Notes:  This is the final listing of the original owners of the
        hand-made multicarts that Ward Shrake once made, for two 1980's
        video game systems. Neither "production run" went over 50 total
        assembled cartridges. What is "out there" now, is all that will
        ever be made by Ward. Ward "retired" from Classic Gaming around
        the end of 2002 or the beginning of 2003. By early 2005, Ward's
        own private collection of Classic Gaming items was either sold,
        auctioned or otherwise disposed of ... down to his Pac-Man cup!
        (He'd been threatening to reinvent his life ... and he did it!)
        So if you have one of these, you have something hand-made; very
        limited in number; et cetera.  --  Ward Shrake, January 15 2005





                       Bally Astrocade multicart list:
                       Cart numbers & original owners

Cart #       Owner's      Software 
& batch #    Name         version         Original Shipping date
===========================================================================
 1    1    Jamie Fenton      1.3b    Shipped 2001-10-29.
 2    1    Mike White        1.3     Shipped 2001-11-01.
 3    1    Adam Trionfo      1.3a    Shipped 2001-10-29.
 4    2    Daniel Blitz      1.3     Shipped 2001-12-19.
 5    2    Jeff Rothkopf     1.3     Shipped 2001-12-19.
 6    2    Matt Reichert     1.3     Shipped 2002-01-08.
 7    2    Chris Neiman      1.3     Shipped 2002-01-08.
 8    2    Lance Squire      1.3     Shipped 2001-12-14.
 9    2    Mike Markowski    1.3     Shipped 2002-01-03.
10    2    Gary Gordon       1.3     Shipped 2001-12-14.
11    3    David Flemming    1.3     Shipped 2001-12-27.
12    4    Ben Bauer         1.3a    Shipped 2002-01-25.
13    5    Ward Shrake       1.3a    Done on 2002-02-20. (Resold during 2004
                                     to Bryan Gruszka's wife: X-mas present.
                                     Bryan got "production templates" also.)
14    4    Rich Gallo        1.3a    Shipped 2002-01-25.
15    4    Aaron Schlieve    1.3a    Shipped 2002-01-25.
16    5    Jerry Greiner     1.3a    Shipped 2002-02-21.
17    2    Charles Dysert    1.3     Shipped 2001-12-19.
18    4    David Wiggins     1.3a    Shipped 2002-02-06.
19    4    Gerilynn Schott   1.3a    Shipped 2002-01-29.
20    4    Matthew Knapp     1.3a    Shipped 2002-01-25.
21    5    Alan Hewston      1.3a    Shipped 2002-02-25.
22    6    Kevin Zazzera     1.3a    Shipped 2002-02-26.
23    6    Guy Gordon        1.3a    Shipped 2002-02-26.
24    7?   Mark Bowling      1.3a    Shipped 2002-05-28.
25    7?   Douglas Lee       1.3a    Shipped 2002-06-04.
26    5    Russ Perry Jr.    1.3b    Shipped 2002-08-23.
27    8?   Rick Truka        1.3b    Shipped 2002-08-05.
28    8?   Chris Wilkson     1.3b    Sold on 2002-08-xx. Auctioned @ CGE 2002.
29    8?   Al Backiel        1.3b    Sold on 2002-08-xx. Sold during CGE 2002.
30    8?   George Livingston 1.3b    Shipped 2002-08-16.
31    8?   Hans Reutter      1.3b    Shipped 2002-12-27.
32    8?   Tom Burtell       1.3b    Shipped 2003-01-03.
33    8?   Larry Anderson    1.3b    Shipped 2002-12-27.
34    8?   Ian Baronofsky    1.3b    Shipped 2003-01-06.
35    8?   Chris Albert      1.3b    Shipped 2003-07-xx.
36    8?   Lucas Barnes      1.3b    Shipped 2002-12-30.
37    8?   Jeff Rothkopf     1.3b    Shipped 2003-01-03.
38    8?   Drew Dockery      1.3b    Shipped 2003-01-03.
39    8?   Jason Wilson      1.3b    Shipped 2003-01-06.
"43"  3    Ian Baronofsky    1.3     Shipped 2002-12-27.
"57"  3    Sean McGrail      1.3     Shipped 2002-12-27.
"69"  3    Kai Darius Kohl   1.3     Shipped 2001-12-21.
"00"  1    Ward Shrake       1.3b    In-house test cart. One of first I had
                                     finished in 2001. Revamped in Jan 2005,
                                     to look more pretty than it had before.                                     
                                     Only Bally cart with a socket installed;
                                     chip actually sticks through the casing!
                                     This cart is the last of Ward's personal
                                     collection of Bally items. After it, he
                                     no longer owns any Bally Astrocade items
                                     of any kind. No games, systems ... nada.


