Mike Mika -> Kickman & 2600 Programming book???

[Scott Stilphen]

What happened to these projects? I've never heard of any more updates on info since they were mentioned in NG (a YEAR ago!)

[Atarian75]

I have been patiently waiting for Kickman as well and am wondering what happened. My money is ready and waiting for whenever this project is completed. I hope it has not been abandoned. If you have any info please let us know. Thanks.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I've heard that Mike wanted to reprogram the demo from scratch again, because he wasn't satisfied with the result.

 

So why don't you ask him directly? Here is his address: [email protected]

[Scott Stilphen]

I did, but he never replied.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by Scott Stilphen:

I did, but he never replied.

---

Then you should perhaps ask Manuel (Cybergoth), he was in contact with Mike this Januar.

[Nukey Shay]

For that matter, whatever happened to Dade (from the old boards)? http://web.archive.org/web/20000815235351/...s.com/wwwboard/

 

Wonder if he finished any of his projects?

 

[ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: Nukey Shay ]

[NE146]

Whoah!! it's the old Nexus msg board!

 

Wow thanks for the nifty tip on finding them!!

[Nukey Shay]

Yeah, the wayback can find a lotta stuff you thought was dead (and the more you use it, the longer it lives).

Funny thing...I was Rhindle on the old board.

[Tempest]

By the time he gets Kickman out the real prototype will probably be found. I know its out there somewhere...

 

Tempest

[rolenta]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tempest:

By the time he gets Kickman out the real prototype will probably be found. I know its out there somewhere...

---

 

CBS never showed it. They had a show at the New York Automat in 1983, one week before Summer CES, where all of their games were on display (including Wings). They gave out a handout which showed screenshots of upcoming games and Kickman was listed there, however the screenshot was a drawing.

 

[ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: rolenta ]

[Albert]

I also hope Mike is able to find time someday to finish this game as well as the book he was working on. Given how things go in the game industry, he's probably just very busy with his job and hasn't really had time to put into his 2600 endeavors.

 

..Al

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by NE146:

Whoah!! it's the old Nexus msg board!

 

Wow thanks for the nifty tip on finding them!!

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Yes, this is great! I didn't know until now. To bad that the message board is not archived correctly. Or am I doing something wrong?

 

Al should notice this somewhere, so that everybody finds this information. Or will you be able to bring the whole old Nexus archives online again?

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

quote:

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Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch:

Then you should perhaps ask Manuel (Cybergoth), he was in contact with Mike this Januar.

---

 

Well, of course I'm always on the hunt for new Xype titles

 

Back then, Mike was ultimately busy with his company, Digital Eclipse (You might probably know, they did Rayman, X-Men and several other GBA titles lately)

 

In his own words:

"I'm full time development at Digital Eclipse, so my time is very limited, and

the last thing I enjoy doing when I get home is programming, just because

my eyes hurt too much"

 

But, he said that he _is_ working on the book and, as Thomas already said, he wantded to rewrite Kickman from scratch. (Though I can say, that the current demo version is already very promising)

 

I'd just wait, I'm sure he'll have both the book and the game ready some day

 

Greetings,

Manuel

 

[ 04-09-2002: Message edited by: Cybergoth ]

[Tempest]

quote

CBS never showed it. They had a show at the New York Automat in 1983, one week before Summer CES, where all of their games were on display (including Wings). They gave out a handout which showed screenshots of upcoming games and Kickman was listed there, however the screenshot was a drawing.

 

 

No kidding? I always assumed Kickman was shown at the show. At least Wings existed at one point.

 

Didn't the Columbia Game Club list Kickman in their catalog? Maybe thats where I got the idea that it existed.

 

Tempest

[Scott Stilphen]

I've seen some CBS literature that shows screenshots (not drawings) of Kickman (both 2600 and Intellivision!), Targ, and Wings.

 

Here's a release schedule from 83:

 

 

[ 04-09-2002: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

[iocat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scott Stilphen:

What happened to these projects? I've never heard of any more updates on info since they were mentioned in NG (a YEAR ago!)

---

 

Work at Digital Eclipse has been pretty busy(we just shipped Atari Anniversary Advanced for GBA, by the way), which is why progress on the book and demo have ground more or less to a halt for the time being, and a few other things have gotten in the way (ask Mike about his scratch-built miniature Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet). The plan is to have something for GCE, although that was the plan last year, too...

 

I know Mike does want to redo the demo from scratch, so it is more modular -- this will help with the book. Once he gets a chance to do that, the book will probably get done pretty fast.

 

Anyway, sorry it's taking so long!

 

-Chris

[Nukey Shay]

Thomas--

Yeah, the info is archived correctly...problem is that's the only board page that made it into the archives. Probably due to the number of hits that page got when the board was being revised.

 

Oh, and the search function won't work without Java.

Here's how you open everything... http://web.archive.org/web/*sa_/http://www...ri2600nexus.com

 

If you open any page and add wwwboard/ to the end of the address, it will just flip you to that last board page (most of the messages can be opened, though).

[Nukey Shay]

They've gotta be using their own space to store all that stuff, too. Look here-- http://web.archive.org/web/20001206073600/...rum.cgi?forum=2

 

I wonder if any rom links made it into the files

[Albert]

Hi Chris and thanks for the update. I for one certainly know how hectic it can get at times when working for a game company. I'm still working on five foreign versions of Deus Ex PS2, which is something that should have been long finished by now.

 

I look forward to Kickman and I'm glad to hear that it hasn't been abandoned, along with the 2600 Programming for Dummies book. I'm encouraged by the desire to have something for CGE. As if I'm not already going to be overwhelmed by everything at the show!

 

Thanks again,

 

..Al

[moycon]

Hey Tempest here's that CHouse catalog page:

 

Columbia House

 

Also here's a thread from back in December discussing Kickman. I believe a prototype must be out there....I mean how could they offer the thing for sale at one time?? It had to at least be pretty far along in development...no???

 

KickMan Thread

[bradjewell]

There are some rare games in that ad, aren't they?

Haven't we learned from the past that ads probably don't mean anything about development though? We can look at a bunch 2600 game ads, and especially the Atari Jaguar. There were a million ads and picture of games that I don't think anyone gave a thought about hardly.

I guess I'm just bitter. I want my Highlander 2 and 3 on Jag CD.

 

Brad

[rolenta]

quote:

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Originally posted by moycon:

I mean how could they offer the thing for sale at one time??

---

 

Both Kickman and Spectravision's Mangia were offered through the club. However if you ordered it, Columbia sent you a letter saying that they were 'out of stock' and that the orders would be shipped as soon as the stock was replentished, which of course they never were.

[Tempest]

So Manigia was never sold through the Columbia Game Club? Does that mean only the PAL version exists? So where did that ROM file come from?

 

Tempest

[Scott Stilphen]

"After further review", it appears the 2600 screenshot isn't real (5 balloons falling on rack #2?!?), but I'd guess that it's a fairly accurate representation of how it looks.

 

 

[Tempest]

Yeah I'd say the other picture is defenitly Intellivision. Look at the score counter, the 0 is square with that little dot in the center. That's the Intellivision's built in character set all the way.

 

Tempest