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Just to add that as a Canadian collector since the late-1980s, I have never seen any 2600 multi-carts around here. The earliest multi-carts that I have seen were for the NES. What game is Bi Bi?

That thing is so cute and utterly impractical! Back in the early-1980s, there was an official IBM desk "accessory" shaped like an original PC (and monitor) that was about this size. The keyboard pulled out into a drawer (I used it for paperclips), and there was an additional storage cavity inside the monitor (used for pens). I found it at a yard sale decades ago; I'd post a picture, but it is in a box somewhere.

Yep. People need to remember that the source code is publicly available. It may not be readily accessible (i.e. online), but it is available, and anyone with sufficient skill can (re)create their own version of this cartridge! While, sadly, my programming skills are insufficient for this task, I think that it is a very clever idea to create one's own "prototype" of unavailable titles -- especially where enough information (such as screenshots and gameplay) exists to make a reasonable facsimile of the original.

Back around 2000, I remember downloading several remakes of classic arcade games in Flash -- they are long gone, but I fondly recall playing them. Titles included Missile Command and Frogger.

I remember seeing something like that too, but only once. I don't remember the name of the establishment, only that it was in Bangor, Maine (and the food was not great, so we never ate there again).

Many years ago, I bought a boxed copy of Daggerfall at a thrift shop. The previous owner had downloaded various patches and updates to a floppy disk, which was included in the box (together with the original CD, of course). Now, there were some subsequent patches that I needed to download, but the idea was very sound.

It is rather obscure, but Canyon Climber for the Coco is very definitely inspired by Donkey Kong.

I do not have the citation handy, but BITD, Universal Studios managed to collect license fees from Coleco (and some other parties) for use of King Kong imagery in the Donkey Kong video games. Someone eventually contested this, and the Court held that the license agreement was invalid (as there was no copyright issue). I do not recall if Universal had to then repay the fees they had received. My point is that a firm collecting license fees from intellectual property that it does not actually own has a long (if not honorable) history in the video game industry!

Did Gaplus receive wide distribution? I was an avid teenage arcade-goer in the mid-1980s, yet I never saw it. I did play Galaxian and Galaga (at multiple places).

Was it sold separately, or as part of a larger bundle of properties? I could see it being sold as part of a larger lot of more desirable IP (though paring it with Lynx games makes little sense, too).

I vaguely recall seeing a huge pile of the Radio Shack TV Scoreboards in the local store; this would have been ca. 1977. That said, the first video game system that my family bought was a 2600 in about 1981. Around 1990, I saw (and purchased) two Pong systems at local garage/rummage sales for about $1 each. Both worked, but based on the amount of dust, tangled cables, etc., they had been in storage for a long time. I do not recall ever having seen any in action (store demos or at a friend's house) before I bought mine.

Other than the very occasional random items as part of a larger exhibit, Canadian museums generally* do not place much emphasis on old games and/or computer hardware. I do not know if that is due to lack of interest from curators, lack of artifacts in the collection, or some other cause. I am interested to hear the perspective from Europe. *I am speaking here of the major, Provincial institutions (e.g. New Brunswick Museum, Royal British Columbia Museum). The Canadian Museum of Science and Technology is obviously an exception. The now-closed (defunct?) Personal Computer Museum in Ontario was more of a private collection than a public facility, so I would not count it either.

This article is rather more academic. Despite the title, there is no real discussion of museums; it is mainly about collectors and their attitudes. As a case study, it examines French (in France) collectors of classic computer hardware. Vinyl Records and Old Computers as Material Culture: Perspectives on Collecting and Donations to Museums Material Cultural Review Volume 80/81 (2014/2015)

Yep. While I do not know the specific law in whatever State we are concerned with, the general rule is that remediating environmental issues are the responsibility of the current landowner. That is why reasonable purchasers will check the history of a site before purchasing it. The current incarnation of Atari has nothing to worry about from the 1980s.

Is there any information on the bottom of the case? That would be the first place to look for a label (either prototype or production). I would also be curious as to how it arrived at the museum -- was it donated directly by an ex-Atari staffer or did someone find it at a garage sale? Provenance is important with documenting objects. Lastly, what board revision is inside the case, and what are the dates on the chips? This would give at least an approximate date for when it was created.

Now that the supporting infrastructure is long-gone, is the hardware still usable at all?

I see that there are many advertisements from small retailers in small communities (rather than National or Regional chains). Were the new games available nationally at the same time, or were they first available in larger centres before trickling down to smaller retailers? I love that Allan's Jewelry & Loan Co. was selling "preowned" games as early as 1981. I wonder how large the selection was.

So, an Atari version of the NES Playchoice-10 system. Some of the demo kiosks provide for time-limited play, so I would suggest starting with that hardware, and then adding a coin mech (presumably tied to the Game Reset switch). Do you expect that a 2600-based game system will actually generate meaningful revenue? You may also want to think about licensing issues. IP holders may not take kindly to using their games (homebrew or commercial releases) for this purpose.

Did you check the solder around the joystick ports? It appears that a joint may be cracked and/or making an intermittent connection. One of the first Atari 2600 consoles that I purchased had a similar problem with the power jack. It took me all of 5 minutes to fix. I have no suggestions about the video issues.

To answer my own question, I made the long trek to a different Wal-Mart store yesterday. There was a significant price difference -- the PlayStation Classic there was priced about $50 higher at Cdn$126! (US$95)

I don't recall Creative Computing ever having done this -- of course that magazine was less focused on publishing program listings than was COMPUTE! (at least based on the issues I have seen). I do recall that as a Coco owner, I was frustrated by the amount of Apple II listings (and the almost complete lack of relevant content more broadly). While it was a very niche publication, TRS-80 Microcomputer News had an interesting approach. It was not uncommon for the readers themselves to rewrite/translate/port programs and the magazine to then republish them. So, a game listing may appear for the Coco in January, and then the adapted Model III version would be published in May.

Have you tried searching for the title in other languages (e.g. Japanese)? I'm not being sarcastic -- if the console was never released in Europe or North America, I would doubt that an English-language manual was ever produced.

While most readers of AtariAge are interested in emulation so that we can play old games, it can also be used for recovering and migrating data. Digital Archaeology and/or Forensics: Working with Floppy Disks from the 1980s The case studies covered in this article include the Atari 8-bit, Apple II, and even IBM p-System disk formats.

Some of the included titles interest me, but mostly I think that it is an interesting-looking collectible piece. Cdn$50 is my price point. I won't be going to the GTA this year, so I will just have to wait for my local store management to get tired of seeing the piles of unsold stock. Is Wal-Mart internally consistent on prices? In other words, is it worth the effort to try a different store elsewhere in the city in hopes of landing a lower price?

I also had the Sega Smash Pack series. This was my very first exposure to Genesis games as I never had the console. Shining Force is included in this collection, but (as far as I am aware) it did not get re-released on modern hardware until the PS 3. (Unlike the Phantasy Star series, it was not included in the Genesis compilations on the PS 2.)