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Plus, there are two or three that the museum has which would be potentially 7 to 8 accounted for, far less the number of the other rarer games I mentioned earlier.

 

Well as mentioned before Museum owns 2 now and 1 protoype that doesn't work. Those aren't and will not be for sale. Other person that has it is a lady in hamilton, the original producer and me that have come forward. Im the only collector and seller right now.

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Whatever, sell your game and then go away. We all know that is exactly what's gonna happen here.

You can go back to being self important somewhere else. As others have put it so elegantly, you're

just a douche that found a rare game and your looking to brag and then sell it.

 

You joined AA just to advertise and maybe pump up the potential final sale price. We have all gone

threw this song and dance with people just like you many times over and it's always the same broken record.

 

This isn't the first rodeo for any of us either. Good luck with the sale. Sooner the better.

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To

 

 

Yeah, I don't know, a little P.T. Barnum feeling to it all. Its a big find, no doubt, but trying to bump it from ~7th rarest to ~2nd rarest (originally first, now 1-3) based on some of these claims...

 

To clarify im still saying either this or Birthday Mania is #1 in my opinion but regardless it's definitely in top 5. It's not accurate to place a specific ranking on these holy grail games as they arent readily available or have recorded sales. Only a few copies world wide. Their rarity is different in everyone's perspective.

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Sorry that I am late to this thread. I was part of the group at The Personal Computer Museum when the original game was discovered. I was involved with the limited run of the reproductions. I designed the repro label based on the original label and also designed the repro box.

 

I'd like to provide my input as I am one of the people with the most information about this game. I'll put everything in point form to make it easier to read.

 

  • Until the OP discovered his copy, there were 5 copies known to exist:
    • The prototype copy. This was the first copy donated to the museum. I am not sure of the exact origin. It was given to one of the museum volunteers who then brought it to the museum. This copy DOES work. The gameplay has some bugs and the music is different. There were plans to dump the ROM and make it available.
    • A copy donated to the museum by Herman Quast, the original programmer. This is the copy that was dumped and used to make the reproductions.
    • A copy that Herman kept. I contacted Herman fairly recently to let him know that he is in possession of a very rare copy of his game.
    • A copy obtained by one of the museum volunteers from an owner in Kitchener, Ontario. This copy was also donated to the museum.
    • A copy owned by a woman in Hamilton. A video showing this copy was posted on YouTube but seems to have been removed. I was supposed to meet this woman to "authenticate" her copy. Due to the illness of a family member I was not able to do so when scheduled. I contacted the woman again about a year ago. She indicated that she still had the game but did not wish to sell it. I was asked not to contact her again.
  • Syd Bolton refused to sell any of the three copies owned by the museum. (One prototype, two released versions.) The museum is currently closed due to Syd's untimely death.
  • The owners of Skill Screen Games provided some information when the first copies were rediscovered. They all wanted to distance themselves from the experience due to the fact that the game was a large money loss for the company.
  • We were told that a box and manual were produced for the game. No copies of either are known to exist.
  • The molds to produce the cartridge shells were last seen, wrapped in protective paper, at the parent company of Skill Screen games.

If anyone has any questions, please ask in this thread or via PM.

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Sorry that I am late to this thread. I was part of the group at The Personal Computer Museum when the original game was discovered. I was involved with the limited run of the reproductions. I designed the repro label based on the original label and also designed the repro box.

 

I'd like to provide my input as I am one of the people with the most information about this game. I'll put everything in point form to make it easier to read.

