Arcade Artwork
Starting the Agent X kickplate
Knowing that Richard is looking to have the Agent X kickplate artwork reproduced first, I shifted gears and started to trace that instead of the sideart. I was able to finish the rays, clouds, and the agent himself. However, I need to get some close up high resolution photos of the robots, which will also help me figure out the shape that borders the artwork in many different spots. It looks like a rectangle with indented circles, but I won’t be able to tell until I get some close ups.
I emailed Richard to get in touch with his Agent X / Cloak & Dagger guy, and I also emailed Joe in Chicago to see if he can help us out.
Finished winged Mr. Do! enemy
The other day I finished the winged character guy, so I thought I would post a small image of him here.
Working more on the Agent X sideart
Had some time to work on the artwork again tonight. I traced a ton of the smoke clouds coming out and around Agent X. I also got to other small bits and pieces likes some circles on the elevator doors.
Almost completed the Mr. Do! clown
Over the weekend I was watching some tv, so I worked on the Mr. Do clown enemy quite a bit, and he is nearing completion. So, between this character, the apple details I have left, and the almost done winged guy, I could have four main characters done by next weekend. Which is good, because I now have a blank sided cabinet to put the artwork on if I want.
Working on Mr. Do! clown on bezel
Yesterday I worked a good deal on the clown from the bezel as well as the crazy looking winged guy. Still thinking they won’t be finished until next weekend.
Some History on Atari’s Agent X
I have met one owner of an Agent X arcade game, although I didn’t know anything about it when I met him, nor did I even see the game during my visit. It wasn’t until successive conversions later that I found out about Agent X’s rarity.
This is what Joe had to say about Agent X, recalling as best he could the history of the game off the top of his head and what he had to go through to find his;
“On the Cloak & Dagger, it gets a little collector/geeky/anal. When Atari originally developed the game, the name was Agent X. Then Hollywood made the movie Cloak & Dagger and asked Atari to make a game for it. Agent X was already a version of the game. Rumor has it that only 20 dedicated Agent X units were ever made and these were only made for field testing purposes, they were never meant for public release. Of those 20, 7 were Agent X, and the other 13 were Cloak & Dagger. Cloak & Dagger was released for general purchase in kit only form, for converting other games, specifically Williams games (Stargate, Defender, Robotron, Joust). So game play wise, Agent X and Cloak & Dagger are exactly the same, only difference is the title screen.”
“Cabinet wise, conversion units are cheap and relatively easy to find. They sell on ebay for less than $400. Dedicated units are close to impossible, as there were only 20 or so made, and the ones out there are typically in collectors hands that don’t want to sell them. The last one I heard selling was a Cloak & Dagger which sold for $3,000. An Agent X is even more rare. At one point someone offered me $10,000 for my Agent X. I’m sure that’s no longer a valid offer as that person has since got a dedicated Cloak & Dagger. But it was a nice offer to get. Certainly one of the most valuable in my collection.”
“Probably way more information than you wanted, but it’s one of my prize games, so I like talking about it! It was a pretty big search to find and get.”
So basically my interpretation of this information is that of the few Agent X’s that were produced, most of them are or at one time were owned by Atari employees. Now they made have made their hands into serious collectors who know their value, similar to Joe, but the only way you might get one is to start the way he did and track down some old Atari employees.
Why reproduce artwork for Agent X?
Well, for two main reasons. I like the two people I have met, so it is a good opportunity to show them some good will in networking. Also, because Agent X is so rare, hopefully it will mean I am one of the few people who have a copy of vector artwork for the Agent X kickplate, sideart, marquee, speaker overlays, control panel, or whatever else I decided to vectorize and prepare for reproduction.
Update – March 23, 2009
If you look below in the comments, one of the original creators that worked on Agent X left a comment, and basically confirmed all of the information that Joe shared about the game. I have no doubts that on his hunt Joe probably talked with Rusty about the history and that is where most of his ‘unconfirmed’ rumors came from.
Finished first piece of artwork for Mr. Do!
Finally getting a chance to post an image of the Wind Up Mr. Do character that I got to trace last week.
Weird looking guy, but hey, I like the game and it is the only real sideart I know of. Other characters are cooler looking, I may get to them next week.
