Jump to content

Sabertooth

Moderator
  • Posts

    2,651
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    138

Reputation Activity

  1. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, HOW ATARI XE MARIO BROS. GOT THROWN IN THE DUMP   
    THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ATARI DISTRIBUTOR
    Tuesday, March 26, 2024
     
      Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the eighth entry of what will be my personal Blog, sharing small slices of life with you from around the Twin Cities and from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself: My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for over 40 years!
    Before we jump right into the story of the Atari XE Mario Bros. cartridges, let’s take a giant step back and see the big picture of how Atari was ran in those years. Have I ever told you about the 400 400 computers? Well, in one of Atari’s warehouses around Sunnyvale they stumbled upon 400 Atari 400 computers they still had brand new in the box, that they had inherited from Warner. This was in the early 1990s during the time of the Atari Lynx when Jack Tramiel ran the show with his three sons. When this happened, Jack’s people at Atari called up and wanted to know if Bruce, Brad and I wanted to go in on this together and buy out their remaining inventory of 400 400 computers. We said “YES! We’ll be there to get them the next day.” - But that’s not what ended up happening. More on that one in a minute…
     

     
    It had come down from Jack that this was the only way they would sell to us. Let me tell you how expensive it was for Atari to process an order - it cost them about $125 to write out a single invoice. And you have to understand, even under what Jack had done to Atari, his austerity measures, cutting down their workforce by over 80%, it was still a huge company. Efficiency experts had figured out that for Atari to write out one invoice and ship an order, it was $125, regardless if it was one video game cartridge or 100. This wasn’t the shipping expense, this was Atari’s time and labor. So when you’d send in an order to Atari for one 2600 game or one 7800 game, a new joystick or something like that, it cost Atari $125 to fulfill the order in time and labor - for someone to write out your order, for someone else to find your game in a warehouse, for a worker to pack it, label it, and ship it to you. For it to cost them $125 to fulfill an order for a $15 cartridge, Atari went in the hole. They’d lose money, and Jack wouldn’t have that. That’s why when you’d pick up the phone and call Atari in those days for a cartridge order or service repair, they sluffed that off onto me because it cost them too much money to do it themselves, although it shouldn't have. It was much easier and much less expensive for them to just answer the phone. It became a very expensive thing.
     
     
     

    "Many of the people who try to pry information out of me, like the Vice guy who ran the hit piece on Brad, have this idea in their head that Atari only had one warehouse. NO THEY DID NOT. They had MULTIPLE warehouses around the world, and it was expensive to have all these employees and insurance, air conditioning and electricity, property upkeep, taxes, everything needed to keep those warehouses going day in and day out. It's expensive for me too."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    Jack Tramiel never looked at video games as a premium. He looked at games as too costly, too much money to develop, publish, warehouse, retail. And of course that’s how he made money, but he just didn’t understand it. He thought it was all hardware sales and games were up to third party developers who were left all on their own. "Here's a Jaguar and a dev kit, you go do it." Jack would do everything he could to sluff off sales onto other places like Federated electronics stores, which Jack Tramiel owned through Atari Corporation from 1987 - 1989. Jack used Federated as a way to directly retail warehouse loads of Atari merchandise almost into the 1990s and beyond, especially overstock remaining from the Warner Communications days:
     
     
    “Business is war” Jack said. I’m sure every little boy or little girl buying Mario Bros. understood that. They were so eager to make me a distributor - “We need somebody in the midwest to help us out, we made a lot of mistakes” - and me not having been a distributor before and not knowing the ins and outs, of course I said YES. Boy, I had no idea just what I was in for.
     
     
     

    "I didn’t realize they were setting me up to be not just an Atari Distributor and Service Department for them, but also a public relations sort of thing for them too. You wouldn’t believe how many invoices I wrote for $9.95 power supplies and TV switch boxes. $10 orders that would’ve cost Atari $125 or more to fulfill. So just think about all the money I saved them, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they looked so fondly on me and didn’t want to burn me, because if they had burned me then I would’ve been just like everybody else. Everybody else got burned but us."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    Just to give you some sort of idea how Jack managed things and micromanaged almost every aspect of the business: This one time, one of the developers who was working on one of the Jaguar CD games (I can’t remember which one) needed more blank CD-Rs for testing the game. This was a game that Atari had over $1 million bucks tied up into developing. This was before CD-Rs were in peoples' homes and spindles of CD-Rs would not have been commonplace yet in stores like Office Max, CompUSA, or Sam's Club, but they should’ve been available within a place like Atari.
     

     
    The programmer went up to the office manager and requisitioned more blank CD-Rs for testing and development, expecting that there’d be a spindle of them somewhere. “We don’t have any” the office manager told him. The programmer thought the manager didn’t understand what he was asking for. “What do you mean, this is a million dollar game with a deadline and I’m under pressure to get this done. When are you going to get them in?” Manager said “I don’t know, Jack’s waiting for a sale.” So he held up production on these games waiting for one of his suppliers to have a sale on blank CD-ROMs, and only then would he okay the office manager buying them. That’s called micromanagement, and it’s not something the President or CEO or Chairperson of a company that size should be doing.
     

     
    POW! Losing Sleep Over A Plumber And A Trucker
    So the Mario Bros. story: There was another time when there were 1,500 brand new Atari XE Mario Bros. cartridges sitting at Atari new in the box, being offered to me and I wasn’t able to get them. I’m still sick over that one. I had accepted Atari's offer for me to purchase the Mario Bros. cartridges and they slipped through my fingers like sand.
    You really don’t know what “pinching pennies” means until you hear this stuff Jack Tramiel used to do. He did this sort of stuff all the time. I still lose sleep over this XE Mario thing. This is a story that should be told, though. Atari had me as a distributor supplying foreign Atari dealers. I was told it was cheaper for Jack to have me deal with these Atari dealers in Latin America and Europe than for Atari to do it themselves. But if you knew some of the reasons why, you’d be stunned, because he’d probably have made more money directly dealing with these people.
     
     
     

    "I was on the phone with Atari as much as ten to twenty times a day, if not more. It was a constant barrage."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    You see, one of the ongoing things was Jack didn’t like dealing with all these dealers and distributors - he just wanted to deal with a couple of them. I don’t know why. It's how Jack did business. So I had Atari’s inventory and I was watching it GO-GO-GO. It sold well, and of course I had access to all of that stuff and the ability to buy more directly from Atari. But I couldn’t buy it all, because of course there were millions of cartridges. So I was trying to buy up the cartridges that were going faster because I knew those were good games. And Mario Bros. was one of them, especially the version that had been released for the Atari XE. Atari wisely made this Mario Bros. for the XE, and there was still a huge userbase for the Atari 8-bit computer from before Jack took over that would love to have a Mario Bros. game for their Atari XL computer too. So I put an order in for a couple of master cartons of Mario Bros. cartridges for Atari XE. That’s 72 cartridges to a master carton. I receive them at my warehouse and they sell through quickly. I come back later to order more from Atari, and another huge chunk of XE Mario Bros. cartridges are gone from their inventory. They were going fast!
     

     
    One time I went to order some and there were only 1,500 left. “I’ll take them all...” I said to the person from Atari the phone, "...everything you have left." Atari came back and said “Well there’s something here you might be unaware of about those Mario Bros. cartridges.” I said “Well, what are they?” and they said “Those games are locked up in semi truck trailers in our lot.” Okay, fine. I asked that they open the semi truck trailers up and take them out - “We can’t do that” she said, “because they are parked against each other, bumper to bumper, so you can’t open them.” Hmm, okay. I said “Well get a truck and move them.” Atari responds: “Oh we can ’t do that.” I asked why. “Oh Jack won’t let us, that will cost money.” Me: “Well how do I get them then?” Atari: “Well you’ll have to hire a trucking company to come in and do this. You’re just going to have to do this on your own. Once the trucking company comes in and moves the trailers apart and we can get into them, then we will call you back and tell you what cartridges we have, but for sure we have 1,500 new Mario Bros. for the XE game machine. What else is in there we’re not exactly sure.”
     
     
     

    "Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. Here I am on the phone ready to buy 1,500 Mario Bros. cartridges directly from Atari, who wants to sell them to me, but are held back by Jack’s penny-pinching policies. Spend a dollar to save a penny. This is just how things were ran. This is the reality of things that I dealt with day in and day out."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    So to get access to the Mario Bros. games in the semi trailer, I have to go and hire a trucking company myself, to go do the work for Atari. Remember the $125 it cost Atari per invoice to fulfill an order? Not only was Atari not paying for the trucking company to come do the work, they were having me do all the legwork with making arrangements with the trucking companies, so that Atari didn't have to pay their employees to do it themselves. That's a cost saving measure. 
    I called some trucking companies here in Minnesota to see if they had anybody out in California who could do this for me. Yeah, some of them had some guys available out there near Sunnyvale, CA - but this wasn’t over yet, it would take some time. The trucking companies came back and said YES, they could do the job of going out to Atari, hooking their truck up to the trailers and pulling them apart - but I’d have to pay for the licensing and insurance, yada yada yada, pay for the truck drivers to go in there, move things around, unhook the trailers, and then let Atari go in and take inventory and wait for DAYS. So I would have to pay for the truck and the driver, for all of those days, until they are done with Atari going through everything and taking inventory. For every minute of every day they are doing that, I would be charged by the trucking company to sit and wait. So you can only imagine how much that was going to cost me.
     
     

     
    This took some doing, but I got it all sorted out. I called Atari back, and said the expense of the trucking company could cost me $5,000 - $10,000 dollars. In those days that was the price of a nice new American car. Atari said “Don’t worry about it. Jack got mad and we just trashed it all. We sent the semi trailer full of games off to the scrappers.” I said “Well then you had to hire a trucking company to come in and do the work.” Atari: “Yeah we did. But the thing about it is we didn’t have to have any of our Atari employees inventory anything. The truck drivers just pulled the trailers apart and hauled it away. We didn’t have to spend money on employees doing inventory.” You got to remember those trailers were rented also, so by throwing the Mario Bros. games in the dump not only did they avoid having to pay the expense of employees inventorying the games, they also didn’t have to pay the rental on the trailers anymore or the taxes on the inventory. That was "Jackthink".
     
     
     

    "When I say 'Bruce and Brad' I'm referring to my old colleagues, Bruce is Bruce Carso of B&C ComputerVisions, and Brad is Brad Koda of Best Electronics. The three of us have operated independently in the Atari business for many, many years, and we dealt directly with Atari every day. Yes, Bruce and Brad are my 'competitors' but not really, we each have a speciality: Mine is games, Brad is parts, and Bruce is mostly computers."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    People think the E.T. in the garbage dump in New Mexico story is bad. This was insane, I still can’t believe it. Jack would rather manufacture cartridges to just sit unsold, parked in a hot trailer in a parking lot, and then throw a truckload of brand new Mario Bros. games in the garbage - than to spend a few extra pennies inventorying the games so he could sell them to me and have plenty of room for him to make a profit in the end. This is how this guy thought, it was just beyond unbelievable.
    In the end, Brad, Bruce and I managed to get all the 7800s out of Atari and we managed to get what was left over of the Lynx stuff except for 10,000+ units sitting in Hong Kong that needed to be repaired. I may have gotten some of them, I don’t remember it’s so long ago, whatever happened to the bulk of them. Brad doesn’t have them, Bruce doesn’t have them, and I don't know what happened to the rest of them but, that will be a story for another day.
     

     
    Oh, and what happened to the 400 400 computers you ask? Well when we went there the next day ready to buy them and load up the truck, Atari had already tossed them into the dumpsters and the dumpster divers and scrappers got them for $ZERO. Most of the Atari 400 computers went to the scrappers because if the dumpster divers had gotten them we would’ve known immediately. Many of the dumpster divers at Atari would call us up immediately, because they knew they could only sell them to flea market type things one or two at a time, and it was easier for them to call me, Bruce, and Brad, and try to get money out of us because they knew we’d buy a bunch of them. And they were right.
    This was Jack saving money. Instead of waiting a day or two for me to get everything organized, it was “Well we don’t need the labor, we don’t need the added expense of paying more employees to do more work, just get rid of the computers now.” That’s the way things operated under Jack. It was ran as a feudal system with Jack as King and his three sons as Princes. They wouldn’t wait five minutes, they’d just ask if you wanted it or didn’t. Sometimes Atari wouldn’t even ASK if you wanted it or not, they’d just ship it to me. Things would arrive on trucks to my warehouse that I didn’t order, or ask for, or knew anything about. Jack would decide to get rid of something and use Lance as his dump. That’s how I ended up with so many random things out of Atari that I’m still uncovering and have to make heads or tails out of. (See my recent series of Blog posts titled “Raiders of the Lost EPROMs”.) That was the frustrating problem - there’s quite a bit of Atari stuff that I have no idea what it was or asked for, and some of the Atari stuff I wanted bad went to the scrappers or the dumpster. Had I been able to purchase them back then, today they'd all be in the hands of loyal Atari players out there like you, instead of in the dump.
     
