▲
2
▼

Because of the circumstances behind their conception, the Japanese versions of these three games all feature title screens reminiscent of Famicom launch titles, with the copyright information uniformly reading "COPYRIGHT 1983 ATARI". When Nintendo of America exported the games to North America in 1988, the title screens were made more elaborate and the copyright info was updated. The ways of accessing the game's modes are also changed in the North American release; instead of having them all available on the title screen, the player must press Start in Defender II and Millipede to bring up a menu (itself displaying additional copyright information). In Joust, pressing Start skips the menu and automatically begins Game A; the player must press Select in order to access the menu.
The development of Joust as a launch title for an Atari-distributed system would have a prominent knock-on effect on HAL and Nintendo's future. The game was one of the first titles to be programmed by Satoru Iwata, who would go on to become a vital asset to HAL thanks to his coding skills before becoming Nintendo's president in 2002, and his experiences developing Joust would help him program Balloon Fight.
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Defender_II_(NES)
https://tcrf.net/Joust_(NES)#Regional_Differences
https://tcrf.net/Millipede_(NES,_HAL_Laboratory)
https://tcrf.net/Defender_II_(NES)
https://tcrf.net/Joust_(NES)#Regional_Differences
https://tcrf.net/Millipede_(NES,_HAL_Laboratory)
Related Games
Centipede
Centipede
Karateka
Swordquest: Fireworld
Breakout
Dragon Ball: Origins
Earthworm Jim PSP
The King of Fighters XV
Defender
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Driv3r
Godzilla: Save the Earth
Enterprise
Save Mary
Pong
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Shark Jaws
Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
Bullet Witch
SwordQuest: AirWorld
Midnight Magic
Adventure
Tempest
Tales of Vesperia
The King of Fighters 2003
Astérix & Obélix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum
Super Star Wars
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales
Unreal Tournament 2004
Crazy Frog Racer
Driving Theory Training
Pac-Man
Star Trek Online
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Gran Trak 10
Transformers
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu
Asteroids Deluxe
Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo
Atari Video Cube
Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening
Rare Replay
Aquaventure
Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Yars' Revenge
NBA Jam Tournament Edition