Atari Archive

[TrekMD]

I never owned Othello.  I actually didn't even know about this game growing up!

[davyk]

Didn't own the cart myself but I played it using emulation.

[TrekMD]

That's how I've played it also but, what I meant, was that I was not even aware of the table game this was based on! 

[davyk]

Ah OK. It could be a combo of your age plus the fact that board games fell out of fashion for a while.

They are a big thing again now - esp. in Europe. The Germans seem to still have a strong culture of family playing together and they are perfect for it. Most of the really great games come from Europe at the minute.

Othello is very well known here in the UK. I still have a copy of the actual board game.

[TrekMD]

I grew up on Puerto Rico.  My friends and cousins loved playing board games but, for some off reason, Othello was not one of the games we ever played. 

[TrekMD]

Steeplechase: Atari Archive 49

This is another game I was no familiar with until years later.  I didn't know it was a Sears exclusive game.  I've played it since and I do like it...

https://youtu.be/rTBvr2C1_LY

[davyk]

Steeplechase was on the dedicated paddle game unit produced by Jakks several years ago. It's an interesting game. I remember seeing a YT video of the arcade version that supported a large number of players. I think the arcade machine was button press only but the height of the jump was controlled by how long you held the jump button down instead of using the paddle to set the height.

A few arcades in the UK still have a physical horse race game where each player throws a ball at a target and the horse moves depending on which hole in the target the ball falls into. I presume this videogame was inspired by that. I think Carnival Games on Wii had a recreation of it too.

[davyk]

Back to Othello - the wikipedia entry for it is pretty interesting. It was an early Nintendo arcade game and there was even a home unit produced by them.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversi


It was sold in the US - maybe it didn't make it to Central America which is why you wouldn't have seen it.

[TrekMD]

Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, not Central America.    We didn't have Toys'R'Us growing up.  We could only get toys from department stores that no longer exist:  Barkers, The New York Store, Woolworths...  I guess they didn't bring that game to use on the island. 

I didn't know that Steeplechase was based on an arcade game either.  That's cool.  That from the time Atari adapted arcade game gameplay with no licensing. 

[davyk]

Oops.  Apologies re my geography. I knew it was an island but thought it was part of the central American region.  Every day is a school day.

[davyk]

Arcade game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EG4MYsvKUw

[TrekMD]

That's cool. 

[TrekMD]

Stellar Track (Star Trek): Atari Archive Episode 50

This one was a surprise to me! I did not know this game was a port of a text Star Trek game!  The picture on the box even has a ship that is clearly inspired by Star Trek!  I may have to chase this down!

https://youtu.be/3wOzdSevfio

[davyk]

I played a version of the original Star Trek on our mainframe in work. Early 90s that would have been.

[TrekMD]

That's cool.  Funny thing is even the name is a play on words to say Star Trek in a different way.