    Thanks for reading,
    - Lance  
     
    Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
  2. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, RAIDERS OF THE LOST EPROMS - UPDATE!   
    DISPATCHES FROM THE LAB - RAIDERS OF THE LOST EPROMS
    Monday, March 11, 2024
     
      Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the seventh entry of what will be my personal Blog, sharing small slices of life with you from around the Twin Cities and from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself: My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for over 40 years!
    Here’s a quick update on my ongoing search for EPROMs that I wanted to share with everybody on Atari I/O. I’m continuing to uncover interesting and odd Atari EPROMs and hopefully we will be able to get some of these to work. We will have to see.
    Let’s take a look at what I unearthed in this batch:
     

     
    Atari 7800 EPROM for Xenophobe, no date. This is the LO chip that I was looking for, to complete the set with the HI chip I found last time. So now we have 7800 Xenophobe the HI and the LO. There were two Atari 2600 EPROMs found. The first one you can see the label fell off. The other Atari 2600 EPROM had a label on it that says “VMS” on it or something in that order. (Are those somebody’s initials? Or is that an abbreviation for something else?) This EPROM is dated July 20, 1981. It’s only 24 pins, and 24 pins are 4k or 2k EPROMs. There were three TOSS chips in there for the Atari TT030 computer. Two Atari 5200 EPROMs for Millipede LO and HI, dated February 22, 1984. Two Atari 7800 EPROMs for Touchdown Football, NTSC, LO and HI, and the date is August 8th, 1989. 7800 Touchdown Football had been released in NTSC format in the US in 1988. Atari 7800 EPROM for Basketbrawl, NTSC, but only the LO chip. Dated 1990. Atari 7800 EPROM for Impossible Mission, NTSC, dated August 11, 1989. Atari 7800 EPROM for Galaga, PAL, that’s also dated 1989. And the thing about Galaga - it’s only 32K in North America, but it’s 64K for Europe. Atari 7800 EPROM for Desert Falcon, PAL, 1989. I think it’s a 48K game in America but it’s 64K in Europe. Atari 7800 EPROM for Jinks, PAL, 1989 Atari 7800 EPROM for Tower Toppler, PAL, 1989. Two Atari 520 ST EPROMs, both are labeled HI, undated. Parker Bros. Atari 2600 EPROM for Q*bert, dated 1983, and later handed over to Atari Corp. Unknown EPROM labeled “MONITR Rev 1.1”. I do not believe this is for the 7800 Monitor Cartridge.  
    The Best Is Yet To Come
    Now, there were a lot of other EPROMs in there too that aren’t pictured. We’ve continued our effort to try to find more of these EPROMs. I believe there are more, and this is what we’ve found so far. All the labels have fallen off of those, like the Basketbrawl label has half warn off, and on the Atari 2600 game the labels were off totally. I closed the cover to everything else, the EPROMs were kept in the dark so they may still be good. Fingers crossed!
    What they all are? I don’t know. When will I get to all of them? I don’t know. Can I match everything up? I don’t know. It's a lot to go through and to make work.
     

     
    Atari's Official Fixed Impossible Mission
    This one is an interesting find - we’ll call this “Possible Mission” - it’s a 64K Impossible Mission EPROM for Atari 7800 dated August 11, 1989. This might be the fixed version of the game. Impossible Mission was originally released for the Atari 7800 in 1987, and yet this EPROM is dated late into 1989, long after the “unsearchable” bug had been found in the game.
    1989 was a banner year. That was the year I signed up to be a Distributor for Atari. (Prior to that I was an Authorized Retailer, dating back to the Warner Communications days.) The only way Atari would let me sell Impossible Mission is if I sold it as a collectors item because the game can’t be finished. Atari was well aware of this issue by the time I became a Distributor, and yet this EPROM is dated August 11, 1989.
     
     
     

    "What’s the difference between being an Authorized Atari Retailer, and being an Authorized Atari Distributor? It was: 1.) Pricing, 2.) Quantity you were allowed to buy, 3.) they made me an Authorized Atari Service Center, and 4.) Direct access to the Tramiels on a regular basis. I supplied Atari inventory to retailers in the Midwest, Canada, Latin America, Europe and beyond. When customers would call Atari looking for games or repairs, they would often redirect them to me. Access to the Tramiels allowed me to influence the product line, and I helped convince them to release the XF551 Disk Drive."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    I think the initial run of Impossible Mission was 100,000 units, with a great number of those held back from distribution. As the story goes, one of the missing pieces that you had to locate behind a computer terminal in the game was unsearchable and the game really was impossible to beat, and Atari had discussed internally with John Skruch the idea of shipping the defective inventory of Impossible Mission down to South America or scrapping it entirely, correcting the bug in the game, and ordering another run of 100,000 units.
     

     
    Impossible Mission was a great looking game on the 7800 and would’ve sold well. Epyx made great games and it was very popular on the Commodore 64. At some point Jack Tramiel put the kibosh on more Impossible Missions, making the existing run of games a little more desirable because they became somewhat hard to find. How many more people would've bought an Atari 7800 to play a great game like Impossible Mission had it been available?
    Is this EPROM the official fixed version from Atari that we never got? It sure looks like it! The Atari Inter Office Memo about 7800 Impossible Mission (shown above) from John Skruch to Garry Tramiel documents that this is likely the case, and states "we released a corrected rev. of the software on 8/11/89." That date is identical to the one on our Impossible Mission EPROM and confirms in Atari inter office documentation initialed by John Skruch that we've almost certainly uncovered an EPROM of Atari's official fixed version of Impossible Mission that was never manufactured. Cool!
     

     
    Atari 520 ST
    There were two 520 ST EPROMs that we found in there, but they both say “HI”, and I don’t know where the LO chips are.
     
     

     
    Atari TT030 Computer
    There were three TOSS chips in there for the Atari TT030 computer. However that’s probably not complete, because I think they used either four or six chips. I can’t remember at the moment, it’s something I will have to investigate further.
     
     

     
     
    Q*bert, Parker Brothers, Coleco, and Jack Tramiel
    And there’s one that just says “Copyright 1983 PB”. Oh I know what this is, as I’m making this Blog post I just realized that the “PB” means “Parker Brothers”. The labels as you can see are on little white circles, and printed in a way different from what Atari did.
    At the bottom of this label it says “QB” which I bet means “Q*bert”. This is a Parker Bros. EPROM. What game it is, I don’t know for sure yet, but I bet it’s Q*bert since it says QB on it. I believe we found a Parker Bros. Q*bert EPROM with the 1983 copyright.
    After the video game crash, Jack Tramiel bought up all of that third party Atari stuff out of Parker Brothers, Coleco, and others after the collapse, so Atari would have good software to support their systems in Jack’s red box era. To give Jack credit, that wasn't a terrible idea. Parker Brothers, Coleco and the rest were hurt badly, and Jack got it all for a song. That’s how you had games like Donkey Kong and Mouse Trap being re-released after 1986 in the burgundy Atari 2600 boxes. Most of these guys were not getting back into the Atari business and he bought all of Parker Bros. 2600 stuff, he bought all of Coleco’s 2600 stuff, he bought Activision’s Atari 8-Bit computer stuff which a lot of people don’t know, he bought over 300 games but didn’t name everything he purchased rights for. I’m looking at all of the EPROMs and images that I got from him, there must be 60 or more. The stuff that I don’t know that I’ve got I’m starting to unearth now. Will we find a Holy Grail?
     

     
    IPL/MONITR?
    And then there’s another one I have absolutely no idea what it is - it just says “IPL / MONITR Rev. 1.1” I don’t think this is related to the Atari 7800 Monitor Cartridge. I wonder what it could be for?
     
    But How Did You Get All This Stuff?
    These are all EPROMs that were purchased and sent to me by Atari Corp in the Tramiel era, during my time as one of Atari’s major Distributors. This was common. They’d send me this stuff, some stuff unlabeled, barely any paperwork or none at all. I probably set these down 30 to 35 years ago and lost track of them, only to find them again in unopened inventory.
    So here's the plan: once I think we’ve found everything that can easily be found, we’ll catalog and organize what we have and I’ll methodically start to work on the EPROMs to see which ones work and which ones don’t, what kind of combination do we need have to have on the 7800 board, which 7800 board to use, etc. etc. etc. I don’t expect we’ll be doing much looking for more EPROMs after this because that will be a big undertaking, maybe another time, but once I feel like we’ve found everything that’s easy to get to, we are going to concentrate our energies into getting the EPROMs that we have found to work.
     
     
     

    "There were only a couple Atari releases on the 7800 that I did not like: RealSports Baseball, Crack’ed and Jinks. I liked most everything else."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    The Slow Burn of Progress
    In my previous Blog post about discovering lost EPROMs, I said I would be testing the games and report back. We've been busy searching for more of the EPROMs that I think will be easy enough to get to, however I’ve been able to quickly test some of the EPROMs and made a little progress, but haven’t yet gotten anything to play.
    So far, I’ve got some of the 7800 EPROMs to display the Atari logo when you power on the game, but that’s it. These games have shown the Fuji logo but nothing else, and none of the games shown in the previous Blog entry have played yet. I think eventually I'll be able to get some to play, but that will take some doing and we will have to see how it goes.
     
    More RAM
    One of the things that will be very hard to do is test an Atari 7800 EPROM game that requires RAM to work. You see, if there's an EPROM for a 128K game that we want to test and it needs RAM, I currently have no way to test it. From what I understand, Atari had a 7800 board that had a cable hanging off of it, and on that board you could put 8K ,10K and 16K RAM chips interchangeably, so then you could test it as an EPROM board. It was set up to take two 64K EPROMs for a 128K game, and one of those RAM chips would plug into a socket. If the game required 16K of RAM, you could put the 16K chip in, if it required 8K you would put the 8K chip in, etc. I don’t know if Basketbrawl took RAM or not, but I know Commando did take RAM.
    That’s all I have for this week! I will continue to post updates on my progress here on my Blog, along with Blog entries on other topics, and try to answer your questions the best I can. I appreciate all the enthusiasm, coverage and interest in this topic.
     
    Thanks for reading,
    - Lance  
     
    Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
  3. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, I MAY HAVE FOUND ROAD RIOT 4WD FOR ATARI 7800 - ALONG WITH MORE INTERESTING ATARI 7800 EPROMS   
    DISPATCHES FROM THE LAB - RAIDERS OF THE LOST EPROMS
    Monday, Feb 26, 2024
     
      Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the fifth entry of what will be my personal Blog, sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself. My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for over 40 years!
    Quick update here from the Lab I wanted to share with all my friends on Atari I/O so you’d be the first to see. While I was working in my warehouse high atop the escarpments of the Twin Cities, cleaning up my office with my lab assistant on Saturday, we unearthed a trove of 7800 EPROMs I didn’t realize I had, and may have discovered Road Riot 4-Wheel Drive for Atari 7800 with a few other things. Like Rampart, Pit-Fighter, and Steel Talons, Road Riot 4-Wheel Drive was originally an arcade game from Atari Games that was released on Atari Lynx and believed to be in development for the Atari 7800 as late as 1993. I will try testing these EPROMs in some of my developer boards on the 7800 and see what we can get. It may take time to get this all sorted, but we will figure out what we have and I will report back here with more updates as we make progress.
     

     
    We were cleaning up my warehouse office on Saturday and I said “Well, I know I’ve got EPROMs here from Atari that we should go through and catalog, and I know that I have them in two different places in the warehouse and in my office.” I hadn’t looked at these, and they were sitting in a package from Atari collecting dust for decades. My warehouse assistant and I pulled them out, and of course like everything I got from Atari, there was no rhyme or reason to it, it just gets thrown. In those days, Atari would send me all sorts of things from EPROMs to joysticks, just thrown in a box and sent to me with hardly any documentation at all.
    One of the things we were looking for was Fatal Run documentation, which we found. Because I don’t have the strength to venture into the warehouse all the time to do this, I thought some of it could be in my office and we should spend some time looking in my office and cleaning up in there. We started cleaning up and sorting through packages, and of course there were tubes and tubes of this stuff from Atari that I got towards the end of the Jack Tramiel days. 
    One of the packages I got from Atari were full of tubes of chips. If you don’t work with electronics you may not know, chips come in protective plastic tubes, usually five to ten or more at a time. And I’ve got rolls and rolls of this stuff, and you don’t know what they are - there’s just a kazillion part numbers and labels, or there’s nothing. Some of them are so old that the labels have fallen off to the bottom of the box and gotten all mixed up. And it’s hard to find out what they are, because it’s like trying to put a puzzle together. Not only are the labels missing, mixed up, or mysterious, but you have to figure out what the chips are and where they go, and on what board. For example, Midi Maze for the Atari XE was a 256K game, but they put it on a board that had 8 chips on it originally, so you’ve got 8 different chips that you have to sort through and figure out what goes where and get it to work.
     

