Fake Submarine Comm Proto? (2600)

[Tempest]

I recall reading that Dukes was the first 16K game, maybe it was sent off to a manufacturer as a proof of concept? Just to prove the design before investing more in 16K games.

Seems like a damn expensive proof of concept to me.

 

Mark Hahn is around, maybe someone should ask him? He was interviewed several years back, but it didn't really explain how an incomplete game got released other than they were working out of NY and didn't know what the main Atari branch was doing. I suppose something like that could cause a mix up like sending an incomplete game for review and having it accidentally sent to manufacturing.

[Wickeycolumbus]

Seems like a damn expensive proof of concept to me.

 

Mark Hahn is around, maybe someone should ask him? He was interviewed several years back, but it didn't really explain how an incomplete game got released other than they were working out of NY and didn't know what the main Atari branch was doing. I suppose something like that could cause a mix up like sending an incomplete game for review and having it accidentally sent to manufacturing.

 

It does on the surface, but it's a necessary expense. A 16K chip with bankswitching logic requires a much higher level of integration than their old 8K ICs did. They definitely needed to test the silicon design to make sure it works properly. My guess is that they choose Dukes for the fact that it was a full fledged game, even though it is considered incomplete. Testing a simple bankswitching test program wouldn't have the same effect.

 

As far as I can tell, they did test runs of all their mask ROMs before production. You can see existing examples of this, for example my early Combat test ROM or in cartridges like these.

 

A decision like this was likely out of Mark Hahn's control, more probably in the hands of someone that was in charge of integrated circuit design.