313 replies to this topic

[Inky]

Okay everyone, repeat after me...

ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!

[MegaManFan]

InKy said:

Okay everyone, repeat after me...

ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!

Indeed. Skepticism or not, the proof will be in the (what looks to be very tasty) pudding!

[Inky]

Bushie2600 said:

ZylonBane said:

Fakers forgot the "comb" of black HMOVE lines along the left edge. And AFAIK, the three-color backgrounds (green/black/green) are only possible without sprites in the way. Sprite positioning requires an entire scanline to itself.

Nice try though.

I have no idea what you are talking about, I stuck the board in the machine and took pictures of the TV, it's a little 14 inch Sony TV.

The 'comb' isthe little black lines on the left side of the screen. They extend in about an inch

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I just hope this isn't another Flexured.

What is Flexured ?

Flexured is a person who got banned for trying to sell a 'fake' prototype of Airworld

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All you need is Photoshop (or any graphics editing program), a computer with video out, and a TV.

I don't have video out on my graphics card and why would I do that ?

As I posted before, the timing IS curious

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Who is Albert ?

The other Administrator here at AtariAge

[Bushie2600]

Thank you Inky, that answers some of my questions. I have talked to some 'experts' about this prototype already and I get different answers about releasing the ROM. I don't know what to do, I am still trying to figure out how to play it.

Zach

[Tempest]

Whoa! Why does all the cool stuff happen when I'm away? I just got back and I see this (hidden in 197 unread e-mails BTW). First I want to say while the timing is extremely suspicious, I think this is the real deal. The pictures look real enough and Turbo definetly existed at one point (Atari even licensed it for re-release in the 90's). I've always assumed a Turbo proto was out there and it wouldn't surprise me if one turned up. However until I see the rom I can't say anything for certain.

Tempest

[Nathan Strum]

Bushie2600 said:

I don't have video out on my graphics card and why would I do that ?

April Fool's Day (April 1st) is a tradition here. Perhaps it's not in Australia. But it's commonplace for people to try and trick people on or around April 1st with things that seem "too good to be true". Turbo is at the top of my list of unreleased prototypes I'd like to see (with Pleiades a close second).

AtariAge posted that a 2600 version of "I, Robot" had been discovered for April Fool's Day. Complete with box. Of course, that was so far-fetched, that it was obviously a gag. But Turbo is known to have been in the works.

I simply wanted to point out that it's very easy to fake a video game. Screenshots, boxes, even videos can't be trusted.

I'm hoping it's real. But not counting on it.

Although... now Paul says he's played it, too. Hmmm...

So... does it use paddles or joysticks?

[Bushie2600]

I have not figured out how to control the car, I can't try paddles right now, I am at work. Good idea though.

Zach

[Tempest]

Paddles. It uses paddles.

Tempest

[sku_u]

Bushie2600 said:

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I just hope this isn't another Flexured.

What is Flexured ?

Flexured was some joker who came along late last year claiming to own a Swordquest Airworld Prototype. Had it been true, it would have been the biggest find for Atari to date.

Needless to say, the screenshots he posted turned out to be bogus as was the cart.

Since then, a lot of people have been skeptical of anyone claiming ownership of previously undiscovered prototypes. Don't take it personally. It's just that coupled with the date which is a notorious date for playing practical jokes, a lot of people will likely remain skeptical until they physically have a chance to play the ROM, or it can be verified by Alex and Albert or perhaps Tempest. Alex and Albert are the site administrators and the big kahunas of the US Atari collector's world and Tempest is an expert on prototypes.

[SS]

Tempest said:

Paddles.  It uses paddles.  

Tempest

Puddles. Tempest's drooling puddles.

[lbaeza]

Shit!

Now I'll have to go to bed without knowing if
this Turbo thing is the best fake I ever seen or not!

Damn!
I won't be able to get asleep!

[Bushie2600]

Hey guys,

I am kind of busy at work today but when I get home, I'll post a picture from an emulator (if I can figure out how ).

Thanks for all the helpful information and the not so helpful accusations.

