           - - - = (  VIC-20 Cartridge Rarity & Gameplay list  ) = - - -

                      By Ward F. Shrake and Paul A. Le Brasse
                      with the help of many folks on the I'net
                                    Version 2.3b
                            Released on April 26, 2002

                   Visit "VIC-20 Digital Archaeology" on the web
                   for heaps of additional info, and many links:
                          http://classicgaming.com/vic20/

                      In the spirit of the "friendly computer"
                      this document may be freely copied and/or
                      used by anyone who wishes to do so. We do
                      ask that you give the authors credit by
                      name if and when you use this listing in
                      any other context. Thanks in advance!

                               Notes about this document.
         - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       This list is the latest revision of a document that has been freely
       available since September 1995. It has been tweaked and adjusted by
       the same people for years. It is generally considered the best list
       of its type, and has been widely distributed around the Internet.

       One of the reasons this list is the "cream of its crop" is that the
       people that put it together have personally collected every one of
       these cartridges over the years. The small number of people working
       on this text makes it easier to judge relative rarity over a wider
       spectrum than might normally be the case. But more to the point, we
       know which carts took us years to find, and which we saw constantly.

       This list's organization is based on a confirmation system. If a cart
       is listed in the upper section, it most definitely exists. We've had
       our hands on at least one copy of that particular cartridge. In fact
       we "digitally archived" every one of the carts listed in the upper
       section. The resulting "ROM images" are available free on the web.
       You can find links to these archives on the author's web site...

       http://classicgaming.com/vic20/

       Note that we did this without permission, but that we've often been
       given complimented for it, by various of the original programmers.
       In some cases, these authors no longer had copies of the games they
       had written, until we had done our bit to preserve this software!
       (If any copyright owners did object, we'd have that game removed.)

       One step below the upper section is a place for all of the carts
       that we are sure really do exist in cartridge form, but that have
       so far eluded our grasp. In other words, someone besides ourselves
       has positively confirmed these carts, but they are not archived yet.
       We took our time to get confirmation of each and every cart, one by
       one, through a network of well-known collectors we've grown to trust.

       Towards the bottom is a section for rumored carts that we have never
       found ourselves, and that as far as we know, neither has anyone else.
       (In other words "vaporware" games are kept seperate from confirmed
       games within this listing.) That alone makes the list highly reliable.

       Below that is a list of hardware-related items and utility programs.
       Listing them seperately reflects a few things, one of them being the
       fact that because they generally involve something more inside them
       than a simple ROM memory chip, that they don't easily fit into our
       archiving efforts. It is therefore less confusing to seperate them.
       Most people reading this list are retro-gamers. Why confuse things?

                            - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       As of version 2.00 of this list (August 2000), I am introducing big
       changes to the way I rate the relative rarity of each cartridge.
       We used to have letter codes, and a chart explaining them. From now
       on, I plan to include a simple "one to ten" numeric code instead.

       This change came about when the list's author was asked to contribute
       a new VIC-20 cartridge software section to "Digital Press' Collectors
       Guide," version six. (The "DPCG" for short.) Consistency with the
       other sections in that guide meant I had to rework this list anyway,
       so I figured I'd change the rarity codes here on a permanent basis.
       Gives me an excuse to finally get this list up to "version 2.0", too.

       Observant readers will note that I'm not currently using a "1" code.
       That is because I feel that these carts are slightly harder to find
       in the wild than (for example) an Atari 2600 cartridge. Perhaps much
       harder to find? The "8" and "9" ratings represent about five percent
       of the library each. Finding most of these took us a year or more of
       constant searching... and that includes searching via the I'net! That
       may improve in time, but the high numbers are deservedly so. The "10"
       code I reserved for prototypes that never saw mass production in the
       form of a cartridge. (But note that some did come out as tape games.)

       Besides these rarity changes, I added a (gasp!) suggested price guide.
       I had long resisted doing that, feeling it unfair of me to try to tell
       others what they should pay for something. "It is worth what you will
       pay for it; no less and no more" has long been my own personal opinion.

       I was in the unenviable position of having to create a price structure
       from scratch. Knowing what the cheapest carts usually go for was not a
       problem. (In this case, around $2 each.) But choosing an upper price is
       always going to cause some disagreement. I did my best to integrate two
       different schools of thought on this, so the list is twice as useful.

       The first school of thought is based on the observation that in most
       cases, it is rare for a classic game cart price to rise above what it
       cost at retail when it was new. (For a top price of roughly $40.) The
       other school of thought says that it seems silly for one cart to sell
       for more than a core system itself usually sells for. (Roughly $20.)

       I based my price suggestions on the $40 top price, and worked down to
       a known low of around $2 per cart. If it seems carts often go for far
       less than the prices shown here, just cut these prices in half. I took
       pains to make the relative price point steps valid, by custom-sorting
       the list based on prices, and hand-tweaking till everything "flowed".

       Sooner or later "price guides" were inevitable. Just remember not to
       be overly concerned with the prices I listed. They are a guideline,
       not something to be angrily enforced at gunpoint. "It's just a hobby."

       See Digital Press' web site for more info on their Collectors Guide. I
       myself am anxious to see the new one, with all the planned updates! (I
       do not stand to make money on any of this, if you are worried about a
       loss of credibility in regards to pricing, or any "ad" type comments.)

       http://digitpress.com/

       Besides this document, other texts exist that modern Vic20 hobbyists
       or computer historians may find useful or interesting. These can also
       be found on the internet. (Ward's team wrote many of them. Very little
       other information about the Vic20 was freely available at the time.)

       Among the documents available are a "Frequently Asked Questions" text,
       various technical texts, archiving utility programs, a list of nearly
       500 VIC-20 cassette tape games, and more. "Cartzilla!" is a huge text
       which actually discusses and reviews the 180+ software cartridges now
       known to exist for the VIC-20. (This list is used for quick reference.)

       It would have been a shame if we forget part of our culture's history.
       We few who first remembered the Vic20 with fondness are glad to see we
       are no longer so few in number! We are pleased that a decade and a half
       after the "friendly computer's" commercial lifespan ended, that people
       still enjoy playing and collecting the games we so lovingly preserved.

