- - - = ( VIC-20 Cartridge Rarity & Gameplay listing ) = - - -
By Ward F. Shrake and Paul A. Le Brasse
with the help of many folks on the Inet
(Version 1.9 ...and counting)
Released on April 6, 1999
Visit "VIC-20 Digital Archaeology" on the web:
http://members.aol.com/wshrake/index.htm
In the spirit of the "friendly computer"
this document may be freely copied and/or
used by anyone who wishes to do so. We do
ask that you give the authors credit by
name if and when you use this listing in
any other context. Thanks in advance!
Notes about this document.
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The Vic20 system has a history that differs from most other "classic"
game machines. (Such as the Atari 2600, the ColecoVision and others.)
For those other machines, people who collect video games had bought
and stored most titles over the decades. Game collectors had complete
lists of what titles had been released by whom and when. On the other
hand, the Vic20 software library had not only not been preserved, but
there were not even any comprehensive lists of what titles had once
been made for that system. The Vic20's history and software library
could have been lost forever if no action was taken to preserve it.
To make a long story shorter, a few people who liked the Vic20 system
took the time and effort to find out all of the titles that had once
been released for the Vic20 system. This list you are reading now is
one result of the efforts of that team of "Digital Archaeologists".
Game collectors may be familiar with "rarity listings" for the other
game systems. The generally accepted way to make a list is to divide
it up by company, then list each title alphabetically, with a "rarity
code" attached to each title. This list did things a bit differently.
We broke this document into many different categories. This reflects
the idea that since this is a Digital Archaeology project, and we are
in essence digging this stuff up from a nearly forgotten past, that we
are more sure that some titles were really made than we are of others.
(Note that this list does not include any titles that were released on
the cassette tape format that was once popular. Tape lists do exist.)
The "classic" era was famous for vaporware. That is, some company would
publicly announce that they were going to make some product. They might
take out ads in magazines, or maybe send out a written press release.
Then they would, for various reasons, never actually release the item.
Especially at the end of the Vic20's market lifetime, many odd things
happened. Some companies changed their minds, while others found that
they did not have the money to put something on the market. Some titles
intended for cart release only made it out as tapes. And of course some
titles never made it because their parent company went out of business.
Many things all contributed to the Vic20 library's poor preservation.
Every game historian knows of the industry-wide game "crash" of 1984,
for instance. When we Digital Archaeologists first took on the task of
rescuing the history of the Vic20, things generally were in chaos and
disrepair. We did our best to try to restore order, as a labor of love
for the sake of the history and nostalgia of this machine and its era.
Most cart collectors think in terms of building a collection, one piece
at a time. The underlying assumption is that they intend to find a list
of all the titles available, and check off a title at a time as they go.
In a sense, we Digital Archaeologists were doing just the opposite. All
the titles "out there" were first just unverified rumors. Each title in
this list eventually was found by some collector. At that point a title
had a verbal confirmation that it existed. Finally, one of the people
interested in preserving the software library itself would be able to
hold that confirmed cart in their hands and make a digital copy of the
memory chip that is contained inside each cartridge. We made this list
the same way we went about this step-by-step process of preservation.
Besides this document, other texts exist that modern Vic20 hobbyists
or computer historians may find useful or interesting. These can all be
found on the internet. (Our team wrote many of them, since very little
other information about the Vic20 was freely available at the time.)
Among these available documents are a "Frequently Asked Questions" text,
various technical documents and archiving utility programs, a list of
450+ Vic20 cassette tape games, and more. "Cartzilla" is a huge text
that takes this list of titles much farther; it actually discusses and
reviews 180+ software cartridges now known to exist for the VIC-20.
It would have been a shame to forget this part of our culture's history.
We few who first remembered the Vic20 with fondness are glad to see we
are no longer so few in number. We are pleased that a decade and a half
after the "friendly computer's" commercial lifespan ended, that people
still enjoy playing and collecting the games we so lovingly preserved.
Ward F. Shrake _and_ Paul A. Le Brasse
Explanation of codes used. (Some may differ from what you're used to.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
S Super-Common Reserved for a few carts that seem to show up
everywhere, always. No shortage of these! These
could be great on gameplay, so don't be harsh...
C Common Generally a semi easy-to-find Vic20 cartridge...
but Vic20's might be harder to find than carts
for other classic systems, at least at present.
U Uncommon This means average/middle difficulty in finding.
R Rare Takes a bit of hard work to locate one of these.
You'll probably end up searching the Inet for it
unless you get really lucky on a thrifting trip.
ER Extremely Rare Nearly impossible to find. May be frustrating!
We reserved this category for carts we've only
seen 1 or 2 of total, everywhere we've looked.
More could show up in time, as more people start
to collect for the Vic20. For now, its difficult.
PR Prototype only This category is new, as of version 1.8 of this
list. It describes carts that, so far as we can
tell, were never released as a production item
but that do definitely exist in prototype form.
Needless to say, these carts are incredibly rare.
NR Never Released We used to use this category when we had seen or
heard of a cart that *might* exist. Please note
that we handle this differently now. We first put
them in the (seperate) "vaporware" section until
someone out there finds one. Only then do we move
it up one section, to "confirmed but unarchived".
