+Wonder007 Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 (edited) Is anybody familar with Dimax and its games Space Robot and Astrowar? I own an Atari 2600 NTSC copy of Astrowar but in a Space Robot cartridge. Can somebody shed some light?????? Here is a screenshot of the game btw: Edited July 19, 2005 by Wonder007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 (edited) About the only thing I can say with uncertainty is that Dimax is probably a Brazilian pirate manufacturer. Pirate companies were plentiful in Brazil due to the trade embargos the government had in place back then. As to why the game plays one thing and the label says another -- well, let's just say quality control wasn't an exact science in the Brazilian pirate scene. :-) Brazil used a television standard called PAL-M, which was fairly similar to NTSC. The cartridges are all NTSC format (that is, 60Hz), but the consoles output a slightly different signal. (PAL-M consoles will play on NTSC televisions, but without colour or sound) Edited July 17, 2005 by Mindfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 (edited) On Space War, I do hear sound when I play it and there are two main colors in the game, white and pink (the background is pink and the spaceships are white)! If the game is pirated, then what is the actual game (Space war); I have never seen it before in any other cartridge and my collection is pretty substantial! Edited July 17, 2005 by Wonder007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Do you have a screenshot of the game? And pirated games don't necessarily have anything changed from the original game. Some pirate companies put their own company name/logo in the game where the original company's was (CCE, for example). Others just remove it entirely. Some still just left it as it was. In all cases they just repackaged the original games (some converting it to NTSC or PAL-M so it would play properly) and sold them under their own company name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 Here is a screenshot of the game!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 That's definitely not a version of Atari's Space War. It's looks like a one-line kernel for starters. I'd be tempted to think Time Pilot, but it's not. Doesn't look like anything I've played, so I'm thinking probably another game that was only released in PAL and probably converted to NTSC and pirated by Dimax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 What game is this in the PAL version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Actually the game is Missile War by Goliath, a European release. It is like Astroblast by M Network set on its side 90%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Actually the game is Missile War by Goliath, a European release. It is like Astroblast by M Network set on its side 90%. 894158[/snapback] Got a picture of that? Which number in the Goliath catalog is this? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincYnoTi Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I think more specifically, a Hot Shot release from Goliath: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Yancey Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 (edited) Game is Pal called Meteor Defense. http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html...areLabelID=1584 This is not by Dimax, but is the same game I believe. Edited July 19, 2005 by D.Yancey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 According to CloneSpy, Meteor Defense, Missile War and Astrowar are all the same game/pirate/hack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 That is correct, they are and Marco i apologise, I always get confused with the Goliath/Hotshot relationship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Here's what we wrote for the DPG a couple of years ago: Hot Shot Telespiele– The label under which Goliath sold low-budget 2600 games, in 1984. They had a stand at the ’84 European version of the CES, (the LET in London) Their games were sourced from other producers like Bomb, Dynamics, Homevision, Panda, Sancho, Suntek, and ZIMAG. Carts have a large label on front with colorful artwork that covers the entire label. A colored title is laid over on top of the artwork, which makes these labels stand out among most other pirate games. The boxes for these games were unique in that they all had the same design, with a punched-out hole that shows the cartridge label. Manuals are a simple piece of paper. Hot Shot also made some very cool demo carts, each containing six games from the Hot Shot library. The demo carts feature four LEDs that indicate which game is currently selected. Game selection takes place with the Atari 2600 turned on! Hot Shot games were at least released in England, Germany, Austria and Finland (of all places!). Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOK-dfa Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Hot Shot also made some very cool demo carts, each containing six games from the Hot Shot library. The demo carts feature four LEDs that indicate which game is currently selected. Game selection takes place with the Atari 2600 turned on! Hot Shot games were at least released in England, Germany, Austria and Finland (of all places!). [/i] 895207[/snapback] http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5219294727 Pretty expensive carts also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Whats the male ended wire coming off cart supposed to plug into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Whats the male ended wire coming off cart supposed to plug into? 895308[/snapback] The Atari power supply plugs into the cart and the wire from the carts plugs into the VCS. The LEDs on the cart indicate which game is playing, and you can switch games without turning off the console - pretty cool stuff! I wish I had known about that auction, it sure would have gone higher! Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOK-dfa Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 I wish I had known about that auction, it sure would have gone higher! 895318[/snapback] Marco misses a rare item on eBay. Guess you are getting old Since these have also been released here in Finland i'm going to keep an extra eye open for one. Although i doubt if i will ever find one here. I've never found anthing pre-NES era in the wild here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Marco misses a rare item on eBay. Guess you are getting old Nah, not old, wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincYnoTi Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Whats the male ended wire coming off cart supposed to plug into? 895308[/snapback] The Atari power supply plugs into the cart and the wire from the carts plugs into the VCS. The LEDs on the cart indicate which game is playing, and you can switch games without turning off the console - pretty cool stuff! I wish I had known about that auction, it sure would have gone higher! Cheers, Marco 895318[/snapback] I won one several months ago for less than $20 including shipping. Unfortunately, this was one of the rare items that was gobbled up by international mail and never delivered . Of course, hindsight is 20-20. I should have splurged and spent more on secured shipping than the final auction price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Is anybody familar with Dimax and its games Space Robot and Astrowar? I own an Atari 2600 NTSC copy of Astrowar but in a Space Robot cartridge.Can somebody shed some light?????? Here is a screenshot of the game btw: 893317[/snapback] Astrowar from Dimax (Sinmax) is also known as: Astrowar (1983) (Goliath) (2) (PAL) Astrowar (Arctic or Artic) (SM8002) Dead-Ray (1983) (Home Vision) (VCS831??) (PAL) Meteor Defense (1983) (ITT Family Games) (554-33 391) (PAL) Missile War (1984) (Hot Shot) (83-312) (PAL) Space Robot from Dimax (Sinmax) is also known as: Robot Fight (1983) (Home Vision) (VCS83101) (PAL) Space Robot (Arctic or Artic) (SM8001) Look at Dimax on Gamereset: http://www.gamereset.de/gamereset_.htm You'll find some extra info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 Is anybody familar with Dimax and its games Space Robot and Astrowar? I own an Atari 2600 NTSC copy of Astrowar but in a Space Robot cartridge.Can somebody shed some light?????? Here is a screenshot of the game btw: 893317[/snapback] Astrowar from Dimax (Sinmax) is also known as: Astrowar (1983) (Goliath) (2) (PAL) Astrowar (Arctic or Artic) (SM8002) Dead-Ray (1983) (Home Vision) (VCS831??) (PAL) Meteor Defense (1983) (ITT Family Games) (554-33 391) (PAL) Missile War (1984) (Hot Shot) (83-312) (PAL) Space Robot from Dimax (Sinmax) is also known as: Robot Fight (1983) (Home Vision) (VCS83101) (PAL) Space Robot (Arctic or Artic) (SM8001) Look at Dimax on Gamereset: http://www.gamereset.de/gamereset_.htm You'll find some extra info. 902360[/snapback] But a NTSC version? I noticed you just mentioned PAL versions..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 (edited) Dimax (Sinmax) is NOT a Brazilian company, but a Taiwanese company: I'm not 100% sure if Dimax is a PAL company, but Dimax is listed on Gamereset (which is a PAL only site) and the Astrowar ROM I have (with 'Dimax' on screen) is a PAL ROM (306 scanlines). On the other hand there's a NTSC Space Robot ROM (265 scanlines) which is named by Good2600 V1.0 as: Space Robot (AKA Robot Fight) (Dimax) Then again: Good2600 V1.0 is loaded with incorrect info... If your Astrowar is NTSC, I think you should dump it. BTW: Space Robot is a distant hack of Missile Command, but you probably noticed that already. Edited August 2, 2005 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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