Action 52 - Prototype

Prototype

Recently, a prototype cartridge of Action 52 has surfaced, owned by movie and video games distributor Greg Pabich. Vince Perri proposed a deal with Pabich asking him if he would be interested in working for Active Enterprises as a business partner. At this time, Perri only had a few prototype cartridges and not the final product. For various reasons, Pabich turned down the offer, but not before leaving with one of the prototypes in his possession, which was stored in his warehouse for over twenty years before it was "rediscovered".

The prototype itself contains numerous differences from the final Action 52 cartridges. It contains minor text differences for the game titles as well as different color backgrounds for the game selection menus. The final version contains the words "Action 52" in its header and copyright information in its footer. The prototype simply contains section numbers in each menu screen's header. The code for Action 52 appears to be heavily based upon the pirate multicart "52 in 1". This is evident due the menu template in the Action 52 prototype being identical to that of "52 in 1". However, the biggest difference between the prototype and the final game is that while the final copy contains the game Cheetahmen, the prototype does not. In its place is a completely different Cheetahmen game titled "Action Gamer" (presumingly taken from the main character the Action Gamemaster in Cheetahmen). Action Gamer features only two levels, one of which is incomplete.

On November 11, 2011, Greg Pabich publicly released reproductions of Action Gamer, calling it "Cheetahmen: The Creation". This special package contains a sealed version of the game for collectors, an unsealed copy, a reproduction of the original Cheetahmen comic book, a Cheetahmen music CD, special edition T-Shirts and a poster. Additionally, a standard edition was released containing only the game and the comic book. The limited edition will have a run of 500 units and will retail for $499 USD. Each game will have its own numbered hologram labeled 1 to 500. The standard edition will run for 1000 units, will cost $199 USD, and will have holograms labelled 501 to 1500 with each game.

There are also plans for further games titled Cheetahmen II: THE LOST LEVELS and Cheetahmen: Ultima. An iOS game titled iCheetah is in development, and it is planned to cost $1.99 USD. Pabich has also discussed release of action figures based on the characters, limited edition artwork acquired from the original Cheetahmen programmer, Mario Gonzalez, and a broad line of high-end Cheetahmen T-shirts.

In August 2012 one of the four original Action 52 developers surfaced and surprised the gaming community with their find, their very own original boxed Action 52 NES Prototype cartridge, the only other Action 52 Prototype known to exist. Along with never before seen original Action 52 and Cheetahmen posters and artwork, they posted an eBay auction selling the items for a $97,000 Buy It Now option or Best Offer. The auction generated over 10,000 views and 50 offers. They have since created a blog documenting the auction, the prototype, and more importantly, their part in the development of the Action 52 NES cartridge. Their version of the story of Action 52, Active Enterprises, Vince Perri, and the other developers can be read at http://Action52Prototype.com