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Awesomeness Elsewhere – Feb 11, 2011

Posted in 80s, Atari, cartoons, pop culture, TV shows, video games with tags Atari, cartoons, pop culture, TV shows, video games on February 11, 2011 by Paxton

Here’s what I’ve been up to around the Internets:

– On Strange Kids Club I wax nostalgic about CBS’ Saturday Supercade. It was a block of cartoons back in 1983 based on popular video game characters like Donkey Kong, Q-bert and Frogger.

– I also talk about all the new DVD releases this week which include a trio of terrible Brad Pitt movies and Barb Wire starring Pam Anderson’s breasts.

Hope everyone had a great week. Check back next week, we have a big 20th movie anniversary on Monday. It’s not a movie you would expect to have a birthday on Valentine’s Day.

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11 Kool-Aid products you probably didn’t know existed

Posted in Atari, comic books, ice cream, Kool Aid, pop culture, video games with tags Atari, comic books, Kool Aid, pop culture, video games on November 23, 2010 by Paxton

Kool-Aid Man animated gif

Everyone knows the famous Kool-Aid drink packets. Purplesaurus Rex, Cherry, Berry Blue, etc, etc. But drink packets aren’t the only thing Kool-Aid made. There is a plethora of items made under the Kool-Aid banner trying to capitalize on the popularity of one Mr Man (Kool-Aid Man).

Here are 11 items made under the Kool-Aid brand that you may not have known existed.

Kool-Aid Man comic books – Kool-Aid and Marvel Comics collaborated on issues #1, #2 and #3 of The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man comic book. Archie Comics then published issues #4 and #5. Several of these issues were given out free in a mail away premium, and several issues were also available in stores. You might think it would be difficult to come up with engaging stories involving a talking pitcher of Kool-Aid quenching the thirsts of little children, and you would be mostly right. However, the stories were zany and mostly entertaining, considering the entire comic is an advertisement for drink mix.

Kool-Aid Man video game – Yes, there was a video game based on Kool-Aid Man. It was released for the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Sears video game systems. The ad and box above are for the Intellivision version. Here is the box for the Atari 2600 version. If you really want to understand the meaning of the word tedious, then download a ROM of this game and play it.

Kool-Aid bottled drinks – For a while back in the 50s and 60s, Kool-Aid offered their flavors pre-mixed in glass bottles. I’m not sure if they were carbonated or not, but I don’t believe so.

Kool-Aid Kool Pumps – This was a fast food promotion with Burger King. The “push-up” style sherbert bars were flavored with the elusive Sharkleberry Fin. Matt talked about them on X-Entertainment a while back.

Kool-Aid Kid’s Trivia Game – From 1985. This actually existed. It played like Trivial Pursuit, but I would hope the questions dealt with more than just Kool-Aid. How many questions can there be about Kool-Aid?

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Were You An Activision Gamer? Part IV

Posted in 80s, Activision, Atari, pop culture, video games with tags Activision, Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, pop culture, video games on September 10, 2010 by Paxton

Here it is, the final part of this look back at the Activision Master Gamer program from the early 80s. Did you miss the other parts of this article? Here they are: Part I, Part II, Part III.

Here is the final group of badges that I’m going to cover.

Activision Robot Tank Master Badges – With a totally badass name and very cool box art, Robot Tank is Activision’s version of Atari’s classic tank game Battlezone. The Master Badges were awarded based on “enemy kills”. The Medal of Merit on the left was given for 48 kills. The Cross of Excellence was given for 60 kills. The Star of Honor on the right was given for 72 kills.

Activision Decathlon Badges -Activision’s Decathlon had the trademark fast paced Activision gameplay and cool game mechanics that were later used in games like Track & Field. For instance, you moved the joystick from right to left as fast as you can to run and used the red button to jump or throw. You competed in 10 events including the 100 meter dash, hurdles, long jump and shot put. If you scored 8,600 points you earned the bronze patch on the left. If you scored 9,000 points you earned the silver patch and if you scored over 10,000 points you earned the gold badge on the right.

Activision Chopper Commandos Master Badge – Chopper Command was another favorite of mine. It played very similar to Atari’s port of Defender. Except instead of space and aliens, you flew a helicopter and defended trucks and soldiers from enemy planes and bombers. Despite its similarity to Defender, it was much, much harder. If you could score over 10,000 points you would be inducted into the Chopper Commandos. And believe me, that is not an easy task.

Activision River Raiders Master Badge – River Raid was a classic game for the Atari. I. LOVED. THIS. GAME. You flew your F-14 fighter over the ominously named River of No Return and blew up enemy planes and tankers. You have to watch out for your fuel levels as well as the sides of the river because they can both cause you to crash. If you could score 15,000 or more points you could join the River Raiders. Like Pitfall!, River Raid received an overlooked sequel called, not surprisingly, River Raid II. However, there was no Master Badge offered for the sequel.

