Geeks unite! Comic-Con is here! The VideoGameMuseum.com team will be joining the masses and loving every moment!
To celebrate, we’ve created a small horde of random 8-bit NES games as giveaways!
Want to participate in the giveaway? Here are your options:
1. Find Us: If you meet one of the VideoGameMuseum.com team at Comic-Con, just ask to participate in our retro video game giveaway! We’ll give you a card with a code on it that you can enter into the comments section below. Yup, we’ll be a needle in a haystack, but you can pretend it’s a Where’s Waldo or that you’re hunting for rare video games! We’ll be outfitted with black t-shirts bearing the VideoGameMuseum.com logo. Happy hunting!
2. reTweet Us: Find our “Comic-Con Giveaway” tweet on Twitter (@GamesOgre) and retweet it.
Happy retro gaming and we hope to see you at Comic-Con!
In order to give people a few days to get home after the show and to enter their codes, this giveaway ends Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at midnight PST. See additional terms and conditions.
I love eBay for being both a marketplace and a living museum of video game history! Here are the fantastic items that I’m watching this week.
GAMES
CALTRON 6 IN 1 NINTENDO NES ORIGINAL GAME SEALED RARE
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition …why are the most expensive items often sold by zero feedback sellers.? Is that (A) a guarantee that the listing is a scam, (B) simply a sign that someone wants to sell the item anonymously, or (C) some honest guy who simply never used eBay before?
SNES Donkey Kong Country Competition Complete Nintendo
Soap Panic CIB Famicom Bubble Bath Babes NES Complete
AV Pachi Slot Big Chance CIB Famicom Hot Slots NES
SYSTEMS
Unique Atari 2700 (2600) RC Stella Prototype Console You can read more about this console in the Atari Museum. Bidding still has about a day to go and this gem is going for $1,150.00 USD!
Unique Atari 2600 CX-2000 “Val” Prototype Console Also featured in the Atari Museum. Bidding still has about a day to go and this gem is already up to $2,500.00 USD!
COLLECTIBLES
SEGA Channel Hoodie
Atari Video Music model C-240 Innovative Leisure RARE!!
Lair Artbox Promotional Reel (Playstation 3, 2007)
Nintendo Super Mario Bros 1989 Puppet Kooler Cup Weird!
Nintendo Game Boy Advance Store Display Kiosk + Mario
Rare Mario Chain Chomp Soccer Ball Collectible Awesome…looks like these were used to promote Super Mario Strikers. Anyone know if these are actually rare or not?
VERY RARE Super Mario 2 Dixie Cup FULL SET 1989 For the Mario collector who has everything…
Nintendo Super Mario Bros 1989 Puppet Kooler Cup Weird! Yup, weird.
1980 PAC-MAN TELEPHONE IN COUNTER DISPLAY BOX WORKS! This is hands down the coolest phone I’ve ever seen. More photos are below…
SIGNAGE
Xbox Live 4′ Store Display Sign 360
Nintendo 64 N64 4′ x 10′ Store Display Sign
Nintendo Game Boy 4′ x 10′ Store Display Sign
Vintage Sega Genesis 4′ x 10′ Store Display Sign
Vintage Super Nintendo SNES 4′ x 10′ Store Display Sign
rare vintage Nintendo Gameboy fiber optic sign display
RARE 1996 Nintendo 64 Promo Banner Display Sign N64 Wii
Remember being a kid and sketching out your idea for a video game level? My buddies and I loved to do this on the bus ride to school! We’d draw out the level complete with pits, vines, booby traps, monsters, etc. Then, still on paper, we’d challenge each other to tackle one another’s levels. Naturally, none of those levels ever made it beyond out trapper keepers to the gaming world…
However, the drawings of Toru Iwatani are an entirely different story. Not only did Iwatani do the gaming world a fantastic service by creating the iconic Pac-Man, but he actually preserved his original game design sketches for the last 30 years! Most likely he sketched them in either 1979 or 1980. Check out his different pixilated variations of Pac-Man and the differences between his concept board and the release version.
Iwatani revealed the sketches at the 2010 NLGD Festival of Games in the Netherlands. Special thanks to Control for revealing these to the world.
