Classic Pac Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 It may not of been one, but it has been one too me. This all began some years ago when I was going through my old magazines and I found this ad for Octopussy by Parker Bros. for the 2600 It seemed no matter who I contacted they told me in effect. That no such game was ever released. Then why did the ad which is posted below appear on the back cover of Starlog magazine in there Sept 1983 issue? Also if it isn't Octopussy them which game is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOK-dfa Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Usually you have to reserve ad space in a magazine some months in advance. Maybe the game got canned at the last moment and they couldn't change/cancel the ad anymore. I also have a Parker catalogue in which the game is featured. See this thread http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...talog+catalogue for a picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepnut24 Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 What about the screen shot? Real or mockup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 The Videogamecritic didn't like the old bait and switch job either: http://www.videogamecritic.net/2600hl.htm#...#James_Bond_007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 What about the screen shot? Real or mockup? 100% mockup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 100% mockup! I think you should have a special custom status: 2600 Jedi Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I seem to remember that this game was shown at some of the vintage gaming shows? oh btw... im back... atm any way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Leonard Herman for one says that Octopussy was definitely shown at a CES. The ads were in ALL the comics and magazines at the time. Even the gaming mags seemed mystified as to why the game vanished. Vaporware was just as common back then, but it is really strange to see a game advertized as heavily as Octopussy was to be pulled from release. Parket had to have spent a small fortune promting the game, retailers had been witing for it. What the hell was so wrong with this game that it couldn't be released? I wonder if retailers had a problem with the name "Octopussy," which caused a minor controversy when the film was released. But then why scrap the whole game? File this one with Turbo. Everyone is pretty sure it existed but no one has any proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Well, it was 1983, the year that started the crash, so there's every possibility that it was simply another of the many victims of the era. It's possible that this and the 007 that got released were being developed in tandem, and that Octopussy wasn't coming along as smoothly as the released game, so they went and released the one we're familiar with and, once the crash hit, shelved the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I remember seeing that ad back in the day (although I probably didn't know the quotes were all fake), and was disappointed it never came out (even thought the movie was terrible). I thought the 007 "Moon Patrol rip-off" they ended up releasing wasn't very good. (In fact, I returned mine, and bought Gyruss instead). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I was at the eletronic fun expo in new york as a kid around 83, and I seem to remember seeing octopussy myself. They had donald ducks speedboat there and tons of other stuff. I still have a poster from the event, where they made the new york skyline out of joysticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Usually you have to reserve ad space in a magazine some months in advance. Maybe the game got canned at the last moment and they couldn't change/cancel the ad anymore. I also have a Parker catalogue in which the game is featured. See this thread http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...talog+catalogue for a picture I like the Revenge of the Jedi one. Looks like a first person speeder chase on endor. The Tandy coco computer had a very similar game (can't remember the name where you speed through the forest on your speeder bike blasting stormtroopers and rescuing ewoks (which I usually shot ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Ewok Adventure was the best 2600 Star Wars game as well. I remember a long time span between the schjeduled Octopussy release and the eventuial 007 game. Wan't there a full year between them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dykesr Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 So some of you actually saw this game at a gaming expo, Parker brothers heavly promoted this game, and it is no where to be seen. That seems a bit odd to me. Obviously they dumped it for some reason but why? and when did they do this? Some body out there must have a proto of this game. I know this seems like a rant but i would love to know any info about it, I owuld even pay good money for the proto of this game. Along with being an atari collecter I am even a bigger James Bond collector. RD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sniperCCJVQ Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 This also means that a prototype exists somewhere ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 or at the very least, EXISTED somewhere once... It may be long gone and dead.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tantone56 Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I would have loved to play that game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Could it simply have been a ruckus due to the title? I mean, this WAS 1983, video games were very much a "kids' toy," and perhaps the idea of marketing a game called "Octopussy" to kids went over like a lead balloon. A name change may have been in order but never carried out when the market collapse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tantone56 Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 nah because If you watch the movie the name is purley innocent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 They could have just dropped the Octopussy subtitle. The rumor is that the game was judged to be too weak for release after all and yanked from the market. This may be why Lord of the Rings was pulled as well. Parker pulled the well-advertized Ewok Adventure because the marketers didn't like the gameplay. The shock isn't that the game was cancelled, but that no sign of it has ever surfaced since. (actually it's sitting on my shelf bewween my Turbo and Airwrold protos. Shhhh . . .) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Oh, I know that, but still. Pretty nasty sounding name, and come on, I was 9 in 1983 and the name always made me snicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Sure the name Octopussy was purely innocent. Just like other Bond ingenues such as Pussy Galore and Dr. Holly Goodhead. Their names were innocent too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxglove9 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I have an EProm/Rom of a game labeled Octopussy. My Rom reader no longer functions so I can't check what is actually on the chip now. The last time I played it was probably 1985 or so. I don't remember it looking like those pics but I can't really say. I lent the chip to Alex from AtariAge a while back but he couldn't find a reader for it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I lent the chip to Alex from AtariAge a while back but he couldn't find a reader for it either. I have an eprom reader and a rom reader. I could take a look at it, but I'm sure CPU could dump the chip so you could have a rom image to use on an emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I lent the chip to Alex from AtariAge a while back but he couldn't find a reader for it either. I have an eprom reader and a rom reader. I could take a look at it, but I'm sure CPU could dump the chip so you could have a rom image to use on an emulator. I probably could, depends on what kind of chip it is. If it's a ROM, I could probably dump it with my modded 7800, given I can figure out what company made it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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