     
    When I found the EPROMs, most of them had labels on them. I found Sentinel LO and HI chips, Xenophobe HI, and KLAX LO and HI chips which I believe is a different version of KLAX than the one I’ve published before which was also given to me by Atari. I found Barnyard Blaster and Food Fight, both of which are PAL and have dates from mid-late 1989. That 1989 date is a little later than NTSC Barnyard Blaster, and quite a bit later than NTSC Food Fight, which was completed and shipped to retailers by May, 1984. So what does it mean that PAL Barnyard Blaster and Food Fight were being worked on as late as the Summer and Fall of 1989? Well, it’s possible these games play no different than the originals - but it’s also possible these versions of Barnyard Blaster and Food Fight could be different in some other ways. You just never know what Atari would’ve done, sometimes PAL market games had different sprites, they may have played different, or had other changes to the game beyond just PAL and NTSC. Sometimes those things would happen. 
     

     
    Save Mary surprised me - I said “Hey look, these are on 7800 chips!” That’s different than what I’ve seen before. In my trove of EPROMS we unearthed, we found Save Mary on two 64K chips (LO and HI), not on two 16K chips as you might expect to find. Like KLAX, this is NOT the same version of Save Mary that I published years ago. The Save Mary I got from Atari that I used to sell, that is on one 32K chip which is different from what I found. This is Save Mary on two 64K chips, which means this would be a 128K game, which is what a lot of the newer 7800 games were put on towards the end. It may well be the 7800 version of Save Mary, or it may be that they started to work on it for the 7800 and got the 2600 ordered on there to get it to work and go from there. Another chip I found only had half a label, with part of the EPROM window exposed. I don't know if this EPROM survived, but hopefully it will be okay. We will have to see. The half of the label that was still stuck on the chip has handwriting on it that I think says "Save" followed by the number 4800, which usually means it's 48K. I'm wondering if this is a 48K version of Save Mary? 
     
     
     

    "The test cartridges used two chips, but the final production cartridge would only use one, so there’s a LO and a HI on the test cartridge. The test cartridges were set up for a 64K game or a 128K game, with two sockets. So that’s why there’s two Sentinel (LO and HI), two KLAX (LO and HI) and two Save Mary (LO and HI)."
    @Video 61 
     
     
     
    The weirdest, most curious EPROM has a handwritten label that looks to say “Riot”. Clearly this is an EPROM and not a RIOT chip for the Atari 2600. The EPROM is dated 1993, which is very late for 7800 development but not unheard of. We MAY have found Road Riot 4-Wheel Drive for the Atari 7800 - we’ll have to see. The label on the EPROM says “Riot” on it, it’s dated 7-20-93 and it has the number “2” circled, which means this could be one of two chips needed to test the game - a HI and a LO. This date I believe is two months newer than the last version of 7800 Toki that has been shown, so two months after Toki was nearly complete and ready to go, this game “Riot” was still being worked on for the Atari 7800. Even if this does turn out to be Road Riot 4WD, it’s possible we’re still missing one of the chips needed to get it working. I can imagine someone testing the game and on such a tiny label writing “Riot” instead of “Road Riot 4WD” almost as an abbreviation of the name, it was common for these guys to do that, just because the EPROM labels are just so tiny.
     

     
    Atari 7800 Games thought to have been in development during 1991-1993:
    Pit-Fighter ElectroCop Steel Talons Toki Rampart Road Riot 4WD More? From my knowledge there were at least five games in development under Atari Corporation for the Atari 7800 as late as 1993, probably more. In those days, the Atari Lynx still had life in it, and Atari Jaguar was coming up on the horizon. The story as I hear it was that Jack Tramiel took one look at 7800 Pit-Fighter and how bad it looked and put the kibosh on anything more for the 7800. He pulled the plug right then and there and that’s all she wrote. We know Pit-Fighter, Rampart and Toki have been found in different levels of completion, and the date on this “Riot” EPROM is newer than all of those. We will have to research to see if this chip dated 7-20-93 is the latest 7800 EPROM dev date known to exist. It may be, I don’t know for sure, but it’s got to be close. 7800 ElectroCop was shown at the 1991 CES and Juli Wade told me she had an EPROM of it on a cartridge in her desk but wouldn’t share it with me. I had hoped John Skruch would. I don’t know if ElectroCop was one of the batch of 7800 games still in development as late as 1993 or not, but the other ones definitely were. It would be cool if we could find those hidden away somewhere in my warehouse office too. It may take time to get this all sorted, but we will figure out what we have and I will report back here on my Blog with more updates as we make progress. Stay tuned!
     
    Thanks for reading,
    - Lance  
     
    Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
  4. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to RickR for a blog entry, Disneyland in a Monsoon   
    We had made our plans months ago, figuring early Feb would be a nice time to go to Disneyland with less crowds and ride the new "Runaway Railway" ride.  As the date approached, we could see the weather forecast was getting worse and worse, with an "atmospheric river" approaching.  Bah!  We are Oregonians, rain is of no concern!  So my wife and I decided for forge ahead (full disclosure, I asked a couple of locals what they thought). 
    How was it?  Well.  Bad.  1.5" of rain on both days we were there.  Crowds were a bit less than normal.  But the part we didn't anticipate was how many rides were shut down.  Even a lot of indoor rides had to be closed due to water intrusion! 
    BUT, we still had fun.  We rode the new Runaway Railway several times (it is awesome) and Rise of the Resistance as well (still awesome).  Many rides had no lines at all.  Which was nice.  And waterproof coats and shoes held up well.  And we now have interesting stories to tell. 
    I have just a few pictures to share.  They don't do justice to how much it rained with so much water on the ground. 
     



  5. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, WHY DO ATARI XEGS CARTRIDGES RATTLE?   
    TECH TIME
    Saturday, November 11, 2023
     
      Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the fourth entry of what will be my personal blog, sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself. My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for more than 40 years!
    If you want to know why the Atari XEGS cartridges rattle, it’s because Atari used hot glue in at least three to four places within the cartridge to hold the PCB firmly in place and properly in the shell. When some of the hot glue comes loose, it floats around inside the cartridge, and that is the rattle you hear.
    Here is a picture of an Atari XEGS ribbed super cart disassembled with the glue in place. In this example, you’ll see that one piece has came off that caused a rattle. The piece of glue is circled, and where it came from is circled also.
     

     

     
    Now this brings up why Atari designed a ribbed shell for most of their Atari XEGS cartridge releases, and basically abandoned the handle on the back shells.
     

     

     
    The handle on the back of the cartridge was really made for the Atari 65XE, and the 130XE. Both had the cartridge port on the back of the machine, just like Jack Tramiel’s Commodore 64, really intended for combining the cartridge port with other ports, to utilize external devices. This design choice was of course born for cheapness.
    Then, no need for two separate ports, just one port. The cartridge handle was to give some sort of support for the cartridge not to sag from gravity, and also make the game easier to remove from the back of the machine. However, the problem with the handle cartridges is that they were not as easy to install, let alone extract in the Atari 400/800 cartridge well, and the 1200XL once installed, was not so easy to remove at all.
    So, redesign time. The ribbed cartridge shell, with the ribbed design taken directly from Regan Cheng’s design for the Atari 5200 cartridge.
     

     
    This ribbed Atari cartridge design solved all of those problems, and then some. The ribbed sides made the cartridge substantially easier to remove in the Atari 400/800s and 1200XL computers. Yet the ribbed cartridge was snug enough to help defy gravity in the Atari 65XE and 130XE computers. Not perfect, but good enough.
    Keep in mind, this ribbed design also was cheaper in terms of the plastic cartridge shell and the printed circuit board that was inside. On the handle shells, the cart was held together with a screw, while the ribbed cartridge no longer needed a screw, as it was held together very firmly with clips on the side of the shell.
    Plus, the handle cartridge board used four capacitors and four resistors, while the ribbed cartridge board used only three of each. With Atari ordering games 100,000 units at a time, saving one resistor and one capacitor per cartridge really added up, and Jack knew where to cut corners to save the additional cost of 100,000 resistors and capacitors.
    Here are my Tower Toppler and Vanguard prototype cartridge boards. You see the Tower Toppler handle board is bigger, and has more support electronics, while the ribbed Vanguard board is smaller, and has less support electronics.
     

     
    The ribbed Atari XEGS cartridges were all-around cheaper, and solved some problems. And really, the glue was not needed, but was a “just in case” sort of thing.
    Now, you can take cheapness just so far. Once, Atari sent me a shipment of new Atari XEGS cartridges. I opened them to see if any changes had been made before I started to sell them, because with Jack, you just never knew what was coming next. When I opened them up and held them you could feel that the plastic was so soft, I could eventually crush the cartridge shell with my bare hand. I sent them back to Atari as unsellable.
    That never happened again. 
     
    Thanks for reading,
    - Lance  
     
    Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
  6. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Smell Dawg for a blog entry, 001 - Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales   
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales
    Published: 1994 by Atari
    Developed by Imagitec Design, Inc.
     
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales is a Jaguar exclusive installment in the Bubsy series, published by Atari under license from Accolade. For the uninitiated, Bubsy is a wisecracking bobcat that runs, glides and bounces his way through hazard laden levels. The game departs from the main Bubsy franchise, which pits Bubsy against yarn obsessed space aliens, and instead places our orange hero in various fairy tale settings like Alice In Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk. For his Jaguar outing, Bubsy retains his trademark early 90s attitude from the Genesis and SNES titles. Play mechanics and death animations are also largely unchanged from the first Bubsy game.
     
    Graphics:
    Bubsy comes to life in bright, colorful and sharp 2D style on the Jaguar. While it is certainly not a generational leap from its 16-bit predecessors, Fractured Furry Tales looks great. The colors seem somewhat richer and deeper than in the earlier games, likely due to the Jaguar's enhanced color palette. Bubsy himself looks fantastic and the design of the enemy character sprites is fittingly whimsical.
     
    Sound:
    The sound effects and in-game music are good. In-game effects are typical platformer boings and pops. The music is competent and fits the levels. It's not memorable in the way that the very best platform music is but it does the job.
     
    Gameplay:
    In Fractured Furry Tales, Bubsy runs through each level - called chapters - killing enemies and collecting brightly colored orbs until reaching an exit. To get through each board, Bubsy uses three main moves: jump, glide and look. These are mostly intuitive and largely work as you'd expect. You kill enemies by jumping on them with the B button. Hopping from surface to surface is generally easy. Run, jump and hold A to glide across water and other hazards. Look seems like an odd "move" but trust me, it's needed.
     
    You start the game with nine lives and its not just because you're a bobcat. It's because you will die. A LOT. Bubsy limits you to one hit and it is unforgiving. Enemies can sometimes blend in with the scenery (I'm looking at you rattle snake) and/or are placed in such a way that they're easy to run into. Bubsy also tends to flop around a bit, making it easy to kill one enemy only to haphazardly bounce into another enemy, often just off screen. Because of this, it is necessary to take it slow and look before leaping. If you want to make it past Chapter One, you will find yourself stopping and holding the C button to check your surroundings before moving on. It really is the only way that I found to avoid frustratingly cheap deaths. Patience is rewarded.
     
    The level design in Bubsy is non-linear and the levels are not particularly intuitive. It was not always clear where I needed to go to advance in the game. The levels are also pretty huge! It's easy to get turned around. I guess that I prefer a little more direction in my platform games.
     
    Overall:
    Fractured Furry Tales is a great looking title with a lot of potential. The bright colors, fairy tale theme and whimsical characters work well. Unfortunately, the sprawling levels combine with the unforgiving one-hit death and poor enemy placement to make the game more frustrating than it needs to be. The challenge in Bubsy comes from design flaws, not from a need for precision and timing. Still, this is a game I dust off pretty regularly - at least a few times a year - just to see if I get any better. It's not a great game but, for me, it's oddly compelling. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment?
     
    Final verdict: If the occasional cheap death is not your thing, pass. However, if you like quirky, colorful platformers and don't mind dying, give Fractured Furry Tales a try.
     
    Thanks for reading and please share your Bubsy opinions in the comments!
     
    The next games is: Iron Soldier II (CD)
     

  7. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, HOW I SURVIVED 4 INCARNATIONS OF ATARI IN 40 YEARS   
    THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ATARI DISTRIBUTOR
    Monday, September 18, 2023
     
      Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the third entry of what will be my personal blog, sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab. For those who are new to Atari I/O let me introduce myself. My name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and I am the world's oldest surviving Atari dealer. You may have heard of me before as Video 61 Atari Sales which I have consistently operated since 1983 and I have been at it now for  more than 40 years!
    I need to update my website about my longevity. I always have so much to do. Anyway, with everything going on in the Atari world right now, I had some thoughts from these 40 something years as an Atari dealer that I wanted to share with you. I have now survived at least FOUR incarnations of “Atari”. I started as an Atari dealer in 1983 under Atari, Inc. - “Warner’s Atari.” I really didn’t know anyone there.
     

    Steve Ross, CEO of Warner Communications in 1983. Steve Ross is not often spoken of within the Atari community, but it was Steve Ross who bought Atari from Nolan Bushnell, who both hired and fired Ray Kassar, who single handedly took control of Atari in 1983 often showing up in person to run the company, who ultimately sought out Jack Tramiel with a deal to take Atari off his hands, and who orchestrated the Time-Warner merger.
     
