Darran@Retro Gamer Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 sorry about the rubbish first post. I can't find the info anywhere also, does anyone know how much the 2600 was when it was first released in the UK? Cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 sorry about the rubbish first post. I can't find the info anywhere also, does anyone know how much the 2600 was when it was first released in the UK? Cheers guys 999756[/snapback] I can answer your first question at least. Ms. Pac-Man for the 2600 was developed by a Boston company called General Computer Corporation, which also developed several other home console and computer titles for Atari in the mid-1980s (as well as the Atari 7800 ProSystem). Incidentally, GCC also developed a modification kit for the original Pac-Man, which was bought by Namco and eventually became the Ms. Pac-Man coin-op. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Here, this should help, this is the list of what games were written by whom at GCC for Atari: 2600 Ms. Pac Man - Mike Horowitz and Josh Littlefield Phoenix - Mike Feinstein and John Mracek Vanguard - Dave Payne Galaxian - Glen Parker and Tom Calderwood (I think) Jungle Hunt - Mike Feinstein and John Allred Battlezone - Mike Feinstein and ?? (I don't remember his name, but he was very smart!) Joust - Mike Feinstein and Kevin Osborn Track and Field - Seth Lipkin and ?? Jr. Pac Man - Ava-Robin Cohen and ?? Pole Position - Betty Ryan Tylko and Doug Macrae (I think) 7800 Pole Position II - Doug Macrae and ?? Desert Falcon - Mike Feinstein, Bob Kukura, and John Mracek Food Fight - Jonathan Hurd (he designed the arcade game, too) Galaga - Dave Krall worked on this, but I don't remember who else Centipede - I think Dave Payne worked on this Dig Dug - Noeli Alito and Ava-Robin Cohen (I think) Xevious - Wookie (I don't remember his real name) Robotron 2084 - Carlos Smith Ms. Pac Man - Mike Horowitz and Josh Littlefield Ball Blazer - Dave Payne This was a list sent to me by Michael FeinStein, former GCC programmer. Curt sorry about the rubbish first post. I can't find the info anywhere also, does anyone know how much the 2600 was when it was first released in the UK? Cheers guys 999756[/snapback] I can answer your first question at least. Ms. Pac-Man for the 2600 was developed by a Boston company called General Computer Corporation, which also developed several other home console and computer titles for Atari in the mid-1980s (as well as the Atari 7800 ProSystem). Incidentally, GCC also developed a modification kit for the original Pac-Man, which was bought by Namco and eventually became the Ms. Pac-Man coin-op. 999775[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Here, this should help, this is the list of what games were written by whom at GCC for Atari:Thanks for posting that list! I hadn't seen some of those names before and it's nice to see them get the credit they deserve; everyone says 2600 Ms. Pac-Man is one of the best ports of Ms. Pac-Man but nobody ever knows the names of the developers (until now!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 GC was not affiliated with namco, the publisher of pac-man. They were a group of students who had some game machines that no one wanted to play, so they decided to mod them. They were sued by Atari for moding their missle command machine, but since they didn't copy or pirate any of the code, the case was settled and they became a developer for Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Hi there! Whoah! This is the info I've been waiting for several years now! Finally I can add some names to my GCC worship shrine! Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 To answer the second question, I believe (although I can't find my source) that the VCS was released in UK in 1978 at a price of £249. Accounting for inflation, that'd be £854 today!! Little wonder that the 2600 wasn't as popular in UK as US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 (edited) Track and Field - Seth Lipkin and ?? Track and Field - Seth Lipkin and Jaques Hugon Edited January 13, 2006 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 It was expensive here too, $249 in 1977, or about $776* today. * I used the CPI from here http://eh.net/hmit/compare/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 (edited) 2600 Ms. Pac Man - Mike Horowitz and Josh Littlefield I thought this was programmed by more than 1 person. Thanks for the info Curt. Edited January 14, 2006 by DEBRO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 That information probably needs to go into the AtariAge database at some point. I just did a quick search, and found that the programmers of Vanguard, Ms. Pac-Man, and Jr. Pac-Man (three of my favorites from GCC's 2600 list) are uncredited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Famicoman Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think its funny how the origional Pac-Man sequal was to have a character with legs. The mod kits were also usually acceleraters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Player Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Here, this should help, this is the list of what games were written by whom at GCC for Atari: 2600 Ms. Pac Man - Mike Horowitz and Josh Littlefield Phoenix - Mike Feinstein and John Mracek Vanguard - Dave Payne Galaxian - Glen Parker and Tom Calderwood (I think) Jungle Hunt - Mike Feinstein and John Allred Battlezone - Mike Feinstein and ?? (I don't remember his name, but he was very smart!) Joust - Mike Feinstein and Kevin Osborn Track and Field - Seth Lipkin and ?? Jr. Pac Man - Ava-Robin Cohen and ?? Pole Position - Betty Ryan Tylko and Doug Macrae (I think) 7800 Pole Position II - Doug Macrae and ?? Desert