Marco(2) Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Hi guys, Some time ago I acquired the game pictured here. The previous owner bought it as being "Nightmare Manor", though he doubted this indeed is a prototype version of Haunted House. I cannot find anything that makes this game different from a regular released game of Haunted House. I am no expert on pcbs, chips and their markings though, so I'm curious to hear what you think this is. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 I don't think that's even an EPROM (no little window). I may be greatly mistaking, but I think you got the standard release Haunted House there. It also looks suspiciously like the cart casing at one time had a label affixed. I know you can't tell much from a low-res scan, but it looks to me like old glue residue in the outline of a standard Atari label goes around the edge of the top of the cart. But again, I'm no expert. I could be totally wrong. This is just my educated guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Sorry, that's not a prototype. Prototpyes use EPROM's so programmers could dump and erase a program from the chip. EPROM's hae little windows on them (these are usually covered up with a label) so you could erase them. What you see there is a regular production chip. It's just a Haunted House cart that someone ripped the label off of. Even if it was a true Nightmare Manor prototype, you wouldn't see any difference. NM was just a Work in Progress name for Haunted House, I don't think the game itself was any different. Sorry to burst your bubble... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco(2) Posted June 27, 2001 Author Share Posted June 27, 2001 Thanks for the input guys. You're not bursting my bubble, I didn't think this was a prototype to begin with. I was curious to see what the reactions would be though. I agree with what you say, though there is one little detail that I find interesting. I've read that Atari games went through several stages of development before being officially released. In those stages Atari was supposed to have used different types of storing the games' data. We all know the EPROM-type. One other known example is the small black blobs (masked ROMs is what they are called?) that were used in the mass-produced Dukes of Hazard protos (protos may not be the correct term for these?). I have also had a Donald Duck prototype with one of those blobs. So, not every proto (or whatever you should call it) comes with one of more EPROMs. Does anyone here know the full story on this? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Are you talking about the chips with the small black circle thing on them? That's just a different way Atari manufactured the chips, I think it was called Chip on Board or something like that. It was a cost cutting move. But does that mean Donald Duck was mass produced then? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Wasn't Donald Duck officially released in Brazil from one of Atari's licensees there? That might account for that particular proto. And Dukes was mass produced like you said. I guess the question would be are there any limited production protos that have this design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco(2) Posted June 27, 2001 Author Share Posted June 27, 2001 So, there are actually two types: the ones with the small black circle that Tempest mentions, and the small blobs like you find in the Dukes protos (I just opened up mine, it turns out it has a square blob!). My Donald proto came from the US, it was not one of those Brazil releases. Here's a picture of it. It has one of those small black circles. Anyone knows What is underneath that? And what's with the black blobs? And are there any other types of protos? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Marco- Just out of curiosity, who is it that signed the Donald Duck proto as authentication? I don't know how that'd help solve anything, but it would be a neat provinance for the cart. BTW - I know I read a website at one time that talked about these "blob" carts. I think I remember it being on the "Tomorrows Heroes" website, but I could be completely wrong. I do remember that they had pictured Pac-Man production carts with very similar round blobs to the Donald Duck cart. I guess it is a mystery. Unless this is a very well-perpetrated hoax, I don't know why the round blob was used in a pre-production cart. (and I don't think it is a hoax - it probably is a real proto). Anyhow - more non-help from the twit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Curt knows what these are, we should ask him. But I'm almost 100% sure these are not prototypes. I have no idea what to think now... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 Curt can be reached through his webpage: http://www.atari-history.com I don't think this is a "Best Proto", it doesn't look like Brad's work. I think these are real chips rather than copied EPROMs. I don't know for sure though. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 There's some related info on the Hozer site, here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Scott Stilphen: There's some related info on the Hozer site, here Thanks for the memory refresher - that's exactly the site I was thinking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco(2) Posted June 28, 2001 Author Share Posted June 28, 2001 twit, I got the Donald Duck cart from Jerry Greiner. Not sure where he got it from. We're talking early nineties here. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Tempest: Curt knows what these are, we should ask him. Do you know how to reach him? I think it might be beneficial (at least interesting) to see what he has to say. I still am not convinced that it isn't a prototype. Someone would have to go through a ton of trouble to fake it as a proto - ie obtain a S. American release version, which in the early 90's was pretty much unheard of, and then pass it off to JerryG as the real deal. I've dealt with Jerry before, and know him to be a reputable dealer. I don't believe that he'd do anything shady, as I also don't believe that he wouldn't know what he had as far as a proto goes. I am still puzzled, and maybe Kurt can help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 The name Best Electronics comes to mind... That is all I will say... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco(2) Posted June 28, 2001 Author Share Posted June 28, 2001 Hi Scott, Thanks for that link indeed. Makes me conclude that my Donald was indeed a prototype, and that my Ghost Manor is just a production-run Haunted House. I was wondering about one more thing. Randy says it's quite easy to fake a board+eproms prototype. Normally, these boards have some Atari markings on there. Am I right to think that it's quite easy to fake those as well then? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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