First image of ColecoVision Sky Jaguar artwork - updated

[opcode]

I am to happy to announce the new ColecoVision game, Sky Jaguar, is going to be released at this year's PhillyClassic. I will post further details here shortly, and probably Albert is going to post something about it too.
Sky Jaguar started as a little known Konami shooting arcade game, and later on it did its way to the MSX computers. The CV game was based on the MSX version.
Well, the good news is Sky Jaguar package is already done, though the final printed version won't be available till next week.
Anyway I would like to present first-hand the fantastic label artwork Dale Crum has created for it. Nothing but a masterpiece!
I am also posting a few more screenshots too.
In another PC5 news, AtariAge will be sponsoring a tournament of another CV game, Ping-Pong. I am sure CV fans will be impressed by this realistic sport simulation, and the head-to-head mode is just a blast to play. Also on display will be Magical Tree, a new climbing game for the CV.



http://www.opcodegames.com/images/sj/sjlabel.jpg

http://www.opcodegames.com/images/sj/Image3.gif

Eduardo Mello

[Aswald]

What more can be said? Both label and game look absolutely fantastic.

This will be the very first game of this particular sort, with "Bosses" and Power-Ups, available for the ColecoVision. And, quite frankly, it looks superior to Planet Smashers for the Atari 7800!

Are there ground based enemies? How many different enemies? I've played the emulated game, but these directional buttons are too clumsy to let me get very far.

Reserve a copy for me, please...

[opcode]

Are there ground based enemies? How many different enemies? I've played the emulated game, but these directional buttons are too clumsy to let me get very far.

Nop, no ground enemies. There are 11 different enemies plus bosses. Two levels of power-up, 8 "scenes" comprised of many waves of enemies each, with no breaks between scenes. And the game gets pretty intense in later scenes. Probably you have never seen this many objects on screen in a CV game before. And you will need a good Atari joystick, as the stock CV controllers aren't very good for rapid firing.

[ManekiNeko]

I'd personally recommend the Sega Arcade Pad for a game like this. It offers precise, responsive control and won't tire out your hands the way an Atari joystick would.

JR

[Aswald]

One of these days, I'll have to try that controller.

This looks to be a very good year for ColecoVision owners. MSX games will offer even more variety than already exists (which is not inconsiderable!), and that one-on-one fighter may well outdo Rocky Boxing.

Quite frankly, if these games, and the existing ones, had appeared in the mid-1980s, it's doubtful that the NES would ever have dominated the scene. Especially as sequels to Lord of the Dungeon would have appeared, satisying the video gamers' liking for RPGs.

[opcode]

One of these days, I'll have to try that controller.
This looks to be a very good year for ColecoVision owners. MSX games will offer even more variety than already exists (which is not inconsiderable!), and that one-on-one fighter may well outdo Rocky Boxing.

There is a good MSX substitute for Rocky: Konami's Boxing. It plays far better, and the fighters are a little more varied.


Quite frankly, if these games, and the existing ones, had appeared in the mid-1980s, it's doubtful that the NES would ever have dominated the scene. Especially as sequels to Lord of the Dungeon would have appeared, satisying the video gamers' liking for RPGs.

I don't know... It seems to me there was nothing videogame companies could do in order to prevent the crash... IMHO it was a matter of staying alive long enough till videogame sales were back to normal. Had Coleco been aware the crash was coming they could have reorganized and waited for the bad times to pass by. If it was the case, then maybe the CV would have endured the usual 5 years lifespam, which would have ended around 87, and Coleco would have released a new machine by then...
About the crash, I don't believe this theory about people been turned off by bad games and such. Geez, just look that absurd amount of trash which was released for the PS! IMHO the main reasons were: 1. By end of 82, the next hot things were personal computers (which were used primarily for games), VCRs and CD players, 2. A lot of people had bought videogames just to find what all of buzz was about. After a while they just grown tired of it and let it go.

Eduardo Mello

[neotokeo2001]

Is there a way to get the games outside of PC5?

[opcode]

Is there a way to get the games outside of PC5?

It will be available via direct order shortly after the show. :)

Eduardo Mello

[opcode]

UPDATE: Dale Crum (Ataricart) will have some nice Sky Jaguar buttons and posters on display at PhillyClassic5. Additionaly, he will be signing copies of Sky Jaguar and Space Invaders Collection all the time (aside a few visits to the toilet), so don't miss the chance to meet this great artist. :D

Eduardo Mello

[coleco_chris]

This is a good time to be a CV owner, indeed! Opcode, I can't believe all the cool new stuff you're coming out with. My wallet's going to be perpetually empty! But I can't think of a better way to spend it. Awesome job, I'm going to wipe the drool off of my keyboard now.

P.S.-Did you get my email address ok?

[Aswald]

The only possible way I'll get a copy of Sky Jaguar, or anything else, is by ordering through the mail. Luckily, a while back, I received an e-mail stating that, for these cartridges, I was within the first 30- not bad.


As far as the crash goes, I will maintain to my dying day that the crash was the opposite of the dot.com fiasco of the 1990s (spits). The latter was a case of forced hype giving an illusionary value to something that was worthless; the former was something of value brought down by ignorance, and the unwillingness of Baby Boomer-aged marketers to admit that video gaming was a thing of a (gasp!) younger generation, and that they might not be experts on the subject.

You constantly hear of the "glut" that did in the industry...but there is a similar oversaturation in the music industry, as well as the modern game industry- is the market big enough to absorb ALL of the games out there, especially since international marketing (e.g. Japanese games imported here) is far superior to what it once was? And Internet gaming, for any practical purpose, did not exist back then. Yet, the modern video gaming industry has not "crashed."

More importantly, if you check the magazines of that time, you will notice another marketer prediction that always accompanied the "glut" arguments:

"...as experts say the future of gaming IS CLEARLY WITH COMPUTERS."

In other words, there was no way that the NES, or even the Playstation, had it appeared in 1984, could ever have saved the industry. By their arguments, none of you should have your X-Boxes, Playstations, or Gamecubes, because not even the NES, SMS, Genesis, or any other such console should have existed. All gaming should now be by computers and only by computers.

Not true, is it?

I will concede that reckless spending by Coleco did not help matters. They apparently bought the rights to many things in a short-sighted frenzy (such as game shows); this could not have helped matters. The ADAM computer all but bankrupted the company, but this was probably inspired by the computer-nerd arguments of that time. Had they simply stuck with making good-quality games, the ColecoVision, which had a user base of anywhere from 3 to 6 million (not bad, in those days), probably would have survived o.k.

Oh, well. Thanks to the newcolecos and opcodes, there's life in the old antique yet! Thanks!

[opcode]

Here are the first pictures of the complete Sky Jaguar package. Also shown is a picture of a batch of SJ and SIC carts going to PC5, courtesy of AtariAge.

For anyone who does want to play it before PC5, I have placed a copy of SJ for auction at eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3080922367

http://www.opcodegames.com/images/sj/pack.jpg

http://www.opcodegames.com/images/sj/bunch.jpg

http://www.opcodegames.com/images/sj/closeup.jpg

Eduardo Mello