Albert Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 /features/McDonalds/index.htmlAfter many years of mystery surrounding the Parker Brothers game McDonald's, we're happy to finally shed some light on the subject. Curt Vendel of the Atari Museum was able to track down an early version of the game, as well as chat with Isabel Garret, the designer at Parker Brothers responsible for the gameplay. In addition to making this early work-in-progress available, Curt also secured copies of documentation and sketches created during the game's development. You can read more, view the images, and download the binary on our McDonald's Revealed! page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Let's see...spend a thousand bucks on a car...or a cartridge that displays a big, bumpy yellow "M" on the screen...tough choice... Seriously, very nice job with the special page on AA. I'm unbearably happy for everyone who's been wondering about this prototype, and who can now satisfy their curiosity thanks to the miracles of telecommunications. Me? I'm going to get a Big Mac. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyXB Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Wow great, must fast test the game. PS: Fast work. I want tell you, that 1 Sketch was linked wrong (the first one was linked on the second). But after I try again it was linked right. You have think, that nobody will see it. But I am fast and see everything. WOW, I found an Easteregg in this game. Don't know if someone already know it. If you open it with Hexeditor, or maybe some other textprogramms you see this at the end of the game: @PARKERBROS 83DAVEENGMAN......H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Time to update my prototype page. It's opening soon! I promise! Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 It's not so much of an easter egg as it is a mystery (unless Curt knows differently). Much of the rom is actually Tutankham and Dave Engman was the programmer. I'm not sure if Isabel used Tutankham as a quick game to patch her title screen onto or if Dave was just recycling code. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I had a very short look at the ROM. There must be more code inside than just for that simple screen. I'll now have a closer look. Stay tuned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 1, 2002 Author Share Posted July 1, 2002 PS: Fast work. I want tell you, that 1 Sketch was linked wrong (the first one was linked on the second). But after I try again it was linked right. You have think, that nobody will see it. But I am fast and see everything. Someone else did see it (CrossBow!), or I probably wouldn't have caught it as quickly. WOW, I found an Easteregg in this game. Don't know if someone already know it. If you open it with Hexeditor, or maybe some other textprogramms you see this at the end of the game:@PARKERBROS 83DAVEENGMAN......H. Yes, that is pretty cool. If you look even more closely at the binary, you'll see that the last 2K of this McDonalds binary is almost identical to the last 2K in Tutankham! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I'm going to ignore previous flamewars involving this discovery and just post a few quick opinions: 1. Regardless of how you feel about the limited (non-existant) gameplay, we should all think it's VERY cool to have concrete proof that the coding for this game was begun and burned. 20 years later and protos are STILL surfacing! McDonald's was always one of those "never to be found, rumored to exist" games. Well, so was LOTR and THAT was found. It makes me hopeful that we'll still one day see Pink Panther, Mr. Bill, Incredible Hulk, Turbo, etc. for the 2600. 2. I appreciate all Curt did to release the ROM to the public, in spite of the flames. Had he not, there'd be people bitchin' about that too. Instead, we can now decompile, examine, and discuss the program without any of us having to pony up $1,000+ for the board/EPROM. Thanks Curt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I wonder if Futurama will show up as a "long-rumored" proto in twenty years. At least that one will DO something when you turn it on. :wink: P.S. A possibly necessary disclaimer: Opinions are not flames, even if they're different from your opinions. -- Peaceful Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 You mean there's no gameplay whatsoever? Just the M title screen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Ugh, Chris - dammit - lighten up. My earlier post wasn't directed towards you at all. And I wouldn't dream of firing things up again. I'm still out of propane from the last go-round. And as for a rumored "Futurama" game, there is no such thing. Never was made. Nothing to see here folks. Nope, nope, nope. Big ol' denial here. That there is illegal and stuff. Fox told me so and I trust the suits there to know what's what. Fact: I just got ANOTHER letter the other day from the Fox legal Dept., saying they appreciate my compliance, yet reminding me that they're still watching me. How....quaint. (20 years, my ass... Chris, I'll have to be DEAD before anything ever surfaced. Geez. Talk about being shadowed...