Extra Terrestrials Game FOUND! (5th copy)

[lazzeri]

Beardman32, please allow me to share a thought or two? :-)

 

First of all, congratulations on your find, It´s an AMAZING discovery and you should indeed be very happy with it. That´s a jackpot.

 

Secondly, you mention you´re not an active A2600 collector and you do tend to NES. It seems you barely uses AtariAge, right?

 

I have ZERO interest on trying to buy your copy. I don´t have the funds for it, and still have a long way to go to look for those rare babies. I am NOT trying to undervalue your game - it IS valuable, as you already know.

 

Said that... You should listen to the guys above with a little more tenderness.

 

Wonder007 is one of the biggest Atari collectors out there. Supergun, ROMHunter and Blazing Lasers are some of the finest around here - and people with deep knowledge. Albert is our "commander in chief". Awhite2600 is one of the guys who discovered the damn game in the first place. They know what they´re saying!

Those guys are not trying to scam you. They are not lying to you. They don´t want to buy it cheap. That´s not a scam.

 

Extra-terrestrials is RARE, but it really does not compare to Birthday Mania. That piece you keep quoting by racketboy is old news (and flawed BTW).

 

Some of the finest ones around here are trying to help you. You definitely should pay a little more attention.

 

Regards, and congrats once again. Amazing find!

Edited August 20, 2018 by lazzeri

[+swlovinist]

Have to agree that this game is not as rare as Birthday Mania. There are some serious collectors who have chimed in who respectfully speaking, know more about 2600 rarity. Wonder007 knows his stuff and is a good guy. Just my two cents.

[Atari_Bill]

You'd do well to listen to Wonder007 and Supergun. You think your collection is impressive, I guarantee it pales in comparison to theirs. They are a few of the reigning authorities around here. Listen or don't listen it's up to you, but don't expect to be taken seriously around here if you don't.

[beardman32]

Id like to make a general topic so everyone here can read this. To begin I do want to sell this game but please remember again i'm a collector myself and don't want to make a quick buck or quickly get rid of this game (rent money isn't an issue for me). I enjoy it and appreciate the game as much as many of you but I posted it online to give a chance to the very few collectors who are able and willing to buy this game. As mentioned before this isn't for everyone, but someone that wants to complete the collection and the price doesn't matter to them. I'm someone like that but in a different field specifically Nintendo, for example If a Nintendo World Championships Gold Cartridge came up for sale I'd be willing to pay every dollar in order to obtain it and at that point nothing else but getting the game would matter to me. This is the first time that the game has been openly been made for purchasing, keep in mind.

 

In the past I've had some first edition black box sealed NES games that I've posted online and sold for around $10,000 to a collector that traveled from Dubai to Canada specifically to buy my games. Not even 1% comparable to this game in terms of rarity but I sold it very quickly without any issues or negotiations as the buyer had money to spare. Right now as of 1 day the highest offer I received was $15,000 USD for the Extra Terrestrials game. Although that is a respectable offer, it doesn't meet what I want and again I'm not startled by numbers like that because as a serious collector I've spent and sold thousands of dollars myself.

 

Before I revealed this game to the community, it seemed that many people that were in older forums, now present here, had expressed their belief that this game is "among the 4 elite", "REALLY REALLY RARE" "Good luck getting one" and now suddenly consciously or unconsciously they are downplaying the game as soon as I offer it for sale. Before I revealed this game there were barely or no photos online and I had to give rights to multiple people to use my photos for their database so that can give you testimony on it's rarity.

 

To clarify for a final time, I'm not saying this is the rarest game in the world ever made but I'm saying its up top in the league with Birthday Mania and such. FYI: There are multiple news outlets such as CBC and CTV that have also broadcasted this as the Rarest Atari 2600 game. "Not my words their words".

 

Although I know you guys are very polite and good people on Atari Age, I feel like this is a case of downplaying as people are suddenly starting to say "oh I know people who have copies" or telling me "this game is 7th rarest game". Frankly I wasn't born yesterday, I've done my fair share of search of research and Syd Bolton has also largely contributed to this as well. I will never be pressured into selling anything. As mentioned previously the money factor is only a partial aspect for me, if the money value does not exceed my expectation then the collectible factor and historical value is much more important to me. Frankly like the previous seller, I will be responding only to serious offers otherwise I will be holding on to the game.

 

Thank you everyone who congratulated me and shared their thoughts and opinions, thanks even to the people who criticized me, I learned a lot in the last 2 days and it was a pleasant experience getting to know the community. The game will continue to be up for sale but I will only now respond to private messages and not the to thread. I wish the best and good luck to each and every one of you. I will also continue to be part of the community if I do come across any other finds. Cheers!