 

 

  • Until the OP discovered his copy, there were 5 copies known to exist:

    • The prototype copy. This was the first copy donated to the museum. I am not sure of the exact origin. It was given to one of the museum volunteers who then brought it to the museum. This copy DOES work. The gameplay has some bugs and the music is different. There were plans to dump the ROM and make it available.
    • A copy donated to the museum by Herman Quast, the original programmer. This is the copy that was dumped and used to make the reproductions.
    • A copy that Herman kept. I contacted Herman fairly recently to let him know that he is in possession of a very rare copy of his game.
    • A copy obtained by one of the museum volunteers from an owner in Kitchener, Ontario. This copy was also donated to the museum.
    • A copy owned by a woman in Hamilton. A video showing this copy was posted on YouTube but seems to have been removed. I was supposed to meet this woman to "authenticate" her copy. Due to the illness of a family member I was not able to do so when scheduled. I contacted the woman again about a year ago. She indicated that she still had the game but did not wish to sell it. I was asked not to contact her again.
  • Syd Bolton refused to sell any of the three copies owned by the museum. (One prototype, two released versions.) The museum is currently closed due to Syd's untimely death.
  • The owners of Skill Screen Games provided some information when the first copies were rediscovered. They all wanted to distance themselves from the experience due to the fact that the game was a large money loss for the company.
  • We were told that a box and manual were produced for the game. No copies of either are known to exist.
  • The molds to produce the cartridge shells were last seen, wrapped in protective paper, at the parent company of Skill Screen games.
If anyone has any questions, please ask in this thread or via PM.

This is an excellent inventory- thank you so much for compiling this information for us! I take it that this means that the newly discovered copy is the 6th known surviving cart, and thst noxes and manuals could indeed still turn up?

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This is an excellent inventory- thank you so much for compiling this information for us! I take it that this means that the newly discovered copy is the 6th known surviving cart, and thst noxes and manuals could indeed still turn up?

 

That does make six copies that I know of.

 

Did Wonder007 mention that he has a copy in an earlier post in this thread? If so, that would make seven...and I'd like to know where this copy came from.

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Wait, they were sold door to door, right? What neighbourhood did you find this in? Wherever it is, I'd be willing to bet that a good chunk of them would have been sold there and may even still be there.

 

I'd like to know too.

 

The OP of this thread mentions that his copy was found near Brantford, Ontario. Brantford is approximately 30 miles southwest of Burlington, where the game was produced. One of the other known copies was found in Kitchener, about 45 miles northwest of Burlington. The Personal Computer museum is in Brantford. I grew up in Brantford and know the area quite well.

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That does make six copies that I know of.

 

Did Wonder007 mention that he has a copy in an earlier post in this thread? If so, that would make seven...and I'd like to know where this copy came from.

I took that as a reference to a monogrammed Space Chase, but his post isn't clear. Mo doubt he'll clarify soon.

 

I would love to see a local newspaper to that part of Canada do a feature on this game. When you reckon what the average age of the original owners of this game must be, it'd be the best way to alert them and draw out a few more copies. There's likely a few still waiting to be realized.

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I would love to see a local newspaper to that part of Canada do a feature on this game. When you reckon what the average age of the original owners of this game must be, it'd be the best way to alert them and draw out a few more copies. There's likely a few still waiting to be realized.

 

When the first copy was rediscovered there was some local media coverage. Newspapers in Brantford and Hamilton (next to Burlington) ran articles. Others may have as well. TV stations in Hamilton and Kitchener did a story. I appeared in the Kitchener news story. Watch it on YouTube here. I'm the one in the orange Atari shirt. Some national media even picked up the story.

 

It was the media coverage that caught the attention of the lady in Hamilton that owns a copy.

 

Syd Bolton loved to promote the museum and had connections with most of the local media.

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Sorry that I am late to this thread. I was part of the group at The Personal Computer Museum when the original game was discovered. I was involved with the limited run of the reproductions. I designed the repro label based on the original label and also designed the repro box.

 

I'd like to provide my input as I am one of the people with the most information about this game. I'll put everything in point form to make it easier to read.