Does anyone know what something like this would be worth ?

Zach

[sku_u]

Bushie2600 said:

Does anyone know what something like this would be worth ?    

Zach

Quite a bit since it's the only one of its kind known to exist (if it's real ) unfortunately, if you put it up on Ebay, it would probably get pulled because they have become completely unreasonable when it comes to selling protos of any kind.

[Vic George 2K3]

Seems interesting, whether it really is an April Fool's Joke or not. Then again, I'd prefer Activision's Enduro for the 2600.

[Tempest]

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Does anyone know what something like this would be worth ?  

Alot! People have been looking for this bad boy for years. I'd say anywhere from $1500 to $2000.

I'll give you a buck fiddy for it...

Tempest

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Good morning,
so no result until now?

I really want to see an emulator screenshot, Bushie(?) (sorry, but I have problmes with that name) you should download z26 from http://www.whimsey.com/z26/z26.html.

Then we can analyze the picture better.

BTW#1: Am I really the 1st to notice that the building have moved, when you compare both TV screen shots?

BTW#2: How do you know that the game is played with paddles???

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Tempest said:

Alot!  People have been looking for this bad boy for years.  I'd say anywhere from $1500 to $2000.

How much does an empty Coleco prototype board cost?

[mos6507]

Nukey Shay said:

Exactly...I remember the same thing about LadyBug and DeathRace.
The thing was that there were sooo many titles...all flooded into the market seemingly overnight.  The mind gets a bit muddled with that amount of input sometimes.

Anybody else have some vaporware titles that were burned into your fevered adolescent mind?

In the case of Death Race, better late than never, thanks to us homebrewers.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

mos6507 said:

In the case of Death Race, better late than never, thanks to us homebrewers.

Yes, and now the people are impatiently waiting!

[Video]

Notice that there are no er...."Scan lines" on the left of the screen (Don't remember what they're called, the things that keep track of how the BG and sprites move?) That would seem to me to be a problem.

[DeV0]

Bushie

I believe you %100, Noone here in aus gives a rats about april folls, or halloween or any other hallmark moment. The only thing we care about is public holidays, And not why they exist.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Video said:

Notice that there are no er...."Scan lines" on the left of the screen (Don't remember what they're called, the things that keep track of how the BG and sprites move?)  That would seem to me to be a problem.

Those are called HMOVE blanks/combs. Yes, that looks somewhat suspicious.

There are however none of them in the catalog picture posted here (which might be edited). And it is possible to avoid them completely by clever programming, though I don't know if that was already known and used then.

[panamajoe]

joining inky:

ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!
ROM!

[Nathan Strum]

Thomas Jentzsch said:

There are however none of them in the catalog picture posted here (which might be edited).

The picture I'd posted (if that's the one you mean) was from Electronic Games magazine, although it may have been art intended for the catalog, and was unedited (although I can't speak for EG). However, that was certainly a mock-up from Coleco, and not a screen-shot. Even 20 years ago, I never thought it was a picture of an actual screen. Photos of TV screens just never looked that clean back then. Concept art wouldn't have included those black lines anyway, at least I'm unaware of any game of that era where an illustration of a game screen included that detail. That's one reason I'm a little skeptical... the screenshots match the concept artwork almost exactly. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

And yep, I noticed the buildings had moved from one image to the next. But there's no indication that they're actually moving (no interlaced video or blurring). I'd like to see photos of the game taken with a longer exposure, to show the movement of the objects onscreen.

[Cropsy]

DeV0 said:

Bushie

I believe you %100, Noone here in aus gives a rats about april folls, or halloween or any other hallmark moment.....

I don't think that's strictly true. April 1st has always been fairly popular in places I've lived and worked. I noticed Overclockers.com.au who are apparently Australia's most popular PC hardware site posted an April fools. The net is crawling with most unfunny April fool's jokes so I don't see why Atari Age would be any different.

My feeling is that the protoype is a fake. I'm happy to be proved wrong but on April Fools day I think a large dose of scepticism is warranted.