"Arcadia 2001 console group" ROM image list This version is simply sorted alphabetically, on the most commonly-used program names. Last updated: July 4, 2002 Visit "Digital Archaeology" on the web: http://www.digitpress.com/the_digs/arcadia/ Archival Date Cart Rarity status Game title made size codes ============================================================================= Archived 3-D Bowling 1982 4k U- 5 Archived 3-D Soccer 1983 8k U 6 Archived Alien Invaders 198_ 4k SC+ 2 Archived American Football 1982 6k U 6 Archived Astro Invader 1982 4k R+ 8 Archived Auto Race 198_ 4k R+ 8 Archived Baseball 1982 4k C+ 3 Archived Basketball 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Black Jack & Poker 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Boxing 1982 4k ER 9 Archived Brain Quiz 1982 4k C 4 Archived Breakaway 1982 4k U- 5 Archived Capture 1982 2k SC 2 Archived Cat Trax 1982 4k SC 2 Rumored Centipede 198_ _k NR ? Archived Circus 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Combat 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Crazy Climber 1982 4k ER 9 Archived Crazy Gobbler 1982 2k U+ 7 Confirmed Doraemon 198_ _k ER 9 Confirmed Dr. Slump 198_ _k ER 9 Archived Escape 1982 4k SC+ 2 Rumored Fun with Math 198_ _k NR ? Archived Funky Fish 1983 8k ER 9 Rumored Galaga 198_ _k NR ? Archived Golf 198_ 6k ER 9 Archived Grand Prix de Monaco 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Grand Slam Tennis 1982 8k U 6 Archived Hobo 1983 8k U+ 7 Archived Horse Racing 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Jump Bug 1982 8k R- 7 Archived Jungler 1982 8k C 4 Archived Missile War 1982 4k U- 5 Confirmed Mobile Soldier Gundam 198_ _k ER 9 Archived Nibblemen 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Ocean Battle 1982 4k U- 5 Archived Panzerspiel 198_ 4k ER 9 Archived Parashooter 1983 4k ER 9 Rumored Pinball 198_ _k NR ? Archived Pleiades 1983 8k U+ 7 Archived R2D Tank 1982 4k U+ 7 Archived Red Clash 1982 4k R 8 Archived Robot Killer 1982 4k R 8 Archived Route 16 1983 8k R 8 Archived Soccer 198_ 4k C 4 Archived Space Attack 1982 4k C+ 3 Archived Space Mission 1982 4k C 4 Archived Space Raiders 1982 4k C+ 3 Archived Space Squadron 1982 4k U 6 Archived Space Vultures 1982 6k U- 5 Archived Spiders 1982 4k U 6 Archived Star Chess 198_ 4k U- 5 Rumored Super Bug 198_ _k NR ? Confirmed Super Dim. Fort. Macross 1983 _k ER 9 Archived Super Gobbler 1982 4k U 6 Archived Tanks A Lot 1982 4k C+ 3 Archived The End 1982 4k U+ 7 Archived Turtles 1982 4k R- 7 Confirmed Video-Lexikon (dictionary) 198_ _k ER 9 (End of document) - - - = ( Emerson Arcadia 2001 Cartridge Rarity list ) = - - - This version was released on October 3, 2001 by Ward Shrake. (Confused? See notes at bottom.) Visit "Emerson Digital Archaeology" on the web: http://classicgaming.com/arcadia/ Marketed Archival Date Cart (Dual) Game where? Game title status made size Rarity cost ============================================================================= F1 3-D Attack Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a U F2 M1 3-D Bowling Archived 1982 4k U- 5 15 3-D Raceway Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a F3 3-D Soccer Archived 1983 8k U 6 22 U F3 M1 Alien Invaders Archived 198_ 4k SC+ 2 5 U F1 M1 American Football Archived 1982 6k U 6 23 F2 Astro Invader Archived 1982 8k R+ 8 40 M3 Auto Race Archived 198_ 8k R+ 8 40 U F1 M1 Baseball Archived 1982 4k C+ 3 7 M1 Basketball Archived 198_ 8k ER 9 40+ M1 Blackjack and Poker Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a O1 Boxing Confirmed 198_ _k NR n/a U F2 M1 Brain Quiz Archived 1982 4k C 4 10 U F2 M1 Breakaway Archived 1982 4k U- 5 15 U F2 M1 Capture Archived 1982 2k SC 2 5 U F2 M1 Cat Trax Archived 1982 4k SC 2 5 Centipede Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a M1 Circus Confirmed 198_ _k ER 9 40+ M1 Combat Archived 198_ 8k ER 9 40+ M1 Crazy Climber Archived 1982 4k ER 9 40+ F2 Crazy Gobbler Archived 1982 2k U+ 7 28 P1 Dictionary cart Confirmed 198_ _k ER 9 40+ U F3 M2 Escape Archived 1982 4k SC+ 2 5 F1 Funky Fish Archived 1983 8k ER 9 40+ Galaga Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a M1 Golf Archived 198_ 6k ER 9 40+ P1 Grand Prix de Monaco Archived 198_ 4k ER 9 40+ U F2 Grand Slam Tennis Archived 1982 8k U 6 20 F2 Hobo Archived 1983 8k U+ 7 32 Home Squadron Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a M1 Horse Racing Confirmed 198_ _k ER 9 40+ F3 Jump Bug Archived 1982 8k R- 7 34 Jump Bug 2 Rumored 198_ _k NR n/a U F3 Jungler Archived 1982 8k C 4 10 F1 Kidou Senshi Gundamu Confirmed 198_ _k ER 9 40+ U F3 M1 Missile War Archived 1982 4k U- 5 15 U F2 M1 Ocean Battle Archived 1982 4k U- 5 15 P1 Panzerspiel Archived 198_ 4k ER 9 40+ O1 Parashooter Confirmed 198_ _k ER 9 40+ F2 Pleiades Archived 1983 8k U+ 7 32 F2 R2D Tank Archived 1982 4k U+ 7 32 U F2 Red Clash Archived 1982 8k R 8 36 F2 Robot Killer Archived 1982 4k R 8 36 F1 Route 