Glutton Boy

Very nice pics. Like others here, I've got the Imagic titles cib with the exception of Subterranea. My favorite find was Quick Step, because I had found it at a local game store and had no idea at the time it existed. New Imagic title? Cool. New Imagic title with what looks like a gummi squirrel and kangaroo on the box? Total win!

Disclaimer: First off, forgive me if this has been brought up and discussed before. It's been thirty years (damn!) since the Atari 2600 got it's home port of Pac Man, and a lot of discussion can be done in three decades. If this observation is a revelation only to me and I'm a few years late to the party, then nevermind. Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Atari box art. I'd spend hours pouring over the images in the catalogs that came with the games, but it wasn't until earlier today that I really took a serious look at the Pac Man art and was surprised at what was right in front of me. Atari's art almost always had this way of blowing your mind with their interpretation of the action taking place on your television screen. Remember the art for Outlaw? With it's visions of the Old West, of Conestoga wagons, and shoot-outs? The graphics? Not so much. Pac Man is the only game I can recall that uses the actual game play as the template for the box art. The "non-arcade" maze folks complained about? Right there on the box. The white(ish) ghosts? Right there. And Pac man? The way he's positioned in the maze, you'd naturally assume he's going to the right; Pac Man faces the direction in which he's eating, after all, right? The 'dots' below him have been eaten, and given the final product with Pac Man's inability to face up or down, it could be argued he may very well be going upwards. The Video Wafer? Yep. That's there, too. The gist of my verbose rant? It seems like Atari knew in advance they were going to be selling an ersatz bill of goods. Even with other games released around the same time where the box art is a more literal depiction of the game play, Demons to Diamonds for instance, the art is a lot more exciting and stylized. Chrome skulls? Snazzy! I now return you to you regularly scheduled discussions. P.S.: I was there on release day for my copy of Pac Man, and I'm not a hater of the game by any stretch. Heck, being able to play Pac Man at home in the 80's was like being able to brag to your friends you had been to second base (wink, wink). Atari 2600 Pac Man wasn't the prettiest girl at the dance, but it was available and fun for what it was.

That's a neat find. I actually love the things going on in the photo on the cover... there's an A-wing and a cantina alien from Star Wars, a guy sharing a tender moment with an alligator, a future boy holding his joystick upside down, and what looks like demon Pac-Man vomitting white-hot dots at the viewer. Actually, on closer inspection, the jungle guy is holding a knife. Maybe it's not as tender a moment as I'd thought.

I'd like a boxed copy just to fill in one of the final few empty spots on the bookshelf, but if I dropped $700+ on it (or any game) the Inty, the bookshelf, and myself would be kicked to the curb.

I tried to find reference to the Gemstick in the Sears Wishbook catalogs and didn't find it. I'm not sure when it was released. My joystick of choice was the Point Master, the abnormally-long joystick for over-compensators (j/k). It's cool that you have memories that distinct going that far back. I still have fond memories of my parents and grandparents through the 2600 as well. It was probably the one thing in the house that offered something for everyone.

I love the idea of games at the local deli! It seems like back in the day, anyone who could get video games would stock them. It wasn't a weird place to get games, but you reminded me of a weird 'promotion' one of our local sellers had. It was Cousins Video or Dr. Video (our neighborhood had both, but I forget which was which), and it was a mom n' pop sort of place that sold video cassettes and 2600 games. Behind the register on the wall he had about 20 different letter-sized pictures of old aircraft. His gimmick was for every game you bought he'd let you pick a picture. Where he got them and what they had to do with anything I don't know... but it was an extra tool to use to try to get my mother back to the video game store. You'd think I was planning a career in aeronautics the way I'd carry on!

Hey, thanks for the link to the site! That really helps put a few things into their time persepctive. Looks like '82 was a good year for Atari titles... I remember getting my copy of Haunted House, as well as Star Raiders, and played the heck out of those. I'd constantly get the 'cook' (I think it was cook) ranking on Star Raiders. For me, Star Raiders was a lot like baseball... I loved the game, but in the final appraisal I sucked. Even those 1980's PSA's about trying your best making you a winner would've snickered.

So, I watched about ten minutes of the arcade being played and then for a bit more perspective, I watched a review of the VCS version on YouTube. As far as first impressions go, it looks like a lot of fun... one of those games where your hand has to be able to move the joystick even before your brain has fully interpreted what's going on- at least in the higher levels. I also was really impressed how the sounds and voice were implemented in the arcade version and was equally impressed that the game was pulled off so well for home play (the way the 2600 displays the reactor core is downright freaky- I couldn't stop staring into it!). I'm definately going to have to pick up a copy. The funny thing is I really don't recall this one being on the shelves when I was a kid. Did it come along later in the lifspan of the 2600? A final note... It's funny how our parents were so concerned with trying to protect us from Bugs Bunny slipping a stick of TNT to the Tazmanian Devil on Saturday Morning TV, but we had unquestioned access to games like this and Missile Command.

Hey all! As an adult, I've been interested in the release dates of the video games I grew up with. I guess it's because it helps with the timeline of what I was concerned with at a given time as a kid. I distinctly recall newspaper ads in the weeks/days leading up to the release of Pac Man for the 2600. One of them was of a picture of Pac Man with the tagline "Guess who's coming to dinner?" I just happened to come across this site with what looks to be one of the ads I remeber from back in the day. Does anyone here remember if the Saturday, April 3rd, 1982 date given in the ad is correct? Some years ago, I tried to find those ads at the library using their archives of our local paper to no avail. Here's the webpage (I'm not sure how to hyperlink, I hope it works) Pac Man Day (If someone knows how to take the image and post it to the thread, please do with my thanks!) Also, since I'm on the topic of Pac Man... where did you get your original copy? For the younger collectors, was it a garage sale score or part of an eBay lot? For those who were there during the initial Pac Mania, what about you? Mine was a reserve copy at Child World (y'know... Peter Panda and all that?!). I still remember going down there with my mother to pick up our copy. Child World had this what must've been 2" by 5" rubber stamp that they'd smack the game box with that read "TAKEN". Ah, pointless memories. Anyway, does anyone have any input on the release date or their Pac Memories? I'd love to read your replies.

Keilbaca was right regarding Kaboom! Everyone takes a drink everytime someone misses a bomb. You could be taking shots from an eyedropper and still be at risk for alcohol poisoning in half an hour.

I've played a lot of the Parker Bros. titles, but never played Reactor. I'm sure I could research it online, but since anyone reading this thread is likely a fan, what's the gameplay like? Is there anything comparable on the 2600 you'd compare it to?

To this day I still laugh because when I got the cartidge as a kid my first game was well over an hour. Granted, I always approached a new game with "play first, read instructions later" attitude. I don't know what it is about the gameplay that's so addictive; I was never a huge fan of Superman the character- the storyline could have been anything- it's just fun. You're right, it sounds like we're both on about the same level. I'll start the game by going to the jail first and seeing if there's anyone I can pick up and dump inside. If not, I'll work on the bridge. Once in a great while there's that awesome setup where almost all of the crooks are within a screen or two of the jail, and it's just a matter of gathering 'em up. It *did* take me a long time to realize that the fastest way back to the Daily Planet was to enter the subway and immediately go left. (Going right certainly runs up the game timer!)