The photos were taken by Sandra Pompe NL EVD International (Agency NL).
Need a Mario Phone? How about a Vectrex kiosk or a Virtual Boy sign?
You’ve got to love eBay and the fantastic and unique gaming items listed this week. Here’s a collection of my favorites:
GAMES
FACTORY SEALED nes Chubby Cherub CIB new +box nintendo
neo geo aes metal slug 5 usa excellent ultra rare!!
COLLECTIBLES
Pikmin 2 Nintendo Gamecube Countertop Display RARE
E.T. Atari Game Video Store Display Mobile 1982 Sealed
RARE Age of Empires III Game Promo Ship Store Display
Mario Nintendo Custom Bomb Omb Art Sculpture Galaxy The beauty of paper m?ch?
Nintendo Game Boy Color Store Display Kiosk
Rare XBOX 360 Large Neon Sign
RARE Nintendo Neon Sign
AMAZING VECTREX DISPLAY STAND PROTOTYPE – VERY RARE !!!
AMAZING SEGA GAME DISPLAY STAND PROTOTYPE – VERY RARE I have a semi-respectable Vectrex collection and would love to have the space and cash for this gem.
AMAZING SEGA DISPLAY STAND PROTOTYPE – VERY RARE !!!
RARE NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY STORE DISPLAY SIGN INBOX
Rare Nintendo Gamecube 35mm film trailer Metroid/Mario
Nintendo Game Cube Stand Up Store Display Game System
Sega Saturn Nights into Dreams Poster Promo Rare 120 120-Games.com is selling this and other items for the 100% benefit of the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
Mario Kart Telephone This may not be the rarest item, but it makes up for it in sheer awesomeness.? Apparently in Mario’s car phone was? just as absurdly large…just like in the early days of cell phones in real-people land…
If you enjoyed the movie “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” then you might find a current eBay listening of interest as it has to do with the Donkey Kong 3 world record.
Donkey Kong 3 (Arcade) World Record 3,087,100 machine! (Update: Auction ended July 1, 2010 at $60.67 USD)
George Riley is the current world record holder for Donkey Kong 3 at 3,087,100 points (Marathon) and 857,200 (Tournament Settings). He’s now ready to retire the machine on which he set those records. If you’re into video game history and are a Donkey Kong nut, this may be your auction.
Of note is the fact that I was the first person ever to be recognized for getting a score of over 3 million points, and thereby flipping the game 3 different times for the first time ever. For some history it needs to be noted that only 3 different Donkey Kong arcade games were ever released in the United States during the early 80’s. They being Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and of course Donkey Kong 3. The first two have fame for being featured in the film King of Kong. Now the odds of getting a machine that has held the record on Donkey Kong, or Donkey Kong Jr. are pretty slim. So here is your opportunity to own a piece of history.
Naturally though the machine has its share of wear. It would be fascinating to know even an estimate of how many hours are logged on this and other world record machines.
Now about the condition. This machine used to be originally a Donkey Kong machine before they turned it into a DK3 machine. The spraying butten works great, and I have never had a problem with it. Now the controller is a different story. It at times seems hard to move, but it is still playable. The fact that I was able to get a world record on this machine would make this obvious. Now the main problem that has come up with the machine as of late is the fact that the monitor has been acting screwy. For instance right after I uploaded a 2.4 million point game to Youtube the screen went down about a third making it so you could not see Stanley on the bottom level. From what I can see this only happens when you play the game excessively at one time. So if you are an average player who dies out in 10 to 15 minutes you will probably have no problems. I will also provide links to Youtube to show the game play of the machine.? The video was made just recently about 3 days before auction, so it is still fresh. The pictures that you see though were taken the day of auction. I will start off the auction redicously low at .99 cents. Since I can’t really ship this I will make it Pick Up Only, but I don’t mind if you find a third party company that will pick up the machine from my apartment to ship it out at your cost. Just let them know that I live on the second floor of an Apartment building, and there is no elevator. Thank you very much for looking, and good luck!:)
I love the fact that Riley included some YouTube videos of his playing the machine. And, yeah, he’s good…plus I love the commentary from player videos like this.,
The auction is “local pick-up only,” so if you live in the Adelanto, California, this may be your chance to for a piece of retro gaming history.