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Let's see...spend a thousand bucks on a car...or a cartridge that displays a big, bumpy yellow "M" on the screen...tough choice... Chris, Y'know... I've been following your posts and I think you're missing the point on what exactly these collectors are getting. Now don't get me wrong because I'm one of the biggest 'gameplayers' out there. (i.e. I collect nothing, I just have the games I liked and played as a kid). See, it doesn't matter that that particular rom has absolutely no gameplay. And it doesn't matter that the rom is dumped so you can easily check it out and see for yourself that it's really nothing. So then why are these people willing to pay for it? It's because it's to hold the actual piece of hardware that was used right there at Parker Bros while they were actually working on this thing. So it's a museum piece basically and sort of a nifty little piece of history. So in that sense it's definitely worth something, especially for those who collect hard to find Atari items. Now would *I* buy this? No, not on your life. However I do think it's a collectible item and probably worth what was paid for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 You mean there's no gameplay whatsoever? Just the M title screen? Looks so! Most of the code is (as said above) from Tutankham. There is some code to display two digit pairs, I think that's only there for debugging. I only found standard graphics for hexadecimal numbers (probably for the debugging purpose too), plus the letters T, W and V and the word "PLAY". So, I'm afraid, all we can get from this ROM is the big "M". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 ne146, chris was being funny (ref humor/sarcasm). see at the end of that line. this board needs closed captioning for the humor impaired. *ha ha ha* and for god's sake, put some clothes on that avatar. *ha ha ha* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 and for god's sake, put some clothes on that avatar. Why? What's the problem? It's just a guy working a jackhammer. (Wha'? It's *what*?) Oh, good lord, put some clothes on that thing. [/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Thank you, Trey. I try to be funny often, and, I'll be the first to admit, don't always succeed. Surely even die-hard collectors can look at things from a healthy distance for a moment, and find SOME humor in paying for useless pieces of plastic, no matter what they represent. Aside from the joke, my main point was to congratulate Albert (et al) on getting hold of photos of materials that represent a piece of 2600 history, however small, and having the means to make it available so everyone can see "what might have been." CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian M Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Let's see...spend a thousand bucks on a car...or a cartridge that displays a big, bumpy yellow "M" on the screen...tough choice... What I'm trying to figure out is what kind of car can you buy for $1,000? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 A used one. I didn't say it would be a very good car. But I've seen 'em leave here for $800 or less. (I'm the computer guy at a Toyota dealership.) ANYWAY, turning our attention back to the topic at hand, and not how unfunny Chris is.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 heh of course I know he was basically joking around (I mean come on.. it's me! ) but quite honestly what I said was meant for an earlier topic (and one I'm sure we all remember) and I just wanted to say my peace. And seeing as it was a little too late to bring up that older one, the popup of this topic just prompted me to do just that ^__^ As far as clothing my avatar, I'm surprised you know what it is. Usually those graphics were typically 'critiqued' and laughed about in such a manner as this particular example for Bachelor Party: http://www.thevideogamecritic.com/2600bb.h...#Bachelor_Party Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvigor Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 What I'm trying to figure out is what kind of car can you buy for $1,000? According to edmunds.com, for $953 you can buy from a dealer, a 1990 Lincoln Town Car in rough condition with 250,000 miles. Or, buy from a private party and for only $724 you can get the same car in average condition with only 150,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 And here I always thought your avatar was from Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em...goes to show you what I know! CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 eh? Well it is! Oh are you joking again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Oh! Good. I was right. Your Bachelor Party reference confused me. I'm easily confused on Mondays. (The rest of the week is a toss-up as well.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 So, I'm afraid, all we can get from this ROM is the big "M". Hm... the VSYNC sequence is the same as in Nick Bensemas "How to Draw A Playfield" and all the other code might result from cosmetic changes of that same example here and there. Any [stella] subscriber could *program* that in less than 2 minutes. Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.