NIAD

Thanks much Ikrananka! +1

That's exactly why I have been posting these games each week :!: There were a large number of 3rd party game titles developed for the ADAM from 1984-1996 and I'd like to bring as much attention to them as possible... even though many years after the fact and the programmers will not see any benefits from them anymore except some recognition. Actually the largest majority of ADAM software that was developed by 3rd parties (homebrew) was of the productivity and utility type and I haven't even touched on any of these. Would anyone be interested in some of these down the road as well? Then there was a HUGE amount of CP/M software made available as well as converted to ADAM CP/M format, but I don't see there being much interest in these with the exception of some Z80 programming utilities and disassemblers. It's unfortunate that back in the day, more ADAM owners weren't exposed to a lot of this stuff due to a lack of better national visibility. For short periods of time Family Computing ran small articles and some ads, then Computer Shopper picked up the slack and finally Vulcan Computing (think that was the name) as well as CompuServe supplying a couple of forums... but for the most part we were on our own. The Internet as we know it since the mid 90's would have really helped back then. Anyhow, if the ADAM had succeeded, we wouldn't have developed the worldwide fiendships that we did and amazingly still do enjoy as can be attested to by the fact that ADAMcons are still held by a small group of hardcore fans/friends each and every year.

U-Match-Em & Super Parrot by Phoenix 2000 (1990) Once again I have decided to offer up multiple games instead of just one (will make all this go faster for everyone... including myself ). The two titles today are the programming efforts once again of Soloman Swift of Digital Express Inc. fame, but these games were released under his new comapany's banner named "Phoenix 2000"... this was one phoenix that flammed-out rather quickly although there were some nice programs released during it's existence. Both titles has their origins as Public Domain/Shareware programs and due to Soloman's need to raise some capital, he enhanced the public domain versions and released the finished products commercially. Also note that a security code form of copy-protection was used with both of these games that requires a code to be entered after every 16th boot. I, unfortunately, lost track of the codes over the years but this can easily be worked around in Virtual ADAM by using the "Run Copies" option or by simply using a copy of the disk image everytime. U-Match-Em (aka Concentration) is a colorful, memory exercise matching game. Players alternate turns flipping two tiles on an on-screen play board consisting for forty tiles. If the two objects exposed by lifting the tiles match, the matching objects and two tiles are removed; also the player wins a point and gets to select again. If the objects do NOT match, the the tiles a replaced atop the objects thereby concealing them again. Try to remember where objects are located on missed turns. The player with the most matches after all the tiles are removed is the winner. The computer actaully plays a pretty good game! Super Parrot is a colorful, memory exercise game similar to the SIMON electronic game. The computer will sound a musical note and flash a color arrow on the monitor screen. You, in turn, play the note back by tapping the corresponding arrow key on the keyboard (you may also move the joystick in the appropriate direction). For each correct human playback, one additional note is added making an ever-increasing sequence of notes. Play continues until you miss three times in repeating the same sequence of notes. After a sequence of 10 to 15 notes, game play becomes very challenging. The first and second times that you miss a particular sequence, ADAM will play it back for you (much slower). SmartWRITER ReadMe documentation files are included on each disk image, but the games are very simple and shouldn't be needed. I did not try these in MESS for the obvious reason that the security code protection needs to write to the disk image and would therefore fail due to incomplete emulation. Enjoy! Super Parrot (1990) (Phoenix 2000).zip U-Match-Em (1990) (Phoenix 2000).zip

Tremendous upgrade re. the new graphics supplied by Youki. Glad to see another Puzzle/Mind-type game coming down the pipeline for the ColecoVision as it's been a number of years since one was released. +1 all around!

Glad to be of help and if you guys see any errors or omissions, please let me know.

Here is a plain jane text list of everything that I know of. I had hoped to lay this out in html format or something nicer looking, but haven't had a chance yet! Without a doubt, pickup an AtariMax Ultimate SD Cart! NIADs ADAM & ColecoVision Cartridge Rarity (Rel-5).rtf

Yes, it could be reproduced easily with good scans Here's a pic of the speed roller controller Well I suppose they had to be real... I just never expected to see a photo of one. Is that your controller J-F? That is so suweet. Here's some more pics of the proto hand controller with speed roller... thanks to ColecoVision Zone/Junior for making these available. Really have to spend some time on his website and follow all the links as there is a lot of great stuff on there!!

Glad to hear and enjoy the system!