They finally climb up to the upper section of the
list only after the digital code in that cart has
been digitally read and preserved for posterity.
Rarity code
Size |
| Game \ Year
Company Cartridge name Part# \ play \ made
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Academy IFR (Flight Simulator) [A989] 8k B R 1983
Atarisoft Pac-Man [RX8501] 8k C+ C 1983
Atarisoft Centipede [RX8504] 16k C S 1983
Atarisoft Defender [RX8507] 16k A- C 1983
Atarisoft Dig Dug [RX8510] 16k B C 1983
Atarisoft Donkey Kong [RX8513] 16k B C 1983
Atarisoft Robotron: 2084 [RX8520] 12k B- C 1983
Atarisoft Jungle Hunt [RX8529] 16k B- C 1984
Atarisoft Moon Patrol [RX8532] 16k B- C 1983
Atarisoft Pole Position [RX8535] 16k B+ C 1983
Atarisoft Galaxian [RX8541] 8k C+ ER 1984
Atarisoft Ms. Pac-Man [RX8544] 16k C+ C 1983
Atarisoft Battlezone [RX8547] 16k B- U 1983
Beyond Mountain King 16k A+ R 1983
Boone Cyclon 8k A PR 1983
Broderbund A.E. [Viccart-224] 16k B R 1982
Broderbund Lode Runner [Viccart-___] 16k B+ U 1983
Broderbund MasterType [Viccart-221] 16k B- R 1983
Broderbund SeaFox [Viccart-___] 16k B ER 1983
Broderbund Skyblazer [Viccart-___] 16k A ER 1983
CBS Soft. K-Razy Antiks [22107] 12k B+ C 1982
CBS Soft. K-Star Patrol [22108] 16k B+ C 1982
Commodore Avenger (Vic Avenger) [Vic-1901] 8k C+ S 1981
Commodore Star Battle [Vic-1902] 8k B+ R 1981
Commodore Slot (Super Slot) [Vic-1904] 8k C C 1981
Commodore Jelly Monsters [Vic-1905] 8k A R 1981?
Commodore Alien (Super Alien) [Vic-1906] 8k C C 1981
Commodore Jupiter Lander [Vic-1907] 8k B C 1981?
Commodore Poker (Draw Poker) [Vic-1908] 8k C C 1981
Commodore Midnight Drive (Road Race) [Vic-1909] 8k C- C 1981
Commodore Radar Rat Race [Vic-1910] 8k B+ C 1981
Commodore The Sky is Falling [Vic-1911] 8k B- C 1981
Commodore Mole Attack [Vic-1912] 8k C C 1981
Commodore Raid on Fort Knox (Bank Robber) [Vic-1913] 8k C C 1982
Commodore Adventure Land Adventure [Vic-1914] 16k B- C 1981
Commodore Pirate's Cove Adventure [Vic-1915] 16k B- C 1981
Commodore Mission Impossible Adventure [Vic-1916] 16k B- C 1981
Commodore The Count Adventure [Vic-1917] 16k B- C 1981
Commodore Voodoo Castle Adventure [Vic-1918] 16k B- C 1981
Commodore Sargon II Chess [Vic-1919] 8k C C 1982?
Commodore Pinball (or ...Spectacular) [Vic-1920] 16k C+ C 1982
Commodore Super Smash [Vic-1921] 8k C C 1982
Commodore Cosmic Cruncher [Vic-1922] 8k B S 1982
Commodore Gorf [Vic-1923] 8k B- S 1982
Commodore Omega Race [Vic-1924] 8k A- S 1982
Commodore Money Wars [Vic-1925] 8k C+ C 1982
Commodore Menagerie [Vic-1926] 8k C- C 1982?
Commodore Cosmic Jailbreak [Vic-1927] 8k C C 1982
Commodore Home Babysitter [Vic-1928] 8k C- C 1982
Commodore Personal Finance (utility cart) [Vic-1929] 8k NA U 1982
Commodore Visible Solar System [Vic-1930] 8k C C 1982
Commodore Clowns [Vic-1931] 8k C+ C 1982
Commodore Garden Wars [Vic-1932] 8k C C 1982
Commodore Speed Math & Bingo Math [Vic-1933] 8k C- C 1982
Commodore Commodore Artist [Vic-1935] 4k C U 1982
Commodore Sea Wolf [Vic-1937] 8k B- U 1982
Commodore Tooth Invaders [Vic-1938] 8k C+ U 1983
Commodore Star Post [Vic-1939] 8k C U 1982?
