| 3/24/23 |
Here's
something you don't see every day. Recently
when an AtariAge user ordered
some used EPROMs from Jameco Electronics he
received EPROMs with official Atari labels on
them. It would appear that these EPROMs came
from Atari's own EPROM library which must have
been sold as scrap at some point after Atari was
sold to JTS in 1996. Could lightning strike
twice people wondered? As it turns out it
could! Two more intrepid AA members bought
out all the remaining stock and also received
EPROMs with Atari 2600 games on them. While
all of these games were the final versions (mostly
in PAL format), they provided some much needed
dates for when certain games were finished.
Of particular interest was the Atari re-release of
Double Dragon which up until this point had only
been mentioned on one late part number list.
Be sure to check out all new and updated pages!
RealSports
Boxing, Double
Dragon, Ikari
Warriors, Xenophobe,
Desert
Falcon, Motorodeo,
Klax,
and Dark
Chambers
Also please make sure to check the updates to the
7800 Motopyscho
page. Thanks to the efforts RevEng,
CPUWIZ, and Trebor of AtariAge we now have two
more versions of Super Stunt Cycle compiled.
These new versions were created to support the Top
Rider controller. What's the Top Rider
controller? You'll have to read on to find
out!
|
| 3/22/23 |
It's not
often that completely new prototype surfaces,
especially one from so early in Atari's
history. Thanks to the efforts of Alvaro
Arroyo we now have a copy Brad Stewart's long lost
'Battleship' game. While Sonar
isn't a Battleship clone, it plays very similarly
but is adapted to work on a single screen with a
few new twists. Where was the rom
discovered? Why was it never released?
Does it really require a stereo modded 2600?
You'll have to read the review to find out.
|
| 1/23/23 |
A true
arcade classic, Venture
was a smash hit when it was released for the 2600
by Coleco. Today we have an early demo that
shows how the game was shaping up in its earliest
stages. While there may not be much gameplay
implemented, the demo shows some interesting
differences.
|
| 1/12/23 |
Demolition
Herby may not be one of the better known
2600 titles (I'm sensing a theme here...), but
it's actually quite a bit fun. At it's heart
Demolition Herby is an Amidar clone, but it
improves on the formula with a few interesting
twists of its own. Be sure to check out the
new Demolition
Herby page and give it a spin on your own
2600. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
|
| 1/10/23 |
One
of the more uncommon games for the 2600, Entombed
is a simple vertically scrolling maze game that
gained some notoriety over the past few years due
to its unusual maze generating algorithm.
Programmer Paul Allen Newell has graciously made
three of his early maze generation demos
public. These early demos served as the
basis for what eventually became Entombed
(which was finished by a different
programmer). Paul also provided a late WIP
version of Entombed itself when it was still
called Zombie. Check them out why don't cha?
|
| 1/2/23 |
Programmed
by Todd Marshall of Wickstead Design, 3-D Zapper
was to be a 3-D shooter that utilized those
Red/Blue glasses that everyone has a pair of
somewhere in their closet. Unfortunately the
idea never got past the demo stage, but that demo
can now be played thanks to generosity of Todd
Marshall who still had the rom in his possession.
So head over to the 3-D
Zapper page and check out this interesting
tech demo.
|
| 11/20/22 |
It's
update time! Thanks to the generous patience
(and amazing memory) of programmer Warren
Robinett, AtariProtos has been able to update the
Elf
Adventure page with new and more accurate
information about the development of this
mysterious game. Was it really meant to be a
direct sequel to Adventure? Does a fire
breathing dragon lurk within the game? Was
the game ever completed? You'll have to read
the updated review to find out!
|
| 11/15/22 |
And
now for something completely different (well sort
of different anyway). Shootin'
Gallery was a semi-clone of Carnival by
Imagic but it was never released in PAL format
(not officially anyway). However recently a
PAL
prototype of the game has surfaced and
appears to be complete. Was the 40 year wait
worth it for PAL 2600 owners? You'll have to
read the review to find out...
|
| 11/5/22 |
Thanks
to the generous efforts of John Hardie,
AtariProtos is happy to announce three new
prototype reviews. First is an interesting
mid-level prototype for the 3-D 5200 game Spitfire.
This new prototype falls in-between the two
previously known versions and provides an
interesting look at how the game was slowly coming
together. Secondly we have two different
prototypes for Xari
Arena. These two prototypes are dated
within the same week as the most well known
version of the game but have some interesting
differences. John also provided two new
RealSports Baseball prototypes which will be
reviewed soon.
|
| 10/29/22 |
Today
we have not one but two completely new prototypes
to put you in informational overload. First
up is Intuition,
an obscure 'brain training' game from Tigervision
that was recently found an a used book shop.
Second we have Tumbleweeds,
a unique demo made for Atari's unreleased Puffer
exercise bike peripheral. Check them out,
won't you?
|
| 9/2/22 |
Ok
wrong series, but the name is still quite
relevant. As many of you know, the 7800
version of Impossible Mission is best known for,
well, being impossible! Due to a bug the
released version of the game is indeed impossible
to beat, but did you know that a fixed
version was made but not released?
Check out the new Impossible
Mission page for more details.
|
| 7/20/22 |
Monkey
Music is the original unreleased version of
what eventually became the equally unreleased Grovers
Music Maker. While the prototype has
been known to exist for many years, the rom for
Monkey Music has not been made public. This
has finally been rectified due to the generous
efforts of John Hardie who was able to locate the
rom in his personal collection and has released it
for all the enjoy. Be sure to check out all
the new info on the Monkey
Music page as well as a completely
overhauled Grovers
Music Maker page.
|
| 5/20/22 |
One of the
more interesting discoveries from the Atari CED In-House 2nd
Quarter 1983 promo documentary was the
presence of a completely new and unknown
Atari 5200 game. AtariProtos
has been able to gather some information
about this game and how it would have
played. Unfortunately the name of
the game is still a mystery, but it's
possible that it never was assigned an
actual name. Be sure to read all
about this fascinating 'new' discovery.
|
| 5/18/22 |
WIP Madness!
Several
years back a video surfaced of the Atari CED
In-House 2nd Quarter 1983 promo documentary.
This video shows off games being worked on at the
time for the Atari 2600 and 5200, many of which
are in various states of development. I've
decided to make new pages showing off these WIP
versions, even though actual prototypes have yet
to be found.
Atari
2600
Krull,
Bugs
Bunny, Xevious
Atari 5200
Pengo,
Tempest,
Xari
Arena, Sport
Goofy, Road
Runner
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