My wife would like to "THANK YOU" Ax for providing the inspiration for me to turn off the computer at a decent enough hour to leave time for some serious exploration in the bedroom... usually it takes an extended power outage. She sends her love. And now I see you have provided a video!!!

Yeah, but there's a small tear in the top flap of the box that in my book is a $1990.00 deduction... so starting auction bid is reset to: $9.99

Exactly. This whole thing was about what is the correct US-English pronunciation (since it's a US-based company). It seemed to me that that should be sort of obviously implied in the context. And there absolutely is one, since it's a proper name. I think your posts pretty much nailed it. I think Ax nailed it, to be honest... especially that HOT blonde dressed all in white. Where the hell is this car wash because my "car" can definetly use a good polishing! AX You are my hero, Ax! I just realized something... is polishing pronounced: "pa"-"lish"-"ing" as in to polish a car or "po"-"lish"-"ing" as in the Polish language Guess being half Polish complicates matters for me!

I'm not sure I understand right.... Could you explain? Charge a fee of $1 per guess and the person who comes the closest to the final auction price wins a Side Trak cart. I, for one, would rather have the finished Side Trak game when it is released than a box... even though this proto box has A LOT of historical value. BTW, anyone ever come across ADAM game protos for "The Price is Right" or "Wheel of Fortune". Through the years I heard some claims from reliable sources that Wheel of Fortune did exist, but all roads eventually lead to a dead end.

Exactly. This whole thing was about what is the correct US-English pronunciation (since it's a US-based company). It seemed to me that that should be sort of obviously implied in the context. And there absolutely is one, since it's a proper name. I think your posts pretty much nailed it. I think Ax nailed it, to be honest... especially that HOT blonde dressed all in white. Where the hell is this car wash because my "car" can definetly use a good polishing!

I personally wouldn't care anything about the console, I just want the box. I would give $200 for the empty box with Styrofoam insert. The console likely works half-ass like nearly every console out there that hasn't been refurbished. Someone will have a sweetheart proto box and probably stash it away without showing photos of the back and sides. The seller must be getting hammered with messages, he told me he won't even send additional pics of the box because "some other collector told me not to" While you are probably right about most CVs that are out there to be had, I have bought three other CVs (besides the two refurb/modified systems I bought from you) as part of large packages and they have all worked pretty darn good with the exception of a flacky hand controller or two that when taken apart and cleaned... worked good, but not like your refurbed controllers. Guess a lot just depends on the amount of TLC the previous owner gave to it. BTW, all three extra systems have found themselves new homes and maybe even one of them has found it's way to your door to be modded! It would be very sad if the eventual winner just stashed the box away and does not share images of the sides and back with all the CV fans out there... but when you own something, it's your right to do whatever you want with it. Sad that some of these hardcore collectors have to react in such a way. It's always been my contention, especially after all these years have passed, that things should be more openly shared especially considering what BIG fans of the system and Coleco we obviously all are. I did my part in the 80's and early 90's to see protos/unreleased items made available to the masses and if I am lucky enough to come across anything of worth/interest, I will do the same again and only ask for a "thanks" or a "+1" in return. As far as your guesstimate on the final auction price (if the auction runs it's full course)... I'm thinking $750! Maybe Retroillucid could sponsor a game of "The Price is Right" for this auction and the winner get's a free Side Trak cart.

Yep! Can't imagine that too many of these exist after all the years that have gone by. It makes sense that the seller is located in Connecticut as well (only about an hour away from West Hartford) and probably worked for/or knew someone that worked for Coleco.

Then your best bet is to buy one from eColeco so your not chasing after an Atari one with the correct length connector. It is the original Disk Drive Power Supply that he lists and he also states that he has the alternative power supply somewhere in his warehouse. This alternative unit used only one cable (to attach to the disk drive) and the power prongs where built into the case like the U.S. ColecoVision Power Supply.

That would be nice, otherwise it will probably disappear like so many other prototypes have... Energy Quizz, Power Grabber, Masters of the Universe (for legal reasons), Ice Castle, Missile Command, etc. etc.! Hopefully one of these days some of these will be shared with the rest of the community as well as CAT S.O.S. We shall see.

Trust me when I say that if the joysticks had the mentioned Speed Roller on them... I WOULD HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO STRIKE A SIDE DEAL! Can't believe I never payed attention to the purple box in the Arnold Greenberg picture with the Donkey Kong box. Guess my attention was always focused on the DK Box. The final auction price should be very interesting to see and hopefully the seller will let the auction run it's course.

Just saw this on eBay! Anyone ever see a purple ColecoVision Box before? Let the bidding begin!