Curious how the Action 52 evolved to its present glorious form?
The Action 52 is one colorful NES game. Given its shady past and foggy history, NES collectors seem to have a love/hate relationship with the Action 52. If you’re unfamiliar with the Action 52 or the the fact that a man by the name of Greg Pabich recently realized he’d been sitting on the only known Action 52 prototype, then check out my previous articles (Articles 1 & 2)! My second article on the Action 52 covers the game’s outer appearance, a bit of Action 52 history, and the story on how Pabich acquired his prototype version. This article focuses on a new screenshots that Greg Pabich sent over for my feedback. What I found was fascinating!
Introducing: ACTION GAMER!
First off and most significantly, Pabich’s prototype Action 52 cart contains a game named “Action Gamer”! This newly discovered game resides in the esteemed game spot number 52. The release version of the Action 52 places their flagship game “Cheetah Men” as game number 52. Thus, the presence of Action Gamer in that slot raises quite a bit of curiosity! What’s action gamer? In his e-mail Pabich stated the following:
The game is completely different than any known CHEETAHMEN.
I AM STILL WORKING TO GET BEYOND LEVEL 1, A TESTAMENT TO MY SKILL LEVEL(POOR) AND THE FACT THAT THE GAME IS HARDER THAN ANY OTHER VERSIONS OF CHEETAHMEN I HAVE SEEN.
I haven’t seen Action Gamer yet, and I’m excited to see screenshots of it. As I write this, Greg and his kids are still trying to beat the first level in order to provide more info on differences. Additionally, he explains:
Putting my son in law and daughter to work on the New CHEETAHMEN game has so far had the same results; they haven’t advanced beyond Level 1 either. They keep laughing saying it’s NOT THAT HARD, but they get blown away every time they play it.
Pray that the Pabich family beats level one so we can see some more screenshots!
How did the Action Gamer get its name?
For the time being, my best way to make sense of the title Action Gamer is based on the intro credits for the game Cheetah Men from the release version of the game. Notice that the during the intro sequence, the character who gets sucked into the TV screen is referred to as Action Gamemaster. That title could easily be shortened to Action Gamer. So my best guess is that Cheetah Men originally had the working title of Action Gamer.
Why did Vince Perri name his game Action 52?
Before knowing about “Action Gamer,” I think people generally answered this question by saying that there were a lot of action (mostly shooter) games on the Action 52. Thus, it would make sense to call it Action 52. I would have agreed with that until I learned about Action Gamer. Now, my best guess it that Vince Perri, the illusive creator of the Action 52 and owner of Active Enterprises, simply combined the “Action Gamer” title and the fact that there are 52 games on the cartridge.
How did Perri create the Action 52?
We’ve always known that the Action 52 was one of the worst collections of video games ever assembled on one cartridge. Other multi-carts existed at the time, but they generally contained clearly pirated copies of popular licensed games. What’s unique is that the Action 52 contains 52 supposedly original games. Sure they were largely thrown together, unpolished, and so bad that they?re often unplayable. Sure they borrowed strongly from other licensed games, blatantly stole music from other sources, etc., but it seems Active Enterprises did have a person or team trying to create original games.
That being said, people have previously compared the menu screens of the release version of the Action 52 to those of 51-in-1 NES pirate multi-carts. The two seemed strangely similar. Both obviously contained 52 games (18 on menu screen 1, 18 on screen 2, and 16 on screen 3). Although the background patterns were different, the layout template was to- similar to go unnoticed. And even the menu’s functionality and sound effects were the same. The two were just too similar…
Now that we have knowledge and photos of Pabich’s prototype, the similarities are 100% undeniable. A side-by-side comparison of the prototype’s and pirate’s menus shows identical background, layout, header titles, etc. For me, it’s pretty clear that Perri pirated a pirate cart in order to make the menus for his game. (If you steal from a thief, that’s ok, right?)
Have you ever wondered why the Action 52 game menu starts with game “5. Ooze” selected? Simple, that’s because the pirate cart’s menu was programmed that way, and no changes were made to that portion of the code after Action 52 copied it.
