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Atari Classics at Taco Bell


granom

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Just saw this on Kotaku...looks like I am the first one to post it:

 

http://kotaku.com/5483278/think-outside-the-bun-get-free-atari-games

 

It appears that Taco Bell is giving away copies of Super Breakout, Centipede, Lunar Lander and/or Asteroids with a kid meal purchase. Kotaku seems to think that the promotion has not gone wide yet.

 

Neat!

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Cool review - thanks Mike.

 

 

 

Curt

 

Here is a vid. I really like the Lunar Lander "Evolved" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VakUI-WwqEE

 

Hey Curt,

 

No, thank you. I think they turned out very nice. The classic modes with the little added touches - Oldschool Voice Synth - is perfect. And the bezel artwork is nice, too. I also was surprised to like the "evolved" games as well, as they still holds true to the classics with cool graphic and sound upgrades. These four icons will remain on my desktop :) A good deal and pleasant surprise at Taco Bell.

 

Oh, where did the Asteroids box artwork come from? It looked familiar enough but couldn't put my finger on it.

Edited by Parrothead
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picked up mine last night... as always very faithful to the originals. The only time I really feel like I am buying "authentic" retro-modern stuff is when it comes from Curt (okay I gotta give props to the c64DTV too). These disks go right up there with Flashback 2 and my actual classic gaming stuff.

 

thanks for doing this curt. the extra's touches you guys put into the packaging and games themselves may fly by your average gamer, but you know some of us really appreciate it!!! Now how about Tempest, Battlezone and Missle Command!!!!

 

 

I would like to add, the 5 layer 89 cent burrito's are surprisingly good!!! Don't spill any cheese on your games!!!

Edited by Warriorisabouttodie
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Yeah - Marty and I were really scratching our heads on that comment back from Taco Bell through Atari - Missile Command might be too scary, ummmm....

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

Got all 4 this weekend. Great job guys! How come Tempest and Missile Command weren't done?

 

Those are the games Taco Bell wanted. They felt Missile Command would be two "scary" for little kids.

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Yeah - Marty and I were really scratching our heads on that comment back from Taco Bell through Atari - Missile Command might be too scary, ummmm....

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

Got all 4 this weekend. Great job guys! How come Tempest and Missile Command weren't done?

 

Those are the games Taco Bell wanted. They felt Missile Command would be two "scary" for little kids.

 

 

Can't be any scarier than the food they serve :-)

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as always very faithful to the originals.

 

No they're not. In Asteroids, Hyperspace works instantly, which it didn't in the arcade, and you can't die upon re-entry. The smallest-sized asteroids don't exist, they're as big as your ship! I had to wait and wait and wait and wait for a long time for a new ship to appear after dying and the coast was clear plenty of times. The small saucer only seems to come out on the highest skill level (I got over 20,000 on intermediate and it wouldn't come out) but the saucers kill you so quickly so often it's not like the original either, plus that's the only skill level where the asteroids will move quickly too and you're not awarded any extra ship. Not very faithful in my book, with all of those elements, if you ask me.

 

Lunar Lander has a bizarre glitch where the point values keep on changing upon decent; I've seen repeatedly (thought I was wrong at first, but after it kept on doing it over and over...) where I was going to land on something that was 3X, then when the landscape zoomed up, it was down to 1X, or vice versa. Or at times they'd totally disappear. Whatever. I'm pretty sure the original didn't do that, I'll have to download the ROM to check.

 

I assume Breakout's faithful but can't say for sure since I hadn't played that since I was a little kid.

 

Centipede I haven't played though, can't say for that one, but two out of the three haven't been that faithful, in my opinion.

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No they're not. In Asteroids, Hyperspace works instantly, which it didn't in the arcade, and you can't die upon re-entry.

 

Incorrect. Just fired up the Asteroids Rev 2 ROM in MAME. Hyperspace works instantly (as soon as I hit the space bar), and it just died on re-entry.

 

 

The smallest-sized asteroids don't exist

 

Also incorrect. All asteroids sizes were taken right from the MAME ROM generation, and anyone looking at the review video posted can clearly see small Asteroids. In fact, I did that for all the sprites.

 

I had to wait and wait and wait and wait for a long time for a new ship to appear after dying and the coast was clear plenty of times.

 

So far you're the only person reporting this problem. Or maybe you're playing on the lower skill levels which were designed for kids at Taco Bell's request and specifically feature more allowances (such as easier thrust, saucer variances, more breathing room for regeneration, etc.), and clearly explained elsewhere here.

 

 

The small saucer only seems to come out on the highest skill level (I got over 20,000 on intermediate and it wouldn't come out)

 

Once again, looks like you didn't read any of the background of these games and why they were done. Try reading through some of the other threads here before complaining about things that were up front from the get go. The skill levels are there for a reason.

 

 

but the saucers kill you so quickly so often it's not like the original either,

 

Sorry, but that's incorrect again. The saucer firing mechanism (I'm assuming you're describing the small saucer) uses the exact same targeting criteria and timing as the original arcade source code, which I had as well.