    WARNER'S ATARI
    Atari dealers at the time were contacted and supported by dealer representatives who were supported by Warner Communications and would occasionally stop by the stores. I had a good one that supplied me with lots of dealer cartridges, floppy disks, and promotional materials. This is essentially the same way PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo support their retailers today, with reps who go into the stores to update the demo games in kiosks and make sure there’s current promotional signage in the stores. They usually have goodies to give to the workers too.
    One day my Atari dealer rep came into my store and announced “This might be the last time I see you. A new owner is taking over… everything is up in the air, and the rumor is he does not support his operations in… let’s say… “a traditional way.”
    That was Jack Tramiel, later on affectionately known as “Jack".
    He was right. That was the last time I ever saw my friendly dealer rep, and I never heard another word from Atari until the Atari ST computer was released.
     
     
    Alan Alda from the popular TV show M*A*S*H* was a celebrity spokesperson for Atari Home Computers during the Warner Communications era of Atari. (1984)
    All high-paid celebrity endorsements were dropped when Jack Tramiel took over.
     
    One day out of the blue I received a packet along with an Atari ST with some software. Gone were the days of glossy print ads in National Geographic, and sophisticated TV commercials with Alan Alda, the popular actor who played “Hawkeye” on the top TV show M*A*S*H* and was Atari’s spokesperson. The Atari ST that I was sent came with the instructions that - as a dealer - it was up to ME to educate my customers about the new Atari ST computer line, and it was up to ME to support and sell the machine as support from Atari would be minimal. STUNNING, to say the least.
    This began the second incarnation of “Atari” - Atari Corporation, or Atari Corp., - “Jack’s Atari”. This was the incarnation of Atari that I was most involved in, and had a lot of day-to-day interaction with. That was sometime in 1985.
     
    JACK'S ATARI
    I did not hear from Atari again until 1986 or possibly 1987. It’s been so long that it’s difficult to remember the exact timeline, but around that time I received a letter from Atari Corporation with a hefty “release schedule” of games lined up for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, and Atari XEGS. I was impressed! For nearly two years it was crickets out of Atari, and finally we were receiving real support and a commitment for new games.
    At the time, the only real major supporter of the Atari 2600 was Activision. It felt like they were the only kid on the block. Atari had been quiet, and most other third party publishers like Imagic, Coleco, M-Network and Parker Bros. hadn’t survived the crash. Activision was still with us though, and at Video 61 Kung-Fu Masters, Ghostbusters, and Pitfall II were serious strong sellers.
     

    Jack Tramiel with the Atari ST
     
    When I received the new release schedule from Atari, I thought “Hey, maybe the new owners figured it out!” There was still plenty of life left in Atari, even for the 2600, which I could see in my stores. To my dismay, many of Atari’s newly announced titles never came even close to being released on time, or worse - never came at all!
    This was very frustrating because I could see the demand for new Atari stuff and yet the Atari potential was being pissed away. There’s this common belief that “The Atari 7800 was released in 1986.” That’s not really true. I had received a few 7800s from Warner’s Atari Inc. in 1984, and they sold quickly. This was in Minnesota, not California or New York City. I never got a thing from Atari again until 1986.
    So as Nintendo took America by storm with Mario, Zelda and Metroid on the NES, and with Atari being run so poorly, I thought the jig was up.
     
     

    "When I received the new release schedule from Atari, I thought 'Hey, maybe the new owners figured it out!' There was still plenty of life left in Atari, even for the 2600 which I could see in my stores. To my dismay, many of Atari's newly announced titles never came even close to being released on time, or worse - never came at all."
    - Lance
     
     
    Then came the fury. After defaulting on their release schedule and missing any new releases at all one Christmas season in 1988, I was outraged. I picked up the phone and called Atari. I wasn’t just a customer, I was in business with Atari as a dealer responsible for a percentage of all Atari games sold that year. I was helping make them money. When I called Atari, I was given the run around about “how hard it was to keep these games in stock” and “how hard it was to bring out new games.” I interrupted the lady and told her what she was saying was word for word what Nintendo was saying to their distributors - she broke down and agreed that what she had been instructed to say was not really the case.
    Later on I came to find out about certain “business details” and “practices” that were happening under “Jack’s Atari” which made it clear to me HOW and WHY Atari had missed so many release dates, launch windows, and even lost new releases, but thats a whole other story that we will go into another time in an upcoming Blog entry.
     

    Jack's Atari: This was the incarnation of Atari that I had the most day-to-day involvement with
     
    I continued on the phone and was trying to be nice. It wasn’t this nice lady’s fault that she had been instructed to lie. So I asked what can be done. I was sent “upstairs" and told that Atari "had messed up and badly damaged the market" and had really had messed up in my region of the country, the upper midwest. Sales and support in our part of the country needed help, and I was asked by Atari Corp. to become a service department and distributor for Atari. I was stunned. I dealt with other Atari dealers, but it was mostly to buy or trade what was needed.
    I said yes. I was blown away later on when I found out how just badly Atari had shrunk. They had lost almost 90% of their workforce. Yet the "Atari" brand still commanded household name recognition and selling power, which they underutilized thanks to certain business ideologies and practices from the Tramiel family.
    Here is a link to my Atari distribution paperwork, which is hosted on my website:
     
      http://www.atarisales.com/dis.html
     
    I became really enmeshed in this as Atari sent me to deal directly with third parties, who I then bought from as what’s known as “direct". During this time I got to know many good people in third party companies like Activision, Avalon Hill, S.S.I., Datasoft, Eypx, Sierra Online, Microprose and more.
    As an Atari distributer I purchased immense amounts - truckloads - of games and software direct from Atari and all third parties at the time. When Atari pulled the plug, I had about 250,000 pieces of software in my warehouse. Today it’s dwindled to under 40,000 pieces left.
     

    Jack Tramiel's son Sam Tramiel took over leadership of Atari in the mid-'90s with Jack's continued close involvement.
    Was the Atari ST named after Sam Tramiel? Was TOS the "Tramiel Operating System?"
     

    Jack Tramiel and wife Helen in their retirement years
     

    Jack Tramiel traveling the world
     
    HASBRO'S ATARI
    After Jack Tramiel pulled the plug on Lynx, Jaguar and the Atari computers, I could see what he was doing. Sam wasn’t going to save the company, and J.T.S. Corporation - an Indian hard drive manufacturer founded after the Jaguar’s launch - acquired Atari though a “reverse merger”. (Was Atari, as an entire company, "laundered" through J.T.S. so it came out nice and clean to be able to sell to a potential buyer?)
    This lead to Atari, or what IPs and documentation was left of it, being sold to Hasbro. This became the third iteration of the of Atari that I dealt with, “Hasbro’s Atari.”
    When Atari was sold to Hasbro, Atari gave Hasbro a list of contacts. I was one of them. Not only for service, parts, and software, but I was also Atari Corporation’s person who interacted with movie studios and television networks. Atari no longer had the game systems, computers, many times the software and games, nor the man power to supply the entertainment industry with Atari “props” when filming a movie or tv show that was to feature Atari in it.
    Atari just sent them to me for systems, computers and games, and I supplied the movie studios and television networks with what was needed, under the license agreement from Atari.
     

     
    One day I got a call from Hasbro, and very arrogantly told me that they would do the supplying, and the legacy Atari market was really no interest of theirs. They were going to release new games for new platforms.
    I supplied Atari items to Columbia Pictures (now Sony) Warner’s of course, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and others. I almost got some footage into one of the Alien movies, but Fox still owed me money from Fox Sports, and they could not come to agreements with “Jack". Many TV shows had my Atari stuff in it, one name I remember was The King of Queens, there was an Atari 7800 and Video Olympics if I remember right.
     

    Atari 2600 and 5200 game cartridges on NBC's cult classic show Freaks and Geeks (2000)
     
    Later on, my contact at Paramount studios was dismayed they could no longer get legacy Atari hardware and software for their productions, and that Hasbro’s Atari would only supply them with the newest games, which in the case of the studios and networks, was not what they wanted. I apologized to her, and said my hands were tied, "I can’t do a thing."  These people at Hasbro were clueless as to what they bought. They didn’t understand what Atari was, what they still had, or the potential even for legacy markets. Hasbro really messed up quickly, and quickly sold Atari off.
    Meanwhile - almost daily - ever since “Jack” sold off Atari, I would get calls from disgruntled stock holders, former suppliers, and people who were owed money by Atari. Some even made threats of suing me, because in their eyes, I was Atari. That lasted even into the early Infogrames days, which is what came next.
     
    FRENCH ATARI
    The French company Infogrames Entertainment SA acquired Atari in January, 2001 as the biggest part of their purchase of Hasbro’s software division “Hasbro Interactive”, which also included MicroProse, and Hasbro’s game.com monochrome handheld system which was a joke compared to what the Atari Lynx could do, even years later, and couldn’t compete contemporaneously against Game Boy Color.
    This began the fourth incarnation of Atari - “Infogrames Atari” or “French Atari” which now goes by Atari, SA. (Infogrames rebranded themselves as Atari in 2003 and began releasing games like Splashdown, Driver 2, The Matrix and Ghostbusters for modern game systems of the time.)
     

    Splashdown was one of the first new "Atari" games released by Infogrames in November, 2001
    The cover art featured branding for both Atari and Infogrames
     
    Infogrames never contacted me period, until one day a fellow named “Wim” (not sure of the spelling…) gave me a call. I tried to enter him into my contacts database, he would not spell his name for me, and acted quite annoyed that he even had to speak with me.
    I found out that Infogrames had an operation that was local to me in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Minneapolis / St. Paul, in a suburb named Plymouth I think.
    “Wim” wanted to know who I was, and he was looking for certain items. He would discuss nothing, could care less about Atari’s legacy, knew that many, many people were looking for Atari service, parts, games etc., but "Wim" was only interested in my Atari 2600 power supplies, Atari 7800 power supplies, TV switch boxes and R.F. cables.
    He demanded to buy them all. I said no. “What about my customers?” I retorted … let alone the legacy Atari systems that found their way to me.
     

     
    "Wim" had no interest in the Atari legacy, nor the history I was privy to, and had lived through much of. "Wim" only wanted to get the people off his back who were looking for those particular legacy parts. Why?
    I found this simply amazing. Here I was, and of course the two other legacy dealers (we’ll get into that in a minute) who could step in and help Atari’s legacy customers, and help guide Infogrames in making decisions around the needs and potential of the legacy market.
    I thought to myself "Here we go again!” Never interacted with them directly again, only indirectly when I was contacted by a debt collector wanting to know “what happened to Atari" as they were owed money. Something I have heard about many times before before, and I thought “Man, will this ever end?”
    I told the collector Atari was now located in New York, last time I heard. As it turned out the collector ended up being an old friend from high school that I hadn’t seen in decades.. small world indeed!
     
     

    "'Wim' wanted to know who I was, and he was looking for certain items. He would discuss nothing, could care less about Atari's legacy, knew that many, many people were looking for Atari service, parts, games, etc. but Wim was only interested in my Atari power supplies, switch boxes and R.F. cables... Why?"
    - Lance
     
     
    Here we are, now well over 20 years since Infogrames acquired Atari and has become the longest owner of the name, with new products being developed - finally - around Atari’s greatest strengths - it’s legacy.
    So that's the history of my involvement with the many evolving incarnations of Atari. The history in my eyes that counts the most, was the "Jack" era. The stories, what happened within those walls, what they pulled off and what they got away with - it’s almost too amazing to be true.
    When "Jack" merged with J.T.S., the government would only allow the "reverse merger" to proceed if Atari kept the American market supported. That was ignored entirely, and Atari was sold to Hasbro.
    The other two legacy dealers are Bruce at B&C Computervisions who started in 1984, and Brad at Best Electronics who started in 1985. I was introduced to both of them by Atari Corp.
    Together, the three of us became heavily involved day to day under “Jack's" Atari. This is just a minor rundown in who I am in the Atari world, and I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with you. Today, after over 40 years, I continue to march forward in the legacy Atari world, still providing sales and support, and developing new games which I hope will continue to entertain and dazzle Atari players for generations to come.
    What comes next?
    Thanks for reading,
    - Lance  
     
    Please visit me online for more at www.atarisales.com
     
  8. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, WELCOME TO MY LAB!   
    Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the first post of what will be my personal blog sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab.
    For those of you who are just getting to know me for the first time, my name is Lance, I’m from Minnesota, and for nearly 40 years I’ve been in the Atari business operating Video 61, one of the last surviving original retail Atari distributors. We started in the video business as a local chain of video rental stores serving the Twin Cities area with locations along U.S. Highway 61, the road that musician Bob Dylan referred to in the album and song Highway 61 Revisited.
    I also love classic movies and spending time with my family and friends at my cabin up north. For decades I’ve gotten to know you guys as my customers and friends, buying, selling and remanufacturing Atari systems, games, software, and computers, and developing my own line of Atari-compatible Video 61 games and controllers.
    I’m still in my Lab working away dreaming up new creations and shipping off new original Atari products, and I thought after all these years of being in the Atari community it was time to start sharing tidbits of Minnesota life with you here on my blog. To old friends and new, WELCOME!
    - Lance 
     

  9. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to Video 61 for a blog entry, How Alternative "Budget" Packaging Helped Keep Atari Developers In Business   
    Hi and welcome to Lance’s Laboratory! This is the second entry of what will be my personal blog, sharing small slices of life with you from within my Lab.
    For those of you who are just getting to know me for the first time, my name is Lance Ringquist, I’m from Minnesota, and for nearly 40 years I’ve been in the Atari business operating Video 61, one of the last surviving original retail Atari distributors. We started in the video business as a local chain of video rental stores serving the Twin Cities area with locations along U.S. Highway 61, the road that musician Bob Dylan referred to in the album and song Highway 61 Revisited. I also love classic "Drive-In" movies and spending time with my family and friends at my cabin up north.
    For decades I’ve gotten to know you guys as my customers and friends, buying, selling and remanufacturing Atari systems, games, software, and computers, and developing my own line of Atari-compatible Video 61 games and controllers. I’m still in my Lab working away dreaming up new creations and shipping off new original Atari products, and I thought after all these years of being in the Atari community it was time to start sharing tidbits of Atari memories and Minnesota life with you here on my blog. To old friends and new, WELCOME!
    This is my first BIG Blog post, and I wanted to talk about an interesting bit of Atari history that still applies today and can be helpful to homebrewers and independent developers like me:
    To remain profitable if you don’t have the buying power that Atari did themselves you have to look at alternative ways of packing your products.
     

