Justin

Happiest of birthday wishes to your dad.  80???  He doesn't look that old!  Both of your parents look healthy and happy. 
 

I'm in Puerto Rico to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.  We went out to eat yesterday and today....

Big influence on USB, that’s a fun story if you read into it. I like to credit Atari for the USB 😛

Thanks Rick! This is very kind of you.

John, I'm going to create a new thread for your newsletter and club.  I think it's great and I just started reading your first newsletter today.  I hope we can help you drum up more interest.
 

The Atari 7800 Forever Podcast / Atari Network Podcast is true quality, and a real benefit to the Atari community and to preserving Atari history. Your interviews are stellar. There's an approach to this that’s unique in its vibe and didn't take itself too seriously, and to me feels much needed in the Atari world. I hope to see the podcast eventually continue in some form. You have my support and the support of Atari I/0 if that day comes.

He will still get those interviews and do them on his channel, I'm sure. Thanks for the support! It was a fun ride! 

The Atari 7800 Forever Podcast / Atari Network Podcast is true quality, and a real benefit to the Atari community and to preserving Atari history. Your interviews are stellar. There's an approach to this that’s unique in its vibe and didn't take itself too seriously, and to me feels much needed in the Atari world. I hope to see the podcast eventually continue in some form. You have my support and the support of Atari I/0 if that day comes.

Jon Stoll II has decided to step away from doing the Atari Network Podcast, and I’m not continuing it without him, so that will essentially be the end of that. I will still update the Atari 7800 Forever website and YouTube Channel, and he will continue with the Atari Network YouTube channel. We had a fun run and I hate that it came to an end. Thanks to everyone who followed and participated in the chat! So much fun! #atari #atari7800 #atari2600

Well, it isn't the first time his albums have worked that way. But even his gameboy music album he released several years ago I believe auto transitions to the next song. But, his CD based TG-16 album he released last year I think it was? I believe it does the same thing where it just stays on the same song until you use your controller to move it to the next track. His last Genesis cartridge release titled as 'Decoder' is the same way, but it makes since there because you are reading a graphic novel along the way so the music tracks change as you change the scene reading the story.
BTW...the above video was captured directly off my Jaguar through RGB. But as my capture device doesn't like anything above 2x scaling from the OSSC, it doesn't look quite as good or sharp as it normally can when I'm able to use 5x normally. But this is pretty typical of all of my RGB consoles. This is why my s-video output systems tend to look sharper to my eyes, because those go through the extron and are output at 480P. That in turn at 2x scaling means the output is 960P to my TV while the 240P stuff via RGB is only at 480P on the final output.
 

I like to compare the TI to the other computer systems of the time because of all the time I spent in electronics stores as a kid after school.  I can remember noodling around on a TI display identical to the one above.  I remember being a bit cheesed-off that the screen was so high!  Not easy to see for a short kid.  Munch-man was the game I'd settle on from the demo and it was a lot of fun.  But also, it was pretty obvious that there was no "real" Pac-Man or any other licensed games.  Commodore had Gorf/Omega Race -- knowing how cheap Jack Tramiel was, how did they do that???  (This needs more research and would make an interesting topic on its own).
TI boxes were pretty boring, about the same as Commodore.  Atari had them both beat. 
But the display of the selection of games -- TI was great.  Commodore kiosks were tiny and you had to stoop low to see what they had. 
What would I do differently knowing the TI system so much better now?  They should have emphasized the voice module a lot more in the demos!  I think it would have blown people away to have the kiosk showing software that speaks! 
 

I rem how many really bad games I paid top dollar for because the selection of TI games in the beginning was so bad. One of the reasons I started making my own LOL.

Why do some of you think it's anywhere near appropriate to repeatedly post sexualized images and comments on an Atari website? Does that seem to you at all in keeping with the spirit of Atari I/O that's open to all ages? I shouldn't have to say this out loud. Can someone explain that to me because I'm no prude and I'd like to hear a public justification of your reasoning.

Why do some of you think it's anywhere near appropriate to repeatedly post sexualized images and comments on an Atari website? Does that seem to you at all in keeping with the spirit of Atari I/O that's open to all ages? I shouldn't have to say this out loud. Can someone explain that to me because I'm no prude and I'd like to hear a public justification of your reasoning.