 

 

plus that's the only skill level where the asteroids will move quickly too and you're not awarded any extra ship.

 

Once again, stating something that's supposed to be there - i.e. the obvious. There's a reason for "skill levels" and the advanced being the "Arcade" mode.

 

Likewise, because of the skill levels, extra lives were not reproduced in any of the games. That was the trade off they wanted.

 

Not very faithful in my book, with all of those elements, if you ask me.

 

Certainly entitled to your opinion based on your misunderstanding. But then nobody asked. ;)

 

Centipede I haven't played though, can't say for that one, but two out of the three haven't been that faithful, in my opinion.

 

These aren't ROM duplicates, they're recodings for kids that were designed to be extremely accurate in all respects except where either Atari and Taco Bell wanted changes as clearly stated. Breakout I even worked directly with Al Alcorn on to cover the discrete hardware mechanics. If you want to trash someone's hard work and claim "not faithful" when I went well out of my way to be as faithful as possible within the parameters of the project, be prepared to get flamed. I killed myself putting in 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 8 weeks straight, coding all 8 games to get them done for their deadline and the project specs the laid out. That included (for the classics) pouring through original assembly source code, discrete schematics, direct talks with the original coders and more. This wasn't a corporate "get some crap out there and rip the kiddies off" thing. When Curt and I took the contract, we set off to put in a hell of a lot of attention to detail and I put in a hell of a lot of passion in to these. And to have that rewarded with BS like this - to have it summarily dismissed by someone who doesn't have a clue that skill levels usually mean altered game play - unbelievable. I'm getting an inkling of what HSW went through with his games, and I'm truly feeling sorry for him now.

Edited by wgungfu
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I checked a Taco Bell here in Orlando Florida and they hadn't heard anything about the promotion. I watched the YouTube video though and from what I saw, these appear to be VERY well done and faithful to the originals (when played at the hardest level and allowing for the parameters specified). I like the effect of the "burned in" 1 COIN 1 PLAY on the screen - nice touch! The artwork along the boarders is great too.

 

I don't care what anybody else says - Marty and Curt are AWESOME! Thanks for keeping these classics alive for new generations!

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When Curt and I took the contract, we set off to put in a hell of a lot of attention to detail and I put in a hell of a lot of passion in to these. And to have that rewarded with BS like this - to have it summarily dismissed by someone who doesn't have a clue that skill levels usually mean altered game play - unbelievable. I'm getting an inkling of what HSW went through with his games, and I'm truly feeling sorry for him now.

 

Don't get too fired up over his trolling...

 

Most of us who have had a chance to play these (I picked up 6 sets!) really do appreciate the time and effort that went into these games. The attention to detail from the Evolved modes right down to the packaging is absolutely wonderful.

 

You guys did a fantastic job, and should be VERY proud of what you accomplished. It's a great nostalgic trip, and hopefully will get some of the younger crowd interested in their gaming roots!

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I really love Asteroids. I play it on my Mac and use OSX's built in zooming capability to play in full screen, works awesome. I find the harder skill level to be great because it actually provides me with a challenge. I think the other 3 games are well done, but Lunar Lander and Breakout are just not my thing. I'm more a Arkanoid or Bit.trip.beat kinda guy when it comes to pong games. My only complaint is with Centipede's controls. That said it looks awesome! The packaging is superb and Asteroids alone is worth it!!! I would of loved to see Tempest and maybe Battlezone or Missle Command instead of Lunar Lander/Breakout but you can't please everyone and you did an outstanding job!

 

I will still be playing Asteroids on my mac for years to come!! What better compliment can you get than getting an old gamer to play your version of one of his fav games?

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Don't get too fired up over his trolling...

 

How is what I said trolling? I didn't agree with the points, have photographic and video proof of everything I said. Where is the problem here?

 

BUT...as it turns out, this could be a technical problem from my end. I'm pretty tech-ignorant, so I'll need y'alls help in getting this resolved. If it turns out indeed to be something on my end I'll be more than happy to retract my statement and edit my post.

 

Thanks for keeping the near-defamatory speculation to a minimum until I was able to get back, since obviously I couldn't post the evening wgungfu replied, and then the night after that (last night), the computer mouse bit the dust. And with it being near impossible to manuever around on the net without a mouse, I decided it would have to wait. So that was rather bad timing :lolblue: The mouse wasn't replaced until earlier today so I got on when I could.

 

Just one last one before I go to the main post...

 

I don't care what anybody else says - Marty and Curt are AWESOME!

 

Who said anything otherwise? If you mean me, when did I ever say anything about them?

 

No they're not. In Asteroids, Hyperspace works instantly, which it didn't in the arcade, and you can't die upon re-entry.

 

Incorrect. Just fired up the Asteroids Rev 2 ROM in MAME. Hyperspace works instantly (as soon as I hit the space bar), and it just died on re-entry.

 

Not what I meant actually. What I meant was there is a delay in Hyperspace, as it takes like a second and a half or so before your ship reappears after you hit the button. Not a big deal, just pointing that out, as I'm sure people are happier that way since Hyperspace can be dangerous (I never minded on not being able to die on Mine Storm on the Vectrex, for instance). Sorry for the confusion on my poorly-worded post.

