[Poking around some files, I discovered the autobiography I wrote for my time as an editor at Suite 101. Apparently I never put it up here on my blog, so here you go. It was probably written in late 1996. I've tweaked it slightly.]
I was born in 1971. Later that same year, a new industry called "video games" was born with the release of Computer Space. Like me, it wasn't until 1972 that the industry took off. For them, it was with the release of the original Magnavox Odyssey and Pong. When we finally met, I knew we were destined to be together.
Actually, I no longer remember the first video game I saw. Perhaps it was Space War or some simplistic, black and white driving game. Regardless, I was attracted to them. Then a guy named Pac-Man came along and I was truly hooked. From the time Pac-Man was released to around the time I started high school, I just couldn't get enough. I would spend a good portion of my time and money in the local arcade. Then, when the money was gone, I'd go home and crank up the Atari 2600 and play some more. It was fun while it lasted.
It happens that my entering high school coincided with a crash in the video game market. This crash, coupled with the new distractions of high school, caused video games and me to lose touch with each other for awhile. It was video games, however, that led me into computers. I have come to make a career out of working with computers, as many other netizens have. There is no doubt in my mind that much of what led me down this path were the video games I played when I was younger.
Around the time I finished high school and began college to get a degree in Computer Science, I noticed that I could now get Atari 2600 cartridges much cheaper than before. The 2600 was on the way out and the Nintendo Entertainment System was in. Being a poor college student, I began to build my collection of 2600 cartridges. Then, it happened. I discovered Usenet newsgroups, particularly one called alt.games.video.classic. There I discovered that there were other people who actually collect old video game consoles and cartridges. Amazing!
Today, I strive to help preserve the old, classic video games. There is actually a sizable community of collectors and you can find us in rec.games.video.classic. For me, at least, it is a chance to preserve my youth and ensure it will be around for future generations to see how far we've come.
Showing posts with label classic video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic video games. Show all posts
03 January 2020
12 June 2013
Remembering CVG 101 and Classic Gamer Magazine
I was relieved at the warm welcome Cav gave me. Reviewing the earliest e-mail I have from him, it looks like I probably referenced Suite 101 and he was not only familiar with my articles for them, but said he enjoyed them a lot. I quickly proposed a column called CVG 101 (for "classic video games") as a continuation of what I'd done at Suite 101 and he agreed. He introduced me to my fellow writers a few weeks later.
In addition to my column, I also worked with Cav on a classic video game newswire. My memories of this are fuzzy at best. I think we probably just agreed to make each other aware of news stories for our respective sites. I know I was running news on the Classic Video Games Nexus.Our second item up for bid is: Lee Seitz. Lee also knows his stuff. He runs a great website at http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/cvg/nexus/ or better known as the "Classic Videogame Nexus" [sic]. His website is a great resource for information and I'm very thankful for having him along for the ride.
Looking through my old e-mails, it appears I gave feedback to all of Cav's e-mails about the progress on the latest issue or the magazine in general. I didn't mind giving my opinions, but tried to do it nicely and with the full understanding that I wasn't the one in charge. Which is good, because some of my suggestions were not the way the magazine went.
Things went okay. I say okay not because of any bad experiences -- Cav was incredibly nice and understanding -- but because I had a bad tendency to run up against and sometimes a bit past the deadlines. This was entirely my own fault. But when I did miss a deadline, I was typically given a bit of extra time because my work generally required little editing. I think part of the reason he was so understanding is that Cav had a tendency to blow his own deadlines, which is understandable since creating an entire magazine was, as best I know, an entirely new thing to him.
For #3, I wound up lifting a great deal of text from an article I'd written for Suite 101, with Cav's permission. I took the article I wrote on Sears labels and reworked it as an article on cartridge label variations with special emphasis on Sears labels.
I finally got to meet Cav at Classic Gaming Expo 2000. I also met his significant other (and later, wife) Sarah Thomas. It was a pleasure hanging out with both of them. It was also nice to hear Sarah, who was the one primarily responsible for editing all the submissions, say to me the same thing Cav had about my articles needing little in the way of editing.
 |
| Chris Cavanaugh and Sarah Thomas |
I submitted an article for the seventh issue of CGM, but before the issue was published, Cav had to fold the magazine. Despite a major investment at the beginning, the magazine had continued to lose money due to lack of advertisers, so he had no choice. He later tried reviving it as a free, PDF-only publication, but only got two issues out before folding again. My article intended for #7 was included in Volume 2, #1 in 2004. But by then I had two kids and little spare time, so I was unable to contribute any more articles.
Cav has kept the Classic Gamer Magazine name around. He published a single issue of Volume 3, again as a free PDF, in 2010. He also still owns the www.classicgamer.com domain, although as I write this he's been having problems with his host and the site is down. However, he also runs an active Facebook page for it. And you can find a complete PDF archive of CGM at Digital Press. But for my own ego trip, here the articles I wrote for the magazine, which I'm proud to have been a part of.
- CGM #1, Fall 1999: Classic Video Games in a Nutshell
- CGM #2, Winter 1999–2000: Cleaning Your Cartridges
- CGM #2, Winter 1999–2000: Catching Up With Buckner and Garcia
- CGM #3, Spring 2000: When is a Combat Not a Combat?
- CGM #4, Summer 2000: Interview with Jerry Greiner
- CGM #4, Summer 2000: The Comic Book Connection
- CGM #5, Fall 2000: What I Learned Over Summer Vacation
- Unpublished: The Atari 2600-Hasbro Link
- CGM #6, Spring 2001: Please Don't Chew the Gum!
- CGM Volume 2, #1; April 2004: Em-yoo-lay-shun
26 April 2013
My Time as Suite 101's Classic Home Video Games Editor
In mid-1996, I was contacted by Julie Bradshaw to become an "editor" for a new web site called Suite 101. They were seeking people for a variety of topics who would maintain a top 5 list of sites related to the topic and write a weekly article about it. I wasn't sure if I could commit to writing one article a week, so I hemmed and hawed with myself. Months of indecisiveness paid off when they announced the creation of part-time editors. I then quickly put in my application as the "classic home video games" editor. I figured I could handle one article a month. And I did…until my wife got pregnant. I managed to continue my duties for a time, but finally I missed an entire month. I realized I had to resign, perhaps just temporarily, so I did so in February 1998.
In case you haven't guessed, I never went back. It's all rather fuzzy now, but a review of my e-mails helped refresh my memory a bit. I never got much in the way of feedback from Suite 101 users, although the management told me at one point my topic ranked "around 55 out of 205 topics," putting me just out of the top 25%. I enjoyed the writing and later wrote a regular column for Classic Gamer Magazine, but that's a story for another time. A little extra cash never hurts, either.
As I said above, editors also picked a "top 5" sites related to their topic. I was running the Classic Video Games Nexus at the time, so the hard part wasn't finding five sites, but figuring out which five to link to. I no longer have records of that, but I seem to remember including the Nexus as one of the links. Nobody ever said I had to be completely unbiased.
When I was involved, Suite 101 was owned by i5ive communications inc., a Canadian company. (Yes, they used the name in all lower case.) That's pronounced "I-five" (or "eye five"). I don't know what's happened with it since I left, but Suite 101 still exists today with no mention of that company. (i5ive's old domain now belongs to i5ive Affordable Online Insurance.) While my work for i5ive was work for hire, under the terms of my contract I was free to reproduce the editorials on my own web site, so I'm going to assume that also applies to my blog, a concept that didn't exist back then. Furthermore, Suite 101 removed all the articles I wrote some time after I resigned. That kept stale topics from polluting the ones that were still updated regularly. So given the changes that have happened in the 15 years since I wrote these, I doubt Suite 101 has any record of me working for them any more anyway. Here, then, are my bio and the 16 articles I wrote for Suite 101 on Classic Home Video Games.
In case you haven't guessed, I never went back. It's all rather fuzzy now, but a review of my e-mails helped refresh my memory a bit. I never got much in the way of feedback from Suite 101 users, although the management told me at one point my topic ranked "around 55 out of 205 topics," putting me just out of the top 25%. I enjoyed the writing and later wrote a regular column for Classic Gamer Magazine, but that's a story for another time. A little extra cash never hurts, either.
As I said above, editors also picked a "top 5" sites related to their topic. I was running the Classic Video Games Nexus at the time, so the hard part wasn't finding five sites, but figuring out which five to link to. I no longer have records of that, but I seem to remember including the Nexus as one of the links. Nobody ever said I had to be completely unbiased.
When I was involved, Suite 101 was owned by i5ive communications inc., a Canadian company. (Yes, they used the name in all lower case.) That's pronounced "I-five" (or "eye five"). I don't know what's happened with it since I left, but Suite 101 still exists today with no mention of that company. (i5ive's old domain now belongs to i5ive Affordable Online Insurance.) While my work for i5ive was work for hire, under the terms of my contract I was free to reproduce the editorials on my own web site, so I'm going to assume that also applies to my blog, a concept that didn't exist back then. Furthermore, Suite 101 removed all the articles I wrote some time after I resigned. That kept stale topics from polluting the ones that were still updated regularly. So given the changes that have happened in the 15 years since I wrote these, I doubt Suite 101 has any record of me working for them any more anyway. Here, then, are my bio and the 16 articles I wrote for Suite 101 on Classic Home Video Games.
- c. late 1996: Autobiography
- November 1996: Classic Home Video Games: An Introduction
- December 2, 1996: How to Start A Classic Video Game Collection Part 1: Picking a System
- December 27, 1996: How to Start a Classic Video Game Collection Part 2: The System Choices - The Atari Trio
- January 17, 1997: The November 1996 editorial was repeated for Suite 101's grand opening.
- February 1, 1997: How to Start a Classic Video Game Collection Part 3: The System Choices - Non-Atari
- February 28, 1997: How to Start a Classic Video Game Collection Part 4: Where to Find Classics
- April 4, 1997: New Games for Classic Systems
- May 2, 1997: Atari 2600 Technical Spotlight
- June 6, 1997: Electronicon is Coming!: Would I Con You?
- July 4, 1997: Is It Live or Is It Emulated? - Part 1: Shareware and Freeware Emulators
- July 18, 1997: Is It Live or Is It Emulated? - Part 2: Commercial and Upcoming Emulators
- August 15, 1997: Thrifting: A Definition
- September 5, 1997: Preview: Atari Gaming HQ
- October 7, 1997: System Spotlight: Magnavox Odyssey
- November 14, 1997: Book Review: Phoenix (2nd Edition)
- December 12, 1997: When is a Combat not a Combat?
- February 13, 1998: Piracy: Collectors' Friend or Foe
08 November 2011
Boxed Intellivision find
I was perhaps a latecomer to Craigslist, but today my CraigsNotification app for my phone finally paid off! Now, I've seen some items come and go before, but typically they were priced beyond what I was willing to pay. This purchase, however, has made up for a lot of those.
It was a very brief listing about a working Intellivision and "a bunch of games" for $25 featuring a photo of the Master Component sitting on its box! Although I responded within an hour saying I was interested and asking if the games were also boxed, apparently I was the second to respond. He said yes, the games were boxed, but he might already have a buyer and would get back to me.
Three days later, he sent me an e-mail saying he'd given up on the other person. He said he had about 12-15 games, all in the boxes with overlays. We made arrangements and met this morning. What he had far exceeded my expectations! Here's the list, which has 24 games. Nothing overly rare, but almost everything seems to be boxed and complete!
There's also the original receipt, showing his (or probably his dad's) purchase of the console ($257.87) and Space Battle ($27.87) from Service Merchandise on August 24, 1981. With tax, the grand total was $305.74. I even found the original price tag inside the console's box.
The serial number on the box is handwritten (316663). Anyone know if that was common? And it doesn't match the typed serial number on the console (722341). However, the console also has a "TRW Rescue" sticker on the bottom dated 12-02-82 and another bright orange stickers saying "For service call TRW" with a phone number, so I'm wondering if the console had to be repaired and was swapped with another.
