Marco(2)

Very tough questions... As for the games, I'd like to distinguish between released and non-released. My lists would look something like: 1. boxed Video Life 2. boxed Gauntlet 3. boxed River Patrol 4. boxed Eli's Ladder (was there a box?) 5. boxed Air Raid (pretty standard, I guess) a. boxed Tempest b. Ewok Adventure c. Pink Panther d. Alligator People e. Lady Bug (empty case) And my hardware list: 1. PGP 2. Graduate 3. 2700 4. Mindlink 5. Previewer Regards, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Blackjax: There are many people who hold unreleased prototypes that don't act like the kid with a new toy yelling "NYEH NYA NYA NYEH NYA!" While working on System Failure, I did get in contact with a few people who hold unreleased prototypes, and in most cases, I was politely declined. Blackjax, I appreciate your considerate posting, but I was wondering about one aspect: the numbers. You say there are many prototype owners out there that act like morons waving their carts without distributing the ROMs to the public. Whereas I do know people that have not (yet) released their prototype game(s), none of them has ever acted like that - at least, AFAIK. I posted this a while ago, and I'd like to repeat it. This polarized discussion, as you rightfully call it, appears to be fuelled by caricatural images of the evil prototype owner and ROM activist. I'd say most parties involved aren't like that at all, even though you've dealt with greedy owners and others have gotten their share of "gimme yer R0Mz" *******s. I'm convinced that, if this discussion continues to be based on these images, it will only make matters worse. Let's not let that happen. Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Albert: I can certainly appreciate someone's desire to collect extremely rare and potentially one-of-a-kind prototypes. Heck, I'd love to have those games too and perhaps someday I'll shell out that kind of cash for them. However, I'm saddened that people won't release the images because they think the value of their rare prototype will decrease. Are there still collectors that think that then? I think the other posts in this thread contain the reasons for not distributing ROMs: the (non-monetary) thrill of owning something unique bad experiences with hardcore ROM collectors just enjoying something in case you paid big $$$ for it fear of legal issues And, believe it or not, there seems to be a consensus about this issue that reads something like: "Yes, prototype owners can do with their prototypes as they please, considering: (a) it would be extremely unfortunate if they didn't at least dump the ROM to make sure this game will never be lost (b) it would be very childish and asking for trouble if they would wave the game at the masses yelling "NYEH NYA NYA NYEH NYA!" © it would be so cool and greatly appreciated if they would distribute the ROM (d) it would be outstanding if they also put in the effort to posthumously release the game with a nice label, box, and manual, without making too much money out of it." Does this about sum it up? Cheers, Marco

Interesting question. I have often wondered how many loaners Atari made, at the minimum. I mean, just one sounds a little weird. If the game was far enough to be tested/played by others my guess would be that they made at least a handful of copies. But that's just guessing. Anyone have any facts on this? Cheers, Marco

Not sure about the reserve. I know the seller happily sold it for the highest bid at the end of the auction, somewhere around $1400. I think the really high reserve was set on Telepathy. The seller was treated to heaps of negative posts on r.g.v.c. because he so obviously was in it for the money only, and didn't care much about the identity/history of the game. It went up to $1100, reserve not met. It was sold to the high bidder too, but for a little more than his bid. Cheers, Marco

I don't remember any such offer in Holland. I was member of both the Atari and Parker Brothers club, but they didn't offer carts. I do remember you could buy accessories from the PB club, like high-score pads and some metal storage thingie for carts (hey, now I think of it, I've never actually seen one of these in all those years...). I do remember one special offer from one of the big toy stores chains ("Intertoys"). They offered a 2-pack of Yar's Revenge and Air-Sea Battle for Christmas 1984 (remember, The Crash didn't happen all that hard (and early) in Europe. It was the cheapest offer for Atari games till that date. I still see them at fleamarkets, very recognizable because of the big red tape that held the boxes together, saying "special offer" or something like that. Those games went on to become two of my favourite 2600 games, btw Cheers, Marco

If you're a player and a collector, be sure to hunt for the two Brazilian superchargers: the Comp-K7 and Canal-3. Both have a very big library of games, including lots of well-known Atari and Activision hits, on tape! Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Tempest: Oh wow! How did I miss seeing that one. Who owns it and are they going to dump it? It was sold on Ebay a year or two ago - how did you miss it? In fact, I think it is the highest selling 2600 prototype on Ebay to date (there have been more expensive ones off Ebay). I'm sure it will get released some day (it has been dumped). From what I understand, the game isn't very playable (somewhat like Miss Piggy's Wedding) so you players out there aren't missing much Cheers, Marco

Hmm, noticed fish's post just now - I fully agree with him Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Albert: I think many people overly inflate international shipping costs because they simply don't want to deal with the hassles. I can see this to some extent, because it is more work to ship internationally, but $38 sounds pretty damn high. How so? For me, shipping inside Holland, Europe or the World is all the same. I have to pack it up in a box, put address labels on it and go to the postoffice. I know UPS works differently, but isn't USPS the same for you Americans? I always hate US Ebay auctions that won't ship internationally (and German ones that won't ship outside Germany, or Japanese Yahoo auctions that never ship outside Japan). It's just so much fun to trade internationally, and nowadays there's plenty of good payment options that work very well. I just don't get it... Cheers, Marco

