or Motorodeo), which makes me wonder if they limped out the door in early 1991 before Atari pulled the plug on the 2600 in the US market.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/144750-2600-sales-86-90/

 

Edit: The Atari 2600 Connection newsletter notes that they shipped in the spring of 1991: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/2600_connection/2600_connection_4_spring91.pdf

Thanks. I'll make a 1991 page for that. I don't think I'll be able to finish 1988 through 1991 before the year is over since it takes me about a month to finish a year. If nothing interrupts my plans, 1987 is almost done, so I should finish 1988 in November, 1989 in December, 1990 in January and 1991 in February.

[Shawn]

I have a NTSC Ikari from back in the day, I'll check when I get a chance.

 

You mean that old beat one you paid a kings ransom for that I replaced for you with the mint one I got out of the SA find for free?

[CPUWIZ]

 

You mean that old beat one you paid a kings ransom for that I replaced for you with the mint one I got out of the SA find for free?

 

Hmm, maybe that is why I can't find it.

[ubersaurus]

Good luck for 1990 - in the absence of those last few issues of Computer Entertainer it's a struggle I know too well!

[+bfstats]

I received the following direct from Atari:

 

BMX Airmaster (TNT box)

Off the Wall

Radar Lock

Road Runner

 

...in August of 1990, and...

 

Ikari Warriors (NTSC)

Motorodeo (NTSC)

Sentinel

Xenophobe

 

...in March of 1991.

 

They were ordered - using an Atari order form - as soon as I was aware they were available. White Water Madness was on that same order form, and I ordered it, but it apparently was never produced.

[+Random Terrain]

I received the following direct from Atari:

 

BMX Airmaster (TNT box)

Off the Wall

Radar Lock

Road Runner

 

...in August of 1990, and...

 

Ikari Warriors (NTSC)

Motorodeo (NTSC)

Sentinel

Xenophobe

 

...in March of 1991.

 

They were ordered - using an Atari order form - as soon as I was aware they were available. White Water Madness was on that same order form, and I ordered it, but it apparently was never produced.

 

Thanks. That's exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. I keep hoping that someone will have similar info about games like Quadrun. Some people were buying these games and I hope they are already AtariAge members or are lurking and will become AtariAge members and post what they know.

[+bfstats]

 

Thanks. That's exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. I keep hoping that someone will have similar info about games like Quadrun. Some people were buying these games and I hope they are already AtariAge members or are lurking and will become AtariAge members and post what they know.

 

Okay, here are the games I received direct as an Atari Club member:

 

Star Raiders 08/83

Crazy Climber & Atari Video Cube 04/84

Gravitar (silver) 05/84

Swordquest WaterWorld & Quadrun 06/84

[+save2600]

Okay, here are the games I received direct as an Atari Club member:

 

Star Raiders 08/83

Crazy Climber & Atari Video Cube 04/84

Gravitar (silver) 05/84

Swordquest WaterWorld & Quadrun 06/84

Very interesting... were you into the VCS hardcore back then or what? You send away for Chase the Chuckwagon too? Magicard? Music Machine? Air Raid? Kool-Aid Man I bet. That's one we went for.

 

...or were you mostly into the Atari offerings via your hookup with the club? Just sounds like you were really on top of this stuff back then.

 

-edit-

 

Just looked at your profile... you had a good 10+ year head start on some of us. Must've been nice to have had the disposable income back then for such goodies.

[King Atari]

I am really loving this topic; I am forever fascinated by really late console releases. In this case, I had no idea Ikari Warriors and Xenophobe, despite what the copyrights on the labels say, were actually released in '91. That is wild; new 2600 games in what had, by then, become the 16-bit era! And given the limitations of the system, I think they're really good ports. Xenophobe has been a favorite for a long time; indeed, I'm not a big fan of the arcade version or most of the other ports (the Lynx one is pretty impressive, however), but I *love* the 2600 conversion. Maybe it's a case of "less is more," perhaps? The lesser graphics and sound of the 2600 version, coupled with the absence of the "cartooniness" of the arcade/higher-end ports gives it, I think, a very cool, more-serious sense of desolation. I don't know, maybe it's just me.

After all these years, I finally took advantage of the Venezuela find and ordered me some of these sealed; to have legit NTSC versions of what once were uber-expensive games? Sure, I'll take it! It'll be nice to supplement my shrinkwrap-crushed, supposedly-NTSC, sealed Xenophobe (which I had to pay real money for back in 2001/2002) with a nicer copy. And Ikari Warriors? I never really had any hopes of getting an NTSC copy of that before Venezuela; wasn't it like a rarity 9 at one point?

 

(In the same vein, even though there was no corresponding NTSC release, I'm also severely intrigued by Ghostbusters II; a "big name" game, shelved until 1992 and only released in PAL territories? Interesting stuff!)

Edited November 10, 2017 by King Atari

[+bfstats]

Very interesting... were you into the VCS hardcore back then or what? You send away for Chase the Chuckwagon too? Magicard? Music Machine? Air Raid? Kool-Aid Man I bet. That's one we went for.

 

...or were you mostly into the Atari offerings via your hookup with the club? Just sounds like you were really on top of this stuff back then.

 

-edit-

 

Just looked at your profile... you had a good 10+ year head start on some of us. Must've been nice to have had the disposable income back then for such goodies.

 

I didn't get any of the commercial mail-order-only games (like Chuckwagon or Tooth Protectors) because there was no internet then and I didn't know they existed (until 10 years later). However, I DID get MagiCard and Kool Aid Man (and many others) directly from the publishers simply by writing letters (remember those?). Almost every company responded and that's how I built my collection of rarities.

 

Disposable income? No, I was a young married at the time and had to pace my spending. However, a good third of my collection was gifted over the years by caring family and friends.

 

Hardcore? Absolutely! Then... and now.

[+Random Terrain]

Thanks. I'll make a 1991 page for that. I don't think I'll be able to finish 1988 through 1991 before the year is over since it takes me about a month to finish a year. If nothing interrupts my plans, 1987 is almost done, so I should finish 1988 in November, 1989 in December, 1990 in January and 1991 in February.

 

Plans interrupted. I have to get more serious about packing so I can move soon. I'll probably have to continue working on the history pages after I'm at the new place.

[tbb033]

i didn't even realize it came out on anything but the NES, I just rented it or played it at a friend's who had that one. ABBA was an easy code to remember,

 

I've never even had an Atari (other than a Lynx) but hope to get something like maybe a Flashback soon. I always wanted an Atari , but in those days all we had was an Intellivision, which was good, but not enough games compared to Atari!