 

  • Until the OP discovered his copy, there were 5 copies known to exist:
    • The prototype copy. This was the first copy donated to the museum. I am not sure of the exact origin. It was given to one of the museum volunteers who then brought it to the museum. This copy DOES work. The gameplay has some bugs and the music is different. There were plans to dump the ROM and make it available.
    • A copy donated to the museum by Herman Quast, the original programmer. This is the copy that was dumped and used to make the reproductions.
    • A copy that Herman kept. I contacted Herman fairly recently to let him know that he is in possession of a very rare copy of his game.
    • A copy obtained by one of the museum volunteers from an owner in Kitchener, Ontario. This copy was also donated to the museum.
    • A copy owned by a woman in Hamilton. A video showing this copy was posted on YouTube but seems to have been removed. I was supposed to meet this woman to "authenticate" her copy. Due to the illness of a family member I was not able to do so when scheduled. I contacted the woman again about a year ago. She indicated that she still had the game but did not wish to sell it. I was asked not to contact her again.
  • Syd Bolton refused to sell any of the three copies owned by the museum. (One prototype, two released versions.) The museum is currently closed due to Syd's untimely death.
  • The owners of Skill Screen Games provided some information when the first copies were rediscovered. They all wanted to distance themselves from the experience due to the fact that the game was a large money loss for the company.
  • We were told that a box and manual were produced for the game. No copies of either are known to exist.
  • The molds to produce the cartridge shells were last seen, wrapped in protective paper, at the parent company of Skill Screen games.

If anyone has any questions, please ask in this thread or via PM.

 

Hi there awhite2600, interesting you mentioned that were was indeed a box and manual because in the older forums as well an episode where Syd Bolton was explaining the worth of his collection, he explained several times he does not believe a manual or box existed but he indicated anything is possible. Also the original producer explained that "there may have been a box, I don't remember". The lady in Hamilton also explained she clearly remembers that her parents got the knock on the door and purchased the game. She clarified that there was no box or manual and the game was sold in a small basic black sleeve. Also if you think about it this game was already late released and finished after Christmas and the producer said he didn't even want to make profit at the end but just make some of his funds back. It's very unlikely that he would suddenly print manuals or boxes. He didn't even have anybody to help distribute them, yet alone print boxes for him. He was very desperate that he went door to door so it only makes sense he didn't spend more money on the project.

 

Syd Bolton in an interview said the the prototype copy just showed a black screen and made no noise with using it on his Atari. It's ROM was dumped and worked on a third party program "Stella". He says that dismantled it because it wasn't working on his Atari. Technically this copy was not only a prototype but was also dismantled and tampered with so really it shouldn't be considered as an original because it's gameplay and sound is also a bit different.

 

To Clarify Wonder007 doesn't have a copy himself, he claims that he knows a friend that has one but no information or proof backed this up. No on else has come forward so until then that's not a fact.

Edited by beardman32
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To clarify here how many copies exsist:

 

  1. (Not counted) The prototype copy. This was the first copy donated to the museum. I am not sure of the exact origin. It was given to one of the museum volunteers who then brought it to the museum. This copy was claimed not working by Syd Bolton on his Atari but ROM does work using a third party program "Stella". The gameplay has some bugs and the music is different.
  2. A copy donated to the museum by Herman Quast, the original programmer. This is the copy that was dumped and used to make the reproductions.
  3. A copy that Herman kept. I contacted Herman fairly recently to let him know that he is in possession of a very rare copy of his game.
  4. A copy obtained by one of the museum volunteers from an owner in Kitchener, Ontario. This copy was also donated to the museum.
  5. A copy owned by a woman in Hamilton. A video showing this copy was posted on YouTube but seems to have been removed. I was supposed to meet this woman to "authenticate" her copy. Due to the illness of a family member I was not able to do so when scheduled. I contacted the woman again about a year ago. She indicated that she still had the game but did not wish to sell it. I was asked not to contact her again.

So that makes it 4 official copies and with mine that makes it 5 as we said from the beginning on the thread. Not sure where you got 7 copies from. 2 copies are owned by the museum and 3 copies are owned in personal hands. I'm the only confirmed collector as of now who owns the game.