What’s also interesting is that his team at Active Enterprises was able to manipulate the pirate’s menu enough to change its background and to add its own header and footer text. However, he made zero changes to the number of games on the cart. If you were Perri and were struggling to create or compile of list of 52 games of questionable quality, wouldn’t it just be easier to rewrite the menu for fewer games?
Feel free to take a closer look at screenshots of the menus to see the similarities for yourself.
So what are the menu differences between the Prototype and the Release versions of the Action 52?
PROTOTYPE
RELEASE
Game: “18. Atmos-Quake”
Game: “18. Atmos Quake” (No Hyphen)
Game: “27. Non-Human”
Game: “27. Non Human” (No Hyphen)
Game: “52. Action Game”
Game: “52. Cheetah Men”
Header Title: “Section #”
Header Title: “Action 52”
Footer: No text.
Footer: “Copr. 1991 Active Ent.”
Background: Mario-styled bricks
Background: Tetris-styled bricks
Font: White
Font: Pink
Font of Selected Game: Pink
Font of Selected Game: Matches background
It’s also odd that Active Enterprises made a few changes to the menu, but they didn’t catch the spelling errors.
Which came first the Action 52 or the 52-in-1 Pirate Cart? While geeking out over these comparisons yesterday and discussing them with a fellow retro gamer, aka my wife, she asked a good question: How do we know that Perri copied the pirate cart? Couldn’t the pirates have copied the Action 52? It’s a good question. Given the foggy history surrounding both the Action 52 and pirate carts, we don’t have an exact production date on either. Thus, it becomes a chicken-or-the-egg question.
However, given the fact that Greg Pabich got his hands on an Action 52 prototype that wasn’t in circulation, we have a snapshot into the development of the Action 52 at a specific time. That snapshot matches the 52-in-1 pirate cart’s menu. Additionally, we can see that the production Action 52 menu differs from the 52-in-1’s menu. Thus, it’s fair to reason that the Action 52 was originally working off of code taken from the 52-in-1.
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that the software pirates who made the 52-in-1 got ahold of a copy of the Action 52 prototype in order to copy its menu. It’s much more likely that Active Enterprises got their hands on a 52-in-1 (which were in circulation), dumped, and reworked the code for the Action 52.
Finally, if pirates had gotten a hold of the Action 52, it’s likely that they would have used a much more accessible production model. And if that were the case, we’d probably see a menu that looks more like the Action 52?s release version menu on the 52-in-1.
Conclusion
Thus, it’s fair to reason that Active Enterprises pirated the 52-in-1 pirate cart. The evolution of gaming is an interesting thing, and it seems clear that licensed games gave rise to pirated games which gave rise to the beloved and despised Action 52!
To Be Continued?
Since the Pabich family is currently working through Action Gamer in order to identify and document differences, I’m waiting on game screenshots, but I’ll let everyone know as soon as I receive them.
In the meantime, here’s my list of questions for Greg Pabich:
Do the loading screens for your prototype Action 52 cart match those of the release version? How about the music?
Does the Action Gamer game still feature the Cheetah Men or is it a totally different game?
Does the Action Gamer cartoon intro sequence match that of Cheetah Men?
Have you noticed any other differences between those two games?
Have you noticed differences in the game play of any other games? (I’m sorry that answering this question is probably a dreadful project/request since even the release ones were mostly unplayable.)
Feel free to take a closer look at all the photos and to contact me with your feedback or to leave it in the comments section below. And, many thanks to Greg Pabich for providing these great photos and a closer look at his Action 52 prototype. Thanks!
Hide your wallets and feast your eyes! Here’s a list of fantastic rare video game items on eBay right now.
GAMES
NES – Devil World (Good Condition) PAL Version. This isn’t the rarest game out there.? It’s just fun to see, since it wasn’t released in the US.
SNES AERO FIGHTERS COMPLETE MINT!!!
Magical Chase Turbo Grafx 16 North American Version!
Dynastic Hero CD Game Turbo Grafx Turbo Duo US version
SYSTEMS
SUPER FAMICOM BOX Nintendo Hotel System +5 games Apparently growing up in Japan meant getting sweet little gems like this system in your hotel room. I’m jealous… Anyone know how common these were?
