Agent X
Working more on Agent X robots on kickplate
Got through tracing the rest of the blue shapes around the waist of the robot, some more of the right arm, and a couple more shapes on the base. Hopefully I will be finishing the arm and the redoing the antenna and a couple pieces on the head next.
More photos of Agent X robots
Got some new photos tonight from Richard showing the detail in the antenna and mouth of the robot. I got through tracing the mouth, and some other pieces of the robot. I may be able to finish him tomorrow. The photos also showed a close up detail of the border piece I was having issues with in determining the shape. Doing the border of the kickplate, and all the art in general is going to be a lot of work.
Detailed photos of Agent X robots
Last night I got photos from Richard of the robots, as requested. Today I started, and got a good distance, finishing probably 80% of one robot. The robots all look the same, so I shoud be able to just repeat it on the front to take care of each one, and just scale them accordingly. However, the antennas and the mouth area are a little fuzzy, so I emailed Richard to see if he can get yet closer up photos of those two areas to make sure I trace it correctly.
Hopefully I will have enough done that I can post it by next weekend. Which also means, the sooner I finish up the two pieces, the sooner I can head over to Pittsburg to buy the Jr. Pac-man.
Got hi-res image of Cloak and Dagger marquee
Have made some contacts with some Mame guys who trace for archival purposes, all sorts of old classic arcade artwork. They also had access to the “Joymonkey” website, a site put together by a bunch of guys who bought a copy of Arcade Graphix artwork when they went under. Today via email, I got two pieces I requested, one of which was the Cloak and Dagger marquee which has the robots in it.
It is a hi-res scan, but I still think some small details of the robots are missing. I will take a closer look at it this weekend.
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.
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.
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.
