bira-bira & the reef store legend?

[gulag picture radio]

Hi everybody.

 

Tonight I was discussing Bira Bira and that whole legend with my buddy Paul. We each knew little bits and pieces of the legend - the reef store, etc. The thing is that the official Bira Bira page seems to be gone. I also searched usenet hoping to find the original details of how the legend goes. Can anyone here point me to a nice summary of the exciting mystery that so many of us hold close to our hearts?

 

Here's the old link:

 

http://birabira.chaosmagic.com

 

and of course details of the hacked game:

 

http://www.atariage.com/hack_page.html?Sys...ftwareHackID=25

[monzamess]

Here's a repost of the original message:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.games.v...9cd9f309?lnk=st

 

 

From the rec.games.video.classic FAQ:

Bira Bira is a small wooden Polynesian-style doll RGVC'er Robert Batina

found once while thrift hunting. He bought it, and also found several ER's

and other hard to find items. Other people have "prayed" to Bira Bira and

gotten other rare things. Many people testify to the finding power of Bira

Bira.

As a result of this, Bira Bira has become the informal god of Classic

collecting on RGVC, and some other collectors have found, or are looking

for, other Bira Bira figurines. His name comes from a misreading of the

probable island of origin, Bora Bora, but the name Bira Bira has stuck, and

looks to stay that way.

One thing is clear: DO NOT TAUNT BIRA BIRA!!!!!!

 

 

I remember those posts. Good times back then on Usenet!

[gulag picture radio]

Cool - thanks SO much! Actually I was also looking for the original Reef Store story. I haevn't been successful searching for that either. Any leads?

[monzamess]

Cool - thanks SO much! Actually I was also looking for the original Reef Store story. I haevn't been successful searching for that either. Any leads?

 

The first link I posted is the original story by the original author. It's not his first post of it, but it's his original story.

[AtariLeaf]

I read the Bira Bira thing and someone briefly mentioned a "reef store" but didn't explain what they were talking about.

What's a Reef store?

[Mirage]

Would be nice if someone has the page(s) archived or cached, because there was a lot more information on that site awhile back... maybe around 2001/2002 when I first started collecting again seriously. There were pictures of Bira Bira, lots more background information, and a much longer more detailed story and "history" of Bira Bira and the Reef Store. I also can't really remember clearly what the "Reef Store" referred to... was it just the thrift store where it was found? I'm pretty sure I also recall them (or someone unrelated?) selling Bira Bira replicas at one point around that time.

[Zwackery]

I read the Bira Bira thing and someone briefly mentioned a "reef store" but didn't explain what they were talking about.

What's a Reef store?

 

from http://www.atariage.com/glossary/index.php:

 

Generic term for a videogame collector's dream in which he/she finds a fantasy store filled with prototypes, rare games, and other unusual items. Experienced by hard-core collectors. No kidding. Derived from one of the first descriptions of such a dream in which the dreamer visited a store simply called 'Reef Store'.

 

If you google rec.games.video.classic reef store, you can find some individual postings where users describe their dreams and the goodies found therein. I know I personally have had several Reef Store dreams over the years.

[AtariLeaf]

Oh, ok, yes I've had those dreams too. Had one recently where I found a prototype for a 2600 Simpsons game.

[LS_Dracon]

Just for fun, I've drawed Bira Bira in Bee•Ball game manual

Edited October 6, 2008 by LS_Dracon

[Mirage]

That's right, I remember now, the dreams, the dreams!

[DeusExMachina]

I remember when he first posted that message. I have been to the reef store many times and I always find great items. Yet, no matter how hard I try, I always come up empty handed in the end.

[Lord Thag]

Dunno about the store, or the legend, but you can still buy a Bira-Bira t-shirt

 

Then you can go thrifting in style

[DarthCalvin]

A lot of people are gonna say I'm nuts but my wife will back me up on this. I had been looking for a Rescue Terra 1 for a while and had a dream I found it. The next day it was on ebay and I won it. No wooden idols or reefs but hey, it freaked me out for a bit.

 

Back to the main topic, I remember that site too. It said there was a reef store where all the hard to find stuff was. People would talk about visiting this store in their dreams and then find rare stuff.

[ratfink]

How many old-timers from R.G.V.C. are on these boards? I was "lagwalker" back then and remember the whole Bira Bira thing well. I also remember the original rarity list put together by the same guy who did that DOS version of Adventure.

[san-d-2000]

How many old-timers from R.G.V.C. are on these boards? I was "lagwalker" back then and remember the whole Bira Bira thing well. I also remember the original rarity list put together by the same guy who did that DOS version of Adventure.

 

 

I used to be on IRC logging on to #RGVC

[pinball22]

It's good to know there's a name for these dreams... I have them all the time. Usually instead of actual rarities I find all kinds of strange nonexistent games. Recently I actually realized I was dreaming because of this... dreamed I was at a store, saw a box of Atari carts, pulled it out to look at them, and then said, dejectedly, "Oh. This is a dream, because these games don't exist."

[Godzilla]

yea im from the ol days. I was there as bira bira was happening. (weird al) 'those were there good old days...' great stuff. Proud owner of a bira cart

[Rik]

Bira bira,chaos magick(really should be spelled with a K,to express a real form of magick,and not STAGE magic),BTW,both in the realm of the OCCULT,interesting IMO.Metaphysics,Occult philosophy,fascinating.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Rik

[Lord Thag]

Anyone ever read Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'? Maybe it's like that. The more believers bira-bira has, the more power he gets, and the more games we find

 

Hear that Albert? We demad bira bira statues in the AA store!

[Godzilla]

I loved american gods. I was expecting more from the ending, though, I must say. Bira Bira would fit perfectly in with the endless

[pinball22]

I went to the reef store last night. There were a lot of 5200 games there -- a few real ones (The Dreadnaught Factor, Q*Bert) and as always, a bunch made up by my twisted little brain. For some reason I couldn't buy them, though... I kept going to the store, seeing them, and having to leave for some reason.

[CaptainBreakout]

Let's necro bump this thread, just for fun.

 

Who's had a Reef Store Dream lately?

 

 

Now that it's 10+ years later, any good internet diggers out there think they can find the original post of the Reef Store Dream? ?.

 

I remember it. It must have made a huge impression on everyone who read it that had these sorts of dreams. I had one that involved a Freedom Fighter arcade game cabinet. There's been dozens, maybe hundreds, over the years for me.

 

Cheers!

[alex_79]

7 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

Now that it's 10+ years later, any good internet diggers out there think they can find the original post of the Reef Store Dream? ?.

 

Quote

 

From -6563837695043093553
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: 104d7a,fec60d4819459214
X-Google-Attributes: gid104d7a,public
From: ad329@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca (Chris Cracknell)
Subject: Re: Bizarre collecting dream
Date: 1996/05/05
Message-ID: <4mj4ec$j5f@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 153165596
references: <jtilton.1028.000CE65C@vt.edu>
organization: Hamilton-Wentworth FreeNet, Ontario, Canada.
newsgroups: rec.games.video.classic

In article <jtilton.1028.000CE65C@vt.edu>, jtilton@vt.edu (Jay Tilton) wrote:
>In my dream, I was in a drug store (drug store?), where I saw what
>appeared to be a loose 5200 cart way up (at least twenty feet) on
>a shelf.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

Not long ago I had this dream that I was down in the Dominican Republic
(which in dream geography was conveniently located a few blocks south of my
house) and I went to this store that was built on a coral reef that was
exposed during low tide. There were no walls or ceiling to this store,
just isles of shelves set up on the reef. Well i was looking around the
store and discovered a huge amount of 2600 carts at increadably low prices
(20 carts for 4 cents). Yeah, there were tonnes of CtCW and other URs, but
there were also tonnes of carts that were never even invented. Well the tide
waters started coming in so I was grabbing as many carts as I could and I
made it to the shore (where the cash registers were) with the goods just as
the store was submerged (somehow none of the goods get damaged during the
time they're submerged and everything is in perfect, dry shape once the
tide goes out again). Well I paid for all the goods and then was walking
home with them (remember, it was just a few blocks south of my house) when
I suddenly realized, "Wait! This is a dream. That means when I wake up I
won't have these games anymore."

Well this bothered me quite a bit because I couldn't wait to come on here
with the mother of all brag posts. So I tried to think up some sort of way
I could get these carts from my dream to reality. Eventually, using that
peculiar kind of logic that only works in dreams, I reasoned that the
reason things you buy in a dream arn't taken to reality when you wake up is
because you pay for them with dream money. So I figured if I could pay for
them with real money I'd be set. Of course I was dreaming so all I had was
dream money, but then I figured, "Hey! All I've got to do is pay for it on
my credit card and I'll be able to pay off the credit card bill with real
money when I wake up." So I went back to the store to refund and repay for
my purchase. When I got there I began frantically searching my pockets for
my credit cards but had no luck. I was pulling all manner of bizarre cards
out of my pockets but there was no credit cards to be found. I woke up
while searching for my credit card (next time I'm going to bed with it in
my PJ pockets!).

Anyways, I posted a message about this dream on a local BBS that has some
collectors and one of my friends wrote back saying he had a dream about the
Reef Store just a few days after reading my message and that there were all
sorts of cool 2600 games (like Tempest 2000 for the 2600!). But he was just
as unsuccessful at coming up with a plan to ensure that the carts would be
waiting for him when he woke up.

Anyone who can figure out a way to get the goods from the Reef Store into
the real world will win a free CtCW cart... hell I'll even throw in a
Tempest 2000 for the 2600 (I was told it's in isle 6).

                                 CRACKERS
                        (Semi-lucid dreaming from hell!!!)

http://www.freenet.hamilton.on.ca/~ad329/Profile.html

 

 

 

 

[CaptainBreakout]

Well done, Alex_79!  Nice to read that again 25 years later.

[neotokeo2001]