                                                    Ward F. Shrake

                                                              Rarity code
                                                  Memory size         |   Price
                                                            |   Game   \   |
    Company     Cartridge name                  Part#        \   play   |  | Year
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Academy     IFR         (Flight Simulator)  [A989]        8k   B    5  17  83
    Atarisoft   Battlezone                      [RX8547]     16k   B-   5  15  83
    Atarisoft   Centipede                       [RX8504]     16k   C    2   2  83
    Atarisoft   Defender                        [RX8507]     16k   A-   3   8  83
    Atarisoft   Dig Dug                         [RX8510]     16k   B    3   6  83
    Atarisoft   Donkey Kong                     [RX8513]     16k   B    3   6  83
    Atarisoft   Galaxian                        [RX8541]      8k   C+   8  30  84
    Atarisoft   Jungle Hunt                     [RX8529]     16k   B-   3   5  84
    Atarisoft   Moon Patrol                     [RX8532]     16k   B-   3   5  83
    Atarisoft   Ms. Pac-Man                     [RX8544]     16k   C+   3   5  83
    Atarisoft   Pac-Man                         [RX8501]      8k   C+   3   5  83
    Atarisoft   Pole Position                   [RX8535]     16k   B+   3   7  83
    Atarisoft   Robotron: 2084                  [RX8520]     12k   B-   3   5  83
    Beyond      Mountain King                                16k   A+   5  22  83
    Boone       Crater Raider                   [20001]       4k   C    9  40  83
    Boone       Cyclon                          [20003]       8k   A    9  40  83
    Broderbund  A.E.                           [Viccart-224] 16k   B    7  25  82
    Broderbund  Lode Runner                    [Viccart-___] 16k   B+   5  19  83
    Broderbund  MasterType                     [Viccart-221] 16k   B-   6  20  83
    Broderbund  SeaFox                         [Viccart-___] 16k   B    8  32  83
    Broderbund  Skyblazer                      [Viccart-___] 16k   A    8  36  83
    CBS Soft.   K-Razy Antiks                   [22107]      12k   B+   4  11  82
    CBS Soft.   K-Star Patrol                   [22108]      16k   B+   4  11  82
    Commodore   Adventure Land Adventure        [Vic-1914]   16k   B-   3   5  81
    Commodore   Alien                           [Vic-1906]    8k   C    4   7  81
    Commodore   Avenger                         [Vic-1901]    8k   C+   2   3  81
    Commodore   Bank Robber         An alternate name for "Raid on Fort Knox"
    Commodore   Clowns                          [Vic-1931]    8k   C+   4   9  82
    Commodore   Commodore Artist                [Vic-1935]    4k   C    5  12  82
    Commodore   Cosmic Cruncher                 [Vic-1922]    8k   B    2   3  82
    Commodore   Cosmic Jailbreak                [Vic-1927]    8k   C    4   8  82
    Commodore   Draw Poker          An alternate name for "Poker"
    Commodore   Garden Wars                     [Vic-1932]    8k   C    4   7  82
    Commodore   Gorf                            [Vic-1923]    8k   B-   2   4  82
    Commodore   Home Babysitter                 [Vic-1928]    8k   C-   4   6  82
    Commodore   Jelly Monsters                  [Vic-1905]    8k   A    8  36  81?
    Commodore   Jupiter Lander                  [Vic-1907]    8k   B    2   3  81?
    Commodore   Menagerie                       [Vic-1926]    8k   C-   4   6  82?
    Commodore   Midnight Drive                  [Vic-1909]    8k   C-   3   3  81
    Commodore   Mission Impossible Adventure    [Vic-1916]   16k   B-   3   5  81
    Commodore   Mole Attack                     [Vic-1912]    8k   C    4   8  81
    Commodore   Money Wars                      [Vic-1925]    8k   C+   4   9  82
    Commodore   Number Nabber, Shape Grabber    [Vic-1941]    8k   NA   5  10  82
    Commodore   Omega Race                      [Vic-1924]    8k   A-   2   5  82
    Commodore   Personal Finance     (utility)  [Vic-1929]    8k   NA   5  10  82
    Commodore   Pinball                         [Vic-1920]   16k   C+   3   5  82
    Commodore   Pinball Spectacular    An alternate name for "Pinball"
    Commodore   Pirate's Cove Adventure         [Vic-1915]   16k   B-   3   5  81
    Commodore   Poker                           [Vic-1908]    8k   C    4   7  81
    Commodore   Radar Rat Race                  [Vic-1910]    8k   B+   2   3  81
    Commodore   Raid on Fort Knox               [Vic-1913]    8k   C    4   7  82
    Commodore   Road Race           An alternate name for "Midnight Drive"
    Commodore   Sargon II Chess                 [Vic-1919]    8k   C    3   4  82?
    Commodore   Sea Wolf                        [Vic-1937]    8k   B-   5  15  82
    Commodore   Slot                            [Vic-1904]    8k   C    4   7  81
    Commodore   Speed Math & Bingo Math         [Vic-1933]    8k   C-   3   3  82
    Commodore   Star Battle                     [Vic-1902]    8k   B+   8  33  81
    Commodore   Star Post                       [Vic-1939]    8k   C    5  12  82?
    Commodore   Super Alien         An alternate name for "Alien"
    Commodore   Super Slot          An alternate name for "Slot"
    Commodore   Super Smash                     [Vic-1921]    8k   C    3   4  82
    Commodore   The Count Adventure             [Vic-1917]   16k   B-   3   5  81
    Commodore   The Sky is Falling              [Vic-1911]    8k   B-   4   9  81
    Commodore   Tooth Invaders                  [Vic-1938]    8k   C+   5  14  83
    Commodore   Vic Avenger         An alternate name for "Avenger"
    Commodore   Visible Solar System            [Vic-1930]    8k   C    3   4  82
    Commodore   Voodoo Castle Adventure         [Vic-1918]   16k   B-   3   5  81
    Creative    Apple Panic                     [VI AP C]    12k   C    4   8  82
    Creative    Astroblitz                      [VI AB C]     4k   B-   4   9  82
    Creative    Black Hole                      [VI BH C]     4k   B    5  17  82
    Creative    Choplifter                      [VI CL C]     8k   A    3   9  82
    Creative    Household Finance    (utility)  [VI HF C]     8k   NA   5  10  83
    Creative    In the Chips                    [VI CH C]    16k   C    6  19  83
    Creative    Pipes                           [VI PI C]     8k   C    6  19  83
    Creative    Rat Hotel                       [VI RH C]?    8k   B-   5  15  82
    Creative    Serpentine                      [VI SE C]     8k   B    4  10  82
    Creative    Spills and Fills                [VI SF C]     8k   C    6  19  83
    Creative    TerraGuard                      [VI TG C]     4k   C+   4   9  82
    Creative    Trashman                        [VI TM C]     8k   B+   4  12  82
    Creative    Videomania                      [VI VM C]     4k   C    4   8  82
    Daedalus    Baldor's Castle                              12k   C+   9  37  83
    Epyx        Fun with Music                                8k   B    8  32  83
    Epyx        Monster Maze                                  8k   C+   5  14  82
    Handic      A World at War                                8k   C-   9  34  8_
    Handic      Space Snake                                   8k   D    9  33  82
    HES         Aggressor                       [C305]        8k   C    5  13  82
    HES         Alphabet Zoo       (education)  [C326]       16k   NA   6  18  82
    HES         Attack of the Mutant Camels     [C318]        8k   A    6  25  83
    HES         Facemaker          (education)  [C324]        8k   NA   6  18  83
    HES         Gridrunner                      [C312]        4k   B+   3   7  82