The price tags on the IntelliVoice box (serial no. 256826) are also interesting. They're all from Kmart. The oldest one visible is marked 5-84 and is for $19.97. There's then a series of labels ending in one from 6-86 for $4.00. He expressed dissatisfaction with the IntelliVoice when I was looking through everything and from the contacts, it appears to have been used very little.
One oddity I noticed as I went through is that most of the boxes were missing a long flap across the top or bottom. I thought maybe they were sent in for some sort of rebate and asked the seller about it via e-mail. Unfortunately, he could not recall why they were removed and, in fact, the games hadn't even been pulled out for who knows how long until I looked at them when we met.
He's apparently a well organized person who doesn't throw things away. I asked if it'd been sitting in his attic all this time and he said no, it'd been sitting on a shelf in his house. All in all, the condition of this stuff is amazing. I'm happy to have it. Now, how to let my wife know?
It was a very brief listing about a working Intellivision and "a bunch of games" for $25 featuring a photo of the Master Component sitting on its box! Although I responded within an hour saying I was interested and asking if the games were also boxed, apparently I was the second to respond. He said yes, the games were boxed, but he might already have a buyer and would get back to me.
Three days later, he sent me an e-mail saying he'd given up on the other person. He said he had about 12-15 games, all in the boxes with overlays. We made arrangements and met this morning. What he had far exceeded my expectations! Here's the list, which has 24 games. Nothing overly rare, but almost everything seems to be boxed and complete!
- Intellivision (I) Master Component with packing materials (styrofoam & bags) & docs
- Intellivoice in bubble wrap with docs
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Cartridge
- Armor Battle
- Astrosmash
- B-17 Bomber
- Blockade Runner (the only one I didn't already have)
- Bomb Squad
- BurgerTime
- Donkey Kong
- Football (INTV)
- Football (INTV), SHRINKWRAPPED!
- Frogger
- Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack (of course)
- Major League Baseball
- Night Stalker
- PBA Bowling
- PGA Golf
- Sea Battle
- Snafu (Sears)
- Space Armada
- Space Battle
- Tennis
- U.S. Ski Team Skiing
- Tron Maze-A-Tron
- World Challenge Baseball (the only one not boxed; also missing instructions)
- Intellivision Game Club News #2
- Triton catalog, Fall 1985
- Triton catalog, Spring 1986
- Triton catalog, Fall 1986 (x2)
There's also the original receipt, showing his (or probably his dad's) purchase of the console ($257.87) and Space Battle ($27.87) from Service Merchandise on August 24, 1981. With tax, the grand total was $305.74. I even found the original price tag inside the console's box.
The serial number on the box is handwritten (316663). Anyone know if that was common? And it doesn't match the typed serial number on the console (722341). However, the console also has a "TRW Rescue" sticker on the bottom dated 12-02-82 and another bright orange stickers saying "For service call TRW" with a phone number, so I'm wondering if the console had to be repaired and was swapped with another.
The price tags on the IntelliVoice box (serial no. 256826) are also interesting. They're all from Kmart. The oldest one visible is marked 5-84 and is for $19.97. There's then a series of labels ending in one from 6-86 for $4.00. He expressed dissatisfaction with the IntelliVoice when I was looking through everything and from the contacts, it appears to have been used very little.
One oddity I noticed as I went through is that most of the boxes were missing a long flap across the top or bottom. I thought maybe they were sent in for some sort of rebate and asked the seller about it via e-mail. Unfortunately, he could not recall why they were removed and, in fact, the games hadn't even been pulled out for who knows how long until I looked at them when we met.
He's apparently a well organized person who doesn't throw things away. I asked if it'd been sitting in his attic all this time and he said no, it'd been sitting on a shelf in his house. All in all, the condition of this stuff is amazing. I'm happy to have it. Now, how to let my wife know?
13 October 2010
eBay brag?
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
Like many of you.... Well, there's really not that many left here, are there? Hmmmm.
Like many collectors, I have a selection of saved eBay searches. One item managed to somehow capture my attention enough to actually go see the listing. Then I noticed it was a local seller. Then I noticed I knew him! (We've met, but are just acquaintances.) Given free local delivery, I bid on several items and won these:
[Thanks, Walton G.!]
Like many of you.... Well, there's really not that many left here, are there? Hmmmm.
Like many collectors, I have a selection of saved eBay searches. One item managed to somehow capture my attention enough to actually go see the listing. Then I noticed it was a local seller. Then I noticed I knew him! (We've met, but are just acquaintances.) Given free local delivery, I bid on several items and won these:
- Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games
- Open, Sesame (Bit Corp) for Atari 2600 (CIB, PAL)
- Cross Force (Spectravision) for Atari 2600
- Dactar 4 in 1 for Atari 2600
- Buzz Bomber for Intellivision
- World Championship Baseball for Intellivision
[Thanks, Walton G.!]
27 August 2010
Yard sale score: Vintage Pac-Man bank
A few days ago, Craigslist had an ad for a yard sale coming on Friday and Saturday that promised "old Atari game cartridges". I e-mailed them asking about them, but got no response. A year (or maybe less) ago, I had a bad experience of getting up early and driving all the way across town for a sale that promised Atari games. First, the guy didn't bother to start his yard sale at the promised time. After waiting and waiting, I wound up having to leave before he even came out. When I was able to return, it turned out someone had e-mailed him and bought the games days before the yard sale even began. At least this time the yard sale was on the way to work, so I wouldn't be put out if the games were gone or the sale not begun on time.
So, I got up early to get there around their 7:00 a.m. opening time. Actually, thanks to Hannah, I got up even earlier than I intended, but by the time she was asleep, it wasn't worth going back to bed. For the first time, I trusted my new phone's GPS completely and headed out with only a rough idea of where I was going. It got me there with no problems and I started looking around.
This yard sale was pretty cool! Many old board games, some old Disney and Sesame Street records, a few old Mad magazine issues, and Sweet Pickles children's books. I'd completely forgotten about Sweet Pickles! It was like a big slice of my childhood. Apparently the couple used to frequent flea markets and antique stores, buying up this stuff, but now they were getting rid of much of it at great prices. Luckily, I resisted the urge to buy a bunch of stuff and try to resell it on eBay. I've already got too much of that stuff, which I never seem to get around to actually selling. I did almost buy an old copy of the Clue board game that was the same as the one I'd grown up with, though.
I didn't find the games immediately, but it didn't take long. Two freezer bags of four cartridges each marked "$2.50 each." Unfortunately, it was all fairly common games. However, I did find a vintage Pac-Man bank by Tomy. Tomy took advantage of the products they'd previously produced in association with their Mr. Mouth game and simply rebadged them as Pac-Man. But they were officially licensed by Bally/Midway! (Kids, Mr. Mouth started out as a big, yellow, bald dude, not a frog. And why doesn't Mr. Mouth have a Wikipedia entry?!?) I got it for $1. Works fine, but needs some cleaning. Oh, and it had a penny already in it, so I guess technically it was 99 cents.
And as you can see, I also picked up a not-so-vintage Pac-Man lunch box. It's not a quite full-sized lunch box, being only about 2/3 the depth (I'd estimate) of a standard '50s-'80s metal lunch box. I almost put it back, but for $1, I went ahead and kept it. But I'm much more psyched about the vintage Pac-Man bank.
So, I got up early to get there around their 7:00 a.m. opening time. Actually, thanks to Hannah, I got up even earlier than I intended, but by the time she was asleep, it wasn't worth going back to bed. For the first time, I trusted my new phone's GPS completely and headed out with only a rough idea of where I was going. It got me there with no problems and I started looking around.
This yard sale was pretty cool! Many old board games, some old Disney and Sesame Street records, a few old Mad magazine issues, and Sweet Pickles children's books. I'd completely forgotten about Sweet Pickles! It was like a big slice of my childhood. Apparently the couple used to frequent flea markets and antique stores, buying up this stuff, but now they were getting rid of much of it at great prices. Luckily, I resisted the urge to buy a bunch of stuff and try to resell it on eBay. I've already got too much of that stuff, which I never seem to get around to actually selling. I did almost buy an old copy of the Clue board game that was the same as the one I'd grown up with, though.
I didn't find the games immediately, but it didn't take long. Two freezer bags of four cartridges each marked "$2.50 each." Unfortunately, it was all fairly common games. However, I did find a vintage Pac-Man bank by Tomy. Tomy took advantage of the products they'd previously produced in association with their Mr. Mouth game and simply rebadged them as Pac-Man. But they were officially licensed by Bally/Midway! (Kids, Mr. Mouth started out as a big, yellow, bald dude, not a frog. And why doesn't Mr. Mouth have a Wikipedia entry?!?) I got it for $1. Works fine, but needs some cleaning. Oh, and it had a penny already in it, so I guess technically it was 99 cents.
And as you can see, I also picked up a not-so-vintage Pac-Man lunch box. It's not a quite full-sized lunch box, being only about 2/3 the depth (I'd estimate) of a standard '50s-'80s metal lunch box. I almost put it back, but for $1, I went ahead and kept it. But I'm much more psyched about the vintage Pac-Man bank.
30 May 2010
Wow, a genuine 2600 game thirft store find
I was let off work a little early on Friday because of the holiday weekend. I thought I'd hit the comic book shop before going home as Fantastic Four #589 was out and it might have more Dire Wraiths in it. (I ultimately discovered it doesn't, but Rom is mentioned by a letter writer in the letter column.) To avoid an intersection that gets nasty at rush hour, I decided to take the old way to the store. Unfortunately, I was having a senior moment and started to take the way to a store that's been out of business for years now.
After getting back on track, I realized I was passing a thrift store I'd seen a few times, but hadn't yet stopped at, so I did. I'd been in the store maybe a minute when I spotted a Master Merlin. I'd never actually held one of these sequels to the classic Parker Brothers electronic game, so I quickly grabbed it. When I finally got the battery compartment open, it looked okay. Some minor battery acid on one contact, but nothing that looked like it would prevent it from working. Worth a $2 gamble, I thought. I also found a Michael Bolton CD with several of his hits on it. He probably hit his peak back when I was in college and my iPod is currently Bolton-less, so this is a great buy at $1.
I finally stumbled upon a box of 2600 games. And VIC-20 games? Huh. Anyway, looking through them, I see one title that I don't think I have. Unfortunately, my PDA with my lists of games owned died a while back, so I'm shopping blind. After being quoted a $3.50 price with only $5 on me (cash only store) and $3 already committed, I decide to take the gamble that it won't go anywhere before tomorrow after I check to see if I have it.
I get home. The Master Merlin works fine, I'm happy to report. And it turns out I indeed do not have Solar Storm by Imagic in my 2600 collection. Let the worry begin that it'll disappear before I can return.
Finally, late Saturday afternoon I get back to the store. The box is still there, but someone's moved some of the games around. Looking, looking, whew, it's still here. When I get to the register, it's only $2.50 plus tax. Either I heard him wrong yesterday or their prices are inconsistent. Finally tested it late Saturday night, just before posting this, and it works just fine.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I found an Atari 2600 game I didn't have at a thrift store. Yes, I found one at a video game store last year, but that's not quite the same. Most of my finds of games I didn't already have of late have been Intellivision games, which is not my primary system of interest. The 2600 is. I'll be savoring this for a few days.
Postscript: My timing couldn't have been better, apparently. On Monday, this thrift store posted an ad to Craigslist specifically mentioning "Atari Video Game systems" [sic]. So if this thrift store wasn't on my competition's radar before, it is now.
After getting back on track, I realized I was passing a thrift store I'd seen a few times, but hadn't yet stopped at, so I did. I'd been in the store maybe a minute when I spotted a Master Merlin. I'd never actually held one of these sequels to the classic Parker Brothers electronic game, so I quickly grabbed it. When I finally got the battery compartment open, it looked okay. Some minor battery acid on one contact, but nothing that looked like it would prevent it from working. Worth a $2 gamble, I thought. I also found a Michael Bolton CD with several of his hits on it. He probably hit his peak back when I was in college and my iPod is currently Bolton-less, so this is a great buy at $1.