Syd Bolton himself said: Of course, it is likely one of the rarest Atari 2600 games EVER EVER released, but still fails to gain the attention of other cartridges like AIR RAID....but maybe it's because it's SO RARE that it makes the news less often.

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Looking at older posts I see people wrote the same thing and have the same idea as me. This game is much different than any other game like Gamma Attack. I believe it is up there on the top at #1 with Birthday Mania and here's why:

 

Supergun:

Well of course it's more rare then Air Raid. No argument there. Extra Terrestrials is the 3rd rarest released 2600 game. It is among the elite rare; the top four holiest of grails. (Birthday Mania, Red Sea Crossing, Extra Terrestrials, & Gamma Attack) in that order.

What it shares in common with Air Raid isn't its' rarity, rather its' appearance. Both of those games utilized unique cartridge casings.

Supergun:

The problem with Gamma Attack, solely when compared amongst these top 4 elite brothers, is that it's "discovery" & subsequent "reveal" was far more controversial & suspect then the other 3.

You can find most of its' relevant history & information in a few other threads here just by searching, but the short version is that the reason it is considered to be the least valuable, least rare, and least desirable among the 4, is because it is unclear just how many true originals really were actually assembled & truthfully sent / sold to actual real people when it was advertised.

Unlike the designers / programmers / owners of the other 3 games, who all fit into the similar style category of "I'm an old man now, that was way in the distant past, I don't care to get involved again, I can't recall exactly, but I didn't sell very many of them, it's interesting you found me, I'm flattered that my game interests you, enjoy it and do what you like, have a nice day"...,,,... Rather, the person that we found at the end of the beanstalk on Gamma Attack was...to be polite here...not quite as modest & humble & forthcoming & friendly.

So, as a result of that, the truth remained unclear, not just as to how many were truly sold, but more significantly, exactly what the original (TRUE ORIGINAL) cartridge looked like! To the point where 2 of these "original" carts that he had & showed pictures of to us were totally different!

 

 

 

Syd Bolton: Of course, it is likely one of the rarest Atari 2600 games EVER EVER released, but still fails to gain the attention of other cartridges like AIR RAID....but maybe it's because it's SO RARE that it makes the news less often.

Edited by beardman32
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The beautiful art work of this game, the shape of the game, the confirmation by producer, the unorthodox way of distribution (door to door), it's limited release only in a small remote town of Ontario, it's recent discovery in 2012, and super limited owners (mostly museum) make this one of the rarest atari 2600 video games ever made. Maybe in the near future 1 or 2 might be found in the next 50 or so years (maybe even not) but the beauty of this is that the original producer clearly mentioned he only made a hundred or so and most of those are probably destroyed or thrown away today. This is frankly a one of a kind item.

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I took that as a reference to a monogrammed Space Chase, but his post isn't clear. Mo doubt he'll clarify soon.

 

I would love to see a local newspaper to that part of Canada do a feature on this game. When you reckon what the average age of the original owners of this game must be, it'd be the best way to alert them and draw out a few more copies. There's likely a few still waiting to be realized.

 

To clarify Wonder007 does not have a copy of Extra Terrestrials he has a monogrammed space chase. As of now 5 copies of extra terrestrials exist + a prototype game (2 musuem, 1 original producer, 1 lady in hamilton and 1 me). Anything is possible, but unlikely that there are more copies waiting to be found. Maybe 1 or 2 stashed away in someone's basement but it's not only enough to have it but also KNOW what you have. Even myself at first I was skeptical and wanted to throw it in a bundle and resell it to make back by $100. The cool art work and weird cartridge shape caught my attention .

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interesting you mentioned that were was indeed a box and manual because in the older forums as well an episode where Syd Bolton was explaining the worth of his collection, he explained several times he does not believe a manual or box existed but he indicated anything is possible. Also when asked the original producer explained that "there may have been a box, I don't remember".