Nintendo NES Console “DELUXE SET” Complete Rob Robot
ACCESSORIES
Nintendo NES**BRAND NEW**FREEDOM STICK**Nes controller If I had more space, I’d never post this one and would be bidding on it instead. I’ll admit, I have a weakness for vintage wireless accessories.
Nintendo NES**BRAND NEW**MEGA CONTROLLER**Bandai
Nintendo 64 N64 Custom PINK / WHITE controller ! Look ! Yeah, you know you’re a hardcore collector when you buy a custom pink N64 controller.
Sega Channel Adapter for Sega Genesis Peripheral RARE
COLLECTIBLES
WE LOVE KATAMARI VERY RARE PROMO TOY PS2
VINTAGE SUPER MARIO BOX 16 FIGURES LOT yoshi,luigi,toad I don’t know what’s better, the box or the lot of figures!
1991 Nintendo General Mills Mario Magic Motion Rulers
NINTENDO WII RARE EMPLOYEE ACCESS KEY TO COMPANY DOOR
1998 super mario 64 cardboard cutout
original 2004 halo 2 cardboard cutout
VINTAGE Nintendo embroidery pattern, Skateboard Mario +
VINTAGE Nintendo embroidery pattern,Party Mario Bowling
VINTAGE Nintendo iron-on: Mario Madness, Peach + Toad
World of Nintendo Large Retail Sign Nice!!
Ken Griffey Jr.’s Winning Run Autographed Baseball SNES
Back in 1994 or so, Nintendo released a Ken Griffey Jr branded Baseball Game for the SNES. As part of the promotion, they had a contest, with one of the top prizes being official signed Ken Griffey Jr Baseballs.
I was lucky enough to win this contest as a kid. Now I’m ready to part with this baseball and hope it finds a happy home.
The ball is in MINT condition. (Any scuffs you may see are from the poor photos/ Baseball cube.
The ball is Nintendo branded, with green and white colors.
So far as I can tell, there is no other branding on the ball (ie, I don’t think it’s a Rawlings ball)
Playstation 2 PS 2 Blue Neon Sign Ex Cond Works 42″
Nintendo Zelda Action Figure Wind Up Rare Original MINT
Mario and Luigi Collectable Dolls
Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Kraft Cheez Whiz Jar 1989 Snubbing your nose at a 20 year-old empty Cheez Whiz Jar?? The last one of these that I saw on eBay ended April 18, 2010 at $124.99 USD.
You have to respect a guy who does his research when it has to do with retro-gaming history! Greg Pabich contacted me a few weeks ago wanting to identify a couple of old Action 52 cartridges that he’d been keeping in a box for the last two decades. It’s quite clear that Greg’s been doing his homework, so I figured he should get the proper recognition for it.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the notorious Action 52 unlicensed cart for the original Nintendo, the back story is possibly just as, if not more, interesting than the games themselves. A guy by the name of Vince Perri ran a company named Active Enterprises LTD what was partially based out of Miami, FL and partially based in Nassau, Bahamas.? History of Active Enterprises is quite hard to come by. They made the Action 52 for the NES in 1991 and for Sega Genesis in 1993, produced Cheetahmen II using recycled carts from the Action 52, and then disappeared. In fact, they actually disappeared before Cheetahmen II ever hit the market, thus making the 1996 discovery of about 1500 Cheetahmen II carts a huge surprise to the gaming community.
Using some good old fashioned sleuth work, Andrew Harris at “The Warp Zone” attempted to contact Vince Perri to find out the history of Active Enterprises. Yet, strangely, each person he contacted gave him the identical “WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THIS?” response. Perhaps each was Vince Perri answering separate e-mail addresses with different aliases.? Or perhaps it was just a coincidence, but Vince Perri seems defensive enough that one can only wonder what he’s hiding. Did he think Jason was a lawyer digging up a cold case or perhaps that Jason was someone to whom Mr. Perri owed money? Who knows, maybe he was just shy.
Years passed with nothing but silence on the history of the Action 52, and then I got an e-mail from Greg Pabich.? During the 90s, Pabich owned a video and game distributorship.
