Jump to content
Have You Played Atari Today?
2600|5200|7800|Lynx|Jaguar|Forums|Store  

rbudrick

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    100

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by rbudrick

  3. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    I just traded a copy of Castlevania for a couple of NES games and one of them was Deathbots. Inside the instruction booklet it has the following procedure telling you how to mod your Nintendo so that American Video Entertainment games will run on it. So is this a bootleg game? Does the R18 thing check for region or just copyright?

    Reviving an ANCIENT thread here, folks. A buddy at work said his folks bought him Dudes with Attitude when he was a kid and it was incompatible with his NES. Presumably, it was a Rev 11? Dunno, but in either case, he said "sent us a hardware upgrade we had to install to play it on ours." I pressed him further and he said, "It was gold in color, you had to open your nes and screw it in. This was something you opened up your nes and removed a chip and plugged in and screwed it down."
    I googled the crap out of this and I couldn't find jack. Any ideas on this? The post I quoted was the only thing I could find, period on American Video providing anything to bypass this. Anyone know anything about this?

     

    -Rob

  5. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    Someday, the dude who made this cart is gonna google pitfall 3 and just maybe he'll find this thread (unless AA threads are hidden from google...I dunno). He will reveal his hoax and cure me of this mystery. I've gotta say, for the late 90s, this hoax was pretty ahead of it's time for my Podunk area. I wish I knew how those old people got it, though. Stupid. Hate this mystery,

    -Rob

  6. Posted

    Well, it certainly looks like the same type of hoax cart as in the description of Harriet's Quest.

     

    Your circuit board was also cut and the label looks also like the one that was described in the article.

     

    8)

    Yeah, it's very strangely similar on those counts. Grizz didn't say this was one of his though. I think he would have (suspecting he'll say no if he comes back), but still, extremely similar to the point of some real omg coincidence.

    -Rob

     

  8. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    I do dig Klove's argument, but I would still love to hear Carol's take, if anyone could ask her. I know, longshot, and possibly a slight invasion of privacy, but then again, like I said, maybe she'll get a chuckle? I recall some folks had her contact info here, but I don't want to push the issue, of course.

     

    -Rob

    Side note: coulda sworn my post count was 127 last night, not that it matters. Just a curiosity I noticed.

  10. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    Ok, so this one has always bugged the living crap out of me and I was digging through my protos because I have to sell them. My sob story and for sale post is on Nintendoage.com right now in the sellers forum, if anyone cares to buy non-Atari protos.

    Anyway, I had just started really collecting back in 1997. I had disposable income (man do I miss that) for the first time, and like every newb, I yearned for that rare proto in the wild. I was about 21.

    I drove by a yard sale on the way to work and ignored it. It was in the front lot of a trailer park and usually the same old couple manned the only yard sale that was always there. I stopped at this yard sale a couple of times in the past and there was nothing good. A friend of mine I worked with did not ignore the yard sale that day on the way to work. He came into work white as a ghost and could barely speak as he hand me his score, knowing I'm a collector and that I lived for this kind of oddball thing. Keep in mind, this kid was not that bright, and certainly knew nothing about games or collecting, other than what he saw at this yard sale was only 25 cents, very odd, and probably really important and significant to me. I nearly crapped myself:

    <a href="http://s11.photobucket.com/user/rbudrick/media/IMG_20140715_003216_640_zps5084739b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a157/rbudrick/IMG_20140715_003216_640_zps5084739b.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_20140715_003216_640_zps5084739b.jpg"/></a>

    The label looks slightly better in person (is much more legible, but I'm a bad photographer) and reads:

     

    ACTIVISION PRESENTS:

    PITFALL III
    "HARRY'S LAST ADVENTURE"

    privet (sic) property Activision 1986
    USE JOYSTICK CONTROLLERS
    designed by Carol Shaw
    PROTOTYPE AX-977


    He said the old couple had some atari games out, and this was the only one that he knew was an oddball, so he bought it for 25 cents and gave it to me. Keep in mind, this kid was no hoaxer. He was a good friend, and knew very little about games, let alone collecting. Hell, no one collected back then. It was a very lonely hobby.

    I couldn't wait to get home from work that day and see what was up with this cart. I popped it in (it fit very awkwardly, though it was indeed an Activision-style case), but I couldn't get jack from it. I tried for a couple hours and then very reluctantly used a hair dryer to ease the glue on the label and undo the screws to see the circuit board, which I immediately recognized as an Atari-brand board and not an Eprom. I examined it for a bit and noticed one trace on the board was deliberately cut. I crossed it with a piece of wire and Pac-Man booted up.

    Holy shit, was I disappointed and bewildered.

