[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I would faint of joy if you somehow have a Rayman painting in your collection.

 

Sorry I don't think I have a Rayman piece.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I guess it's appropriate that this guy's username isn't "Playatari". Kinda shows where his priorities are.

 

Spend your way to fandom, dude.

 

Well I was too old for the Jaguar when it came out. The 2600 was the system I grew up with.

I've played quite a bit of the 2600. Atari 800 too. I played even more Atari 800 games.

 

These days I don't have a lot of time to play games like I used to.

I sold many of the games I never played and used that to purchase the artwork. Which can get really darn expensive.

It was a decision I don't regret.

 

I've had this name tag for a long time and sometimes your priorities will change. I've been collecting since the mid 1990s but I've slowed down A LOT.

If I had to name myself today I think it would say something about video game art. I've been able to track down and purchase hundreds of paintings covering many game systems from PC to TI99 to Atari and even newer systems like the Xbox etc.

 

Lately I've been taking a second look at the Jaguar in part because up till now I've mostly ignored it. it just wasn't a system with childhood memories attached to it.

Yeah owning some of the artwork has been another reason for that I think. Is that a bad thing?

 

Anyway. Here is one just for you.

 

[The largest and best Atari 2600 painting in my collection]

Wow, great pic! And congrats to you for the success after all your efforts!!

I also love Dragon's Crush / Fury dearly (Alien Crush etc), and always loved the box art for that on the Genesis. Great find, and I love the frame too. Wonderful!

 

It is a great image. The one thing that always bothered me about it , however, is that dragon arm holding the ball.

 

Where exactly does it connect with the dragon? It looks like it is growing out of his lower jaw. It also looks like it is a left arm drawn on the right side. Everything else looks great so I can't help but wonder if they had the illustrator add that detail of the dragon holding the ball after the piece was mostly finished.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

dude you need to post more of these 'cuase they look amazing

Thanks. Not everyone likes them but I'm glad that you do.

This is what I really enjoy.

 

Now this one is just a port but it is a classic image and I like it a lot.

Done by Julie Bell wife to Boris.

 

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

Department of Redundancy Department.

You can say that again.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

that's awesome,there is more of those for the jaguar?

 

Yes there are more. How many depends on what you count as a Jaguar painting I guess.

This painting was used for a Jaguar cd game cover.

 

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

My opinion on Iron Soldier: is one of the best games for the Black Kitty,good graphics with a smooth framerate,good music,GREAT use of the Jaguar controller,Very Good gameplay,good dificulty curve,overall a great package. My only minor complain is the use of limited continues instead of unlimited continues.

 

By the way,how did you stumble across those posters of IS and Ruiner Pinball,considering that finding Jaguar-related merchandise is HARD?

 

These are not posters. They are the hand painted original paintings.

It is what I collect these days. Years ago I chanced across a seller selling 2 paintings on ebay for NES games. I bought them and then I got hooked. Now I collect paintings for all video game systems even some arcade and PC games.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

 

 

If you get a lot of red screens the cartridge slot most likely needs cleaning. A store loyalty card with a cloth stretched over it along with a bit of rubbing alcohol tends to do the trick. The cartridges should be cleaned as well.

 

 

 

It was released before the spate of releases for modern consoles and PC. It even has the upgraded graphics (you can toggle between old and new.) I played through it and it's a really good port.

 

 

You can get Iron Soldier 2 on cartridge. It's not cheap like Iron Soldier though. The game is an upgrade pretty much all around. Songbird has it in stock: http://www.songbird-productions.com/catalog.shtml

 

Thanks for the help here. If there is a cart option then I'll most likely skip the Jag Cd seeing as they are selling for 800 bucks.

Looks like I have to pick up a few games now.

Is there a recommended site for AV cords?

Looks like I need one of those.

[The largest and best Atari 2600 painting in my collection]

I'm awestruck by that Dragon's Fury piece, just wonderful! Where / how did you come by that?

 

Dragon's Fury is a piece I painstakingly tracked down. Dragon's Fury and Dragon's Crush are my favorite console pinball games.

Of the two games I prefer the art on this one. It was a private sale that took a year or two to pull off. Lucky for me it came already framed so on the wall it went.

 

Here is a better picture.