                Note that only 43 Bally multicarts were ever made:
                but #69 is the highest cart number written on any
                Bally label by Ward. (Ward's test cart was given
                a number of "00" as a nod to binary numbering; Ian
                Baronofsky, Sean McGrail, and Kai Darius Kohl all
                decided to take Ward up on "pick your favorite #"
                instead of having the next number in a series. If
                they'd done otherwise, note their carts were made
                pretty early on -- during batch #3 in late 2002.)
                Others did this as well: see the shipping dates,
                if you care to track down other minor anomalies.
                It no longer matters to Ward ... they're all very
                rare carts -- one of less than fifty total -- so
                just ignore a little whimsy in the cart numbering.

                On cart labels: Some of the earliest carts went out
                with custom bottom labels, as well as upper labels.
                At some point, Ward had extreme supply difficulties
                regarding reusable original Bally cart cases. This
                caused a switch to some original, "NOS" third-party
                cases which were supplied by Mike White. (Bally ones
                had a space for bottom labels; the others did not.)
                I had to stop using the custom bottom labels when I
                switched over to the much-more-easily obtained cases.
                  The upper label also went through minor changes,
                as time went on. Later cases had a message to the
                effect that no copyright infringement was intended.
                (Mike White had verbal approval to supply carts to
                any interested parties, and passed that permission
                on to Ward Shrake. Nothing much existed in writing,
                but technically most or all of these were "legal".
                Adam Trionfo also obtained some valid permissions.)

                There are no upgrades available or necessary for
                any of these carts. Due to available space (ha!)
                inside the "cassette tape" sized cart cases, no
                chip sockets could be installed, making upgrades
                a very time-intensive job of unsoldering a chip;
                erasing the data; burning new data; soldering it
                back in; checking each game for functionality. I
                see no reason to upgrade any cart, as Mike White
                did such a great job of archiving carts / tapes
                over twenty-plus years that he "had it all". We
                made attempts to track down some rumored carts;
                in the end, none were available for archiving...
                so version 1.3 (1.3a, 1.3b) of the EPROM's data
                was the last officially available cart upgrade.
                (Nothing very special about the A, B variants.)
                Everyone already has that version of the EPROM,
                so there are no upgrades necessary or available.

                (If you lose your DIP switch instruction sheet,
                see the BallyAlley message board web site, over
                amongst the various other "Yahoo! Groups". Ward
                put the latest version of that file up there.)



     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



                        Arcadia 2001 multicart list
                      Cart numbers and original owners
   
