JayAre
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Posts posted by JayAre
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6 minutes ago, Lost Monkey said:The bottom.
Thanks.
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12 minutes ago, Lost Monkey said:I have a couple Atari and Activision boxes which have the cart "stopper" in the bottom.
LM, for those games that you're referring to, do the carts come out through the top of the box?
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From what I've seen, there were four companies where you would take out the 2600 cart through the bottom of the box: M Network, Mythicon, Panda and Imagic. Although for Imagic, you could take it out through the top, by opening the flap; but I guess the intended purpose was to take it out through the bottom of the box. But for the other three, you pretty much had to take out the cart through the bottom, unless you wanted to rip the flaps that held the cart in place.
Were there any other companies that did this? Any idea why these companies chose to go with this box design?
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39 minutes ago, Machine said:Love this thread! My favorite!
Glad that you're enjoying the thread. It's great to see these items surface after all these years.
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I just received these and wanted to update the thread.In the winter of 1983, Activision took all of its employees on a weekend ski trip to Lake Tahoe. It was called "Winter Weekend '83." Unfortunately, I don't have any other details.I was, however, able to acquire a couple of items from the trip. As was customary with Activision, the company produced souvenirs to commemorate the event. Everyone received a cap and scarf set, of which I'm attaching pictures.
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6 hours ago, Rom Hunter said:Amazing.
Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome, my friend. Glad you liked them.
I just wish there would have been more pics. This was such an amazing event. It would've been great to see pictures of some of the other things at the party (e.g. the live animals, midway games, and especially Ken Uston's pet monkey).
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Condolences to Curt's family and friends. RIP, Curt.
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The following info. may sound familiar to some of you. I've copied it over from another thread, just to provide background info. on this event.
In June of 1982, the summer CES was held in Chicago. To coincide with this event, and on the evening of June 7 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Activision hosted the Pitfall Party (aka the Rumble in the Jungle) to celebrate the release of the game. It took place in the hotel's grand ballroom and multiple adjacent ballrooms. There were three bands playing simultaneously, dozens of party-style midway games, several open bars, live animals in cages hanging from the ceiling and hundreds upon hundreds of attendees. It was rumored that Activision spent in excess of $250,000 on the party. Attendees were given a safari jacket and an explorer's hat; Rumble in the Jungle matchbooks were even printed. Activision employees also received the "Survival Kit" zippered pouch. It contained a badge to get into the party, an Instamatic camera and coupons for the midway games. Thanks to Dan Kitchen for providing much of this information. By the way, Ken Uston, the infamous blackjack player, also attended the party. He wrote several books relating to blackjack and video games. I remember reading somewhere that he showed up with an exotic pet that he had. If I remember correctly, it was a pet monkey!
Attached are a few pics from the party. Sorry I don't have any more, but these were the only ones I was able to get a hold of. I'm also attaching pics of the invitation package (courtesy of CPUWIZ), safari jacket, explorer's hat, matchbook and the "Survival Kit" pouch. Enjoy the pics!
Jim Levy
Here we have Carol Shaw. I believe that's Mike Lorenzen (designer of OINK!) with the hat on
Gotta love the cheetah-skin tablecloth
Invitation package
Safari jacket, explorer's hat & matchbook
"Surival Kit" pouch
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One additional bit of information. In the subsequent U.S. versions of these Special Edition games, even though the SE banner was removed from the front of the boxes, the back of the boxes still said Special Edition, as can be seen in CVGA's original post. This even occurred on the Pele's Soccer box (when it changed name from Championship Soccer), and on the white BASIC Programming box included in the Back To School Pak.
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15 hours ago, JayAre said:CVGA, I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that the Special Edition games were the first ones with 4K of ROM. I think, up to that point, they had all been 2K.
I wanted to see if it was true that the Special Edition games were the first ones with 4K of ROM. I looked up the info. online, and here's the list of the very first 4K games with their respective months of release (Special Edition games are in bold):Hangman / May, 78Casino / April, 79Superman / Aug, 79Backgammon / Nov, 79Video Chess / Nov, 79Space Invaders / Mar, 80BASIC Programming / June, 80Circus Atari / June, 80Adventure / July, 80Championship Soccer / Sep, 80Based on this info., it doesn't appear that the Special Edition designation had anything to do with the amount of ROM in the game, since there were other 4K games released during that time that weren't SEs. And these SE games were later released without the SE banner, and as far as I can tell, there was nothing different about them. I have no idea why they were considered Special Editions. Maybe this was just a marketing gimmick on Atari's part.-
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33 minutes ago, cvga said:I was going through some carts and boxes and noticed that I have two different Superman boxes (I'm not crazy into variations). The Special Edition is the older version. Is there anything that makes it special? Why did they put the Special Edition ribbon on some of the boxes? (my Video Chess has it too)
CVGA, I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that the Special Edition games were the first ones with 4K of ROM. I think, up to that point, they had all been 2K.