I finally stumbled upon a box of 2600 games. And VIC-20 games? Huh. Anyway, looking through them, I see one title that I don't think I have. Unfortunately, my PDA with my lists of games owned died a while back, so I'm shopping blind. After being quoted a $3.50 price with only $5 on me (cash only store) and $3 already committed, I decide to take the gamble that it won't go anywhere before tomorrow after I check to see if I have it.
I get home. The Master Merlin works fine, I'm happy to report. And it turns out I indeed do not have Solar Storm by Imagic in my 2600 collection. Let the worry begin that it'll disappear before I can return.
Finally, late Saturday afternoon I get back to the store. The box is still there, but someone's moved some of the games around. Looking, looking, whew, it's still here. When I get to the register, it's only $2.50 plus tax. Either I heard him wrong yesterday or their prices are inconsistent. Finally tested it late Saturday night, just before posting this, and it works just fine.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I found an Atari 2600 game I didn't have at a thrift store. Yes, I found one at a video game store last year, but that's not quite the same. Most of my finds of games I didn't already have of late have been Intellivision games, which is not my primary system of interest. The 2600 is. I'll be savoring this for a few days.
Postscript: My timing couldn't have been better, apparently. On Monday, this thrift store posted an ad to Craigslist specifically mentioning "Atari Video Game systems" [sic]. So if this thrift store wasn't on my competition's radar before, it is now.
16 June 2009
Found needed 2600 cart for -$1
It hasn't happened in a long time, but today I got a 2600 cartridge I didn't have before: Pete Rose Baseball. Unfortunately, this wasn't a quarter find at a garage sale or flea market, but when you've got as many 2600 games as I do (about 300), you'll take about anything new. And in reality, I actually made money on the deal. Well, sort of.
You see, a few weeks ago I found out via Craigslist that there was a new used game shop in town. It deals exclusively in consoles older than current. That is, everything that's not Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360. They've got PONG consoles on their shelves, for Winslow's sake! While I never completely lost interest, collecting video games has been on the back burner with me for a long time. Finding this store, however, has got me interested again.
My interest was mildly renewed upon finding another used game store a few months ago. But this newest store is an improvement over that one in two ways. First, while the other does have some 2600- and NES-era games, the selection is very limited. Second, it's closer. :-) And in general, it's just nice to have a couple non-GameStop video game stores in town.
So, getting back to the point. My trade bait is an absolute mess. I came to realize I've go to pare things down a bit a while back, but haven't done much towards that yet. One of the things I acquired that's got to go are some used Genesis games I'm not really interested in from the local Freecycle group. Those were handy, so today I took them down. There was a couple versions of Street Fighter II, Primal Rage, and some sports games. Unsuprisingly, they only offer $0.50 for sports games, so I wound up with a grand total of $5 for them.
Checking the 2600 games, however, I discovered the Pete Rose Baseball. A game I actually needed! Although worth more, it was $3.99, so she gave me the game and $1. All for a bunch of carts I got for free. So I guess that's:
1) Troll for games on Freecycle.
2) Trade them in.
3) Profit!
You see, a few weeks ago I found out via Craigslist that there was a new used game shop in town. It deals exclusively in consoles older than current. That is, everything that's not Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360. They've got PONG consoles on their shelves, for Winslow's sake! While I never completely lost interest, collecting video games has been on the back burner with me for a long time. Finding this store, however, has got me interested again.
My interest was mildly renewed upon finding another used game store a few months ago. But this newest store is an improvement over that one in two ways. First, while the other does have some 2600- and NES-era games, the selection is very limited. Second, it's closer. :-) And in general, it's just nice to have a couple non-GameStop video game stores in town.
So, getting back to the point. My trade bait is an absolute mess. I came to realize I've go to pare things down a bit a while back, but haven't done much towards that yet. One of the things I acquired that's got to go are some used Genesis games I'm not really interested in from the local Freecycle group. Those were handy, so today I took them down. There was a couple versions of Street Fighter II, Primal Rage, and some sports games. Unsuprisingly, they only offer $0.50 for sports games, so I wound up with a grand total of $5 for them.
Checking the 2600 games, however, I discovered the Pete Rose Baseball. A game I actually needed! Although worth more, it was $3.99, so she gave me the game and $1. All for a bunch of carts I got for free. So I guess that's:
1) Troll for games on Freecycle.
2) Trade them in.
3) Profit!
23 December 2008
Finally found a copy of Zap!
[The following was originally posted to the Usenet group rec.games.video.classic. I waited until after Christmas to post it to my blog so my mother wouldn't know what she was getting. As a result, this post has been backdated from when it was actually posted, five days later.]
My mother is hard to shop for, but an avid reader, so today I went to a used book store to see if I might find something for her. This led me to wander through a lot more of the hard cover section than I usually do on my infrequent trips there. And in doing so, I finally came across the game section. And what do I find on the shelf between the books on chess and bridge? A copy of Zap!: The Rise and Fall of Atari by Scott Cohen. I have been looking for this book for years! (Possibly because I've been unwilling to pay eBay prices.)
I've actually already read it before. It turned out my local library has a copy. (And yes, I considered doing something unethical like checking it out, failing to return it, and paying the fine, but I'm not that kind of person.) I realize it's not a perfect history. I also realize that it was republished by John Hardie through Xlibris. But that's just not the same as having an original, hard cover copy from 1984.
It makes a lovely addition to my collection. It's in very good condition with a tight spine, free of markings, and still has the dust jacket. Just some light wear along the top and bottom of the spine. Looks like it may have been read once (or possibly not) and then sat on someone's shelf for years before being traded in. Heck, for all I know it could have been sitting on the shelf at the book store for years. (Although not since the '80s, as they had a fire 11 years ago which forced them to restock.) Oh, and the best part was the price: $4 plus tax. (And I did find something for my mother, too.)
My mother is hard to shop for, but an avid reader, so today I went to a used book store to see if I might find something for her. This led me to wander through a lot more of the hard cover section than I usually do on my infrequent trips there. And in doing so, I finally came across the game section. And what do I find on the shelf between the books on chess and bridge? A copy of Zap!: The Rise and Fall of Atari by Scott Cohen. I have been looking for this book for years! (Possibly because I've been unwilling to pay eBay prices.)
I've actually already read it before. It turned out my local library has a copy. (And yes, I considered doing something unethical like checking it out, failing to return it, and paying the fine, but I'm not that kind of person.) I realize it's not a perfect history. I also realize that it was republished by John Hardie through Xlibris. But that's just not the same as having an original, hard cover copy from 1984.
It makes a lovely addition to my collection. It's in very good condition with a tight spine, free of markings, and still has the dust jacket. Just some light wear along the top and bottom of the spine. Looks like it may have been read once (or possibly not) and then sat on someone's shelf for years before being traded in. Heck, for all I know it could have been sitting on the shelf at the book store for years. (Although not since the '80s, as they had a fire 11 years ago which forced them to restock.) Oh, and the best part was the price: $4 plus tax. (And I did find something for my mother, too.)
01 October 2008
Hallmark missed the point
How did this happen? I caught a post on Usenet a couple months ago saying there would a Pac-Man coin-op ornament released in October, so I set a reminder in my PDA. (That's what they're for, right?) It goes off today, so I go looking at the Hallmark web site to see if I can find the date. What I find is an ornament page with the photo you see to the right.
That's not the coin-op I remember and loved. Yes, it's yellow. Yes, the shape's right. Yes, it has the lovely, red-knobbed joystick. But the marquee and side art, two of the most important distinguishing characteristics of an arcade cabinet, are all wrong. What I remember is the classic Midway cabinets, like the one to the left (photo stolen from the KLOV).
What, I wondered, had gone wrong? Could it be that somehow, after Midway's Pac-Man contract expired and Namco got the rights back in the States that they could no longer use the art from Midway's cabinets? Is this, perhaps, what the cabinets looked like in Japan, except for having "Pac-Man" where it was "Puc-Man"?
Unfortunately, my Google fu failed me and I could not find a photo of the Japanese coin-op. But I did come across what you see to the right at the Brookstone web site: a 25th anniversary coin-op for home use. Look, right there on the side! That's the Midway artwork! (Yes, with a 25th anniversary Pac-Man logo over the top of it, but that's irrelevant.) Obviously, Namco can still use the artwork.So now I'm just baffled. Hallmark has made a Pac-Man coin-op ornament, advertised under "Nostalgia & Fun," but made something that doesn't actually look like what Generation X will remember. Nostalgia is a very tricky thing. No, an item need not look exactly like the original to invoke it, but it needs to be close. Hallmark's ornament falls short of that. I don't care if it does make the original arcade sounds -- which is cool, I admit -- I'm not nearly as interested as I was and probably won't bother to buy it now.
Am I being to picky? Has my years of dedication to the classic video games as a hobby clouded my judgment? Will others not remember the Pac-Man cabinet as well as I? I may have to poll my friends. Maybe that's also a good excuse to let them know about my new blog!
01 May 2007
Re: Any good finds lately?
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
In article <0AbZh.1532$VE.1164@newsfe12.lga>, T. Rivet wrote:
>Managed to hit the flea market and a few rummage sales today, but didn't
>see a thing worthwhile.
>Not a game related siting at the yard sales, completely bone dry.
>Anyone else having any luck? Or has it dried up everywhere?
My neighborhood had a yard sale this Saturday. I found an Atari Ultra Pong in the box with instructions. A check of the battery compartment revealed batteries which weren't leaking, but it looked like there might have been some leak slightly once before. In general, the console was in good shape. I haven't taken the time to test it yet. This is my first Ultra Pong. Oh, and I paid $5. (It was marked $20.)
The box is in good shape except for the packing tape used once to seal one end. Unfortunately, it appears someone ripped some of it off at one time, leaving a white gash in the front. :-( The instructions would be in good shape if they hadn't been all crumpled up from the console being put in on top of them.
[I posted a followup on 24 May 2007.]
Sorry to follow up on my own post, but it's actually an Atari Ultra Pong Doubles. Unfortunately, it's missing two of the four paddles. But the good news is that it does work. It was kind of odd, though. When I first started testing it, there was no sound. As me and my sons played it, though, the sound started working.
Which leads me off on a tangent. Many "pong" consoles have their own speaker rather than using the televisions. Why is this? Was it really cheaper to include a speaker in the console rather than the circuitry to send both video *and* audio to the television? And how hard is it to convert a "pong" to work directly with modern TVs with separate audio/video inputs?
[J. T. August answered my question.]
In article <0AbZh.1532$VE.1164@newsfe12.lga>, T. Rivet
>Managed to hit the flea market and a few rummage sales today, but didn't
>see a thing worthwhile.
>Not a game related siting at the yard sales, completely bone dry.
>Anyone else having any luck? Or has it dried up everywhere?
My neighborhood had a yard sale this Saturday. I found an Atari Ultra Pong in the box with instructions. A check of the battery compartment revealed batteries which weren't leaking, but it looked like there might have been some leak slightly once before. In general, the console was in good shape. I haven't taken the time to test it yet. This is my first Ultra Pong. Oh, and I paid $5. (It was marked $20.)
The box is in good shape except for the packing tape used once to seal one end. Unfortunately, it appears someone ripped some of it off at one time, leaving a white gash in the front. :-( The instructions would be in good shape if they hadn't been all crumpled up from the console being put in on top of them.
[I posted a followup on 24 May 2007.]
Sorry to follow up on my own post, but it's actually an Atari Ultra Pong Doubles. Unfortunately, it's missing two of the four paddles. But the good news is that it does work. It was kind of odd, though. When I first started testing it, there was no sound. As me and my sons played it, though, the sound started working.
Which leads me off on a tangent. Many "pong" consoles have their own speaker rather than using the televisions. Why is this? Was it really cheaper to include a speaker in the console rather than the circuitry to send both video *and* audio to the television? And how hard is it to convert a "pong" to work directly with modern TVs with separate audio/video inputs?
