Emerson Arcadia Rarity List
- - - = ( Emerson Arcadia 2001 Cartridge Rarity list ) = - - -
This version was released on
August 17, 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
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+
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
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
F1 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 does not include MPT-03 games, which
are not directly compatible with the Emerson family.
"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 instead.) Note that
this system was only made outside the United States.
An "M2" code means a game was "released for use by
two companies that made games for the MPT-03 family".
"P" stands for "Palladium" -- a newly discovered
family type. These carts have the same information as
the MPT-03 or Emerson family, stored inside their
internal ROM chips. However, the pinout is not even
close to fitting inside either the Emerson or the
MPT-03 machines. They only work on Palladium consoles.
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)