MaximumRD

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ATTENTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A reminder whatever anyone's personal take on this, KEEP IT CIVIL and no trash-talking Atariage (OR ANY OTHER SITE) NOT SAYING THIS HAS HAPPENED YET but past experience on several occasions has taught us how discussions like this can quickly decline. WE are not a source of, nor do we encourage or foster any type of cross forums "DRAMA" our site is friends with and respectful of ALBERT and ATARIAGE. Everyone has an opinion but keep it civil, respectful etc. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posting a copy of these posts from Atariage for informational purposes as a courtesy for clarity and convenience, this will be the only one 😉 for anyone who cannot or prefers to not access over on ATARIAGE: Pinned Post - AtariAge + Atari Greetings! I have an important announcement to make to the AtariAge community, and I'll cut right to the chase: AtariAge has agreed to be acquired by Atari, and I have come on as a full-time employee at Atari. This won't be a surprise to some of you, given the speculation I've seen over the past month. The first thing I'd like to say is that this is not a decision I made lightly! If you asked me 20 years ago if I would have considered working for Atari (much less selling AtariAge to Atari), I would have said no. But fast forward to the present, and this is the first version of Atari I've seen since the 1980s that is taking many positive steps to restore the magic that we all associated with the original company, the Atari that left so many of us with enduring memories of experiencing the Atari 2600 for the first time, learning how to program on an Atari 800, or pumping quarters into the amazing arcade games produced by Atari in the heyday of arcades. Atari is now taking its retro-related IP seriously and is creating a wide array of hardware and software based on that IP, while also creating new, original content. It is very exciting to see Atari release the 2600+, a new 2600 you can feed actual cartridges, and without giving anything specific away, this is just the beginning of what we're going to see from Atari going forward. Atari, for the first time in years, is targeting and embracing enthusiasts like ourselves, while also making products that appeal to those who grew up with Atari and have a fond nostalgia of the brand, but aren't steeped in retro gaming as we are. I am very excited to be working for Atari, and with Atari's resources I will be able to make significant improvements to AtariAge over time. This also opens up many new opportunities for homebrew developers, where original games created by the amazingly talented community at AtariAge will have a much broader audience. My role at Atari will be multifaceted, but my primary tasks, especially early on, will be to operate AtariAge as I have been doing for the past two decades. This includes managing the forums and the AtariAge Store. Longer term, I will have more time to significantly update the games database, something I've wanted to do for some time, but simply have not had the bandwidth for. And I will be moving the store early in the new year to a new ecommerce platform, something I’ve wanted to accomplish for a while now. Since AtariAge’s modest beginnings in April, 2001, AtariAge has grown significantly. The early version of the site only contained the games database and forum, with the store coming later with a handful of titles. Fast forward to 2023, and I've published hundreds of games for a variety of consoles, and that shows no signs of slowing down. There is an incredible community of talented developers, consisting of programmers, pixel artists, musicians, sound engineers, artists and designers all weaving their magic to create amazing games with stunning packaging. It is remarkable the talent that is involved in creating these new games, as well as new hardware, and I am honored that so many have allowed me to publish their games in physical form in the AtariAge Store over the years. And the store has allowed AtariAge to exist without placing advertising on the site, and we intend to maintain that ad-free policy going forward. While I have greatly enjoyed running AtariAge and the amazing community that has evolved throughout this journey over the past two decades, it's taken an increasingly large amount of my time to manage. I had come to a point where I needed to make some sort of change, and I began scheming on ideas that would help reduce the amount of time it takes me to build and ship games. And I really have not been happy that the games database has languished over the years, as that was always an enjoyable area of the site for me to work on. Early last year, Atari approached me about the possibility of working more closely together. Talks were slow at first, but they accelerated at the beginning of this year, and after months of going back and forth, we finally worked out a deal that benefits both parties. What does this mean? Short-term, nothing is going to change. I will continue running the entire AtariAge website, including the forums and the store. Nothing is going to be neutered in the forums, and Atari will not have access to personal conversations, private forums and clubs, and so forth. No content is going to be removed from the forum, and those posting content will be liable for anything they post (which was already the case). I will also be running the store, building games, shipping games, and publishing new games for the store. In fact, I am currently