    So, this left three options:

    1. The game was a fake meant to mess with collectors that didn't exist, me being the only one for easily half a million feet. That's 6 million inches! Oh, and it found the only collector around, maybe. I dunno.
    2. The game was real and some jerk took the real board out and hoarded it, hoping to make a quick buck with some shmuck by selling the case with a dud in it and then disappearing. Then, the old folks selling it somehow inherited it. Hell, even if he didn't disappear, he may have figured, no one is gonna open this thing or figure out the board's a fake,
    3, My friend got really smart, studied up on collecting Atari games, found out a good former Activision programmer's name, knew David Crane had left Activision by then, used Activision model number style, used an Activision case, somehow found Internet access to do all this (he had none at this time and I don't think he knew how to use it), but wasn't smart enough to use an Activision-shaped board and cut a trace on that instead. It's not like you acquire an Activision case with no Activision board already in it. Then, he saved it for years, anticipating he would one day meet me, to make sure the ink was appropriately faded.

    I have NO CLUE. I wish I knew. It's one of life's mysteries I will never understand. If anyone has Carol Shaw's contact info, I would love to hear her thoughts on it, just so she and we can get a giggle, at the very least.

    -Rob




    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle probably would fit as a semi-win game but Smurfette just keeps getting nabbed so you have to rescue her again.

     

    I've always wondered how many times you can rescue her without it getting more difficult. How far does this game go?

     

    -Rob

  14. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    Thanks, Chuck. Well, here's the latest, and cleaned up a bit:

     

     

    Adventure

    Activision Decathlon

    Adventure

    Black Jack

    Blueprint

    Dark Chambers

    Death Trap

     

    Dolphin at 299,990 NEED MORE INFO. See: http://www.youtube.com/

    watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lo2k8eek4bQ At 7:46 he has a score of 294,235, deliberately loses lives. Amazing message appears on attract screen. So, is 290,000 needed to get this? Another amount? How high does the score counter go if you don't deliberately die off?

     

    Double Dragon

    Dragonstomper

    E.T.

    Escape from MindMaster

    Fatal Run

    Fathom

    Frankenstein's Monster

    Ghost Manor

    Ghostbusters

    Haunted House

    Jack and the Beanstalk

    Jammed

    Krull

    Marble Craze

    Masters of the Universe

    Mean Santa

    Megamania - Freezes at 999,999

    Nitebear on Sleepystreet

    Pepsi Invaders

    Pitfall 2

    Pitfall!

    Porky's

    Private Eye

    Raiders of the Lost Ark

    Riddle of the Sphinx

    River Raid- turns to !!!!!! after 999,999, game freezes

    Robot Tank

    Secret Quest

    Shuttle Orbiter

    Skateboardin'

    Skeleton

    Skeleton+

    Solaris

    Space Shuttle

    Spider Fighter- score stops counting at 900,000, game continues

    Spikes Peak

    Starmaster

    Superman

    Survival Island

    Sword Of Saros

    Swordquest Earthworld

    Swordquest Fireworld

    Swordquest Waterworld

    Thrust

    Video Chess

    Video Checkers

     

    -Rob

  15. Posted

    I heard Jack and the Beanstalk is another. Is this accurate?

     

    Is there a better way to post the latest list w/o making a long annoying post each time since old posts can't be edited?

     

    -Rob

  16. Posted

    My memory is kinda fuzzy on that. It's been almost 30 years since my family got those games new. There's no way I'd be able to remember what kinda promotional stuff was in the box. I do vaguely remember a pamphlet that had several screen shots on it. I wanna say it had multiple games, and I'm sure Solar Fox was on what I saw. I might be confusing that with the Solar Fox instruction book, though. The instructions for Solar Fox and Blueprint do say that completing the words "is your key to exciting new surprises from CBS Electronics."

     

    Oh, so it was just info on upcoming games they sent you? Like pamphlets and posters? That's it?

     

    -Rob

  17. Posted

    You'd unscramble the word and then send a photo of your screen along with the word to CBS. They'd send you a prize in return. Solar Fox worked in a similar fashion.

     

    What prizes did both net the player? Anyone have these? What kind of packaging did they arrive in?

     

    Also, I know this is a total newb-to-this-forum thing to ask, but why is the Edit option for my post where I compiled the list of games we are talking about now missing (a few posts back). I was hoping to add to it as people brought up more games to add to the list.

     

    -Rob

  18. Posted · Edited by rbudrick

    If anyone is keeping track, here's the list so far:

     

    Adventure

    Pitfall!

    Pitfall 2

    Haunted House

    Swordquest Fireworld

    Swordquest Earthworld

    Swordquest Waterworld

    Raiders of the Lost Ark

    Secret Quest

    Skeleton

    Marble Craze

    E.T.

    Starmaster

    Dark Chambers

    Sword Of Saros

    Survival Island

    Escape from MindMaster

    Solaris

    Skateboardin'

    Superman

    Adventure

    Pepsi Invaders

    Activision Decathlon

    Private Eye

    Space Shuttle

    Double Dragon

    Thrust

    Jammed

    Ghost Manor

    Spikes Peak

    Porky's

    Spider Fighter score stops counting at 900,000, game continues

     

    Dolphin at 299,990 NEED MORE INFO. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo2k8eek4bQ

    At 7:46 he has a score of 294,235, deliberately loses lives. Amazing message appears on attract screen. So, is 290,000 needed to get this? Another amount? How high does the score counter go if you don't deliberately die off?

