Scott Stilphen

Boxed Adventure for $1,500! https://www.ebay.com/itm/202277580230?ul_noapp=true Too bad it's not even an original copy but a re-release from 1981 at the earliest. The game was originally released in early-mid 1980 and no boxes from 1980 had a hanging tab on the back of them. Also, every box with that tab had glued flaps, and both features didn't start appearing on Atari's boxes until early 1981. When Atari changed their cartridge label style from text (which Adventure originally had) to labels with color photos (which is what the Ebay seller has), they re-released many of the text-label carts with the new style. Atari put a copyright date of 1978 on the packaging with these re-releases (due to the copyrights having to be redone). Here's an article with more information about the different label styles: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/articles/vcs_label_variations/vcs_label_variations.html#picture This site has photos of what the original Adventure cart and box look like: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-adventure_8246.html Note the copyright date is correct (1980) on both the cart label and box. And here's the page with photos of the re-release the seller has: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-adventure_18101.html Note how the copyright date is now 1978 on both, even though that cart label style didn't come out until 1981.

Is this a PAL version? The sky shouldn't be purple

RickR kindly offered 6 issues of the Portland Atari Club newsletter to be archived for the site, which are now online: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/portland_atari_club/portland_atari_club.html

It is now

http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/dennis_koble/interview_dennis_koble.html Dennis Koble started his illustrious career as one of Atari's early coin-op designers. He started at Atari in 1976 and was the 4th programmer hired. During his 5 years there, he worked in nearly every division before leaving to co-found Imagic. He got back into coin-op games with Sente, and later co-founded another company that specialized in games for the PC and Sega Genesis. Most recently, he tried his hand at designing mobile app games.

Great article, passed on to me from Ross "lost dragon" about someone you've probably never heard of, but has worked over 100 titles: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-08-10-death-threats-false-personas-and-philanthropy-the-untold-story-of-jane-whittaker#ampshare=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-08-10-death-threats-false-personas-and-philanthropy-the-untold-story-of-jane-whittaker

I don't have any copies of it.

Here's another: https://archive.org/details/OMNI198402 Any chance you could scan yours in, Clint?

https://twitter.com/llamasoft_ox/status/908815610418692096 I was hoping for new music instead of the same soundtrack used for T2K, but still looking forward to playing it.

Sure do PM sent. Btw, there's at least 6 issues on Archive.org by Allan52

http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/newsletters.html

I went to the park back in 1982 soon after it opened. It was basically Tomorrowland as its own park. I'll attach some photos. I'm pretty sure I also still have a commemorative ticket from that trip. The two CommuniCore centers under the sphere were totally amazing at the time. I remember they had touchscreens in there to try. Hard to imagine now, but at the time, that was truly sci-fi stuff Innoventions replaced all that with video games, which was a real letdown (I walked in and walked right back out). The hydroponics farm in The Land was something else far ahead of its time. The rides were really rather 'weak' IMO (as a kid, it didn't take long to be bored with waiting in lines at various Epcot buildings, only to be bored by the ride itself). There was nothing like Space Mountain, that's for sure. By the time they added Test Track (an attempt to draw more visitors, but it was hardly Future World material), the park was really dated/neglected, and a lot of the stuff worth seeing was gone. It was a shame because Epcot was always intended to be in constant 'flux' and updated as new technologies came along, and it just wasn't. I think Horizons was boarded up at the time, and I remember walking around and seeing garbage in the various ponds, which was rather shocking for a Disney park. Last time I was there was in 2001 and Horizons was gone so I haven't seen Mission: Space or any of the newer additions. I'm also attaching an article I came across in the September 1982 issue of spectrum magazine about the park. epcot - spectrum_sep82.pdf

Great article about the Atari Ireland arcade factory in Tipperary, along with several never-before-scene photos: https://arcadeblogger.com/2017/08/25/atari-ireland/

