G.Whiz

Ah yes, I've seen this before. See the tell-tale signs on the end label, where the "prix" part is rubbed away? And the general label damage? This cartridge was well-used -- as a window prop. From the looks of it, for a whole summer. Here's a hint: if you put the label side towards the window frame, you'll get less water damage. And if you use two or three carts, it distributes the weight of the window more evenly, leaving less scratches on the end label... ~G

I think Atari had always planned a sequel to its successful Adventure -- there were references to "Adventure II" for years in those clip-out order forms at the back of Electronic Games, etc. -- and eventually it turned into this four-cart epic. As for the game play, that's classic Atari thinking. By then, the news of the Easter Egg in the first had broke. And of course, what's better than an Easter Egg? A whole game full of them! Management sure missed the boat (and the whole point) on that one... Hacker, I think, is a good example of taking the Easter Egg idea and turning it into a full game. ~G

You know, I remember playing it and I thought that it was Breakout, but I couldn't find a reference to it. I did find a reference to a two-player game in Super Breakout, and assumed that must be it. I stand corrected! ~G

Thanks. I didn't add these though because you take turns doing stuff. Technically you're not playing at the same time. Anyone disagree? I can somewhat understand your reasoning here, but I think that unlike Chess and Checkers, you actually are playing at the same time since you can't exactly take off and make a sandwich or something. So I guess this is one of those border line ones -- do you include games where both players are actively involved, or games where both players are actually controlling sprites at the same time? I remember playing this one -- it was a lot of fun. Of course it would always end up that you would purposely steer the ship into an impossible situation for the other to get out of once his turn came around... I did note one that you missed on your list: Super Breakout has a two-player version. ~G

I think you missed the second "x"... ~G

It did hit the news -- I saw it on TV, probably the Buffalo, NY news when it happened. I remember seeing a big dump truck dumping its load, though it may have been stock footage (this was a long time ago!) So somewhere along the line someone heard about it. I'm sure the Alamagordo news had it too. In fact I seem to remember something about that in this very same thread. I'm just saying that the locals wouldn't have necessarily known about it simply because it was coming to their landfill. The city waste official may not have even known they were carts, just wanted to know that it was non-hazardous (if that even -- this was the early '80s after all) and how much it weighed so that he could charge accordingly. ~G

After the 2600 I went straight to computer games -- C64 and then PC. I had a Genesis, which I used almost exclusively for hockey, and a Nintendo, which I used almost exclusively as a paperweight/drink holder. Most of the Atari I play now is through Stella -- still have my original heavy sixer from '77 but I haven't had the time or inclination to mod it for today's TVs. In fact I don't get much time to play many games now between work and family. But I haven't lost the desire! ~G

Apple has never kept their architecture closed. However, they have kept clones from being made. You forget that the first spreadsheet (Visicalc) was on an Apple II, which allowed Apple to make significant inroads in the business market. Not significant enough to fend of IBM once they entered the market, but to say that Apple was only a home computer is wrong (Apple also played a role in screwing up the business market for themself with the Apple III debacle). And don't forget this little thing called the education market that Apple had cornered. I don't find it surprisng at all that Apple is still around. As to your first point, yes, well that was what I was getting at. I believe that the abundance of IBM clones then (including Compaq, HP, and back-room frankensteins) is the main reason for Apple's small market share today. Also, I wasn't quite saying that Apple was "only" a home computer, simply that the home market was their focus with the Apple II, etc. When the Mac came out in 1984 it was widely seen as the best computer on the market with its graphical interface, and was geared to be the next generation of computers for the business market. I'm not quite sure of the reasons why it didn't take off -- perhaps IBM was seen as business and Apple home, perhaps again the clone issue -- but IBM still remained in front. I suspect the introduction of Windows soon after may have had something to do with this, though Windows didn't really take off until the early 90's when they started bundling with computer sales. The major exceptions for Apple in the business world were the printing industry (where Mac is still the favourite of printing presses and graphic designers) and in the music industry. I believe that Mac was also big in schools in the US, though not nearly so much in Canada. Regardless, if I remember right, they didn't make much selling to schools because they purposely discounted them for the school market. The idea was to get students hooked on Apples and Macs so that they would continue to use them in the business world (Corel tried the same thing when it introduced "educational" pricing for students and teachers in the late 1980's/early 90's). However the business plan does not seem to have worked to any great degree (especially in the case of Corel). Finally, when I say the history isn't completely written yet, what I mean is that Apple is still kicking and may end up winning because of its business strategy after all. I've always wanted to own a Mac, but my clients all use PC so I'm pretty much stuck, though now that Macs can run Windows I am ready to take another look! ~G