16 Archived 1983 8k R 8 36 U F2 M1 Soccer Archived 198_ 4k C 4 12 U F2 Space Attack Archived 1982 4k C+ 3 7 U F2 M1 Space Mission Archived 1982 4k C 4 13 U F2 Space Raiders Archived 1982 4k C+ 3 7 F3 M1 Space Squadron Archived 1982 4k U 6 24 U F2 M1 Space Vultures Archived 1982 6k U- 5 15 U F2 Spiders Archived 1982 8k U 6 25 U F2 M1 Star Chess Archived 198_ 4k U- 5 15 F1 Super Dimension Fort. Confirmed 1983 _k ER 9 40+ F2 M1 Super Gobbler Archived 1982 4k U 6 30 U F2 Tanks A Lot Archived 1982 4k C+ 3 7 F2 The End Archived 1982 4k U+ 7 32 F3 Turtles Archived 1982 8k R- 7 34 - - - - - - - - - System notes, etc - - - - - - - - General notes See the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) guide on the World Wide Web for much more info than this brief list could ever supply about this game system or its software library. The FAQ for this system, and much more, can be found online at: http://classicgaming.com/arcadia/ Please realize that information on this system and its game library is in a constant state of change. This system did not get the continual attention that collectors lavished on other systems. The result is a small but dedicated core group of people doing all this new research by themselves. Therefore, please DO NOT think of this as "the gospel". It is much better than what came before it. But it is still in its youth, and it will certainly grow and change over time. (No offense meant to anyone who did research before I did!) Column codes There are a number of column codes that probably need to be explained, even to seasoned cartridge collectors. This is because this system's library is often hard to classify or group conveniently, due to the huge difference in areas the system was sold in, label and/or game title variations, etc. In general, when you see the "_" character, that just means that we would like to have more information, but that until we get outside confirmation, that we are leaving something blank or empty. Example: "198_" means we know that the game in question was released during the 1980's when this system was popular. (Most likely, in 1982 or 1983.) However, we do not want to jump to conclusions, so the last digit is blank. (Memory sizes are always left blank until after archiving.) "MARKETED WHERE?" This column shows where this particular title was released. Somewhat self-explanatory if you are familiar with this system, but likely cryptic otherwise. What the codes mean: "U" stands for United States. If you see a "U" in front of a game title, a version of this game was made by Emerson, for their "Arcadia 2001" system. "F" stands for Foreign, meaning "released outside the United States". Because there are a number of such places -- including Canada, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Japan -- I also put a number next to the "F". This indicates how many foreign markets this particular game title was released for. ("F2" literally means "released in two foreign markets".) This column includes any games released to work on any of the "Emerson family" of Arcadia 2001 clones; the "Leisure-Vision," the "Schmid," the "Hanimex," and so on. It only includes systems that are fully compatible with the Emerson family, including pinout. "M" stands for "MPT-03" system family. (See the FAQ for much more info on this subject.) The MPT-03 is an internally-compatible system, which has a different cartridge slot. Many games that were once rumored to be in preparation for the Emerson family, ended up being made for the MPT-03 system later. A number of "new" titles were also made for this system. Note that this system was only made outside the United States, but that it may have been made in multiple countries. An "M2" code means a game was "released for use by two companies that made games for the MPT-03 family". "O" stands for Ormatu -- we're still trying to figure out where this system belongs, family-wise. Carts are the same basic shape as MPT-03 games, so until we can get solid confirmation of this, I'm putting confirmed carts for this system in with the MPT-03 family. "P" stands for "Palladium" -- a family type recently discovered to be compatible. Checking known Emerson carts against a few similar-appearing Palladium carts showed that they were 100% compatible, as far as the ROM image. But the pinout is not even close to fitting either the Emerson or the MPT-03 machines, which is why it is called a third family type. Most of these have so far turned out to be only 4k in length, but a few "new" titles have shown up that we've not found elsewhere. It may be that the system itself had different forms of controllers; some of these games don't work 100%. How many different places a game was (or was not) released, can tell a lot about the type of game itself. If it was put out everywhere, it probably was fairly popular and it had no huge legal (copyright infringement) problems to speak of. A game released