Pages 30-31 from that issue feature an ad for the 5200 ("Atari Introduces the 5200 SuperSystem"). Jump down to pages 64-70 to the article about the 5200, but the photo shown is the earlier "Video System X" model. Guess they didn't get any updated photos from Atari to use? To Arnie Katz's credit, he recognizes the immediate problem with the controllers and notes they made a poor substitute for paddles with the pack-in game, saying, "If Atari doesn't intend to produce a paddle, it would be a kindness to electronic gamers to refrain from creating games that require such a command device." In the next paragraph, he goes on to say the system has 64K! But then later says, "With the exception of Galaxian, all titles in the first group of releases are copied from either the computer or VCS catalogs with only the slightest changes." Katz then claims Super Breakout "is certainly one of the best games ever packaged with a videogame system(!?), it isn't exactly fresh and new." Super Breakout was the worst pack-in IMO. Friend of mine got the system as soon as it came out (late 1982) and playing that game with those controllers was such a letdown for a system that had been hyped all year, especially if you'd had already played the Atari computer version, which came out in 1979, and you realized what the next-gen system really was (an Atari 400)! Trying to play a paddle game with a joystick was a huge step backwards. I ended up getting a 5200 sometime in 1983, for Pac-Man more than anything else, but my copy of Super Breakout sat in the box until I sold the system.

I've seen that pcb with the switch before. It's for a 2-in-1 cart. The labeled chips are most likely copies, as I see a bunch of Activision games there

I've never seen that version either, only this one: http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/unreleased/vcs_nr_proline_1.png Notice the one in the flyer has a divot on the top of the joystick knob.

From my interview with Atari designer Tom Palecki, he mentioned Barry Marshall designed the MindLink, and Tom designed the logo for it: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/tom_palecki/interview_tom_palecki.html

Maybe not (yet), but there's a lot more Atari 8-bit computer and 5200 owners out there 🙂

If anybody can do it, it's you, Bob 🙂

RickR: You're right. The PM graphics are only 1-color. That explains why Atari's Pac-Man opted not to fill in the eyes; doing so avoided the flickering problems that plague Ms. Pac-Man. As for trying to reproduce the arcade's screen ratio, the home version has black space around all 4 sides. If that's what programmer Steven Szymanski was trying to accomplish, there wouldn't have been space on the top and bottom (the maze is still in a horizontal layout). As for delays being intentionally programmed in, I don't know, but I know nothing seems to move across the screen without split-second pausing. Nothing seems to move smoothly. I'd sooner chalk it up to being Symanski's first effort on that hardware and not being experienced enough with it to do a better job (or just being the wrong guy for the job, much like Tod Frye was with Pac-Man). GCC seemed to knock it out of the park with the VCS version (that and Vanguard were their first 2 VCS games). And yes, the 7800 is a smoking faithful version, probably the best arcade conversion on that system. Rick- the 7800's Maria chip certainly doesn't allow an unlimited number of sprites. I remember the number being touted BITD to be 100. Regarding the 7800 being on par with the NES (other than the sound), the 7800 wasn't designed for games with detailed backgrounds; it was designed to move a lot of objects on the screen w/o flicker (Asteroids, Robotron, Joust, etc). Atari had their chance with the 7800 and basically sat on it for 2 years. When they decided to get back into the market, they didn't have anything new, so they "un-mothballed" the 7800 and redesigned the VCS and 800 hardware again. Atari also had the chance to release the NES in the U.S. and fumbled that away, too.

