imagic game release order?

[broncoman]

can someone help me put them into order im a little lost on the order thx for any help

[cvga]

According to Wikipedia

 

1982[edit]

• Atlantis
• Cosmic Ark
• Demon Attack
• Dracula
• Dragonfire
• Fire Fighter
• Beauty & the Beast
• Microsurgeon
• Riddle of the Sphinx
• Star Voyager
• Trick Shot

1983[edit]

• Fathom
• Laser Gates
• Moonsweeper^[13]
• No Escape!
• Nova Blast
• Safecracker
• Truckin'
• White Water!

1984[edit]

• Tournament Tennis
• Wing War

[cvga]

Since we're on the topic of Imagic, I love the posters that they created for many of their games. Is there a complete list of the posters they made somewhere?

 

I would love to get a poster for Fire Fighter, Fathom, Moonsweeper and Solar Storm

[Ranthulfr]

Seems like Demon Attack, Star Voyager, and Trick Shot were the first three releases.

[high voltage]

There were some 1984/85 release for C64, I remember that Engine program

[broncoman]

im thinking trick shot was first looking at my box number 3000 star voyager says 3201 then demon attack says 3200 so maybe trick demon then star ?

[fultonbot]

I remember seeing the first advert in Electronic Games for Imagic. I was so excited about them. To me me, Demon Attack was the full package: great game, brilliant box, manual, cartridge. I never regretted buying an Imagic game.

 

You can find out some relative information about release dates by searching the US Copyright Database. It's does not tell you exactly when a game came onto market, because there games were not "released" the same way they are now back then, but you can at least use it to help line-up when events took place.

 

I had to use the "Name" search to search for Imagic, but also the "Title" search for Demon Attack.

 

You can also use the US Trademark database to cross reference what you find. I used the "Owner" search and put in "Imagic".

None of this data is perfect because companies back then did a terrible job of filing trademarks and copyrights, but it's still an interesting source.

Happy hunting and good luck with your research.

Edited April 17, 2016 by fultonbot

[+Random Terrain]

I have some Imagic games listed on my history pages:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1982.html

[broncoman]

thank you both now all i ned is someone to go take pics inside the off i now know were the location is

[+jeremiahjt]

I have some Imagic games listed on my history pages:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1982.html

Are you still working on your release date website?

[+Random Terrain]

Are you still working on your release date website?

 

I work on those pages off and on.

[hizzy]

No Solar Storm?

[broncoman]

that's a good one

[+Random Terrain]

No Solar Storm?

 

I don't have a month for that one yet:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1983.html#solar_storm

[fultonbot]

Here is the trademark record for Solar Storm. Not sure if this has a usable date or not:

 

Word Mark SOLAR STORM Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 028. US 022 038. G & S: Video Game Cartridges. FIRST USE: 19830421. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19830429 Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING Serial Number 73424633 Filing Date May 5, 1983 Current Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition March 20, 1984 Registration Number 1281690 Registration Date June 12, 1984 Owner (REGISTRANT) Imagic CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 981 University Ave. Los Gatos CALIFORNIA 95030 Attorney of Record Bruce L. Davis Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator DEAD Cancellation Date November 19, 1990

[hizzy]

This is a cool resource. Thanks for putting it together! Would the date printed on the box/label help?

[broncoman]

pretty neat

[cvga]

According to this 1983 flier, Solar Storm and No Escape were already available during the first half of 1983 (they weren't in the 1982 catalog).

 

Moonsweeper was scheduled to be released in July 1983

 

Fathom was scheduled to be released in August 1983

 

http://atariage.com/catalog_overview.php?CatalogID=52

[broncoman]

getting closer

[fultonbot]

There two significant dates in the trademark:

Filing Date May 5, 1983

FIRST USE: 19830421

 

So it could be April or May 1983. Argh! I'd go with May (IMHO).

 

To get it down any further, the only thing I can think of is to get to the library and scan the microfiche of newspapers, focusing on Sunday ads and see if there is a specific date when it was advertised for sale at Toys R Us or similar.

Edited April 18, 2016 by fultonbot

[+Random Terrain]

The good news for those of use who focus on release dates in the USA, there is an end to it. We only have to find information for around 421 original games. If we only hunted down information for one game a day, we'd be close to finishing the list in a year.

Here's an example of how I search archive.org:

google.com/search?q=site%3Aarchive.org+%22Fire+Fighter%22+%22imagic%22+vcs+OR+2600+ -streaming+-manuals+-query+-%22Classic+Gamer+Magazine%22+ -%22TV+Gamer%22+-%22Digital+Press%22+-%22TeleMatch%22+ -%22Computer+%26+Video+Games+-+Issue%22+ -%22Computer+and+Video+Games+Magazine+Issue%22&ie=UTF-8

[gliptitude]

How about Subterranea?

[Brain Breaker]

The good news for those of use who focus on release dates in the USA, there is an end to it. We only have to find information for around 421 original games. If we only hunted down information for one game a day, we'd be close to finishing the list in a year.

 

 

I'd like to chime in on this one, as I'm kind of a nut for chronology.

 

In my opinion, the best potential resources out there for accomplishing this are probably the "professional newsletters" like Video Game Update/Computer Entertainer, Electronic Games Arcade Express/Hotline and Logical Gamer. They tended to have shorter lead times than the actual magazines, and were more interested in covering the games quickly as soon as they came out.

 

For the US 2600 releases, '77-'81 are pretty easy to chronicle, as are '84 and beyond. It's really the fever-pitched market of '82-'83, when over half of the original library flooded out all at once, that takes the most extensive research to get relatively accurate dates.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Brain Breaker

[Brain Breaker]

Regarding Solar Storm, I just did a quick search and here's what I came up with:

 

Video Game Update/Computer Entertainer - August, 1983 (review)

Electronic Games - August, 1983 (ad), September (mail order listing), October ("just released" mention and full review)

Logical Gamer - September, 1983 (listed as being reviewed in the next issue)

 

I always trust VGU/CE the most. They were painstakingly accurate, had the shortest lead times, ran a large mail-order service in southern California, and were really on top of things in the industry. Their August issue would have actually been mailed out in late July, I believe, and Solar Storm had not previously showed up on their very thorough "coming soon" lists before being reviewed. So taking that into account along with the other publications (and their typical lead times) and fultonbot's dates (the last being mid June) my best guess for actual release would be June or, more probably, July. The earlier dates (first use and filing) don't quite synch up with the published industry record, and in my experience that's pretty typical.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Brain Breaker

[+Random Terrain]

Regarding Solar Storm, I just did a quick search and here's what I came up with:

 

Video Game Update/Computer Entertainer - August, 1983 (review)

Electronic Games - August, 1983 (ad), September (mail order listing), October ("just released" mention and full review)

Logical Gamer - September, 1983 (listed as being reviewed in the next issue)

 

I always trust VGU/CE the most. They were painstakingly accurate, had the shortest lead times, ran a large mail-order service in southern California, and were really on top of things in the industry. Their August issue would have actually been mailed out in late July, I believe, and Solar Storm had not previously showed up on their very thorough "coming soon" lists before being reviewed. So taking that into account along with the other publications (and their typical lead times) and fultonbot's dates (the last being mid June) my best guess for actual release would be June or, more probably, July. The earlier dates (first use and filing) don't quite synch up with the published industry record, and in my experience that's pretty typical.

 

Do you have links to those?