Clint Thompson

So excited it reached goal this time around! =D

Anxiously await my name to be called next on the list and equally eager to see the Jaguar cart come to life as well. Great time to own both of these systems! @atarilbc - which Lynx games do you *not* have on the SD cards and why? Just curious if there are any that just don't work with it or?

Figured this would be a fun topic and shed some light into the lives of everyone here and their background or experiences with Atari as a whole. Looking forward to hearing everyone's stories! My first Atari 1040ST I lucked out and found at a local Goodwill for less than $20, which was in incredible deal! Not only was it in really good condition, it also seemed to work flawlessly. Mind you, this was before the eBay and scalper or flipping days where people would buy things just to turn a profit immediately because they knew it was retro/vintage or what have you. I think I only owned the ST for a few years as I didn't have much software and this was before I had learned about LGT, which unfortunately now charges for all downloads. I want to say I remember the disks being downloadable for free at some point but maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. That was my first and last Atari ST and the plan is to get an 4MB STe sometime in the near future to fill that void. Sometime in early 1999, I received my very first Atari Falcon, which I had always wanted since seeing them in the Toad Computers catalogs around the . At the time, I also had what I was finally happy with as a very fast PC as well - with an AMD K6-II 450Mhz and 64MB of RAM, WinTV card and eventually a 3DFX Voodoo 3 3000 16MB AGP card. Anyways, back to the Falcon - it arrived COD and I had no experience with cash on delivery. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly cash on delivery as I would soon learn lol and they had to re-deliver the next day because only money orders were accepted. So due to my own ignorance, I had to delay it another day. Had that machine for several years and enjoyed the many demos and capabilities of the machine for what I could use before selling it off. It had a BlowUpFX and some other board installed which made it highly incompatible with a lot of the software I wanted to try, as it turned out. To kind of extend on that story, later on I would end up with yet another Falcon which was also modded unfortunately, as it had a Centurbo II installed and something was wonky with the DSP as a result and I also re-sold this unit as it just had problems. I remember learning from that point on to make sure I would only get another Falcon if it wasn't modded. I would finally end up with a really nice unit sometime in 2001 or 2002, upgrading it myself with an FPU and maxed out the RAM to 14MB. Foolishly, I would sell it years later due to financial constraints and still regret having to had done so.

Scan provided by Lost Dragon - Enjoy!

I've seen a lot of great Kickstarters and this is the first one that pushed me to back it, so there's that! Best of luck! Still have some time...

I vaguely remember something about Sony paying $11 million dollars or somewhere around there to have it released on the Playstation first. It was kind of funny because they pushed for such a fast release that it was bugged with the final character. Not sure what they did to resolve that fiasco. Atari was a small fish and you had sharks like Sony and Nintendo out pushing and swooping up things like Phear and MK3.

Scan provided by Lost Dragon - Enjoy! Still think this would have been an incredible addition to the Jaguar's library of games.

So... how was Hover Strike? ;-)

Maybe next year for Midwest Gaming Classic... As it stands, I'll have: Tempest 2000 for DOS (PC) Tempest 2000 for Jaguar Tempest 3000 for Nuon Space Giraffe for 360/PC TxK for PSTV TxK VR for Oculus DK2 Maybe I can have a table setup dedicated soley to Virtual Light Machine goodness (VLM1, VLM2, Neon) and all the different iterations of Tempest Jeff ever made for the multiple consoles and PCs setup. Too much Tempest? Hopefully not =D I suppose I could also throw in there a few clones like Typhoon 2001, Tsunami 2010, and maybe Cyclone 2000? I'll have to have dedicated sound/headphones for each one so people can truly enjoy the music/soundtrack. Llamasoft on Tour? ;-)

They've added a 35 EUR option without the goodies so it's a little less expensive. I really hope this thing gets funded with only 20 days to go, it still needs a whopping $30,000. I really want this book! Hopefully there will be an alternative option if it doesn't fund though it really deserves to be!

As I expand my knowledge and experience in different manufacturing/post application processes, there's always a constant light blinking away in the far distance, almost humming as a reminder. The things I see that are now possible today that wasn't possible 20 or 30 years ago is truly impressive and opens up far more opportunities and options for modifications and customized hardware that just wasn't possible back then. The bad news is, Atari is dead as a doornail when it comes to releasing new hardware. The good news is, Atari is dead as a doornail when it comes to releasing new hardware. My point is, it forces users to make the best and most out of what was given to use as a system. In this particular instance, I'm referring to the Atari 8bit line. If you want to be really specific, the XE line even. My angle is: If Atari could make an Atari XE today, how would they do it? Maybe not so much even how they would do it but what would I, as a user and gamer, want from such a modernized retro gaming computer system. That thought doesn't hurt the brain even a little, does it? ;-) So, how exactly does one modernize, in the sense of current day releasing of said hardware, an Atari 8bit computer? Where do you start and what is the final, end product? The Atari 8bits are (probably not so arguably because I'm biased ;-) ) the best 80's 8-bit computer of all time. Off the top with what's available: Stereo pokey, 1MB of RAM, mechanical keyboard switches for that proper tactile feedback! what else is there? Internal SIO2SD for storage so you never have to have an external accessory to load the entire library of Atari 800 games? I know what I want to give it that special look and feel in the end but what about you? What would you want? Anyways, Atari is and forever will be just a hobby and I doubt this project will ever turn into something that makes much money, if only to cover the costs for making what I want for myself a reality. In the end, maybe a few people will end up with some truly astonishing and cherished Atari 8bits in their hands to have fun with...

