Ferris

or just call it Yayyyyyyyyyy Dawn Key Kong! just like Special Ed.

....wouldnt that have been a ColecoVision exclusive? Coleco was the one that created the actual Cabbage Patch dolls, it's hard to imagine them porting that franchisie over to Atari. Unless they wanted to show "how crappy the 2600 graphics were" compared to ColecoVision. Pfft.

Will the AtariAge store be carrying the FB2 as a standard item in the near future or is this a one-time thing?

Whatever happened to Dactyl Joust? I thought it was going to be finished by somebody?

Pictures of the actual product would be nice.

It's Warlords.

Works for me.

Propane - can you confirm this with first hand knowledge? A simple "confirm or deny" would be helpful.

Someone needs to lock this thread and erase it from history.

I'm sure that must have been Julie Wade. I used to communicate with her quite frequently back in the early 1990's (1991-1996ish) Here's the truncated version of the story. - Julie Wade was an executive secretary at Atari's Borregas Ave. office. - Ms. Wade had a lucratiave position for a secretary and had access to many things that other secretaries did not. I often got the impression that her duties often went above and beyond standard secretarial work. - Ms. Wade was very loyal to Jack right up until the very end and obeyed almost every order she was given. - In a conversation I had with Ms. Wade pretty early on she told me about some of the new games that were going to be shown at CES that year. When we were discussing the 7800, I distinctly remember her mentioning Electrocop along with Klax. I remember commenting about how much I enjoyed Contra on the NES and asked if it was the same sort of side scroller or if it was more like the Lynx version which she told me was originally supposed to be the Lynx version of Impossible Mission. - A year or two later, the games had never been released, and I inquired to Ms. Wade as to the status of the games. She stated that "those projects are on hold until we hear word from Jack one way or another." Looking back on this statement, and when it was said (1991 or 92) I'm sure Atari was trying to figure out where things stood with the Lynx, and even more so with the Panther & Jaguar. It was right around this time that the 7800 was put to rest as far as development goes, and I'm sure this is what Julie meant. I asked Julie if she had ever seen any of the games play and she said that she had even played them and commented at how fun Klax was compared to Tetris, and at how nice the graphics on Electrocop looked. I asked her how she got to play these games and she told me that she had a few copies of each title IN HER DESK! I asked her to send me one of each, and she refused for legal reasons, etc. - For the next year or two I tried to convince her to smuggle out a few of these cartridges. She informed me that Jack's instructions to her were to destroy all remaining copies of the games which she intended on doing but had not yet done. - Several years later, after the JTS incident, I heard one final time from Julie. She told me that everything I had warned her about Jack had come true, that he had screwed her over in some financial way and she was now looking for a new job and hoped to keep in touch over the years. She also informed me that she had never destroyed the cartridges although I'm not sure that she took them with her but that was the impression that I had at the time. - After that, I never heard from Julie again. sooo maybe there is one out there somewhere....

I guarantee you beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person you are talking about is Julie Wade. In fact you may even be remembering a post of mine from a long time ago, sounds pretty similar to my experience.

I know of one individual who claims to have had three lab loaners in their possession in 1992 or 1993 but no longer have them. All I have to go on is their word, and I'm not exactly sure what that is worth.

I seriously doubt Atari would bank any nostalgia on the 800 as far as looks go. I think you guys are getting lost in the reverie of "they could make a mini 800 with this and that and even a tiny keyboard" ...I just dont see that happening. What I have been advocating is the use of the system's technology, not the look of the system its self. Whatever Atari puts out is going to be kept simple and cost effective, and most importantly, recognizable as a classic Atari. What we know for sure at this juncture is that... - There is going to be a third (and possibly final) instalment of the Flashback series systems. - The FB3 is going to be based off of "Pre-Lynx/Jag" legacy Atari hardware and software. - The FB3 is going to feature interchangeable media in a new smaller form, although it will feature authentic roms on board. Most likely it will be a little card or soemthing along those lines. - The FB3 hardware will be authentic and not emulated. - The FB3 is essentially being created by Curt. We are all familiar with Curt and know he will make sure this is a very creative unit. That being said, I just dont see why Atari WOULDNT want to capitalize on all of the software for the 8-Bit line. It's pretty much the same stuff. It's Asteroids, Centipede, Crystal Castles, etc. just like what they have put out on the earlier Flashback systems, except with better A8 style graphics. It's a no brainer. I'm sure they would package it as "40 of your favorite classics in one!" just like the last unit. FB3 could use the existing CX40A joystick or better yet Curt could find an excuse to pursuade Atari into creating a CX52A self-centering joystick, although it's very unlikley. What would be best in my opinion would be a system that could play 2600, 5200/A8, and 7800 games, although I seriously do not see that happening. Short of that, what I think is more likely to happen, is a system that plays 2600 games as well as A8 games through an interchangable media format. That is what I expect to see, although I could be wrong.

To me, ElectroCop is the holy grail of all 7800 titles. From 1992 onward I have been trying to track down ElectroCop, Klax, Rescue on Fractalus and Sky Fox. I nabbed Klax pretty early on, and Curt recently turned up Fractalus. I've had so many leads on ElectroCop in the past decade or and I feel like I've come sooooo close before yet I havent a single piece of solid evidence to prove that this title had even begun development. It's frusterating as hell. Sometimes I feel like Atari's Fox Mulder chasing after little green eproms.