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Were you an Activision Master Gamer? Part III

Posted in 80s, Activision, Atari, pop culture, video games with tags Activision, Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, nostalgia, pop culture, video games on September 9, 2010 by Paxton

Here we are, Part III of this look back at the Activision Master Gamer program from the early 80s. Did you miss the first two parts of this article? Check out Part I here and Part II here.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at five more of the Activision Master Gamer badges.

Activision Explorer’s Club Master Badge – This badge was for the ever popular game, Pitfall! Everyone knows how Pitfall! is played, so in order to earn this badge you had to score 20,000 points. Many people don’t realize that Pitfall received a sequel. And it was also a part of the Activision Master Program. The sequel is…

Cliffhangers badge
Activision Cliff Hangers Master Badge – Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns. This sequel upped the quality of the graphics, music and game play. As Pitfall Harry, you roam a large collection of caverns collecting gold as you search for your niece, a diamond and a cat named Quickclaw. You got unlimited lives, but when you were killed you were sent back to the last checkpoint you crossed (while losing points). However, since this was released towards the end of the Atari’s dominance, it became lost in the shuffle. If you could score 99,000 points in this game, you earned the Activision Cliff Hangers Badge.

Frostbite box
Frostbite Bailey’s Arctic Architects Master Badge – For the game Frostbite. I never actually played this game, but I think it was one of Activision’s best sellers. Frostbite plays very similar to Freeway or Frogger. You play as Frostbite Bailey. You jump across a frozen river changing ice blocks from white to blue. With each color change, you add blocks to your igloo. If you could score over 40,000 points, you could send away to become an Arctic Architect.

Activision Crackpots Master Badge – For the game Crackpots. As Potsy the gardener, you must protect your apartment building from mutant bugs by dropping flower pots on them. If too many bugs enter through the windows, you will lose. To achieve this badge you had to score at least 75,000 points.

Tennis Master Badge – For the game Tennis. I loved this game. It was hard, but a lot of fun. If you could win a set against the computer (which is a lot tougher than you’d think) you were eligible to receive this badge.

So there are your next five. Come back tomorrow and I’ll finish this these badges off with 5 or 6 more.

UPDATE – See Part IV of this article here

Were you an Activision Master Gamer?

Posted in 80s, Activision, Atari, pop culture, video games with tags Activision, Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, nostalgia, pop culture, video games on September 7, 2010 by Paxton

In the early ’80s, the Atari 2600 was king. Nearly every kid had one, and if they didn’t, they had a friend with one that they would spend every waking moment with. The Atari 2600 was the center of most kids’ universes. At least, it was to me and my friends.
I received my Atari 2600 one weekend when I was in about third grade. I was sick that weekend and my dad just up and decided to get us the Atari 2600 and a VCR. He is, to this day, my hero. Since the Atari 2600 wasn’t a powerhouse graphics machine, the games had to rely on being creative, thereby making game play addicting. There were many awesome, awesome games for the 2600 console and, like today, there were many different companies besides Atari making games for the console. One of the best, if not THE best, third party developer was Activision Games.

Activision was founded in 1979 by a former record executive and staffed by a bunch of former Atari programmers who broke off and started their own company. These developers were upset that Atari’s policy at the time included not giving credit to game developers in the game manuals. Activision changed all that. An entire page in Activision’s game manuals was devoted to the people who developed the games.

Being former Atari developers, the Activision team knew the best way to develop for the console’s hardware. How best to get that extra “umph” from the graphics and the best way to make games fun and addictive. They also knew how to cater to their fanbase. Activision started a newsletter for their users that previewed upcoming games, reviewed current releases and shared achievements and high scores from readers who would write in their personal bests. The newsletter was called the Activision Fun Club News (later renamed Activisions). Below is the Summer 1984 issue of the newsletter.

With all of these reader score submissions coming in, Activision realized that they could use this enthusiasm and build a demand for their games. So, Activision created the Master Gamer program. The program would include a list of Activision games and what achievement you had to perform in order to earn the title of Master Gamer within that particular game. The program started off small, with only a few of the Activision catalog games participating. Here’s an info sheet from within the Activision newletter explaining the concept of the Master Gamer and how to achieve and then apply for the status.

Activision even had patches (or, “badges”) made that they would send to gamers who proved that they achieved the status. In this info sheet you can see the badges for the games Laser Blast, Freeway, Skiing, Stampede, Kaboom! and Dragster.

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