Atari releases (Silver/Red, etc.) questions

[orrimarrko]

Didn't see anything about this in the rarity guide, so I thought I would ask.

 

I'm just trying to understand things, so I appreciate it if folks can set me straight here.

 

First, from what I can tell, there were several releases for certain titles.

 

For example:

 

Mario Bros. was originally releases in a silver box with a silver label. Later, it was available in a red box with a red label.

 

Is the silver release "Atari Inc." and the red release "Atari Corp."?

 

Second, what's with the silver boxes?

 

Sometimes I see silver boxes with just English on the back and others with 6 languages.

 

Can anyone explain this to me? I'm sure there is a difference dues to release time or something, but I would just like to know the story.

 

As it relates to collecting, is there a English only back of the box for each "silver" release?

 

Again, any information is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[+else]

Unfortunately it's a whole lot more messy than that. In many cases, there are multiple releases of silver games, both by Warner/Atari and Atari Corp. If you look at the copyright dates for a title on the back of the boxes, you may find 1983, 1986, 1987, and 1988 silver releases (for example). Sometimes you can even find games produced in the same year but made in different countries. Some of these later silver releases even had different box styles (silver with red stripe verses silver with full picture). Some of these title were released yet again in red boxes.

 

Most rarity guides that I've seen don't try to get down to this level of detail. Probably because it's really hard to judge the rarity with so many variations out there.

 

Atari Corp unfortunately made a mess of things from a collecting standpoint. The closer you look, the uglier it gets....

Edited April 16, 2006 by else

[video game addict]

Red Mario is PAL

 

There are many games that shipped in more than one box style..

[rheffera]

aye..tis a nightmare on elm street what they did to us collectors

[CPUWIZ]

VGA missed one, I put it next to the one he has in his pic, for comparison. It's a 1986 Atari Corp re-release, silver label.

 

[crunchysuperman]

But that's what makes it fun.

[+else]

I think you what you meant to say is expensive

[orrimarrko]

You'll pardon me for saying so, but you've all been no help thus far.

 

I'm asking these questions to help myself become a more informed buyer.

 

Someone said that the rad labeled Mario Bros. was a PAL release.

 

Okay - does that mean that ALL red labels are PAL releases?

 

For example:

 

Motorodeo is listed as a very rare release according to the guide.

 

I've only seen one pic for it, and every time I do, it's the red box.

 

Since it's supposedly rare, I would think that the sealed copies I see on ebay from time to time would go for big dollars.

 

However, they don't and the ones that go for $150 or so do with criticism.

 

I'm confused.

 

Anyway, what I'm trying to find out is more about the labels and the boxes.

 

I've seen silver with full picture, silver with partial picture and red stripe, "grey" (not silver) labels, and of course the red label - all for the same game.

 

Rather than post a picture of the box, it would be more helpful (to a noob) to show the contents, and explain why the differences exist.

 

I would greatly appreciate that.

 

Also, on the topic - why do some boxes have English only on the back and others have 6 languages? Are there any silver boxed releases that ONLY have the 6 language back?

 

Again, this would all be helpful information.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[orrimarrko]

Red Mario is PAL

 

So ALL red labeled Mario Bros. are PAL?

 

 

There are many games that shipped in more than one box style..

 

Please elaborate as to what I'm looking at in the pic.

 

It would be helpful.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[video game addict]

Red Mario is pal, not all red labels in general. There are a few red label exclusives to the pal marketplace that were previously released in colored or silver boxes here in the states.

 

Colored Atari boxes came first, ('77-'82)

then came the silver boxes, around '82 to '85 or so

 

then Atari Inc became Atari Corp and some boxes were reissued in color older games with newer copyrights, some with multilangual boxes like the Space Invaders in CPUs pic and some games were sold in grayscale boxes, most in '86 but dates between around '85 to '88

 

Then Atari copr silver boxes started coming back, often cheaper knockoffs of the original silver boxes.

 

Then came the red label style & boxes which ran until the early 90's.

 

 

My pic above is just 4 unique box styles of Space Invaders. There are more variants if you count copyright dates, and international boxes (Canada often had boxes in multilangual desgins with NTSC carts inside) and later issue boxes like CPUs. I was just showing the color, & silver, & Red box designs which were offered for the NTSC release of Space Invaders.

[+else]

Anyway, what I'm trying to find out is more about the labels and the boxes.

 

I've seen silver with full picture, silver with partial picture and red stripe, "grey" (not silver) labels, and of course the red label - all for the same game.

 

Rather than post a picture of the box, it would be more helpful (to a noob) to show the contents, and explain why the differences exist.

 

Because you can't do this either. Lots of times Atari would for example have extra labels left over from one production run but print new boxes for the next production run. People have found silver cartridges in red boxes, for example -- or vise versa. Going by copyright dates is even worse. In other words, cartridges with different labels can many times be found inside identical boxes. It is generally believed that when Atari Crop took over, they inherited large amounts of unsold ROMs, manuals, labels, and boxes (in varrying quantities) and just started boxing these up along with new printings of manuals, labels, and boxes (also in varrying quantities). The goal was to print up enough manuals, labels, and boxes to make all the ROMs in to complete games that could be sold. As far as why they did this -- since Atari Corp was notoriously cheap, it was most likely to save money.