You know you really shouldnt have to feel as if you need to defend yourself for making a simple statement such as "hey everyone why is it that a tiny group of people are sitting on this one long lost holy grail when we could all be enjoying it?" Makes perfect sense here. Trust me, YOU are not the ass in this happening and you have nothing to apologize for.

I'm 23 and this is all I've ever cared to play.

General Computer Corporation. They were essentially responsible for developing the 7800. It all ties back to the law suit over the Food Fight issue.

everything on the FB2 is 2/3 scale of the original. However my guess is that the games will be on tiny cards, not 2/3 scale cartridges. Then again, who knows.

LOL so get a Krokodile Cartridge.

I noticed that you can pass through the mushrooms on Millipede on FB2 as well. Honestly I'm a 7800 guy and spent most of my life satisfied with 7800 Centipede and never really played much 2600 Milipede although I have the cartridge somewhere. Is this just a feature of Millipede or is it a glitch in both systems? I just thought it was part of the gameplay.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. Knowing Curt I'm sure he's saving the best for last and has something very special in store for us.

I've thought about that. The original impression I had of FB3 from a year ago was that it was simply an FB2 with a card slot. However I think this has changed. I get the feeling from the lack of games on the FB2 that maybe Atari is not done with the 2600 library. However, that does not mean I believe the FB3 will be an "improved dedicated 2600 FB2" at all. It could be a hybrid system, booting both 2600 and A8 titles through two different chips. Then again who knows. I'm banking money that FB3 will be A8 compatible, but I wouldnt be suprised if it had 2600 capabilities on board as well. Remember this is Curt we're talking about, not some random Infogrammes thinktank with no creativity or knowledge of Atari history. Cheers, Justin

I'm tellin ya.... this HAS to be based off of the Atari 8-Bit line. I think it's safe to go ahead and assume that now. I don't know anymore than anyone else does about this, it's just a hunch. If Curt can get more than games into this thing.... as in make a BASIC cartridge or a cartridge that goes above and beyond the typical Centipede pack-in. Maybe have AtariWriter or something "programmable". Sure would be nifty if this had a USB port on the back of it and you could print directly to a modern printer. Sure there wouldn't be much of a font selection but it would still be nifty. Doubt we'll see anything quite that cool, but I know Curt is a big fan of nifty things like that and I'm banking that he will find a way to work something cool into this if it really is an A8 machine.

I think it's pretty obvious that the third installation of the Flashback series systems will be an Atari 8-Bit based system with lineage dipping into the 400/800/XL/XE and 5200. Making my case.... We know what Atari still has rights to, and we know how Curt thinks. That's all you need to know to understand that we're prepping for an 8-Bit system. There Flashback deal that was cut with Atari was for 3 systems to be developed, so long as the first one could be rushed to market for Christmas 2004, hence the lousy FB1. First a hybrid 2600/7800 that would be rushed to market, second a genuine 2600, and the third was to feature interchangable media. I've always suspected it would be a 400/800/XL/XE/5200 type thing. That format has some pretty nice graphics as compared to the 2600, and there's wayyyy too much software written for that general format that Atari is still sitting on NOT to take advantage of. To many people, the 8-Bit line was the "real" Atari. Just try to put yourself in Curt's shoes and think of what he would do. Consider this if you will... - The 8-Bit line encompasses many Atari systems. The 400, the 800, the 5200, the ENTIRE XL line, the ENTIRE XE line, including the XEGM. - Atari still owns the rights to many 8-Bit games. Think Centipede, Star Raiders II, Crystal Castles, 5200 Tempest, etc. If Atari is venturing into the whole "lets re-release these classic game titles on new machines" why would they pass all of these titles up in favor of ANYTHING else? - The 8-Bit line can utilize the CX40 joystick, which Atari seems to have perfected. Plus, most any 5200 game could be converted back to standard 8-Bit to use the CX40 so that covers the 5200 base. - Plenty of new 5200 and 8-Bit homebrews have been created in recent months... I'm sure one or two of them could make graet candidates for FB3. Haunted House 3D, Koffi Yellow Copter, Beef Drop, and Castle Crisis which could legally be converted to Warlords. The Lynx would be nixed because its portable, has a very small library of games, many of which Atari does not have license to any longer, and I know of other things privately which would immediately lead me to believe that FB3 is NOT a Lynx. The Jag is a gorgeous system that could still be modern if money was sunk into it, but it hardly has any real Atari titles and I just cant see infrogrammes doing anything with it at this juncture. All that leaves is the 8-Bit and the ST. Do you think its possible they would do anything with the ST line? It's possible, but I doubt it. At least for now. Maybe one day there will be an FB4 featuring all sorts of ST games, but I highly doubt it. Okay, so... the only real question left to ask at this point is will there be an adapter or easy hack to go between FB3 cartridges and 8-bit cartridges? Or whatever format it may be? What is the target date for release? What does Atari ask if you wish to submit a homebrew title? I'll bet anyone here $100 dollars that we're going to see an 8-bit based machine. Werd. Justin

Suggestion - allow Regan to design this one. He's available and he digs the Flashabck projects.