First and FOREMOST, your best bet is to boot-up into plain old MS-DOS to insure that these older conversion utilities will work and then you will need a 5 1/4" 360K FDD on the PC (a 5 1/4" 1.2Mb FDD will probably read ADAM disks alright, but there will be problems writing to them). I have used these utilities on a Windows XP system, but only with a 3 1/2" drive... not gonna get into all the details, but you can format a 3 1/2" disk as an ADAM 5 1/4" 160K when you are in a pinch. TO TRANSFER INDIVIDUAL FILES: Download "The ADAM Connection" provided below. Very easy program to use and a doc file is included. Boot into DOS and execute "The ADAM Connection" (EOS.EXE) When transferring individual files always remember to spell the ADAM file exactly as it was named (upper and lower case matters) and include the files extension at the end of the name with no spaces, IE: ZaxxonC is a CopyCart cartridge dump of Zaxxon with the "C" filetype. Also remember the 8.3 filenaming convention for MS-DOS... no long filenames! Here are some common ADAM filetypes: A = SmartBASIC, SmartLOGO, ADAMCalc program file H = SmartWRITER file H = SmartBASIC Binary file C = CopyCart file = Machine Language File there are more, but this should get you started. TO MAKE A DISK IMAGE OF AN ADAM DISK TO USE ON A PC EMULATOR OR CONVERT A DISK IMAGE BACK TO AN ADAM DISK Download the MS-DOS program "DCOPY" that is provided below. ADAM Disk to PC Disk Image command: DCOPY A: C:\filename.dsk /T:40 /S:8 /H:1 A: = your 5 1/4" drive on the PC the ADAM 5 1/4" disk is inserted in C:\ = the location you want to save the newly created disk image to /T:40 = 40 tracks /S:8 = 8 sectors /H:1 = 1 Head PC Disk Image to an ADAM 5 1/4" Disk (best to format the disk first to make sure it is good): DCOPY C:\filename.dsk A: /T:40 /S:8 /H:1 pretty self explanatory and then there will always be the learning curve that you will have to experience, but there's a number of poeple on here who are very experienced with all this to provide help. ADAM Connection (1988) (SpeedyWrite Software).zip ADAM Connection (1993) (SpeedyWrite Software).zip DCopy (1996) (Unknown).zip

ADAM Bomb by Steve Pitman Software (1989) Requires a 64K or Larger Memory Expander Since I highlighted ADAM Bomb 2 - The Rescue a while back, I decided that I better get the original ADAM Bomb game posted here before everyone thinks it didn't exist... like Pepper I! The object of ADAM Bomb is to collect all the diamonds on each of the 30 individual screens. Each screen is a puzzle/maze that is hidden beneath the grass until you move your character over an area to display what lies beneath (open area, walls, boulders, bombs, diamonds, etc.). There are also transporter doors and traps located in most of the screens that serve to help or hinder your ability to clear the screen and move onto the next. Also included with the game is a Screen Designer Construction Kit so that you can make and save your own ADAM Bomb screens if you so desire. The game instructions are contained within the program, so make sure to read thru them thoroughly in order to learn how to play. ADAM Bomb will work with ADAMem, Virtaul ADAM and M.E.S.S., but due to incomplete emulation, M.E.S.S. can't save your work when creating new screens. I have included two Disk Images, the first is the original game untouched and the second has been modified to include the ability to select what level you will start on. Enjoy! ADAM Bomb (1989) (Steve Pitman Software).zip

eColeco still has the ADAM Disk Drive Power Supply available for $23 (listed on their website) if you can't track down a compatible transformer locally: http:\\www.ecoleco.com look in the Coleco and ADAM Product Catalog section.

Sounds good and will be a very good reason to play one of the lesser played games in my CV collection.

Sweet! +1

Eric Bromley was the leading force behind the ColecoVision finally being manufactured by Coleco. He also played a large role in the line-up of arcade games that Coleco acquired the rights to make on videogame systems... and was the Coleco employee who flew to Japan to acquire the rights to Donkey Kong. There is a GREAT article, where he is interviewed extensively as well as further info on the ColecoVision and some Homebrew Scene items, in RetroGamer Issue #73 and I would recommend picking up the backissue. Coleco's Vision was in fact Eric Bromley's Vision Too bad Coleco Execs didn't listen to Eric B. going back to 1980. If they had gotten the system out upto 2 years earlier, who knows what might have happened. As it stands, Coleco was only really just getting going before the Crash and then all the mistakes by upper management concerning the ADAM was the final death blow.