Page 48 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #6

S James said that he's tinkered with other
ome do it to fulfill a fantasy of a game they
Atari-themed hoaxes, but nothing's come to
wish had existed. Some do it just to see if
they can create something that reminds them
fruition.
of past joys. Others just want to mess with
your head. "I did try again with a Tomb Raider for 2600,
but that one didn't go anywhere," he said. "I did
They are the creators of fake Atari labels. Sur- think about doing a Mortal Kombat 2 for 2600
prisingly, there are several web sites dedicated to hoax but never found the time to sit down and
labels for games that were never made. But you create the screen graphics."
couldn't tell from the labels posted. These fake la-
bels look factory-fresh and straight from the Atari art Believe it or not, I'm making a fake
department - ready to be slapped on the newest Lee Krueger of Samammish, WA is no
cart. stranger to Classic Gaming circles, having one
of the larger collections of classic videogame-
Approaching Doom related paraphernalia. He claims to have a
The fake label that most classic game collectors complete or near complete cartridge collection
seem to be familiar with is the infamous "Atari 2600 of Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, Cole-
Doom Hoax" perpetuated by James Catalano of covision, Vectrex, and Intellivision consoles
Chicago. James created the box art, screen shot, and carts. One of the greatest things he said he
and label for the non-existent id Software game as a had in his collection was the original Intellivi-
project for a 2-D imaging class he was taking in col- sion computer as well as all the cassettes
lege. His assignment was to create an ad for any (some even shrink-wrapped) for the machine.
product - real or imaginary. James said he remem- "I do have a number of Atari prototypes too,"
bered the fun he had with his Atari and decided to take down the site or give proper credit to the origin of he brags. "But my first love is the Atari 2600. It
do an ad campaign based on a "new" game release the hoax." has special meaning for me, as it was the last
for the system. James does digital work like scanning, enlarging, gift my father gave me before he passed away.
"I was into Doom big time back then, being image manipulation, and printing for a production stu- At the present time, I think my Atari 2600 cart
hooked on the Sega 32X version before I ever dio that does evidentiary work for several law firms. collection is over 700."
played the PC version," he said. When he's not doing digital imaging professionally, Lee's ResQSoft website has a corner dedi-
James said he simply used a PC with Photoshop he's doing it recreationally. cated to the Atari 2600 games seen only in his
to create his world-renowned hoax. The fake game "I love digital imaging," James said. "What I like mind. There, you'll fine the "Greatest American
was well-received in class and he put the images up doing a lot is shooting my various toys, models, and Hero" game (rumored to have been in develop-
on the Internet. And that's when the speculation and action figures (namely Star Wars stuff) with my digital ment, but never released or found in ROM
rumors took on a life of its own. camera, then creating backdrops for these images form), "Planet of the Apes," and "Aliens vs.
Thinking it was real, collectors and game players with various 2-D and 3-D imaging programs, blending Predator."
flooded the newsgroups and message boards ask- them together and adding various visual effects to "I really try to make labels that are repre-
ing about the availability of the game. Eventually, make the scene look real." (To see some of his Star sentative of what they may have looked like if
word got out that the images were nothing more Wars digital imaging, check out his Star Wars photo they were released," Lee said. "My goal is to
than mock-ups of a fond video game wish. page at: http://members.tripod.com/ make them look authentic. My favorite labels
The flurry of activity got so bad, several people jims_digital_domain/starwars.htm.) are the ones that look the most like Atari-era
began to claim to either own a prototype of the James said that he collects Atari 2600 carts "off carts."
phantom ROM or take credit for the 2600 Doom art. and on" and has a collection of 218 games for it. Lee uses an Apple iMac and Corel Draw to
"The worst it got was when this idiot who called "I used to collect a lot from Frank Polosky's Video create his fake labels.
himself 'Fragmaster' put up his own site claiming to Magic, but that sort of stopped when nothing 'new' "I find it to be a very good program for these
have done the hoax," James explained. "When I was being offered," James said. "After that, I tried types of things," he said. "I really bought Corel
found out about this, I sent him an e-mail telling him eBay for a few carts, but found the prices getting too to do the artwork and layout for the 'Worship
to either take down the site or give proper credit to crazy. So for now, for the few games I want, I just set- the Woodgrain' project. In the course of design-
who actually created it. To me, he was a real jerk, tle for playing them in emulation with Stella on my ing the layouts, I found it fun to make mock-up
being that he didn't respond to my e-mail, nor did he PC." labels."

Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2001 48