    HES         HesMon               (utility)  [C302]        8k   NA   3   4  82
    HES         HesWriter            (utility)  [C304]        8k   NA   5  10  82
    HES         Kids on Keys       (education)  [C325]        8k   NA   6  18  83
    HES         Kindercomp         (education)  [C322]       16k   NA   6  18  83
    HES         Lazer Zone                      [C319]        8k   A    5  21  83
    HES         Maze                            [C3__]        8k   C+   6  20  83
    HES         Mosquito Infestation            [C3__]        4k   B-   6  20  82
    HES         Pharaoh's Curse                 [C321]       16k   A    7  28  83
    HES         Predator                        [C316]        8k   B+   6  23  82
    HES         Protector                       [C308]        8k   B-   6  20  83
    HES         Robot Panic                     [C310]        8k   B    6  21  82
    HES         Satellite Patrol                [C3__]        4k   B-   6  20  82
    HES         Shamus                          [C307]        8k   A    5  21  83
    HES         Story Machine      (education)  [C323]       12k   NA   8  25  83
    HES         Synthesound        (education)  [C306]        8k   NA   5  10  82
    HES         Turtle Graphics    (education)  [C303]        8k   NA   3   3  82
    HES         Vic FORTH          (education)  [C301]        8k   NA   3   3  82
    Imagic      Atlantis                        [720051-1A]   4k   A    2   6  83
    Imagic      Demon Attack                    [720050-1A]   4k   A    2   6  83
    Imagic      Dragonfire                      [720052-1A]   8k   B+   5  19  83
    Koala Tech. Dancing Bear                                 16k   C+   8  30  83
    Mach. Lang. Amazing Maze                                  4k   C    9  35  8_
    Mach. Lang. Dot Gobbler                                   4k   A-   8  35  8_
    Mach. Lang. Tank Wars                                     4k   C+   9  35  8_
    MSD         Mobile Attack                                 8k   C+   8  30  8_
    OEM         Alien Sidestep                                4k   C-   9  34  83
    OEM         Bug Crusher                                   4k   B-   9  38  83
    OEM         Space Ric-O-Shay                              4k   C    9  35  8_
    Parker      Frogger                         [PB1410]      8k   D    2   2  83
    Parker      Q*Bert                          [PB1420]      4k   C    3   4  83
    Parker      Tutankham                       [PB1430]      8k   A    5  21  83
    Reston      Miner 2049'er                                 8k   A+   5  22  83
    Romox       Princess & Frog                               8k   C    9  35  83
    Romox       Topper                                        8k   B    9  39  83
    Romox       Typo                                          8k   C+   9  37  83
    Sega        Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom     [005-04]     16k   B-   4   9  83
    Sega        Congo Bongo                     [006-04]      8k   C    4   8  83
    Sega        Star Trek  (S.O.S.)             [004-04]      8k   B+   4  11  83
    Sierra      Cannonball Blitz                [CBL-401]    12k   B-   7  24  82
    Sierra      Creepy Corridors                [CCL-401]     8k   B+   7  26  83
    Sierra      Crossfire                       [CFL-401]     4k   B+   4  11  81
    Sierra      Jawbreaker II                   [JBL-401]     8k   C+   5  14  82
    Sierra      Lunar Leeper                    [LLL-401]    12k   A    7  28  81
    Sierra      Threshold                       [THL-401]     8k   A    7  28  81
    Sirius      Bandits                         [220__]       8k   B+   5  19  83
    Sirius      Capture the Flag                [220__]       8k   B+   7  26  83
    Sirius      Deadly Duck                     [220__]       4k   B    6  21  82
    Sirius      Fast Eddie                      [220__]       8k   C    7  22  82
    Sirius      Final Orbit/Bumper Bash (2-on-1)[220__]       8k   C/B+ 7  27  83
    Sirius      Snake Byte                      [22031]       4k   C    6  18  82
    Sirius      Spider City                     [22015]       4k   B+   6  23  83
    Sirius      Squish'Em                       [220__]       8k?  A    9  40  83
    Sirius      Turmoil                         [22005]       8k   B    5  17  82
    Sirius      Type Attack                     [22010]       8k   B    6  21  82
    Spectra.    Ape Escape                      [SC-215]      8k   C+   7  23  82
    Spectra.    Cave-in                         [SC-207]      8k   C-   7  20  82
    Spectra.    Number Crunch                   [SC-208]      8k   B-   8  30  82
    Supersoft   Tank Atak                                     8k   C    9  35  82
    TG Software Droids                                        8k   C    7  22  83
    Thorn EMI   Computer War                    [THC 22006]   8k   C    6  19  83
    Thorn EMI   Fourth Encounter                [THC 22005]   8k   D+   5   9  83
    Thorn EMI   Medieval Joust                  [THC 22007]   8k   C    8  28  83
    Thorn EMI   Mine Madness                    [THC 22008]   8k   C-   8  25  83
    Thorn EMI   Mutant Herd                     [THC 22004]   8k   C-   4   6  82
    Thorn EMI   River Rescue                    [THC 22001]   8k   C-   4   6  82
    Thorn EMI   Submarine Commander             [THC 22003]  12k   C    4   8  82
    Thorn EMI   Vic Music Composer (education)  [THC 22002]   8k   NA   5  10  82
    Tigervision Polaris                         [7-007-20]    8k   B    8  32  83
    Tigervision Springer                        [7-006-20]   16k   C    8  28  83
    Tronix      Deadly Skies                                  4k   B+   6  23  83
    Tronix      Gold Fever                                    4k   C+   6  20  83
    Tronix      Scorpion                                      8k   B    6  21  83
    Tymac       D'fuse                          [V2CDF]       8k   B+   9  40  84
    UMI         Alien Blitz                     [1619]        4k   B-   7  24  81
    UMI         Amok                            [1611]        4k   C    7  22  81
    UMI         Arachnoid                       [1605]       12k   B    7  25  82
    UMI         Cloudburst                      [1636]        4k   C    7  22  82
    UMI         Meteor Run                      [1613]        8k   D+   7  18  82
    UMI         Outworld                        [1635]       16k   B+   7  26  81
    UMI         Renaissance                     [1600]       12k   C-   7  20  82
    UMI         Satellites and Meteorites       [1650]        8k   A-   7  27  82
    UMI         Skibbereen                      [1641]        4k   C+   7  23  82
    UMI         Spiders of Mars                 [1604]       16k   B+   7  26  82
    UMI         Sub Chase                       [16__]        4k   C    8  28  82
    UMI         Super Amok                      [1642]        8k   A    7  28  8_
    UMI         Video Vermin                    [1638]        8k   A    7  28  82
    Xonox       Artillery Duel         {CNS=1}  [6235]        8k   B    7  21  83
    Xonox       Chuck Norris Superkicks {AD=2}  [6235]        8k   C    7  21  83
    Xonox       Ghost Manor             {SP=1}  [6215]        8k   D    6  18  83
    Xonox       Motocross Racer        {TTB=2}  [6245]        8k   C    8  25  84
    Xonox       Robin Hood              {SL=2}  [6225]        8k   D    6  18  83
    Xonox       Sir Lancelot            {RH=1}  [6225]        8k   C+   6  18  83
    Xonox       Spike's Peak            {GM=2}  [6215]        8k   C+   6  18  83
    Xonox       Tomarc the Barbarian    {MR=1}  [6245]        8k   D+   8  25  84

