Romox Reusable Cartridge

[ballyalley]

Does anybody have information on this 8-bit cartridge? I've had it for a long time and I have always thought that it was something common, but I can't find any information on it. Here's something that seems similar in the 2600 world:

 

http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html...areLabelID=1143

 

Anyone have any information about this?

 

Adam

[Jeff Lodoen]

http://www.atariage.com/company_page.html?...00&CompanyID=93 tells the tale...

 

I actually saw one of the kiosks. At a mall store that rented software.

[+davidcalgary29]

An English seller auctioned off a lot of 10 new ("unburned") ROMOX carts on eBay about five months ago. Individual carts occasionally appear on various auction sites, and I've seen them sell for an average of $40-$50.

Yours might be worth even more, though it does appear to have a common game on it.

[Tempest]

I've got 6 Romox carts with uncommon games on them (Trion, Porky's, Castles and Keys, etc.), but two don't seem to work. I wonder if I can get them redumped?

 

Tempest

[Callipygous]

@Tempest - Yes , I think Nir has done this.

 

Common ones that are available in a regular cart release like Monster Maze by Epyx are probably not that valuable. I would think they are equivalent to blank ROMOX cart. You will probably get a wide range of opinions of the value of uncommon ROMOX games. However, since you can take any cart with common title or a blank and burn an uncommon game, I tend to devalue them as well. To me, its just a binary with no label, instructions or box to make it collectable. Too easy to repro.

[ballyalley]

I was hoping for specific information about this type of cart for the 8-bit, not general information. I know that there were reusable carts for the 2600 (I even included a link in my original posting) and also the TI/99-4a (probably others too), but I can't find anything that explains the setup for the Atari 8-bit computers. Was this only in test markets, or was it actually released to stores so that people could use it?

 

Adam

[+davidcalgary29]

Yes, ROMOX placed "game centres" in some computer stores ('82-'83) that allowed customers to buy blank carts for their A8 machines and "burn" them with any number of games. Most of the "burned" carts that have turned up have common games on them, so I'd think that Tempest's copies are probably unique.

[Callipygous]

Romox started releasing carts in late 1982. The game center was available about Fall of 1983, initially in California. It could burn carts for Atari 800, 2600, C64, Vic-20 and TI-99. However, there were many slots and they could add capability for other consoles if there was a demand. The thing pretty much folded up by late 1984, so it lasted about a year at most.

 

Here is a picture of the center:

[Andre]

Some info from

 

http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10...nsumer_Elec.php

 

Here we go:

 

A third entrant in the electronic software distribution sweeptakes is Romox, also headed up by an industry old-timer, Paul Terrell. The Romox point of sale terminal has an IBM PC built in with a 10 Mbyte hard disk drive able to store up to 500 tiles. The Romox system uses an EPROM cartridge (erasable with a UV light unit in the back of the terminal).

 

At the moment, Romox is the only system that can make cartridges for the PCjr. Also unique to the Romox system is an "attract mode" that shows customers the play of the game at the time of purchase.

 

Documentation for all the programs on the system is contained in a fat book (free with the first cartridge) that doubles as a catalog. The company has been testing consumer response in drug stores, mass merchandisers, and record stores in northern California; the reception to it has been excellent.