[J. T. August answered my question.]
"I can go to any electronics surplus store and buy little cone speakers under $1 each. The circuits to produce the audio channel(s) of an r/f signal are several, and have to be soldiered into the r/f circuit, making it noticeably more complicated. So yes, it was easier and cheaper to just include an internal speaker."
14 April 2007
Brag: Turbo board game
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
Today was half-price day at the local kids' sale. For those without kids, this is basically a giant consignment sale. A small group rents a space for a month, takes in pre-priced items from contributors, has volunteers help sort them and set up, and so on. The primary seller is kids' clothing, but there are also toys, books, baby items, etc.
Since most items come from parents of kids ages 0-12, it's usually not a hot spot to find classic video game stuff, although often there's some more modern games. Today I scored a 1982 Turbo board game in great shape and complete for $2. I didn't have this one, so it was a nice find.
I also picked up one of those Ms. Pac-Man TV Games by Jakks Pacific for $2. Someone had left the batteries in it until they leaked -- I didn't think these things had been around long enough for that to happen(!) -- but some Q-tips and vinegar took care of that. It works fine. This is the first of the arcade-based TV Games plug-and-plays I've spent any time playing. It's old news, but they did an okay job on it. The controls obviously aren't up to arcade standards, but the games are close enough to the real thing that the differences just nag at you a bit. (As opposed to the whole thing being so obviously something like an NES-on-a-chip that you want to retch.) Rotating the joystick to steer in Pole Position worked better than I thought it would.
It's been a long time. Nice to find something "new" again.
Today was half-price day at the local kids' sale. For those without kids, this is basically a giant consignment sale. A small group rents a space for a month, takes in pre-priced items from contributors, has volunteers help sort them and set up, and so on. The primary seller is kids' clothing, but there are also toys, books, baby items, etc.
Since most items come from parents of kids ages 0-12, it's usually not a hot spot to find classic video game stuff, although often there's some more modern games. Today I scored a 1982 Turbo board game in great shape and complete for $2. I didn't have this one, so it was a nice find.
I also picked up one of those Ms. Pac-Man TV Games by Jakks Pacific for $2. Someone had left the batteries in it until they leaked -- I didn't think these things had been around long enough for that to happen(!) -- but some Q-tips and vinegar took care of that. It works fine. This is the first of the arcade-based TV Games plug-and-plays I've spent any time playing. It's old news, but they did an okay job on it. The controls obviously aren't up to arcade standards, but the games are close enough to the real thing that the differences just nag at you a bit. (As opposed to the whole thing being so obviously something like an NES-on-a-chip that you want to retch.) Rotating the joystick to steer in Pole Position worked better than I thought it would.
It's been a long time. Nice to find something "new" again.
28 May 2006
Re: Just a small brag [Mattel Football I handheld]
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
In article, Relic wrote:
To add my own brag, I found a Football I at a church rummage sale for
$0.50 a month or two ago. And it had the battery cover, something the
one I've had since back in the '80s is missing. Works, too.
In article
Went into a local thrift store earlier today and found a number of the old Mattel Electronics devices laying around their toy section. My guess is that someone got rid of their collection en masse judging how many devices were there. I just picked up three (fearing that they may not work); Football 1 (1977 copyright on back), Auto Race (1976 on back, missing the battery cover) and Battlestar Galactica Space Alert (1978, missing battery cover).Cool!
To add my own brag, I found a Football I at a church rummage sale for
$0.50 a month or two ago. And it had the battery cover, something the
one I've had since back in the '80s is missing. Works, too.
26 May 2006
Brag: INTV games
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
Hi! Maybe someone here still remembers me. I haven't checked in for a long time. Video games have been on the backburner as a hobby for a while now. I'm trying to do some catching up here, but I'm currently reading messages from July and August 2005! Despite this, I thought I'd check in with a brag, as they're few and far between for me these days.
For the past year and a half, I've been going on a semi-annual trip that took my by a flea market quite a ways away from here. I was happy to discover a stall with used video games all the way back to the 2600. Back in October, I stopped even though I didn't really have enough money to buy anything. Boy, was I sorry! I found copies of Stadium Mud Buggies and Hover Force for the Intellivision.
Now honestly, I don't know Intellivision rarity that well, as it's not my primary system. A check of eBay when I got home, however, had me kicking myself for not buying them. It's too far to make a special trip, even for such gems, so I waited.
A few weeks back, it was time to go again. With some trepidation, I stopped at the flea market and went to see what they had. At first, I couldn't even find any Intellivision games, but continued searching revealed that box. It had been covered by something else, causing me to overlook it.
I scan through the titles. They're both still there! Also Bump 'N Jump and Chip Shot Super Pro Golf! And Pitfall II, which according to my list, I don't have. I pick them all up for $2 each!
"Wait a minute," you say, "Pitfall II wasn't released for the Intellivision!" This is true. I told you Intellivision wasn't the system I know best. It turns out this is a C-64 cartridge that got stuck in with the Intellivision ones. Oops.
I finally tested them tonight, except for Pitfall II. They all work! It's nice to find something I don't have. That they're of respectable rarity is even better.
[I found these at the flea market beside I-59 near Hammondville during our semi-annual trip to a Cub Scout camp out. I'm amazed they were still there after six months. I haven't seen them ever get anything new in for the classic consoles since, so I no longer mind sharing that information. — 18 June 2010]
Hi! Maybe someone here still remembers me. I haven't checked in for a long time. Video games have been on the backburner as a hobby for a while now. I'm trying to do some catching up here, but I'm currently reading messages from July and August 2005! Despite this, I thought I'd check in with a brag, as they're few and far between for me these days.
For the past year and a half, I've been going on a semi-annual trip that took my by a flea market quite a ways away from here. I was happy to discover a stall with used video games all the way back to the 2600. Back in October, I stopped even though I didn't really have enough money to buy anything. Boy, was I sorry! I found copies of Stadium Mud Buggies and Hover Force for the Intellivision.
Now honestly, I don't know Intellivision rarity that well, as it's not my primary system. A check of eBay when I got home, however, had me kicking myself for not buying them. It's too far to make a special trip, even for such gems, so I waited.
A few weeks back, it was time to go again. With some trepidation, I stopped at the flea market and went to see what they had. At first, I couldn't even find any Intellivision games, but continued searching revealed that box. It had been covered by something else, causing me to overlook it.
I scan through the titles. They're both still there! Also Bump 'N Jump and Chip Shot Super Pro Golf! And Pitfall II, which according to my list, I don't have. I pick them all up for $2 each!
"Wait a minute," you say, "Pitfall II wasn't released for the Intellivision!" This is true. I told you Intellivision wasn't the system I know best. It turns out this is a C-64 cartridge that got stuck in with the Intellivision ones. Oops.
I finally tested them tonight, except for Pitfall II. They all work! It's nice to find something I don't have. That they're of respectable rarity is even better.
[I found these at the flea market beside I-59 near Hammondville during our semi-annual trip to a Cub Scout camp out. I'm amazed they were still there after six months. I haven't seen them ever get anything new in for the classic consoles since, so I no longer mind sharing that information. — 18 June 2010]
05 April 2004
CVG 101: Em-yoo-lay-shun? (originally for Classic Gamer Magazine)
[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article was originally published in CGM volume 2, #1 (April 2004). This is the article as I submitted it and does not exactly match what was published.]
An
emulator is simply a program that lets one computer imitate a
different computer. When I say “computer,” I mean it in almost
the most generic sense. In this case, an electronic device that uses
microprocessors to, er, compute. For example, there are emulators
that let your Apple Macintosh act like a PC, your PC pretend it's a
Sony PlayStation, and your PlayStation think it's an Intellivision.
(And for some real fun, try running the Intellivision emulator on
your PlayStation emulator on your PC emulator on your Mac.) Sounds
simple enough, right? “So,” you ask, “how do they work?” I
wish you hadn't asked that.
Creating
an emulator is not a simple task. It takes a lot of technical
know-how and programming skills. It's really more complicated that
I can explain in this limited space, but let's see if I can cover
the basics. Since this is Classic
Gamer
Magazine,
we’ll limit our discussion to home video game consoles and
coin-operated arcade video games. For all video games, there are
four primary areas to consider: video, audio, controls, and central
processing unit(s). These are collectively known as the hardware.
The
CPU emulation is really the heart of an emulator. It's the CPU
that runs the program that is the game, whether the game is contained
in a chip on a cartridge (as in home consoles) or on several chips
soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) (as in arcade games). In
order for an emulator to run a game, you have to make your computer
processor run as if it were the console's or coin-op's CPU.
In addition to the CPU, there are probably other processors that handle the video, audio, and controls. When the emulator programmer creates these components, he must not only have them imitate the original hardware, but translate their input or output to the emulator's host system. For example, you can't hook up your Atari 2600 directly to your PC monitor. They simply aren't compatible. Similarly, your sound card isn't a TV speaker and there's nowhere to plug in the joystick. So the emulator has to convert what was once a TV (or arcade monitor) signal into something your video and sound cards can understand. Likewise, it has to convert certain presses of the keyboard into something that appears to the emulated CPU like pressing the joystick and buttons.
So, to reiterate, an emulator is a computer program that imitates the hardware of another computer. Now, when it comes to computers, where there's hardware, software usually isn't too far behind. In the case of video games, it's the game itself that is the software. When you plug a cartridge into your ColecoVision, you're actually connecting a Read Only Memory (ROM) chip to the CPU. When you turn the console on, the CPU then executes (runs) the code found in the ROM chip (or just ROM for short). Similarly, when you turn on an arcade game, the CPU reads the software in the ROM chips connected to it.
Now, most people don't have the hardware to connect a cartridge to their computer. This is where ROM images (or, again, just ROMs for short) come in. It is possible to buy or even make the proper cables and/or hardware to connect a cartridge or arcade game ROM chip to a computer. Then you can use special software to copy the software contained in the ROM to a file on your computer. This file is called a ROM image. The ROM image (or, say it with me, ROM for short) is identical to the code that the console or arcade game runs. Thus, when used in conjunction with a good emulator, you can get an experience that's almost just like playing the actual console or arcade game.
You might be wondering why you didn't hear about emulation until recently. [Author’s note: “recent” is a relative term here. This article was originally written for the non-existent seventh issue of CGM back in 2001.] This time, I’m glad you asked. The primary reason is that computer processors have only recently gotten fast enough to handle emulating other systems. There's a lot of overhead in getting one computer processor to emulate another. It wasn't until the mid-1990s that personal computers had the power to emulate a 1MHz CPU! And then programming an emulator generally required using assembly language. Assembly language is a very low-level language for directly programming a computer. It's basically only a couple steps removed from the actual zeroes and ones your computer uses. The advantage is, because you're practically talking the language of the computer, programs written in assembly are (generally) very fast. But because it's so rudimentary, few people take the time to learn it. Thus, there were few people that had both the interest and the ability to write emulators.
By the late 1990s, computers were powerful enough to handle emulators written in higher-level languages like C. A program written in a language like C is converted down to assembly language by what's called a compiler. But even the best compiler isn't going to create an assembly language program as efficient as that written by hand. (At least that written by the hand of an experienced assembly language programmer.) Thus, such programs run slower. This has been made up for in processor speed.
To give some early history, Digital Eclipse released their Williams Digital Arcade series for the Macintosh in 1994. The games of the series were Defender, Joust, and Robotron: 2084. These were the world's first commercially released arcade game emulators. The following year, Activision published their first Atari 2600 Action Pack, which was an Atari 2600 emulator accompanied by 15 games. This was the first commercially released home video game console emulator. These two programs, along with several independent efforts that happened to be taking place about the same time, started the emulator revolution. At the same time, the Internet was starting to really take off. This allowed programmers to better share their works and communicate with each other to compare notes.
