Saturday, June 1, 2013

So much awesome new stuff to kick off June with!


I'm not really into video games any more these days but back in the day my ATARI 2600 was the shit. Despite the low grade game graphics of the time one of the clever marketing strategies that ATARI used to utilize was to feature some really cool illustrations on the video game cartridges. Among my favorites was Defender, Missile Command, Asteroids, Berserk and Space Invaders. Aside from being well done illustrations they always seemed to tell a story that went well beyond the video game premise. If you need a reminder they're easy enough to see by doing a Google image search. It all makes me wonder what a Rom spaceknight game might have looked like.
This is too advanced for Atari of the 80s but just imagine a Rom  video game with graphics like this latest Rom spaceknight animation video that just turned up on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpUydd3cjs

Left click to enlarge screen shot image
Perhaps it was just the appearance of some Rom spaceknight issues in a couple of scenes in the original Robocop but for years now I've heard speculations about how Robocop was in part inspired by Rom. I recently came across this fairly recent online article on expertcomics.com that seems to substantiate that rumor. And if that's true how could the original have been anything less then awesome having been inspired by Blade Runner, Judge Dredd and ROM? As for the new one, heh . . we'll see. In the mean time here are some other latest Rom related fan art finds: http://pcweenies.com/tag/rom-spaceknight/
 http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Uncommon-Heroes-151514250
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1018523&GSub=117697


left click to enlarge
And lastly, know your Sabras! We have four kinds to choose from here. And when I say I wanna get me some of that I'll you can which one of these Sabras I'm talking about here.

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11 comments:

  1. zhaanmanJune 1, 2013 at 3:53 PM

    You Man I have to say the new look for Robocop fits better as a Spaceknight to tell the truth anyway! I have something for you to check out as well! I was looking at this deviant arts Rom work and noticed he also had some Micronaughts stuff as well! Some drawings and models of the Endeavor he made!! http://johnmiic.deviantart.com/art/Endeavor-Study-Model-01-98307143 He has some nice Spaceknight stuff as well!! http://johnmiic.deviantart.com/art/Spaceknight-Firefall-Karras-s-armor07sb-368674681

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    1. Shlomo Ben HungstienJune 1, 2013 at 4:28 PM

      yeah i've seen that guy around he's a big ROM fan and i guess he likes the Micronauts too. never saw that partial Firefall sketch but you know me i much prefer fan art that's original instead of facsimiles of clip art i've seen for what's been most of my life now. as for Robocop regardless of what the new one ends up being like i still take comfort in knowing that the original was in part inspired by Rom as the editorial in the posted images here backs up.

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  2. Rick HansenJune 1, 2013 at 4:57 PM

    I used to love playing Yars' Revenge, Grand Prix, Moon Patrol, The Empire Strikes Back, River Raid, Q-bert, Barnstorming, Donkey Kong, Frogger and Phoenix, and especially Congo Bongo and Pitfall. This cartridge, while fake, would make a great collector's item.

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  3. zhaanmanJune 1, 2013 at 5:32 PM

    That's right baby!

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  4. IADWJune 1, 2013 at 10:30 PM

    Nice stuff Dave - that Atari cartridge brings back memories, and you're right - the cart art was rarely that good!

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  5. RandomnerdJune 3, 2013 at 5:12 AM

    You know, I got all excited before I realized it was a mock up. I'd say not cool, but it really is.
    I didn't have an Atari, but I did have the Intellivision. And a lot of the same games were on that, including Frogger, Donkey Kong, Astromash, Invaders, etc. I don't know if you guys had one called Dungeon, but it was my very first experience with Role Playing in the gaming world. Kind of. I mean, you mapped out a little dungeon to find pieces of a key and hoped like hell you could shoot fast enough when you stumbled upon monsters. My next foray into RP gaming electronically wasn't until we had a Commodore 64 and I got into Ultima 4. And I still haven't beaten that game.

    I do think the new Robocop looks much more spaceworthy than the old one, but his armor looks more like it was taken out of recent video games like Halo and the Mass Effect series. But then, all that armor is starting to look alike. I haven't really seen anything original in the space armor field for a while. I do think most of it does stem off of comics like ROM, and it's neat that you can see the influence still.

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    1. Shlomo Ben HungstienJune 3, 2013 at 1:49 PM

      i'm not too sure about the new look when it comes to the new Robocop but if they had at least kept the more silver look to it that would have a move in the right direction.

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    2. RandomnerdJune 4, 2013 at 5:11 AM

      Yeah, they haven't done anything in shiny silver since Amidala's plane in The Phantom Menace.
      Thank you, George Lucas, for ruining cool shiny things.

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  6. BruceJune 4, 2013 at 4:44 PM

    Nice piece of Rom art you chose to put on that cartridge :)

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  7. The K.o.T.June 11, 2013 at 6:17 PM

    I would play the holy HEL out of that imaginary ROM Atari game... I imagine its game-play something a bit like Hero. Or maybe Berzerk.
    And you forgot to mention Adventure, River Raid II, and Outlaw! Gods, I miss my Atari!!!

    When I first saw the new "Robocop" design- I threw up all over myself and refused to clean it off to serve as a constant reminder that IT STINKS!
    .........and that I'm old and cranky and should maybe drink a little less.

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  8. JosephJuly 16, 2013 at 5:03 PM

    That ROM art on the 2600 game looks awesome. Yes very right how the art on the cases inspired one to imagine while playing the games.For me a game with killer artwork was Yars Revenge. Im postive the cool art helped make it one of my favorite games I had.

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