only in foreign (non-US) markets likely either was a blatant clone of an arcade game that could not be sold in the US due to copyright problems, or it was simply a game that was released after the system died in the United States. A number of original titles were only sold only in overseas markets. Others have only been found for the MPT-03 family. "ARCHIVAL STATUS" There are basically four seperate categories possible here. Each reflect whether or not a game is known to exist, or if it is just rumored to exist (commonly called "vaporware".) "Rumored" means that a written reference was seen at some time, that said this title was going to be made. However, no collector has told the author of this list that he/she actually owns one themselves. Because of the limited popularity of this system, a number of these titles may eventually move up to... "Confirmed" means that at least one modern-day game collector has told the author of this list that he or she owns a copy of this game. (Not that a friend of theirs might have had it, or that they think they remember this from years ago, but that they have one in their personal possession at the present time.) "On loan now" means that some kind soul was generous enough to temporarily loan me one of their own game cartridges, so that I could archive it. This means it will soon be "archived" and freely downloadable. Note that a seperate version of the game list above, sorted by status and then game title, is up on my web site, at http://classicgaming.com/arcadia/ so that if anyone wants to help preserve the library of this game system, they can easily see what we have or need, at any given time. (Click on "Texts" to get to that listing.) "Archived" means that not only did someone find an actual copy of this game, somewhere in the world, but that the information inside the game's memory chips has been digitally copied. It implies that this game can be found on the Internet in ROM image form. (And yes, a software emulator does exist for this system. See the FAQ for more on that subject.) Ultimately, I would like to see all of these games listed in the "archived" column. Not for any sort of personal gain; it is just a hobby of mine to dig up old games and preserve them, so future generations can see, play and enjoy them. "CART SIZE" This is a reference to how much memory space a cartrige uses. A notation of "4k" means that a cart uses four kilobytes (or 4096 bytes) of memory space. On any game system, the smaller the number, the less room there is for things like new levels, graphics, sound, "Artificial Intelligence" and so on. Games on this system came in four general sizes; 2k, 4k, 6k or 8k. Note that 6k is an "odd" size; 2k, 4k and 8k are more common. This has nothing to do with the size of the plastic case used when a particular game was manufactured. Emerson family games often came in a "short" and a "long" case style. (As near as this author can tell, the initial plan was that longer cases originally meant a game was a clone of an arcade game, and a shorter case was an original, non-copied game. See the FAQ.) "RARITY" Please remember that I said earlier that this list was NOT to be thought of as "gospel". It is better -- in my opinion -- than anything that went before it. But things will most likely change on a regular basis for some time. (Perhaps even years, depending on how many Internet collectors share their info?) There are really two seperate columns here, under one heading. The first is an alpha-numeric code, as described below. The second was mostly for my own personal use, but I've decided to leave it in, at least for the time being. What the second column represents is a 1 to 10 code unique to the "Digital Press" system of scarcity. I've only used 2 through 9 myself, as I feel none of these carts are ultra-common, and there are few "one of one" prototypes in existence, that we are aware of. That said, this column gives a reasonable estimate of how hard it will be to find one game over another. (Codes used here were first developed for use in the "Commodore VIC-20 computer system" library; I wrote that rarity list, too.) I based this on a statistical bell-curve, to be realistic. I used the "+" and "-" signs to show in-class differences. Note that regional differences will always apply. Technically, any non-US release is going to be a little easier to find if you are actually living in the market a game was originally sold in. By the same token, US-based releases may be hard to find, for a game collector that lives in a non-US location. The only realistic way to collect "everything" is to trade with other collectors on a global basis, or be very wealthy! "S" for "Super-Common". The easiest games to find, when compared to other games for that same system. (Making up roughly 10% of a game system's library.) Popular carts end up numerous for sales reasons, so don't focus only on rarity if