 

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

 

Great to hear. If you ever decide to pick up a JagCD, World Tour Racing is my favorite Jag game though some do not like it due to dips in framerate which is understandable and IS2 is simply fantastic in my opinion. IS3 on NUON is pretty good though I wish the Jag had been successful enough to have been supported long enough to get a version. I wonder what that would have looked like! Lol!

 

Just took a look at Jag CD add on prices.... HOLY CRAP they haven't always been so expensive have they?

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

Glad to hear that you're going to get the game as it is a really good game for the Jag. Hopefully one day you can get your hands on a JagCD unit and try IS2 or maybe you'll find one of the fairly rare cart versions. I played IS2 again last night and sometimes I forget how beautiful the game is and how smooth it runs. But the original IS is no slouch and is a definite must play in my opinion. I'm being sincere when I say that there is so much fun to be had especially when using the cheats and simply destroying an entire city, tree's and all!

 

Now that is all anyone has to say ! Destroying an entire city sounds right up my alley. Last game I did that with was with the Destroy All Humans series. While many dislike the series I really enjoyed them perhaps for this very reason.

 

I don't have a CD unit right now. Not sure that I ever had one now that I think about it. Still I have a feeling that I will pick one up to play Iron Soldier II assuming everything goes as planned.

As for Iron Soldier 3 ehh not as much interest but if I do play it then it will be on the PS1. I'm not buying a Nuon.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I like Ruiner Pinball, as.. err.. my signature currently states. That piece of art's cools. = )

 

Current favorites on Jaguar: Another World, Club Drive, Kasumi Ninja, Ruiner Pinball, Xenon 2: Megablast

 

 

Another world? They released another world for Jaguar?

The same game from Sega Genesis or something else?

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

And for completeness, don't forget IS 3 on PS1 (and Nuon). I have the Nuon version, and have just ordered a complete PS1 version from eBay (there's quite a few available). It's a good game, albeit incrementally more difficult (IMHO) than its predecessors.

 

Edit: Back in the day Atari, for whatever reason, sold a poster of this game (and maybe AvP too?) but not many other games. I never got a copy It's based on your painting.

 

I was told the poster was meant to mimic movie posters. Best Electronics sold them in the past along with the AvP poster for only 20 or 30 bucks. Not sure if they still have them.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I don't see how playing a game can ruin a piece of art you own unless the point of this thread was just to show that you own that painting. It's an early 3D flat shaded game on the Jag, if you're expecting something that looks like a PS2 game then yes you will be disappointed.

 

It is a serious question. I'm not one to shy away from a brag thread if I have an exceptional item like this.

The game is cheap and these days that usually means it isn't very good. If you are mostly a gamer then it can seem like a silly question. If you a gamer and there is a game out there then you play it but it isn't always that way with me and I guess I should explain a bit.

 

Years and years ago (I'm talking rec classic gaming times) I purchased an Adventurevision. I'd wanted one for a long time and having played other Entex handhelds I'd built it up into a great machine in my mind. Entex Tron for example was one of the best handhelds I'd ever played. Crazy Climber is great too. Yet this Entex handheld was the one that everyone wanted. It had to be just as great if not better! After I finally picked up an Adventurevision which was a LOT of money for me at that time. I was shocked at how horrible it was. It was so bad as to be unplayable. A friend of mine also collected video games and I let him work it off mostly to be rid of it. Playing that system ruined the mystique or joy of ownership for me.

 

Still knowing most people consider it in the top 10 of Jag games is a good sign. Of all the Atari systems I have the least experience with the Jag. I've played 3 games ever if that on the system.Not because I've avoided it so much but it isn't common and often all I get is a red screen on the systems I did find. Somewhere I have a boxed system so hopefully it works fine. The game is cheap so I'm going to buy one and try this. In truth I would be ok with an ok game I just didn't want it to be unplayable put a bad taste in my mouth Adventurevision bad.

 

But if I'm only here to brag then here is another one I really enjoy. Ruiner Pinball

 

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

Great game (and its sequel) all around and no, it doesn't suffer from a poor frame rate like most of the Jag's other 3D games. This one is smooth as butter comparatively. Opening screen when you first boot the game is almost as gorgeous as the concept art above too.

 

image.jpeg image.jpeg

 

These are nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

It's actually a fun game. No, it does not look like the cover.

