Marco(2)

Let there be no doubt: there is NO way the NES will EVER get close to the 2600! I sure don't want to start the discussion on what's classic and what's not. I just want to state: There can be only one, and it's the 2600 Cheers, Marco

Hi guys, About the Mindlink, yes prototypes exist. There is at least one mock-up headset (the shiny silver thingie from the pictures, it is not-working afaik) and a - working - transmitter and receiver. The latter are real beta prototypes, they look like.. well, garbage I love hardware, especially controllers. How about the TRON Joystick, Foot Craz controller and the KidVid? Okay, they're non-Atari, but very cool (and rare, for that matter). Cheers, Marco

I said it once, I'll say it again: Dubya is like an inflatable dolll... ... hmm, or was that emulation...? Cheers, Marco

Blackjax, I think I know most (all?) people that are involved in the 'release' of Elevator Action, and I don't recall any of them ever "sitting around and preach and condemn the dumping of ROMs on the basis that they 'would no longer be unique'". These people very well know that the value of a prototype like Elevator Action does not drop because of a ROM release. I think it's a bit easy to say "although I suppose none of you understand and will simply write me off as a "rom grubbing warezer" as you usually do." It seems to me that you are doing exactly the same thing: accusing 'the other side' of being hypocrytical sobs. It also seems to me that the replies to your post have been trying to understand your position. Apparently, most people feel there's something to say for both sides of the argument. So, why turn this into the classic dispute between those two sides? Why not see the advantages - for all involved - in this way of 'releasing' prototypes to the public? I fully agree with Tempest on this one. Cheers, Marco

An interesting posting (clearly there's a lot of anger involved). The way I see it, is that you are mad at people that: 1. are willing to pay $1000 or more for a unique (or not so unique) prototype; 2. invest another $$$$ plus lots of time and great care in producing boards, labels, boxes and manuals; 3. sell those at a price that enables them to recover production cost plus part of that $1000 or more? I'd say, this is a rather cool way of introducing prototypes. Boxed-game idiots like me have a chance to add great items to their collections. Others get their hands on ROMs of games they never thought they'd play. And the buyer of the proto gets some of his money back. Everybody happy... ...but you're apparently not, so what am I missing? Cheers, Marco

Hi all, I agree with George (and others). I try to avoid bidding against my good collecting friends. I have mutual understandings about this with at least a dozen people. Yes, that means it's sometimes hard to get your hands on stuff you still need (especially people in the 'advanced' stage of collecting, who need all the same games). But that's just part of the hobby. Of course, when it's really rare stuff, it's, like Tempest says, every man for himself! Cheers, Marco

My Atari came with.... Othello! Luckily I could persuade my parents to buy me Asteroids as well. I was so happy that I played without sound the first days - a result of not being able to wait and not having set the channel properly... Only after a day or two, I discovered that this thing actually made sound as well Cheers, Marco [ 06-29-2001: Message edited by: Marco ]

Hi Scott, Thanks - it's fun to share these pics with others, I'm curious to see what you have As for the Panda games, they were never released in Europe. I was lucky enough to run into someone that traded me four of them, all new in the box. Cheers, Marco

This practice appears to have been rather wide-spread. These chips are surfacing in Ebay auctions quite regularly, like in these two: Ebay auction #1 Ebay auction #2 I found something similar here in Holland, where Philips employees copied Videopac (Odyssey2) games onto EPROMs, using hacked carts to play the games. Cheers, Marco

Hi guys, Since you are always on the lookout for cool 2600 pics, I thought I'd share some with you. Panda Games - if you have the one that is missing, let me know Bomb Dual Pack - opens like a book, I am deeply in love with this one! Hava-deniz savaslari - many hidden treasures await us... Mysterious Thief - so there are regular boxes in Brazil?! Hot Shot Multi - games can be selected *without* turning off the 2600 Who's next showing off some cool stuff from their collection?! Cheers, Marco [ 07-01-2001: Message edited by: Marco ]

Hi all, I am looking to fill some of the most conspicuous holes in my 2600 collection. In my case, that means I'm looking for some games that most other people are also looking for, so I realize it's a long shot. But I wanted to give it a try anyway. Here is what I need. Note that I am only looking for boxed games, or just the boxes (I have the carts already in most cases). I Wany My Mommy - Zimag Sea Hawk - Panda (what is missing here?) Burgertime - Telegames Frogs and Flies - Telegames (do these exist?) and a rather big hole of Xonox games (I dunno why I still need so many of these; perhaps they're just very hard to find boxed?) Artillery Duel/Chuck Norris Superkicks Artillery Duel/Spike's Peak Chuck Norris Superkicks Chuck Norris Superkicks/Robin Hood Chuck Norris Superkicks/Spike's Peak Ghost Manor Ghost Manor/Artillery Duel Ghost Manor/Chuck Norris Superkicks Motocross Racer Spike's Peak Tomarc the Barbarian Tomarc the Barbarian / Motocross Racer I have some very nice trade material (like a boxed Rubik's Cube and other goodies). Looking forward to hearing from you! Cheers, Marco

