Los Angeles 1984 Games (PAL) ... ?!

[macdlsa]

Hi

I want to talk about a "strange" case of rarity ...

A few years ago I decided to re-purchase some of my "lost" cartridges ... so I re-exhumed my collection of early-80's italian VideoGame reviews to seek out more info , with the HUGE help of ( OF COURSE ) AtariAge-cartridges guide .

I discovered that on the guide there is NOT any reference to THIS game ( see attached jpg ) ...

Well , this is "our" italian review of a game called "Los Angeles 1984 games" , European "port" for the VCS of the popular Konami's Track & Field .

?!?!?!?!?!?!??????????????

There's NOTHING about it in EVERY site I already watched , 'cause they all talk about the "regular" Track & Field cartridge ( and , of course , its dedicated controller ) .

Maybe YOU , members af AE , could know something ...

[Rom Hunter]

http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=2&VERSION_ID=8375

 

Los Angeles 1984 Games was the WIP name.

 

Edited October 5, 2009 by Rom Hunter

[Rom Hunter]

 

 

[macdlsa]

Heh , OK , I got it !

 

BUT ...

if it was a WIP , then HOW could you have a screenshot ( and a kinda' flyer ) ?

[ Ok ... you're a "Raider of the lost CARTRIDGE" ]

 

Any more infos about it ? ... so I could post them in a local forum ...

[ http://www.retrogaminghistory.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1712 ]

 

Thnx

[Rom Hunter]

The screenshot is taken from a prototype version.

 

[macdlsa]

Ok , thanks .

L.A.'84 games question RESOLVED and ARCHIVED !

[macdlsa]

Also thanks to d-wilson for his "tips" .

I only think how could a prototype came here back in 1984 in the hands of a "local" reviewer !?!

There's no title screen in the review's photos [ again http://www.retrogaminghistory.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1712 ] , so I'm not sure the game showed is T.& F. or L.A.1984 G. . I only have to believe reviewer's words ... and it's not excluded I'll try to contact him , after all these years ( there are MANY videogames journalists that are still on the way ) !

[Kr0tki]

A bit to add to this old topic. I've recently discovered a curiosity in the Atari 8-bit version of Track & Field.

 

When you run the game on an NTSC computer, it displays the "Track and Field" title, but on a PAL machine it displays "Los Angeles 1984 Games" instead.

 

So it seems that the game was intended to be officially titled Los Angeles 1984 Games for the European market. Although I don't know whether the 8-bit version was released in Europe officially. Probably not, since otherwise I would expect a box titled "L.A. 1984 Games" to surface, which is not the case. Also, the T&F box says "For use with North American and other NTSC television sets only", a text that does not appear on other Atari games.

 

Anyway, the obvious conclusion is that the LA 1984 title is not a WIP title for the 2600 T&F as stated above, but an intended official title for Europe (it's actually explained as such in the above Italian magazine scan).

Edited April 1, 2011 by Kr0tki

[Rom Hunter]

This makes sense indeed.

 

In that case, assuming that it's indeed PAL, there's a chance that the "WIP" version is completely playable.

 

Anyway, I made a seperate entry for it in our database:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-los-angeles-1984-games_s18748.html

 

Thanks for mentioning!

 

Edited April 2, 2011 by Rom Hunter

[macdlsa]

Oh !

The previous link is broken, 'cause we've new Site&Forum , then http://www.retrogaminghistory.com/showthread.php?224-Rarit%E0&p=9628&viewfull=1#post9628 and http://www.retrogaminghistory.com/content.php?998-Track-amp-Field

 

Anyway, the obvious conclusion is that the LA 1984 title is not a WIP title for the 2600 T&F as stated above, but an intended official title for Europe (it's actually explained as such in the above Italian magazine scan).

Yeah, it makes sense !

 

Also, the T&F box says "For use with North American and other NTSC television sets only", a text that does not appear on other Atari games."

Of course you mean the 400/800 (XL?) game, 'cause almost all the NTSC VCS silver boxes have this text.

 

I made a seperate entry for it in our database:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-los-angeles-1984-games_s18748.html

If you need an hi-res image for that italian review I could send it to you, Rom !

... proud to be helpful to both A.A. and A.M.

Edited April 2, 2011 by macdlsa

[Kr0tki]

Anyway, I made a seperate entry for it in our database:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-los-angeles-1984-games_s18748.html

I see you've written "Most probably in PAL format". DigitalPress states that the proto produces 312 scanlines.

 

Rom, what's the story behind this prototype? Why no dump is available?

 

Also, the T&F box says "For use with North American and other NTSC television sets only", a text that does not appear on other Atari games."

Of course you mean the 400/800 (XL?) game, 'cause almost all the NTSC VCS silver boxes have this text.

Yes, I've meant the 400/800 box. Carts for the 8-bits are region-independent, so appearance of such text makes no sense other than for some licencing reasons.

[Rom Hunter]

Anyway, I made a seperate entry for it in our database:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-los-angeles-1984-games_s18748.html

I see you've written "Most probably in PAL format". DigitalPress states that the proto produces 312 scanlines.

 

Rom, what's the story behind this prototype? Why no dump is available?

No idea.

 

It belongs to John Hardie, I believe.

 

Would be great to get a .bin of this one for the database.

 

Thanks for the PAL confirmiation.

 

I corrected the info.

 

[Kr0tki]

Thanks.

 

While we're at it, could you fix spelling of the name of the T&F/LA1984 developer? It's Jacques.

Edited April 3, 2011 by Kr0tki