     

     
    Having been in the Atari business for decades and running Video 61 as an independent company for nearly 40 years, I began selling Atari products in my video store when Warner still ran Atari. Once Atari got back on their feet during the Tramiel era, I became an officially authorized Atari distributor and service provider. In that time I’ve seen things in the World of Atari that you couldn’t begin to imagine. I’ve had good conversations with Jack Tramiel, I’ve had inside information on the development of games and products which Atari never released, I’ve talked with other 3rd party publishers, I’ve seen absolutely insane things happen in the world of Atari - I’ve even received death threats over this stuff. I’ve survived it all and lived to tell the story.
    All through Atari’s history, smaller 3rd party game publishers came up with alternative methods for packing their products. Did you know it was common at the time for many 3rd Party Atari developers to release game cartridges, floppies, and other accessories in simple “budget” packaging such as clear inexpensive clamshell cases and plastic baggies? Some publishers even just shrink-wrapped the floppy disk and documents! (Examples are shown below, and in my Atari I/O photo gallery). Unique, alternative packaging kept costs low for the buyer, while keeping the games profitable enough for the small developers to stay in business and continue publishing Atari games and software.
     

     
    The way to get the costs down is to make things in quantity. It's the same idea as shopping at Sam's Club or Costco: the more you buy the less it cost per item. Retail boxes, glossy cartridge labels and colorful instruction manuals cost much less per game when you’re manufacturing 100,000 of them at a time, as Jack Tramiel's Atari did. BUT - when you’re making 10 to 20 games at a time as an independent developer, glossy packaging drives the price up significantly. The developer pays more and you pay more. This is one reason why you see the new Atari charging upwards of $99 per Atari XP 2600 cartridge, and why many new homebrew and independently released cartridges cost so much to buy while the developer makes such little profit on their work.
    When Atari was still in business, during the Tramiel era, Atari would regularly provide me with inside information and Atari’s sales history. Beginning in 1985, Atari would fax me their sales history numbers for video game hardware and software and continued to do so until around 1990. These faxes were HUGE. I still have them after all these years, although the faxes are now yellowed and almost impossible to read.
     
     

    "Like Jack Tramiel, independent Atari game developers and homebrewers have to weigh costs and pricing, and understand that some games sell well, some so so, and some hardly at all."
    - Lance
     
     
    The sales figures provided in the fax covered the product lines for Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XEGS, and I think the Atari Lynx. For each Atari game, I was able to clearly see how many were manufactured and how many were sold. This gave me a big picture understanding of what things looked like at Atari, and just how big of a slice of the video game market Atari still had going into the 1990s. 
    People have no idea just how big a piece of the video game industry Atari still had in the late 1980s, in the midst of Nintendo dominating the market and Sega making moves. It was still a big slice of the pie, and certainly enough to make money. Between the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XE and everything else, Atari often had a bigger chuck of the video game market than Sega did with the Sega Master System.
     
    Jack Tramiel discussing "Business is War" at Commodore and Atari
     
    What I learned from the insider info on Atari sales figures, and through my conversations with Jack Tramiel, was that Atari had a very lean business model that “spread risk” over many games, and to publish a game with a fancy box, slick labels and docs, Atari had to order 100,000 units of a game to get good enough pricing to make a profit on a title.
    But there was a problem. Not all titles sold well! Jack Tramiel wanted to get pricing down low enough for each game, so that in case one game did not sell very well, the risk would be spread around different games, so that the successful games would more than make up for any financial loss from games that did not sell.
    Like Jack Tramiel, independent Atari game developers and homebrewers (both then and now) have to weigh costs and pricing, and understand that some games sell well, some so so, and some hardly at all. So you need to spread the risks out to make a profit. Do you grasp that concept? Your winners cover your losses.
     

     
    So for Atari to be profitable with the XEGS, which used very good packaging in the iconic “blue tile” boxes, and to cover the cost of materials and the cartridge itself, Atari put out around 30-35 new titles for the XE. That meant to get good pricing, spread risk, and make a profit, Atari had to order over 3 million+ units of video game cartridges for the XEGS.
    Take for example Necromancer, a video game for the Atari XEGS. Atari manufactured a standard order of 100,000 units of Necromancer, and ended up with around 50,000 units left because the game didn’t sell very well. On the other hand, Atari XE games like Crystal Castles, Airball and others were almost completely sold out.
    The idea was to spread risk - to create different games for different genres. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, instead spread them around! If you create too much of the same thing - the same world, the same ideas, the same game - it may sell out or it may flop. Infinite diversity in games leads to infinite success.
    This is one reason why you see some independent developers and homebrewers struggling. Some of them focus all of their time and attention,  years even, developing a single game, a passion project. Often it will come in an expensive box with glossy label and colorful instructions, all put together by hand. Other developers work on multiple games at once, and work hard to keep manufacturing costs down, and passing those savings on to both the customer and to themselves.
     

     

     
    Say what you will about Jack Tramiel, but he understood this simple concept. Atari would release a few games at a time, each in a batch of 100,000, and the successful games would cover any shortfall of the less successful games. Atari would order 100,000 games at a time - enough to keep the manufacturing cost low on slick docs, a nice box with that beautiful Atari XE blue box artwork, and a glossy label, which was something the Atari 7800 didn’t always benefit from. If the game sold well, another order of 100,000 games could be manufactured, should Atari believe there was enough excitement about the game to sell out a second batch.
    A similar story was unfolding at Activision in the late 1980s. After the video game crash Activision was a much different company than it had been during the Atari 2600 boom, when Activision saw incredible success with games like Pitfall! and River Raid. Yet they survived the crash and lived to fight another day. Now Microsoft is buying them. By the time Jack Tramiel was running Atari, Activision (and their sister company Absolute) was a much leaner operation. I used to speak with the Activision guys often, and developed a pretty clear understanding of their sales history numbers for Atari systems, and how they ran their business.
     

     
    Activision was smaller, and did their ordering 10,000 games at a time. To make a good enough profit, Activision and Absolute needed to sell all 10,000 units to justify a reorder of the game. The first order of 10,000 games sold would break even, and Activision/Absolute would recoup all of their money put into the development and manufacturing of the game. Then, if the game was successful, Activision would order another 10,000 units and suddenly that game would become pretty profitable! However, they told me that only one of their Atari games was able to surpass 10,000 units, which was Title Match Pro Wrestling, and that was a reason why they pulled out of the Atari market. Yet Jack Tramiel was able to sell out quite a few of their video game titles at 100,000. Even with games at the end like Alien Brigade for the Atari 7800, they were able to sell all 100,000 out, and this was with Jack not only not supporting the system properly, but competing against himself with the Atari XE.
    There was a reason why so many 3rd party Atari developers released games in alternative “budget” packaging like clamshells, zip lock baggies, and even just shrink wrapped the disk and docs without a box. Because if you cannot attain the high number of sales per unit as Atari still could, you could not get the price per cartridge down low enough to be profitable. This meant finding creative ways to cut back on packaging, and just about every 3rd party company did just that. Broderbund, Adventure International, Epyx, Sierra Online, Datasoft, S.S.I., as well as many others sold games with limited “budget” packaging.
    Those 3rd parties made up sales volume with budget packaging, cartridge labels and instructions, because they did not have the customer base Atari still did at that point.
     

     
    The new Atari charges a lot for their line of limited run "Atari XP" games for the 2600, many of them are priced at $99. I’m betting its because they use fancy boxes, instructions and "labels". But they do not have the same Atari market that Jack had in the 1980s-1990s, thus much smaller sales volumes and the inability to order a large enough quantity to bring the price down. The Atari XP program harkens back to APX: The Atari Program Exchange and is meant as a gift to the Atari community, and not focused solely on being a profitable, but it's not likely that Atari wants to lose money either.
    So when it comes to passion projects like the “Atari XP” games, the new Atari has to cover their costs and hope for a profit. To do this they have to charge a lot more for their games due to much smaller sales volumes. That’s a pretty big risk for the new Atari, and a pretty big expense that gets passed onto you, the customer.
    In the 1990s, some classic video game collectors called me a liar for pointing this out, and insisted that game companies like S.S.I., Epyx, Sierra Online, Datasoft, and many other well known (and not so well known) companies never offered their games in clamshells, zip lock baggies, and other forms of budget packaging to be able to offer their software at prices people could afford.
    In this blog post you will see lots of pictures I recently took of my own inventory, showing  just that: actual software releases from said companies and more, in alternative budget packaging. I’ve never received an apology from those who were so quick to berate me and call me a liar for being so kind as to explain the truth. Today is their chance.
    - Lance  
     
    SEE MORE PHOTOS IN MY PHOTO ALBUM:
     
     
  10. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to CrossBow for a blog entry, Just a simple but kinda cool project?   
    The 'Tower' was without power most of last week due to powerful storms on Father's day. As a result it put me behind a bit on console services and projects. Well last night as I've been working kinda constantly on console stuff to try and get caught up, I took a break and decided to do something I'd been meaning to try and implement for a while now.
    I'm sure many of you here are aware of the Atari Vox? In summary it is a small device that plugs into controller port 2 on the 2600 or 7800 systems to allow you to save game scores and can also provide a means for speech to be played back in games that support it. Very cool device but it has one annoying thing about it. That is the fact that the audio from the Avox is separate from the rest of the system so you either have to plug in a set of external speakers or as I had been doing, I would use a 1/8" to RCA cable and plug one of the RCA jacks into one channel (usually the right) on my AV receiver audio input and the 7800 audio out in the other channel. Or, you have to use an external audio mixer to combine the two into one. None of that is really elegant so I thought of a simpler way to go about it. I'm sure you can see where this might be going?
    So the 7800 especially is a little unique in that it was designed to make sure of an external audio input from the cartridge port. Typically POKEY enhanced games use this for audio. The basic mixing for this in the console is to tie the TIA audio coming in internally from the console's TIA chip and the POKEY audio from the external cartridge audio input line with different resistors for each to balance their signal so that one doesn't overpower the other. Well, why not simply add in a third audio line into that mix with a resistor to also bring it down in level?
    That is exactly what I did as is demonstrated in this video...
     
    I have some pics I can provide for those interested but in a nutshell I installed a separate 3.5mm audio jack along the back of this test 7800 I have in the ITC lab and instead of if providing audio output, it is used as an audio input and is part of the mix along with the external audio and internal TIA audio. This allows for all three to be used at once and have all the audio could out through my normal audio output RCAs I have installed on the console. 
    No separate speakers...not Atari audio from just the Left with the AVox speed only on the right. It is all properly mixed together in dual mono as I would prefer. I will next do the same on my actual daily driver 7800 where this would be used most, but I'm glad to have it on my lab 7800 as well. The way this was done, should also be possible on a 2600 and I might very well explore that on a 2600jr I also have in the lab. 
    I know this isn't the first time something like this has been done as I've seen other projects where owners have embedded the AVox completely into their consoles and then with a lot of wiring, use a switch to enable/disable the Avox as needed. But I was looking for a more simpler solution that would still allow the AVox to be used with multiple consoles and not be gutted and dedicated inside a single system and yet still easy to use without a lot of extra wire and mess. One small headphone to headphone patch cable is all that is needed now for this when I want to use my Avox.
    For those that might want to try this on their own, know that a limiting resistor is needed as running the audio output straight in from the AVox is likely to sound messed up/distorted and would cause audio cut off on other audio sources trying to play at the same time. I used an 8k resistor in my test here but I think anything between 6.8k - 10k would suffice. I would also start with your volume pot on the AVox set to about the 1/3 volume level and then play a game that uses both speech and other audio at once to dial in the volume on the Avox until you are happy with it all.
     