The 5200 version of Pac-Man was quite amazing at the time when it came out in late 1982 (compared to the rotten VCS version). It was even better than the 400/800 version that was released a few months earlier (which lacked intermissions and proper monster AI). But the first time I played 5200 Ms. Pac-Man, it was apparent that although it looked better (esp from screenshots), it didn't run nearly as smooth as Pac-Man. The mazes were also smaller, having all this wasted screen space around them. On top of that, it flickered like crazy! In fact, it shows the same flickering issues that VCS Ms. Pac-Man had, due to the use of vertical separation and variable flicker. However, neither of those techniques were required for the 8-bit hardware since that allowed for up to 4 independent sprites (called "player/missile graphics"), instead of the 2 the VCS hardware offered. And the 4 missiles can be combined to basically make another 'sprite', giving you 5. Just look at the 1st Ms. Pac-Man intermission - you have 2 Pac-Man characters and 2 monsters, and when all 4 are on the same horizontal 'line' at the end, the 2 monsters alternately flicker - you can't even get a screenshot of them both at that point, and there's only FOUR objects on the screen! Rather shocking to see just how poorly this version was implemented, being it's basically GCC's flagship title, and considering just how amazing the VCS version is.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-08-tempest-4000-is-real-jeff-minter-is-developing-it-and-atari-is-publishing-it By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 08/08/2017 Surprise! Atari has announced Tempest 4000, the sequel to the classic arcade game Tempest, is coming out later in 2017 for PC and consoles. And get this - Tempest 4000 is being developed by Jeff Minter, creator of Tempest 2000, the 1994 remake of the Dave Theurer 1981 arcade game, Tempest. Here's the official blurb, courtesy of Atari: "In Tempest 4000, players are once again in control of the Claw, a powerful spacecraft equipped to destroy deadly creatures and other obstructions with rapid-fire shots on vibrant geometric prisms. With three game modes to choose from and 100 levels to conquer, players must eliminate all enemies as quickly as possible to survive and achieve that coveted spot at the top of the leaderboards." Those three games mode are standard, pure and endurance. There's a 4K resolution and a retro soundtrack inspired by 1990s techno. Here's a quote from current Atari boss Todd Shallbetter: "The original Tempest is a beloved arcade classic with a unique style and intense, edge-of-your-seat gameplay. "We're thrilled to be able to work with Jeff Minter again, someone who is a legend in the industry and has made a huge impact on the history of video games, to develop this highly-anticipated next installment of the Tempest franchise, updated with today's technology." News that Minter is once again working with Atari comes as something of a surprise. Back in 2015 Minter said he was "beyond disgusted" with Atari after the company blocked the release of his Vita game TxK on new platforms over similarities with Tempest. Follow Jeff Minter @llamasoft_ox So yeah all the stuff we had ready or near ready will now never see the light of day.No TxK PC, PS4, Oculus, GearVR, Android. Thank "Atari". 7:34 AM - Mar 18, 2015 8080 Replies 274274 Retweets 6767 likes Twitter Ads info and privacy TxK, which Minter called a "distantly related sequel" to Tempest 2000, launched on Vita to critical acclaim in February 2014. Martin Robinson wrote in his 9/10 review: "All you need to know right now is that TxK is Minter at his finest, and it's absolutely mint." Well, it sounds like the pair have patched things up. Here's a quote from Minter from Atari's press release: "At the end of the day, video gamers always win. I am very happy to work with Atari again to bring a long-awaited sequel of Tempest to our legion of fans and a new generation of gamers worldwide." As for Tempest 4000 itself, Atari hasn't released any screenshots or gameplay footage, but did say the game will be at Gamescom later this month, so hopefully it won't be too long before we see some footage.

John does phenomenal work. I had the chance to interview him about 10 years ago, when he started getting into programming the VCS: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/john_champeau/interview_john_champeau.html