[Blazing Lazers]

 

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.

That was a great video, even though it is somewhat bittersweet to see Syd in it. I really wish he were still around to see this new discovery.

 

It occurred to me that if the local coverage from back in 2011 led one lady to realize that she had a copy, why didn't it also lead whoever the finder of this 5th/6th copy to realize they had one? Either they missed the coverage, and/or they simply forgot owning it. That in turn provides hope that more could surface, though they'd be few in number. Not everyone who did or still does own this might be aware of what they randomly bought decades ago.

 

I can also only wonder if the folks the finder got this newly discovered copy from might find out about just what they had and unknowingly sold- it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to imagine them being very unhappy if they ever realize what slipped through their fingers. Additional online media coverage could indeed reach them, as could any possible local coverage. I know if I found something like this at a yard sale in my own community I would feel a little guilty if I sold it for many thousands and didn't share at least a bit with the original folks.

[Keatah]

Glad to hear you think you're so important.

I wouldn't worry about what the guy says. He's tried ragging on me for various things in the past. So.. Enjoy and discuss your cartridge in whatever way you see fit.

[Omegamatrix]

Here's another one that's rarer than Extra Terrestrials:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-cat-trax_17181.html

 

FYI, Cat Trax is also on the Screen Search console (menu selection 36).

[buick]

Here's another one that's rarer than Extra Terrestrials:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-cat-trax_17181.html

 

 

Man. What is with these rare games always seeming to be knockoffs of other games?

[Keatah]

Man. What is with these rare games always seeming to be knockoffs of other games?

 

As someone who studies the scene from the front sidelines, it appears the community needs something rare, a holy-grail, to chase after. Every hobby does. And games that have crappy play are usually knock-offs, and these sometimes were published in small amounts. Or they were "experimental" from the get-go.

 

Either way, their quantity & supply is low. Perfect for chasing after, perfect for getting put on a pedestal. Lousy games included. In fact I haven't seen ANY desirable games that have great gameplay.

[+Spriggy]

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

Hi Stargunner, sorry you feel that way. Really I am just quite excited I came across something like this with it's rarity. It's not everyday especially in 2018 you find games on the top 5 rarest atari games in the world. I know my last line I wrote may come off a little intense but really I'm just trying to push away the low ballers and trolls on the internet. I've had bad experience posting other games online as well with people thinking I don't know what I have offering me pennies. I'm just trying to sound firm on my grounds and the backstory I gave was to show I've been doing this for a while so I know what I have.

 

I'm gonna agree with beardman here. Sure you come off as slightly cocky but I overlook it as bragging rights. Not everyone nabs a holy grail at a garage sale. Even the Vectrex score is brag-worthy, but this game is truly special. Now I want to see if the rom is out there so I can play it. Since repros were made, it appears so.

 

I have a rather infamous bootleg of Dead Sea Crossing too (was sold on ebay by a scammer for $700 before the buyer got his money back. I bought it from the buyer, who was ordered to destroy it, for $25 ). Sorry nothing truly worthwhile in my meager collection but I do enjoy collecting and hearing stories about collecting.

[Andromeda Stardust]

In the past I've had some first edition black box sealed NES games that I've posted online and sold for around $10,000 to a collector that traveled from Dubai to Canada specifically to buy my games. Not even 1% comparable to this game in terms of rarity but I sold it very quickly without any issues or negotiations as the buyer had money to spare. Right now as of 1 day the highest offer I received was $15,000 USD for the Extra Terrestrials game. Although that is a respectable offer, it doesn't meet what I want and again I'm not startled by numbers like that because as a serious collector I've spent and sold thousands of dollars myself.

For 15 grand, I'd have taken the money. You are unlikely to get a higher bid. Yes, it is true that a cib Air Raid was sold in 2012 for more than double that (Wonder007), but as time moves on, more of these rare "unicorn" releases will come out of the woodworks.

 

There are probably a dozen more yet undiscovered Atari gems out there, programmed bitd by fly by night developers peddling in a classified ad or out the trunk of their car.

 

What you have is truly a unique item, but you must understand that Atari collectibles play second fiddle to NES. You yourself are a self described NES collector. For every diehard Atari collector there are ten or more collecting for NES, so it is understandable that a more common NES item like NWC Grey/Gold or Stadium Events may occasionally sell for more, and even these rarities have likely peaked.

[+stephena]

Now I want to see if the rom is out there so I can play it. Since repros were made, it appears so.

 

The ROM is in RomHunters latest ROM package (it was probably even in older releases too).

