Recently I've been catching up on some old-school video game reviews with one of my favourite nerds, Angry Video Game Nerd. This past February he reviewed a series of Atari 2600 games that went under the name "Swordquest." There were four versions of the game in the early 80s, Earthworld, Fireworld, Waterworld and Airworld, the last of which was never released. Each game came with a DC comic, and you had to search for clues in the games that would direct you to a certain page number and panel. Once a player strung the clues together, they sent them in to Atari HQ in order to get a shot at winning some mind-boggling prizes. What's mind-boggling is that these were legitimate prizes, not just a t-shirt or some shitty little plastic toys.
Earthworld
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| "Talisman of Penultimate Truth" |
The "Talisman of Penultimate Truth" was an 18K solid gold piece studded with 12 diamonds and the birthstones of the zodiac signs. There was also a sword of white gold attached. At the time its value was $25,000. The winner of this piece, Steven Bell, had it melted down for cash, but he did keep the sword. For that, Steven, you don't deserve a more advanced gaming medium than Phillips CD-I. I'd rather be broke and still have this than rich and just the sword. If I weren't paranoid that it would be stolen, I'd wear it like a fucking badge of honour.
Fireworld
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| "Chalice of Light" |
The "Chalice of Light" was, quite literally, a chalice of gold and platinum. It was decorated with citrines, diamonds, lapis lazuli, green jade, pearls, sapphires and rubies. It was valued at $25,000. This contest was interesting because more than 50 players submitted the right clues, so Atari had them all write what they liked best about the game. The lucky winner, Michael Rideout, had the decency to keep this as a family heirloom.
Waterworld
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| "Crown of Light" |
The "Crown of Light" was made of gold and adorned with diamonds, aquamarines, rubies, sapphires and green tourmalines. Estimated value at the time was $25,000. This contest never took place because at this point Atari got sucked into the Video Game Crash of 1983. Whereabouts of this prize are unknown.
Airworld
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| "Philosopher's Stone" |
What Harry Potter wouldn't have given to take a gander at this beauty: a white chunk of jade housed in an 18K gold casing, with embedded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and citrines. It was worth $25,000. The game was never made, which is unfortunate because the winner of this contest would have a chance to compete with the other winners to win the once in a lifetime prize, the "Sword of Ultimate Sorcery."
The "Sword of Ultimate Sorcery"
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| "Sword of Ultimate Sorcery" |
The "Sword of Ultimate Sorcery" was a pure silver blade with a gold handle encrusted with various jewels, worth about $50,000. Its location remains a mystery, but there are rumors that Atari's current owner has it. Personally I doubt that.
The point of this post was to appeal to all common sense. If you had any one of these prizes, would you destroy it? Hell no! As I mentioned before, each of these items are one of a kind, and video game contests will never offer rarities such as these ever again most likely.
For A Nerd, You Sure Are Dumb
2 comments:
Do you think Jack ownes the last pieces? I would love to find out.
Well its actually unknown to the locations of the Crown and Stone, but the Talisword, Chalice, and Sword are close to being located, almost, and yes, the Sword is with Jack, Mr. Person.
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