Tag: Atari

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Rare Game Showcase: Atari Jaguar Developer’s Cart, 3 SNES M.A.C.S., and a Mario Pipe Phone

There are some real gems on eBay right now. Check out the life size Halo 2 statue and Atari Jaguar developers cart. My personal favorites: Patapon promo magnets and the Mario pipe phone…

GAMES

MACS~ The Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator ~SNES~ (label damage) Currently a live auction on eBay with 0 bids given its near total label damage and starting bid of $39.95 USD.

M.A.C.S. Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator Version 1.1e 1993 SNES Game (label damage) Sold Sept. 30, 2010 for $71.01.

MACS Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator Version 1994.0 SNES Game Sold Sept. 30, 2010 for $71.01.

This is the “Basic Rifle Marksmanship Program” game used by the US Army to train soldiers using a low cost virtual shooting range before bringing them to a real shooting range. It’s interesting to see two of the version variations appear on eBay. I’d be curious to know how they differ.

Vectrex Homebrew Game V-Hockey

Atari Jaguar: Official Developer’s Flash Card Cart Currently at $245.03 GBP (Approx. $389.35 USD) with 4 days remaining on auction.


This is an auction for a screamingly rare Atari Jaguar Flash Cart. These were originally developed for a trial program Atari ran in Florida that was to allow gamers to ‘download’ games broadcast over the cable TV network. The games would then be downloaded to one of these cartridges, plugged into the Jaguar and played. Unfortunately this never amounted to anything due to the stupidly expensive hardware required (on top of the Jaguar, cart, TV and cable box!) – however the official developers realised how useful a reprogrammable cartridge could be and started using them internally. They were often used to take demo and beta games to trade shows, or to send to gaming magazines as review copies. When Atari folded at the end of the Tramiel era all remaining flash carts and development kits were recalled to Atari for destruction – only very few survived, and this is one of them!

For those of you interested in more recent gaming history, this is the flash cart on which I discovered the finished beta of Total Carnage – this game has now seen a widespread commercial release through Carl Forhan of Songbird Productions.

In use the flash carts are plugged into a computer with a parallel port cable and programmed with a game image using a program called FLASH.COM (which I will provide on request to the winning bidder). The cart contains 4MB of Flash memory (very, very expensive at 1994 prices!) – as there are no games larger than this, it allows any ROM to be loaded onto it. They are fantastic tools for testing out prototype, beta and unreleased games.

COLLECTIBLES

Super Metroid 1994 Promo Standee 6′ Samus Display Currently at $320.00 USD with 3 hours remaining on auction.

1990 NINTENDO SUPER MARIO BROTHERS Phone TELEPHONE Currently at $14.99 USD with 9 hours remaining on auction.

Vintage 1980’s Nintendo Service Sign

Nintendo NES 1983 Punch Out Winter Gloves These are pretty rad, but I keep on wondering why they’re gloves rather than red boxing glove shaped mittens.? Perhaps that was a safety call by Nintendo…

Patapon Promo Magnet Set Sold Oct. 2, 2010 for $4.99 USD. Being a huge Patapon fan, I love seeing stuff like this! And what could be cooler than setting up a Patapon battle scene on your fridge!

HALO MASTER CHIEF LIFE SIZE STATUE, ULTRA RARE 6+ FEET Sold Oct. 1, 2010 for $850.01 USD (+freight shipping).

IT IS A 1:1 SCALE REPLICA OF JOHN-117 WIELDING TWIN M7 SMGs. IT WAS CAST FROM AN ORIGINAL PROTOTYPE SCULPT DONE BY MARC AND GABY KLINNERT AT STUDIO OXMOX IN AUSTRALIA. IT WAS THEN PRODUCED BY MUCKLE MANNEQUINS IN GERMANY AND ONLY AVAILABLE TO EXCLUSIVE RETAIL LOCATIONS IN EUROPE THAT WERE PREPARING FOR THE LAUNCH OF HALO 2

THE STATUE IS CONSTRUCTED OF STURDY FIBERGLASS AND RESIN, WITH TOUGH STEEL CONNECTION JOINTS. THE ARMS MAY BE POSITIONED UP OR DOWN AND IT DISASSEMBLES INTO 8 PIECES PLUS A VERY LARGE BASE (NINE PIECES TOTAL).? HEAD, HANDS/GUNS, ARMS, LEGS, MAIN BODY(HUGE).

NOS Nintendo Super Mario Bros.2 Rare Wind Up Toy MOC Mouser Sold Sept. 27, 2010 for $22.70 USD.

VTG Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Ice Capades 50th Flag Sold Sept. 29, 2010 for $12.50 USD.

… from the 1989 Ice Capades 50th anniversary.

 

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Rare Game Showcase: Sachen, Panesian, Mystique and other Obscure Games Distributors

Obscurity is the essence of collecting.? Sometimes it seems that the worse a game is, the more valuable it is to a collector.? After all, low production numbers mean future rarity.? Naturally, these fetch astounding prices on eBay.? Here are some of my favorites from the past couple weeks.