Roland this, Roland that. Give me reverb and MIDI stat! https://t.co/dDZOl1sliF I think it may be possible to come up with some sort of tasty Tempest 2000 soundtrack replications of sorts or maybe even a mashup. Still waiting on a few more bits to be added before I can really dive in but I like it =D

For those of you who love the Atari ST and Demoscene stuff, this book is now on kickstarter and I'm proud to be backing it! Truly love this stuff and always have enjoyed the countless demos encountered over the years. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/901494542/the-atari-st-and-the-creative-people-rise-of-the-d Will make a great addition to the Art of Atari, Business is Fun and Business is War books (when they come out) =D

I'm only a few bits away to having what I would consider my ultimate, for the most part, studio setup and I couldn't be much happier! The RolandS50 has proven to be an absolute blast to play with and while loading disks is kind of slow, there's something warming about it. It sounds warm, too! It was pretty awesome to find some Juno and Jupiter sounds make their way to the S50! Still waiting for the draw tablet to arrive but once it gets here, gimmicky or not, it'll be interesting to see what can be done with that. Scored a Roland VS880EX multi-track recorder that also does real time effects for only $40 which is a steal imo - that fact that I can plug in an electric guitar and it can act as a pedal box for various effects is worth the price of admission alone. The buttons will need to be retrobrited and there's some minor scuffing around the base that I'll likely mask with some sort of carbon covering to bring the entire thing up to speed in the looks department but so far it really seems like quite an elaborate little box that I'll be able to lay down many tracks with and if I ever come up with some truly creative worthy of sharing. Outside of the STe, which I still haven't found one I'm in love with and will continue to take my time in getting, I've got my eyes on some other tasty Roland gear I hope to add in the near future but I'll have to get and assemble an audio rack for that. I'm not sure why I'm letting all this vintage gear get a hold of me but I'm enjoying every bit of it so far - quirks and all!

Turned out rather decent, no? =D Red vinyl on black acrylic!

I've got a ton of things waiting to be delivered before I can actually make use of the Roland S50 (TSR patch cables, MIDI cables, floppy disks for samples, etc.) but I did manage to find an original Digitizer Tablet for $75 and now basically have the ultimate Roland S50 setup combination as depicted back in the late 80s! I don't know what it is about this keyboard or how I've managed to go so long in my life without noticing its existence but I'm glad to have landed one and am even more thrilled to be able to finally use it in the coming week or so. While it's a huge step back in terms of performance and limitless options to the Roland Phantom Workstation I once owned in the early millennium, I feel it's definitely more in my realm of enjoyment and can ultimately be used as a glorified MIDI controller. May have also found a few Atari STe computers to add to my setup so I can MIDI link everything together when the time comes to laying down some tracks and really getting my feet wet in that arena. Going to get a rack mount from Amazon and some other goodies to get my studio jump started so when I move into the new place, I'll be rock solid and ready to go in letting whatever meaningless creativity juices flow into audio form. I'm really wanting to do something Yoomp! soundtrack related at some point because I really love the music in that game! Effects processors and more to come...

Anyways, I'll probably just pickup a replacement board from best-electronics for $99 since the going rate for a 130XE seems to be between $150-$200.

Really love the manual designs, gives a futuristic design feeling or vibe! Congrats on the pickup =)

Yeah and I ended up being sucked into the family design that matches the ST range on top of the extra 64kb of memory.

Purchased my 130XE for $99 many years ago thinking I got a good deal and have only recently had the chance to play some games utilizing the extended memory the 130 is supposed to offer, which is why I decided to get this model after my 800XL keyboard started acting up. Kind of pissed to learn that something is really messed up with it and should have just bought a new one from Best Elec. I can't isolate the problem and don't really want to spend the hours trying to find out and pinpoint the exact issue. I suppose the board is still usable for basic programs that don't require anything above 64kb of RAM but I fear something else is wrong with it. It's not the CPU either because I tried swapping with a different unit with identical results. I can't even load the RAM test program because it goes absolutely bezerk before fully loading so something is really wonky with the system. Who knows.... Guess I'll just pick up a replacement board. I've always been pro-hardware and anti-emulation but I'll tell you, when something goes wrong with the hardware and it's an expensive hobby due to the age of said hardware, it makes you want to reconsider at times. Maybe a proper FPGA solution will exist someday.

Winner Winner chicken dinner! I'll post proper pics once it arrives...