Commodore User magazine ran a pretty interesting game advert back in 1984 for a title called “Beat 1984!”, which was described as a four part adventure game for the C64 with graphics and sound.
The short story line was as follows:
“Your modem has connected you to big mum’s computer – beat her, ‘Beat 1984!’ A four part adventure game for the Commodore 64. Graphics and Sound. Travel; Get Rich; Stay Rich”
The idea was that you’d pay a £18 subscription to the 4 parts. If you solve part one by March time, you’d send your tape/disk and would get part two sent back in return. The game completely ended on the 31st December 1984. Parts would not be sold separately.
I have to say, its the most strangest sale concept for a game that i’ve seen, and no doubt it probably didn’t do very well. Handing over £18 was a lot of money for something you didn’t get to see until you recieved the game, and only getting one part at a time drip fed on completion of the previous seemed a little odd too.
When you sent the game back, was part-one deleted for part-two to take its place? How did that work? Overall, this could be a tricky one to recover – especially with all its parts. Were all of them completed, or was just one part ever made before the concept was dropped?
Did you send off for this game? And did you ever get anything back? Not much else is known just yet, but watch this space.
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