  11. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Smell Dawg for a blog entry, 016 - YARS: RECHARGED   
    YARS: RECHARGED (VCS)
    Published 2022 (Atari)
    Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox
    Retail: $9.99
    YARS: RECHARGED is a modern take on Yars' Revenge, the 1982 smash hit for the Atari 2600.  Programmed by the incomparable Howard Scott Warshaw, Yars’ Revenge went on to become the best-selling original title for the platform.  This is quite a legacy to live up to.
    YARS: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.
    Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!
    TAKE CONTROL
    At its core, YARS: RECHARGED is a twin-stick shooter.  It borrows elements of Yars’ Revenge and combines it with a dash of “bullet hell” and a slick future retro aesthetic to deliver a fresh take on HSW’s classic.
    As with the original, you control a Yars, an insect-like space race that – according to lore – descended from the common house fly on Earth.  Of course, this being a modern, digital title, YARS: RECHARGED eschews any story that might have made its way into a manual or accompanying comic.  At any rate, the Yars are again at war with the Qotile.  It’s your job to take out Qotile defenses through 30 levels in either Arcade or Missions modes: for 60 levels total. 
    The first time you play YARS: RECHARGED you’re automatically taken to a quick tutorial to acquaint you with the game’s controls.   This is a first in the Recharged series and is a welcome addition to the game.  The controls are fairly intuitive and harken back to that old Atari adage “Easy to learn, difficult to master.” 
    Using the Modern Controller, the left thumbstick controls Yar’s movement while the right controls fire and aiming.  The controls are tight and precise, and I found the Modern Controller to be ideally suited for the twin-stick action. The game also offers support for the Classic Controller.  Use the rotary to aim your Yars and the joystick to maneuver.  It’s a novel way to play for fans of the VCS’ unique controller.

    Qotile defenses are hidden behind rows of hexagonal shields.  The shield strength is indicated by each hexagon’s opacity; near transparent shields are easily foiled, while solid white shields take a lot to break through.  The shields are frequently interlocked in a honeycomb and protect various “cores.”  You must shoot or “nibble” through the shields to charge your Zorlon Cannon, expose the Qotile Cores, and eliminate them as quickly as possible.  Eliminating the last Qotile Core will destroy all remaining enemies and clear the level.  There is a time bonus in both Arcade and Missions modes, so play strategically to clear each level as quickly as possible. 
    Enemy types range from the “Swirl”, Silorak Cores, and bullets coming from off screen.  The Swirl behaves in much the same way as it did in the 1982 original.  Watch for the Qotile Core to change into a Swirl and dodge or shoot it.  If your Yars is hit by a Swirl, its GAME OVER.  In later levels, there will be multiple Swirls to contend with.  Importantly, Swirls can penetrate the Glitch Shield to destroy your Yars. 
    The Silorak Cores serve as Qotile defense turrets and target you with spread shot, railgun, explosive shot and rapid fire.  When destroyed, these “minor” cores will drop a power-up the mirrors their attack.  The Silorak Cores are also tied to select shields.  As you attack a core, you’ll notice several hexagons flashing with each hit.  These will be destroyed once you take out the connected core. 
    Bullets coming from offscreen add a level of danger to the proceedings.  You’ll need to pay close attention to the patterns of the bullets to avoid hitting them. Alone they are easy to avoid, but with the assault from the cores, things quickly become chaotic. 
    Your greatest weapon against the Qotile onslaught is the Zorlon Cannon.  Only the Zorlon Cannon can destroy a Qotile Core.  Charge the cannon by nibbling or shooting enemy assets and collecting the resultant golden orbs.  Once charged, take aim and fire across the screen.  Timing is critical as there are frequently moving Qotile Cores and rotating shields. 
    When the Zorlon Cannon appears, so does the Glitch Shield.  The Glitch Shield protects Yars from all enemy weapons with the exception of the Swirl.  It dissipates as soon as your charge is depleted. 
    In Arcade Mode, the default setting provides the player with three hits.  The hit counter will refresh with each cleared level.  Taking a similar approach to Gravitar: Recharged, Yars offers the option to stack modifiers for bonus points.  Each modifier adds 2.5% to the score at the end of arcade play.  There are three modifiers:
    The “Hyper” modifier dramatically speeds up your Yars. While this might seem like an advantage, it’s actually a bit unwieldy.  The “Hunger” modifier eliminates your ability to shoot forcing you to rely only on your “nibble.”  The nibble is more effective and in early levels this too seems like an advantage.  However, in later levels the need for a ranged shot becomes clear.  The “Heavy Cannon” modifier increases the damage of your cannon but takes longer to charge and moves slower.  The choice of whether or not to use a modifier adds an interesting strategic element to the game. 
    In Missions Mode, your goal is to complete the missions as quickly as possible.  The missions play like the hardest versions of the levels that you’ve already completed in Arcade Mode.  In this way, it feels like more of the same.  While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I personally preferred the creativity and variety of the goal-oriented Challenges Mode from earlier titles in the Recharges series.  One thing that I do like about Missions Mode is that score bonuses are displayed upon the completion of each level. 
    Couch co-op returns to YARS: RECHARGED and greatly enhances the game in either Arcade or Missions mode. 
    GRAPHICS
    The look of YARS: RECHARGED is reminiscent of the art style found in Gravitar: Recharged.  Backgrounds are muted and - with the exception of your Yars, the golden orbs and  Zorlon Cannon - monochromatic. The Yars itself looks nice and everything from the hexagonal shields to the in-game menus, to the Silorak cores are very clean.  Its functional but not terribly exciting to look at.  One wonders if the Geometry Wars inspired art style of the earlier Recharged games might have worked better here. 

    SOUND & MUSIC
    Sound is a weak point for YARS: RECHARGED.  For this outing, Atari has once again partnered with composer Megan McDuffee for the in-game music.  The soundtrack is stellar and some of the tracks have an almost cinematic vibe. McDuffee has definitely brought her “A Game.”  Unfortunately, the in-game music is barely audible with default settings.  It is utterly overwhelmed by the sound effects, including player and enemy shots and ambient sounds.  In order to enjoy the soundtrack, I had to go into audio settings, crank the music to 100 and reduce effects to 30.  My feeling is that there is some wave interference taking place between the competing sounds.  It’s truly a shame because the music really is fantastic. 
    As for the effects, they are just what you would expect from booming shots, lasers and spinning swirls. 
    CREATURE COMFORTS
    YARS: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played the other RECHARGED titles, these will be familiar to you. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game.
    Fans of the highscore chase will be pleased to know that the game includes local and online leaderboards.  In Missions mode, scores are cumulative. This contrasts with previous entries in the Recharged series, where each mission had its own scoreboard. 

    OVERALL
    YARS: RECHARGED is a solid update to Howard Scott Warshaw’s 2600 classic. Atari and its development partners have a tricky balancing act with the Recharged series; at once satisfying longtime fans and introducing the brand and IP to new generations of gamers. With YARS RECHARGED, they have largely succeeded.  Some tweaks to the audio mix and goal-oriented missions would make this near perfect.  As it is, YARS: RECARGED is the best sequel to the original yet attempted. 
    Have you played YARS: RECHARGED on the VCS or on another platform? What do you think of the game?

  12. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to RickR for a blog entry, Retro PC Gaming - Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver 2   
    A quickie game review by RickR.  I'm having some fun going through the old PC CD games I've kept over the years.
    Game:  Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver 2

    My Take:
    It's a very simple racing game with an interesting use of FMV technology.  The game uses FMV movies for the track footage with a 3D car rendered on top of that.  It works surprisingly well!  There are plenty of tracks.  But the game is meant more for kids and isn't very challenging.  I like the ability to do "stunts" while in the air.  I also like that the game is quick and simple to play.  But overall, this isn't a game I'll go back to much.
    It's a Windows-based game, released in 2000.  It works just fine natively on my Windows 7 laptop.
    Also, I found an LGR review of the game after playing, which was fun to watch.
     
  13. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from RickR for a blog entry, 014 - JETBOARD JOUST (GOTY 2021)   
    JETBOARD JOUST (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Freedom Games)
    Developer: BitBull
    Retail: $9.99
    Ever since Eugene Jarvis and Williams Electronics unleashed Defender on unsuspecting arcades in 1980, there have been countless sequels, send-ups, hacks and tributes to the game.  With a rare exception, these tend to fall short of the high-water mark set by the original. Jetboard Joust by indie developer BitBull is one such exception.  The game takes the foundational elements of Jarvis’ classic and adds branching pathways, an intriguing upgrade system and fun joust mechanic to create an excellent modern arcade game. I enjoy Jetboard Joust so thoroughly that I’m naming it my 2021 Game of the Year!
    Jetboard Joust is available on multiple platforms, including Atari VCS, Steam, Epic and the Nintendo Switch. 
    Let’s take a look at the Atari VCS version of the game!


     
    TAKE CONTROL
    In Jetboard Joust, you use the VCS Modern Controller (or third-part gamepad) to guide Super Jetboy through 5 multi-level worlds, protecting helpless citizens - heretofore known as "little dudes" - from the ravages of evil mutant invaders! If one of the little dudes is picked up by a mutant, you will need to zip across the screen to free it before its kidnapped and becomes a super charged mutant baddie that you'll need to destroy.  Essentially, destroy everything that moves.  As you destroy enemies, you'll pick up drops consisting of health, ammo and coins.  Its a tried and true premise to be sure.  And while this game will be instantly familiar to many, it adds enough style, humor and variety to keep it fresh.  These include a cool Joust attack, randomly generated level maps, a deep equipment upgrade system and more.
    The "Joust" in Jetboard Joust is a special attack that propels your jetboard through multiple enemies.  This is great to use to get out of a jam or clear a group of baddies. Lower level enemies will be obliterated and higher level enemies will take significant damage. Plus, you're temporarily invincible when the joust is employed.  Be warned, there are a limited number of jousts available.  These can be replenished by picking up drops.  You can also add to your joust capacity as you build your capabilities. 
    Jetboard Joust features a wide variety of weapons.  This includes your base weapon (a gun) and several special weapons that are picked up along the way.  These come in a wide variety from lightning, to a gravity hammer to a giant circular saw (the Shredder), and everything in between.  Some weapons are more effective than others on different enemies, so it makes sense to keep a variety in your arsenal.  Weapons can be upgraded or repaired throughout the game.  Keeping your weapons in good condition maintains their effectiveness and increases ammo drops. With a click of the trigger, you can switch between your primary gun and a special weapon.  You'll only be able to carry one special weapon at a time.  The other special weapons that you've collected will be scattered across the playfield.  If you want to switch special weapons mid-level, you'll need to find and pick-up another one.  Special weapons have limited ammo so you'll want to use them wisely.  Ammo can be replenished by picking up ammo drops. 

    Upgrading equipment is a crucial element to success in Jetboard Joust and there are multiple ways to accomplish this.  Players may opt to use the store in-between levels to upgrade their jetsuit, jetboard or weapons.  The cost of doing so can be high.  Fortunately, you can sell off weapons to raise precious coinage.  Alternatively, you can select a route that leads to weapons pick-ups, equipment upgrades, repair, and hidden treasure.  However, to access these upgrades you'll need to summon a guardian - as sort of end level boss.  Only upon defeating the guardian will you gain access to the special item on that level.  Summoning a guardian is completely optional and some are much harder than others.  You will not know exactly who is showing up until after the summoning.  Its a nice bit of risk vs. reward that breaks up the standard level clearing action. Choose your path wisely to outfit Super Jetboy with the equipment needed to take out the end of world bosses!

    Another reason to save coinage is to continue a game.  If you happen to die and have no emergency jetsuits, you'll be given the opportunity to purchase a continue using available treasure.  If you have enough, you can continue the game.  If not, it's game over! The costs of continues raises as you progress.  If you don't have enough money in the bank, you can restart the game with the teleports unlocked to choose where you start.  Picking up lost jetsuits from an earlier play through will allow you to recover some coin.  This helps make your loss in a previous run slightly less stinging.
     
    SOUND & VISION
    The graphics in Jetboard Joust are highly stylized.  The playfield is populated by colorful cities, exploding pixels, glitch-like background animations and a large variety of aliens.  The color palette changes from level to level.  Sometimes they look a bit muted, and other times they pop.  Everything is alien.  Some of the aliens recall sea creatures, others look robotic or insectoid.  I really enjoy seeing the different enemy types as the game progresses.  Animations are constant, chaotic and wonderful. Screenshake and pixel explosions abound and really add to the frenzied vibe of the game.  Sound is equally fitting.  The in-game music is catchy, if a bit repetitive.  The background noises and explosions are satisfying and include an audible alert for abducted little dudes, and an affected electro synth sound that recalls the noise Defender makes at the start of each level.  Overall the art style and audio are effective in defining Jetboard Joust and give the game a character all its own.

     
    CREATURE COMFORTS
    Jetboard Joust adds in-game achievements.  There are 12 pages in all, with a wide variety of achievements to attain. Achievements are somewhat rare on the VCS, so this is a welcome inclusion.  There is also an in-game high score entry system.  Both the achievements and the high score entry add to the replay value of the game.


     
    OVERALL
    Jetboard Joust takes a familiar formula and successfully layers on modern gaming elements, combined with a distinctive art style and frenetic action to create a superb arcade experience.  Importantly, it's SUPER FUN! If I had a place to insert quarters in my VCS, I would have spent well over the $9.99 cost of entry. Retro arcade fans and modern indie gamers alike will find a lot to enjoy.  Recommended on any platform!
    Have you tried Jetboard Joust on the VCS or another platform?  What do you think of the game?  What's your 2021 Game of The Year? Let us know in the comments below!