I owned a very large preplayed movie and game distribution business located in Dallas, TX. I set up the game buy back/trade in programs for Babbages, Toys R Us, Software, Etc. and others. We also built the opening store inventory (movies and games) packages for the Blockbuster franchisees in North America, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Panama, ETC, ETC See: http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1482.html
During the course of his business dealing, Pabich was contacted by none other than Vince Perri.? Vince had a pitch and invited him to Miami to discuss it.
I was introduced to Vince Perri, one of the owners of Active as a potential U.S. distributor of the Action 52 cart. I went to Florida in either late 1990 or early 1991 to discuss the “deal.” He had a large warehouse/office building and appeared to be a legitimate business. I was discussing the purchase of many 1,000’s of games and it involved a tremendous amount of money. In a business like I was in that was full of con artists, I was wary because I was told the carts were going to be assembled “offshore”–the Bahamas according to Perri–and that they must be paid for in full–IN ADVANCE!
He did not have pallets of finished games in evidence, only a handful of what he called “Prototypes” of which I returned with one (which he was very reluctant to part with). There were employees and activities going on (mock ups, advertising posters, promotional stuff, etc) and Active appeared to be a real business. He never mentioned any partners.
We talked and talked, had dinner and I left Florida knowing that the deal was too shaky for me to risk a million dollar upfront payment being wired to the Bahamas…
In hind-sight, Mr. Pabich seems to have made a wise choice. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, the Action 52 collection of games is a pretty horrible set of 52 mostly unfinished buggy games. From the game play alone, it’s no surprise that they went under. However, we can also see from Pabich’s account of the interaction that Active was shaky from the beginning.
Anyone familiar with Craigslist-based scams knows that you don’t wire or accept money wires (Western Union) from Nigerians offering to buy or ship an item for a too-good-to-be-true price. Perhaps the second most feared country for scams is the Bahamas. Luckily, Pabich chose the cup without the proverbial iocane powder. He didn’t put down the cash and, instead, walked away with a piece of gaming history: one of the earliest known Action 52 carts.
Although Mr. Perri isn’t here to verify the exact history of Pabich’s blue-boarded Action 52 cart, there’s a pretty good chance that it’s a prototype. Let’s take a look at the evidence to that point.
The cart’s plastic casing is held together with metal screws. Most Action 52 carts contained no screws whatsoever and instead were held together with something like clear plastic rivets. It makes sense to start with hand-built prototypes that could be assembled and disassembled quickly by hand.
The PCB (printed circuit board) is a unique blue color. Normally, they’re green and sometimes (although less commonly) black. The label is also blue, while all other known labels are clear.
“Made in America” appears to be hand stamped on the PCB (printed circuit board) rather than being factory printed.
Board is 3/4 inches shorter than others.
It does not utilize capacitors as do the other versions. The capacitor was generally used to defeat Nintendo’s lock-out chip and wouldn’t be needed in a prototype version.
The PCB has EPROMS and no production PROMS. The production carts contained PROMS that are labeled “ACTION 52” as all other production carts do.
Both pieces (top and bottom) come from different molds than the production carts. The arrow and the word TOP is missing on the front; all references to ACTIVE ENTERPRISES, PAT PENDING AND MADE IN U.S.A are missing from the reverse. The side flanges on the top piece are FLAT instead of curved.
“MikeSanders” (aka Andrew Harris) at Cheetahmen Corner and the guys at Nintendo Age give a good account of the unique nature of Greg Pabich’s cart. Putting all this information together, I have to agree with Pabich when he recalls Perri’s referring to the cart that he received as a “prototype.”
I also have to applaud Mr. Pabich for his time and effort in researching this cart. Clearly, he’s done his homework in trying to establish the game’s history. In addition to the original photos that he sent me (See my original post), I just received a fantastic batch of photos from him. In them, we have a rare side-by-side comparison of each variation in the Action 52 game that he could get his hands on.
Photographed we have the following Action 52 carts:
Pabich’s Blue Prototype
Production w Black PCB
Production 023-N507 REV. A
Production 023-N507 REV. B
Cheetahmen II 023-N509 REV. 0
Production Sega Genesis
Take a look for yourself at the gallery of 30+ detailed and close-up photos below.? What do you think? Is Greg Pabich’s Action 52 cart a prototype or simply a rare variant?