Hi Scott, Thanks for that link indeed. Makes me conclude that my Donald was indeed a prototype, and that my Ghost Manor is just a production-run Haunted House. I was wondering about one more thing. Randy says it's quite easy to fake a board+eproms prototype. Normally, these boards have some Atari markings on there. Am I right to think that it's quite easy to fake those as well then? Cheers, Marco

twit, I got the Donald Duck cart from Jerry Greiner. Not sure where he got it from. We're talking early nineties here. Cheers, Marco

Anyone said BOX?! Cheers, Marco

Smitty, I sold off everything but the 2600 stuff over the past three years and I must say, I've never regretted it for a single moment. It all started when I started selling my (huge) Videopac collection to fund the purchase of my Tempest prototype. I actually enjoyed doing that: replacing a nice collection with an even nicer, single item. The rest of the systems followed slowly but steadily in the years after that. I thoroughly enjoy being a specialist collector, even though I'm always very much impressed by people who appear to collect about every system ever made. For me, it's the only way to get my hands on the real rare stuff: money, time and space are all scarce resources. My way of dealing with that is to focus on the one and only King of Consoles: the Atari 2600 Cheers, Marco

Yo Smitty, You have 1,500 Atari 2600 games?! All kneel for da King!! Cheers, Marco

So, there are actually two types: the ones with the small black circle that Tempest mentions, and the small blobs like you find in the Dukes protos (I just opened up mine, it turns out it has a square blob!). My Donald proto came from the US, it was not one of those Brazil releases. Here's a picture of it. It has one of those small black circles. Anyone knows What is underneath that? And what's with the black blobs? And are there any other types of protos? Cheers, Marco

Thanks for the input guys. You're not bursting my bubble, I didn't think this was a prototype to begin with. I was curious to see what the reactions would be though. I agree with what you say, though there is one little detail that I find interesting. I've read that Atari games went through several stages of development before being officially released. In those stages Atari was supposed to have used different types of storing the games' data. We all know the EPROM-type. One other known example is the small black blobs (masked ROMs is what they are called?) that were used in the mass-produced Dukes of Hazard protos (protos may not be the correct term for these?). I have also had a Donald Duck prototype with one of those blobs. So, not every proto (or whatever you should call it) comes with one of more EPROMs. Does anyone here know the full story on this? Cheers, Marco

I said it before, and I'll say it again: Emulation is like an inflatable doll Cheers, Marco

Hi guys, Some time ago I acquired the game pictured here. The previous owner bought it as being "Nightmare Manor", though he doubted this indeed is a prototype version of Haunted House. I cannot find anything that makes this game different from a regular released game of Haunted House. I am no expert on pcbs, chips and their markings though, so I'm curious to hear what you think this is. Cheers, Marco

Now... the real challenge is to find those international edition Activison games in boxes. They are half an inch smaller than regular boxes. My guess is these games were sold all over Europe, though I'm only certain about Holland and Germany. The even bigger challenge is to find the German editions from Ariola. They are basically the same games, but with a big yellow sticker on the front or top of the box, that states the German titles. Anyone for a game of "Das Verrückte Huhn"? Cheers, Marco

Hi Jeffy, Nice acquisitions, both of them! The first one is probably by a company called Dimax. This one is really hard to identify though. The only way to do it with 100% certainty is by the box. The box should have a little sticker that says "Dimax". The label or manual do *not* credit any manufacturer. However, I've also found a copy of this game in a box without the Dimax sticker. This could mean that either the sticker was lost, or that some unknown Taiwanese company made an identical copy... The second copy that you refer to is by the German company Hot Shot. This company in fact is the same as Goliath under another label, producing cheaper games that came in generic boxes. Hope this helps. Cheers, Marco

Okay, ik ken al een hoop verzamelaars uit Nederland, maar was benieuwd of hier nog meer Nederlanders op deze site rondneuzen. Ben benieuwd naar jullie reacties, en wat jullie zoal verzamelen! Groetjes, Marco

BTW: note the "Use with paddle controllers"! Cheers, Marco

Hi Steve, I have a picture of that PAL Pengo. I know Jens Klöpfel has a copy of the game, which was originally found in Sweden (!). The silver Snoopy has only been found in Australia afaik. I have no pic of that unfortunately. Cheers, Marco