Birthday Mania (found rare Atari 2600 game; 1984): Difference between revisions
From The Lost Media Wiki
No edit summary |
(It was not dumped by Atari_Warlord, it was compiled from source) |
||
| (34 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ | {{InfoboxFound | ||
|title=<center>Birthday Mania</center> | |title=<center>Birthday Mania</center> | ||
|image= | |image= Birthday Mania cartridge.jpg | ||
|imagecaption= | |imagecaption=Cartridge of the game. | ||
|status = <span style="color: | |status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span> | ||
|datefound=31 Jul 2019 | |||
|foundby=[https://atariage.com/forums/profile/292-atari_warlord/ Atari_Warlord] | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Birthday Mania''''' is an Atari 2600 game developed in 1984 by a programmer named Robert Anthony Tokar.<ref>[https://fcfreepresspa.com/robert-anthony-tokar-obituary-19412022/ Obituary for Robert Anthony Tokar], Retrieved 22 February 2023.</ref> The game itself never had any commercial release, but was instead advertised in the ''Newark Star Ledger'' newspaper. Buyers would mail a check to Tokar and receive the game personalized with their name on the title screen. The game featured many birthday-themed activities including blowing out birthday candles and popping balloons.<ref>[http://www.retrogamescollector.com/weird-and-rare-birthday-mania-atari-2600/ Retro Games Collecteor article on the game.] Retrieved 07 Mar '18</ref> | |||
==History== | |||
''Birthday Mania'' was developed in 1984 by Robert Tokar, who was inspired to make the game out of his love for Atari. He taught himself how to program the 6502 chip, and spent several months developing the game.<ref name="R2">[http://atariage.com/forums/topic/204909-birthday-mania-unwrapped/page-1 AtariAge forum thread on the game.] Retrieved 07 Mar '18</ref> It only sold somewhere from 10 to 15 copies, only one of which has been found and verified by Atari collector Jerry Grainer. It is likely that these low sales were partly due to the video game crash of 1983, a severe decline in the North American video game market from 1983 to 1985. A more obvious reason for its rarity could be the fact that it had no commercial release. | |||
In 2009, a copy of the game surfaced at auction; the highest known offer was $6,500, but the game went unsold. The game today is believed to be worth anywhere between $15,000 and $35,000.<ref name="R2"/> | |||
In 2012, AtariAge user Atari_Warlord contacted Tokar, inquiring about the game and the possibility of reproductions. Tokar stated he would give away the copyright as long as any profits went to charity.<ref name="R2"/> However, the game would remain undumped for quite some time. | |||
On November 14th, 2015, Atari_Warlord received copies of the game's manual and source code from the United States Copyright Office.<ref>[https://forums.atariage.com/topic/204909-birthday-mania-unwrapped/?do=findComment&comment=3367845 AtariAge forum comment displaying the manual and stating that Atari_Warlord had received it and the source code from the USCO.]</ref> | |||
On November 16th, 2015, YouTube user Trevgauntlet uploaded a high-quality video of gameplay from ''Birthday Mania'' being played on the Stella emulator. According to Trevgauntlet, the footage is from a man named Thomas Jentzsch. | |||
On July 31st, 2019, a personalized ROM dedicated to Tokar was compiled and released by Atari_Warlord.<ref>[https://atariage.com/forums/topic/204909-birthday-mania-unwrapped/page/10/?tab=comments#comment-4320309 AtariAge forum comment displaying the original ROM dump.] Retrieved 02 Aug '19</ref> An unpersonalized ROM was later dumped by AtariAge user Shawn the same day.<ref>[https://atariage.com/forums/topic/204909-birthday-mania-unwrapped/page/11/?tab=comments#comment-4320447 AtariAge forum comment displaying a ROM dump without personalization.] Retrieved 02 Aug '19</ref> | |||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
{{ | [[File:Birthday_mania.jpg|thumb|305px|center|The first screenshot of the game to appear online.]] | ||
==Videos== | |||
{{Video|perrow =2 | |||
|service1 =youtube | |||
|id1 =X4jBXkF0B-c | |||
|description1 =A video of gameplay taken from Thomas Jentzsch. | |||
|service2 =youtube | |||
|id2 =L8HWNVvedTw | |||
|description2 =A video discussing about the video game's origins. Courtesy of Evil Pixel. | |||
}} | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
==See Also== | |||
*[["Block moving game" (partially found builds of cancelled Atari 2600 game from Activision; 1983)]] | |||
*[[Circus Charlie (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 port of arcade action-platformer; 1984)]] | |||
*[[The Core (partially lost Atari 2600 game; 1999-2001)]] | |||
*[[Cosmic (partially found Atari 2600 game; existence unconfirmed; dates unknown)]] | |||
