8 in 1

Name:
 8 in 1
Company: Atari
Model #:
 CX-26193
Programmers:

Brad Stewart (Asteroids), Dan Hitchens (Earthworld), Tod Frye (Fireworld), Michael Sierchio (RS Soccer), Howard Scott Warshaw (Yars Revenge), GCC Corp. (Centipede, Battlezone, RS Tennis)
Year: 1992
Released?
No
Notes:
 Originally called "Supergames 8 in 1"

 

After releasing the 32 in 1 cartridge to modest success (it's hard to gauge the success of a pack in cartridge), Atari decided to try their hand at another complilation.  However since Atari had used up pretty much all their 2K games (and several other peoples), they decided to go with 4K games.  Atari also wanted to improve on the quality of the games they included in the compilation, so they tried to go for some more "Popular" games.

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Although Atari wanted to improve the quality of their game compilation, they were still hindered by budget constraints.  Sam himself dictated games had to be 16K or smaller, royalty free, and could not use the SARA chip.  These limitations put a large chunk of the Atari 2600 library off limits.  However unlike in the 4 in 1 and 32 in 1 cartridges, it looks like Atari was able to scrape together some decent games for this compilation.

 

Asteroids

The arcade classic and 2600 best seller.  Atari was able to use Asteroids since they owned the license and therefore did not have to pay royalties.  Asteroids was an excellent choice for a compilation cartridge.

Centipede

Another great choice for the compilation, it's obvious that Atari had learned their lesson from the 32 in 1 cartridge.  It appears that the EPROM Master that Atari sent the engineers was bad, and caused them to almost take Centipede out of the compilation.  Thankfully a working EPROM Master was found.

Battlezone

Battlezone was one of the few games in the compilation that engineers could not get to work properly.  It appears that the game would come up briefly and then go black.  It is unknown whether or not this problem was ultimately fixed.

 

Swordquest: Earthworld

One of only two duds on the cartridge.  Why Atari decided to put a Swordquest game in the compilation is a mystery since it required a comic book and the contest was long over.  Even if you can overlook these problems, the game itself is absolutely no fun!  Why Atari? Why?

 

Swordquest: Fireworld

Has the same problems that Earthworld did.  Why would Atari include this?

RealSports Soccer

One of the more enjoyable games in the RealSports series.  RealSports Soccer is fun because its easy to learn, and has a decent computer opponent.  Not a bad game to include...

RealSports Tennis

Another fairly decent 2600 sports game.  RealSports Tennis is easy to pick up, and has almost no learning curve and fun in short spurts.  Atari had some trouble getting this game to work properly on the multi-cart.

Yars Revenge

One of the best selling 2600 games of all time.  Atari made a wise choice when they decided to include Yars Revenge in the compilation.  This game probably would have sold the cartridge all by itself.

 

According to some lab notes that were found with the prototype, Atari engineers were having some trouble getting all the games on the cartridge to work.  Some games would not function, while others would play for only a few seconds then crash.  It appears that Battlezone and RS Soccer were particularly picky about being placed on a multi-cart, and refused to work properly even after several board modifications.  It is unknown whether these problems ultimately killed the cartridge, but they probably didn't help (the project was apparently already behind schedule).  Whatever the reason, the 8 in 1 cartridge was never released.

 

Version Cart Text Description
1/16/92 8 in 1 (B) 2:02PM 1-16-92 Final Version?

 

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