Commodore Number Nabber, Shape Grabber [Vic-1941] 8k NA U 1982
Creative Apple Panic [VI AP C] 12k C C 1982
Creative Astroblitz [VI AB C] 4k B- C 1982
Creative Black Hole [VI BH C] 4k B U 1982
Creative Choplifter [VI CL C] 8k A C 1982
Creative Household Finance [VI HF C] 8k NA U 1983
Creative In the Chips [VI CH C] 16k C R 1983
Creative Pipes [VI PI C] 8k C R 1983
Creative Rat Hotel [VI RH C]? 8k B- U 1982
Creative Serpentine [VI SE C] 8k B C 1982
Creative Spills and Fills [VI SF C] 8k C R 1983
Creative TerraGuard [VI TG C] 4k C+ C 1982
Creative Trashman [VI TM C] 8k B+ C 1982
Creative Videomania [VI VM C] 4k C C 1982
Daedalus Baldor's Castle 12k C+ ER 1983
Epyx Fun with Music 8k B ER 1983
Epyx Monster Maze 8k C+ U 1982
Handic A World at War 8k C- ER 198_
Handic Space Snake 8k D ER 1982
HES Vic FORTH (utility cart) [C301] 8k NA C 1982
HES HesMon (utility cart) [C302] 8k NA C 1982
HES Turtle Graphics [C303] 8k NA C 1982
HES HesWriter (utility cart) [C304] 8k NA U 1982
HES Aggressor [C305] 8k C U 1982
HES Synthesound (utility cart) [C306] 8k NA U 1982
HES Shamus [C307] 8k A U 1983
HES Protector [C308] 8k B- R 1983
HES Robot Panic [C310] 8k B R 1982
HES Gridrunner [C312] 4k B+ C 1982
HES Predator [C316] 8k B+ R 1982
HES Attack of the Mutant Camels [C318] 8k A R 1983
HES Lazer Zone [C319] 8k A R 1983
HES Pharaoh's Curse [C321] 16k A R 1983
HES Kindercomp [C322] 16k NA R 1983
HES Story Machine [C323] 12k NA ER 1983
HES Facemaker [C324] 8k NA R 1983
HES Kids on Keys [C325] 8k NA R 1983
HES Alphabet Zoo [C326] 16k NA R 1982
HES Maze [C3__] 8k C+ R 1983
HES Mosquito Infestation [C3__] 4k B- R 1982
HES Satellite Patrol [C3__] 4k B- R 1982
Imagic Demon Attack [720050-1A] 4k A C 1983
Imagic Atlantis [720051-1A] 4k A C 1983
Imagic Dragonfire [720052-1A] 8k B+ U 1983
Koala Tech. Dancing Bear 16k C+ ER 1983
Mach. Lang. Amazing Maze 4k C ER 198_
Mach. Lang. Dot Gobbler 4k A- ER 198_
MSD Mobile Attack 8k C+ ER 198_
OEM Alien Sidestep 4k C- ER 1983
OEM Bug Crusher 4k ? ER 1983
OEM Space Ric-O-Shay 4k ? ER 198_
Parker Frogger [PB1410] 8k D S 1983
Parker Q*Bert [PB1420] 4k C C 1983
Parker Tutankham [PB1430] 8k A U 1983
Reston Miner 2049'er 8k A+ R 1983
Romox Princess & Frog 8k C ER 1983
Romox Topper 8k B ER 1983
Romox Typo 8k C+ ER 1983
Sega Star Trek (S.O.S.) [004-04] 8k B+ C 1983
Sega Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom [005-04] 16k B- C 1983
Sega Congo Bongo [006-04] 8k C C 1983
Sierra Crossfire [CFL-401] 4k B+ U 1981
Sierra Lunar Leeper [LLL-401] 12k A R 1981
Sierra Threshold [THL-401] 8k A R 1981
Sierra Cannonball Blitz [CBL-401] 12k B- R 1982
Sierra Jawbreaker II [JBL-401] 8k C+ U 1982
Sierra Creepy Corridors [CCL-401] 8k B+ R 1983
Sirius Deadly Duck [220__] 4k B R 1982
Sirius Fast Eddie [220__] 8k C R 1982
Sirius Snake Byte [22031] 4k C R 1982
Sirius Turmoil [22005] 8k B U 1982
Sirius Type Attack [22010] 8k B R 1982
Sirius Bandits [220__] 8k B+ U 1983
Sirius Capture the Flag [220__] 8k B+ R 1983
Sirius Final Orbit/Bumper Bash (2 on 1)[220__] 8k C/B+ R 1983
Sirius Spider City [22015] 4k B+ R 1983
Sirius Squish'Em [220__] _k ? ER 1983
Spectra. Ape Escape [SC-215] 8k C+ R 1982
Spectra. Cave-in [SC-207] 8k C- R 1982
Supersoft Tank Atak 8k C ER 1982
TG Software Droids 8k C ER 1983
Thorn EMI River Rescue [THC 22001] 8k C- C 1982
Thorn EMI Vic Music Composer [THC 22002] 8k NA U 1982
Thorn EMI Submarine Commander [THC 22003] 12k C C 1982
Thorn EMI Mutant Herd [THC 22004] 8k C- C 1982
Thorn EMI Fourth Encounter [THC 22005] 8k D+ U 1983
Thorn EMI Computer War [THC 22006] 8k C R 1983
Thorn EMI Medieval Joust [THC 22007] 8k C ER 1983
Thorn EMI Mine Madness [THC 22008] 8k C- ER 1983
Tigervision Polaris [7-007-20] 8k B ER 1983
Tigervision Springer [7-006-20] 16k C ER 1983
Tronix Deadly Skies 4k B+ R 1983
Tronix Gold Fever 4k C+ R 1983
Tronix Scorpion 8k B R 1983
UMI Alien Blitz [1619] 4k B- R 1981
UMI Amok [1611] 4k C R 1981
UMI Outworld [1635] 16k B+ R 1981
UMI Arachnoid [1605] 12k B R 1982
UMI Cloudburst [1636] 4k C R 1982
