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Star Fire Elite Squadron!


Albert

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Today I received the Star Fire Elite Squadron patches from Lee Krueger, masterfully created by his wife Lori. The patches look fantastic, and are accompanied by a letter that will be included with anyone who wins a patch! This is an actual scan of one of the patches:

 

2600_StarFirePatch_400.jpg

 

Patches are available for the first 50 pilots who send in proof of a score of 3,500 points or higher. After they're gone, that's it! To see a list of those who have stood up to the challenge, take a look at the Star Fire Elite Squadron.

 

With over 50 Star Fire carts sold thus far, I wouldn't hold off too long if you're aspiring to earn one of these patches! :)

 

..Al

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What's the letter for? Let the games begin.  

 

 

I think the letter is obvious if you read it.

It is purposely intended to be in the same spirit as the Activision patch letters.

 

I think Dave and Lori did a nice job. Of course, I am biased. Lori is my very understanding spouse :)

 

-Lee

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Maybe you could get his permission to steal the idea he stole from Activision??? :?

 

I'd say it's worth persuing based on the interest in the old Activision patches and now the Starfire one.

 

Think about it Thomas, You're always saying you want people to play their games, as opposed to just letting them sit around. What better way than to compete for patches?? They're way cool to collect and anyone can participate and not get too frustrated. The Thrust + contest was cool. But ultimately only one person won, and alot of people gave up after they realized they couldn't hang. Earning a patch is much easier (provided you don't set the score needed TOO high (Something Activision never did and apparently Manuel didnt either) I'd guess patch production cost would be a consideration, but I'd bet most folks would kick in an extra dollar towards a cart purchase if they thought they'd have a chance at a cool patch!!!

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As someone involved in bringing these patches to fruition, let me say that I would love to do this for more homebrew games. However, the cost is considerable, and it is several dollars per patch, not just a buck. So it adds up quickly. I'm sure it was cheaper for Activision, but they likely had their patches produced in much larger quantities, bringing the per-patch cost down considerably.

 

We are already investigating doing patches for some other titles, but given the time and expense involved, don't expect them for too many games. And no, I'm not going to say what games they are for, except that they are titles we're working on for a PhillyClassic 5 release. :)

 

..Al

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However, the cost is considerable, and it is several dollars per patch, not just a buck.

 

Oh I wasnt trying to imply the patches were cheap...I was figuring on sales being higher than 50 units. Like say you sold 200 games and tacked on an extra $1 for patches... $200 for 50 patches. Of course I have no idea how much it actually costs to produce them, maybe that wouldn't be enough.

 

P.S. I just ordered StarFire :)

and you should too.

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Here's my $.02:

 

I love the idea of the patches and letters. BUT, I think anybody that meets the requirement should get the patch, and it should not be limited to the first nn requests.

 

If cost is a problem, charge $3 or $4 for the patches and still require some sort of accomplishment (IE, don't just sell the patches).

 

That's what I'd like.

 

-- Steve

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Hi there!

 

Who said it was all Manuel' idea?  :)

Ooops! :ponder:

 

Lee already produced a run of patches for one of his own releases, so he was definetely the first to revive this idea.

 

Yet I didn't know anything of this when I approached Al with the idea of creating a patch for Star Fire. Here's a quote of my first mail approaching Al regarding patches:

 

I have no idea yet if and how Patches can be created and it certainly depends on you supporting this... If you like the idea, maybe you can do some research about this. Maybe if patches don't work, then something like attachable metal-pins?

 

I'm very happy how this all turned out. I'd really like to thank everyone involved in this venture.

 

First place Lori Krueger for doing all the real work. I haven't yet seen one of the patches live, but from the pictures I can tell she did a marvellous job. Thank you very much!

 

Second in line is David Exton, as always backing up everything I do with his brilliant artwork. I can't think of anyone else ever doing artwork for any of my future creations. Thank you very much!

 

And finally Albert and Lee, organizing everything. If there wasn't cool people like them being instantly fire and flame for ideas like that, many cool things just wouldn't happen. Thank you very much.

 

As for other future homebrew releases offering Patches as well: Brilliant, do it! I certainly don't mind. As someone already pointed out, it's a great mean of making people actually play your game.

 

It's great, just like everyone doing label contests nowadays. (I'll think of something new again for my next game ;) )

 

Greetings,

Manuel

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Here's my $.02:  

 

I love the idea of the patches and letters. BUT, I think anybody that meets the requirement should get the patch, and it should not be limited to the first nn requests.  

 

If cost is a problem, charge $3 or $4 for the patches and still require some sort of accomplishment (IE, don't just sell the patches).  

 

That's what I'd like.  

 

-- Steve

 

Actually, I don't think my wife would have a problem making more patches. The price you quote is about right. However, the decsion would have to Manuels and/or Alberts. Maybe you can convince them to support that idea after the contest. Because of the effort involved though, there would have to be an end date to earn a patch.

 

Just for grins I made up a prototype patch for Thrust for myself that I showed Albert in the early part of these discussions. I think high quality games as these deserve something extra for those who actually play them.

 

We had many patches made for the annual NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiast meet for the winners and sponsors for the annual Seattle Atari 2600 Championship. I though they were very cool. Come to think of it, Atari Age donated one of Manuels Gun Fight cart as one of the prizes :)

 

-Lee

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