It also made it easier for those few with the ability to make ROM images to share them with others. This brings us to a legal technicality. While there is (generally), nothing illegal about creating or using an emulator, most of the games they run are still the property of the companies and individuals who created them. Their copyrights won't expire for many years yet, and some companies are intent on defending them, as is their right under the law. Thus I feel I must point out that it is illegal to download ROMs from the Internet, particularly if you don't own the actual game.
The laws regarding “backing up” software muddy the issue some. Technically, the owner is supposed to back up his own software. However, since all copies are identical, once you've downloaded a copy, how could anyone tell that you hadn't done it yourself? Second, there are some questions as to whether laws allowing the backing up of software apply to software distributed on a robust medium like a cartridge. As best I know, these particular issues have not been tried in court because the companies that own the games don't generally go after the emulator users; they target those that distribute the ROMs on a large scale. Beyond the legal issues are the ethical ones, which I don't have nearly the space to go into here. Suffice it to say, you'll have to sort out for yourself whether breaking these laws is actually harming anyone or not. It's not an easy question to answer.
Regardless of your answer, today you can find an emulator for practically any home console or computer that was popular in its day. And even some that weren't so popular. You can also find emulators for thousands of arcade games. By far, the most popular is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator or MAME (www.mame.net), which currently emulates over 2600 unique games. Can you imagine an arcade with 2600 different games??? Well, thanks to emulation, you don't have to imagine it. You can have it in your home, filling up your computer's hard drive.
In addition to the CPU, there are probably other processors that handle the video, audio, and controls. When the emulator programmer creates these components, he must not only have them imitate the original hardware, but translate their input or output to the emulator's host system. For example, you can't hook up your Atari 2600 directly to your PC monitor. They simply aren't compatible. Similarly, your sound card isn't a TV speaker and there's nowhere to plug in the joystick. So the emulator has to convert what was once a TV (or arcade monitor) signal into something your video and sound cards can understand. Likewise, it has to convert certain presses of the keyboard into something that appears to the emulated CPU like pressing the joystick and buttons.
So, to reiterate, an emulator is a computer program that imitates the hardware of another computer. Now, when it comes to computers, where there's hardware, software usually isn't too far behind. In the case of video games, it's the game itself that is the software. When you plug a cartridge into your ColecoVision, you're actually connecting a Read Only Memory (ROM) chip to the CPU. When you turn the console on, the CPU then executes (runs) the code found in the ROM chip (or just ROM for short). Similarly, when you turn on an arcade game, the CPU reads the software in the ROM chips connected to it.
Now, most people don't have the hardware to connect a cartridge to their computer. This is where ROM images (or, again, just ROMs for short) come in. It is possible to buy or even make the proper cables and/or hardware to connect a cartridge or arcade game ROM chip to a computer. Then you can use special software to copy the software contained in the ROM to a file on your computer. This file is called a ROM image. The ROM image (or, say it with me, ROM for short) is identical to the code that the console or arcade game runs. Thus, when used in conjunction with a good emulator, you can get an experience that's almost just like playing the actual console or arcade game.
You might be wondering why you didn't hear about emulation until recently. [Author’s note: “recent” is a relative term here. This article was originally written for the non-existent seventh issue of CGM back in 2001.] This time, I’m glad you asked. The primary reason is that computer processors have only recently gotten fast enough to handle emulating other systems. There's a lot of overhead in getting one computer processor to emulate another. It wasn't until the mid-1990s that personal computers had the power to emulate a 1MHz CPU! And then programming an emulator generally required using assembly language. Assembly language is a very low-level language for directly programming a computer. It's basically only a couple steps removed from the actual zeroes and ones your computer uses. The advantage is, because you're practically talking the language of the computer, programs written in assembly are (generally) very fast. But because it's so rudimentary, few people take the time to learn it. Thus, there were few people that had both the interest and the ability to write emulators.
By the late 1990s, computers were powerful enough to handle emulators written in higher-level languages like C. A program written in a language like C is converted down to assembly language by what's called a compiler. But even the best compiler isn't going to create an assembly language program as efficient as that written by hand. (At least that written by the hand of an experienced assembly language programmer.) Thus, such programs run slower. This has been made up for in processor speed.
To give some early history, Digital Eclipse released their Williams Digital Arcade series for the Macintosh in 1994. The games of the series were Defender, Joust, and Robotron: 2084. These were the world's first commercially released arcade game emulators. The following year, Activision published their first Atari 2600 Action Pack, which was an Atari 2600 emulator accompanied by 15 games. This was the first commercially released home video game console emulator. These two programs, along with several independent efforts that happened to be taking place about the same time, started the emulator revolution. At the same time, the Internet was starting to really take off. This allowed programmers to better share their works and communicate with each other to compare notes.
It also made it easier for those few with the ability to make ROM images to share them with others. This brings us to a legal technicality. While there is (generally), nothing illegal about creating or using an emulator, most of the games they run are still the property of the companies and individuals who created them. Their copyrights won't expire for many years yet, and some companies are intent on defending them, as is their right under the law. Thus I feel I must point out that it is illegal to download ROMs from the Internet, particularly if you don't own the actual game.
The laws regarding “backing up” software muddy the issue some. Technically, the owner is supposed to back up his own software. However, since all copies are identical, once you've downloaded a copy, how could anyone tell that you hadn't done it yourself? Second, there are some questions as to whether laws allowing the backing up of software apply to software distributed on a robust medium like a cartridge. As best I know, these particular issues have not been tried in court because the companies that own the games don't generally go after the emulator users; they target those that distribute the ROMs on a large scale. Beyond the legal issues are the ethical ones, which I don't have nearly the space to go into here. Suffice it to say, you'll have to sort out for yourself whether breaking these laws is actually harming anyone or not. It's not an easy question to answer.
Regardless of your answer, today you can find an emulator for practically any home console or computer that was popular in its day. And even some that weren't so popular. You can also find emulators for thousands of arcade games. By far, the most popular is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator or MAME (www.mame.net), which currently emulates over 2600 unique games. Can you imagine an arcade with 2600 different games??? Well, thanks to emulation, you don't have to imagine it. You can have it in your home, filling up your computer's hard drive.
Postscript (12 June 2013)
This article was originally written for Classic Gamer Magazine volume 1, #7 in 2001. Yes, the one time I managed to get an article written on time — or was it even ahead of time? — the magazine folded. Unfortunately, CGM wasn't the only one. Syzygy and GameGo also disappeared about the same time. At first, CGM publisher Cav planned to publish the seventh issue on CD-ROM, but four months later, he realized that even that was to expensive a venture. So he planned to use our articles on the Classic Gamer web site to maintain interest until he could figure out what to do. Finally, in 2004, CGM was re-launched with volume 2 as a PDF document and this article saw "print." By then, however, I had other commitments and didn't write any further articles. (See the "Remembering CVG 101 and Classic Gamer Magazine" entry for more information on the magazine.)
That note about the article being written in 2001 was not included and that part was re-written, possibly not by me. Also, Scott Marriott's column was renamed to MAMEusements and my article edited to reflect that.
07 January 2004
Re: Ever picked up a cart out of pity?
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic as a response to the quoted (>) post.]
In article <20040106165616.01786.00001429@mb-m20.aol.com>,
Bass Guitar God wrote:
>Now here's the question: Have you ever "rescued" such a cart, purchased it,
>taken it home, cleaned it up, and add it to the stack of copies you already
>owned just out of respect for the game?
>And you cannot stand to see it like this, and figure that it would be much
>better in your care, until the time comes when you can at least give it to
>someone who could use it. Can anybody relate to this? I can!
Yes, and that's my problem! 8) I'm currently agonizing over that Pong clone I mentioned Monday. I went back and they wanted $15 for it! ($10 after I showed the lady the battery leakage.) I can't afford to pay $10 for the privilege of seeing if I can resuscitate it.
Today I went do a different thrift and found a Mattel D&D Computer Labyrinth game for $2! It was missing some pieces, of course, but in the (beat up) box. I went up to the counter and asked about opening it to check it out. I also made sure there wasn't an old battery in it and related my experience to the cashier. She said there were some thrift stores in town (didn't mention names) that price things based on how nice you're dressed. I figure that's what's happening to me, because I have to go on lunch hour from work. I also figure she was referring to that very store because I think all the rest in town put price tags on everything.
And before you suggest dressing down and going on the weekend or something, I've been making regular trips there so long they know my face. My only hope is to catch a time when a different lady is at the register. (I've never been fond of the one I had to deal with, and this is why.)
In article <20040106165616.01786.00001429@mb-m20.aol.com>,
Bass Guitar God wrote:
>Now here's the question: Have you ever "rescued" such a cart, purchased it,
>taken it home, cleaned it up, and add it to the stack of copies you already
>owned just out of respect for the game?
>And you cannot stand to see it like this, and figure that it would be much
>better in your care, until the time comes when you can at least give it to
>someone who could use it. Can anybody relate to this? I can!
Yes, and that's my problem! 8) I'm currently agonizing over that Pong clone I mentioned Monday. I went back and they wanted $15 for it! ($10 after I showed the lady the battery leakage.) I can't afford to pay $10 for the privilege of seeing if I can resuscitate it.
Today I went do a different thrift and found a Mattel D&D Computer Labyrinth game for $2! It was missing some pieces, of course, but in the (beat up) box. I went up to the counter and asked about opening it to check it out. I also made sure there wasn't an old battery in it and related my experience to the cashier. She said there were some thrift stores in town (didn't mention names) that price things based on how nice you're dressed. I figure that's what's happening to me, because I have to go on lunch hour from work. I also figure she was referring to that very store because I think all the rest in town put price tags on everything.
And before you suggest dressing down and going on the weekend or something, I've been making regular trips there so long they know my face. My only hope is to catch a time when a different lady is at the register. (I've never been fond of the one I had to deal with, and this is why.)
15 August 2003
Weekend Colecovision finds
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
I admit, I'm only thrifting infrequently right now, but while out of town this past weekend, I finally found some actual classic games that I didn't already have! I don't remember the last time that happened.
There are four thrifts I usually try to hit while at the in-laws, which are spread out quite a bit. I picked one for no particular reason, but chose wisely as I scored some Colecovision games. The ones I didn't have were Illusions, Ken Uston's Blackjack & Poker, and Threshold. I also picked up 2010: The Graphic Action Game, B.C.'s Quest for Tires, The Heist, Jumpman Junior, and One-on-One for trade bait. I left Donkey Kong, Venture, and Zaxxon for the next person. So yes, for this weekend, I was Sum Guy.
I haven't had time to test them yet, but look forward to doing so.
[10 Nov 2011 comment: I sadly don't remember exactly which thrift store this was any more. Possibly it was the America's Thrift Store located at Airport and Schillinger. (I think it was open back then.) That store has since moved to Tillman's Corner and the old space is now a Dirt Cheap.
The phrase "Sum Guy" originated on rec.games.video.classic to refer to that person who bought up all the classic video game stuff before you got there, even the common games (e.g. Pac-Man, Combat, and Space Invaders). As best I can tell now – because honestly, I don't remember as no one had any idea it would catch on so at the time – it was originated by Terry E. Rutt on 4 Feb 1996. Some credit might also be due to Robert Batina for starting the thread on the phenomenon and CudaBert for following up with "News Flash.....Some Guy spotted in New Jersey area".]
I admit, I'm only thrifting infrequently right now, but while out of town this past weekend, I finally found some actual classic games that I didn't already have! I don't remember the last time that happened.
There are four thrifts I usually try to hit while at the in-laws, which are spread out quite a bit. I picked one for no particular reason, but chose wisely as I scored some Colecovision games. The ones I didn't have were Illusions, Ken Uston's Blackjack & Poker, and Threshold. I also picked up 2010: The Graphic Action Game, B.C.'s Quest for Tires, The Heist, Jumpman Junior, and One-on-One for trade bait. I left Donkey Kong, Venture, and Zaxxon for the next person. So yes, for this weekend, I was Sum Guy.