UMI Meteor Run [1613] 8k D+ R 1982
UMI Renaissance [1600] 12k C- R 1982
UMI Skibbereen [1641] 4k C+ R 1982
UMI Satellites and Meteorites [1650] 8k A- R 1982
UMI Sub Chase [16__] 4k C ER 1982
UMI Video Vermin [1638] 8k A R 1982
UMI Spiders of Mars [1604] 16k B+ R 1982
UMI Super Amok [1642] 8k A R 198_
Xonox Spike's Peak (GM=2) [6215] 8k C+ R 1983
Xonox Ghost Manor (SP=1) [6215] 8k D R 1983
Xonox Robin Hood (SL=2) [6225] 8k D R 1983
Xonox Sir Lancelot (RH=1) [6225] 8k C+ R 1983
Xonox Chuck Norris Superkicks (AD=2) [6235] 8k C R 1983
Xonox Artillery Duel (CNS=1) [6235] 8k B R 1983
Xonox Motocross Racer (TTB=2) [6245] 8k C ER 1984
Xonox Tomarc the Barbarian (MR=1) [6245] 8k D+ ER 1984
(Note that Xonox carts sometimes came two-per-case, as "double-enders".
In other words, these carts had 2 sides that plugged into the computer.
The initials seen above show what cart was paired with what other cart.
All of the Xonox carts above were made as both single and double-enders
but only the double-ender's part numbers are shown in the list above.)
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Confirmed but unarchived cartridges
OEM Blackjack Confirmed by: Charles Bremer
Spectra... Number Crunch (SC208) Confirmed by: ?? via Paul LeBrasse
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Hardware section. Please note that many of the items found below
are pure hardware, or are at least more firmware than software.
Some of them are just plain hard to categorize. Because Jim
Brain already maintains a huge list of every single thing that
Commodore ever put out, I see no reason to try to duplicate
those existing efforts here. This is Vic20 cartridge-port-only
stuff. (Note that even then, there are grey areas to consider.)
- - - = ( Utility cartridges, etc ) = - - -
Arbutus Total Promqueen EPROM programming hardware.
(This plugs into the Vic's user
port, not the cartridge port.)
Cardco Write Now! word processor
Century Moses 65C02 assembler, 27 new opcodes
Century Moses w/ 8K RAM 65C02 assembler, 27 new opcodes
Commodore Basic version 4.0 [Vic-____] (4k ROM)
Commodore Machine Language Monitor [Vic-1213] (_k ROM)
Commodore Programmer's Aid Cartridge [Vic-1212] (4k ROM)
Commodore Super Expander with 3K RAM [Vic-1211A] (4k ROM)
Commodore Victerm 40 [Vic-1610] (4k ROM)
Commodore See game list for titles. To keep the 19xx number series
as intact as possible, a few
non-game items were listed in
the first section of this list.
Data 20 Display Manager 40/80 column display device
Data 20 Video Pak 40/80 column display device
Eastern Vic Rabbit datasette accelerator cart
HES See game list for titles. To keep the HES cart numbering
system as intact as possible, a
few non-game items are listed in
the first section of this list.
Jason-Ranheim Promenade EPROM programming hardware.
(Plugs into the Vic's user port.
A C64 version was also made.)
Kantronics Radiotap Amateur radio interface item.
Quick Brown Fox Quick Brown Fox word processor (8k ROM)
Skyles Arrow datasette accelerator cart
UMI Wordcraft 20 [16__] (16k ROM)
- - - = ( RAM expansion memory cartridges ) = - - -
Notes: I'll just briefly say that this
section really needs a lot of work, and
leave it at that. Any added info welcome!
Abaris, Inc. Ram cartridge, 16k with battery backup
APS RAM module, 64k
Assembly Tech. RAM cartridge, 16k
Cardco "Cardram 16", 16K Two banks of 8k. One 8-section dip
switch selects where each 8k goes;
four slot choices per each 8k bank.
Century RAM Cartridge, 8k
Century RAM Cartridge, 16k
Century RAM Cartridge, 64k
Commodore RAM cartridge, 3k [Vic-1211]
Commodore RAM cartridge, 8k [Vic-1110] Internally, the PC board
seems to be ready to accept another
8k of memory. Could solder more in.
Commodore RAM cartridge, 16k [Vic-1111]
Compuscope RAM cartridge, 8k
Compuscope RAM cartridge, 16k
MSD, Inc. RAM cartridge, 8k
Personal... RAM cartridge, 8k ...Peripheral Products
RAM electronics RAM cartridge, 32k Configurable. Marko's was set up to
be a switchable 3k, 0k, 24k set-up.
Stonechip Elec. "Vixen" cart, 16k
UMI RAM cartridge, 3k
UMI RAM cartridge, 8k
Xetec RAM cartridge, 32k Each 8k bank has an on/off dip switch.
- - - = ( Expansion chassis or "motherboards" ) = - - -
(Please note that we are just now
beginning to list any features that
may have been on these items. More
features may exist on each item.)
Apropos Tech. RAMAX 2-slots, with 27k
Apropos Tech. RAMAX Jr. 2-slots, with 19k
APS Select-A-Ram 2-slots, with 64k
Cardco Cardboard 3 3-slots,
Cardco Cardboard 6 6-slots,
Compuscope Expander 4-slots,
Compuscope Supermother 8-slots, pause...
Computer Place CP Vic-20 Expander 4-slots,
Data Toolbox Quad-slot 4-slots, reset, fuse
HES HesCard 20 5-slots, 5 select buttons, reset.
High Tech Ent. Busmaster 6-slots,
High Tech Ent. Busmaster II 6-slots, soft enable
High Tech Ent. Minibus 3-slots,
Voice World 24K Golden RAM 4-slots,
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Vaporware" section -- carts which MIGHT exist
Note that the market for the VIC-20 changed over to the C64 at
roughly the end of 1983. In general, this means that carts that
were planned to have been made for the VIC-20, which were first
announced towards the middle or end of 1983, are less likely to
have been made than carts announced earlier. In general. Don't
take that as absolute gospel; there are always exceptions. But
as a rule of thumb, it is fair to assume that carts announced
near the end of 1983 probably got made as C64 carts instead, or
got dropped entirely. Remember that even if a company decided
not to go ahead with something as a production item, that does
not rule out one or more prototype copies waiting to be found.
And if prototypes can be found, they can surely be archived. We
now have the hardware and know-how to duplicate tapes or ROMs.
20 Century Flash Gordon Summer 83 Power Play; press release only. It
may have come out as Spider City by Sirius.
Atarisoft Joust Name listed in later ads, not in others, so
this title was probably one of the last of
the planned releases. There are four part
numbers missing from the series, with three
of those coming towards the end, so this
makes sense. There is some confusion in the
RX85__ series, but it looks like these holes
are 16 or 17, 22 or 23, 25 or 26, and RX8538.
Atarisoft Mario Bros. Jimmy Huey said this was once in development.
No idea what part number it would have been,
aside from it being one of the latter ones,
as Stargate apparently is the earliest one.
Atarisoft Stargate Name listed in early ads, not in later ads. I
am guessing from the part number series that
this was intended to be RX8516 or RX8517, as
a Robotron (#20) box said Stargate was out
already, and the other carts the box listed
were shown in perfect "part number" order.
Atarisoft Typo Attack Tape? Seen on pg. 31, Sep84 "Compute!" Again,
no idea what part number it would have been,
but four holes exist, 3 of them later ones.
Boone Crater Raider Tape? Seen in full page ad, Oct & Nov 83
Compute's Gazette, along with Cyclons (Which
was later released as a tape by SoftSmith.)
Broderbund Martian Raider Tape? Seen in ad, 7/83 Compute's Gazette
Broderbund Multi-Sound Sythesizer Seen in ad, 7/83 Compute's Gazette
Broderbund Shark Trap Seen in ad in 7/83 Compute's Gazette. More
recently, Leo LaFlamme confirmed that this
game does exist as a tape. The instructions
said his copy was the "cassette version"; in
other words, we still do not know for sure
if this came out as a cartridge or not? The
tape part number seems to be: "007 3108321".
That number came off the top of the tape
where the write protect tabs are, Leo said.
Commodore [Vic-1903] Info needed. This cart may be very difficult
to figure out? Brent Santin sent me some 1982
promotional literature that lists two names
that never have been found by collectors, as
of yet. Both were claimed to be cartridges;
the names were "Bridge; teach and play" and
"VicWriter 1" which was a word processor. If
the word processor went into a non-19xx list
that leaves Bridge as a possible for #1903?
Commodore [Vic-1934] Name needed. (See comments for # 1940, below.)
Commodore [Vic-1936] Brent Santin found a third-party catalog from
Sep 1982 that said this one was going to be
"Space Vultures" when it was released. Which
never happened, but at least now we know what
it was going to be! Before this, we'd had the
name, but no confirmation that it was going
to be a cart, nor its part #. "Space Vultures"
had been shown on some boxes for the Vic20
system itself but without any further comment;
the screen shot shown was clearly hand-drawn.
From the available evidence, it appears this
game was going to be a home port of Centuri's
arcade game "Phoenix". Which is where things
get interesting... a number of companies had
said they were going to put out a version of
Phoenix, but few of them ever did. It was not
from lack of interest, either; Atari ended up
sueing Imagic for the Intellivision's version
of "Demon Attack" which Atari said was just a
disguised version of Phoenix. More news as I
do more research, but I do know that Emerson
released a game called "Space Vultures" for
their own home game system, the Arcadia 2001.
(Likely not the same; different processors.)
