Marco(2)

You must be pulling our legs, or are you really telling us you found the second known-to-exist copy of the 2600 Garfield proto?! If you did find it, I'm offering you my second first-born child for it! Cheers, Marco

Hi guys, I'll see what I can do. I have one of those modified 7800s to dump ROMs here, but somehow I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable using it. It's not that I don't want to dump the ROMs. It's just me I am rather clumsy and a-technical so it would be so like me to ruin the proto. I've been told that's impossible, so I may go ahead and just do it this weekend. Rabbit Transit just looks like the Starpath game. Squoosh looks pretty cool (big characters) but as you know, the game is unplayable. As for trading them, I'm pretty sure these will be in my possession for the rest of my life. I mean, I had to have a replacement for my first-born that I had to give up for these games Cheers, Marco

Hi Matt, My copy has two small white stickers also, one of them reads 'Save', the other is empty. Good luck getting your copy from John Cheers, Marco

Football is a game where 22 man chase a ball, and in the end, the Germans win Marco

Hi guys, I have all three PAKs: Back to School, Action and Racing. All pack-in games come in those white boxes, so that makes, respectively (and color of the big outer box): Brain Games and Basic Programming (yellow) Break Out, Othello and Dodge'Em (blue) Indy 500 and Slot Racers (green) Hope this helps Cheers, Marco

Good memories indeed.... At one time I got my entire family addicted to playing Decathlon. I had built a small table for the controller, so you didn't have to hold it in your hand which made playing a bit more convenient. Needless to say, the 1,500 meters was still a dreadful event. I also constructed a huge fire button which made it very easy to jump and shoot. One other game we played a lot was Othello. Yes, Othello of all games! Othello was my pack-in game (imagine my disappointment: no Pac Man, no Space Invaders, not even Combat). We discovered Othello was actually a pretty cool game. I remember having family tournaments in which the winner would face new challengers all the time. I think this was the only game my mother also played. However, one thing stands out as the most impressive classic gaming feat from the Atari 2600 days. My father and I were the only family members playing Asteroids. The others did not like it, for some reason (maybe because we kicked their butt all the time). In single mode, we always played variation #9, the simplest game. At one time, I sat down and played, and played, till I reached a score of 480k. Then I was bored and decided to quit, thinking nobody was ever gonna sit in front of the tele for that long to beat my score. Imagine da horror when I came home one day and I witnessed my father finish a game of 500k points. Man, I was bummed! I just couldn't believe it! I think I tried to beat his score over the next couple of days, but without any luck. I'm not sure how long it took (one, two hours?), but I just couldn't get myself to doing it any more. After that week, I never played Asteroids again. Cheers, Marco

Hi Alex, I'll make it a little more confusing. I have a lab loaner, that says "Pepsi and Coke" So, yet another title for this elusive game! Best, Marco

Hey Marc, What's up with that? Collecting boxes like crazy and now using the nick "MarcO"? Hmm, I better watch my girlfriend I know one German collector that says he has Pumuckl I. The story is that you could get it through mail order. However, I've not seen a scan of the game, so it's still an unconfirmed rumour. Best, Marco

Matthias, Up till a year or two ago the Homevision Repro Game Kit was hardly known around collectors. Only now and then, a loose kit and/or copy carts would show up, mostly in Germany. However, it is not that rare any more, quite some have shown up since then - all boxed and new, probably a (German) warehouse find. Because of that, Robot Fight has become the most common Homevision game (besides the fake Homevisions, without the fancy case (especially #6 and #24). Other Homevision games are a pain to find; if you're interested in boxes, be prepared to search about five years/box Best, Marco

I have a pirate game called "Turbo" - gotta love them Taiwanese companies! Cheers, Marco

Hi fish, I've seen this before, it has been found in Holland as well. So, despite the cheap looks, not a home made copy! Cheers, Marco

Damn! I had no idea you were that close! Marco

Mine is Squoosh... silly pick, don't you think?

Well, as far as I can see, your list contains about 700 titles. I'd say the DP beats your list easily. Heck, the "import section" alone has more titles than that! Marco

How many titles are there in your list? If it's the most complete, it must be well over 1500 different titles/manufacturers. Marco

Hi guys, I'd love to make some scans of my rare boxes, but I guess I'm just too lazy I'll see what I can do this weekend though. Oh, be sure to keep your eyes out for a Combat II box also - it's a new design, not original, but very nicely done and extremely cool! Marco

Okay guys, back to English now again Marco

Good luck on your quest for 600 games! Trust me, it's possible, especially if you're into non-USA games. While not being original games in 95% of cases, those weird names, labels, cases, producers, and boxes makes collecting "import" stuff very exciting. It is my guess that there are around 3,000 "different" Atari 2600 games out there, NOT including label variations (only manufacturer and name variations). My friend Roloff with whom I work on the 2600 PAL section of the Digital Press Guide has over 1,500 games in his database. I think this number will be doubled in 5-10 years time, when perhaps 98% of all 2600 games have finally surfaced. At this moment, games from Brazil and Australia keep adding up to the total of known Atari 2600 game variations. I wouldn't be surprised if new countries from S-America and Asia will start doing the same as they too enter the (english speaking community on the) Internet. There's no doubt in my mind that the Atari 2600 will remain the KING of classic systems to collect for for a long, long time Cheers, Marco

Hi guys, Well, what can I say - I love collecting boxes! I currently own 900 boxed Atari 2600 games. The prides of my collection are my unreleased prototype boxes, especially Tempest. When I actively started collecting around '94, I used to trade away every loose game I would find, no matter how rare it was. I just wanted them to be boxed. I still believe this adds an extra dimension to the hobby that makes it even more fun - even though I traded away games that I never came across again. I mean, if you're patient and willing to spend some money you will eventually gather almost every regular 2600 release. Trying to get them boxed creates that extra challenge. You think that's nuts? Well, perhaps you're right. However, if you're ever in Holland, feel free to drop by and see the might of a wall of boxed 2600 games Cheers, Marco

Hi Matthias Where did you find these: >CCE: >Aquaventure >Cubo Magico (Cubicolor) >Xevious I really think these were recently made (up) by someone. Even though CCE managed to get their hands on other incredibly rare games (by Emag) and other Brazilian companies released Donald's Speedboat Race, I doubt that CCE released the above three. No proof of that, just a feeling. Anyone else? Marco