           Note that Xonox carts sometimes came two-per-case, as "double-enders".
           These carts had 2 sides (front and back?) that plugged into the VIC-20.
           The initials seen above show what cart was paired with what other cart.
           All of the Xonox carts above were made as both single and double-enders
           but only the double-ender's part numbers are shown in the list above.

            - - - = (  Confirmed but unarchived game cartridges  ) = - - -

    OEM         Blackjack           Confirmed by: Charles Bremer, who owns one.

               - - - = (  Utility and hardware cartridges, etc.  ) = - - -

            This section lists any known, non-game cartridges. This includes
            "productivity" and/or "utility" items, along with some hardware
            items intended to add one or more features to your computer. Some
            of these items are very difficult to categorize. Please be aware
            that the purpose of this section is not to be the ultimate guide
            to such items. A much better list exists, and I see no reason to
            duplicate their efforts, so I'm just going to refer you to it...

            http://www.zimmers.net/commie/docs/cbm-products.txt

            The primary purpose of this overall list is to document cartridge
            software, with a heavy emphasis on video games. Any other things
            are really just included as sort of "bonus items". I don't wish
            to be mean or rude, but be aware that just because a cart is not
            listed in this section, that does not necessarily mean you have
            found something that nobody else in the world has ever heard of.
            It is probably more of an indication of disinterest in listing
            such items, both on my part and on the part of my contributors.

            You may also want to visit "ftp.funet.fi" (via FTP) and check
            out their "/pub/cbm/schematics/" directories for more info.
            Funet is a great resource for just about anything Commodore.

    AEA-Soft        AMT-1 (Vic-20 Version)        Ham / packet radio cartridge.
    Arbutus Total   Promqueen                     EPROM programming hardware.
                                                  (This plugs into the Vic's user
                                                  port, not the cartridge port.)
    Cardco          Write Now!                    word processor
    Century         Moses                         65C02 assembler, 27 new opcodes
    Century         Moses w/ 8K RAM               65C02 assembler, 27 new opcodes
    Commodore       Basic version 4.0             [Vic-____]       (4k ROM)
    Commodore       Diagnostic Cartridge          [Vic-____]
    Commodore       IEEE-488 cartridge            [Vic-1112]       (4k ROM)
                                                  This device allowed VIC-20 fans
                                                  to use older CBM printers and
                                                  disk drives, via an IEEE-488
                                                  port and added BASIC commands.
                                                  See funet's site for details.
    Commodore       Machine Language Monitor      [Vic-1213]       (_k ROM)
    Commodore       Programmer's Aid Cartridge    [Vic-1212]       (4k ROM)
    Commodore       Super Expander with 3K RAM    [Vic-1211A]      (4k ROM)
    Commodore       VIC speech synthesizer        [Vic-1214]       (?)
    Commodore       Victerm 40                    [Vic-1610]       (4k ROM)
    Commodore       See game list for titles.     To keep the 19xx number series
                                                  as intact as possible, a few
                                                  non-game items were listed in
                                                  the first section of this list.
    Data 20         Display Manager               40/80 column display device
    Data 20         Video Pak                     40/80 column display device
    Datatronic ab   Vic-Graf                      Swedish graph-making program
    Eastern         Vic Rabbit                    Datasette accelerator cart (2k)
    Handic          Screen Master                 4k cartridge utility. New to
                                                  us at this point, but it seems
                                                  to add commands to the BASIC
                                                  operating system, for use by a
                                                  programmer or hardcore user. A
                                                  quick look at the circuit board
                                                  makes Ward think it was similar
                                                  to the C64's "Fastload" cart in
                                                  its ability to "disappear" out
                                                  of a memory map if it wanted to?
                                                  The actual maker may have been
                                                  "Micro Application" as that is
                                                  on both the cart label and "MA"
                                                  is seen in an internal copyright.
    HES             See game list for titles.     To keep the HES cart numbering
                                                  system as intact as possible, a
                                                  few non-game items are listed in
                                                  the first section of this list.
    Jason-Ranheim   Promenade                     EPROM programming hardware.
                                                  Plugs into the Vic's user port.
                                                  A C64 version was also made by
                                                  the same company, and sold deep
                                                  into the 1980's. The company no
                                                  longer supports these products,
                                                  but allowed Ward to type in the
                                                  manual to the 2.0 version of
                                                  the software, and to post it on
                                                  the web for others to see / use.
    Kantronics      Hamtext                       Client for amateur packet radio.
    Kantronics      Radiotap                      Amateur radio interface item.
    Microlog        AIR-1                         Ham / packet radio cartridge.
    Pikstik         Computapix                    UK graphics program.
    Protecto Ent.   Protecto 80 Voice Synthesizer  "Make your computer talk".
    Quick Brown Fox Quick Brown Fox               word processor    (8k ROM)
    Skyles          Arrow                         Datasette accelerator cart.
    UMI             BUTI (Basic UTIlity)          [16__]
    UMI             ViTerm B                      [16__]
    UMI             Wordcraft 20                  [16__]            (16k ROM)

          - - - = (  RAM expansion cartridges and/or mother boards  ) = - - -

            This section is incomplete -- not all features are listed
            on all items -- but I welcome more detail if you have it.