Even in the arcade, there were many clones of
Phoenix, including some unauthorized bootlegs.
I'm guessing Commodore had one ready to go to
market, but wasn't ready to risk legal action
given that they'd been through that before?
Commodore [Vic-1940] Name needed. (See also # 1934, above.) These
two carts were most likely going to be games
by Bally / Midway; an analysis of the pattern
of Commodore's latter releases shows they had
some sort of 2-then-1 agreement, apparently to
offset legal threats made by B/M against CBM?
We knew that much, but little more. Thanks to
Brent Santin, we now know more; a catalog he
found lists "Wizard of Wor" and "Dog Patch"
as soon to be released, as of September 1982.
It appears these were to be # 1934 and 1940.
How far these were developed, we don't know.
It seems the release of the Commodore 64 put
an end to the development of these carts? We
do know that "Wizard of Wor" was released on
the C64 as a cartridge; it had "speech" when
plugged into Commodore's new "Magic Voice"
add-on device. "Dog Patch" would have been a
home port of a 1977 arcade game. Being able
to put out game software, for a major system,
might have seemed very good to Bally/Midway?
They had made their own game system in 1978,
and later got out of the market due to "stiff
competition" -- presumably Atari and others.
Commodore Jack Attack It was said in an article in the spring 1984
issue of "Power Play" that Commodore planned
to make a game called "Jack Attack" for the
C64 and the Vic20. The C64 version exists and
I just got in confirmation of a version from
1984 for the Commodore Plus/4 as well. (Jeff
Hellige owns a boxed copy.) But as far as I
know, no one has found a Vic20 version? If it
did come out as a cart, we presume it would
have been a brown-case, hand-assembled one,
as the Vic20 was dying, commercially, by then.
And since Commodore was the one killing it,
(to push the C64) I doubt they ever made one?
But if it did exist, and as a cart, the part
number would likely have been Vic-1942? Note
the we now have the existing holes plugged in
Commodore's part # list, up through Vic-1941.
Commodore [Vic-2011] VIC-Stat cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
Commodore [Vic-2012] VIC-Graph cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
Commodore [Vic-2013] VIC-Forth cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
Commodore Basic 4.0 We have what seems to be a ROM image from a 4k
add-on to Commodore's built-in "BASIC 2.0";
it claims to be "BASIC 4.0" and it does work.
But we aren't 100% sure of its origin, what
part number it would have been and so on? (We
guess it would have been in the #12xx series?)
Commodore (other info) Box art for the Vic20 system showed 2 unknown
titles, but with little further comment. From
the information available there it is hard to
even know if these were planned as carts or as
tapes: "Speed type" and "Electronic Calendar"?
Creative Alien Hotel Peter Fokos (of UMI fame) told Ward Shrake
this news: "Joann Lee worked on a project we
started for Creative called Alien Hotel. I
don't think it was ever finished because of
the 84 crash, that's when we closed Tensor."
Creative Save New York Press release only, in Jan 85 Computer Games.
Most likely only came out for the C64, but
the late announcement is intriguing in itself.
Datamost Round About Unconfirmed, but on other collector's lists.
Epyx Alien Garden May 1983 Electronic Games advertisement.
Epyx PlatterMania May 1983 Electronic Games advertisement.
First Star Panic Button Full review seen in May 84 "Compute!" mag
HES Fort Apocyalpse Seen: Ad page 79, Nov83 Compute's Gazette
HES Necromancer Seen: 1-line ad, pg111 Dec83 Compute's Gazette
HES Slime 1-line ad @ $13, pg111 Dec83 Computes Gazette
Jini Micro Mini Jini Seen in 1/2 page (99) ad in July 83 Gazette
Oceans Int Blockbuster Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
Oceans Int Close Encounters Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
Oceans Int Frogman Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
Oceans Int Tank Wars Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
Note that some of the confirmed carts listed
in the section above were once listed as
being available from Oceans International.
The confirmed copies are either from some
other (or simply an unknown) manufacturer.
Amazing Maze, Blackjack, Dot Gobbler and
Space-Ric-O-Shay were all once this way so it
would be premature to rule out finding more.
Microware (five titles) See Tymac company below. Bought them out?
Microware Key Quest 2-page review seen in Dec83 Compute's Gazette
Parker Super Cobra Cliff Gregory saw this listed in a catalog of
Parker Brothers games, saying it was going to
come out in the fall of 1983, for the Vic20
and for other systems. Unconfirmed otherwise.
Protecto Atari VCS Adapter Seen in various ads, unconfirmed otherwise.
The ads were fancy and expensive looking, but
never actually showed pictures of the item.
Quick Brown QuickFinger Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
Quick Brown QuickMail Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
Quick Brown QuickSpell Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
Romox Anteater Seen in Oct83 Compute!, page 45. Full page ad
Showcase Astro Patrol The name "Showcase Software" turns out to be
Showcase Chicken just another name for "Synapse Software". Ads
Showcase Doughboy back in 1983 made it appear that way -- their
Showcase Glub Club address and phone information were identical
Showcase Pussyfootin' and even their shipping costs were the same --
Showcase Salmon run but that guess was confirmed; a "New Products"
Showcase Squeeze announcement in the October 1983 "Compute!'s
Gazette" magazine (page 140) reads as follows.
