30 replies to this topic

[sofortigertod]

Hello All, I'm new to this forum, but not new to video game collecting, having loved games since I was a kid. Today at this generic GoodWill type of place called Savers, I found a bunch of 2600 carts piled up under some baby clothes. One of them instantly caught my eye, since it was Yellow. I looked at it and picked it up to discover that it was hastily painted yellow, and from the looks of it, it was painted quite some time ago. There was no production label on it, just two stickers that look almost like the type used on the old 5 1/4 floppy drives. These labels read:

C016475-12
12/22/82
Rockwell
1-11

There is a board in it, but I'm afraid to open it up and see what the PCB might say, since I'm not too sure how 2600 carts are put together. Also, I don't currently have a working 2600 to see if it boots up. Since this IS the Prototype forum, I figured that I'd post my find here. I'll work on trying to get some pictures posted of it, and I get to order DSL this wednesday, so I'll try to upload the pics then. Anyone have any idea what may be on it, or any of the History of it perhaps?

Thanks!

Sofo

Edited by sofortigertod, Sun May 14, 2006 3:59 PM.

[Tempest]

hmm.... I have no idea what that could be. C016475-12 is an internal Atari part number (doesn't match up with anything on my lists), and 12/22/82 is the date the prototype was created. Rockwell may be a chip manufacturer, it sounds awfully familiar. This *might* be a diagnostic cart, it seems to find the description. You'd have to find a working 2600 and plug it in to see.

Tempest

[holygrailvideogames.com]

You should find a working 2600 to try it out. If you don't want to do that you could send it to a reputable 2600 collector to test it out for you.

[A.J. Franzman]

Tempest, on Sun May 14, 2006 4:09 PM, said:

Rockwell may be a chip manufacturer

Yes.

Edited by A.J. Franzman, Mon May 15, 2006 4:23 AM.

[Gateway]

sofortigertod, on Sun May 14, 2006 3:57 PM, said:

... Today at this generic GoodWill type of place called Savers, I found a bunch of 2600 carts piled up under some baby clothes...

Welcome to the forums!

We have Savers here in Utah as well. It is a multi-store chain, IIRC. Whereabouts are you living? It might give us a clue to the proto's origins depending on where the Savers was located. Most protos for the 2600 have been found in the Silicon Valley area, I think.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Maybe it's this game?

BTW: Welcome! Where did you get that German username?

Edited by Thomas Jentzsch, Tue May 16, 2006 4:40 AM.

[jpfalcon2003]

Welcome Aboard.

[sofortigertod]

Hi all, sorry for the delay in replying, between working so much, and running out of free minutes on dial up, LOL, I haven't had the time to reply to ya'll untill Today. The game was found at Savers in El Paso, Texas. That's where I live.
I've had the moniker Sofortiger Tod since the good ol' days of MOH:AA. lol I used to snipe a LOT in that game. I've been trying to find a working 2600 around here, but it's always no power adapter, and no joysticks. The game itself is still in my possession. As soon as I do get a working 2600, I'll post pics of it. My BroadBand connection comes up on thursday, so I'll be back online then. Is there any way of possibly getting a schematic for a cart-dumper sent to my email? OR is there any way to build hardware to connect the cartridge to where it could be read in Stella perhaps? I'm thinking ahead in case I can't find a real 2600. You would think that they would be easy to find nowadays, what with the advent of the 360 and such, but no such luck yet. Wish me luck, and I'll keep looking for a 2600.

Sofo

[sofortigertod]

Ok, here are some pictures of the cart. Still haven't found a 2600 to test it out on, but will have one from a friend around July 4th I should be able to know what it is shortly after.
So feel free to look at the pics of it and see what you guys think. It has that weird groove in the case, too.

Sofo

Edited by sofortigertod, Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:08 AM.

[Tempest]

That definetly looks like a diagnostic cart. I've seen a few before and they had that weird yellow paint on them. Test it out and see.

Tempest

[ismokeblunts]

what do you make of the yellow paint being on several diagnostic carts? i'm assuming they all made it out of the same place for there to be multiple cartridges with this same characteristic. were they used in-house by atari or another outfit? was there just a batch that were fr whatever reason made up this way?

[moycon]

Tempest is an avid Atari lover but hardly a reliable source for information pertaining to prototypes.....It's definately Pancake Boy.

I can tell by the weird groove in the case.

Please Note : The proceeding post was full of LIES!! ALL LIES!!!