I appreciate that they’re standardizing the CX78 Control Pad. It always should’ve been that way. 

This finally arrived from Hamburg Germany in the mail yesterday! I really enjoy these niche music album on cartridge formats and have most of Remute's releases from the past. But this is the first time he released something for an Atari system so I had to get it. 

 
And for those curious, there is a brief 1 min video of the cartridge in action. 
 
My only very minor complaint about this particular release, is that the audio seems a tad lower quality as compared to what I've heard a Jaguar able to do. Tempest 2k is a prime example of this. And the fact that the songs do not change over to the next track automatically. Whichever song you choose to start playing, just auto loops as many Amiga like module files did back in the day. So as a result to listen to something else, you have to go back to the playlist menu and then choose another song. Although, you can also hot select a song from the keypad directly if you know what the track# is you want to play. Still, it would have been nice if it did go onto the next song on its own so the cart could be inserted and just left to play in the background.

lol way to go @socrates63 I'm rooting for you!

I appreciate that they’re standardizing the CX78 Control Pad. It always should’ve been that way. 

Why do some of you think it's anywhere near appropriate to repeatedly post sexualized images and comments on an Atari website? Does that seem to you at all in keeping with the spirit of Atari I/O that's open to all ages? I shouldn't have to say this out loud. Can someone explain that to me because I'm no prude and I'd like to hear a public justification of your reasoning.

I appreciate that they’re standardizing the CX78 Control Pad. It always should’ve been that way. 

What's the reason for naming this "The 400" as opposed to "Atari 400" or "Atari 400 Mini"?

Pengo
MAME
Controller: JOYSTICK / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE
Difficulty Level: DEFAULT
Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔
Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST April 30, 2024
Nominated by @Smell Dawg
 
 
Objective
Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or YouTube video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between April 1st through April 30th, 2024. Screen captures are not allowed as they are more easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor!
 
Eligibility
Anyone can join in. All players are welcome!
 
Play Rules
Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback / Mini console, FPGA or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following all rules and game settings defined in the challenge. Choosing between real hardware or emulation, and choosing which controller to play on is part of formulating your strategy. Enhancements, rewinds, save states and hacked versions of this game are not allowed.
 
Difficulty Level
DEFAULT. We will be playing Pengo using DEFAULT arcade settings. As this is an arcade game emulated on MAME, dip switch settings and debug menus can complicate things. Feel free to post questions or suggestions regarding difficulty settings to make sure we are all on the same page.
 
Fair Play
Your integrity is everything. Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that we will not allow cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, deceitful photo manipulation, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage. Everybody hates a cheater.
 
More
To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: 
 
 
Message
Welcome to our 157th Squad Challenge! This month we'll be playing the original Pengo arcade game from Sega, nominated for High Score Squad by @Smell Dawg for us to play on MAME. Pengo is a maze game where the basic layout is akin to Namco's legendary Pac-Man, featuring a top down, single screen, maze-like arrangement. Pengo's enemies, the Sno-Bees, are also similar to the Blinky, Inky, Clyde etc. - the ghosts that pursued Pac-man; not least because Sno-bees also come in 4 different varieties, each represented by a different color. One aspect that distinguishes Pengo from the Namco classic is that the maze itself is a wholly interactive environment. Each section of wall is represented as a block of ice, which can be pushed onto the Sno-bees to destroy them. The Sno-bees themselves will destroy the ice blocks as they move around each level, so speed is of the essence. Some of the blocks are "Diamond blocks" which can't be destroyed, and can be re-used by Pengo. The outer wall of each level can also be utilized; if the player pushes against the wall when a Sno-bee is next to it, the Sno-bee will be temporarily stunned; allowing Pengo to move in for the kill. DID YOU KNOW: According to Zero magazine, Hudson Soft's Bomberman series adopted gameplay elements from Pengo. ROM and Instructions will have to be sourced online. Enjoy!
 

 
 

I appreciate that they’re standardizing the CX78 Control Pad. It always should’ve been that way. 

lol way to go @socrates63 I'm rooting for you!