I haven't had time to test them yet, but look forward to doing so.
[10 Nov 2011 comment: I sadly don't remember exactly which thrift store this was any more. Possibly it was the America's Thrift Store located at Airport and Schillinger. (I think it was open back then.) That store has since moved to Tillman's Corner and the old space is now a Dirt Cheap.
The phrase "Sum Guy" originated on rec.games.video.classic to refer to that person who bought up all the classic video game stuff before you got there, even the common games (e.g. Pac-Man, Combat, and Space Invaders). As best I can tell now – because honestly, I don't remember as no one had any idea it would catch on so at the time – it was originated by Terry E. Rutt on 4 Feb 1996. Some credit might also be due to Robert Batina for starting the thread on the phenomenon and CudaBert for following up with "News Flash.....Some Guy spotted in New Jersey area".]
25 February 2002
Today's finds (books)
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
I don't get to go thrifting much these days, but decided to hit at least one today. This turned out to be a good decision. No games in sight, but I found the 1984 Comsumer Reports Buying Guide and Don't Overdo with Video Games!. I may already have the former (I'll have to check), but not the latter. So far I've only had a chance to glance at them, but here are some notes.
The 1984 CR Buying Guide doesn't give ratings to the consoles, just reviews. All the info is condensed from the Nov 1982 and Jan 1983 issues of Consumer Reports, if you care to search those out. They review the Astrocade, Atari 5200, Atari VCS, Colecovision, Intellivision, and Odyssey^2. They also review a few games for each console in just a few sentences. I love what they say about 2600 Pac-Man: "The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
The full title of the second book is actually What to Do When Your Mom or Dad Says . . . Don't Overdo with Video Games!. It's by Joy Wilt Berry with illustrations by Bartholomew, and is the Weekly Reader version of "The Surival Series for Kids." (This means it has a flipside that's WTDWYMODS . . . We Can't Afford It!.) The illustrations feature a young boy being constantly tempted by what looks like an orange monster from Pac-Man, but with arms and a mouth. My favorite part is that all the games the boy plays are part of the fictional Gorp series of games. (Note that this book is copyright 1983 and Gorf debuted in 1981.) There's Gorp, Gorp Zapper, Combat Gorp, Space Gorp, Wizard Gorp, Star Gorp, Ms. Gorp, War Gorp, and Super Gorp. All we need now is Gorp Deluxe, Gorp Plus, Baby Gorp, Gorp Junior, Gorp Bros., and Gorp-o-tron, and we'll be set. 8)
[An hour later, I followed up with the following post.]
I gave it a better look. Here are some quotes I've added to my random signature file. William Cassidy and other O2 enthusiasts beware; they weren't kind to it.
"Gone are the simple home video games of the 1970's. Current machines have micorprocessor 'brains' that endow them with computer-like speed and sophistication."
-- Consumer Reports on home video games (1984)
"The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
-- Consumer Reports on Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 (1984 Buying Guide)
"The list of games available for the Atari 5200 should lengthen rapidly . . . ."
-- Consumer Reports on the Atari 5200 (1984 Buying Guide)
"Here's another challenge to your ability to master the controls before they frustrate you."
-- Consumer Reports on Night Stalker for the Intellvision (1984 Buying Guide)
"The only computer language available . . . is "Assembler" -- a cumbersome language of little practical utility on this equipment."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
"The machine's [joysticks] worked reasonably well. But that was was about the only good thing the panelists could find in the Odyssey 2."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
"Several panelists wondered why a machine with such potential was handicapped with an array of such crude games."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
I don't get to go thrifting much these days, but decided to hit at least one today. This turned out to be a good decision. No games in sight, but I found the 1984 Comsumer Reports Buying Guide and Don't Overdo with Video Games!. I may already have the former (I'll have to check), but not the latter. So far I've only had a chance to glance at them, but here are some notes.
The 1984 CR Buying Guide doesn't give ratings to the consoles, just reviews. All the info is condensed from the Nov 1982 and Jan 1983 issues of Consumer Reports, if you care to search those out. They review the Astrocade, Atari 5200, Atari VCS, Colecovision, Intellivision, and Odyssey^2. They also review a few games for each console in just a few sentences. I love what they say about 2600 Pac-Man: "The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
The full title of the second book is actually What to Do When Your Mom or Dad Says . . . Don't Overdo with Video Games!. It's by Joy Wilt Berry with illustrations by Bartholomew, and is the Weekly Reader version of "The Surival Series for Kids." (This means it has a flipside that's WTDWYMODS . . . We Can't Afford It!.) The illustrations feature a young boy being constantly tempted by what looks like an orange monster from Pac-Man, but with arms and a mouth. My favorite part is that all the games the boy plays are part of the fictional Gorp series of games. (Note that this book is copyright 1983 and Gorf debuted in 1981.) There's Gorp, Gorp Zapper, Combat Gorp, Space Gorp, Wizard Gorp, Star Gorp, Ms. Gorp, War Gorp, and Super Gorp. All we need now is Gorp Deluxe, Gorp Plus, Baby Gorp, Gorp Junior, Gorp Bros., and Gorp-o-tron, and we'll be set. 8)
[An hour later, I followed up with the following post.]
I gave it a better look. Here are some quotes I've added to my random signature file. William Cassidy and other O2 enthusiasts beware; they weren't kind to it.
"Gone are the simple home video games of the 1970's. Current machines have micorprocessor 'brains' that endow them with computer-like speed and sophistication."
-- Consumer Reports on home video games (1984)
"The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
-- Consumer Reports on Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 (1984 Buying Guide)
"The list of games available for the Atari 5200 should lengthen rapidly . . . ."
-- Consumer Reports on the Atari 5200 (1984 Buying Guide)
"Here's another challenge to your ability to master the controls before they frustrate you."
-- Consumer Reports on Night Stalker for the Intellvision (1984 Buying Guide)
"The only computer language available . . . is "Assembler" -- a cumbersome language of little practical utility on this equipment."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
"The machine's [joysticks] worked reasonably well. But that was was about the only good thing the panelists could find in the Odyssey 2."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
"Several panelists wondered why a machine with such potential was handicapped with an array of such crude games."
-- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)
25 April 2001
CVG 101: Please Don't Chew the Gum! (originally for Classic gamer Magazine)
[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article was originally published in CGM #6 (spring 2001). This is the article as I submitted it and may not exactly match what was published. Some information is incomplete, so please see the postscript at the end.]
If you're a child of the '80s, you probably bought at least a pack or two of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, or some other kind of video game stickers. Remember those? They came in wax packs with a piece of pink cardboard masquerading as chewing gum, just like baseball cards. While there were later ones based on characters like Super Mario Bros., for the sake of this article, we'll limit discussion to video games "Golden Age." (That is, the early 1980s.)
Although there were two different companies making video game related stickers during this time, Fleer and Topps, there are many similarities in the way they were sold. All of them came 36 packs to a box. (Super Pac-Man was also available in boxes of 48 packs.) Each pack (except maybe Dragon’s Lair) contained three sticker cards, three rub-off game cards, and the previously mentioned stick of “chewing gum.” The packs sold for 25 to 30 cents each.
Fleer started the whole thing by releasing Pac-Man stickers in 1980. Back then, Pac-Man was on everything from mugs to shoes to bed sheets, so it’s only natural the trading card industry would try to get in on the action. There were 54 stickers in the set. The front of the stickers generally had black, yellow, or white backgrounds and featured either one or two Pac-Man characters with word balloons or one or two rectangular stickers with sayings on them. The text on several stickers was taken from the lyrics of “Pac-Man Fever” by Buckner and Garcia. (“Slide out the side door”/”I’m cookin’ now.”) Others were just plain silly. (“Happiness is a hungry Pac-Man.”) This may also have been where the words “Waka! Waka!” were immortalized, as they appeared on several stickers.
The backs of the stickers were rather plain. They had the Fleer logo and said “Pac-Man Sticker No. X of 54.” They also contained suggestions for holding contests using the rub-off games. The interesting thing about the backs is that there were a few variations. In my experience, most have blue ink on the back, but you can also find some that are black. In the upper right corner is either the traditional circle-with-a-wedge-missing Pac-Man or the legged Pac-Man from the side art of the coin-op.
There were also two different styles of front: those that had eyes and those that didn't. That is, you could find the same sticker, but one would have eyes on the Pac-Man and another wouldn't. The Pac-Men with eyes also had blue and red highlights around the edges. My observations show that the cards with the circular Pac-Man on the back have a no-eyed Pac-Man on the front, while the side art Pac-Man on the back has a Pac-Man with eyes on the front. (If you have examples that break this pattern, please let me know.) [There are, in fact, more than two variations. See the postscript below.]
As for the rub-off games, they were a simplified version of the Pac-Man maze covered in gold circles. You “moved” through the maze by scratching off the gold circles that filled it, revealing either a dot; blue monster; red, orange, or pink monster; or a cherry. The object of the game was to get through as much of the maze as you could before revealing three non-blue monsters, at which point your game was over. All the other items were worth points, which determined how well you did. There were 28 different rub-off games, so once you had an example of each, you were set to cheat your way through the rest of your rub-off games.
Apparently Pac-Man stickers were a success for Fleer, because in 1981 they released a set of Ms. Pac-Man stickers. Again, they generally featured one or two characters with word balloons or a rectangular sticker with a saying. Looking at them now, from an adult perspective, there was a strong undercurrent of sexual innuendo. (“Ms. Pac-Man does it faster.” Pac-Man saying, “I need it bad.”) Most stickers had a blue or pink background. The backs of the cards simply stated “Ms. Pac-Man Sticker No. Y of 54” in pink ink. The Ms. Pac-Man stickers did not suffer from the variations that the Pac-Man stickers did. On the fronts, both Pac-People always had eyes. Pac-Man had the red and blue highlights around the edges while Ms. Pac-Man did not.
Since the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game had four different mazes, there were four different mazes for the rub-off games. In addition to the cherry, the Ms. Pac-Man games also had pretzels and bananas. The basic premise remained the same. The backs of the games came printed in either blue or black ink. I have never seen a count of the unique game cards for any sticker series other than Pac-Man, so I do not know how many different Ms. Pac-Man games there were. The same goes for all of the sets described below.
Fleer’s last set of Pac-Man stickers was Super Pac-Man in 1982. It was more of the same on the front. Once again, the Pac-People all had eyes. The backgrounds were red, blue, purple or divided into three stripes of purple, white, and pink. The backs this time all promoted a Pac-Man poster contest. They featured either a child wearing a Pac-Man hat, a girl wearing a Pac-Man shirt, or a boy holding a Coleco Pac-Man tabletop game. I’m uncertain if you could find the same sticker with different backs. It was pointed out to me by Geoff Voigt at Classic Gaming Expo 2000 that if you turn all the fronts to face the same way, some of the backs will be upside down! Because the stickers don’t tell you how many there were in the series, I’m not sure, but there were at least 40. From the previous two sets, I’d say 54 would be a good guess. The rub-off games this time were all the same maze, but there were gates in the maze that you were not permitted to go through unless you revealed a key nearby. There was also a large gold oval in part of the maze that might direct you to the scratch-off “super speed button” at the bottom of the card for bonus points.
Nineteen eighty-two was also the year Topps got their chance to cash in on the video game phenomenon. They acquired the license to produce Donkey Kong stickers. There was no set layout for the front of the stickers, which featured various corny sayings. (“Jump Man at work.” “I’m ape over Donkey Kong.”) The backs of each sticker featured a piece of one of two pictures. It took 15 stickers to make a complete picture. There was a 16th sticker for each puzzle that showed what it should look like when completed, so there was a total of 32 cards.
There are four different styles of rub-off games, one for each board of the arcade game. The object is to get to the girl at the top without revealing a combination of three fireballs and barrels. That’s right, there are both fireballs and barrels on every card, even though barrels only appeared on the first screen of the coin-op.
