Flag Capture & Mine Sweeper

Back when Ronald Regan was president and Donkey Kong was King, Atari ruled the home video game market. The games were cutting edge at the time, but by 2010 standards Atari Games were about on par with late 1990s cell phone video games.

One vexillological game was Flag Capture. It was a simple logic game, an ancestor to the infamously free computer game Mine Sweeper, which uses flags as symbols-markers.

Since then no sequel or flag centered video game has ever hit the market, successfully. Flags have been in the background, but never as the key subject in a franchise. Yet the opportunity is there. Flags are visual things!

The cover art of Flag Capture has a UK flag, Danish flag, what maybe the Lithuanian flag and some kind of pirate flag. During the Atari Era the cover art and package was often more elaborate and beyond the truth of the game. It was nearly a deceptive tactic, an ancient sales tactic, visual bait to make a transaction. Remember Nintendo's over rated ROB? Didn't think so, only something about Schmicks? All my friends that had the Nintendo's ROB, totally felt like Schmicks.

However computers are so much more powerful. Retro game remakes that really reflect the cover art of box art can finally be made!

For instance I always wanted to play Zelda, Adventure, and Flag Capture in a game that like totally matched the cover art, or art in the instruction manual. Old school gamers would no doubt want to play the true-retro art remakes. It'd be a new genre game market. You could call it Truetro?

Imagine a Pac Man and Space Invader game were the game totally mirrored perfectly the characters and setting of the art!? A game that matches the original Metal Gear cover art would be like soo tubular, fresh, and gnarly. They could even just redo the first Metal Gear, with nearly the same plot and add elements from that era, like music, style, pics of Regan and Gorbi.

Screen Shot of Flag Capture
The Pac Man art on the side of the original game cart looked nothing like Pac Man in video game. Why not now make one? Since Tron is being updated....it's only natural. Finally in the game Mine Sweeper, as it was with Flag Capture, game play is based on logical deduction and avoidance of hidden bombs!
















For some Nintendo Nostalgia Click the video to see ROB (Robotic Operating Buddy) in Action. Most kids who got a ROB felt like they were robbed of their money and time