 

Well, kind of, but 10x less resolution. It uses typical blocky gouraud shaded polygons...

 

I didn't expect that it would look like the cover.

What I meant was that the cover image has to be one of the best for the system or say a 9/10 if ranked on its own.

How does the game rank with Jag fans?

If the game is say a 4/10 then I don't want to play it because then I would enjoy the artwork less.

 

So far looks like some don't care for it and others do.

[Lovely, looking better every time]

There's no shame in admitting there are Barbies in the Barbie box. Not much, anyway.

 

Cool setup!

 

hehe well not unless the had a box of headless Barbie dolls. Now that would be creepy!

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I'm not the biggest fan of Iron Soldier. It is a neat concept but I have a difficult time getting into the primitive 3D games. It suffered from a pretty bad frame rate if I remember also.

 

That being said that is a really awesome collectible piece to have! How did you come across it?

 

This one came from a former Atari employee who worked on the project.

[Lovely, looking better every time]

Love that STARGATE poster!

 

Totally agree. You have to love the vintage Atari posters.

It looks like Best Electronics still sells this one for a great price too.

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/addendum.htm

 

Atari 2600 Stargate Mylar Poster CB101329-SG $20.00

[Is Iron Soldier as good as the cover looks?]

I've owned this original painting for around 10 years now and it is one of my favorite Atari items.

Honestly, I've never played the game but the cover image for this one is just so awesome it can not be ignored.

 

I'm afraid to play it at this point for fear it won't live up to the awesomeness of the cover image.

So speak up Jag fans. Do I have anything to fear? I haven't even looked at Youtube video footage for fear it will ruin things for me.

 

Here is the original painting.

 

[Who illustrated the original Atari VCS game catalogs?]

I'm just throwing out a haphazard guess, but the artist of the catalog page displayed in the original post may have been Susan Jaekel, who created the box art for Adventure and Basic Math, among others. (Maybe.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think it was Susan Jaekel. After I purchased the 3D tic tac toe painting (which is another cover that you can add to her list) I spoke with her on the phone. At the time I was really only interested in video game box illustrations but I don't remember her saying that she had any hand in those catalog illustrations.

 

There is a really good chance that the illustrator you seek will be revealed when Tim's long awaited Atari art book is released.

[The largest and best Atari 2600 painting in my collection]

Wow, I love that Atari artwork. Thanks for sharing!

 

Did you acquire a large portion of your collection in one purchase or did you just buy individual pieces over time?

 

I've been collecting for a long time. Multiple purchases over many years from all over the world.

These 3 pieces were each separate purchases.

 

If you are interested to read more. Here is a link to someone talking about the Wolfenstein painting when it was up on eBay for auction.

 

http://www.apl2bits.net/2011/02/14/castle-wolfenstein-artwork-auction/

 

 

[The largest and best Atari 2600 painting in my collection]

Cool!

 

I like how there is more detail in the original; the sides were seriously cropped for the catalogue.

 

Do you have the space to display it, or is it in storage somewhere?

 

I have had to pass on several nice works of art (albeit none Atari-related) just because they were too big for the space I have available to display and/or store them.

 

Large paintings are hard to work with sometimes. Not Atari related but my largest videogame painting (11th hour) is 9 by 5 FEET and it hangs portrait. You would need a large wall space and a high ceiling for it. This one is large but I should be able to make it work somewhere. It is just a matter of having it framed.

 

Right now I just have two paintings hanging up here at the office but neither one is for an Atari 2600 game.

 

 

[The largest and best Atari 2600 painting in my collection]

Several years ago I had the opportunity to purchase an original Atari painting from Cliff Spohn and I jumped on it. Of the 20-30 original Atari paintings in my collection this one has to be my favorite. Not only is it great image but this painting is huge. See the dollar bill for size comparison. This image was used for a scorepad and in one of the early game catalogs.

 

http://atariage.com/magazines/magazine_page.html?MagazineID=5&CurrentPage=14

 

 

Cliff is selling prints and shower curtains of this image on his website if you are interested.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ahta-dee-or-atari-a-self-portrait-cliff-spohn.html

 

Here is the original.

 

 

 

[Revenge of the Jedi I and II boxes!]

They are all blank.

 

I've had 4-5 different ones over the years. As Wiz says they were all blank.