"Synapse Software, a producer of games for
Atari computers, has established the Showcase
Software line for the VIC-20. The initial
games produced are Astro-Patrol, a shoot-em-
up game; Squeeze, a humorous game set on a
farm; and Salmon Run. Each game sells for
$19.95". (Ward can verify that those three do
exist, at least as tape games; I own all three
of those titles as Synapse cassettes.) Ward's
interest in these titles (and one listed as a
Synapse game, below) is that earlier ads said
Synapse planned to make some of these as carts.
Background info: although Synapse ran only a
handful of ads in Compute! during 1983 & 1984,
they did run ads in the Compute!'s Gazette on
a pretty regular basis. July 1983 to October
1983 had ads which included small references
to three titles they say were then "available"
with "cartridge versions available soon". The
names listed were "Astro Patrol" and "Squeeze"
and "Harrier". Then in October came that "New
Product" announcement listed above. Then the
November issue had no ads from Synapse at all.
Then in the December 1983 Gazette, which also
had no ad from Synapse, comes an ad from this
"Showcase Software" company. This December ad
lists these seven titles as being for the VIC
only, format unspecified. (Tape assumed.) The
ad in December seems like an attempt to dump
available stocks of remaining VIC-20 titles at
bargain prices? They offered 1 free game with
the purchase of any 2 of the other titles. The
VIC-20 market was all but finished; Synapse
ads in the Gazette during 1984 are C64-only.
(They also take out more pages-per-issue.) We
are tracking down which of these titles ever
got ported over to the C64; some seem to have.
Sierra Escape from This is NOT a cartridge! This is a game that
Mt. Drash was sold as a tape. See this URL for more...
http://members.aol.com/wshrake/want-ult.htm
Sierra Sammy Lightfoot Mentioned in Oct 83 Gazette ad, but not in ad
for December. Did it only come out on C64?
Sierra Tronsworld Unconfirmed, but on other collector's lists.
Sirius Fantastic Voyage Seen: summer 83 Power Play
Sirius Repton Seen: $25, 1-line ad, pg79, Nov83 C. Gazette
Spinnaker Story Machine Seen: 6/84 Power Play ad. (Licensed to HES?)
Spinnaker Alphabet Zoo Was this released as a HES cart only? Both? A
fair amount of Spinnaker stuff was released
by HesWare, and it can get a bit confusing.
Synapse Harrier See "Showcase Software" titles above for more
information. This is the only title that was
promised early on as being "available" that
was not sold later through Showcase Software.
Why this one title was different is unknown.
TG Software Nightstrike Seen: 1/85 Computer Games
Tymac Bomber word Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. (MW?)
Tymac D'fuse Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81.
Tymac Dot-a-lot Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. (MW?)
Tymac Key Quest Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. (MW?)
Tymac Res Q Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81.
Tymac Space Bats Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81.
Tymac Tic Attack Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. (MW?)
Tymac Zap Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. (MW?)
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Info you can help us to find, to fill in some blanks.
Missing carts:
If you actually own a cart that is not shown somewhere in our lists, up
above, please let Ward know about it, and he'll add it to this listing.
But remember to check the other sections out, if you have a utility or
hardware type item, as these are not generally shown in the top section.
The top section is only for *archived* software cartridges, followed by
vaporware listings, then hardware, utilities, RAM expanders, et cetera.
Part numbers:
In various places there are blank or incomplete part numbers shown. If
we knew them, we'd list them. But we don't, just yet. Some manufacturers
listed no part numbers on the carts themselves, but listed these on the
package's outer box instead. Atarisoft did this for sure. Creative seems
to be another one. Ditto for Sirius and Parker Brothers. Starting with
version 1.8 of this list, I've made educated (but incomplete) guesses for
some company lists, based on their patterns for other systems. If you have
any original software boxes, or other paperwork, help us all out on this.
Paul and I went through our collections long ago, so it is up to you now!
Information about certain rumored carts:
Anything we can get, will help! Ward enjoys being able to get different
peices of these historical puzzles, and over time, fit together what must
have happened. We've regained quite a bit of history that way, with the
help of all of you out there in internet land. There are a few remaining
mysteries, of course... quite a number, in fact. (Ward may start up a new
section on his web page, just to handle this sort of detective work.)
Dates:
If you have any solid date for any cart, please let us know! What this
will do is let us establish a timeline, and compare and contrast it to
events we know about from other sources. For instance, it would really
be helpful to know when (exactly) certain carts were planned or talked
about as "coming soon". That way, we can figure out what else was going
on, that may have influenced decisions being made throughout the gaming
industry. Things like the release of the Commodore 64, the gaming crash,
when other game companies decided to release things which created some
sort of conflict between competing companies, and so on, all obviously
had the potential to change the course of VIC-20 history. Without solid
dates, we can't easily contrast what happened when, and figure out the
relationships between causes and effects. (Even semi-solid dates help!
And it doesn't have to be dates of carts, or even for the Vic20 itself.
