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Game ID: 24144
Console / System: Atari 2600
Title: Name This Game
Aliases: Treasures of the Deep, Guardians of the Deep, Guardians of Treasure, Galleon's Gold, Octopus
Scarcity (loose): 3
Value in USD (loose): 3
Scarcity (complete): 0
Value in USD (complete): 0
Publisher: U.S. Games
Section: 1
Designer: Ron Dubren
Developer: James Wickstead Design Associates
Style: Fixed-Screen
Description: Another Space Invaders variant. As a diver, fend off a giant octopus' growing tentacles and a descending shark as you protest a pile of treasure. A boat at the top drops an air line for you to replenish your tanks. In an article in the May 1983 issue of Electronic Fun With Computers & Games, Ron Dubren states the concept of this game was originally done in February 1982 and offered to Parker Brothers for use with their Jaws license. After they lost the licence, he showed it to Jim Wickstead (of James Wickstead Design Associates), who accepted it in August. A team of 5 (Todd Marshall, Henry Will, Roger Booth, Sylvia Day, and Wes Trager) worked to fully develop it, and finished it in October. "Treasures of the Deep" was the original name, then it was "Guardians of the Deep". After being advised not to use "The Deep" in the title, it was submitted to U.S. Games who changed it to "Guardians of Treasure" (with the part number VC1008). Marketing then decided to have a contest to name it - a $10,000 dollar first prize was offered to the person who could come up with the most original name. The deadline was April 30, 1983. We've also seen it referred to elsewhere as "Galleon's Gold" (on Amiga's Power Play Arcade #2), "Guard of Treasure" (in VideOlivery ads), "Guardians of the Treasure", and "Guardian of the Deep". A prototype also exists labeled as "Octopussy".Digital Press RE-sponsored a contest in 1994, and the winner was Russ Perry Jr. with "Going Under", an appropriate name for both the game and the state of affairs at U.S. Games when it was released.
Landmark: Vidtec was an independent operation backed by the West Coast-based division of Quaker Oats. It was later coupled with another Quaker Oats division, Fisher-Price under the U.S. Games name. The entire effort lasted 18 months and its catalog was apparently bought by someone else, possibly NAP (they ended up with Pink Panther, 1 of the 6 games shown at the January 1983 CES. According to an article in the October 1983 issue of Video Games magazine (page 39), the firm Kandy Man Sales bought up U.S. Games' inventory with plans to resell them to a distributor, who ended up being Carrere Video / TELDEC. Carrere Video Distribution (in conjunction with Tiger Electronics) puchased several U.S. Games titles and re-released them in PAL format - this being one.
Release date (MM/DD/YYYY): 1982
Country / region: USA
Part #: VC1007
Santulli Slant: Hidden beneath an interesting gimmick that never really reached its expectations is a fairly solid shooting game. At first glance it appears as if you're actually playing an Atari VCS game with a giant "boss" character! The giant octopus may be an illusion, but it's a damn clever one. My vote for the "Name This Game" contest was "How the Hell Did This Giant Octopus Get Into My Swimming Pool", but I guess that was too avant-garde for U.S. Games' upper brass! Cowards. [Gr: 8, So: 5, Ga: 7, Ov: 7]
Screenshot: 
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