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Marco(2)

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Posts posted by Marco(2)


  1. 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


  2. 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


  3. 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


  4. 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


  5. 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


  6. 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 ]


  7. 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


  8. 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 ]


  9. 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


  10. 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


  11. 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


  12. 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


  13. 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


  14. 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


  15. 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


  16. 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

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