Anything with the potential to help explain causes and effects, helps!)
Confirmations of vaporware software:
If you *now actually own a real cartridge* of a program we listed in our
"vaporware" section of the list, let Paul or Ward know about it. We have
only the information we listed, at this time. Many of the rarer carts we
initially felt were "NR" (never released) did show up in time. However we
are highly cautious about old memories of what *might* have been. We do
insist that confirmations be made only when a person physically owns one.
And of course, if it is not *anywhere* on our lists, and you're sure its
not a cartridge for some other gaming system, please, tell us about it!
Pictures of box art, cartridges, tapes, whatever.
The short story on this is to tell you that there is a CD-ROM project
going on, and to check Ward's web page for all the details. A few of us
are pooling our resources, taking some time, and planning to put all
sorts of Vic20 artwork onto a CD-ROM, readable by common web browsers.
To see a current list of what we have already, and what we still need,
please visit this URL: http://members.aol.com/wshrake/cdhaves.htm
(Ward's main web page is at: http://members.aol.com/wshrake/index.htm )
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Some recent loans from kind folks on the I'net...
Patrick Wickwire loaned his Cyclon cart for archiving purposes. If it
isn't the only one of its kind, it is still remarkably rare!
Tom Truszkowski loaned us his "Victerm 40" in prototype form, complete
with handwritten label. The name on the label (Jeff Hand) turns
out to be Commodore's main telecommunications person back then!
"Uncle Roger" Sinasohn loaned two carts; Dot Gobbler and Fun with
Music by Epyx. Dot Gobbler was a production cart, but I've only
heard of maybe three collectors having a copy, in all the years
I've been looking for Vic20 carts. Fun with Music was so rare
that I'd never heard a single mention of it being available for
the Vic20, until this one got loaned to us! Others have shown
up since then, but not in any huge numbers, that's for sure.
Cliff Gregory loaned me two real rarities; Amazing Maze & Bug Crusher.
Cliff is also helping with oodles of scanned graphics, for the
CD Project. Cliff has a very impressive Vic20 cart collection.
Charles Dysert archived Romox's Typo cart, and emailed us the ROM
image of the game, too. Getting the ROM that way made our day;
it's really rare. Nice to know others have the technical skill
and desire to keep these old carts from becoming extinct!
Francois Leveille sent me "BASIC Ver 4.0" for the Vic20. What comes
inside the Vic20 normally is version two; the 4.0 version was
around from the PET days, but Commodore skimped out on things
when they made the Vic20. (And later, the C64.) A shame, as
this version of the operating system has many refinements. Of
note to hacker types is that it has a built-in hex monitor!
David Strutt sent me Xonox's Motocross Racer. This cart was one of
the last Vic20 releases Xonox put out. While it is a production
cartridge, it is rare enough that we were not even aware it was
ever made for this system, until we were loaned one. (Usually a
cart like this is at least on our "vaporware" lists.) This cart
may be the last Xonox released for the Vic20; the only other
carts shown on other system's lists were all "never released".
Edward Geist found the first copy of Droids. While he was not
willing to risk sending his copy through the mails, to loan it
to me for archiving, he did tell me where to go buy one myself
when he saw another one up for sale. (Which is just as good!)
Brent Santin loaned me three carts; "Squish 'Em" and "Vic Rabbit"
and "Space Ric-o-shay". (Vic Rabbit was actually an EPROM and
not a complete cart, but the info inside it is just as valid.)
Squish 'Em came on one of Romox' special cartridges, meant to
allow a special machine to reprogram it with any game they were
permitted by license to "sell" to customers. (I'm glad we got
all three of these, before they had succumbed to bit rot! A big
thanks to Brent, for his help on both this and the CD Project.)
Without the kindness of dedicated fans like these people, the Vic20
cart archiving project would be standing still. Thanks for all your
help, folks! If you ever contributed a cart (many did over the years)
but don't see your name listed here, email me: wshrake@aol.com about
it. I plan to make up a complete list over time, hopefully to put on
the CD Project. But it'd be much quicker if I had reminders. (Please!)
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Closing comments
"Digital Archaeology" is an interesting hobby. Other gaming systems have
dedicated fan followings, who eventually track down all sorts of neat info
about the games released for their favorite gaming systems. That is what
I hope will continue to happen for the Vic20, both in stories and items.
The "big three" console game systems (Atari 2600 VCS, Colecovision, and
Intellivision) have fan followings that get to celebrate, from time to
time, someone's finding of a rumored-but-never-found-before cartridge. I
love reading the "2600 Connection" newsletter, for just such fun news.
This is one reason I like the term "digital archaeology" so much, too; it
does seem a lot like "digging up" forgotten treasures. Understanding the
historical significance of such a find, or just appreciating it as is,
makes this hobby a lot of fun. And yes, this is all a sneaky ploy to get
more of you "out there" interested in helping to find such gems, as Paul
and I simply cannot do this on our own. Too much physical space to cover,
for one thing. So keep your eyes open, wherever you are located, OK? You
never know what one-of-a-kind gem you'll run across in your travels!
(End of document)