Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 All, I'm hoping some of your Retro fans out there can help me with this request, Look's like we might be doing another Action Pack here at the Big "A". For that reason, I'd like to ask if anyone out there might have copies of unreleased Activision or Imagic 2600 prototypes out there. If so, I'd like to exchange a few emails with you. I hope to hear from your shortly! Take it easy, Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 If you really work for Activision, how about asking them to use a decent emulator? And the Playstation emulation was total garbage! Please don't put out another package unless you do it right. Thanks, D.A.H. from the F of i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 I didn't work on the original packages, but I am working on a concept for a potential new one. "What didn;t you like about the orignal?" Thanks, Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 I'd have to agree. The primary focus of any commercial emulation release should be to recreate the game as accurately as possible. Ideally, it should feel like you had an actual atari VCS hooked up to your tv/pc and are playing that cartridge. If 'little' things like sound, colors, or speed/frame rate differ from the original, that really does make ALL the difference. The previous Activision release was waaay off. And if you'll notice, the recent Sega Smash Pack for the Dreamcast also suffered from inconsistencies with the sound and that's exactly what it got blasted for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 Thanks Alex. As sad as it may sound, some games were ommitted from the original packs as nobody actually knew where to find the binaries. ("A bad excuse, I know.") As for others, "YES!" They've got licenses tied to them which we no longer have the rights to. To publish them, we'd need to go back to the bargaining table and try to get those rights. "Would it be worth it, money-wise?" Probably not. I do indeed have he two (2) prototypes on my system here. I've yet to get names for them, but just yesterday sent them out to both David Crane and Garry Kitchen in hopes that they might be able to figure it out. The "Colored Blocks" one, kinda' plays like a Rubiks Cube where as the "Platform" one, barely plays at all. Actually, it mostly crashes. I've been talking with Dan Kitchen as well 'n' he tells me that he has a couple of finished 2600 games in storage somewhere, but he's been a little slow in getting back to me. It's our hope that maybe we can get these back in-house as well. Cheers! - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 I've not played Yar's Quest, but I could tell you already, that it would be a Licensing issue. That is .. "Yar's Revenge" now belongs to Infogrames. we'd have to hit them up and license the "Yar's" name. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 But if the author of Yar's Quest ends up changing the name..and the graphics...then that wouldn't be a prob..hehe.. So your telling us Ken that Gary does indeed have some more Proto's..that haven't been found or released yet? Or are these new projects that Mr. Kitchen has worked on..and not released? This all sounds...very cool and exciting...!!! [ 06-15-2001: Message edited by: -^Cro§Bow^- ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 No. Actually, it's Dan that has some old Finished-yet-Unreleased projects that I've been trying to get. Garry, I've posted the prototypes to, to see if either him of David can put a name to them. I did however, ask them too about any prototypes or unreleased games that they might have. Haven't heard anything back from him just yet, but... I will be calling him next Monday. Will try and ring Bruce Davis as well. Bruce used to manage Imagic. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Prototypes! Yes! Any day I hear about the possiblity of a new prototype is a day for celebration. This does bring up an interesting point, how many programmers are hanging onto original games they created but never showed to anyone (games that wouldn't be on any offical company list). I wonder how how many programmers are holding back on us I don't have any unreleased Activision prototypes, but this is a good opertunity to ask a Activision prototype question. All my 2600 Activision protos look the same (purple label), but my 400/800 Activision protos differ from each other in many ways, was there a standard label for 8-bit protos? Look at these pictures to see what I mean: 2600 Activision protos (all standard purple labels) http://www.msu.edu/user/reicher6/2600proto...s/crackpots.htm http://www.msu.edu/user/reicher6/2600proto...s/decathlon.htm And these are my 8-bit protos, notice this diffrent label types: http://www.msu.edu/user/reicher6/400protos.../activision.htm Anyone know more about this? Tempest [ 06-15-2001: Message edited by: Tempest ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khryssun Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 quote: But if the author of Yar's Quest ends up changing the name..and the graphics...then that wouldn't be a prob..hehe.. Exact Cro§Bow In fact, I've already done an alt version... in this version the player controls a space ship (instead of the yar) and the title name is Ray's Quest. That let me think... nobody found the easter egg so far. I realize I made it too complicate to find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 Could I possibly get a copy of this binary? Thanks, Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 I'm afraid I can't answer that question. I'm only 33. Sadly, there really isn't anyone 'round here anymore that could've answered that question. Tom Sloper was here for awhile and I worked with him a bit, but.. questions like that never dawned on me. Instead, we swapped Atari "work experience" stories. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Unimportant note: It's Yars' not Yar's for anyone who cares. The apostrophe goes at the end of the word. As in, "Yars' Revenge." Here's proof if anyone needs it: Click here for cartridge scan Click here to see the box scan Thanks, D.A.H. from the F of i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khryssun Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Don't need a proof... LOL just a typing error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khryssun Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Ken, Sure... I dig it out and I email you Yars' Quest and Rays' Quest (with the simulator) Do you want Ewok's Adventure too ? (I've rebuild the game from the complete description of the proto) Tempest, Your prototypes page is great !!! note: The motorodeo Test Board pic is missing. [ 06-15-2001: Message edited by: khryssun ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 Sounds good, but I don't think we could ever publish it. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 schwing!!! I can't believe I'm reading this thread!! Ken, it's great that Activision is thinking about another CD. But you really need to rerelease the first one with a better emulator. That review by Mr. Hardie does say it all. I can't tell you how disappointed I was with the emu quality of those otherwise excellent titles. Ken, you also need to put FMV interviews with the activision original guys on the CD. Get Digital Eclipse to produce those sequences for you (if that is possible/allowed), I bet Charla would love to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 Charla? Well, I doubt we would goto that extent ("Although, I wish we could.") The reason we wouldn't, is that it's just not cost effective enough. The amount of money spent on shooting video footage alone, would be pretty high. Then we'd have to edit it, etc. We'd be looking at spending quite a bit of money to do that. Not to mention, "Woudl the original Activision people wanna' get paid for it?" Probably. Would we recoupe the money we put into it? .. eh "Maybe" ... down the road. If it were left up to me, I'd like to do something like that, but the truth is.. and as sad as it may sound.. "It probably wouldn't even sell close to to what.. say some of our other titles do." For historians like ourselves, we'd really dig it, but it's not just us we have to plaese. It's the Billy's and Betty's of today. More kids today are famliar with Sonic or Mario then they are with Pitfall Harry. "Sads but true." Belive me, I feel the same way you do. But, it' not my omeny to spend either. I mean.. That really is the honest truth. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 I apologize for my bad typing. I never quite managed to learn to type correctly. - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 What platforms will this be for? Not for the PC, I'd hope -- people can honestly get all the free 2600 games they want on PC. But it'd be great to have on PSX or DC (yes, I said Dreamcast!) etc. And film footage (I can't see why it would need to be expensive) or other exclusive nostalgic material would make the game even more must-have. I wonder what price range you are thinking about? Infogrames / Hasbro / now it's "Atari" is coming out with a new disk this month of classic Atari coin-op games for the budget price of $14.99, for example. Don't underestimate what you've got there Ken -- get us a better emulator and some nice Activision games (including prototypes! Yowsa!), and some fmv (or even still shots, okay?) and interviews ... we'll all promplty toss the old version and buy it again. How many of 'us' there are ... I'm not sure. I sense a growing retro movement though -- look at Japan, where the NES is still all the rage. I wish Majesco would rerelease the 2600 / 5200 / Colecovision with multicarts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klove Posted June 15, 2001 Author Share Posted June 15, 2001 Don't even get me started on Majesco. "Nuff' said." - Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMika Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Better yet, Ken... Let Digital Eclipse do the whole package, videos and all, with proper emulation. I am the Creative Director here, and we've been working with you guys for a bit. In fact, Brian Clarke (Producer) just left our office today. We did Tarzan, 102 Dalmations and some others for you guys. We did the Commodore 64 collection, too. I agree with everyone else here in that the emulation was mediocre at best on the last package, and I know for a fact that our Technical Director has had his eye on this opportunity for nearly all of his life. We are considered the leading developer in emulation, and we know the rates and value to all of that, so we aren't unreasonable as much to be unapproachable. We can get a perfect version out, that would include the previous games probably, on time and on budget. We can work in the interviews, etc. A lot of these classic folks are our friends, and would probably give us a better rate than Activision if it goes through us. We have the tools, the emulation technology (Ready to go!), and more. Send me a private message through here if you are interested and I'll get you the proper contact information. We promise to do it justice, and we know what to do. We've done it several times before. Mike Mika Creative Director Digital Eclipse Software, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Yes Ken, please have a look at Digital Eclipse! They've done some great emu packages in the past and are well respected by classic gamers. Drool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyXB Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 @ Tempest: The PAL Prototypes from Activision look better. I have one Sea Quest (same as Seaquest, but on the small Lable stand Sea Quest with " "). It has a red Lable with white letters ACTIVISION PROTOTYPE on the middle. Matthias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 16, 2001 Share Posted June 16, 2001 About the playstation version, I totally agree with this review by John Hardie: http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/activisn.htm This review says it all. I would just be repeating it. Beware, the article is almost unreadable because of the poorly chosen background. You may have to highlight the text to read it. Thanks, D.A.H. from the F of i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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