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Great job, guys. Yeah, the treasure was hidden in what appears to be a box that's located on that island in the distance. Sorry if the arrow doesn't much up exactly right.
The lady that told me about the clues actually went to the CES that year. And she remembers that when the solution was given out, there were quite a few people there that were complaining that the arrow didn't match up correctly with the spot of the treasure.
Well, for everyone who tried to solve the puzzle, I hope you enjoyed it and had some fun.
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1 hour ago, Rom Hunter said:Is this one really 80s?
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Rom, it doesn't seem to me that it's from the 80s, but I could be wrong. The cap has two eyelets, or ventilation holes. I don't know when these came into use with baseball caps, but that might provide a clue as to when it was made.
Rom, is there a manufacturer's label inside the cap? With the name of the company, we can look it up online and see if the company was around in the 80s. Although sometimes the manufacturer's name is not indicated.
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52 minutes ago, cvga said:Clue 1 is obviously the Scorpion located in square F5.
The capital letters in Clue 2 spell FISH. He’s located in B16.
CVGA, right on the money with those first two. Good job.
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For Clue #3, I misspelled trees; I put tress instead. Sorry about that.
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In January of 1983, the Winter CES was held in Las Vegas. Those who visited the Activision booth received a Pitfall Treasure Map. You would use the map, in conjunction with 3 clues that Activision gave out, to solve the puzzle. The winner received a $1,000 prize. I've been trying to find the three clues, but I think that's an impossible task. A few days ago, however, I spoke with someone who remembers seeing the clues back then. She doesn't recall the exact clues but does roughly remember the types of clues that they were. I thought it would be fun to think up new clues, so you guys can try to solve the puzzle and get a taste of what this contest was like. I've written them in the same vein as those from 1983.
The rules are the same as they were back then. First, you need to solve each clue. The solution to each clue corresponds to an object/area on the map. As a suggestion, once you solve each clue, pinpoint an exact spot on the map by choosing the center of the corresponding object/area. Then, draw a line from the solution for Clue #1 to the solution for Clue #2; and then, a line from the solution for Clue #2 to the solution for Clue #3. At this point, you'll be able to determine where Pitfall Harry's treasure is hidden.
I've attached a picture of the map. For two of the clues, I think you can use this map to arrive at the corresponding spots. But for one of the clues, you might need a more close-up look at the map. So for this, I've attached a link to the Atarimania site, where you'll find a copy of the map at the bottom of the webpage. Once you click on the map, it shows up very large on the screen, but you can scroll around.
I think maybe we should hold off on posting the solutions, so as not to provide any spoilers; and that way, anyone who's interested can try to solve the puzzle on their own. And perhaps I can post the solutions in a couple of days, once everyone has had a crack at the puzzle.
Well, enjoy the game! Here are the clues, map and link to the larger map:
Clue #1
If you don't solve this clue, it's definitely going to sting.....Clue #2
For all you adventurers out there, a bit of advIce; pleaSe be careful, as the jungle can be a treacHerous placeClue #3
(David Cr_ne) (Number of treasures in Pitfall plus number of ladders in the game's first screen minus number of lives you get in a game plus number of tress in each jungle scene minus number of minutes in a game plus number of brick walls in the game's first screen minus number of crocodiles in the water)
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49 minutes ago, mgas said:I'm a big fan of Paper Models, mostly Space ones. I saw this and the Pitfall ones and got excited. I started re-drawing the Pitfall one in a CAD program with plans to try to Laser cut it on my new Machine. I thought I would modify it slightly and put a spot for a cartridge on it for sort of a display. I'll share the files when I get it done if it comes out descent.
I would like to try the Chopper and maybe the Barnstormer airplane seen above if I get around to them. I also have a few other favorite games I would like the display for. We'll see....
Scott
Scott, good luck with the paper model that you're making. And yeah, please let us know how it turns out. If you haven't seen what the Pitfall one looks like when it's assembled, here's a picture, in case it helps.
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On 8/13/2020 at 8:18 PM, cvga said:I found a couple of punchouts that I thought people might be interested in. I was afraid to take them out of the folder. Sadly one of the helicopter blades is missing
Does anyone have a picture of this Chopper Command cutout, after it's been assembled? Just curious to see what it looks like in all its glory.
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Some of you may have seen this, but here's a portion of an interview that Scott Stilphen did with David Crane, where they discuss the contest:
Q: There was a unique contest that Activision ran in the UK, through their CGL Activisions Fun Club News newsletter, where 10 specially-programmed Pitfall II cartridges were sold that displayed a message and phone number onscreen. Those who had the cartridge would call the phone number and be told where to return the cartridge. In return, they'd get a real Pitfall II cartridge and a chance to win either 100£ or 1,000£! I've never heard of this until now, and I don't know of anyone who has one of these special carts. Do you recall anything about this? I'm not even sure the contest was completed as there was only 1 more issue after this one that I'm aware of.
