Rarest games which had gone into production

Tornadoboy

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Just thought this might be a more interesting topic if we put in the condition that said game must have been one that actually made it into commercial production, as there are plenty of one-of-a-kind, very short run prototypes or test run games out there that would make the topic too vague.

Titles I can think of:

- Sundance
- Barrier
- I, Robot
- Turbo Sub
- Mayday!! (Defender ripoff halted due to lawsuit)
- Quantum
- Major Havoc (dedicated)
- Hard Hat
- Steel Worker
- Slither
- Rip Cord
- Side Trak
 
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Just thought this might be a more interesting topic if we put in the condition that said game must have been one that actually made it into commercial production, as there are plenty of one-of-a-kind, very short run prototypes or test run games out there that would make the topic too vague.

Titles I can think of:

- Sundance
- Barrier
- I, Robot
- Turbo Sub
- Mayday!! (Defender ripoff halted due to lawsuit)
- Quantum
- Major Havoc (dedicated)
- Hard Hat
- Steel Worker
- Slither
- Rip Cord
- Side Trak

Production games off the top I can think of:

Varkon (upright pinball game) < 100
Splat < 100
wood cabinet Blaster < ?
Cube Quest < 100
Freedom Fighter < 100
Esh's Arunmilla < 100
Inferno < 100
 
really hard to say as how do you define what went into production means.

atari hard drivin airbornes: maybe a dozen were made

barrier
war of the worlds
cosmic chasm
exidy veritgo
exidy victory
 
really hard to say as how do you define what went into production means.

By that I mean went on the market for sale to arcades and whomever was interested, not just produced to lend out to see how well they were recieved by players. Bouncer would be a good example of a game which this thread is NOT about, which supposedly had maybe 20 produced for marketing but were never actually put on the market. In contrast Turbo Sub made by the same company did actually have some examples produced and sold on the market, if only by the skin of their teeth before Entertainment Enterprises went belly up.

On that note does anyone know if the original raster version of Black Widow ever made it on the market? I've heard that 50 were built before the title was bought up and changed into the vector version we all know of, but I don't know if they were sold or were just made for marketing?

how about limited production games that are the most desireable?

I would vote ded MH

That certainly qualifies, not many of them around and they're highly sought after.
 
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By that I mean went on the market for sale to arcades and whomever was interested, not just produced to lend out to see how well they were recieved by players. Bouncer would be a good example of a game which this thread is NOT about, which supposedly had maybe 20 produced for marketing but were never actually put on the market. In contrast Turbo Sub made by the same company did actually have some examples produced and sold on the market, if only by the skin of their teeth before Entertainment Enterprises went belly up.

On that note does anyone know if the original raster version of Black Widow ever made it on the market? I've heard that 50 were built before the title was bought up and changed into the vector version we all know of, but I don't know if they were sold or were just made for marketing?



That certainly qualifies, not many of them around and they're highly sought after.


well, my airborne was the intended production model. It was sent to AMOA and there was not enough interest in it (price was too much) so they did not produce it. They made about a dozen. I think there are maybe 4 or 5 in collectors hands.

My buddy had the proto sitdown as it had a motorized canopy and all the artwork was hand done.

So I would guess mine would probably qualify in your criteria and my buddies would not. I am sure there are many games that would fall into that greay area.

just thought of another game I own.
bally/midway bullfight
 
Cabaret Dig Dug
Quantum
Peter Pack Rat
Cocktail Joust
Cabaret Tron

They all had production runs of about 500, which, IMHO, makes them pretty rare.

Although just the small group of a dozen collectors local to me can put together every game on that list, and even some /really/ rare stuff. Cloak and Dagger, Cockpit Sinistar, "Star Wars side art" Defender, Warrior...
 
Dedicated Star Castle cocktail. Not mentioned on the flyer, nor have most people I know heard of it other than as a conversion of other cocktail tables. As far as I know, this is the only pic of one (besides a few others I have). I need to get some more pics now that it is running good. Serial tag lists it as #31, so you'd figure they made at least that many...

SDC11443.jpg
 
Dedicated Star Castle cocktail. Not mentioned on the flyer, nor have most people I know heard of it other than as a conversion of other cocktail tables. As far as I know, this is the only pic of one (besides a few others I have). I need to get some more pics now that it is running good. Serial tag lists it as #31, so you'd figure they made at least that many...

SDC11443.jpg

Like this one... ;) it has been on the Dallas CL for a while now.

3k73m53o65U25S35R0a9j03de3c334d111382.jpg
 
Still looking for a For-Play "Star Trek" (insert joke about foreplay here). Bootleg Computer Space, oooh yeah. I seem to remember a shark-themed game in a shark-shaped cabinet from 1978 or so, but don't remember the title.
 
How rare is a Satans hollow cocktail?? I saw one in person for the first time last weekend and am thinking about buying it.
 
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