Edited by moycon, Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:30 PM.

[christianscott27]

I'd say its Sunshine Lady, or maybe Snapperoo, anyways...


see ya on the hike and bike trail!

[CPUWIZ]

Hell yeah, I got one of these.

Attached Thumbnails

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[sofortigertod]

So has this particular proto already been discovered? I'm still going to try to play it on my buddies 2600 around the 1st. I looked up Pancake Boy, but all I got was some wierd dude talking about melons and stuff.

[sku_u]

The only way to know for sure is to either find a working 2600 and take a few pictures or send it to Tempest or CPUWIZ and have them take a look at it. It may be a Diagnostic Cart, it may be an undiscovered game, it may be a different beta version of a known game or it may be a simple lab loaner. No way to know for sure at thsi point.

[CPUWIZ]

My picture was a joke, in reference to the worldcup, nevermind. LOL

Just open the damn thing, it has no label and it doesn't even have a screw and the case is already damaged, 10 bucks it's Pac-Man.

[moycon]

CPUWIZ, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Just open the damn thing, it has no label and it doesn't even have a screw and the case is already damaged, 10 bucks it's Pac-Man.

I have 10 bucks that say IT'S PANCAKE BOY.

Open Open Open

[Albert]

moycon, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:58 PM, said:

CPUWIZ, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Just open the damn thing, it has no label and it doesn't even have a screw and the case is already damaged, 10 bucks it's Pac-Man.

I have 10 bucks that say IT'S PANCAKE BOY.

Open Open Open

I'll eat a 2600 system if it turns out to be Pancake Boy.

..Al

[Allan]

Albert, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:36 PM, said:

moycon, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:58 PM, said:

CPUWIZ, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Just open the damn thing, it has no label and it doesn't even have a screw and the case is already damaged, 10 bucks it's Pac-Man.

I have 10 bucks that say IT'S PANCAKE BOY.

Open Open Open

I'll eat a 2600 system if it turns out to be Pancake Boy.

..Al

It just never stops being funny!

Allan

[atari70s]

yum pancakes and melons. sounds like a regular good time to me.


so lets crack it open and see

[Shawn Sr.]

I'd pay $400 just to see a video of that guy telling people on the bike trails that he is "regular", Hell even more if it was video of him playing Pancake Boy telling another gamer the benifits of eating melons...lol..

[Albert]

Shawn Sr., on Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:15 PM, said:

I'd pay $400 just to see a video of that guy telling people on the bike trails that he is "regular", Hell even more if it was video of him playing Pancake Boy telling another gamer the benifits of eating melons...lol..

Maybe it's a good thing that we don't have video phones yet.

..Al

[A.J. Franzman]

Allan, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:56 PM, said:

Albert, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:36 PM, said:

moycon, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:58 PM, said:

I have 10 bucks that say IT'S PANCAKE BOY.

I'll eat a 2600 system if it turns out to be Pancake Boy.

It just never stops being funny!

I don't find it funny at all, and obviously sofortigertod didn't even realize it was supposed to be a joke.

Anyway, I trust Tempest - it's probably a Diagnostic Cart.

@ sofortigertod: You can download a free .pdf copy of the 2600 Field Service Manual from AtariGuide Care & Repair. There are a couple of sections in there on the Diagnostic Cartridge, showing what the various screens look like and telling how to use it. I think the two sections are identical as far as the cartridge functions; one is for CX-2600 (6-switch) and the other is for CX-2600A (4-switch) consoles.

[moycon]

A.J. Franzman, on Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:32 AM, said:

Allan, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:56 PM, said:

Albert, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:36 PM, said:

moycon, on Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:58 PM, said:

I have 10 bucks that say IT'S PANCAKE BOY.

I'll eat a 2600 system if it turns out to be Pancake Boy.

It just never stops being funny!

I don't find it funny at all, and obviously sofortigertod didn't even realize it was supposed to be a joke.

Wow! I don't think I've ever come across a gamer yet that didn't appreciate a listen to that audio file!!!
Around here, it's an anual thing... Like Christmas!! Once a year we all gather round the PC sipping spice cider while wearing the cozy robes and play it,

Admit it Franz, You lost all sense of humor in your old age.

Oh and sofortigertod, You might have missed the disclaimer at the bottom of the post. Truth be told Tempest is a prototype guru. If you listen to him in regards to prototypes, you'd do OK