20 replies to this topic

[Albert]

/images/news/activision_protos.jpgThanks to our friends at Activision, Thomas Jentzsch, and Matt Reichert, we are proud to make available the binaries for several unreleased Activision games and demos. The Venetian Blinds Demo is a graphics technology demo, Bloody Human Freeway is a version of Freeway that was never released, and then Unknown Game #1 and Unknown Game #2 are two original games that were never saw the light of day. We've put together a page detailing all the games here. Matt Reichert of AtariProtos.com has written up a brief description of each prototype, and links are provided to the full review of each game on his site. Thomas Jentzsch converted each of the NTSC prototypes to PAL, allowing everyone to enjoy these games. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

[SteveW]

Wow, Wings being released today, and now these! I hope the rest of the year is this good. I'd love to see more prototype ROMs being released on a regular basis.

[sandmountainslim]

Look like cool games especially unknown #2, Any chance of coming out as cartridges anytime soon?
SMS

[Cootster]

I was hoping for something that wasn't already on the Anthology I own on three platforms . . . Unknown 2 is cool, though.

[pmpddytim]

Thanks for the cool goodies Activision, and everyone else involved! Cant wait to try these out on real harware with my KK.

[Mock]

I think this is very cool! Totally against the "trend" of today...Activision just gained a lot of respect from me...two thumbs up! Maybe this will show Infogrames how things should be done.

[Mindfield]

Cool! These were on the Activision Anthology Remix, but it's nice to have actual BINs of 'em. Maybe I can burn these to a CD and play 'em thru the Supercharger for that real hardware experience.

[bjk7382]

I already had these thanks to some very kind unnamed people

But it is good to see these released publicly

On a side note for the people trying these on real hardware that Unknown #2 will roll on some tv's.

[SS]

bjk7382 said:

I already had these thanks to some very kind unnamed people

Well I didn't and am really glad for the opportunity to add these to my CC2. I'm such a geek, I know, but I've actually really wanted to see the "Venetian Blinds" demo running on real hardware.

Many thanks to AA, Matt, Thomas, and (most especially) Activision for releasing these!

[Mayhem]

Contacts, contacts you see

(yes I've had them ages too)

But the PAL conversions is a nice thing, so now I can actually see them running with (almost) proper colours on the CC2 instead of relying on Z26 instead to see what they should look like.

[foxglove9]

A nice gift from activision for the new year!

[stephena]

Just an FYI. All these new games/demos work without modification on the latest version of Stella (1.4.1).

Steve

[Rob Mitchell]

Umm Wow! Thanks to everyone involved! The only name that was not mentioned is that of Ken Love of Activision. Was he involved in this release?

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Rob Mitchell]

Who found the unknown prototypes and what kinda "salvage yard" were they found?

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Tempest]

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Who found the unknown prototypes and what kinda "salvage yard" were they found?

You know, it's been so long that I don't remember. I never got a clear explaination on what a "salvage yard" really meant.

Tempest

[Rob Mitchell]

With regard to Unknown Proto #1:

Game 3 seems to be a practice mode which allows you to get used to how the color tiles move. (There must be a formula to describe this function.)

Game 4: Is it just an attract mode or is the AI attempting to solve the puzzle? I was thinking of letting it run all night and see what it comes up with.

Salvage yard: Where dead electronics are thrown? How ever did the finder recognize it as a 2600 game? He reached in amongst the piles of crap and ... "Voila! Ereka! I think I'll plug this into my Atari 2600!"

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Tempest]

Quote

Game 3 seems to be a practice mode which allows you to get used to how the color tiles move. (There must be a formula to describe this function.)  

Could be. I just assumed it was incomplete. If you notice, it has a score counter unlike the other Games.

Quote

Game 4: Is it just an attract mode or is the AI attempting to solve the puzzle? I was thinking of letting it run all night and see what it comes up with.

Try that and let me know. IIRC I let it sit for 5 or 10 min and it never solved the thing. I assumed it was some kind of non-stop demo.

Tempest

[Godzilla]

just wanted to quickly say THANKS for these! Awesome!

[SS]

Tempest said:

I let it sit for 5 or 10 min and it never solved the thing.

Looks like a demo mode to me. It doesn't seem any less random in the piece movements than I tend to be when actually trying to play the game.

[moycon]

Just got around to really reading up on these new discoveries at Tempest's website.
I swear he's got the coolest website (outside of AA of course)
Thanks for keeping on top of the protos Matt, Ive read some of the reviews a half dozen times over the years and it never get old.

[Tempest]

Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it.

Speaking of old reviews, I'm in the process of revamping some of the first reviews I did. Originally I tried to keep them to three paragraphs or less, but now I'm going back and fleshing them out a bit. Don't be surprised if you see some of them get updated in the near feature.

Tempest