Paperboy Cab?

FrizzleFried

Well-known member

Donor 2011
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
54,193
Reaction score
5,245
Location
NAMPA, Idaho
I just realized as I was taking measurements for Gozer of my System II cab that the cab on the PAPERBOY FLYER is different than a standard System II cab. No, I'm not talking about the cool proto Paperboy cab either... the cab on the Paperboy flyer is very similar to the System II cab we all know and love, but it is different...take a look...

11012201.jpg


Compared to...

sideart2.jpg


I also notice the "alternate" flyer for Paperboy shows people surrounding a standard System II cab. SO... did any of these cooler looking Paperboy System II cabs ever hit the street?
 
i see no difference in the cab shape, just the art. Is that what you meant?
 
Very different. But after doing the art for the Sys II cab, I can't help noticing the different art, and how much cooler it is on the flyer.

Well, back to installing the new vinyl and sideart on MY Sys II cab.
 
The CP is different (seems to be slightly thinner?)... it appears not be flush with the side, but rather bolted to the inside of the side of the cab...plus look at the angle of the bottom angled piece... the official cab has a much smaller angled area whereas the angled area on the flyer goes almost to the "knee" area of a person standing in front of it.
 
Last edited:
That's cool--I like the design in the flyer better, but it probably wasn't as robust as the cab they went with.

While we're on the topic of Paperboy/CS cabs, does anyone find it interesting that they all seem to be set up (from the factory) to accept a vertically mounted monitor? As far as I know, the only games on System II hardware that were vertical were A.P.B. and Toobin, both of which had custom cabs. I wonder if they were just hedging their bets for future projects that didn't happen...
 
I made the mistake of thinking Toobin' was System II as well... it's not.

My guess is that Atari had considered using the cab for other games.... perhaps other System II games that never saw the light of day.
 
That one in the flyer is much more cool. Thats a good question.. What did happen to them. Is that concept art or another prototype?
 
The CP is different (seems to be slightly thinner?)... it appears not be flush with the side, but rather bolted to the inside of the side of the cab...plus look at the angle of the bottom angled piece... the official cab has a much smaller angled area whereas the angled area on the flyer goes almost to the "knee" area of a person standing in front of it.

You know, I was thinking it was like that at first, but now I think it may be an optical illusion. If you look closely at the t-molding, it looks to me like it is one piece down the side and around the control panel. Even more so if you look at the other side.
 
I made the mistake of thinking Toobin' was System II as well... it's not.

My guess is that Atari had considered using the cab for other games.... perhaps other System II games that never saw the light of day.

I doubt this theory because the one of the guys who made paperboy said in a chat at coin op space that Atari never even intended to make champ sprint or any system II games really. Paperboy just did so poorly in test markets that they dreamed up the system II idea to boost sales. You know give the illusion they were gonna make many games that would be swapable into this cab, making it a better financial investment. Champ sprint was made to seal the deal that there would actually be more games for the system II. Making the BS sound more legit. IIRC they did champ sprint because it was easy to adapt from super sprint and they didn't have to put much work in to make it work in the system II cab.
 
Interesting Dan. So, that flyer cab could've been the "test market" version and then when they dreamed up the system II scheme, they went with the common one seen today.






.
 
It wasn't uncommon for flyers to show conceptual artwork, and as it happens in Paperboy's case, conceptual cabinet design, that was different from the final production version.

APB is another title whose artwork on the flyer does not mimic the production artwork. As you can see below there's a blue background in the production side art, whereas in the flyer picture the background is white. Also, the seat artwork is completely different in the flyer picture, among some other differences like Officer Bob's arms being scrawnier in the flyer pic and color differentiation:

apb_compare.jpg



I doubt this theory because the one of the guys who made paperboy said in a chat at coin op space that Atari never even intended to make champ sprint or any system II games really. Paperboy just did so poorly in test markets that they dreamed up the system II idea to boost sales.

Well, it wasn't that Paperboy tested poorly, but rather that Atari just couldn't get as many pre-sales as they would have liked so they decided to market it as a "System" game. Paperboy was the first and only profit-share coin-op for Atari, and it made them a lot of money.

Here's an excerpt from a chat with Breighton 'Rusty' Dawe (Paperboy project leader) about it:

"Not really. They turned Paperboy into a System II only because they couldn't get many pre-sales. Paperboy tested uniquely for a video game. Most games do spectacular for a week or two then drop off. Paperboy started at a mid-level and never dropped off. But it was hard to convince the arcade owners it was a win proposition. By turning it into a "system" game, they thought they could make a better sales pitch.

Championship Sprint was the solution to doing another game on it to satisfy the folks who bought a system game that it really was a system. Super Sprint used the same processor and basic technology, so the conversion was relatively easy. Of course, Atari made out like a bandit with Paperboy. It was the only game they ever did a profit share on with the arcade owners (let us put this in your arcade, we share profits 50-50, you never have to buy it). Because it never fell off in its revenue, Atari made more than 10x as much as they would have if they'd sold them outright! That is trusting in your own market research!"
 
Back
Top Bottom