 

The smallest-sized asteroids don't exist

 

Also incorrect.

 

NOT incorrect...not from my viewpoint, at least, which I'll explain later. I'll do all the tech stuff together before addressing them all at once.

 

Here are photos that are not Photoshopped or tampered in any way (aside from dialog on one, and I think I slightly resized another one, iirc):

 

asteroidssmallrockarcade.jpg

 

That's Asteroids, revision 2.

 

asteroidsbigrock.jpg

 

That's from the Taco Bell game. Doesn't look like there's much of a difference? Lets try it in a more obvious angle...original (to the best of my knowledge, since I don't always trust ROMs), with only a screenful of small asteroids left:

 

asteroidsallsmallrockarcade.jpg

 

Now the same concept, but from the Taco Bell release:

 

asteroidssmallrockcd.jpg

 

And there's not difference whatsoever between the two? Yes there very obviously much is. The rocks are quite bigger than on the ROM/arcade version.

 

anyone looking at the review video posted can clearly see small Asteroids.

 

I watched the video once and saw no reason to watch it again. I watched it before I got the games so it wouldn't have 'clicked' with me that I am having tech trouble at my end.

 

I had to wait and wait and wait and wait for a long time for a new ship to appear after dying and the coast was clear plenty of times.

 

So far you're the only person reporting this problem.

 

Like I said, I'll answer all the tech stuff in one swoop.

 

Or maybe you're playing on the lower skill levels which were designed for kids at Taco Bell's request and specifically feature more allowances (such as easier thrust, saucer variances, more breathing room for regeneration, etc.), and clearly explained elsewhere here.

 

Nope, it did that on intermediate. I can film a clip of it but it probably won't be necessary. I was going to use the Hypercam capture yesterday when I started a game but went 'oh dammit, I forgot to start the Hypercam program'. But then I noticed (too late, since I had the sound off) the large saucer had appeared and shot me. However, I did have on my watch, which I started timing it, in case the problem happened. Yep, it took fifty seconds for my next ship to appear...nearly an entire MINUTE. If anyone thinks that's not a long time, try killing a ship and look at a watch or clock for that long and see how very long it is. You couldn't get any combination of rocks on the first screen of the game to block you out for that long, no way, no how.

 

Now, as I said I'd answer these together, now here's what apparently the deal is: for those who have seen the thread about the Cliffall homebrew, I downloaded it and was wondering why the screen was so screwed up. It was odd that I had no indication as to how many lives I had, I would get hit by creatures for a while until I just died at some point. I saw screenshots and wondered why didn't my version look like that.

 

Then I realized part of the top of the screen was cut off, unseen. I messed around with trying to get the vertical resolution fixed but couldn't. After messing around with various things I just tried resetting it to the factory default. Bingo, that fixed it.

 

Now, there was another game where for some reason the screen was slightly blown up, as the left and right edges were too big, with a tiny bit of those vertical sides/images cut off and the in-game dialog started looking weird (some characters were fat). I downloaded the upgrade to it and noticed the same thing but it wasn't a big deal, and I didn't think much of it.

 

Now, with this problem being more prevalent--and being able to think about this for a while until I figured it out once I had to wait before I could get back online again--it seems like the game is 'reading' the graphics wrong (probably not the correct term but I'm sure you get my drift). That would explain why no one else has mentioned this and why I have to wait and wait and wait for a new ship to appear; somehow the asteroids are being read incorrectly, the game thinks they're actually bigger than they're actually appearing, so it's waiting until the coast is clear...which can take a very long time, yet it's very clear to me over and over again the coast has been very obviously very clear until the next ship finally decides to appear.

 

So, if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd appreciate letting me know what the deal is so I can attempt a fix and retry the game. If things work out the way they should, like I said earlier, I'll be more than happy to edit and retract my statement/earlier post.

 

The small saucer only seems to come out on the highest skill level (I got over 20,000 on intermediate and it wouldn't come out)

 

Once again, looks like you didn't read any of the background of these games and why they were done. Try reading through some of the other threads here before complaining about things that were up front from the get go. The skill levels are there for a reason.

 

Yes I did read the background, just pointing it out. I know why the skill levels are there too.

 

but the saucers kill you so quickly so often it's not like the original either,

 

Sorry, but that's incorrect again. The saucer firing mechanism (I'm assuming you're describing the small saucer) uses the exact same targeting criteria and timing as the original arcade source code, which I had as well.

 

Yeah that might've been a bad coincidence/jumping to a conclusion too quickly from myself. This might've just happened twice or something and it seemed to happen every time; it could happen two or three times in a row and still just be random, but just a coincidence (the same can be said from the game I mentioned earlier that I've had slight problems with [called Gridhunt, by the way], where at times you swear the damn computer's cheating!), and I was just disgusted that the game wasn't anywhere like the original and uninstalled it from the computer. But I'd be happy to be wrong with that and to be able to play a much closer version to Asteroids than I originally thought.

 

(to be continued, I got a message saying that this goes beyond the character posting limit)

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