 

Syd Bolton in an interview said the the prototype copy just showed a black screen and made no noise with using it on his Atari. It's ROM was dumped and worked on a third party program "Stella". He says that dismantled it because it wasn't working on his Atari. Technically this copy was not only a prototype but was also dismantled and tampered with so really it shouldn't be considered as an original because it's gameplay and sound is also a bit different.

 

 

 

Herman Quast, the original programmer thinks there was a box and manual - although he doesn't own either himself. I spent quite a bit of time talking with Herman. Probably more time than Syd Bolton did. I've even contacted Herman a few times in recent years to try to get more information. Perhaps there wasn't a manual, but its also possible that there was. I agree that to date, none have been found.

 

The prototype was very much like the finished game. It was completely playable - other than a bug. I know because I have played that copy several times myself. This was the first copy donated to the museum. You can see a picture of it here. It's the copy with the "version x1" writing on the back. The main differences were some of the music and the fact that the "dots" that disappeared were not always the ones that your player collected. I cant remember why this version was not dumped in the same way as the final version. For the final version, one of the donated copies was opened, the EPROM unsoldered and the contents dumped with an EPROM reader. There were plans to dump the prototype with an Atari 7800 that had been modified for dumping cartridges.

 

The Stella issue was present in both the prototype and released versions. Originally, the dumped version DID NOT work correctly on Stella. This is due to how the RSYNC command was used in the game. This issue was fixed (allowing Stella to run Extra Terrestrials correctly) in Stella 3.8.1.

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Herman Quast, the original programmer thinks there was a box and manual - although he doesn't own either himself. I spent quite a bit of time talking with Herman. Probably more time than Syd Bolton did. I've even contacted Herman a few times in recent years to try to get more information. Perhaps there wasn't a manual, but its also possible that there was. I agree that to date, none have been found.

 

The prototype was very much like the finished game. It was completely playable - other than a bug. I know because I have played that copy several times myself. This was the first copy donated to the museum. You can see a picture of it here. It's the copy with the "version x1" writing on the back. The main differences were some of the music and the fact that the "dots" that disappeared were not always the ones that your player collected. I cant remember why this version was not dumped in the same way as the final version. For the final version, one of the donated copies was opened, the EPROM unsoldered and the contents dumped with an EPROM reader. There were plans to dump the prototype with an Atari 7800 that had been modified for dumping cartridges.

 

The Stella issue was present in both the prototype and released versions. Originally, the dumped version DID NOT work correctly on Stella. This is due to how the RSYNC command was used in the game. This issue was fixed (allowing Stella to run Extra Terrestrials correctly) in Stella 3.8.1.

 

Fair enough I completely agree with you and what your saying makes complete sense. I personally just believe that prototypes shouldn't be considered as originals and it makes sense because that copy was never available to the retailers. Sure it shouldn't be eliminated from the table and is even probably more rare than the original, but at the end of the day it's not the same especially if it has bugs and minor differences as well.

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The Stella issue was present in both the prototype and released versions. Originally, the dumped version DID NOT work correctly on Stella. This is due to how the RSYNC command was used in the game. This issue was fixed (allowing Stella to run Extra Terrestrials correctly) in Stella 3.8.1.

 

And to the person previously in this thread that wondered if it will work on the Retron77; it won't out of the box, since the version of Stella included is 3.7.5. Get the community edition, which has Stella 3.9.3, where it works perfectly.

 

Also, Stella and Stellerator are the only 2600 emulators that can correctly run this ROM.

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Fair enough I completely agree with you and what your saying makes complete sense. I personally just believe that prototypes shouldn't be considered as originals and it makes sense because that copy was never available to the retailers. Sure it shouldn't be eliminated from the table and is even probably more rare than the original, but at the end of the day it's not the same especially if it has bugs and minor differences as well.

 

Prototypes of video games are still very collectible. In this case, the prototype is likely as valuable (or close in value) as one of the few release copies.

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