NES Sachen Full 67 Game Collection Sold Sept. 17, 2010 for $3500.00 USD.

NES collectors are generally indifferent to the existence of Sachen games.? Their substandard gameplay and low distribution in the US means that most of us have never heard of their games.? Yes, Sachen’s games will generally play in a NTSC Nintendo; however, those few of us who have played a Sachen game will probably tell you that these are about as bad as the Action 52.

5 Zelda Games NES Gold Yellow Test Cartridge SNES RARE Sold Sept. 23, 2010 for $305.00 USD.

Vectrex Sean Kelly Multi-Cart 2.0 Rare 60+ games lot Sold Sept. 22, 2010 for $238.00 USD.

TurboGrafx 16 Bonk doll prototype one of a kind Sold Sept. 17, 2010 for $394.99 USD.

This auction is for a one of a kind Bonk Doll prototype. It is hand made by an art director for TZD in the mid 90’s for a potential promotion campaign. It was never developed but stayed in the office of Turbo executives as decoration until I got it as a gift in the final days of TZD.? The left ear is showing some wear but can be fixed otherwise it is in great condition.

Nintendo Mario Mania Hanging Mobile Sign Display Sold Sept. 26, 2010 for $125.50 USD.

This was set up by Nintendo of America employees in department and toy stores as an advertisement. As you can see from the pictures it includes the original box from Nintendo of America in Redmond, Wa.

Nintendo NES Counter Tester Service Center Sold Sept. 26, 2010 for $305.00 USD.

The seller noted that the test unit had some issues:

Everything works. I tried all tests, and found them working. The RCA video/audio out only works when using “External Control Deck Inputs”, and the internal NES only outputs via RF/coax. The unit has some scratches in the black paint, but everything else is in good shape, especially for something 16 years old.

I’m sort of curious to know who would buy an adult video game back in the early 80s.? Then again, when haven’t geeks loved pixelated nudity?? One might say that Mystique was a pitiful video game distributor.? They didn’t sell nearly as many copies of their games in comparison to mainstream distributors.? There games were notoriously horrible to play and only seemed to have success because of the controversy surrounding their content.? Despite the fact that their games may have been garbage, as a video game collector, it’s hard not to take notice of obscure games like these.? Especially when they garner values in the multiple hundreds of dollars.

X-Man Atari 2600 CIB Sold Sept. 28, 2010 for $461.78 USD.

Custer’s Revenge Atari 2600 CIB Sold Sept. 28, 2010 for $76.00 USD.

Bachelor Party Atari 2600 CIB Sold Sept. 28, 2010 for $35.00 USD.

Beat ’em and Eat ’em Atari 2600 CIB Sold Sept. 28, 2010 for $70.00 USD.

Ironically, complete in box copies of some Panesian adult NES games also just appeared on eBay as well.

BUBBLE BATH BABES Nintendo NES – Rare/ADULT Video Game Sold Sept. 17, 2010 for $610.00 USD.

HOT SLOTS Nintendo NES – Rare/Valuable/ADULT Video Game Sold Sept. 17, 2010 for $586.87 USD.

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Rare Game Showcase: Atari Music Machine SEALED!

I was a game developer at Epyx where I worked on Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games for the 2600. When Epyx folded, it was bought out by Bridgestone Media Group. I went with that purchase. Bridgestone had some video projects with the Agapeland people who made the Music Machine songs and such. I was creating educational software using Agapeland intellectual property (specifically the mouse characters from the Amazing Book). I discovered an old box of sample items from Agapeland including a child’s bowl, cup, organizer, stuffed animals, and the Music Machine cartridge. When I eventually left the company, I was allowed to keep these items as memorabilia.? That was 10-11 years ago. I guess I’ve kept it (aside from my natural pack-rat tendencies) because it has historical value aside from its rarity. It’s the world’s first religious video game. I several years ago I took pictures before and posted them on the net (you can see them on AtariAge in the rarity section). Back then it still had a store sticker on it that read: “For Display Only”. That sticker has since fallen off and been lost. I’m not sure why I never opened the box. Mostly because I had heard about the value of “unopened” and I was able to download an emulator ROM that satisfied my curiosity about the game. I guess that’s a moral about how emulation can help preserve history: it keeps historical items from getting used up.

How it surfaced now: I’m in the process of moving, and we’ve been going though our stuff looking for what to get rid of. My teenage son went on eBay and Google to see what we could get for some of our old video games, and discovered the information here at AtariAge (Thanks!). Needless to say we were pretty excited! However, we couldn’t find it! No matter how we searched, it was nowhere to be found. We searched literally every box in every closet and still couldn’t find it. We has almost come to the conclusion that it had been thrown away. We were looking through the boxes under my bed one more time, when I asked my son Andrew if he could see any other boxes under the bed. He said yes! There was one small box that had been pushed back behind the others that we had never searched. He pulled it out and there it was!

