Trio of USGames ~ Entombed / MAD / Squeezebox

[number six]

 

First off man I'm just happy to be posting in this forum! Finding something like this has been a dream. 30 years of collecting and finally something neat. OK I understand finding a sample/proto/whatever isn't the most amazing thing ever but its been on my collector bucket list, ok ?

 

Got these in a mixed lot. 3 USGames carts. One kinda piqued my interest was the 'Zombie Final' tag on the one. Doing some research it would appear this must be Entombed.. which was issued in the different case style. Plus the 80s style filing sticker end labels looked legit. In other words, these didn't look like carts where the labels just fell off over time.

 

So I got the carts in today. I opened up the 'Zombie Final' and got..

 

 

Interesting? Now this is why i'm posting this here.. maybe some of you proto experts can shed a bit more light on what this maybe. Proto? Loaner? Copy some of game somebody from USGames made for his kid?

 

I opened up the other 2 carts but only slightly as not to ruin the authentic labels (lol). They are on similar boards with Mitsubishi EEPROMs. All 4k. No writing I could tell on Squeeze Box, Mad had "MAD" written on the Manufacturers EEPROM label in what looked like ink. I couldn't really get a picture with the case only barely open.

 

I know the next question, have I tested these. Not yet. I literally just got home. I got a 2600 in the same lot so i'll hook that up in the morning and see if a) the games work and b) if there is any obvious difference between these and the released versions. If 'zombie's' label holds to be true then this is the 'final' so probably nothing amazing there.. other than the thought that maybe this game was called 'zombie' at some point in the development cycle?

 

I'll update after i've fired them up.

[Rom Hunter]

Congratulations!

 

Great find.

 

Zombie must be a WIP title, which makes perfect sense, because the manual says: You and your team of archeologists have fallen into the "catacombs of the zombies."

 

BTW: another WIP title of Entombed was Maze Chase.

 

Let's hope these proto's are different from the final versions.

 

Would be interesting (and increase their collector's value).

 

Edited October 8, 2013 by Rom Hunter

[+Wonder007]

They look like typical US games protos (the typed end label ones). On the Zombie one, I have never seen one like it. If it says FINAL, most likely it was copied by an employee to give to somebody else.....I highly doubt it is a reviewer copy. Zombie could be the final version but can also be a WIP.....I have some protos that supposedly are final but then I have copies with later dates on them (this is mostly with Atari lab loaners).

 

If you are interested in selling it, let me know. Coincedentially, I am in Tampa today but flying out this afternoon.

[number six]

I was able to test all 3 today and they do work.

 

I have normal copies of Squeezebox and MAD so just casually comparing the standard released version and these there they look to be the same.. but of course thats not conclusive. At least there are no glaring differences.

 

'Zombie' turned out to be Entombed as thought. I don't have a copy of Entombed so I had to compare against Youtube videos. I guess the mazes are random so its hard to tell 100% just by looking.

 

Supergun is a good friend of mine and doesn't live too far away. He's going to dump the ROMs and then we'll know for sure if there is anything different from the released versions. If these are different I'll post the ROMs up for everyone and make sure atariprotos gets a copy.

 

Wonder - thanks for the offer but i think i'll hold on to them for now. If nothing else they are fun conversation pieces and i've always wanted an EEPROM version of a game even if its nothing of great importance (ie unreleased or previously unknown WIP version). Just out of curiosity how rare are the USgames protos? I know some companies seemed to spit out loaners and such in fairly decent numbers. It's still funny the game was called Zombie at this point.. maybe this can be spun as the first zombie video game ever, haha.. better name than Entombed at any rate.. They should have stuck with it.

[Supergun]

Just out of curiosity how rare are the USgames protos? I know some companies seemed to spit out loaners and such in fairly decent numbers.

I only have one US Games proto in my collection. It has the same 1980's "avery label" style sticker with typewriter text as the ones you showed in the pictures. Interestingly, similar to your Entombed, it also has a different working title. It is called "Gopher Attack", which of course was later changed to simply "Gopher".

 

So I'm not really sure how obscure they are, but regardless of that, obtaining 3 at the same time is just awesome!

[Tempest]

Was the Entombed rom ever released?

[number six]

Was the Entombed rom ever released?

 

Yeah I have all 3 dumped but per previous only the Zombie / Entombed is of any real interest.

 

I'll have to find the floppy its on and post it at some point. We just moved so its in a box somewhere.

[Tempest]

That would be great.

[Supergun]

Well, with permission from number six, I could post the bins here in this thread, as I saved them as well, just in case. But only if he allows it.

 

I would be willing to also post my "Gopher Attack" bin as well while I'm at it.