compiling homebrew list

[keitaro]

Hi, I´m compiling a list of homebrews developed for atari systems, sorted by year.

It´s very incomplete. So, contributions/corrections will be well received

atari_homebrews.txt

[atarimind]

Any idea what are these two titles:

 

The Blair Witch Project Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Blair-Witch-Projec...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The Amityville Horror Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Amityville-Horror-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Are these hacks?

[Mr. Postman]

Any idea what are these two titles:

 

The Blair Witch Project Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Blair-Witch-Projec...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The Amityville Horror Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Amityville-Horror-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Are these hacks?

 

Yep, they're hacks.

 

http://www.salemfrostgames.com/

[jbanes]

Marvin: As usual. Brain the size of planet, and everyone forgets about the robot. Never mind Deimos Lander, it wasn't important.

Door: Have a wonderful day!

Marvin: Stop doing that. You're depressing me.

Door: I'm sorry. Have a even better day!

Marvin: ...

 

[Shawn]

How about the first homebrew ever EDTRIS 2600 ? 1995 release by Hozer.

[+atari2600land]

Ants is finished for the most part. If you're going to list every single homebrew game ever made, you might want to try the Batari 2600 BASIC page (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?act=SF&f=65) and the Minigame Compo page (http://www.minigamecomp.org.uk/)

[pocketmego]

Any idea what are these two titles:

 

The Blair Witch Project Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Blair-Witch-Projec...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The Amityville Horror Game Atari 2600 Halloween

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Amityville-Horror-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Are these hacks?

 

Yep, they're hacks.

 

http://www.salemfrostgames.com/

 

Are they both Hacks of Haunted House or just the Blair Witch one?

 

-Ray

[+SpiceWare]

Go here

http://www.atariage.com/software_search.html?SystemID=2600

 

and enter Rarity of Homebrew.

[+Propane13]

Old Hozer data is still missing, even with that search on atariage.

Alphanumeric Madness, 2600 Post-it Note, and Tazer are all missing.

I even had a demo version of Pressure Gauge 2 at one time.

So, my recommendation is... if you want to capture all of the oldies, you'll need to get an old Hozer catalog to start.

 

Oh, and don't forget to add "The Core". That won't be anywhere.

 

-John

[vdub_bobby]

A couple of corrections:

 

First, GO FISH should have an exclamation point at the end: GO FISH!

 

Also...

 

M-4 (note the dash) was never released on a cart by itself, but it was released as part of the 2005 Minigame Multicart (2005) which should be on your list.

 

And MAN GOES DOWN should be classified as a WIP, it was never released on cart.

 

..Hmmm. Looking closer, you seem to be missing a bunch:

Hunchy II (2005)

INV+ (2004)

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2002)

Dark Mage (?)

All (?) of the Ebivision games: Pesco (1999), Alfred Challenge (1998), Allia Quest (2001), Merlin's Walls (1999), Pac-Man (1999), Power Off! (2004)

SWOOPS! (2005)

Synthcart

Testcart

Probably also the 2nd iterations of Warring Worms and SCSIcide should be listed separately as well.

And it's Strat-O-Gems Deluxe, not STRATO GEMS

Solar Plexus

Poker Squares

Pressure Gauge

Yahtzee

 

Plus...

[Shawn]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart? That seems a little too far cause sense BB came out little 4k "homebrews" are running almost as rampant as the shitty little "hacks" that keep coming out every 3 seconds.

[vdub_bobby]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart? That seems a little too far cause sense BB came out little 4k "homebrews" are running almost as rampant as the shitty little "hacks" that keep coming out every 3 seconds.

There's no need to be an jerk - and there is really no cause for being a misspelling, grammar-butchering jerk.

[+atari2600land]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart?

That's exactly what I was wondering, because if 'homebrew' means 'released on a cart', Ants should not be on that list. However, you might want to make an exception for the games not released on cart but in the Minigame Compo, because some of them, like Ooze!, and most of the other 4k games not on a cart are actually kinda good. And I have been compiling a list of Batari 2600 Basic games at my website (link in my signature) and I'm really trying to keep it as updated as possible. It's been slow going for Basic games (at least on the Atari 2600 BASIC forum), and some of those games released by those students (Snaze version 7 especially) are actually pretty good.

[Shawn]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart? That seems a little too far cause sense BB came out little 4k "homebrews" are running almost as rampant as the shitty little "hacks" that keep coming out every 3 seconds.

There's no need to be an jerk - and there is really no cause for being a misspelling, grammar-butchering jerk.

 

I'm not being a jerk, I'm just stating the truth. And that is that there is an overflow of demo quality games and non-sense hacks coming out at a 100mph over the last 6 months. The majority of them don't even hold a candle to the works that people INCLUDING YOU (yes a complement) put alot of time and effort into and do get a cart release and\or are picked up by AtariAge and sold in the Store. Do you think for 1 second that even half of the games I'm refering too would ever sell a single copy to the average "I wanna play a new fun and good game" croud? But thanks for the personal insults, it warms my heart to feel so welcomed by your kind words when what I was talking about is Advicating work like yours needs to be set a bar above the cannon fodder.

[SeaGtGruff]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart? That seems a little too far cause sense BB came out little 4k "homebrews" are running almost as rampant as the shitty little "hacks" that keep coming out every 3 seconds.

Just my $0.02, but personally, I think a game should be released on a cartridge before being added to a homebrew game list, otherwise what would the criteria be? I mean, I've written several little programs (long before bB was released) that do things like display all 128 colors at once, but they aren't "homebrews" by any stretch of the imagination. And maybe there should be some additional criteria besides being released on a cartridge, because if only one actual cartridge has been made for a game or demo or hack, then it isn't like people can buy it. Maybe there should be a minimum number of cartridges, plus a printed manual for the game, or something like that?