 

As I said before, the closer you look the messier and messier things get. It's very hard to drawn any general conclusions, which seems what you're trying to do....

 

Or maybe I'm still not understanding your question?

Edited April 17, 2006 by else

[orrimarrko]

Anyway, what I'm trying to find out is more about the labels and the boxes.

 

I've seen silver with full picture, silver with partial picture and red stripe, "grey" (not silver) labels, and of course the red label - all for the same game.

 

Rather than post a picture of the box, it would be more helpful (to a noob) to show the contents, and explain why the differences exist.

 

Because you can't do this either. Lots of times Atari would for example have extra labels left over from one production run but print new boxes for the next production run. People have found silver cartridges in red boxes, for example -- or vise versa. Going by copyright dates is even worse. In other words, cartridges with different labels can many times be found inside identical boxes. It is generally believed that when Atari Crop took over, they inherited large amounts of unsold ROMs, manuals, labels, and boxes (in varrying quantities) and just started boxing these up along with new printings of manuals, labels, and boxes (also in varrying quantities). The goal was to print up enough manuals, labels, and boxes to make all the ROMs in to complete games that could be sold. As far as why they did this -- since Atari Corp was notoriously cheap, it was most likely to save money.

 

As I said before, the closer you look the messier and messier things get. It's very hard to drawn any general conclusions, which seems what you're trying to do....

 

Or maybe I'm still not understanding your question?

 

Nope - you've understood it correctly; and your answer makes more sense to me now.

 

I was trying to approach it from a logical (if this, then that) type of analysis. However, that's not possible if the variables aren't constant.

 

Unfortunately, that makes it (as you said) very messy.

 

Answer me one thing if you would though. I've noticed silver boxes with English only on the back, and some with 6 languages. Any difference there?

 

Were ALL silver boxed released games available with the English only on the back?

 

I don't like the multi-language boxes (that's why I'm asking.)

 

Thanks,

Steve

[video game addict]

You will find that in the early years at least, Atari had English only boxes for the states, and multi-language boxes printed for overseas & Canada.

 

In the case of the silver boxes, original Atari Inc boxes from the early 80s tend to be in English only. Most if not all the Atari Corp silver boxes from the late 80s are in multi-langauges.

[video game addict]

Were ALL silver boxed released games available with the English only on the back?

 

 

I'm going to guess no here. Silver box Space Invaders, Obelix, & Asterix, I believe only exist with the multi-language backs as best I can tell. But most of the silver boxes do come in both flavors.

 

Here are a few examples:

[+else]

Answer me one thing if you would though. I've noticed silver boxes with English only on the back, and some with 6 languages. Any difference there?

 

Were ALL silver boxed released games available with the English only on the back?

 

I don't like the multi-language boxes (that's why I'm asking.)

 

I'm not really too knowledgable on the multi-language boxes. I've got what I consider a fairly large collection, and yet I've only come across a few of them. I guess they're pretty rare -- at least here in the U.S.....

[+FujiSkunk]

I'm sure this mostly is going to repeat what others have said, but here goes nothing.

 

Games originally published by Atari Inc. came in full-color boxes with full-color manuals and either black- or silver-label cartridges. U.S. releases had English-only packaging, while elsewhere the packaging was usually (not always) multi-language. There is no overlap between black-label and silver-label Atari Inc. releases. Some black-label games did have their packaging tweaked during the Atari Inc. era; the switch from text labels to picture labels is the most obvious example, but some manuals and boxes were also revamped at the time.

 

Games originally published by Atari Corp. came in full-color boxes, two-tone manuals, and red-label cartridges. U.S. releases usually (not always) had English-only packaging, while elsewhere the packaging was usually (not always) multi-language.

 

Games re-released by Atari Corp. are an absolute mess. In the States, the box was usually full-color and multi-language, the manual was usually a black-and-white reprint of the original multi-language manual, and the cartridge label was usually similar to the original release, with perhaps a minor change in design. Some English-only boxes did get out. Some black-label-era games came in black-and-white boxes. Some English-only manuals made it out, though I don't think Atari Corp. ever printed any full-color manuals. Sometimes a game with an earlier style of packaging was rechristined with silver-label or red-label packaging; these redesigns were mostly only released in PAL land, though a few did make it to NTSC land. And to really confuse things, sometimes a game with one style of box ended up with a different style of manual and/or cartridge inside.

 

Here is a perfect example of just how screwed up Atari Corp. really made things. I once bought a new-in-box Atari Corp. Space Invaders, originally a black-label game. The box was in the red-label style. The cartridge had a silver-label design. The manual was a black-and-white reprint of the black-label manual. I have no reason to believe the game didn't come from the factory like this.

 

I've made it a point to collect only the Atari Inc. packaging for games from the black- and silver-label eras, though I do make an exception for some red-label re-releases. I like the newer boxes.

Edited April 17, 2006 by skunkworx

[orrimarrko]

Thank you for these last couple of posts - they sum up EVERYTHING that I was hoping to have answered, complete with pics that I needed too.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Steve

[ntavio]

Red Mario is PAL

 

There are many games that shipped in more than one box style..

 

Never saw the blue "red box style" box before. Is it PAL? Are there others?

 

This post is depressing. I thought I was a few games from having a complete boxed Atari collection and now this...............Got more work after finishing the grey boxes.

 

Learn something new everyday.