gumball7839
Active member
Give me a story about the obscure unreleased laserdisc version of Road Runner by Atari! Was it supposed to be on System 1 hardware at the time?
Last edited:
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Remember seeing that video and thinking that the released, regular-pixel-version was absolutely the correct call.Wasn't there a working laserdisc version at CAX one year? I feel like I've seen a video of one as well, somewhere.
I think your right I remember something about fixing it and giving it back at the show.Wasn't there a working laserdisc version at CAX one year? I feel like I've seen a video of one as well, somewhere.
Game Trivia : Information from The Dragons Lair Project.
This unique laserdisc game used footage from the Road Runner Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon series. The Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and other objects and obstacles in the game were computer graphics, while the road and background images were streamed from the laserdisc.
When you or the coyote died, the game would cut to a scene from the cartoon series of the Coyote getting killed in one the many humorous death scenes.
Before the game was released Atari decided that laserdisc technology was no longer viable for arcades due to reliability so Road Runner was shelved. A year later the game was released as a conversion kit for their popular System 1 cabinets, but as a computer graphics only version, with the road and background images now rendered by the PCB and all of the cut scenes removed.
(From Owen Rubin) : Road Runner was similar. It used video game graphics for the game play almost identical to the game that was released except that it used LD video instead of graphics for the background. Very cool to have the game graphics go in and out of cartoon footage. When the Road Runner would "get" the coyote (like making him fall off a cliff or hit a truck) the game would pause and a LD "video replay" would show a real cartoon segment with that same thing that just happened. For example, in the game where the coyote has to avoid stepping on the land mines, when he does, the game shows him getting blown-up in graphics, and then (not always) a video would show a real cartoon excerpt from a Road Runner cartoon of the coyote getting blown up. It was very cool.
Yea, there was one at a previous CAX...probably around 15 years ago now or so. I remember that it worked, but was very finnicky.Wasn't there a working laserdisc version at CAX one year? I feel like I've seen a video of one as well, somewhere.
Awesome photos there dude! Now if I was 10 years older and could afford a flight to CA....So I was off by 3 years.
Now that I know the year for sure, I checked on the photos I took from that year and here's what I have:
View attachment 619151View attachment 619152View attachment 619155
Of course, but first I gotta finish high school and collegeStart saving now!
Jon
This site claims with the prototype the road and background images were from the laserdisc:
System 16 - Atari Laserdisc Hardware (Atari)
System16 - The Arcade Museum. Detailed Hardware information on Arcade Hardware and Systems.www.system16.com
Which would explain how the 'page flipping' effect was done when you complete a level.
The entry and photos for Road Runner on DLP is gone, but this page still has the comments from Owen Rubin about the game:
Michael Albaugh also contributed to the laserdisc prototype:
Atari Compendium
www.ataricompendium.com
Michael felt the laserdisc was dropped due to the cost, where Owen felt it was dropped due to it repeatedly failing when out on test location.
More info and video about the prototype version on this page: