Atari have gotten a lot of positive press lately with their Atari 2600+ console and new games that are also compatible with the original hardware. Mr. Run and Jump is one title that Atari released recently, their first in, according to the company, in over 30 years for the Atari 2600. They are even re-releasing some titles, releasing box sets with new artwork, and various other attempts at becoming relevant again within the gaming community. It is not all goodwill from fans though, there are concerns.
About that box set
It is commonplace for companies to milk a successful franchise or idea, does anyone remember when Street Fighter II came home in the early 1990’s? Or how many times Sega or Nintendo have re-released their mascot titles over the years? I do. That is a topic for another discussion though.
None have been as bold as Atari is with their four-title box set, featuring Butcher Bill artwork. For anyone that does not know who Bill is, like me before researching this article, he is a Brazilian artist with a unique style that is reminiscent of the artwork featured on original Atari 2600 carts.
The box set is four titles –
Save Mary
Outlaw
Dark Chambers
Fatal Run
Now, out of those titles, only Save Mary has custom artwork for this box set. The other three titles had Butcher Bill artwork made already for their Limited Editions. Oh, those LE’s were priced at $59.99 each and are now sold out.
Over on Atari’s own Facebook post, some fans are concerned about Atari’s definition of Limited Edition. A lot of the uproar is over the fact that the only way to get the Limited Edition Save Mary is to pay $300 for this bundle. For many commenting, that would mean owning two copies of at least one, if not more, of the other games in this “box set”.
The thing is though, here, in this bundle, each game is now $75 for what appears to be, for all intents and purposes, the Limited Edition version. So, in this bundle, Atari is getting $15 more for the “sold out” *Limited Editions”.
This is some wild math going on. Anyone that remembers the Atari Jaguar commercials probably knows, Atari has trouble with math. This just reiterates that belief.
The AtariAge page has a few fans pointing out the hypocrisy here. Calling this move double dipping on the part of Atari. Some point out how this messes over early adopters that ponied up money quickly only to see their dedication and support tossed to the side with box sets like this.
Just what exactly is a Limited Edition according to Atari?
Atari has made some titles available in standard and Limited Edition (which seems to not be so limited). One, Mr. Run and Jump, was made available in those two popular formats.
According to AtariAge forum member, MachoDrone,, the Limited Edition of Mr. Run and Jump comes with a cartridge, manual. The “Orange” version, as fans refer to the standard edition, only includes the box and cartridge. The price difference is $30 for a manual and different color box/label border. The actual artwork is not changed in any way.
Image source: MSN
Image source: Atari.com
Not the first time Limited Edition was not all that limited according to Atari
Looking at the Atari XP section you will see similar “Atari Math” going on.
Take the Limited Editions of Aquaventure, Saboteur, and Yar’s Revenge for example. Add the price of the Limited Editions up and you come up with $349.99.
Yet, there was, at some point, a 3 pack of these exact same titles available for $449.99, a full $100 increase in price when buying these three titles together.
To be fair, this 3 pack does apparently include a marquee bar that lights up when playing. The other Limited Edition versions have the marque bar but do not mention it lights up while playing.
I am public school educated and even I know bundles are supposed to be cheaper, to entice purchase. Here, Atari has decided bundles should cost more. It is working, I guess, as they are sold out but if current rumblings from vocal fans is anything to go by, the fans are getting tired of this pricing. Add in making the bundle the only way to get a Limited Edition version of a game that magically does not have an individual LE available and it is irking fans in a big way.
To sum things up, if you want the Billy Butcher edition of Save Mary, get ready to cough up $300. To me, the only way an Atari 2600 game would be a steal at $300 is if it was Atlantis II.
What do you think of the way Atari is handling the new releases for the 2600 and 2600+?