you intend to play. "C" for "Common". Harder to find than an "S" but still relatively easy to find compared to other carts for this system. (20% of a game library.) "U" for "Uncommon". Carts that an experienced game collector would think of as being in the average or middle range of difficulty. Not too easy or too hard. (About 40% of this library falls into this group.) "R" for "Rare". Noticeably harder to find than most other carts for this system. Takes some hard work to locate one of these and buy it. You'll probably end up having to search the Internet for it. A mild brag when you do find one. (About 20% of a library.) "ER" for "Extremely Rare". Definite bragging rights if you find one of these, especially if you found it at a good price! (About 10% of a game library.) These were made in a production form, but may have been sold in very low numbers, or only in one region. "NR" for "Never Released". Basically means no one has even located this game in prototype form. For now, this is just a rumor that needs confirmation from a collector that actually owns this item. "GAME COST" One man's impression of what these games may cost later. This is NOT gospel. Take it as a starting point, add in your own personal set of unique "value" criteria, and go from there. (Note that all of these figures are based on the US dollar.) A bit of history.... This is the first time this author has tried to put a price on any of these games. Personally, I do not like trying to do this, ever! ("One man's trash is another man's treasure" is very sage advice, if you ask me!) I did my best to take this matter very seriously. What I did was to take note of the figures listed by all the previous people who'd make public lists along these lines. I used the previous figures as a rough starting point -- relative value or rarity, if you will -- sighed deeply, and then discarded the actual figures completely, starting over "from scratch". Please try to pick your jaw up off the floor, if that came as a shock to you. It isn't as irresponsible as it sounds. Most of the prices did not change radically. Most are still in the general ballpark they were in before, in older guides. I am aware that these figures were probably very close to the truth, about past trading experiences. I agree with that. But I could easily counter that no one, anywhere, had information as complete and as accurate as the information now available. Certain games, for instance, have been found to be nothing but renamed clones of one another, when they were formerly thought to have been seperate titles. And in some cases, the exact opposite is true; titles thought to be identical, often turned out to be two completely different version of a game. Since I'm the head of the small, unofficial group of "Digital Archaeologists" that made these discoveries, I feel like my own opinion on these matters ought to have significant weight. (I mean no disrespect towards any previous people. Really! I am not questioning their judgement, just their interest in the system itself. Very few really cared, not too long ago.) I feel that a false sense of scarcity has existed in the past, which artificially inflated prices. My opinion is that things will gradually improve in that area, over an unknown amount of time? (People who did not used to collect for this system themselves, in the past, would not pick up carts they found locally, because no one would buy them from them, before.) It was a vicious cycle, but it does have potential to improve? One very important observation to make, when talking about any "old" or obsolete gaming system, is that game software almost never rises in price, higher than its top retail cost when it was new. In other words, for most systems that have a lot of people actively finding and selling carts, it is a rare day indeed when any cartridge sells for $40 or more. In fact, most collectors get so used to thinking in terms of paying the $5 "bargain bin" prices that took place after the crash of 1984, that I could easily argue that many old games almost never reach even one quarter ($10) of their former top retail price when new? Most games fit that, or come close to fitting that, in just about every other system collected for? The prices above are based on a combination of the two ideas noted above, with input from older price / rarity guides, plus lots of adjustments by eyeball, sorting for a bell-curve norm. Hopefully, the marketplace will be somewhat close to the cost figures I've come up with? In time, as more people trade, sell and/or collect these carts, I'll adjust prices to match the actual market, instead of trying to predict it's course. Note that this author (Ward Shrake) also wrote the Emerson Arcadia section of the "Digital Press Collector's Guide," version six. Information on label variations and so on will be much less homogenized there, than they have to be here. (End of document)