One thing about the Donkey Kong stickers people don't know is that a slightly different version of them were included in specially marked packages of Donkey Kong cereal. The fronts are identical to those found in the packs. The puzzle pieces on the back, however, are oriented vertically instead of horizontally, and it takes less of them to make a complete picture. The two pictures were the same, however. Each picture was made of only nine stickers, plus a tenth one showing the completed picture. Thus, a complete set of these would be 20 stickers. Good luck finding them, though.
The next year, in 1983, Topps released their Video City stickers. Instead of featuring a single, highly popular video game, this series of stickers featured four moderately successful ones: Donkey Kong Jr., Frogger, Turbo, and Zaxxon. A complete set consists of 28 stickers: seven for each game. However, describing the seven is a bit complicated, so bear with me. There were four stickers that had a portion of a larger picture on the back, similar to the Donkey Kong stickers. Then there was a fifth sticker showing the completed puzzle on the back. The catch is that front of this fifth sticker was identical to one of the first four. For most of the games, it’s the same as the one with the lower left puzzle piece on it, but for Frogger, it’s identical to the upper right piece. The sixth sticker front is the same graphic as the complete puzzle and has playing tips for its arcade game on the back. Then, there’s a seventh sticker for each game that is also the same as the puzzle, but has a special subscription offer for Electronic Games magazine on the back. The rub-off games are much simpler to keep track of. There’s only one board design per game. In the case of Donkey Kong Jr., which had multiple screens, Topps used only the first screen.
Finally, Fleer got back into the act one final time with Dragon’s Lair stickers in 1984. I have to admit, I never even knew these existed until a few years ago. Most of the stickers featured art from the game, some with an extremely corny word balloon (“Please don’t squeeze the Dirk.”) and some with a just label naming the featured character. Some didn't feature any art from the game at all, just a saying. The backs of the stickers featured playing tips for the game. Some game tips were repeated on multiple stickers. According to the front of the stickers, there were 63 in a set.
I’m not sure anyone knows how many Dragon’s Lair rub-off games there are. They featured art from the game as their backgrounds. The problem is there are at least two dozen different backgrounds used. Unlike all the other rub-off games mentioned here, instead of circles, they have solid paths that branch. A nice change of pace after all those circles.
Now that you know what’s out there, you might wonder where to find these stickers. First, there are the usual sources: other collectors and eBay. You might also try comic book and trading card stores. Geoff Voigt let me in on an online merchant that he doesn't mind sharing named Marchant Non-Sports Cards (www.marchantcards.com or www.nscards.com). Their prices for Donkey Kong and Video City are very reasonable. The prices on the rest might give you pause. Just remember, no matter where you manage to find your stickers, please don’t chew the gum!
Sidebar
If collecting stickers isn't up your alley, but you’d like to give them a glimpse or know what they say, try these web sites:
Donkey Kong
Dragon’s Lair
Pac-Man
Although there were two different companies making video game related stickers during this time, Fleer and Topps, there are many similarities in the way they were sold. All of them came 36 packs to a box. (Super Pac-Man was also available in boxes of 48 packs.) Each pack (except maybe Dragon’s Lair) contained three sticker cards, three rub-off game cards, and the previously mentioned stick of “chewing gum.” The packs sold for 25 to 30 cents each.
Fleer started the whole thing by releasing Pac-Man stickers in 1980. Back then, Pac-Man was on everything from mugs to shoes to bed sheets, so it’s only natural the trading card industry would try to get in on the action. There were 54 stickers in the set. The front of the stickers generally had black, yellow, or white backgrounds and featured either one or two Pac-Man characters with word balloons or one or two rectangular stickers with sayings on them. The text on several stickers was taken from the lyrics of “Pac-Man Fever” by Buckner and Garcia. (“Slide out the side door”/”I’m cookin’ now.”) Others were just plain silly. (“Happiness is a hungry Pac-Man.”) This may also have been where the words “Waka! Waka!” were immortalized, as they appeared on several stickers.
The backs of the stickers were rather plain. They had the Fleer logo and said “Pac-Man Sticker No. X of 54.” They also contained suggestions for holding contests using the rub-off games. The interesting thing about the backs is that there were a few variations. In my experience, most have blue ink on the back, but you can also find some that are black. In the upper right corner is either the traditional circle-with-a-wedge-missing Pac-Man or the legged Pac-Man from the side art of the coin-op.
There were also two different styles of front: those that had eyes and those that didn't. That is, you could find the same sticker, but one would have eyes on the Pac-Man and another wouldn't. The Pac-Men with eyes also had blue and red highlights around the edges. My observations show that the cards with the circular Pac-Man on the back have a no-eyed Pac-Man on the front, while the side art Pac-Man on the back has a Pac-Man with eyes on the front. (If you have examples that break this pattern, please let me know.) [There are, in fact, more than two variations. See the postscript below.]
As for the rub-off games, they were a simplified version of the Pac-Man maze covered in gold circles. You “moved” through the maze by scratching off the gold circles that filled it, revealing either a dot; blue monster; red, orange, or pink monster; or a cherry. The object of the game was to get through as much of the maze as you could before revealing three non-blue monsters, at which point your game was over. All the other items were worth points, which determined how well you did. There were 28 different rub-off games, so once you had an example of each, you were set to cheat your way through the rest of your rub-off games.
Apparently Pac-Man stickers were a success for Fleer, because in 1981 they released a set of Ms. Pac-Man stickers. Again, they generally featured one or two characters with word balloons or a rectangular sticker with a saying. Looking at them now, from an adult perspective, there was a strong undercurrent of sexual innuendo. (“Ms. Pac-Man does it faster.” Pac-Man saying, “I need it bad.”) Most stickers had a blue or pink background. The backs of the cards simply stated “Ms. Pac-Man Sticker No. Y of 54” in pink ink. The Ms. Pac-Man stickers did not suffer from the variations that the Pac-Man stickers did. On the fronts, both Pac-People always had eyes. Pac-Man had the red and blue highlights around the edges while Ms. Pac-Man did not.
Since the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game had four different mazes, there were four different mazes for the rub-off games. In addition to the cherry, the Ms. Pac-Man games also had pretzels and bananas. The basic premise remained the same. The backs of the games came printed in either blue or black ink. I have never seen a count of the unique game cards for any sticker series other than Pac-Man, so I do not know how many different Ms. Pac-Man games there were. The same goes for all of the sets described below.
Fleer’s last set of Pac-Man stickers was Super Pac-Man in 1982. It was more of the same on the front. Once again, the Pac-People all had eyes. The backgrounds were red, blue, purple or divided into three stripes of purple, white, and pink. The backs this time all promoted a Pac-Man poster contest. They featured either a child wearing a Pac-Man hat, a girl wearing a Pac-Man shirt, or a boy holding a Coleco Pac-Man tabletop game. I’m uncertain if you could find the same sticker with different backs. It was pointed out to me by Geoff Voigt at Classic Gaming Expo 2000 that if you turn all the fronts to face the same way, some of the backs will be upside down! Because the stickers don’t tell you how many there were in the series, I’m not sure, but there were at least 40. From the previous two sets, I’d say 54 would be a good guess. The rub-off games this time were all the same maze, but there were gates in the maze that you were not permitted to go through unless you revealed a key nearby. There was also a large gold oval in part of the maze that might direct you to the scratch-off “super speed button” at the bottom of the card for bonus points.
Nineteen eighty-two was also the year Topps got their chance to cash in on the video game phenomenon. They acquired the license to produce Donkey Kong stickers. There was no set layout for the front of the stickers, which featured various corny sayings. (“Jump Man at work.” “I’m ape over Donkey Kong.”) The backs of each sticker featured a piece of one of two pictures. It took 15 stickers to make a complete picture. There was a 16th sticker for each puzzle that showed what it should look like when completed, so there was a total of 32 cards.
There are four different styles of rub-off games, one for each board of the arcade game. The object is to get to the girl at the top without revealing a combination of three fireballs and barrels. That’s right, there are both fireballs and barrels on every card, even though barrels only appeared on the first screen of the coin-op.
One thing about the Donkey Kong stickers people don't know is that a slightly different version of them were included in specially marked packages of Donkey Kong cereal. The fronts are identical to those found in the packs. The puzzle pieces on the back, however, are oriented vertically instead of horizontally, and it takes less of them to make a complete picture. The two pictures were the same, however. Each picture was made of only nine stickers, plus a tenth one showing the completed picture. Thus, a complete set of these would be 20 stickers. Good luck finding them, though.
The next year, in 1983, Topps released their Video City stickers. Instead of featuring a single, highly popular video game, this series of stickers featured four moderately successful ones: Donkey Kong Jr., Frogger, Turbo, and Zaxxon. A complete set consists of 28 stickers: seven for each game. However, describing the seven is a bit complicated, so bear with me. There were four stickers that had a portion of a larger picture on the back, similar to the Donkey Kong stickers. Then there was a fifth sticker showing the completed puzzle on the back. The catch is that front of this fifth sticker was identical to one of the first four. For most of the games, it’s the same as the one with the lower left puzzle piece on it, but for Frogger, it’s identical to the upper right piece. The sixth sticker front is the same graphic as the complete puzzle and has playing tips for its arcade game on the back. Then, there’s a seventh sticker for each game that is also the same as the puzzle, but has a special subscription offer for Electronic Games magazine on the back. The rub-off games are much simpler to keep track of. There’s only one board design per game. In the case of Donkey Kong Jr., which had multiple screens, Topps used only the first screen.
Finally, Fleer got back into the act one final time with Dragon’s Lair stickers in 1984. I have to admit, I never even knew these existed until a few years ago. Most of the stickers featured art from the game, some with an extremely corny word balloon (“Please don’t squeeze the Dirk.”) and some with a just label naming the featured character. Some didn't feature any art from the game at all, just a saying. The backs of the stickers featured playing tips for the game. Some game tips were repeated on multiple stickers. According to the front of the stickers, there were 63 in a set.
I’m not sure anyone knows how many Dragon’s Lair rub-off games there are. They featured art from the game as their backgrounds. The problem is there are at least two dozen different backgrounds used. Unlike all the other rub-off games mentioned here, instead of circles, they have solid paths that branch. A nice change of pace after all those circles.
Now that you know what’s out there, you might wonder where to find these stickers. First, there are the usual sources: other collectors and eBay. You might also try comic book and trading card stores. Geoff Voigt let me in on an online merchant that he doesn't mind sharing named Marchant Non-Sports Cards (www.marchantcards.com or www.nscards.com). Their prices for Donkey Kong and Video City are very reasonable. The prices on the rest might give you pause. Just remember, no matter where you manage to find your stickers, please don’t chew the gum!
Sidebar
If collecting stickers isn't up your alley, but you’d like to give them a glimpse or know what they say, try these web sites:
Donkey Kong
- http://www.ohio.voyager.net/~ngsippel/cv/donkeykong.txt
Dragon’s Lair
- http://www.tomheroes.com/Video%20Games%20FS/Arcade/dragon's_lair_cards.htm
- http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/community/merch/ [Try this instead.]
- http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/cards/dlruboff.html
Pac-Man
Author note: Many thanks to Geoff Voigt for his help in researching this article. You can also thank (or blame) him for letting us use his title.
Postscript (12 June 2013)
As I mentioned in the previous Classic Gamer Magazine entry, this article was written quickly to replace one that was rejected. (You can read about the reasons in that entry.)
Some of the information above, while maybe not inaccurate, is incomplete. If you have any interest in stickers for the various Pac-Man games, you must visit The Pac-Star web site by Kevin Jay North! It is the end-all and be-all of information on these stickers. (And Russ Perry, Jr. and I helped provide some bits of information.)
17 February 2001
CVG 101: The Atari 2600-Hasbro Link (previously unpublished)
[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. I submitted this article for CGM #6 (spring 2001), but due to an error on my part, it wasn't published. See the postscript at the end for details.]