working on releasing over 20 new games on a variety of platforms for the upcoming Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Over time, and with Atari’s help, I will be able to more efficiently produce and ship these games, without sacrificing quality (which is very important to me). This will free up more of my time to make improvements to other areas of AtariAge, as well as embark on new and exciting projects. Working with Atari was one of several possible solutions to bring some sanity back to my life. Other possibilities included shutting the site down and walking away, taking the store down and leaving the forum and games database, or some combination of the above. Or I could have just sold the site to some entity, whether it be Atari or another company or individual, without further involvement from me. However, it was very important to me to find a solution that allowed me to keep the forums and store running with my involvement. Working with Atari was the best way to do so while working towards the goal of reducing the hours I am working every week, while opening up new and interesting ways for Atari and AtariAge to work together that weren’t available previously. AtariAge will still have a large, 45' x 30' booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this year, which is 50% larger than any booth we've had in the past. And I expect this to continue each year going forward, with the possibility of attending additional events during the year rather than just PRGE each year. One fun thing we're going to do this year with this extra space is have several Atari 2600+ consoles on display, complete with a large assortment of games to play on them, including homebrew games. As I mentioned above, this does open up some new avenues for homebrew authors. For instance, Atari is interested in bringing more content to their VCS platform, and a few homebrew authors have already been working with Atari to sell their games on the VCS (such as with Amoeba Jump and Tower of Rubble). And such arrangements don’t affect the AtariAge Store. I still plan on offering digital downloads in the store once I get the store moved to new software, which will be a primary focus of mine once I get through several other major tasks (such as surviving this year's PRGE). There's also the possibility of original homebrew games being released in physical form under the Atari label if they do well in the AtariAge Store. With the new 2600+ console, Atari is certainly interested in compelling, original content to augment that platform, and of course the XP line will continue along as well. And I anticipate many other interesting possibilities over time as well. I feel this will greatly benefit the homebrew community, homebrew authors, and everyone who loves seeing new games for the Atari 2600 and other classic systems. I want to thank all the homebrew developers who have allowed me to publish their games in the AtariAge Store over the years. You are a very important reason why AtariAge still exists and has thrived, and why AtariAge remains a free and ad-free website. It’s very rewarding to help authors realize their games in physical form with beautiful packaging, and your creations have helped keep the Atari 2600 and many other classic consoles and computers fresh in our minds. I look forward to working with all of you to further expand the library of amazing games for our favorite classic consoles and computers. I also want to express my extreme gratitude to the moderators who have helped maintain some semblance of sanity over the forums all this time, especially the global moderators who have purview over the entire forum. I greatly appreciate the time you have put into the forum, as it's impossible for me to see everything that is posted. Without you, the AtariAge forums would likely not still exist! Here’s to another 20 years of discussing a wide variety of retrogaming topics on AtariAge! Thank you for reading and take care, ..Al --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinned post - AtariAge + Atari Q&A Here are a few questions and answers to get things going. As more are asked and answered in this thread, I will also add them to this post. Will Albert Yarusso continue to be involved in AtariAge? Albert Yarusso will continue to oversee AtariAge on a day-to-day basis and manage the forums, supported by volunteer global and individual forum moderators. In addition, Al will become Atari’s new internal historian, and will continue to work with homebrew developers seeking to bring new titles to market. Is Atari planning any significant changes to the AtariAge site, forums or mission? Atari has no plans to change the AtariAge site or its mission. The only near-term change that users will experience is the roll-out of a new ecommerce infrastructure, an effort initiated by Albert Yarusso that precedes Atari’s involvement. How does Atari view the AtariAge forums and the community it supports? Atari views AtariAge as an invaluable resource to the community of fans and developers who have supported the brand for 50 years, and to Atari as a brand and a company. The AtariAge community has contributed to the long-term resilience of Atari, the documentation of the company’s games, and sustained interest in Atari’s legacy hardware and software platforms. Will Atari censor speech within the forums, including criticism of Atari? The content of the forums is ruled by the posted rules of conduct, and enforced by the site’s moderators. Atari has no intention of censoring speech or restricting topics of conversation.