    P.S. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about the Atari VCS experience is that the relatively small library with its focus on curated indie games has led me to play titles I might have otherwise ignored.  These games are often lost in the noise on large platforms and ecosystems. Were it not for the VCS, I would have missed out entirely on this excellent title.  
     
     
     
     
  14. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to CrossBow for a blog entry, ITC Temporarily Suspending Services to the Public   
    So as the title states, I'm temporarily suspending my console services for repairs, refurbs, and upgrades until about the fall timeframe. This is to ensure I have plenty of time to work on a large project that has a strict timeline. Anyone that has already sent their systems to me will still receive their service requests and will take priority to get them done quickly. But for others, I'd rather hold off and have them wait because I'm not comfortable with my client's systems sitting at the ITC for what could be a few months.
    I do apologize for those that might have been holding off and wanting services done, but rest assured I will be able to provide services again in a few months to the general public. Thank you for your understanding and if you have any questions, do feel free to contact me.
    -J. Hardesty
    Ivory Tower Collections
  15. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to MaximumRD for a blog entry, MY RETRO GAMING CORNER officially complete ! 😎🤟🧐   
    I consider my RETRO GAMING CORNER officially complete ! 😎🤟🧐includes 14inch TOSHIBA CRT / ColecoVision w/ AtariMax Flashcart / Retrobit SuperRetroTrio (nes, snes, genesis w/ Everdrives for each) / TG-16 w/Everdrive 😎👍as well, I can hook up the 2600 module to ColecoVision or even play Master System using the Everdrive on the RetroTrio. Happy covering 7 platforms with 3 consoles. Wanted to cover as many platforms with what I already have in the space I am limited to.

     

  16. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to Atari 5200 Guy for a blog entry, Top 10 Favorite Consoles   
    I remember answering a question asking that if I was stranded on an island what game system would I wish was with me.  Or something like that.  I had some figuring to do as to what systems were my favorites and also had games I could play that I wouldn't get bored with or spend too much time on if power was limited.  I had a few other factors to consider as well such as power requirements and how it connected to a screen. All of that played an important role to my final decision.
    The overall end result was that I gained personal knowledge on what my favorite consoles were in a specific order. Since then, however, I have added a few new members to the collection which has changed that list.  Would you like to know what systems in my collection are my top 10?  Here we go...the end result may surprise you.
     
    #10 - Original PlayStation
    I jumped on the PlayStation after almost a year after it was released.  I had a Saturn alongside it but it soon became clear who the more serious contender was.  Saturn was getting games but only a handful were of any personal interest.  PlayStation had tons of games that I enjoyed playing from Sony Rally Cross, Destruction Derby, and then Gran Turismo came along.  It also rekindled my enjoyment in RPG games with the Final Fantasy series.  It's graphics have not held up well but the games are solid entertainment.
     
    #9 - PlayStation 2
    Yea...one of the best selling, if not the first, consoles of all time is not exactly number one on my list.  Great machine, lots of good games, some of which are still budget friendly, and plays original PS games as well.  I do enjoy it but the only reason I picked up a PS2 way back when was because of Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec. But it sort of took a step back in my opinion.  After playing GT2 on the PS and having over 400 cars to pick from going to GT3 with only roughly 200 cars just felt odd. I also tagged in FF X which was a lot of fun as was Portal Runner.  So why did PS 2 and PS make bottom of my list?  It wasn't the games.  It was costs of initial setups.  While there were 3rd party alternatives, memory cards for those machines were not cheap by any means and regardless of brands in most cases.  And Sony seemed to have the most expensive cards on the market that never came down much in price.  Great console but expensive accessories.
     
    #8 - GameCube 
    Just like the PS2 there was only one reason I was after a GameCube...Metroid Prime.  That game was absolutely awesome!  The visuals and sounds were very impressive and easily one of the best looking games on the system.  But the memory cards required to save game progression, again, keep this one at the back of the pack.  Neat little system though.
     
    #7 - Sega Master System
    Sega's first console to hit U.S. shores wasn't bad but wasn't too impressive either.  It was great to finally be able to play those Sega arcade hits starting from the mid eighties in your living room.  OutRun was the sole reason I wanted one.  And once the systems and games hit clearance bins I started grabbing.  Most games I had were arcade ports, some were originals.  I still say the Master System did a better job with Double Dragon than the NES did but that's my opinion.  The Master System's sound chip is very distinguished and unmistakable.
     
    #6 - XBOX
    The original XBOX surprised me the second I started playing a store demo.  Built like a tank this machine meant business and it showed in every game produced for the thing.  It was extremely nice to finally have a disk based system with no memory cards required.  Forza, RallySport Challenge, Burnout series, Jade Empire, and, of course, Halo showcased the system well.  There were other titles too that did the same but those are what I remember most.  Microsoft making a game console...who would have guessed?
     
    #5 - Atari Jaguar
    The Jaguar should have been better supported.  But even with mediocre library of games it got it is the sexiest system in my collection.  I have lots of fond memories with Cybermorph and Iron Soldier.  Wolfenstein 3-D was entertaining if missing some levels and Tempest 2000?  Don't even get me on that game.  I can spend a whole day on that game without a care in the world.  Want me to become invisible?  Put me on Tempest 2000.  
     
    #4 - Atari 2600
    Of course the 2600 is on this list.  Literally tons of games and fun dominate this console.  Controller options galore and I believe the 2600 was the only console to have paddle and driving controllers.  Not very many games used them but they were there.  This is also the only console synonymous with the name Atari.  Just say Atari and people that have lived it think of the 2600.
     
    #3 - Super Famicom
    When the Super NES there was only one game that interested me... F-Zero.  That was the only game I was after.  Super Mario World came second place.  Then Zelda came out and I lost a few months of my teenage years with that game.  Top Gear made for a great unexpected 2-player co-op game while Gradius III and Super E.D.F. became most played shoot 'em ups.  
    About a year ago I imported its older brother, the Super Famicom.  I never understood why the design changed so much between the two. I remember seeing the SFC in Nintendo Power magazines and loved the design.  When they finally showed the model Americans would get I was confused.  Even when their internals were identical the quality between the two are like night and day. The SFC has a better build quality and feel to it.  Even putting the games in it has a more satisfying experience over the SNES. The only main downside is the curved shape of the carts makes them difficult to stack and they lack end labels.  Otherwise I prefer the SFC over the SNES.  Something about its chubby appearance is more appealing to me.  I only have two games for it, Super Mario World and Darius Twin but it gets played more often than my SNES...and it has F-Zero.
     
    #2 - Sega Dream cast
    The only console I would pre-order along with Sonic Adventure would become my favorite Sega system of all-time.  Sega rekindled my faith in them with the Dream cast and it was one helluva adventure I will never forget.  Subscriptions to the Official Dreamcast magazine started long before I would get my system and game.  But it was a wait well worth waiting for.  With all it had to offer I never expected it to have such a short shelf life.  Easily Sega's best system.  Favorites include Tokyo Xtreme Racing series, Virtually Tennis, Sega Bass Fishing, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia II, Shemue, and Sega Swirl. Thank you, Sega, for that little system.  It's still one helluva ride.
    And now drum roll please....
     
    #1 - Famicom & Atari 5200
    Two consoles now share the number one spot.  There simply was no way I could choose between the two. The 5200 started my gaming career (might as well be as much as I play video games) when I was 7 years old at least.  It's design still mesmerizes me to this day and I never once had issues with my controllers up to the NES when I was 13.  Count it...that's six years.  Of course that's different today mainly due to age.  Time has not been too friendly to my 5200 controllers.  They are getting old.
    The Famicom, on the otherhand, has really grown on me.  If that was the only console I ever had I would be content with it.  While it might not make much sense to some why I would pick it over the NES, which I owe a lot of gratitude to for keeping me off the streets, it has become one of the most played systems in my collection.  I have seven games for it...eight if you count the disk version of Metroid.  It is neat to experience the games Americans never got like Gradius II and Parodius while seeing the differences between games from both parts of the world like Salamander.
    I turn to the 5200 for memories of famed arcade hits that makes up most of its game library.  My sentimental feelings with the 5200 will never change and make it impossible for me to knock it off the number one spot.  It just has an overall incredible experience that simply can't be found anywhere... Not even in emulation.  The Famicom's small size and odd design make it appealing and fun to experience.  And playing the games we didn't get add to that experience.  It is very hard for me to put it down when I have it setup to enjoy.  I didn't see any reason why both couldn't share the number one spot.  My game room, my rules, right?  This way I can enjoy both sides of video game history.
    Favorite 5200 games are Star Raiders, Space Dungeon, Sinistar, Pole Position, and Qix.  Favorite Famicom games are Salamander, Parodius, Tetris, Route 16 Turbo and Gradius II even when I suck at it.
     
    Those are my top ten favorite game consoles...at least at the time of this writing.  My choices are based on great memories I had with them.  Those that didn't make this list are not because I don't like them or play them. I went by the wow factor I got from a system while they were in production. It really is that simple.
     
     
     
  17. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to Atari XP News Feed for a blog entry, The Aquaventure Mystery Solved?   
    Matt Reichert is the expert on Atari prototypes, and he maintains atariprotos.com, a website dedicated to documenting these unfinished and unreleased games. His thorough research and detailed game reviews are important to the Atari community, and impressive. I’ve explored several different possibilities on the identity of the programmer(s) of Aquaventure. Interviews with Gary Shannon and Tod Frye made it clear that they were both involved, while an analysis of the code indicated that Nick Turner may have also contributed code. Some new interviews, supported by some additional research, seems to have led to an answer.
    The final pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place when Rachel Kaser at VentureBeat picked up on the story of how Atari was searching for the programmer of Aquaventure.  In the comments below the article Gary Shannon wrote:
    "I wrote the code but did not design the game. I was given detailed design specs by someone whose name I don't recall. It was my first project at Atari."
    This was a bit different than what Gary had told me back in January:
    “I had just come to Atari from Sega (coin op "Gremlin-branded" games) and was very new to the 2600, so I was definitely not the lead programmer and did mostly grunt work behind the scenes.”
    Intrigued by this new information I got back in touch with Gary in order to dive deeper.  He said that the more he thought about the project, the more details came back to him.  
    “As I recall, since it was my first 2600 project, I was given a sort of skeleton to build on. It might have been extracted from another game, but I don't remember for sure. I do remember that I only did coding, no design, and I did not start from absolute scratch, but had a framework to build on.”
    This new information probably excludes the possibility that there is a mysterious third programmer for Aquaventure. After a few more email exchanges with Gary and some additional research, I was able to piece together these details.
     After starting at Atari, Gary was assigned to work on the title Miss Piggy’s Wedding. Gary said that after working on Miss Piggy for a few weeks, the project was canceled in late June of 1983:
    “Miss Piggy just didn't pan out. Nobody seemed to be able to come up with a playable concept for the game. It was just a maze to run around in with routes that were pretty ugly and didn't resemble Miss Piggy or Kermit. We all tossed around different ideas, but nothing stuck. The 2600 just couldn't deliver on what Henson Associates (HA!) visualized. I think they wanted something more recognizably Muppets.”
    After leaving the Miss Piggy project, Gary was then given a new assignment for an original game from the ‘Brainstorming Book’.  The ‘Brainstorming Book’ was a list of ideas and concepts that programmers came up with during meetings that could be used for new games.  Sometimes, programmers would look through the book and pick an idea that appealed to them, other times, they were simply assigned one by their manager.  It was this new assignment for Gary that would become Aquaventure.
    Your browser does not support our video.
    Gary was given a design specification with a rough idea of how the game would look and play and a code ‘skeleton’ (a game kernel most likely based on Tod Frye’s code) as a starting point.  It would take Gary about two months, starting in late June and ending around the end of August, to program Aquaventure.  After finishing up, Gary then went on to work on a game based on ESP (Extrasensory Perception) called Mind Race (which was never finished) before he left Atari. 
    It has long been thought that Aquaventure was never completely finished, as the currently available prototype (which is dated August 12th) still has some minor gameplay bugs.  However, Gary does think he completed the game before he moved on to another project:
    “I do remember quite clearly completing the coding and testing of the game, and moving on to a new project (Mind Race).  The last official word was that it was going to be released. I was paid a "completion bonus" against future royalties. I have no idea why it wasn't released.”
    What makes this statement all the more interesting, is that no internal Atari document or memo mentions the existence of Aquaventure.  Not only does Aquaventure not show up on a memo of “Finished Titles Not Released” dated August 2, 1984, but it also is not mentioned in the “Unfinished and Not Supported” section of the same memo.  
    If Atari had a finished game ready to go, why not list it as a potential title that could be released?  Did Aquaventure somehow get lost in the turmoil caused by the eventual sale of Atari to Jack Tramiel?  Was it specifically left off the memo for an unknown reason?  Did Atari think it had already been released?  It would appear that Aquaventure has a few more secrets left.
    View the full article on the Atari® XP website
  18. Thanks
    Sabertooth reacted to CrossBow for a blog entry, - ITC - Just how much work is sometimes required when working on previously upgraded consoles...   
    Here at the Ivory Tower, I get quite a few requests for console services. It might be an actual repair to get a console working back to full factory function or refurbishment of a working condole to ensure it works for another 40+ years into the future. But by and large most of my requests are to enhance a console in some way. Usually through audio/video upgrades etc. But on more rare occasions, I will be sent a system that has already had work done to it either by the original owner or from another and requested to further enhance. 
    Because of just how I am... In such requests I usually undo most of what has been done before when it requires it. Sometimes I will use existing wiring and just trim it up or tighten loose AV jacks that have been installed. But in this particular instance, I had a Sears Intellivision console sent that had been prior upgraded with a composite video output and had an earlier RGB board installed into it. It was requested to give the entire system a once over and correct any wrongs found while also upgrading the current RGB with one of the newer offerings. 
    I'm writing this blog because some might feel that with a console already having been prior worked on before and semi working already, that the amount of work required to upgrade what has been done before might be less work than doing it on a console that hasn't been touched or modified in the past. In most cases... this is far from the truth as you will see with this particular Intellivision.
    First let me show you some pics of what it looked like inside when I first opened it up. I do not know exactly who did the original work, but it is pretty representative of the kinds of work I find in these systems sent to me to fixed and upgraded further.
    This is a picture of the power supply board when I first opened up the system. Nothing horribly an issue here, but it would seem that whomever was in this before did apply new thermal paste on the VRs, but they used too much as you can even see it on the legs of the VRs below. They also didn't replace out the high wattage 12Ω resistor that is the grey tube thing near the center. You can see on the left hand side it is starting to show signs of breaking down as it is starting to flake. To be fair, it might not have been this way when it was last worked on.