Cart #        Owner's      Software
& batch #     Name         version             Status of cartridge
===========================================================================
 1    1    Bryan Gruszka     1.25a   Shipped 2001-11-26.
 2    1    Stefan Piasecki   1.35    Shipped 2001-11-26.
 3    2    Jeff Rothkopf     1.1     Shipped 2001-12-19.
 4    2    Dan Blitz         1.25a   Shipped 2001-12-19.
 5    2    Mike Markowski    1.1     Shipped 2002-01-03.
 6    2    Matt Reichert     1.25a   Shipped 2002-01-08.
 7    2    Chris Neiman      1.25a   Shipped 2002-01-08.
 8    3    Lee Romanow       1.1a    Shipped 2002-01-22.
 9    4    Dennis Spreen     1.1a    Shipped 2002-01-25.
10    4    Aaron Schlieve    1.25a   Shipped 2002-01-25.
11    3    David Flemming    1.25a   Shipped 2001-12-27.
12    5    Jerry Greiner     1.25a   Shipped 2002-02-21.
13    3    Ward Shrake       1.35    Done on 2001-12-20. (Resold during 2005)
14    5    Gerilynn Schott   1.25a   Shipped 2002-02-22.
15    7?   Sly DC            1.25    Shipped 2002-05-28.
16    7?   Mark Bowling      1.25    Shipped 2002-05-28.
17    2    Charles Dysert    1.25a   Shipped 2001-12-19.
18    7?   Al Backiel        1.25a   Sold on 2002-08-xx. Sold during CGE 2002.
19    7?   Joe Cody          1.25a   Sold on 2002-08-xx. Auctioned @ CGE 2002.
20    7?   Sean McGrail      1.25a   Shipped 2002-08-23.
21    8?   Hans Reutter      1.3     Shipped 2002-12-27.
22    8?   Ian Baronofsky    1.3     Shipped 2003-01-06.
23    8?   Scott Bertulli    1.3     Shipped 2003-01-09.
24    8?   Lucas Barnes      1.3     Shipped 2002-12-30.
25    8?   Jeff Rothkopf     1.3     Shipped 2003-01-03.
26    3    Russ Perry Jr.    1.3     Shipped 2002-01-19.
27    8?   Drew Dockery      1.3     Shipped 2003-01-03.
28    8?   Larry Anderson    1.3     Shipped 2003-01-06.
29    8?   Matthew Archambeau  1.3   Shipped 2003-01-17.
30    8?   Matthew Archambeau  1.3   Shipped 2003-01-17.
"43"   3   Ian Baronofsky    1.25a   Shipped 2001-12-27.
"69"   3   Kai Darius Kohl   1.25a   Shipped 2001-12-21.
"2001" 7?  Adam Trionfo      1.35    Shipped 2002-05-03. 
"34"   8?  Ward Shrake       1.35    I'd allowed myself two carts. For the
                                     Bally, I had need of a cart that had a
                                     chip socket, for testing purposes. All
                                     of the Emerson carts had sockets, so I
                                     didn't actually finish assembling this
                                     cart until long after the others were
                                     finished. (I didn't really need to.) I
                                     put this together with the last parts
                                     I had available: the last cart made. It
                                     isn't much different, really, in terms
                                     of its parts... just the last one made.
                                     I was going to call it "zero" like I'd
                                     done with the Astrocade run -- but that
                                     one really was one of the first ones I
                                     ever made -- so I decided on the last
                                     "real" number in the 2001 cart series.
                                     (Finished Jan 2005; sold during 2005.)


                Note that while only 34 actual Arcadia multicarts
                were ever made, some legitimate labels show silly
                numbers as high as "2001". This is because Ward
                had decided not to be overly anal about numbering.
                He let people choose their own numbering, at least
                in the beginning of the production process. Later
                on, he got more serious; so most numbers at least
                sort of match up to reality. (See shipping dates
                and/or batch numbers, if it's "critical" that you
                must know the exact order each cart was made in.)
                Whimsical numbering aside, these are all part of
                a handmade cart series that never even hit a full
                three dozen multicarts made: that's pretty rare!

                A few labels may have gone out with dates as late
                as 2005. This is because my printer died in 2002
                as I was making a few last carts: under 6 total,
                as I recall now. My life's goals during 2003/2004
                didn't include getting any newly printed labels to
                those few unfortunates who had label-less carts.
                I made it a priority again, during 2005 ... so a
                handful of legitimate labels may be dated later,
                even though the carts themselves were made before.
                (I'll likely write "2002 / 2005" as cart dates.)

                If you lost your DIP switch instruction sheet,
                see the Arcadia2001 message board web site also:
                I uploaded the latest version of the sheet, in
                Microsoft Word format, up there. (See "files".)

