Asteroids Gameplay Variations?

[Ottothemadandevil]

Hi there folks.

My good friend Sarj (SILVERFOX) pointed this out to me last night on our atari facebook page (UKVCSC).

We both have multiple copies of Asteroids, all on the same label variation and all PAL.

All carts play the same but Sarj has 1 cart and I have 2 carts that have a start up screen.

When you turn the game on it comes up with '1981 Atari Inc' somthing Ive never noticed before...

Does anyone elses carts do this with Asteroids? I was under the impression that they all booted straight to the game....

I was just curious as to why some carts had start up screens and others did not.

Any information on this?

Cheers folks

 

[+freewheel]

They're both known variations of the game and come with the same labels. From memory, the copyright screen is the "original" while the others came later. I don't recall if anyone's ever discovered any actual gameplay differences - I'm sure the ROM comparison folks have checked for any differences beyond the startup screen?

 

This always mystified me as a kid, too.

[AtariLeaf]

So is this "Free Weed" a political statement like "Free Tibet" or do you actually any weed for free? If it's the latter please send me a PM (j/k)

[Torr]

The labels ARE different between the copies with and without copyright logo, however minutely.

 

If you look/compare around the edges of the labels and what asteroids are behind the CX number, you'll see the difference.

[+freewheel]

So is this "Free Weed" a political statement like "Free Tibet" or do you actually any weed for free? If it's the latter please send me a PM (j/k)

 

It was a throwaway "clever" nickname I created back when I first got online about 20 years ago and was younger and dumber. I've just kept using it because it amuses me that invariably, I'm asked a similar question within a few days of posting to any new forum (or IRC channel, or Twitter, or any other electronic communication).

Edited June 23, 2014 by freeweed

[silverfox0786]

cheers for chucking this on here OTTO it was a real weird one for me

[+freewheel]

The labels ARE different between the copies with and without copyright logo, however minutely.

 

If you look/compare around the edges of the labels and what asteroids are behind the CX number, you'll see the difference.

 

Hm. Checked my dozen or so spares - I've never looked that closely, and well, there are more differences than I thought. The asteroids behind the CX, check. Also the streaks by the bottom left of the Atari logo itself. Third, the label has a distinctly reddish colour, at least on the asteroids themselves.

 

However - it's not 100% consistent. Most of my carts are what I'd call "bluish" on the label, and these all have the copyright screen. I have 3 copies that are the more "reddish" colouring (with the asteroid/streak differences too) - 2 of them do not have the copyright screen, but one does. So it's not a perfect match. Unless I have some weird 3rd variant.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

So is this "Free Weed" a political statement like "Free Tibet" or do you actually any weed for free? If it's the latter please send me a PM (j/k)

In Germany we would say: "Freibier" (free beer)

[NE146]

When I was a kid I figured the startup screen ones were the actual "Atari" releases, whereas they removed it for the Sears versions (e.g. my original Telegames version).

 

However I think that has mostly proven to be incorrect and you can find a wide mix of labels / mfg having the startup/no-startup.

[Gabriel]

freeweed, on 22 Jun 2014 - 09:48 AM, said:

They're both known variations of the game and come with the same labels. From memory, the copyright screen is the "original" while the others came later. I don't recall if anyone's ever discovered any actual gameplay differences - I'm sure the ROM comparison folks have checked for any differences beyond the startup screen?

 

This always mystified me as a kid, too.

 

I think the one without the copyright notice came first and the ones with the copyright notice were a later batch. The one I had as a kid didn't have the notice, and I think I got that particular game pretty close to its initial release. My first exposure to the copyright notice version was a copy some kids down the street had. They had received their 2600 later and owned a Vader, and their Asteroids had the copyright notice. The carts were otherwise identical, though.

 

The Atarage Database says a Silver label version exists. Do the Silver versions have the notice?