            This list is really geared towards documenting cartridge
            software, but I feel it makes sense to include RAM details
            since ROM images of many original carts can often be played
            within a RAM cartridge context. See the "Cartzilla!" text
            for detailed information on each programs RAM requirements:
            http://classicgaming.com/vic20/filedown.htm#zilla

            See the "Canonical List of Commodore Products" if you are
            looking for the most complete Commodore product listings.
            http://www.zimmers.net/commie/docs/cbm-products.txt

    Abaris, Inc.    Ram cartridge   16k     With battery backup
    Apropos Tech.   RAMAX                   Motherboard with 2-slots, with 27k
    Apropos Tech.   RAMAX Jr.               Motherboard with 2-slots, with 19k
    APS             "Select-A-RAM"  64k     Motherboard with 2-slots, RAM write-
                                            protect feature, and software that
                                            would allow some multi-tasking to be
                                            done by bank-switching. Plugging two
                                            additional Select-A-RAMs into the
                                            first one resulted in 192k of RAM.
    Assembly Tech.  RAM cartridge   16k
    Cardco          "Cardboard 3"           Motherboard with 3-slots
    Cardco          "Cardboard 6"           Motherboard with 6-slots
    Cardco          "Cardram 16"    16K     Two banks of 8k. One 8-section dip
                                            switch selects where each 8k goes;
                                            four slot choices per each 8k bank.
    Century         RAM Cartridge    8k
    Century         RAM Cartridge   16k
    Century         RAM Cartridge   64k
    Commodore       RAM cartridge    3k     [Vic-1210]
    Commodore       RAM cartridge    8k     [Vic-1110]   (Internally the PC board
                                            seems to be ready to accept another
                                            8k of memory? Could solder more in?)
    Commodore       RAM cartridge   16k     [Vic-1111]
    Compuscope      RAM cartridge    8k
    Compuscope      RAM cartridge   16k
    Compuscope      Expander                Motherboard with 4-slots
    Compuscope      Supermother             Motherboard with 8-slots, pause
    Computer Place  CP Vic-20 Expander      Motherboard with 4-slots
    Data Toolbox    Quad-slot               Motherboard with 4-slots, reset, fuse
    HES             HesCard 20              Motherboard with 5-slots, 5 select
                                            buttons, reset.
    High Tech Ent.  Busmaster               Motherboard with 6-slots
    High Tech Ent.  Busmaster II            Motherboard with 6-slots, soft enable
    High Tech Ent.  Minibus                 Motherboard with 3-slots
    MSD, Inc.       RAM cartridge    8k
    Personal...     RAM cartridge    8k     ...Peripheral Products, or PPI
    RAM electronics RAM cartridge   32k     Configurable. (Marko's was set up to
                                            be a switchable 3k, 0k, 24k set-up.)
    Stonechip Elec. "Vixen" cart    16k
    UMI             RAM cartridge    3k
    UMI             RAM cartridge    8k
    Voice World     24K Golden RAM          Motherboard with 4-slots
    Xetec           RAM cartridge   32k     Each 8k bank has an on/off dip switch.

         - - - = (  "Vaporware" section, or carts which MIGHT exist  ) = - - -

            Note that the market for the VIC-20 changed over to the C64 at
            roughly the end of 1983. In general, this means that carts that
            were planned to have been made for the VIC-20, which were first
            announced towards the middle or end of 1983, are less likely to
            have been made than carts announced earlier. In general... don't
            take that as absolute gospel, as there are always exceptions.

            As a rule of thumb, it is fair to assume that carts announced
            near the end of 1983 probably got made as C64 carts instead or
            were dropped entirely. Remember that even if a company decided
            not to go ahead with something as a production item, that does
            not rule out one or more prototype copies waiting to be found.
            (And if prototypes can be found, they can surely be archived.)

            Some games originally announced as upcoming cartridge games
            were made, but only in cassette tape format. This was usually
            a way for companies to make a profit on a product they had
            already invested money in, but couldn't make an acceptable
            profit margin on, if the game was released as a cartridge. At
            the end of the VIC's commercial life, most things were tapes.
            In general, releasing things on tapes cut manufacturing costs.

            If you are interested in tape archiving, you may want to check
            out the efforts of Tim "Arma" Denning on the Internet. He has
            already archived literally hundreds of tape games, and he did
            it in such a way that the loading screens are intact, and are
            preserved "as is" for historical and nostalgic reasons.

