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Manual |
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MANUFACTURER:
MILTON BRADLEY
PRODUCT NUMBER: MB 4354
RELEASED: 4Q/1983
PROGRAMMER: JOYCE HAKANSSON ASSOCIATES
ORIGINAL
RETAIL PRICE: $49.95
TOUCAN'S
TRIVIA: The reason this game has two entries in the Videogame
House and on TI rarity lists is because it was offered for sale from
two different companies. Both Milton Bradley and TI manufactured this
cartridge for release in 1983. Apparently the original MBX deal called
for MB to manufacture the actual MBX device and the 3 cartridges that
required the system to play (I'm
Hiding, Championship
Baseball and Terry Turtle's
Adventure), while TI would distribute the other 7 that could be
used without the MBX. However, when TI pulled out of the market MB got
out of MBX development and stopped production of their 3 cartridges,
eventually turning over the manufacturing rights to TI. Therefore, you
are most
likely looking at a 1 month window when the MB 3rd party carts were
made, which is what makes them so rare today. Only one MB release has
been found to date, and that being I'm
Hiding. To tell if you have a 3rd party MBX cartridge take a
look at the label and casing. There should be a tranparent label with
the game title printed on it placed over top of a tan label. The casing
should be smoother than the normal TI-made cartridges and without a TI
stamp on the bottom. If you have any of the MB
Gamevision cartridges, which were also manufactured at Milton Bradley's
plant, the cases are just as smooth as those. The actual gameplay on
the otherhand is identical regardless of which company the cartridge
originated from. |
TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Joyce Hakansson who's company developed Soundtrack Trolley, Honey Hunt, Green Muck, and Mail Drop in addition to I'm Hiding had this to say on the development of her company's MB games, "My involvement with Milton Bradley started when I worked as a consultant for Sesame Street. I started a computer production group for Sesame Street. We actually brought the first computers to the workshop in 1979 - a lifetime ago. My group designed more than 56 activities for the playpark, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. I was a consultant because I lived here in the Bay Area of California with my family and we were not ready to move to N.Y., and frankly I don't think anyone thought that software production would be a long term part of the organization. I was brought on to get Sesame Place up and running without a commitment beyond that. So I commuted between SF and NY. When the computer facility at Sesame Place was a success I was asked to stay, which I did for a second year and then I had to return home. The workshop agreed that I could start a production group here that would be under the control of Sesame Street. Milton Bradley was the first client for my group. When I became independent 6 months later I changed our name and MB contracted with me for the TI products. We had agreed to produce six titles (I think, I would have to look it up to say for sure) for them. The only one that used speech recognition was I'm Hiding. Originally, MB was going to manufacture their own game player to compete with the original Atari, but changed their mind when Coleco came out with the Colecovision, their game machine. That is when the switch was made to produce for the TI machine with the MB add on. Of course the rest is history." |
TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: This game was listed in early brochures under the name Bug Hunt, apparently to sound similar to Honey Hunt which was another MBX game developed by Joyce Hakansson Associates. |
TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Fun Bit! When one of the Dumbugs
is finding a place to hide on the screen he or she will say "I'm
Hiding" through the MBX's speech synthesizer. Each bug has a different
voice when he or she speaks. However, the bug by the name of BeBop does
not say "I'm Hiding", but instead says "I'm High" (as in high on
drugs). It's a pretty funny thing thrown into the game, how it got past
MB executives is a mystery since it's hard to believe they would have
knowingly allowed a phrase like that to be in a kids game. Then again,
maybe the Milton Bradley guys just liked to have a little fun since
almost everyone that worked at the company back then has said it was
the best job they ever had in their lives since it was so fun and laid
back. |
TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: This game MUST be used with Milton Bradley's MBX System (an add-on for the TI-99/4A). The MBX allowed for the use of Voice Recognition, improved Speech Synthesis, a 360° Analog Joystick, and an Action-Input Keypad for video games designed for it. The reason for the MBX requirement is because the game asks the player to choose objects on the screen by pressing the corresponding picture on the MBX keypad. Since the game was designed for little kids to match shapes, sizes, and colors, the game would pretty much lose its purpose without the MBX keypad and overlay. |
ADDITIONAL ITEMS: |
I'm Hiding 3rd Party MBX
Overlay Needed |
|
MBX Cartridge Catalog |