I agree with this wholeheartedly. A great example was with Apple -- they kept their architecture closed, and ultimately paid the price in much smaller sales levels (though I don't think the whole history is written yet...). Not quite so sure on this one. Yes, computers as an industry was certainly a logical extension from Atari, but remember IBM was aiming at the business market right from the start. Their challenge was to show old-school (and just plain old) CEOs what business efficiencies could be had from installing computers instead of maintaining and employing pools of clerks and typists. Apple II, Tandy, Commodore 64, Atari -- those were the big names in the "home" computer market. (Funny how all but one are now gone...) ~G

People who have nuclear, biochemical, and other hazardous waste trucked through their neighbourhood don't normally hear about it, and that is pretty major... I think that people did know about the Atari cart dump, but not simply because they live in the same town. I don't think there are many people who keep tabs on what is going into their city dumps. ~G

The main impetus, I believe, was that everyone had all of these Atari cartridges -- parents weren't about to buy a brand new system that rendered all of these games obsolete. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em -- Coleco made an adapter so that you could "step up" to the Colecovision and still be able to play your Atari carts. It worked -- at least in my experience. I think Colecovision had the potential to be the next big platform -- I thought that the graphics were better than the NES even (though it's been decades since I've played either). ~G

I think you want Googlefight! A fight to the death over whcih word is correct, with Google as the sole arbitrator. It's cool. Yeah, that is cool -- and here I thought I'd come up with a great idea! ~G

Let's assume for the moment that you're correct. Is there written somewhere a rule, or a definitive list, of which adjectives are permitted the use of the "-est" suffix to form the superlative, and which are not? To me it seems completely arbitrary. Well, it is not actually arbitrary, though it certainly seems that way, even to native English speakers. The main problem is that English is a bastardized language with French, German, Greek, Latin, and a bunch of other languages mixed in. To make matters worse, some French words (for example) travelled to England from "Old French", others from more modern French, etc. Add on top of that the fact that there was no real standardized method of spelling or grammar until at least after Shakespeare's time, and you get a real mess. I personally think that English is the worst "universal" language for the world to adopt since native speakers butcher it enough as it is, never mind learning it as a second language. And there are no straightforward rules to make it easy. For example, 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' -- and except weird, beige, neighbour, rottweiler, and about 200 other exceptions. Then also is the fact that English "rules" are different around the world. You have probably noted that American spelling is different from UK English. Canadian English is sort of a mix between the two. But the differences go on into grammar and punctuation as well. American dictionaries are usually a bit looser with the rules, and more readily accept common usage words than the Oxford English Dictionary. As a result, I myself would tend to rely on the OED rather than Webster's for the "correct" answer. As for comparatives and superlatives, I took a quick peek around the Internet to see what I could find, and didn't see anything very helpful -- I've never come across a "definitive list" (that would be a long list...). But I did just think of a neat trick to help you narrow it down. Google both forms of the word (i.e. "funnest" and "most fun") and compare the results. When I did it, I got 98 hits for "funnest" and 27,800 for "most fun". I think that would answer the question for me. ~G

And I highly doubt that the 3 Atari's are connected in any way. They are just a bunch of random verses that make sense (if you want them to) when you read the three screens. In other words, Cartridge 1 has X number of verses, Cartridge 2 has X number of different verses, and Cart 3, different verses. Put it all together for "poetry" -- not that far removed in execution from a random Haiku generator like you can find on the Internet. As to the point, well, art is art I suppose. I must admit it does appeal to me on some level though I wouldn't call it a "game" necessarily... ~G

I agree, an article would be much, much better. I'm working on the assumption here that the newspaper is not interested in doing the story -- I believe they have already been contacted and are likely well-aware of the myth. If they haven't done an exposé yet, I don't think they are likely to do one simply because a group of Atari fans ask them to. (But I suppose you never know until you try...) However, the newspaper might be a good place to look for leads, especially if there are people still there who were around 20-25 years ago... ~G

I agree. This is a bulletin board, not an English exam (though it made me laugh when one poster here corrected the spelling from "funest" to "funnest" -- I almost commented on that one). And for many people on this board, English is not their first language. So I for one don't believe it necessary to beat people up for using certain words -- as a few have said, the main thing is to communicate the idea. To take your comment here one step further, a word doesn't have to "exist" to be used. However since the subject has come up, for the record "funnest" is not a word. The correct term is "most fun". Some dictionaries may list "funnest" as a colloquialism or a common usage, though this does not mean that it is grammatically correct. ~G