                       http://members.fortunecity.com/timfy/

    20 Century  Flash Gordon        Summer 83 Power Play; press release only. It
                                    may have come out as Spider City by Sirius.
    APh Tech.   Mission X           According to notes on the Blue Sky Ranger's
                                    web site, APh Technology Consultants once
                                    began an unauthorized version of this game
                                    for the VIC-20, but were told by VP Gabriel
                                    Baum that (a) Mattel had not decided to do
                                    VIC-20 releases, and (b) if they did, that
                                    "Mission X" would not be included. How far it
                                    was along before it was stopped is unknown.
                                    (The BSR's programmed Intellivision games.)
    Atarisoft   Donkey Kong Jr.     Never talked about in print that I know of,
                                    but Greg Hightower's "Eclectic Games" web
                                    site claims that he and/or his company made
                                    this title for the VIC-20 at some point.
    Atarisoft   Joust               Name listed in later ads, not in others, so
                                    this title was probably one of the last of
                                    the planned releases. There are four part
                                    numbers missing from the series -- with three
                                    of those coming towards the end -- so this
                                    makes sense? There is some confusion in the
                                    RX85__ series, but it looks like these holes
                                    are 16 or 17, 22 or 23, 25 or 26, and RX8538.
    Atarisoft   Mario Bros.         Jimmy Huey said this was once in development.
                                    No idea what part number it would have been,
                                    aside from it being one of the latter ones,
                                    as Stargate apparently is the earliest one?
    Atarisoft   Stargate            Name listed in early ads, not in later ads. I
                                    am guessing from the part number series that
                                    this was intended to be RX8516 or RX8517, as
                                    a Robotron (#20) box said Stargate was out
                                    already, and the other carts the box listed
                                    were shown in perfect "part number" order.
                                    However, one web site related to the TI home
                                    computer line claimed the part number for
                                    the Vic version of Stargate was RX8523? We
                                    can only speculate until better info arrives.
    Atarisoft   Track & Field       Never talked about in print that I know of,
                                    but Greg Hightower's "Eclectic Games" web
                                    site claims that he and/or his company made
                                    this title for the VIC-20 at some point.
    Atarisoft   Typo Attack         Tape? Seen on pg. 31, Sep84 "Compute!" Again,
                                    no idea what part number it would have been,
                                    but four holes exist, 3 of them later ones.
    Broderbund  Martian Raider      Tape? Seen in ad, 7/83 Compute's Gazette
    Broderbund  Multi-Sound Sythesizer    Seen in ad, 7/83 Compute's Gazette
    Broderbund  Shark Trap          Seen in ad in 7/83 Compute's Gazette. More
                                    recently, Leo LaFlamme confirmed that this
                                    game does exist as a tape. The instructions
                                    said his copy was the "cassette version"; in
                                    other words, we still do not know for sure
                                    if this came out as a cartridge or not? The
                                    tape part number seems to be: "007 3108321".
                                    That number came off the top of the tape
                                    where the write protect tabs are, Leo said.
    Commodore   [Vic-1903]          May be "Bridge; teach and play"? Brent Santin
                                    sent Ward some Sep 1982 promotional literature
                                    that lists that name as a planned cartridge.
    Commodore   [Vic-1934]          Name needed. See comments for # 1940, below.
    Commodore   [Vic-1936]          Apparently a clone of the arcade game Phoenix.
                                    Brent Santin found a third-party catalog from
                                    Sep 1982 that said this one was going to be
                                    "Space Vultures" when it was released. An ad
                                    in the Commodore-published "Power Play" mag
                                    (volume 1, number 1, page 29) advertised a
                                    game called "Lord of the Skies" saying that
                                    "Killer birds and their UFO allies are out to
                                    get you. As the birds become more valuable,
                                    the bombs fall faster and faster. Kill the
                                    bird before you get blasted." It was listed
                                    under "Space Games". Never released, but may
                                    have been programmed to an unknown extent? It
                                    most likely never went to market since Atari
                                    owned the rights and was sueing competitors
                                    over copyright violations of licensed games.
                                    The arcade game Phoenix definitely fell into
                                    this category; Imagic was sued by Atari over
                                    their Intellivision version of Demon Attack.
    Commodore   [Vic-1940]          (See also Vic-1934 above.) These two carts are
                                    narrowed down to two potential titles, but we
                                    are not sure which is which? Brent Santin's
                                    third-party Sep 1982 promotional catalog lists
                                    "Wizard of Wor" and "Dog Patch" as soon to be
                                    released, as of September 1982. An ad in the
                                    Commodore-produced magazine "Power Play" (vol
                                    1, no 1, pg 29) confirms that "Wizard of Wor"
                                    was planned and "coming soon". How far these
                                    were developed, we do not know? It seems the
                                    release of the Commodore 64 put an end to the
                                    development of these carts, but they might
                                    have been completed before being abandoned?
                                    We know that "Wizard of Wor" was released on
                                    the C64 as a cartridge. When you plugged that
                                    cartridge into Commodore's new "Magic Voice"
                                    add-on device, it had audible speech. "Dog
                                    Patch" would have been a home port of a 1977
                                    arcade game. What complicates things is that
                                    a competing home computer called the Bally
                                    Home Arcade system -- modern retrogamers call
                                    it the Bally Astrocade -- definitely had both
                                    of these games. We don't know what the timing
                                    of these events are, so we can't speculate on
                                    what event came before or after any other? It
                                    gets cloudier when you know that Bally sold
                                    the rights to their computer to Astrovision,
                                    but that they also apparently made agreements
                                    of some kind with Commodore, at some point? I
                                    would not rule out finding a VIC-20 version
                                    of "Wizard of Wor" but I would not bet on a
                                    Vic version of "Dog Patch". (But who knows?)
    Commodore   Jack Attack         It was said in an article in the spring 1984
                                    issue of "Power Play" that Commodore planned
                                    to make a game called "Jack Attack" for the
                                    C64 and the Vic20. The C64 version exists and
                                    I just got in confirmation of a version from
                                    1984 for the Commodore Plus/4 as well. (Jeff
                                    Hellige owns a boxed copy.) But as far as I
                                    know, no one has found a Vic20 version? If it
                                    did come out as a cart, we presume it would
                                    have been a brown-case, hand-assembled one,
                                    as the Vic20 was dying, commercially, by then.
                                    And since Commodore was the one killing it,
                                    (to push the C64) I doubt they ever made one?
                                    But if it did exist, and as a cart, the part
                                    number would likely have been Vic-1942? Note
                                    the we now have the existing holes plugged in
                                    Commodore's part # list, up through Vic-1941.
                                    A bit of trivia... Commodore's leader was a
                                    man named Jack Tramiel. He was well-known for
                                    a gruff demeanor, so this game's name is more
                                    than likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to
                                    what people perceived as his attacks on them?
                                    Articles in CBM's own publications imply it.
    Commodore   [Vic-2011]          VIC-Stat cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
    Commodore   [Vic-2012]          VIC-Graph cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
    Commodore   [Vic-2013]          VIC-Forth cartridge, per Jim Brain "CBM list".
                                    Note that Bo Zimmerman now updates the list
                                    of Commodore products that Jim Brain began.
                                    (That list supecedes this one for accuracy.)
    Commodore   Basic 4.0           We have what seems to be a ROM image from a 4k
                                    add-on to Commodore's built-in "BASIC 2.0";
                                    it claims to be "BASIC 4.0" and it does work.
                                    But we aren't 100% sure of its origin, what
                                    part number it would have been and so on? We
                                    guess it would have been in the #12xx series.
                                    But it does work, and that's cool in itself?
    Commodore   (other info)        Box art for the Vic20 system showed 2 unknown
                                    titles, but with little further comment. From
                                    the information available there it is hard to
                                    even know if these were planned as carts or as
                                    tapes: "Speed type" and "Electronic Calendar"?
    Creative    Alien Hotel         Peter Fokos (of UMI fame) told Ward Shrake
                                    this news: "Joann Lee worked on a project we
                                    started for Creative called Alien Hotel. I
                                    don't think it was ever finished because of
                                    the 84 crash, that's when we closed Tensor."
    Creative    Save New York       Press release only, in Jan 85 Computer Games.
                                    Most likely only came out for the C64, but
                                    the late announcement is intriguing in itself.
    Datamost    Round About         Unconfirmed, but on other collector's lists.
    Epyx        Alien Garden        May 1983 Electronic Games advertisement.
    Epyx        PlatterMania        May 1983 Electronic Games advertisement.
    First Star  Panic Button        Full review seen in May 84 "Compute!" mag
    HES         Fort Apocyalpse     Seen: Ad page 79, Nov83 Compute's Gazette
    HES         Necromancer         Seen: 1-line ad, pg111 Dec83 Compute's Gazette
    HES         Slime               1-line ad @ $13, pg111 Dec83 Computes Gazette
    Jini Micro  Mini Jini           Seen in 1/2 page (99) ad in July 83 Gazette
    Oceans Int  Blockbuster         Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
    Oceans Int  Close Encounters    Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
    Oceans Int  Frogman             Seen in press release, pg 40, Aug83 Gazette
                                    Note that some of the confirmed carts listed
                                    in the section above were once listed as
                                    being available from Oceans International.
                                    The confirmed copies are either from some
                                    other (or simply an unknown) manufacturer.
                                    Amazing Maze, Blackjack, Dot Gobbler, Tank
                                    Wars and Space-Ric-O-Shay were all once this
                                    way so the others may be found, eventually.
    Micro-ware                      (See notation found at TYMAC, below.)
    Micro-ware  Key Quest           2-page review seen in Dec83 Compute's Gazette
    Parker      Popeye              Milan Polle claims he had what seemed to be a
                                    prototype of this cartridge, many years ago.
                                    He said the first level was playable, but the
                                    levels beyond that were unfinished; they were
                                    graphically there, but were not playable. He
                                    remembers their being two EPROMs inside, and
                                    he believes a standard cart case was used. He
                                    thinks the label might have been just a white
                                    label or sticker, with the name hand-written.
    Parker      Super Cobra         Cliff Gregory saw this listed in a catalog of
                                    Parker Brothers games, saying it was going to
                                    come out in the fall of 1983, for the Vic20
                                    and for other systems. Unconfirmed otherwise.
    Protecto    Atari VCS Adapter   Seen in various ads, unconfirmed otherwise.
                                    The ads were fancy and expensive looking, but
                                    never actually showed pictures of the item.
    Quick Brown QuickFinger         Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
    Quick Brown QuickMail           Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
    Quick Brown QuickSpell          Tape? 7/83 1-pg ad, Compute Gazette, pg. 79
    Romox       Anteater            Seen in Oct83 Compute!, page 45. Full page ad
    Showcase    Astro Patrol        The name "Showcase Software" turns out to be
    Showcase    Chicken             just another name for "Synapse Software". Ads
    Showcase    Doughboy            back in 1983 made it appear that way -- their
    Showcase    Glub Club           address and phone information were identical
    Showcase    Pussyfootin'        and even their shipping costs were the same --
    Showcase    Salmon run          but that guess was confirmed; a "New Products"
    Showcase    Squeeze             announcement in the October 1983 "Compute!'s
                                    Gazette" magazine (page 140) reads as follows.
                                    "Synapse Software, a producer of games for
                                    Atari computers, has established the Showcase
                                    Software line for the VIC-20. The initial
                                    games produced are Astro-Patrol, a shoot-em-
                                    up game; Squeeze, a humorous game set on a
                                    farm; and Salmon Run. Each game sells for
                                    $19.95". Ward can verify that those three do
                                    exist, at least as tape games; see them at
                                    http://members.fortunecity.com/timfy/. Ward's
                                    interest in these titles (and one listed as a
                                    Synapse game, below) is that earlier ads said
                                    Synapse planned to make some of these as carts.
                                    Background info: although Synapse ran only a
                                    handful of ads in Compute! during 1983 & 1984,
                                    they did run ads in the Compute!'s Gazette on
                                    a pretty regular basis. July 1983 to October
                                    1983 had ads which included small references
                                    to three titles they say were then "available"
                                    with "cartridge versions available soon". The
                                    names listed were "Astro Patrol" and "Squeeze"
                                    and "Harrier". Then in October came that "New
                                    Product" announcement listed above. Then the
                                    November issue had no ads from Synapse at all.
                                    Then in the December 1983 Gazette, which also
                                    had no ad from Synapse, comes an ad from this
                                    "Showcase Software" company. This December ad
                                    lists these seven titles as being for the VIC
                                    only, format unspecified. (Tape assumed.) The
                                    ad in December seems like an attempt to dump
                                    available stocks of remaining VIC-20 titles at
                                    bargain prices? They offered 1 free game with
                                    the purchase of any 2 of the other titles. The
                                    VIC-20 market was all but finished; Synapse
                                    ads in the Gazette during 1984 are C64-only.
                                    (They also take out more pages-per-issue.) We
                                    are tracking down which of these titles ever
                                    got ported over to the C64; some seem to have.
    Sierra      Sammy Lightfoot     Mentioned in Oct 83 Gazette ad, but not in ad
                                    for December. Did it only come out on C64?
    Sierra      Tronsworld          Unconfirmed, but on other collector's lists.
    Sirius      Fantastic Voyage    Seen: summer 83 Power Play
    Sirius      Repton              Seen: $25, 1-line ad, pg79, Nov83 C. Gazette
    Spinnaker   Story Machine       Seen: 6/84 Power Play ad. (Licensed to HES?)
    Spinnaker   Alphabet Zoo        Was this released as a HES cart only? Both? A
                                    fair amount of Spinnaker stuff was released
                                    by HesWare, and it can get a bit confusing.
    Synapse     Harrier             See "Showcase Software" titles above for more
                                    information. This is the only title that was
                                    promised early on as being "available" that
                                    was not sold later through Showcase Software.
                                    Why this one title was different is unknown.
    TG Software Nightstrike         Seen: 1/85 Computer Games
    Tymac       Bomber word         Seen: 1/84 Compute's Gazette, page 81. This
    Tymac       Dot-a-lot           was merely a text advertisement, not showing
    Tymac       Key Quest           any screen shots, box art, or anything very
    Tymac       Res Q               substantial in the way of proof they existed.
    Tymac       Space Bats          However, at least one of these Tymac titles
    Tymac       Tic Attack          did show up, and was archived: "D'fuse". It
    Tymac       Zap                 appears that "Micro-ware Distributing Inc."
                                    sold products made by "TYMAC CONTROLS CORP.",
                                    "COMPUTER:applications", "RAK-WARE" and others
                                    according to a statement on D'fuse packaging.
                                    They also carried C64 products, later on.