     

     

    River Raid turns to !!!!!! after 999,999, game freezes

    Megamania - Freezes at 999,999

     

    (Need More Activision "ending" scores)

     

    Frankenstein's Monster

    Skeleton

    Skeleton+

    Riddle of the Sphinx

    Robot Tank

    solaris

    Fatal Run

    Black Jack

    Dragonstomper

    Ghostbusters

    Krull

    Masters of the Universe

    Fathom

    Blueprint

    Video Chess

     

    -Rob

  19. Posted

    Reviving a bit of an oldie. I'm almost finished with this book and after the first chapter, it does get a lot easier to read. However, most of the more technical things in the book a non-programmer simply can't understand. I think many of the tricks the programmers used that "upped the game" for games that came later could have been explained better. Also, I believe I saw on one page it mentioned Zelda came out in 1985, when it was 1987, though I believe a later page stated the year correctly.

     

    -Rob

  20. Posted

    Reviving a bit of an oldie here, but this has always been a topic that interested me. I've always wanted a complete list of VCS games that are winnable, breaking it down to those that have endings, loop, or just end.

     

    Anyway, I don't think anyone mentioned Mountain King, so there.

     

    -Rob

  21. Posted

    I have no idea why, but Dragster never gets any disses. That game is the most disappointing, uncontrollable, boring piece of crap ever made. Getting that as a present when I was a 5yo kid was worse than handing me a wrapped turd. At least I would have laughed at a wrapped turd, but Dregster (sic) only made me cry. To this day, I think it's the worst game ever. Hate that game. HATE THAT GAME.

     

    -Rob

     

    I was never a fan of Dragster until I spent some time with Todd Rogers at the 2001 CGE. He showed me how to play it well and the strategy around it. Its really fun once you get the hang of it and I can claim I actually beat Todd in 1 race :)

     

    Id have to say all of the 'Quest' carts were the worst - even with the comic books there wasnt much to do and without them impossible to find any enjoyment

     

    Yes, but that game ruined my childhood, so to hell with Todd Rogers, heh heh. Kidding, Todd.

     

    But seriously, horrible game.

     

    -Rob

  22. Posted

    So I read this whole thread and I know I'm super late to the party. I noticed this page was updated some time post 2009:

     

    http://www.atariprot...harliebrown.htm

    http://www.atariprot...brown/41884.htm

     

    If you look on Archive.org, all the pics on this page look like crap compared to the ones on there now. The page mentioned the cart was dumped by a friend of the original programmer.

     

    With this in mind, does this confirm two copies of the cart (or were the two copies already known and I'm just bad at reading comprehension)?

     

    The description of the cart certainly sounds very similar.

     

    I noticed there were two or three .bins posted, but I didn't load them up because I got a vibe they were a joke and I'm currently at work w/ no emulators available.

     

    If those .bins were real, whose copy were they from?

     

    -Rob

    The original pictures came from an interview that the original owner of the proto did with 2600 Connection years and year ago. Later I was given the actual rom by the new owner of the proto and updated my pictures.

     

     

    I never really understood the 'cart dumped by a friend of the programmer rumor' but I'm assuming he meant that this particular copy was made for a friend of the programmer.

    Correct. Or so I was told (can't remember who told me that though, it's been too long). I guess I should fix that wording to make it more clear.

     

    So, just to be sure I'm not misunderstanding, Wonder007 gave you a copy of the rom, and from the only known copy?

     

    -Rob

  23. Posted

    So I read this whole thread and I know I'm super late to the party. I noticed this page was updated some time post 2009:

     

    http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/charliebrown/charliebrown.htm

    http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/charliebrown/41884.htm

     

    If you look on Archive.org, all the pics on this page look like crap compared to the ones on there now. The page mentioned the cart was dumped by a friend of the original programmer.

     

    With this in mind, does this confirm two copies of the cart (or were the two copies already known and I'm just bad at reading comprehension)?

     

    The description of the cart certainly sounds very similar.

     

    I noticed there were two or three .bins posted, but I didn't load them up because I got a vibe they were a joke and I'm currently at work w/ no emulators available.

     

    If those .bins were real, whose copy were they from?

     

    -Rob

  24. Posted

    Oh my God that was mine when I was a kid... Sorry I'm bored... Just kidding...

    Seriously though at the end of the video game boom quality control was almost non-existant I have 5200 games in 2600 boxes with Atari 800 instruction manuals...

     

    Whoa, that's seriously messed up.

     

    But, to answer the OP's question, the game is worth 2k monies.

     

    -Rob

AtariAge
Forums
Store
General
Follow AtariAge

Copyright ©1998-2021 AtariAge

×
×
  • Create New...