Falcon - Mike Feinstein, Bob Kukura, and John Mracek Food Fight - Jonathan Hurd (he designed the arcade game, too) Galaga - Dave Krall worked on this, but I don't remember who else Centipede - I think Dave Payne worked on this Dig Dug - Noeli Alito and Ava-Robin Cohen (I think) Xevious - Wookie (I don't remember his real name) Robotron 2084 - Carlos Smith Ms. Pac Man - Mike Horowitz and Josh Littlefield Ball Blazer - Dave Payne This was a list sent to me by Michael FeinStein, former GCC programmer. Curt That is a list of some damn good games. I had no idea GCC made so many of the good 2600 ports. And I know this is the 2600 forum, but Food Fight and Robotron for the 7800 are gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayton Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Wow! Lots of info there. Need to document that! Anyways, I've got to say Ms. Pac-Man is a very fun game on the 2600. I do prefer the 7800 to the 2600, but I still have love for the 2600 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think its funny how the origional Pac-Man sequal was to have a character with legs. Beg pardon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 (edited) Wow! Lots of info there. Need to document that! Anyways, I've got to say Ms. Pac-Man is a very fun game on the 2600. I do prefer the 7800 to the 2600, but I still have love for the 2600 version. 1000054[/snapback] There used to be a Ms. Pac-Man coin-op in an arcade near me, and although I was disappointed when it was taken out, I don't miss it anymore now that I have Ms. Pac-Man on the 7800. To me, that is the very best version of the game for a home system: it's GCC's game, running on GCC's hardware, and to me it's as good as you can get outside of MAME. The 2600 version would never be mistaken for the coin-op, of course, but it's a terrific game in its own right and light-years ahead of the original 2600 Pac-Man. Edited January 14, 2006 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think its funny how the origional Pac-Man sequal was to have a character with legs.Beg pardon?1000058[/snapback] He's referring to the original Crazy Otto kit for Pac-Man by GCC, in which Pac-Man was changed into a character with legs and the "ghosts" had little antennae. With Crazy Otto, GCC added the concepts of the different mazes and the bonuses that wandered about the maze and other gameplay changes that they added to make Pac-Man more interesting. This was before the game went to Namco, at which time the graphics were reworked and the game became Ms. Pac-Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 That information probably needs to go into the AtariAge database at some point. I just did a quick search, and found that the programmers of Vanguard, Ms. Pac-Man, and Jr. Pac-Man (three of my favorites from GCC's 2600 list) are uncredited. 999980[/snapback] Yes, I agree, and will update those entries. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 It was expensive here too, $249 in 1977, or about $776* today. The VCS launched at $199.99 apparently, not $249.99, despite lots of places quoting that figure. As for the UK, I found some research that shows it was £169 at launch, but I've already passed that onto Darran... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think its funny how the origional Pac-Man sequal was to have a character with legs.Beg pardon?1000058[/snapback] He's referring to the original Crazy Otto kit for Pac-Man by GCC Yeah, I'm familiar with Crazy Otto. Famicoman made it sound like it was somehow official (which it couldn't have been farther from). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 (edited) So were any of these guys involved with GCC's arcade endeavors as well? I did love Quantum. What's the rest of the list: Otto, Food Fight and the Missile Command tweak? Only 500 Quantums were made? I knew of two arcades that had one. Edited January 14, 2006 by NovaXpress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Galaxian - Glen Parker and Tom Calderwood (I think) Could they have done Centipede too? There are unused Galaxian graphics in the ROM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiu Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Namco had nothing to do with Ms. Pac-Man (or Jr. Pac-Man, or Pac-Man Plus, or Baby Pac-Man). GCC showed their Crazy Otto design to Midway to stave off a lawsuit like Atari hit them with, and it was Midway who said "Instead of a hack, why not make us a sequel?", and so they had GCC turn Crazy Otto into Ms. Pac-man. Namco had no idea any of this was happening. GCC also hacked Pac-man into Jr. Pac-Man, but they were not a part of Baby Pac-Man. (And GCC sued Midway for using their idea of a "Pac-Man family" without them). Midway and GCC eventually gave/sold all the Pac-hacks to Namco to prevent still more lawsuits, but Midway's unauthorized sequels were the main reason for Namco and Midway breaking off relations. It was a lawsuit-happy time. So GCC made both the arcade Ms. Pac-Man and the Atari 2600 port - that might be why the game is so true to the arcade (within Atari 2600 limitations, of course) -DS- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran@Retro Gamer Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 Did Mike and Josh make anything else after Ms Pac-Man?> I've looked around but can't find anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Really? That's very odd. I guess they must have used Galaxian as the code base for Centipede. I can't think of any other reason it would have the graphics in it. Tempest Galaxian - Glen Parker and Tom Calderwood (I think) Could they have done Centipede too? There are unused Galaxian graphics in the ROM. 1000310[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.