David Crane: I had never heard of that promotion either. But it is definitely authorized. The guy pictured in the center is Geoff Heath, the Managing Director of the Activision UK office. And the Ray Hodges Agency did the PR for Activision in 1984. I passed the scan by Jim Levy. He didn't remember it either, but he wouldn't have been involved in a $2,000 promotion. At the time Activision International was a separate division headed by Greg Fischbach, reporting to Jim. Greg might remember but I don't see him these days (you may know Greg as the founder of Acclaim). Since those games were returned to Activision in exchange for cash, I can see why there are no copies in the hands of collectors.
Q: The fact that Jim doesn't recall it is expected, since it appeared to be a UK-only promotion, but I'm somewhat surprised you weren't aware of it - my first guess would have been that you were involved with programming it, or someone at the main (West coast) office at the very least. Perhaps the UK office didn't want to bother asking either of the U.S. offices to program it? I wasn't aware that any Activsion VCS programming was done outside the U.S. - would PAL conversions have been done in the UK? I know Action Graphics was also responsible for porting several Activision games to other platforms (Atari 8-bit, C-64, Colecovision, etc.) but I don't think they were involved with anything VCS-related. I agree about why no custom carts have surfaced to date. Given the circumstances, I'd be surprised if any existed at this point.David Crane: I, too, wonder who did the programming. No idea, though. PAL conversions were a minor screen timer adjustment to the NTSC game, and were done in an hour as the US game was being finalized.
Q: I contacted Greg Fischbach via LinkedIn and he doesn't recall it either. Here's his reply: "I don't remember it, I've sent an email to Geoff Mulligan and Rod Cousens asking the same question. It certainly looks like it has Rod's handprint all over it, but I'm not sure. Hope all is well, Greg."
The search goes on.-
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25 minutes ago, Rom Hunter said:Now here's an Activision contest that still puzzles me:
I have no idea if this one was ever rewarded or if one of these Treasure Hunt carts were ever found or still exist (most probably not).
Rom, thanks for posting this. What an incredibly bizarre idea for a contest. The heading on the ad was right: "What a crazy idea!"
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25 minutes ago, ErkTheJerk said:Hmm I don’t know.. when I got it it was already like that. But it does look like you can take it apart so yes I’m assuming it’s from the cutout like the ones that was on here.
Thanks, Erk. Yeah, it makes sense for Activision to have sent a cutout sheet to retailers for them to assemble it; more practical that way.
And thank you once again for the pictures. It's such a wonderful item, and very rare too.
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5 hours ago, ErkTheJerk said:Hello, thought I contribute.. I enjoy looking at the promos. I don’t think this has been up yet.
Just when you think you've seen it all...
Wow, Erk, thanks so much for sharing this. The biplane is fantastic!
Erk, do you know if this came as a cutout on a sheet for you to put together? I'm assuming it was, but maybe you know for sure. Thanks.
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16 minutes ago, cvga said:I also found a couple of "letters"...
I wonder how many games have these.
First time I see those letters. Very, very nice.
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16 minutes ago, cvga said:Just out of curiosity, how did Barbi Benton fit in the story? She knew Todd? She was a video game player groupie? She was there courtesy of Activision? It doesn't seem like a likely pairing (although I'm not complaining).
I've seen the picture before but never knew the story behind it. I just did an online search with both their names together, and there's a reference to a picture of the two of them (which I'm assuming is the picture I posted above), and it says it's from the 1983 Chicago CES.
I also found an interview with Todd Rogers, and he provided the comment below. He says there that he had an affiliation with Benton, but I have no idea what that means.
"I had declined endorsing a joystick from Playboy/Playgirl Enterprise. Since I had an affiliation with Barbie Benton, the people at Playboy had this strange idea. The joystick was in the shape of a penis, pink and everything. I sort of chuckled and said "No thanks", even though the money was tempting. I can see me now playing Decathlon with that so-called stick... NOT."
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From the bottom of my heart, er, box.....
in Atari 2600
Posted · Edited by JayAre
Wolf, thanks for pointing that out.
All my M Network games have come shrinkwrapped, and the wider part of the cart has always been facing downward, so the only way to take it out was through the bottom of the box. It had never occurred to me that you could put the cart back in through the top, but I just tried it, and you're absolutely right. That got me thinking about the Mythicon and Panda boxes, but these boxes have flaps on the top of the box, so the only way to put the carts back in is through the bottom. Pretty interesting.
And you're right about the Imagic boxes. Sometimes you have to do a 180 flip with the cart tray to get it back inside the box, because of the top flap.
And how about the boxes from 20th Century Fox? Pretty cool design, but it's a bit of work to open them up and close them back up again.