The seller has gone above and beyond by creating a page that gives background on the Music Machine. He even does a little comparison between this game and Kaboom. It’s well done and is definitely a good read for anyone interested in gaming history.

Overall this should be a great auction to watch. Will it hit $5,000.00 like the last sealed one? Let’s watch and see!

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Imagine This Dumpster Find! Imagic Atari 2600 Kiosk & Atlantis II Cart

There’s something fantastic about video game kiosks, and Atari ones seem to be among the rarer ones. I was quite excited to see this Imagic kiosk pop up on eBay! Did I mention it includes an Atlantis II cart?

Atlantis II + Imagic Atari 2600 Kiosk LOT

The seller has a pretty interesting story to go with it. Not only was he lucky enough to make it to the tie breaker round for the Atlantis II contest, but he randomly found the Imagic kiosk being thrown out. Included in the lot is his original letter that he received in advance of receiving the cartridge in the mail.

Here’s the seller’s background story:

Background Story:

I entered the contest when I was 13 years old and was part of the tie breaker round. I was sent the package that contained the game and paperwork. I don’t have the box because, well, let’s face it I was 13! The only reason I still have the cartridge was because I was proud to have been able to get into a contest others could not. And the only reason I have the paperwork was because moms like to keep that kind of stuff. 😀 I tucked this game away and have moved it around with me over the years.

About 10 years ago I was taking out some trash for a job I was at and saw an interesting thing poking out of a nearby dumpster. I went to take a look and say that it was an old Imagic store display that let’s you choose a game locked in a case to play in the store. I took it home and found that it didn’t work. I took off the back and after examining it found that the power connection had come loose. I fixed that plugged it in again and it worked! I was excited and thought what can I do with this since I didn’t have an Atari system anymore. I decided to go find one and fix it up for a mothers day present (my mom loved to play those games with my brothers and me).

I shopped around and some garage sales and some flea markets and came across 2 systems that were both not working. I was able to fix one cannibalizing the other. I put the display and the system together and they worked perfectly! I then gave it to my mom on mothers day with cartridges she used to play, with the one rule that she had to give it back to me when she didn’t want it anymore. This is where it stayed for the next 10 years.

My mom passed away about 8 months ago and I was going through her stuff and found the original paperwork from Imagic. Needless to say this brought back memories. I decided to look up this game and the display on the Internet, again in reminiscing about the past, and found that there are collectors for this I never new existed. I decided I would sell it since my son is into the newer systems and does not take an interest in Dads old guy stuff.

Oh, by the way, I didn’t win the $10,000 in gold that Imagic was giving away in the contest. L

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Rare Game Showcase: Pac-Man Phone, Prototype Atari Consoles, and a Sealed Caltron 6 in 1

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

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Rare Game Showcase: Mario Phones, Vectrex Kiosk, Virtual Boy Sign

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…

Mario Telephone Voice Activated!!

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Rare Games Spotted: Signed Halo Controller, Nintendo Sign, Zelda 35mm Trailer

As always, there are presently a number of fantastic video game items on eBay.? Here are a number of them from my watch list.

Collectibles and Other Unique Items

World Of Nintendo Poster – 1992 Kellogg’s Super Mario

XBOX 360 Halo ODST Controller SIGNED by Bungie Studios

 Check out the rest of the fantastic collectible items being sold by goodgamemedia as a fundraiser.

XBOX 360 Halo 3 McFarlane Controller SIGNED by Bungie

Gears of War Lancer SIGNED by EPIC Games

Nintendo Worlds of Power Metal Gear, Ninja Gaiden , etc

Nintendo Mario LCD Watch MINT Rare Vintage Original

Nintendo Mario Yoshi LCD Watch MINT Rare Vintage

Nintendo Killer Instinct Leather Jacket w/belt complete The belt attached to this jacket is a sure sign that the wearer means business.

World Of Nintendo Florescent Sign

Rare Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask 35mm film trailer Check out the trailer below.

Halo ODST 1 of a Kind Helmet by Sean Bradley @ 405th

Vintage 1989 Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Plastic Mug

PAC-MAN VINTAGE CUP MUG HOLOGRAM TYPE 1980 COOL VG COND

Original Xbox Store Kiosk! Playable display w/ extras!

nintendo nes test station

Rare & Interesting Games

NES Nintendo FACTORY SEALED RPG Lot AD&D All 4 Games

SEGA GAME GEAR – 30 IN 1 – GAME ULTRA RARE!!!! Oh the beloved multi-carts!

Nintendo Slalom FACTORY SEALED BRAND NEW NES Black Box Forget about Stadium Events! Sealed game collectors are simply nuts.? This sealed copy of Slalom is at $404.00 USD with over 4 days to go!

Neo-Geo AES Blazing Star ** NON CONVERSION ** complete Presently at $740.00 USD with over 4 days left!