Just to reiterate some of Frye's contradictions: Development - has claimed: 6 weeks - as quoted in the book, Racing The Beam (pg. 67) 5 months - as quoted in the April 1998 Next Generation article 6 months - as quoted in the documentary Stella At 20 - (12 min in) 4K vs 8K - in the same Next Gen article, Frye mentioned 8K ROMS weren't available when he started programming it. VCS Asteroids came out in July/August 1981 and was the first 8K VCS game released. The bank-switching technique was developed (but not put into production) 2 years before, for Video Chess. In this thread (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232660-pac-man-review-from-1982/page-8), Goldberg claims to quote Tod from a Facebook conversation they had regarding the story about him being offered use of an 8K ROM for Pac-Man, which is something Rob Zdybel said happened in Once Upon Atari: Goldberg: Were you offered to move to 8K for Pac-Man towards the end of coding for it? Frye: Nope. 8k wasn't even an option until after Pacman coding was complete. I did have a meeting after Pacman came out, to assess the possibility of a quick revision with less flicker, if we used 8k as an option. Goldberg: So where did the claim that you originally asked for 8K come from? Frye: It came from thin air. I never considered 8k. rom was not really an issue. ram was. Rob Zdybel, Frye's co-worker and office mate at the time, claimed as far back as the late 1990s in Howard Scott Warshaw's Once Upon Atari that Frye absolutely asked for 8K during the project. Rob was interviewed twice by Randy Kindig of ANTIC: The Atari 8-bit Podcast. The first one was in June 2016: https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-184-rob-zdybel-star-trek-missile-command-bug-hunt At 1 hour and 5 minutes in, he briefly talks about Tod Frye and mentions, "Tod's changed a lot over the years. Tod's now denying stories that, I don't know, man... he's saying he never asked for more than 4K for Pac-Man. I was there when you did", to which Frye apparently replied, "That's okay, maybe I don't remember that one." Popularity - Frye also stated, "Pac-Man wasn't a particularly big game. 'Pac-Man fever' hit between the start and the finish of the project." PuckMan was released in Japan in May 1980 and the Midway Pac-Man version in October 1980. Working backwards, VCS Pac-Man came out late March 1982, and production took a good 10 weeks (2.5 months, so Tod likely finished it no later than December 1981 (since the game's copyright date is 1981 which reflects when programming was completed). Go back 5 months at most for programming, so let's say he started no later than July 1981. So since October 1980, Pac-Man wasn't a huge hit by the following summer? A friend of mine remembers the Tomy and Entex handhelds coming out almost immediately together and Coleco's arriving quite a bit later (all in 1981). The earliest ad for Odyssey2 K.C. Munchkin I could find from my area was December 21st, 1981 (attached); it was reviewed in the March 1982 issue of Electronic Games. Also, Buckner and Garcia's song was released December 1981 (and the album in January 1982). Colored background - In a keynote from the 2015 Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Frye states he wish he had made a black background with a blue maze, but claims Atari had a rule against black backgrounds because it would have burned the maze into the CRT (apparently this rule didn't apply to space games...). This makes no sense since Atari touted the anti-burn-in effects of the VCS from day one, plus Tod included the color cycling code routine in his Pac-Man game! And I've never heard any other Atari VCS programmer state such a requirement, either. The story I heard back then was that Pac-Man had a colored background and muted colors, to help make the flickering monsters less noticeable (and they were relabeled as ghosts because of their flickering, which was more logical to accept than having flickering monsters).

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-06-28-wonder-raises-USD14-million-for-smartphone-console-hybrid Wonder raises $14 million for smartphone-console hybrid Former Zynga GM, Scopely exec's community-focused start-up draws investment from Nolan Bushnell, Shakira, Neymar Jr, and more Nintendo's Switch has shown the audience exists for a console-handheld hybrid, but new start-up outfit Wonder wonders if there's a similar audience for another kind of mixed-market offering. The company today announced that it has raised $14 million in Series A financing for "a new type of portable hardware device that might be considered a hybrid between a powerful smartphone and a gaming console." While Nintendo may aim for a broad audience with its products, Wonder is targeting an enthusiast crowd that considers gaming a strong part of their identity. Leading the effort is Wonder CEO and founder Andy Kleinman, whose previous experience in the industry included stints as Scopely's chief business officer, GM at Zynga, GM at The Walt Disney Company, and president of Vostu. "We are building a company where everything we do revolves around our community," Kleinman said. "Most companies focus on the product first, but our focus has been on understanding our core potential audience and what they care about most. Once you can truly understand your audience, you can innovate and build products and services that are focused on making them happy for a long time. We all consider ourselves our core audience, so the approach is very real and authentic." The lead investors are Grishin Robotics (investment firm of Mail.ru Group co-founder Dmitry Grishin) and Chinese telecom TCL Communications, but Wonder has also attracted smaller contributions from a number of notable names. The games industry is well represented in Wonder's investment base with the participation of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, former Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama, ex-Disney Interactive president John Pleasants, and former Zynga/Facebook/MySpace exec Owen Van Natta. Outside of games, the company has attracted investment from football superstars Gerard Pique and Neymar Jr, Shakira, and former Coca-Cola marketing exec Emmanuel Seuge. "There is strong potential for a gaming platform that would go beyond the software realm and expand its capabilities through innovative, cutting-edge hardware," Grishin said. "Grishin Robotics has an understanding of both - and we believe in investing in companies that not only have tremendous potential, but where our areas of expertise and experience can help our entrepreneurs in a meaningful way." The company has said it will release details of its actual product soon.