[hizzy]

Being from Canada, I like this story and the info on the game! Congrats and thanks to the people who have posted info about it.

[Lord Thag]

Really cool find! Always nice to see an old, rare title rescued from the trash heap.

[accousticguitar]

Wouldn't $15,000 be a record for a loose copy of an Atari 2600 game? I know Air Raid went for over $30,000 but it had a box.

[buick]

 

As someone who studies the scene from the front sidelines, it appears the community needs something rare, a holy-grail, to chase after. Every hobby does. And games that have crappy play are usually knock-offs, and these sometimes were published in small amounts. Or they were "experimental" from the get-go.

 

Either way, their quantity & supply is low. Perfect for chasing after, perfect for getting put on a pedestal. Lousy games included. In fact I haven't seen ANY desirable games that have great gameplay.

 

That's a pretty good explanation

[+stupus]

FYI, Cat Trax is also on the Screen Search console (menu selection 36).

It's also in the last slot of the six-pack multi tap. And on a 4in1 pirate cart.

But there are only 2 known copies of the real cat trax made by UAL.

However there is also no proof they were ever truly released and they might just be pre production samples. However some of their games for the arcadia are also nearly as rare as their cat trax for the 2600. So who knows.

Interestingly the cart shell on the six-pack is the same unique shell on cat trax. And the six pack was released in Canada by leisure dynamics....who made the liesurevision....So they are all tied together for sure.

[Supergun]

Wouldn't $15,000 be a record for a loose copy of an Atari 2600 game? I know Air Raid went for over $30,000 but it had a box.

Yes, it would be a new record, if it were to come to fruition. (publicly of course as private sales of loose carts would be unknown & as of yet unconfirmed)

I believe the current record for a loose 2600 cart would be the 2 Red Sea Crossing carts from a few years back. They each sold for somewhere in the 8K to 12K range if I recall correctly.

 

EDIT: I forgot to include one KEY thing. When the RSC carts sold, the rom was still unreleased, undumped, and unemulated. This is CRITICALLY important to note. The Extra Terrestrials rom is freely available.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Supergun

[pacman000]

 

So the original programmer coming forward, him releasing all the games relevant paper materials from the the games original release, selling of his personal copy and prototype of Gamma Attack as well as re-releasing the game after the first copy was found in the wild, selling off the leftover original unused labels, ect. is all unproven? Gotcha.

Problem was, the extra copy the programmer gave up had a different cartridge shell than the copy which was found.

 

I'm sure it was produced back in the day; it's just hard to tell how many were produced.

 

(Based on what I remember reading about the game.)

Edited August 21, 2018 by pacman000

[pacman000]

 

As someone who studies the scene from the front sidelines, it appears the community needs something rare, a holy-grail, to chase after. Every hobby does. And games that have crappy play are usually knock-offs, and these sometimes were published in small amounts. Or they were "experimental" from the get-go.

 

Either way, their quantity & supply is low. Perfect for chasing after, perfect for getting put on a pedestal. Lousy games included. In fact I haven't seen ANY desirable games that have great gameplay.

Cat Trax is supposed to be rather good...for the Emerson Arcadia.

Edited August 21, 2018 by pacman000

[+stupus]

Cat Trax is supposed to be rather good...for the Emerson Arcadia.

Cat trax is an excellent rather unique maze game both on the arcadia and 2600.

It would have made a great standup arcade game and it's quite obvious why UAL picked it for game number 1. It's probably the best arcadia game. Also obvious why they started with it when they decided to move into porting their games to the 2600 when the arcadia hit it's definite point of failure commercially.

[pacman000]

Cat trax is an excellent rather unique maze game both on the arcadia and 2600.

It would have made a great standup arcade game and it's quite obvious why UAL picked it for game number 1. It's probably the best arcadia game. Also obvious why they started with it when they decided to move into porting their games to the 2600 when the arcadia hit it's definite point of failure commercially.

I always though tit was just Pac-Man with different graphics, but from this review it sounds like it had some neat extra features: https://videogamecritic.com/arcadiaal.htm?e=03595#rev59

[atari181]

IMO, if you have an offer of 15K you should take it. The first copy of Red Sea Crossing didn't sell for that. I would think that the price would have no where to go but down as copies are found.

[Atari_Bill]

IMO, if you have an offer of 15K you should take it. The first copy of Red Sea Crossing didn't sell for that. I would think that the price would have no where to go but down as copies are found.

Agreed, but some people immediately see $$$ and harbor unrealistic expectations even on an item as rare as this. Yeah, it's a top rarity, but the market is not what he thinks in the Atari world.