Psionic

I agree with your theory that the character sprite graphics in Infiltrate point to it being a K-Byte game. The sprite in this early version looks like the character from Mountain King, and even the sprite in the released version looks a little bit like the character from Boulders & Bombs. Of course, there's only so many ways to draw a blocky little man, so it could just be a coincidence (or the programmer of this game could've ripped it off). The control scheme in this version of Omega Race works fine sans Booster Grip but it's a flickery mess otherwise. No surprise it was jettisoned. I wouldn't have even noticed that the second screen in this Popeye demo is different had you not pointed it out. I didn't realize it had been altered from the arcade in the released 2600 version. I mostly played the ColecoVision and NES ports of this game. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering if I ever really played the 2600 version at all. The programmer who completed Super Cobra at Roklan told me that he received a WIP version that had been started by someone else. The Parker Brothers people have always claimed the game was done in-house. This demo seems to all but confirm that the game was started at Parker Brothers and completed at Roklan. Notice how the font for the score digits in this version matches the other Parker Brothers titles, whereas the score digits in the released version match other Roklan-developed titles like Popeye. But apart from some minor differences, the released version seems to be a continuation of this version.

I'm just not convinced that they actually had all those titles. It doesn't really matter either way. My ultimate point with regard to the CommaVid games was that they weren't mail order exclusives and were sold at retail, albeit on a limited basis.

While there's no doubt that Columbia House advertised those games in their flyers, it's questionable whether any of them were actually in hand and available for purchase. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who claims to have gotten them there, and Columbia is known to have advertised games that were not actually available (such as Kick-Man by CBS, which was never released). Regarding the two CommaVid titles, it should be noted that most people who purchased those games obtained them directly from CommaVid, but they were shipped to at least a couple of distributors in the Midwest in limited quantities and were available in stores. As an example, this guy was an original owner of Stronghold who purchased his copy for a few dollars at a closeout store in Louisville, KY. There was another person who popped up here years ago with a boxed copy that had an original price sticker on it. And so on. Ultravision may have had some loose connection to K-tel with regard to their North American distribution, but saying that they were a division of that company is inaccurate. If anything, Ultravision had a strong connection to Funvision and other companies in Asia.

No. Like all of the other titles mentioned here, Eli's Ladder was not sold at retail and thus there was no reason for Simage to produce a formal box for it. All it came with was a manual, two overlays (a la Space Shuttle), and some charts and sticker sheets. I would imagine these came in some type of shipping box, but I don't think I've ever seen an original. CPUWIZ did produce an aftermarket box for it at one point, as he did for MagiCard and several others. I actually tracked down the guy behind Simage recently, but he didn't respond to any of the questions I sent him regarding Eli's Ladder.

You could be right. I mean, who doesn't?

That appears to have been the case, or Charles Band was just superstitious. The first Wizard Video release on Betamax/VHS (Ms. Don Juan) was also catalog number 007.

So where is Tarzan?

Who knows but they look pretty real to me. The seller also had unused labels from other games by various publishers listed for sale, and appears to be someone with no apparent connection to or knowledge of video games who primarily deals in sports cards and other assorted oddities. Such a person is highly unlikely to attempt faking something like this.

Yeah, he was killed in an automobile accident near Seattle involving a logging truck. His former wife Dale died of cancer back in 2007. https://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/obituaries/doris-bieschke-43088 His kids are still around. I believe someone was in contact with one of his daughters at one point, but she didn't know much about Apollo.

Restland Memorial Park, Dallas https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74776298/patrick-james-roper

I'm pretty sure the name was an in-joke specifically based on this incident.

Random question, but what store are those price stickers from?

I thought of that as soon as I saw KK II also, but I would say it's just a coincidence. The version of James Bond that took place on a train was supposedly in development at Western Technologies but they were way behind in completing it, so Parker contracted another company (On-Time Software) to develop the version that ended up being released.

I would try the forums at Sega8bit or SMS Power if you haven't already. If you don't have any luck there, I might be able to scan it for you at some point if I have some time.

Correct. John Perkins programmed the original Astrocade version. The ports on other platforms were presumably done by other programmers at Action Graphics. Whether Schwartz worked for Action Graphics or was subcontracted by them, I do not know. In that article, you refer to Mike Schwartz as a "Spectravision programmer" but it should be noted that he did not work for Spectravision/Spectravideo, nor is it likely that company had anything to do with the game whatsoever beyond manufacturing it. They did not develop the game, nor did they distribute it. Most of Spectravision's 2600 titles were developed in Asia. There's only a few that weren't. Schwartz did the game under subcontract with TMQ Software in Wheeling, IL. The game is copyrighted to Ralston Purina, and it is their return address in Illinois appears that appears on the original shipping box.

I'm pretty sure Steve Woita has the version he worked on in some form or another, but he can't/won't release it for legal reasons.

Interesting...I never knew about this. I also have a copy of Moondust that plays with no sound. I thought I had a bad cart or something since I never noticed any SID issues with any other games. I'll have to see if I can track down a machine it's actually compatible with.

It's not in circulation as the few people that have it haven't released it. There really isn't much to review, but I talked about it a bit in this thread a few years ago.

I believe the "Gang of Five" programmers who left Parker Brothers for Activision (Rex Bradford, Mike Brodie, Charlie Heath, Dave Lamkins & Jim McGinnis) all worked there. I talked to Rex Bradford several years back and think I showed him some screenshots of the two unknown Activision protos, but I can't be certain. If you're in contact with those guys, hopefully one of them knows something. It would not surprise me if both of those games were done in Boston. It's my understanding that nothing being developed there was ever published (much like the Western Technologies satellite office in Florida).

It was not only started but completely finished according to one of the programmers who claims to have worked on it, and there were at least a few more Bally/CBS titles that were finished but never announced or shown anywhere. They may still be out there somewhere.

I'm not aware of anyone ever having discovered the original ad/offer for this game. Ditto for Tooth Protectors.

Adam, I have pretty much every Sega ad they ran during that period and I've never seen either of those used anywhere. They must have been intended to advertise the "Double Bucks Back" rebate offered by Sega and Wico in late 1984 (as seen here and here). If you're ever willing to part with any of those, let me know.

Actually, the rumor was that they had a large run of the chips manufactured but when they arrived they were defective. The market was collapsing so rather than pour more money into the pit they just cancelled the game. Tarzan by Coleco, as mentioned earlier, which like the Pink Panther was developed by James Wickstead Design Associates. I believe JWDA developed the RAM/ROM chip that these games were to utilize, not NAP.

Looks like a standard Fox/Sirius shell to me, or is that what you meant? Should be legit either way.

The cartridges that you occasionally see with the handwritten labels were actually sold several years after the game's original release by a company in Ohio called Pleasant Valley Video. PVV was run by a guy named Jim Redd and that's his handwriting you see on those crude (and often misspelled) labels. He claimed at the time to have acquired Wizard's stock of unsold cartridges but today that claim is considered suspect to say the least. The Apollo-style PCBs and shells Wizard used to produce their games were fairly easy to acquire back then, so it's very likely the cartridges sold by PVV were basically bootlegs or early repros. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but that's what I consider them to be and I think most of the serious collectors here would agree.