      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                Info you can help us to find, to fill in some blanks.

       Missing carts:
       If you actually own a cart that is not shown somewhere in our lists, up
       above, please let Ward know about it, and he'll add it to this listing.
       (But please check the other sections, if it deals with a utility or a
       hardware type item, as these are generally listed seperate from games.)
       The top section is only for *archived* software cartridges, followed by
       vaporware listings, then hardware, utilities, RAM expanders, et cetera.

       Part numbers:
       In various places there are blank or incomplete part numbers shown. If
       we knew them, we'd list them. But we don't, just yet. Some manufacturers
       listed no part numbers on the carts themselves, but listed these on the
       package's outer box instead. Atarisoft did this for sure. Creative seems
       to be another one. Ditto for Sirius and Parker Brothers. Starting with
       version 1.8 of this list, I've made educated (but incomplete) guesses for
       some company lists, based on their patterns for other systems. If you have
       any original software boxes, or other paperwork, help us all out on this.
       Paul and I went through our collections long ago, so it is up to you now!

       Information about certain rumored carts:
       Anything we can get, will help! Ward enjoys being able to find different
       peices of historical puzzles. Over time, we fit together what must have
       happened. We've "regained" quite a bit of history that way, with the help
       of all of you out there in Internet land. (Thanks again!)

       Dates:
       If you have any solid date for any cart, please let us know. What this
       will do is let us establish a timeline, and compare and contrast it to
       events we know about from other sources. For instance, it would really
       be helpful to know when (exactly) certain carts were planned or talked
       about as "coming soon". That way, we can figure out what else was going
       on, that may have influenced decisions being made throughout the gaming
       industry. Things like the release of the Commodore 64, the gaming crash,
       when other game companies decided to release things which created some
       sort of conflict between competing companies, and so on, all obviously
       had the potential to change the course of VIC-20 history. Without solid
       dates, we can't easily contrast what happened when, and figure out the
       relationships between causes and effects. (Even semi-solid dates help!
       And it doesn't have to be dates of carts, or even for the Vic20 itself.
       Anything with the potential to help explain causes and effects, helps!)