The only games my girlfriend likes are puzzle games, her favourite being Puzzle Bobble on NGPC. She cannot stop playing it, especialy since she's desperate to beat all the high scores I set Cheers, Marco PS: she kicks my ass at Tetris btw

I asked the seller, he confirmed it's just a copy. bah! cheers, Marco

I'd go for CCE, especially the version with the illustrated labels and black cases (there's also generic labels and white cases, but there aren't much fun). Those illustrated labels are pretty funny. The Dactar games are rather boring. If you've seen one, you've sorta seen them all. Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by : Ok... Here is what i have: Also have an apollo prototype with speech... anyone interested? Wow, and this happens while I'm enjoying my vacation? If you still have the proto and are willing to negotiate any type of deal, please email me at [email protected] Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by jahfish: hot TV SET Hey fish, do you know if they actually made these? I've seen another type of integrated set in a German ad too, but to my knowledge none of these have surfaced so far - or do you know anyone that has one? Cheers, Marco

Hi all, Just got back from vacation, getting back to normal life again... luckily it's still slow so I had some time to scan my two K-Tel Vision games: Carts Boxes (front) Boxes (side) I do not have the manuals for these games - can anyone confirm if they exist? On a side note, these carts and boxes look very much like the one boxed Funvision game I've seen. Regarding value, I'd say $100 for a loose cart would be a fair (collector's) value. Cheers, Marco

[crossposted from combat2 cart thread] First of all, let me say I really appreciate what all these people are doing, bringing us new 2600 games or putting rare prototype games in fancy cases, some even in lovely boxes. That's a tremendous effort and we should all be very supportive about it. I know I am. I would love to get my hands on these games, but I am not able to go to CGE either. As I understand it, people are upset about not being able to get these games not because they cannot be supportive (let's face it, that cannot be the issue: the makers chose to make limited runs themselves) but because they cannot own these games. I think there shouldn't be so much to do about this. After all, if you are into this hobby for playing, you will get to play these games, either through a cart from Hozer or through an emulator. If you are into this hobby for collecting, I would say these games are worthless, collectors' value-wise. They are not part of the great era we all fell in love with, they are artificially created "rarities". Now, some collectors out there are silly enough to pay big bucks for these limited show releases, I realize that. To me however, Cubicolor was the last of the limited homebrew games that actually has true collectors' value. Nobody has ever said to me that my collection sucks, because I do not have the PhillyClassic version of Crazy Valet. Let's look at it this way, and let's all just get back to regular business Cheers, Marco *** Please note I will be on vacation from Aug 10 - Sep 1 ***

First of all, let me say I really appreciate what all these people are doing, bringing us new 2600 games or putting rare prototype games in fancy cases, some even in lovely boxes. That's a tremendous effort and we should all be very supportive about it. I know I am. I would love to get my hands on these games, but I am not able to go to CGE either. As I understand it, people are upset about not being able to get these games not because they cannot be supportive (let's face it, that cannot be the issue: the makers chose to make limited runs themselves) but because they cannot own these games. I think there shouldn't be so much to do about this. After all, if you are into this hobby for playing, you will get to play these games, either through a cart from Hozer or through an emulator. If you are into this hobby for collecting, I would say these games are worthless, collectors' value-wise. They are not part of the great era we all fell in love with, they are artificially created "rarities". Now, some collectors out there are silly enough to pay big bucks for these limited show releases, I realize that. To me however, Cubicolor was the last of the limited homebrew games that actually has true collectors' value. Nobody has ever said to me that my collection sucks, because I do not have the PhillyClassic version of Crazy Valet. Let's look at it this way, and let's all just get back to regular business Cheers, Marco *** Please note I will be on vacation from Aug 10 - Sep 1 ***

Actually it's not really rare, especially in Canada. Value? About $5-$10, I'd say. Still a nice find to pick up 'in the wild' though Cheers, Marco

Hi Tony, Here's what you could do: only sell it to someone that promises to release the ROM. That way, there's no worries about decreasing the value (even though I don't think there's actually any sane collector out there that actually believes that a dump will reduce the value of the actual prototype). As for its value, carts like these will most likely fetch $1k+ Cheers, Marco

Hi twit, This was the first time I ever laid eyes on these, I had never seen them before, nor had I heard any collector in Holland talk about it. I just love it that, after 20 or so years, we are still finding "new" Atari 2600 games... it's just amazing Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Jeffy Arensmeyer: However, to claim Atari, or any other system as the sole " classic " is unreasonable. I guess you're right, though at this moment in time, not knowing what revolutions lie ahead of us, I'd like to believe that the Atari deservedly received the title "King of Consoles" (see this message board description) Cheers, Marco

Speaking of double-enders... I just recently discovered there are actually pirate double-enders out there as well! Check them out here No manufacturer credited (of course, I would say), and they look really cheesy. They contain the bigger hits, like Frogger, Pac-Man and Demon Attack - gotta love'em for their weirdness, don't you think? Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Tempest: When kids today make those misguided comparisions between systems like the PS and 2600 I just chalk it up to them not being able to understand what it was like back then. How old were you again? Cheers, Marco

quote: Originally posted by Jeffy Arensmeyer: It seems that the 2600's impact had fizzled in '86 when the NES came out. The NES had just as an important impact on the current and future market as the 2600 did. Hmm, what I'm saying is that the impact of the 2600 can never be equalled because of the very simple reason that it will always be the first videogame console with such an impact. No other console can ever take that away from the 2600 Cheers, Marco