*[[Crazy Cars (lost Atari 2600 port of Amiga game; existence unconfirmed; 1990)]] | |||
*[[Edu Games (lost Atari 2600 games; mid 1980s-early 1990s)]] | |||
*[[Home Vision (partially found Atari 2600 games from Taiwanese-Belgian game publisher; 1982-1983)]] | |||
*[[The Incredible Hulk (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)]] | |||
*[[JimsToy (partially found Atari 2600 games from obscure developer; 1980s)]] | |||
*[[Mission Omega (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game by CommaVid; early 1980s)]] | |||
*[[Mr. Bill's Neighborhood (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)]] | |||
*[[Shove It! (lost build of cancelled CBS Atari 2600 game; existence unconfirmed; 1983)]] | |||
*[[Smokey Bear (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)]] | |||
*[[Untitled Motorcycle Games (lost Atari 2600 games by David Crane; existence unconfirmed; early 1980s)]] | |||
[[Category: | [[Category:Found media]] | ||
[[Category:Found video games]] | |||
Latest revision as of 00:40, 15 September 2024
Birthday Mania is an Atari 2600 game developed in 1984 by a programmer named Robert Anthony Tokar.[1] The game itself never had any commercial release, but was instead advertised in the Newark Star Ledger newspaper. Buyers would mail a check to Tokar and receive the game personalized with their name on the title screen. The game featured many birthday-themed activities including blowing out birthday candles and popping balloons.[2]
History
Birthday Mania was developed in 1984 by Robert Tokar, who was inspired to make the game out of his love for Atari. He taught himself how to program the 6502 chip, and spent several months developing the game.[3] It only sold somewhere from 10 to 15 copies, only one of which has been found and verified by Atari collector Jerry Grainer. It is likely that these low sales were partly due to the video game crash of 1983, a severe decline in the North American video game market from 1983 to 1985. A more obvious reason for its rarity could be the fact that it had no commercial release.
In 2009, a copy of the game surfaced at auction; the highest known offer was $6,500, but the game went unsold. The game today is believed to be worth anywhere between $15,000 and $35,000.[3]
In 2012, AtariAge user Atari_Warlord contacted Tokar, inquiring about the game and the possibility of reproductions. Tokar stated he would give away the copyright as long as any profits went to charity.[3] However, the game would remain undumped for quite some time.
On November 14th, 2015, Atari_Warlord received copies of the game's manual and source code from the United States Copyright Office.[4]
On November 16th, 2015, YouTube user Trevgauntlet uploaded a high-quality video of gameplay from Birthday Mania being played on the Stella emulator. According to Trevgauntlet, the footage is from a man named Thomas Jentzsch.
On July 31st, 2019, a personalized ROM dedicated to Tokar was compiled and released by Atari_Warlord.[5] An unpersonalized ROM was later dumped by AtariAge user Shawn the same day.[6]
Gallery
Videos
References
- ↑ Obituary for Robert Anthony Tokar, Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ↑ Retro Games Collecteor article on the game. Retrieved 07 Mar '18
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 AtariAge forum thread on the game. Retrieved 07 Mar '18
- ↑ AtariAge forum comment displaying the manual and stating that Atari_Warlord had received it and the source code from the USCO.
- ↑ AtariAge forum comment displaying the original ROM dump. Retrieved 02 Aug '19
- ↑ AtariAge forum comment displaying a ROM dump without personalization. Retrieved 02 Aug '19
See Also
- "Block moving game" (partially found builds of cancelled Atari 2600 game from Activision; 1983)
- Circus Charlie (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 port of arcade action-platformer; 1984)
- The Core (partially lost Atari 2600 game; 1999-2001)
- Cosmic (partially found Atari 2600 game; existence unconfirmed; dates unknown)
- Crazy Cars (lost Atari 2600 port of Amiga game; existence unconfirmed; 1990)
- Edu Games (lost Atari 2600 games; mid 1980s-early 1990s)
- Home Vision (partially found Atari 2600 games from Taiwanese-Belgian game publisher; 1982-1983)
- The Incredible Hulk (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)
- JimsToy (partially found Atari 2600 games from obscure developer; 1980s)
- Mission Omega (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game by CommaVid; early 1980s)
- Mr. Bill's Neighborhood (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)
- Shove It! (lost build of cancelled CBS Atari 2600 game; existence unconfirmed; 1983)
- Smokey Bear (lost build of cancelled Atari 2600 game; 1983)
- Untitled Motorcycle Games (lost Atari 2600 games by David Crane; existence unconfirmed; early 1980s)