Most Fun: Combat, Warlords, Indy 500 Funniest: Outlaw ~G

Depends what you mean by "hardest" but I would think the River Raid has to be up there... Has anyone reached the 1,000,000 mark where the game freezes? ~G

CSI: Miami had a 2600 as one of the ten items in a time capsule opened for a high school reunion. ~G

I think that unless someone is going to shell out big bucks for a newspaper ad, you should place something in the Classifieds sections. You can do this at: http://alamogordo.kaango.com/feChoosePostAd I wouldn't worry about the background, etc., just something to catch the attention of anyone who knows anything. Keep it short and sweet: LOST: millions of Atari cartridges! If you know anything about the '80s burial of ET and other Atari carts, please e-mail.... With the e-mail address, that's 22 words. Post it under "Lost and Found" or "Misc." The "AtariAge" address will let people know this is from a fan website. All the details about being buried at the dump, etc. don't need to be delved into since anyone who knows anything knows they are at the dump. Pictures as well -- either someone is going to send a pic, or say that they have a pic, if they are willing to share it in the first place. If this doesn't work, then start thinking about a big ad. My two cents... ~G

I'm not sure that I agree that the Atari "limped" along at first. Although the reasons for the explosion probably were different from region to region, I know that from my own experience *everyone* wanted an Atari, but the stumbling block was getting one from the parents. I happened to have an extremely cool dad who bought it the first year it came out -- I think we were both enthralled with the whole mind-blowing idea that you could play video games right on your own TV. We had Odyssey (the first one), so we were familiar with video games in general, but seeing and playing tanks left the Odyssey in the dust, literally. We were definitely first on the block to get an Atari, probably one of the first in the city. As prices came down and pressure from the kids increased, I think that parents finally gave way. And like anything that gets popular (iPod is a good recent example), a fairly "quiet" start in terms of sales gave way to an explosion. Was Space Invaders the reason? I don't think so, but I'm sure there are many who could provide a solid argument to that effect. I think it was simply an incredible system that built market momentum. Ironically, it could have been Intellivision that helped too. The question went from "should we buy an Atari or not?" to "should we buy Atari or Intellivision?" Having a competing system gave legitimacy to the whole phenomenon (which parents at the time probably thought it was, a passing fad, and an expensive one at that) and signalled that this was not a toy that would be played with on Christmas Day and then forgotten. For me, and I think for my friends, it was not about arcade conversions (which were sadly lacking anyway) vs. homebrew, it was just about fun. ~G

I like the C-64 version better than the arcade! I think it would be difficult to do a 2600 port -- lots of little things going on like ground fire, other aircraft, and 20 little guys running for their lives. But even if it were possible, you might as well just call it "Dotlifter"... ~G

Interesting! I got Venture, but I don't remember the extra stickers -- though many things came with extra stickers/French instructions, etc. so I may not have noticed. One, if you notice, says Printed in Canada while the other doesn't. And note too the type -- slightly different on both. It never occurred to me before, but of course the text was produced by a typesetter, hence the differences (e.g. capitalization of "Programmation" on one and not the other, kerning, font size, etc.). This makes total sense -- the newspaper I worked on at university used typesetting until I switched it over to computers in the summer of 1988. Except for the mainframes, we literally had the most advanced computer system on campus. Our main computer was a brand new 486 with a full 80Mb harddrive (partitioned of course), which we were told was more than we would ever need... But I digress -- cool labels! ~G

Ah, missed that. Yes, that means Printed in Canada, so there you go. ~G

That's probably how they would have done it, though it is possible they labelled them with Canadian labels at the plant. Although the labels were probably designed in Montreal and possibly printed there, it is even possible that the labels would have been printed in the States and shipped -- depends on the pricing. Many companies still print stuff out-of-country, and it is not uncommon to see Canadian packaging state "Printed in the USA" or elsewhere. Even happens in the States -- one of my clients is having their brochures printed in India right now. Reminds me of a postcard my father sent me years ago. My family went around the world (I stayed to finish university) and they stopped at Pearl Harbor to see the war memorials. The postcard he sent was of the U.S.S. Arizona (I think?) that was sunk in shallow water, so there was a glass walkway built across it in the harbour. Cool shot from above, but the real kicker was in the fine print: Printed in Japan. Now how's that for ironic? ~G