What happenned to the "starship" game?

[bond007pr]

Hi everyone:

I was just wondering what happenned to the "starship" game.Did atari fade it away?I saw it featured on early atari catalogs,but as the publications were revised and the time went by,this game particularly was kind of "left behind".Any one have some info on this?

thanks,

bond007pr

[Nukey Shay]

It wasn't the only one...some other early games were removed from the Atari catalog as new ones appeared. This is normal in business to discontinue product that fails to sell as well as predicted, product that is overshadowed by new product, etc.

[Big Player]

I know that at least two other games were dropped from the Atari catalog.

 

Miniature Golf

Flag Capture

 

It's funny I had never heard of Miniature Golf until my sister's roommate had one in her collection. She had grown up in Europe and so I had thought it had been just released there.

 

The first place I saw a version of this game was in Antic Magazine, in one of their games of the month.

 

http://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n3/MiniGolf.html

[Dino from Bula]

I try to play this on PCAE, and can never seem to make the crosshairs move. Is the problem the dump, the player, or the game itself? I heard the controls were buggy.

[Lauren Tyler]

I had trouble with Starship also. I think you need to use the right joystick to move.

[Dino from Bula]

Bingo...fire works, but the controls are still off...nothing seems to happen.

 

I'll still try working with the right controller....thanks for the "input!"

 

I'm holding out big hopes for this game...but the reviews aren't great...

[StanJr]

Star Ship is played with the right controller. Its a GREAT idea, and WOULD be fun, if it didn't really suck and wasn't pretty easy.

 

I just picked up a copy of the "pic" yellow text label, from my mother-in-law of all peoples!

[cvga]

Maybe it was left over from Aimee's "Guess What's in My Messy Room" contest

[StanJr]

No one EVER wants to know what was left over from that contest.

 

Actually, my mother-in-law does a great deal of yard saling and always manages to come up big in the video game dept. How's that for a mother-in-law? I gots the best one of the bunch.

[Dino from Bula]

Star Ship is played with the right controller.  Its a GREAT idea, and WOULD be fun, if it didn't really suck and wasn't pretty easy.  

 

Stan - thanks for making me double check my PCAE settings...I have just now played my first game of Star Ship, which was I game I always wanted as I looked in the catalogs. After 25 years of wanting to play this game...

 

you're right. Sucks and is too easy. The manual was for crap, too - the right controller thing isn't mentioned until the two player games...which I wasn't planning on playing. The wife has no interest in Stella...she sticks to the Coleco emulator...especially since the console needs some ficing that I cannot do (without breaking it...no skillz).

 

Thanks for all your help on this, everyone!

[Rob Mitchell]

I know that at least two other games were dropped from the Atari catalog.

 

Miniature Golf

Flag Capture

 

Blackjack was dropped when Casino was released.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Big Player]

Blackjack was dropped when Casino was released.

 

I always wondered how much code, if any, was shared between Blackjack and Casino.

 

I guess when I get home tonight, I can try to figure it out with Clonespy. But I usually just have to have Thomas tell me what it means.

[NovaXpress]

Miniature Golf stayed on the market for a while even after Golf was released. Sears was usually the last to give up on a game.

 

Some other games had to have been discontinued before the crash. I don't think that Math or Street Racer were floating around by the end of 82.

[BassGuitari]

you're right.  Sucks and is too easy.  The manual was for crap, too - the right controller thing isn't mentioned until the two player games...

 

Yes it does. Page 3, under One Player Games. "You are alone on these games. Your television screen becomes your Space Ship Window as you guide your ship deep into space with the right joystick controller..."

 

Quite a few really early games (that use the joystick) use the right controller jack for 1-player games...I suspect this was done so people could leave their paddles plugged into the left jack.

 

Star Ship happens to be my favorite Atari game (it does NOT suck! ). One thing most people fail to recognize is that your ship moves relative to the positions of the Space Objects, not the stars (yes, it's that primitive). There is nothing wrong with the controls. Another reason people hate this game is they don't play Game 4, which much more challenging and fun (yes, fun) than Game 1, which is pretty weak. If you've only played Game 1, then you haven't played Star Ship. (Help me out here, Godzilla!)

 

Warp Drive (Game 11) and Lunar Lander (Game 14) are also pretty cool.

 

 

As far as Star Ship being discontinued due to lack of sales, I cannot in the furthest stretch of my imagination believe that Star Ship was outsold by the likes of Basic Math...

[StanJr]

Lunar Lander is TOO easy.

[BassGuitari]

Lunar Lander is TOO easy.

 

I find Lunar Lander best with two players. I always make Swingtown play it with me . Something about trying to outscore a human opponent...timeless.

[ZylonBane]

The first place I saw a version of this game was in Antic Magazine, in one of their games of the month.

The first place I saw a version of this game was in real life.

[BassGuitari]

Lunar Lander is TOO easy.

 

I find Lunar Lander best with two players. I always make Swingtown play it with me . Something about trying to outscore a human opponent...timeless.

[Csonicgo]

The first place I saw a version of this game was in Antic Magazine, in one of their games of the month.

The first place I saw a version of this game was in real life.

 

Well, duh. Now, for the cliché:

 

Thank you for posting on the Internet.

[ZylonBane]

Ummm... that's not actually a cliche. In fact Google turns up ZERO occurrences of it on Usenet.

[NovaXpress]

Never get into a verbal duel with Zylon Bane. You know he's going to have a half-dozen logic traps lying in wait.

[Csonicgo]

Ummm... that's not actually a cliche. In fact Google turns up ZERO occurrences of it on Usenet.

 

Heh, search AA forums.

[ZylonBane]

Wow, three occurrences by two people. I guess they'll just let any old turn of phrase be a cliche now.

[Bryan]

Hanging out at AtariAge has made Csonicgo considerably less friendly.

 

-Bry