       Confirmations of vaporware software:
       If you *now actually own a real cartridge* of a program we listed in our
       "vaporware" section of the list, let Paul or Ward know about it. We have
       only the information we listed, at this time. Many of the rarer carts we
       initially felt were "NR" (never released) did show up in time. However we
       are highly cautious about old memories of what *might* have been. We do
       insist that confirmations be made only when a person physically owns one.
       And of course, if it is not *anywhere* on our lists, and you're sure it
       is not a cartridge for some other gaming system, please, tell us about
       it! (The Emerson Arcadia "MPT-03" system has carts that have the same
       gold finger spacing and general shape. These are sometimes mistaken for
       VIC-20 cartridges. See  http://classicgaming/arcadia/  for more info.)

                Ward's e-mail address:  ward.shrake@classicgaming.com

      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                    Some recent loans from kind folks on the I'net...
                    with apologies to all the kind folks that loaned
                    Paul and myself carts, way back before we were
                    sure anyone would even want credit for doing it.
                    (Some do, some don't.) I have a meg-plus of old
                    e-mail that would help sort out who loaned what,
                    but I'm not anxious to sort through all of that!

       Patrick Wickwire loaned his Cyclon cart for archiving purposes. Even if
            it isn't the only one of its kind, it is still remarkably rare! (A
            second copy was seen on eBay in January 2002, but no others were
            found by modern collectors to the best of my personal knowledge.)
       Tom Truszkowski loaned us his "Victerm 40" in prototype form, complete
            with handwritten label. The name on the label (Jeff Hand) turns
            out to be Commodore's main telecommunications person back then!
       "Uncle Roger" Sinasohn loaned two carts; Dot Gobbler and Fun with
            Music by Epyx. Dot Gobbler was a production cart, but I've only
            heard of maybe three collectors having a copy, in all the years
            I've been looking for Vic20 carts. Fun with Music was so rare
            that I'd never heard a single mention of it being available for
            the Vic20, until this one got loaned to us! Others have shown
            up since then, but not in any huge numbers, that's for sure.
       Cliff Gregory loaned me two real rarities; Amazing Maze & Bug Crusher.
            Cliff is also helping with oodles of scanned graphics, for the
            CD Project. Cliff has a very impressive Vic20 cart collection.
       Charles Dysert archived Romox's Typo cart, and e-mailed us the ROM
            image of the game, too. Getting the ROM that way made our day;
            it's really rare. Nice to know others have the technical skill
            and desire to keep these old carts from becoming extinct!
       Francois Leveille sent me "BASIC Ver 4.0" for the Vic20. What comes
            inside the Vic20 normally is version 2.0; the 4.0 version was
            around from the PET days, but Commodore skimped out on things
            when they made the Vic20. (And later, the C64.) A shame, as
            this version of the operating system has many refinements. Of
            note to hacker types is that it has a built-in hex monitor, to
            make machine language programming easier to do.
       David Strutt sent me Xonox's Motocross Racer. This cart was one of
            the last Vic20 releases Xonox put out. While it is a production
            cartridge, it is rare enough that we were not even aware it was
            ever made for this system, until we were loaned one. (Usually a
            cart like this is at least on our "vaporware" lists.) This cart
            may be the last Xonox released for the VIC-20; the only other
            carts shown on other system's lists were all "never released".
       Edward Geist found the first copy of Droids. While he was not
            willing to risk sending his copy through the mails, to loan it
            to me for archiving, he did tell me where to go buy one myself
            when he saw another one up for sale. (Which is just as good!)
       Brent Santin loaned me three carts; "Squish 'Em" and "Vic Rabbit"
            and "Space Ric-o-shay". (Vic Rabbit was actually an EPROM and
            not a complete cart, but the info inside it is just as valid.)
            Squish 'Em came on one of Romox' special cartridges, meant to
            allow a special machine to reprogram it with any game they were
            permitted by license to "sell" to customers. (I'm glad we got
            all three of these, before they had succumbed to bit rot! A big
            thanks to Brent, for his help on both this and the CD Project.)
       Albert Yarusso loaned me "Crater Raider" by Boone. The cart looked
            like it was ready for production; nicely done, colorful label
            artwork, a wave-soldered circuit board inside, and so on. The
            game came on an EPROM chip instead of a masked ROM, which was
            about the only thing that implied "low production numbers"? I
            have no idea why this is so hard to find, unless this was one
            of a small group of carts made up for advertising purposes? In
            roughly five years of keeping an eye out for VIC-20 carts, this
            was the first cartridge-form copy of Crater Raider I had seen.
            One more showed up on eBay in Jan 2002, but that's still rare.
       Neil Chriss was kind enough to loan me his copy of "D'fuse". He was
            the original author of the cart. He also gave Ward permission
            to post the ROM image so everyone could see and play his game.
            Seeing that this cart, formerly thought to be vaporware, does
            exist, that gives more hope for some of the other cart titles
            once advertised by Tymac and Micro-Ware to show up some day?
       "Uncle Roger" Sinasohn strikes again, by loaning me two more carts.
            This time it was "Tank Wars" by OEM / Machine Language Games,
            and a utility by Handic (of Sweden) that the label refers to
            as "Master VIC-20" but the screen refers to as "Screen Master".

       Without the kindness of dedicated fans like these people, our VIC-20
       cart archiving project would have never worked. Thanks for all your
       help, folks! If you contributed a cart (many did over the years) but
       don't see your name listed here, email Ward about it. Reminders help,
       as we did not list such things by name until very late in the project.

      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                                  Closing comments

       "Digital Archaeology" is an interesting hobby. Other gaming systems have
       dedicated fan followings, who eventually track down all sorts of neat info
       about the games released for their favorite gaming systems. That is what
       I hope will continue to happen for the Vic20, both in stories and items.
       (Be sure to support the tape archiving efforts over at "Arma's Place"!)
       The "big three" console game systems (Atari 2600 VCS, Colecovision, and
       Intellivision) have fan followings that get to celebrate, from time to
       time, someone's finding of a rumored-but-never-found-before cartridge. I
       love reading the "2600 Connection" newsletter, for just such fun news.
       This is one reason I like the term "digital archaeology" so much, too; it
       does seem a lot like "digging up" forgotten treasures. Understanding the
       historical significance of such a find, or just appreciating it as is,
       makes this hobby a lot of fun. And yes, this is all a sneaky ploy to get
       more of you "out there" interested in helping to find such gems, as Paul
       and I simply cannot do this on our own. Too much physical space to cover,
       for one thing. So keep your eyes open, wherever you are located, OK? You
       never know what one-of-a-kind gem you'll run across in your travels!

    (End of document)