What third party co made games for the 2600 after the crash?

[kyle]

I was wondering what third party companies made games for the 2600 after the crash? All i can think of are activision epyx TNT absolute and teleys i think? So is that it?

[nester]

What about Froggo? Although they didn't actually "make" games they released a few.

[SumerNivek]

I guess Sega doesn't count, or does it? They made that Congo Bongo game for the 2600 and went on OK after the Crash. =) They are first party, but were they considered a 3rd party back then?

[Mindfield]

Third party means a company that makes something for another company's product ... so yes, anyone who wrote games for the 2600 whose name wasn't "Atari" was a third party developer.

 

Anyway... from what I can see, all of these are post-crash third party developers:

 

Absolute Entertainment (a splinter of Activision)

Epyx

Froggo (yes, they did make a couple of original titles. They sucked, though)

Activision

TNT Games

Telegames (technically they just repackaged stuff)

 

Telesys didn't release any games beyond 1982. Sega released before and during the crash (1983-84) but not after.

[MattG/Snyper2099]

Mythacon

Ultravision

Telegames

Froggo

American Videogames (Tax avoiders was 84 I think)

[sku_u]

Imagic released Wing War abroad after the crash AFAIK.

[rolenta]

I guess Sega doesn't count, or does it?  They made that Congo     o game for the 2600 and went on OK after the Crash.  =)  They are first party, but were they considered a 3rd party back then?

 

Technically it wasn't the same Sega. As I wrote in Phonix:

 

"(Sega) had been owned by Gulf & Western. Its American subsidiary Sega Enterprises had produced home software for the 2600 and other machines. In 1983, Gulf & Western sold the (American) subsidiary to Bally, which absorbed it. During the following year the parent company sold Sega of Japan to a group of Japanese investors. The company quickly set up a coin-op sales office in San Jose but that was the extent of its American interest. Like Nintendo, Sega also marketed a videogame console in Japan that it called the Mark III. "

[Curt Vendel]

Len,

 

Mark III was to become the Sega Master System (SMS) here in the US later to compete against the Nintendo NES, right?

 

 

 

 

Curt

[rolenta]

Mark III was to become the Sega Master System (SMS) here in the US later to compete against the Nintendo NES, right?

 

Correct!

[SumerNivek]

Oh OK, I misread the question. I thought it was "which companies survived after the crash that developed for the 2600." I misunderstood the part that he was asking about those that continued to make games for the 2600 after the crash.

 

Eitherway, Sega went on to have a fine future after the crash. =)

[Velvis]

Can someone explain the term "3rd party"?

I understand the definition but why 3rd? and not 2nd?

[sku_u]

Can someone explain the term "3rd party"?

I understand the definition but why 3rd? and not 2nd?

 

Probably for the same grammatical reasons we have 1st person and 3rd person perspectives, but no 2nd person perspective. :wink:

[rolenta]

Probably for the same grammatical reasons we have 1st person and 3rd person perspectives, but no 2nd person perspective.  :wink:

 

There is stuff written in the second perspective. While it's rare that fiction may be written that way, most manuals are in the second person:

 

example: If you start your computer and your screen is blank, try....

[Big Player]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't any software written by the user considered second party software? But only for that person.

 

For example, Climber 5 is second party software for Dennis Debro but it's third party for the rest of us.

 

I thought I read this in an old computer magazine. Or maybe it was Electronic Games?

[A.J. Franzman]

That would be correct. Also, there is a style of 2nd-person perspective fiction books called "gamebooks" perhaps best represented by the children's "Choose Your Own Adventure" series. These were some of my faves back in the early '80s, sort of a hard-copy form of interactive fiction (compare to Infocom games, i.e. Zork, etc.) They were branching stories in which, after the main introductory section, the reader was given a set of choices after every page or two. Here's a style example-

 

... the monster charges you!

 

Do you:

A. Throw your spear at the monster? Turn to page 15.

B. Run away from the monster? Turn to page 46.

C. Hide behind the large boulder? Turn to page 27.

D. Stand your ground? Turn to page 34.

 

Turning to page 34:

You stand your ground, spear firmly in hand, and grimace menacingly at the beast, hoping that displaying a lack of fear will convince the creature that you're not something it can intimidate. Unfortunately for you, this monster doesn't seem to have the intelligence to recognize a strong and determined opponent; it takes no notice of your confidence and lowers its head, striking you full in the chest and hurling you from the cliff...

 

THE END

Return to page 5 and start again.

 

A bit of web searching may find you many of these books reproduced online as hyperlinked stories.

[HermChase]

Although not necessarily 100% grammatically correct, often Rareware was called a "second-party" of Nintendo, due to the fact that it was heavily assossiated with it. Although not Atari related, here is a discussion I found on another board about Nintendo's "second-parties", and how they are defined.

 

http://fryguy64.proboards27.com/index.cgi?...display&start=0

 

--------

Chase Hermsen

[SumerNivek]

Herm, yes, I was about to say "Wasn't Rare considered 2nd party when they were with Nintendo?" You bet me to it!