who is the ULTIMATE COLLECTOR!!!

[who is the ULTIMATE COLLECTOR!!!]

Tell me you took the carts out of the boxes before you shrink wrapped them....

 

Yes, the boxes are empty. Carts are kept in a homemade cabinet, and not all of them have a standard-size box, so some of the boxes are homemade, too.

[who is the ULTIMATE COLLECTOR!!!]

Rather than crowning a KING of collectors, I think ALL of you who collect 2600 games deserve much credit for preserving, sustaining, and growing such a great hobby. It could be said that many of you are obsessive (I know I am), but that comes with the territory of being a collector of anything.

 

As for me, I have been collecting (and playing) games for the 2600 since 1981, and have amassed 436 titles as of today. By writing to the manufacturers of these games, back when they were still in business, I was able to acquire some of the more uncommon titles directly from the publishers, or at least from those who responded to my letters. Some examples include Boing! from FirstStar, Malagai from Answer, and MagiCard and Video Life from CommaVid.

 

In order to preserve what I thought would be of interest only to me, I shrink-wrapped all of the boxes and made a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall display out of them. Most people are pretty amazed when they see it for the first time, except for one "friend" who called it "a montage of modern stupidity". He's entitled to his goddamn opinion. For those of you who really care about the hobby, I thought you might find it interesting.

 

Kudos to Alex and Albert for providing this forum, and to all you "Kings" who keep this hobby alive by collecting and sharing.

 

The attached photo shows my first attempt at "The Atari Wall", made in 1986. The current version is over 21 feet wide and fits 452 boxes (which means I haven't filled it yet).

[Cubicolor Manual]

Marco, please post a scan of the Cubicolor box. Thanks.

[When counting your Atari carts ...]

Here's a slightly different take on the subject of uniqueness. In the case of "cloned" games, the graphics and gameplay, or both , have been altered (perhaps VERY slightly) so as to avoid (presumably) license infringement. Any game that contains original OR modified code is "unique" in my book because it is not an exact CODE copy.

 

Based on this rule, Gangster Alley by Spectravision and Task Force by Froggo are unique because the graphics are different. Sea Hawk by Panda and Sea Hawk by Froggo are unique for the same reason even though they have the same title. On the other hand, the code in ALL of the non-exclusive Sears titles is identical to their Atari counterparts. Nothing unique about these games other than the titles and packaging. This begs the question, Does packaging alone make a game unique?

[You're going to a desert island by yourself...]

Basic Math would have been my knee-jerk response to this question, but then I got to thinking that even practicing simple math problems would be more fun than...

 

Strawberry Shortcake Musical Matchups!

[Should I cancel the AirWorld project?]

One of the objectives of all true Atari enthusiasts is to do whatever we can to perpetuate this great hobby. What better way to do that than to write new games for these classic systems?! Please continue the project.

[Does the Ikari Warriors cart exist in NTSC?]

Tempest,

 

Unfortunately, I didn't make a copy of the form before using it, but I do have an Atari product list dated 02/91 that lists the title "Street Fight" as "coming soon". That's the only place I've seen a reference to that title.

[Does the Ikari Warriors cart exist in NTSC?]

Atari did indeed release Ikari Warriors in NTSC just before the 2600 was discontinued for the second time. I managed to acquire it, along with Motorodeo, Xenophobe and Sentinel directly from Atari in March of '91 using an order form my boss brought to me from CES. Interestingly, White Water Madness was on that order form as well, and I ordered it, but alas, it never arrived.

[Multicarts...has anyone bought one?]

I own Sean's Atari2600 MultiCart and it is definitely worth having. Of the 256 dip-switch-selectable games on it, approximately 80 are non-US releases. Some examples are Astrowar, Challenge and Open Sesame. Sean Kelly is a member of the Digital Press staff and is involved in organizing classic game shows like the Philly Classic and CGE in Vegas.