247 replies to this topic

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Tempest, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 4:12 PM, said:

He really would like to share the game with the community, but he's going to leave that decision up to the buyer.

IMO that makes no difference. Either the seller shares the ROM with the community and takes the risk of getting less money or the buyer shares the ROM and takes the risk of devaluating the cart. So if the buyer agrees with releasing the cart, he will most likely bid less. Therefore most likely the cart will go to somebody who won't share.

So in fact it is up to the seller (and not the buyer) to decide.

[Nathan Strum]

I think that his solution is perfectly fair. It's up to the new owner to distribute it, and hopefully that person will do so. After all, the original programmer never got the chance to profit off the game's release 23 years ago, so it'd be nice to get something out of it now.

It's a fascinating story - a car accident preventing a race game from being released. It's odd that Coleco didn't have the game finished up by another programmer, or wait until the programmer could recover. But by then, perhaps the bottom had dropped out of the video game industry and they couldn't justify it.

Anyway, this is extremely cool news. I never expected this game to see the light of day.

[Zach]

Nathan Strum, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:25 AM, said:

It's a fascinating story - a car accident preventing a race game from being released.

The same thing was said of Rush Hour too.

[Tempest]

Nathan Strum, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:25 AM, said:

It's a fascinating story - a car accident preventing a race game from being released. It's odd that Coleco didn't have the game finished up by another programmer, or wait until the programmer could recover. But by then, perhaps the bottom had dropped out of the video game industry and they couldn't justify it.

Pretty much. Like I said, they were under a tight time constraint when one of the programmers got hit by a car on his bike and was in the hospital for several weeks. By this point the game was a few months behind schedule and Coleco killed it off because of the collapsing 2600 market. A similar thing happened with the Commavid game Rushour (which ironically was also about cars).

On a side note, the programmer also did some games for Xonox. He has some interesting insight into that company...

Tempest

[Lord Helmet]

Seems that all roms get dumped eventually. I would imagine this one will be no different. I'll just wait patiently.

On a side note, this is really cool news! It's been a while since a lost game was found. Yet another great day to be an Atari fan

[Rom Hunter]

Tempest, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:30 AM, said:

On a side note, the programmer also did some games for Xonox. He has some interesting insight into that company...

Well, at least his other racing game got released:
http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?...ERSION_ID=17354

[NE146]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:20 AM, said:

or the buyer shares the ROM and takes the risk of devaluating the cart.

I don't know.. I never agreed that having a ROM publically available would devalue the original prototype it came from.

[Albert]

NE146, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 11:16 AM, said:

Thomas Jentzsch, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 10:20 AM, said:

or the buyer shares the ROM and takes the risk of devaluating the cart.

I don't know.. I never agreed that having a ROM publically available would devalue the original prototype it came from.

I generally agree with this statement, but unfortunately there are people for whom the proto *is* more valuable if the binary has not been dumped. I think it's in these cases where we don't end up seeing the binaries for unique prototypes that are in the hands of collectors.

..Al

[4ever2600]

I gotta agree with AL... You may get a LOT less for a proto that has been dumped as opposed to one that hasn't...

Do you know if the game is 4k, 8k ? What are we talking here?

PS Is this going to just be 'offers' style, or are you going to tell the gen. public what the highest offer is, to allow say, "bidding?"

Just curious...

[Tempest]

4ever2600, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 1:19 PM, said:

I gotta agree with AL... You may get a LOT less for a proto that has been dumped as opposed to one that hasn't...

Do you know if the game is 4k, 8k ? What are we talking here?

PS Is this going to just be 'offers' style, or are you going to tell the gen. public what the highest offer is, to allow say, "bidding?"

Just curious...

I'd guess 8K, but that's just a guess. Weren't most of the later Coleco games 8K?

What I was planning on doing is gathering a list of people who are interested in bidding on the prototype, then start taking bids from the through e-mail or PM. My reasoning behind this was that there may be some people who are interested, but do not want it to be publicly known so they're not harassed about the proto (or maybe for other reasons). I figured a private e-mail auction would be the way to go since I think there are only going to be a handful of people interested.

Tempest

[Lord Helmet]

I wonder if all of us here could come up with a bid together...you know, get everyone to donate a few bucks and bid as one? That would be a way to get the binary released.

Edited by Lord Helmet, Mon Nov 6, 2006 3:24 PM.

[else]

Quote

Trust me, he's not in this to make obscene amounts of money. He really would like to share the game with the community, but he's going to leave that decision up to the buyer. He will however strongly request that the buyer share the rom, although he won't force them to do so.

Not a problem. Like I said, I'm not going to criticize him one bit for wanting to make some money. I'd probably do the same thing. Given that though, has he thought about selling copies of it -- maybe in association with the Atari Age Store (for example)? I know I'd purchase one in a heart beat. That way he can still make some money and share it with the community -- the best of both worlds, if you will

Either way, still an absolutely incredible discovery!!!

Edited by else, Mon Nov 6, 2006 3:35 PM.

[Albert]

else, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 3:28 PM, said:

Quote

Trust me, he's not in this to make obscene amounts of money. He really would like to share the game with the community, but he's going to leave that decision up to the buyer. He will however strongly request that the buyer share the rom, although he won't force them to do so.

Not a problem. Like I said, I'm not going to criticize him one bit for wanting to make some money. I'd probably do the same thing. Given that though, has he thought about selling copies of it -- maybe in association with the Atari Age Store (for example)? I'd known I'd purchase one in a heart beat. That way he can still make some money and share it with the community -- the best of both worlds, if you will

That's something I'd be willing to explore with whomever ends up with the proto..

..Al

[Omegamatrix]

Wonder buys the proto >> Gives the rom to Al >> Al makes carts to sell to Omega >> part of the profit goes back to Wonder. Sounds good to me.

[Tempest]

Here are some pics of the proto (sorry for the size)






Tempest

[Wonder007]

Wow, this is very nice. I hope the community enjoys the game when it comes out.

[Albert]

Nice pictures, thanks..

..Al

[CPUWIZ]

Looks like regular F8 bankswitching, it's definately 8K.

[tenoch]

How much would something like this start out at. Price wise.

-t

[supercat]

Nathan Strum, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 1:49 AM, said:

Interesting. Although he'd get better quality running the 2600 straight into a VCR instead of shooting it with a camcorder.

That's assuming one would have something to capture the resulting video. Many people use digital cameras instead of camcorders since they can record onto memory cards for minutes at a stretch.

[Tempest]

tenoch, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 7:10 PM, said:

How much would something like this start out at. Price wise.

-t

Not sure really. There has been one interested bid at $1000 (although I'm not taking bids quite yet) already so assume around that price.

Tempest

[jpfalcon2003]

Tempest, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 7:12 PM, said:

tenoch, on Mon Nov 6, 2006 7:10 PM, said:

How much would something like this start out at. Price wise.

-t

Not sure really. There has been one interested bid at $1000 (although I'm not taking bids quite yet) already so assume around that price.

Tempest

Ouch! I knew it would be pricey though. I'm sure it'll be cheaper than 7800 Missing in Action at 5k though.

[Shawn Sr.]

That gold eprom is worth quite bit alone. Looks like the label on the cart is the same one they used in the ads, thats cool Shouldn't take much to restore it to full glory.

[Cybergoth]

Shawn Sr., on Tue Nov 7, 2006 7:42 AM, said:

Looks like the label on the cart is the same one they used in the ads

So why does such a label even exist? And why does it say "official"? Opposing to TJs unofficial proto or what?!?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

[deleted]

Edited by Thomas Jentzsch, Tue Nov 7, 2006 1:50 AM.