 

Michael Rideout

[Andrew Davie]

So is a homebrew count even if it's not released on a cart? That seems a little too far cause sense BB came out little 4k "homebrews" are running almost as rampant as the shitty little "hacks" that keep coming out every 3 seconds.

Just my $0.02, but personally, I think a game should be released on a cartridge before being added to a homebrew game list, otherwise what would the criteria be? I mean, I've written several little programs (long before bB was released) that do things like display all 128 colors at once, but they aren't "homebrews" by any stretch of the imagination. And maybe there should be some additional criteria besides being released on a cartridge, because if only one actual cartridge has been made for a game or demo or hack, then it isn't like people can buy it. Maybe there should be a minimum number of cartridges, plus a printed manual for the game, or something like that?

 

Michael Rideout

 

And there are even exceptions to this 'rule'. How about 'Boulder Dash' which quite happily lives on a cartridge, is essentially complete, has released MPGs showing gameplay --- but due to copyright reasons just hasn't been released? Surely it belongs in the homebrew list!

 

Cheers

A

[Shawn]

 

And there are even exceptions to this 'rule'. How about 'Boulder Dash' which quite happily lives on a cartridge, is essentially complete, has released MPGs showing gameplay --- but due to copyright reasons just hasn't been released? Surely it belongs in the homebrew list!

 

Cheers

A

 

I thought those guys (copyright holders) where cool about letting the name\look of BD get used? Shows ya what I know!!

[SeaGtGruff]

How about 'Boulder Dash' which quite happily lives on a cartridge, is essentially complete, has released MPGs showing gameplay --- but due to copyright reasons just hasn't been released? Surely it belongs in the homebrew list!

That's a good point. There could be legitimate homebrews that *can't* be (legally) released due to some reason or other, yet would *definitely* be on the list if they *could* be released. Still, there ought to be some kind of criteria-- or maybe subcategories to distinguish between different types of homebrews?

 

Michael Rideout

[Atari2600guru]

How about the first homebrew ever EDTRIS 2600 ? 1995 release by Hozer.

 

Edtris 2600 was the first homebrew game, but depending on how you define "homebrew", there was a release before that. In 1994 Ed Federmeyer (who programmed Edtris 2600) made and sold a cartridge called "SoundX (with Dazzle Demo 1)". He wrote SoundX to demonstrate the sound capabilities of the 2600 and make it easy to select sounds to put in his games that he planned on programming. Once he finished programming SoundX, he posted to rec.games.video.classic asking for advice and materials for making some SoundX cartridges to help out other aspiring programmers. I had just bought out a warehouse of Atari games and had a ton of Imagic cartridges. I recommended that he use the Imagic cartridges since they are easy to open and put back together (no sliding dust cover). I ended up sending him some Imagic cartridges and he made and sold about 20 copies of SoundX (I don't remember the exact number). It came with a four-page instruction booklet and no box. Each cartridge got a serial number that was actually programmed into the software and shows up on the screen. Also, each label had a hand-written serial number, date, and Ed's signature. Ed gave me serial number one since I helped him out with his project. After making those cartridges, Ed decided he didn't want to mess with cartridge making anymore, so he partnered with Hozer to sell SoundX and later Edtris 2600.

 

Ed made a similar program called "Custom Color Demo" that demonstrated the colors of the 2600 (I think that was the same as Dazzle Demo 1 except that it has Ed's name on the screen in front of the color demo). I think he only made two cartridges of this and it was never publicly available. He made one cartridge for himself and I commissioned him to make one for me that says "John Earney" on the screen with the color demo going in the background (which I thought was the coolest thing).

 

I took a picture, but I dont' see how to attach it to the post...

 

John

[BrianC]

 

And there are even exceptions to this 'rule'. How about 'Boulder Dash' which quite happily lives on a cartridge, is essentially complete, has released MPGs showing gameplay --- but due to copyright reasons just hasn't been released? Surely it belongs in the homebrew list!

 

Cheers

A

 

I thought those guys (copyright holders) where cool about letting the name\look of BD get used? Shows ya what I know!!

 

I know that First Star is against unlincensed clones of their games, but they seem to mainly go after ones with the exact levels and the name Boulder Dash. However, First Star allowed officially lincensed new versions of Bolderdash II and a couple other games for the 5200. Is it possible to get the 2600 Boulder Dash lincensed by First Star like the 5200 versions of First Star games?

Edited July 27, 2006 by BrianC

[Zach]

The question of defining a homebrew has come up before: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77924

 

I'd argue that software development is only one part of homebrewing, and publishing carts is just as important. The definition I've used required that cartridges be produced and sold or otherwise offered to the public.

 

Sorry Andrew, until your game is released, it is a WIP. How about pulling a "Conquest", if you are having trouble with copyright?

[+atari2600land]

Well, in that case, Ants should definitely not be on that list, because I don't plan on releasing it officially.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Sorry Andrew, until your game is released, it is a WIP.

No, it's just an unreleased homebrew. So maybe the name of the list should be changed?

[+atari2600land]

Super Maria Sisters is for sale, so it should be on the list (2006). How many people are actually going to buy it is a whole other matter entirely.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Super Maria Sisters is for sale, so it should be on the list (2006). How many people are actually going to buy it is a whole other matter entirely.

Which introduces another interesting question:

Is "for sale" good enough or shouldn't at least one copy be sold? And how about games that where never sold but only available as gifts/bonus?