As a Classic Gamer reader, it’s a safe bet that you’re aware that, up until recently, Hasbro owned the rights to Atari’s console-related properties. This, of course, included their Atari 2600 games. What you may not have thought about is just how many third party Atari 2600 games Hasbro also has the rights to. While I could simply list them for you and be done with it, that wouldn't be much of an article, would it? Although considering I’m writing this the night before my deadline, it would certainly be easier on me. (Writer’s block is a terrible thing.) So, let’s examine just how Hasbro wound up with the rights to so many Atari 2600 games in its holdings.
First, let’s start with Atari itself. Atari, incorporated in 1972, was the first of many companies founded by Nolan Bushnell. Although successful from early on, Bushnell had to call in debts every pay period to keep the payroll checks from bouncing. In 1976, Warner Communications paid Bushnell $28 million for Atari. Bushnell realized there was no way Atari would be able to afford getting their latest project, the Atari Video Computer System (VCS, later the Atari 2600), designed and into stores without the capital provided by a major company.
Unfortunately, the laid back atmosphere of Atari, Inc. and the more traditional corporate culture of Warner were like oil and water. In 1978, Bushnell could tolerate no more and left Atari. Atari went on to successfully launch the VCS and, after just a few years, became the dominant player in the home video game industry. In 1981, Atari’s annual sales were $35 million and a significant portion of Warner’s total annual income. Just two years later, in 1983, Atari posted losses of $536 million! Looking to get rid of the albatross that was Atari from around their neck, Warner sold majority interest in the home video game and computer divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel, recently fired president and founder of Commodore. Tramiel called the new company Atari Corporation. Atari’s coin-op division was renamed Atari Games and went on, forevermore separated from the home division.
Fast forward to 1996. After the video game crash of 1983-84, Atari never recovered its former glory. Their last effort in the home video game market, the 64-bit Jaguar, was a failure. Tramiel had Atari Corp. do a “reverse merger” with hard drive manufacturer JTS Corporation. Two years later, in 1998, Hasbro bought the Atari properties from JTS for a paltry $5 million. Classic video gamers and Atari fans saw a glimmer of hope once again. Here we pause to look back at some of the other companies that created Atari 2600 games.
First, there’s Milton Bradley. Mr. Milton Bradley first started making jigsaw puzzles in 1880, beginning what would become his namesake company's entry into the toy and game business.A century later, in 1983, Milton Bradley published a whopping two games for the Atari 2600. A year later, in 1984, Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley.
Next is Parker Brothers. Founded in 1883 as the George S. Parker Co., George Parker’s brother Charles joined him in 1888 and the company was renamed Parker Brothers. Exactly 80 years later (1968), General Mills bought the company. In 1982, Parker Brothers began releasing video game cartridges for multiple platforms, including the Atari 2600. In 1987, Tonka Corporation acquired Parker Brothers. A few years later, in 1991, Hasbro acquired Tonka, and thus Parker Brothers, too.
Then we have Tiger Electronics. In 1982, they hopped on the bandwagon with, it seems, half the companies in the world to create video game cartridges. They sold their games under the Tigervision label. In 1998, the same year they acquired the Atari Corp. assets, Hasbro also acquired Tiger Electronics.
Lastly, there’s Avalon Hill. Avalon Hill was the publisher of many strategy war games. They also formed a computer game division early in the establishment of the home computer market. In what must have seemed like a good idea at the time, they too entered the home video game market in 1983. Today, their Atari 2600 cartridges are among some of the hardest to find. Timing is everything; Avalon Hill’s was bad. In 1998, determined to be the Borg of the toy and game industry, Hasbro assimilated, er, acquired Avalon Hill as well.
So, in 1998, Hasbro has acquired Atari Corporation’s assets, plus four companies that published Atari 2600 games as third parties. What does Hasbro do with all of these assets related to the Atari 2600, once the best selling video game console of all time? Absolutely nothing. Instead, from 1998 to 2001, they concentrated on Atari’s classic arcade games. They updated them for today's gamers and slapped the original name and Atari logo on them for brand recognition. The Cyberpunks even attempted to get Hasbro's permission to do an emulation package during this time, but Hasbro was simply not interested.
In fairness, I should point out that all of Parker Brothers' and some of Tiger Electronics' 2600 games were licensed in some fashion. Publishing them would have required new licensing deals that were unlikely to happen. While no one could seriously expect re-releasing the Atari 2600 version of Spider-Man or the Star Wars games would have any impact on sales of current games featuring those properties, legalities are legalities. Companies tend to give exclusive rights to their properties for a number of years when they license them, and exclusive means exclusive.
Resuming the tracing of the acquisition of the rights to Atari's assets we come to the present. Early in 2001, Hasbro sold their entire Hasbro Interactive division, including the Atari assets, to Infogrames for $100 million in stock and cash. What will become of the Atari properties now? That’s uncertain. Both press releases concerning the sale specifically mentioned Atari. One even mentioned that Hasbro had 60 titles in development at the time, but failed to include any classic Atari properties in the short list of specific titles. All that can be said for certain is . . . uh . . . er . . . um . . . . that writer’s block is a terrible thing.
I wasn't kidding about writing this right before it was due back in the opening. I barely squeaked it in in time. Two days later I get an e-mail from Cav, the publisher.
As a Classic Gamer reader, it’s a safe bet that you’re aware that, up until recently, Hasbro owned the rights to Atari’s console-related properties. This, of course, included their Atari 2600 games. What you may not have thought about is just how many third party Atari 2600 games Hasbro also has the rights to. While I could simply list them for you and be done with it, that wouldn't be much of an article, would it? Although considering I’m writing this the night before my deadline, it would certainly be easier on me. (Writer’s block is a terrible thing.) So, let’s examine just how Hasbro wound up with the rights to so many Atari 2600 games in its holdings.
First, let’s start with Atari itself. Atari, incorporated in 1972, was the first of many companies founded by Nolan Bushnell. Although successful from early on, Bushnell had to call in debts every pay period to keep the payroll checks from bouncing. In 1976, Warner Communications paid Bushnell $28 million for Atari. Bushnell realized there was no way Atari would be able to afford getting their latest project, the Atari Video Computer System (VCS, later the Atari 2600), designed and into stores without the capital provided by a major company.
Unfortunately, the laid back atmosphere of Atari, Inc. and the more traditional corporate culture of Warner were like oil and water. In 1978, Bushnell could tolerate no more and left Atari. Atari went on to successfully launch the VCS and, after just a few years, became the dominant player in the home video game industry. In 1981, Atari’s annual sales were $35 million and a significant portion of Warner’s total annual income. Just two years later, in 1983, Atari posted losses of $536 million! Looking to get rid of the albatross that was Atari from around their neck, Warner sold majority interest in the home video game and computer divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel, recently fired president and founder of Commodore. Tramiel called the new company Atari Corporation. Atari’s coin-op division was renamed Atari Games and went on, forevermore separated from the home division.
Fast forward to 1996. After the video game crash of 1983-84, Atari never recovered its former glory. Their last effort in the home video game market, the 64-bit Jaguar, was a failure. Tramiel had Atari Corp. do a “reverse merger” with hard drive manufacturer JTS Corporation. Two years later, in 1998, Hasbro bought the Atari properties from JTS for a paltry $5 million. Classic video gamers and Atari fans saw a glimmer of hope once again. Here we pause to look back at some of the other companies that created Atari 2600 games.
First, there’s Milton Bradley. Mr. Milton Bradley first started making jigsaw puzzles in 1880, beginning what would become his namesake company's entry into the toy and game business.A century later, in 1983, Milton Bradley published a whopping two games for the Atari 2600. A year later, in 1984, Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley.
Next is Parker Brothers. Founded in 1883 as the George S. Parker Co., George Parker’s brother Charles joined him in 1888 and the company was renamed Parker Brothers. Exactly 80 years later (1968), General Mills bought the company. In 1982, Parker Brothers began releasing video game cartridges for multiple platforms, including the Atari 2600. In 1987, Tonka Corporation acquired Parker Brothers. A few years later, in 1991, Hasbro acquired Tonka, and thus Parker Brothers, too.
Then we have Tiger Electronics. In 1982, they hopped on the bandwagon with, it seems, half the companies in the world to create video game cartridges. They sold their games under the Tigervision label. In 1998, the same year they acquired the Atari Corp. assets, Hasbro also acquired Tiger Electronics.
Lastly, there’s Avalon Hill. Avalon Hill was the publisher of many strategy war games. They also formed a computer game division early in the establishment of the home computer market. In what must have seemed like a good idea at the time, they too entered the home video game market in 1983. Today, their Atari 2600 cartridges are among some of the hardest to find. Timing is everything; Avalon Hill’s was bad. In 1998, determined to be the Borg of the toy and game industry, Hasbro assimilated, er, acquired Avalon Hill as well.
So, in 1998, Hasbro has acquired Atari Corporation’s assets, plus four companies that published Atari 2600 games as third parties. What does Hasbro do with all of these assets related to the Atari 2600, once the best selling video game console of all time? Absolutely nothing. Instead, from 1998 to 2001, they concentrated on Atari’s classic arcade games. They updated them for today's gamers and slapped the original name and Atari logo on them for brand recognition. The Cyberpunks even attempted to get Hasbro's permission to do an emulation package during this time, but Hasbro was simply not interested.
In fairness, I should point out that all of Parker Brothers' and some of Tiger Electronics' 2600 games were licensed in some fashion. Publishing them would have required new licensing deals that were unlikely to happen. While no one could seriously expect re-releasing the Atari 2600 version of Spider-Man or the Star Wars games would have any impact on sales of current games featuring those properties, legalities are legalities. Companies tend to give exclusive rights to their properties for a number of years when they license them, and exclusive means exclusive.
Resuming the tracing of the acquisition of the rights to Atari's assets we come to the present. Early in 2001, Hasbro sold their entire Hasbro Interactive division, including the Atari assets, to Infogrames for $100 million in stock and cash. What will become of the Atari properties now? That’s uncertain. Both press releases concerning the sale specifically mentioned Atari. One even mentioned that Hasbro had 60 titles in development at the time, but failed to include any classic Atari properties in the short list of specific titles. All that can be said for certain is . . . uh . . . er . . . um . . . . that writer’s block is a terrible thing.
Sidebar
One of the nice things about writing articles for a magazine like Classic Gamer Magazine, as opposed to a college paper or article for a scholarly journal, is that I don’t have to give a reference for every little fact I site. Still, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the following sites for their help in researching some of this article.- The Atari Timeline by Robert A. Jung – http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/atari/Atari-Timeline.html
- The History of Hasbro – http://www.hasbro.com/consumer/history.htm
- The History of Toys and Games by the History Channel – http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/inventors.html
- I.C. When by Don Thomas – http://www.icwhen.com/
Postscript (12 June 2013)
It is ironic that as I post this to my blog, Infogrames renamed itself Atari several years ago, but has now gone bankrupt and has its properties up for auction. And sadly, every single one of those pages I referenced in the "sidebar," including my own, are now gone. (Although you can find my timeline archived at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.) I.C. When actually still exists and is still run by Don Thomas, but it no longer contains the wonderful timeline of video game history that it used to.
I wasn't kidding about writing this right before it was due back in the opening. I barely squeaked it in in time. Two days later I get an e-mail from Cav, the publisher.
We kinda have a problem. Your latest CVG 101 while good is extremely similar to Leonard Herman's "Ultimate Videogame Company" article from #4. I also had Sarah read them side by side and she also felt they were very alike.He went on to ask if I had any suggestions or another spin on it. Uh-oh! I respond.
Oops. I never finished reading #4. Sorry! In my defense, maybe great minds think alike? (Or maybe I did read the article and have forgotten about it. Regardless, I didn't intentionally set out to write an article similar to one already published.)
I went on to make some suggestion for new articles, wondering if I can write them fast enough. Cav offered me a choice of the video game sticker article I suggested within a week or "[taking] the time to research a real good article about emulators for the next issue." I took him up on the stickers article, which I managed to finish in the week I was given, and made a note of doing an article on emulators for the next issue.
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