2004-07-02
Lost C64 Game Found?
I've been continuing to list my game collection in an Excel file - since I've done all my cartridges and CDs, I'm moving on to my floppy disk based software. I've got thousands of C-64 5.25" disks, and within that collection are hundreds of original commercial (like, non-copied, non-pirated) disks.
Much of my collection has been obtained by buying boxes full of disks at yard sales and thrift shops, and some have been donated by friends as they got rid of their old systems.
While sorting, one disk just jumped out at me tonight - the disk label is obviously just printed on a dot-matrix printer, but it still appeared to be a commercial release. The label says:
INTERPHASE Presents
BLOCKADE RUNNER(tm)
For use with the Commodore 64(tm).
LOAD "*",8,1 (RETURN)
(c)1984 Interphase Technologies Inc.
I loaded it up, and it's a surprisingly cool looking game - you're looking out at space through a cockpit alot like the Millenium Falcon's. Asteroids are flying at you in "3D" and you have to dodge them - you can fire at these mines that come at you.
Did a bit of research on the web, and found these interesting pages:
Blockade Runner at Games That Weren't and
Blockade Runner for Intellivision with mention of the "not-released" C64 version.
Cool! I can only guess that the programmer, Stephen Willey, sold this game directly himself from his home in Vancouver, Canada, and that explains why this game is so rare.
The disk might be worth a bit to collectors, but I think I'll make it available to the public soon. I'm going to try and "crack" it and then spread it :)
Much of my collection has been obtained by buying boxes full of disks at yard sales and thrift shops, and some have been donated by friends as they got rid of their old systems.
While sorting, one disk just jumped out at me tonight - the disk label is obviously just printed on a dot-matrix printer, but it still appeared to be a commercial release. The label says:
INTERPHASE Presents
BLOCKADE RUNNER(tm)
For use with the Commodore 64(tm).
LOAD "*",8,1 (RETURN)
(c)1984 Interphase Technologies Inc.
I loaded it up, and it's a surprisingly cool looking game - you're looking out at space through a cockpit alot like the Millenium Falcon's. Asteroids are flying at you in "3D" and you have to dodge them - you can fire at these mines that come at you.
Did a bit of research on the web, and found these interesting pages:
Blockade Runner at Games That Weren't and
Blockade Runner for Intellivision with mention of the "not-released" C64 version.
Cool! I can only guess that the programmer, Stephen Willey, sold this game directly himself from his home in Vancouver, Canada, and that explains why this game is so rare.
The disk might be worth a bit to collectors, but I think I'll make it available to the public soon. I'm going to try and "crack" it and then spread it :)