An interesting little summary overall.

Easy for me, while I own both today it's not even close, ultimately besides a few specific titles the 5200 is mostly just re-hashes of Atari classics which is cool but been there, done that over and over. Also, I had virtually no history or experience with the 5200 back in the day so I've no attachment or nostalgia for it. Colecovision is my hands down favourite of its time, besides several titles that you just didn't see on other platforms outside of the arcade I did have it back in the day along with several of the best titles so if I had to own one and the entire library it will always be Colecovision I have the most love and nostalgia for.

Games That Defined The Atari 2600 From 1980 & 1981 Family friendly, informative and entertaining, Retro Reviews with The No Swear Gamer contains plenty of retro goodness. I’ve reviewed games for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Intellivision, NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, Magnavox Odyssey 2, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), Sega CD, Sega 32x, Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation 1, PS2 as well as covering plug n play systems, retro toys and other cool retro stuff. Check it out and subscribe today! Recorded From Real Hardware.

Woo hoo! Voted! 😎

I voted obviously only for what I had seen. Based mostly on my personal entertainment level. Unless it is set in stone how about adding the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley? It always comes to mind when I think of these types of shows/movies.

😎Hail the metallic overlords!

Well Star Trek Strange New Worlds seems to "get it" they got the balance between serious, heartfelt, satiric, and comedic, all down perfectly, the last couple of seasons of Discovery on the other hand, felt like I need therapy after every episode, it was way too dark and serious in tone with most characters coming off as broken and miserable. That is not entertainment for me.

Wife and I looking forward to it, so enjoyed episode 6, some iconic moments and meetings that set the foundations for things to come! I love that this show is the closest thing to classic Trek that we've had yet! A new adventure every episode, focusing on different crew members, It's great learning more about everyone.

That's awesome Rick!

Well, after waking from a good 9 hours solid rest and checking the latest round of BC Alerts, several over the last day all downgrading surrounding areas either from Evacuation to just standby or Standby to complete removal from the standby last I dare say we have unpacked our "evacuation backpacks and supplies". Many returning home, sadly many returning to nothing but ashes but here in our area of Central Kelowna we never had to evacuate (I am belong thankful for that) and my wife and I decided we were finally comfortable and confident enough to unpack everything and unwind a bit. Such a relief, outside of some extreme unforeseen change we should be pretty much in the clear now. 😮‍💨Thanks for all that followed, commented, sent good vibes etc.

Yeah, for context, I forgot to add above, in red I circled Wilsons Landing to where we are across the bridge in Central Kelowna and connected them:

This is sadly heartbreaking though: Fire chief and half his members lose their own homes while fighting the wildfire Thirteen of the 24 members of the Wilson's Landing Fire Department lost their homes. https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kelowna/VIDEO_Fire_chief_and_half_his_members_lose_their_own_homes_while_fighting_the_wildfire/

I don't think it is viewable from here now, I mean I am not in a location where I can look across the lake now but I can only assumed that area has burnt out, but yeah if we are seeing sun and blue skies and smelling less smoke it must all be further aways from us not to mention alerts have slowed down significantly with the majority that we DO receive typically informing alerts being rescinded or downgraded from evac to just standby. Literally just as I saw you reply I received THIS one so hoping it will be time to unpack our emergency items soon.....

Air Quality here now (I do fine even when it's worse so this is good imho) 60 Moderate Primary Pollutant · PM2.5 16 μg/m³ Air quality is acceptable. However, members of sensitive groups may be at risk.

Indeed! IN FACT this is right now, first time in days NO AIR Quality ALERT here in Central KELOWNA where we are! Very relieved. High of only 25c today, getting high over the weekend but cooling again by Tues! I'll take it!

Ah ok fair enough.

😁Heh Naw, just a lego replica my buddy Jake aka MN12BIRD from youtube sent to me, I love it.

Welcome, just a tip though, traditionally most new members create their own thread in introductions. 😉It's only fair not to hijack another new member.

👍Just wanted to say, THANKS to some rain overnight, at least we awoke to a normal sunrise! Like almost a normal sunny day, only a faint hickory smell (instead of thick smokey smell) and just a little hazy so mountains are not clear in the distance, but compared to the last few days when we could not even see mountains and the skies were greyed out and ash was falling, this is obviously a big improvement. Even got the windows open because it's cooled off as well. So, just glad after last few days getting real air through the place to air it out! Been a real stuffy hot box in here the last few days, the things we are thankful for! Not in the clear quite yet but hoping it's a sign! (picture from our balcony)

Man, I don't have any consoles for that game but I should probably get the PC version and finally play this game for myself. 😝🤷‍♂️

Whew! Caught up one rest for now, slept the day away but caught up on over due sleep, from 9am this morning until 6:30 pm I got 9 1/2 hrs rest. I was exhausted from staying up longer than I normally would so my wife could slumber worry free, we are still sleeping in shifts to remain vigilant for wildfire alerts to either prepare for evacuation or simply evacuate, just being extra cautious as fires continue here in Kelowna BC but thankfully there has been no changes in several hours with even some evac alerts in some areas being demoted to simply stand by, hoping this means they are gaining ground. Been a rough few days but otherwise still trying to just live normally, enjoying hobbies, indoors mostly of course due to poor air quality from smoke and ash but as I tend to be a home anyway that is not too unusual. Hoping the next few days we can eventually unpack our "Evac essentials" so I can finally feel at ease. My wonderful wife prepared for me a nice dinner and dessert another my long slumber so now just back in front of the desktop to distract myself and try to unwind. 😬 Chorizo sandwiches with fresh tomatoes for dinner. Enjoying for dessert, straight from the orchard, Glo-haven Peaches. We have several varsities here in the Okanagan, this is juicy sweet and delicious one. Previously we had Champaign variety. 😋