                I'm not sure what to say about chip upgrades. I'm
                retired, and I plan to stay that way. But I have
                taken some steps to insure that those who desire
                to have the latest upgrade -- version 1.3 was the
                last official one -- can obtain it, with a bit of
                work. If you register for the free "Yahoo! Groups"
                message boards, on Yahoo!'s main web site -- the
                name of the group is "Arcadia2001" or something
                pretty close to that -- you can go to their files
                section, and see what is there. If you're lucky,
                some of the techies over there have taken what I
                uploaded -- all of the software tools I wrote for
                my own use, in making that 512k EPROM chip full
                of seperate ROM images from various games -- and
                you can talk one of them into burning you a 27c040
                EPROM which contains the raw data of "version 1.3".
                (Even the binary file is useful, as some places on
                the internet do offer an EPROM-burning service for
                those that can't/won't burn their own data onto an
                EPROM. You supply them with the binary file, and
                the chip number -- a "27c040" in this case -- and
                they do the techie stuff, and mail you the chip.)
                  Either way, installing an EPROM is either fairly
                easy to do yourself, if you're reasonably confident
                in your technical skills; or it should cost only
                the usual and customary six-pack to have a techie
                buddy install it for you. It's a five-minute job,
                including removing the four case screws. (Do be a
                bit careful with the cart case and guts, as I had
                to modify the case to get the chip and a socket to
                fit inside. Do remember which side of the board is
                "up" ... or you'll do far more damage than good!
                Watch carefully how it comes apart, as you do it.)

                Please be aware that I will no longer be able to
                take any mailed-to-me multicarts and "upgrade it".
                Why? Because I won't have an Arcadia 2001 to test it
                on, for much longer! I do have one left, as of the
                date of this writing... but it's on my "sell list,"
                along with both of my personal 2001 multicarts. (I
                already mailed off the one-and-only multicart that
                I'd made on a breadboard, with an MPT-03 pinout. I
                also gave away all of my archiving cables, as well;
                so I won't be doing any more ROM archiving, either.)
                  Due to my complete retirement from Classic Gaming,
                and a big lack of interest in gaming in general, I
                have been weeding my own personal game collection
                down since '02. If it's older than a Turbo-Grafx 16,
                chances are good it went bye-bye already or will go
                soon. If it was newer than that, that still doesn't
                necessarily mean I'll keep it. (I've sold off things
                as big as my original "Joust" and "Crazy Climber"
                and "Frogger" arcade upright cabinets; and as tiny
                as my Pac-Man drinking mug. You can imagine all of
                the stuff in between?!) I reinvented my whole life.
                  Video games just don't play a big part in my new
                way of living. (One more proof of the wise saying
                that you'd better take something homebrewed, when
                it is first offered ... or risk losing the chance
                to ever have it again! It isn't just me: with the
                generally poor treatment / low rewards possible to
                any Homebrewer or other "Internet Elf (tm)," there
                just is no safe "tomorrow" when it comes to taking
                what is offered, today.) It seems to me that those
                most intimately involved in I'net daily goings-on
                are generally risking burn-out at +/- five years. I
                went twice that far... but I'm never looking back!
                I'm not the first or last Internet Elf (tm) to quit.
                  I found I enjoy serenity far more than excitement.
                So aside from occasional amusement, games don't do
                a whole lot for me, any more. Books, music, games
                all play some part: but no one is the whole, now.
                I am enjoying learning to cook as much or more than
                gaming, lately. I make some darned good beef jerky!
                But I still keep a Vectrex around for "Rockaroids".

                Parting advice: read the book "Walden" by Henry
                David Thoreau, sometime during your life. (He's
                the guy that came up with "simplify, simplify!"
                and many other excellent thoughts and advice.)
                He wrote Walden in 1854, but it's more relevant
                now than ever before. Do yourself that one favor.
                You only have one life; don't waste it foolishly.
                Balance "amusements" with a bit of culture, too.

(End of document)