    This is the original composite video upgrade that was done in the past. My only issue here is that the wires these older kits from the guy in Turkey used, are a bit thin and break easy. The wiring was also not tided up and left long. Likely so the main board could still be removed in the future but some tidying would have been nice to see.

    Here are the original RCA jacks that were installed as part of this kit. Again, the wiring is left long and not secured in any way. Also, the RCAs had worked loose and were free spinning. This results in dimming picture output because the ground connection is off those metal tabs. If they jack is free spinning, that means the ground tab isn't very secure and is barely making contact.

    This is what I found when I removed the controller tray. That PCB is the older 'Fred' RGB board. It was not attached at all and was loose inside this section of the Intellivision. First, this area is NOT for installing boards like this. This area is empty because it was thought you would store the power cord inside this section when the console wasn't in use. So if someone had done that here, they very likely would have pulled something loose off this RGB board or started to fray the AC cord. Either way... this is NOT acceptable in any situation and should have been installed elsewhere in the system. 

    Because of the board laying in here loose, it stands to reason that the RGB output jack is here as well and yes it is. This isn't too much an issue but again not idea. For starters, it is a bad idea to route any AV outputs near power sources and we have that large AC transformer just a few inches away. But mainly bad because as you can see, the wiring is again loose here and would have separated easily over time. The RGB jack was epoxied into place and I do not have any issues with that since that is really the only option you have for these type of panel mount jacks and is something I do myself.

    The RGB board gets its signals from the U10 color IC chips, the same way the current RGB boards do. But in this install a separate breakout PCB was used where the original IC was removed and installed into a single wipe socket on the breakout PCB. The PCB was then stuck into the original single wipe socket that the IC chip was originally in. This seems overly complicated since it is just as easy and provides a better connection to just solder to the bottom of the PCB to the pins where this chip is located. My main issue here is the cheap single wipe sockets of the original not being replaced out with higher quality, and the use of single wipe on the PCB breakout board.

     
    Now for what I has been corrected and redone... First is the power supply board was recapped and new high wattage 12Ω resistor installed. I also cleaned up the VRs and redid the thermal compound with higher grade stuff.

    The older composite only board was completely removed as composite output was being replaced by the new all in one board combo that I installed. This is Crayon King's older v5 RGB board with one of his separate expansion boards on top. This provides not only RGB that is of much better quality and compatibility to the older board, but provides the best composite I've seen from an Intellivision, plus a really excellent s-video output as well! Here is the new RGB board combo installed on the main PCB with all the new wiring in place.

    I installed a new AMP brand dual wipe socket for the U10 color IC chip and attached it back onto the mainboard. As a result, the wiring needed for the new RGB now attaches at the bottom of the PCB to the pins that are connected to the U10 color IC chip. The scorching in the lower right is quite normal and is a result of the stupid amount of heat that the two 3906 transistors in that part of the board experience. It gets hot enough to discolor the PCB. I always replace these transistors as part of any Intellivision model 1 refurb because the originals are ticking on their last lives at this point. Can't do anything about the heat, but at least with new ones, they should last as long as the originals have to this point. The other wires from cartridge port are for a power LED that is being added to the console at the owners request. That is actually the exact same method INTV used when they added the power LEDs to the Super Pro System and INTV III consoles.

    The RCA jacks were redone using star lock washers to hold them in place more securely. I also added in an additional Red colored RCA for dual mono output so the owner of this console doesn't have to keep using an audio splitter. This also allows for a future stereo upgrade later should a nice kit come along that provides that. You can also see the new s-video panel jack that has been added since that is available, why not add it? A switch was also installed to allow for palette switching on the new RGB board since it comes with 2 different palette options. 

    Since the original RGB output jack ended up having bad internal pin connections anyway and was giving video drop outs, I had to crack out the original and replaced it with a new matching type. To help with keeping things more tidy, I used a breakout board for the jack and secured the wiring more.

    Here is what the entire rear of the console looks like at this point. Have to keep in mind that the Red RCA, the s-video jack to the right of that, and the RGB on the far right have been replaced. You can see the toggle switch used for the palette change here as well. I have it facing downwards as there is plenty of room for it, it makes it easy to find and flip and doesn't protrude beyond the normal width of the casing. I add colored boots to the switches so they don't seem quite as obvious. 

     
    And that is all I have at the moment as I'm still finalizing this console. But everything is tested and as you can see in these pics, I use connectors for all wiring that is attached to the case shell so that it is easier in the future to remove the mainboard for servicing completely from the shells. The point here is that just as much work and maybe more goes into working on a system that has already had work done in the past and it shouldn't be assumed that because some of this stuff was already in place, that it results in less labor being needed to upgrade further.
  19. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to MaximumRD for a blog entry, MaximumRD's All Things AMIGA   
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  CURRENTLY JUST A PLACEHOLDER AS I GATHER MY THOUGHTS / IDEAS DECIDE HOW I WILL PROGRESS OR NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Welcome to MaximumRD's Amiga Appreciation Hub. For fans of one of the greatest computer line of all time! Including the entire Amiga line from the original A1000 to the blockbuster A500 and even then CDTV and CD32 come join in on the fun relating to all things AMIGA! YES the C64 was awesome but the AMIGA was magic!
  20. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to 1Littlebeast for a blog entry, Sly Spy   
    Have you ever wanted to try your hand at being a spy? Well the arcade game Sly Spy from Data East is for you. The arcade game came out in 1989 and the plot resembles movies and books from the James Bond series as well as some other spy media out at the time. In fact the game mentions the Golden Gun as pictured below. There are eight playable stages and a 9th stage which is the final boss level. There are different levels in the game you have an underwater level, a skydiving level, a beat em up style run and gun level, and a side-scrolling driving level. Throughout the game there are items that you can pick up like jetpacks and more bullets for example that will help you through the stage. There are also several different bosses some of which are pictured below. If you play make sure you have lots of quarters or credits to continue the game. I had a lot of fun with this game but I'm giving it a 6 out of 10 because although it was fun and I wanted to continue playing until I beat it, it did seem repetitive at times and I don't know how often I will go back to it. I hope you guys enjoyed my review alongside the pictures of the game I'm also uploading the arcade manual for the original arcade.
    manual.pdf

  21. Like
    Sabertooth reacted to RickR for a blog entry, A Vectrex Collection   
    My Vectrex collection!  I just got the Vectrex back from being refurbished (buzz-off kit installed, all caps replaced, general clean-up) and thought it would be a good time to document the whole collection. 
    The Vectrex is one of my all-time favorite parts of my collection.  I purchased this one in Feb 2013 from a chap over on AtariAge.  Over the years, I've added a few carts and overlays, and that sweet converted Genesis arcade stick (that turns-out was made by a guy I know!).  I'm now up to 3 multi-carts, with the newest being the Jason Kopp cart that I 3d printed a case for. 
    The refurbishment went really well.  It absolutely looks, sounds, and plays like new.  Better-than-new in the case of the missing buzz. 
    Thank you for indulging me!
     









  22. Thanks
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Justin for a blog entry, 015 - Asteroids: Recharged - An Update that Rocks!   
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Atari)
    Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox
    Retail: $9.99
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is a modern take on Ed Logg's seminal 1979 arcade space shooter. Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, it includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic and more modern gaming elements like power-ups, leader boards, challenges, achievements and more.
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including: VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.
    Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!

    TAKE CONTROL
    Following the formula established by Centipede and Black Widow, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features two game-modes: ARCADE & CHALLENGES.  Both modes can be played in either single-player or couch co-op.  Arcade mode is the main game and is a pure high score chasing affair.  Of the games so far released in the series, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED perhaps feels the most true to its original arcade inspiration.  While there are graphical updates, power-ups and enhancements like exploding asteroids, the objective remains the same: destroy the asteroids and any flying saucers that you encounter. The simplicity is a mixed blessing.  Its sure to entice fans of the arcade classic but may be too simple for modern gamers to embrace. 
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features multiple asteroids from extra large to small. Some asteroids fragment while others explode, taking out adjacent asteroids.  As in the original game, you'll get further if you choose your targets strategically to limit the opportunities for collision.  There are three saucer types: a non-firing bubble-like saucer, a small and deadly accurate saucer, and a larger lumbering saucer that is slightly less accurate.  Players be wary when the small saucer appears.  They will almost always hit a stationary player ship on the first shot.  This means that it pays to move about in ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED.  No lurking exploit here!  The game also includes a small saucer embedded in an asteroid.  While embedded, the saucer is relatively harmless.  But once freed, it functions as a normal small saucer.  The bubble-like saucer is the source of power-ups in the game. 
    Speaking of power-ups, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features some of the most inventive power-ups seen yet in the series.  Those familiar with the Recharged series will recognize slow down, rotating bullets, spread shot and others.  ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED adds a bullet bouncing deflector shield, screen clearing mega laser, and explosive shots that open mini black holes that sucks in all nearby asteroids and ships.  The black hole effect is by far my favorite in the game.  Due to wrap around nature of the play field, other power-ups like side shot can be employed to quickly clear out asteroids. 
    In terms of control, the VCS offers multiple controller options.  Where the original Asteroids arcade game employed an unusual 5-button control scheme to control ship rotation, thrust and hyperspace, the VCS version effectively maps these to both the Modern Controller of Classic Joystick.  Using the Modern Controller, rotation is controlled with the thumbstick, thrust is the right trigger, fire is "A" and hyperspace is the "Y".  The Classic Joystick provides some true retro flare by using built-in paddle function to rotate your craft.  Here the main button is fire, the bumper is thrust and the return button is used for hyperspace.  The rotary function is effective and accurate but the placement of hyperspace on the Classic Joystick makes it hard to hit in a pinch.  I wish Atari had used up for thrust and left the bumper for hyperspace.  Still, the Classic Controller is my preferred way to play the game.  The sense of thrust and inertia feels true to the original.  Unlike the original, hyperspace is much less likely to result in instant death and instead gives you a fighting chance.  Never once have I used it only to immediately explode.  I call this an improvement over the original.
    Challenges mode expands the game, providing a wide variety of task-based challenge levels. These serve to unlock achievements but also teach you how to use certain power-ups or improve your piloting skills.  As with Centipede and Black Widow, its worth noting that 10 of the challenge levels are exclusive to the VCS.  Other versions of the game have just 30 challenges.  The VCS challenges tend to be the most difficult and rewarding across the series. 
    Most challenges revolve around destroying a certain number of asteroids or surviving for a certain length of time.  Despite the similarities in tasks, developers Adamvision and Sneaky Box did a great job creating some very unique challenge levels using the limited enemy types available to them.  My favorite is the final (VCS exclusive) challenge "LA Traffic."  In this challenge, players must destroy a certain number of medium asteroids amidst multiple "lanes" of asteroids and cross traffic.  As someone who regularly rides a motorcycle on the 405, I can say that this challenge is aptly named!   While the Challenges mode adds some depth, on the whole they were much easier in ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED than in previous series entries.  More difficult challenges would be welcome.

    Couch co-op returns to ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED and greatly enhances the game in either Arcade or Challenges mode.  Where the main game is single life, co-op mode provides the opportunity to revive your fallen partner and extend game play.  With two capable players, this can mean radically higher scores and lengthier games than would be possible in the single player mode. 
    One criticism of the RECHARGED series has been the single life nature of the games.  Atari appears to be listening to the feedback and there are reportedly patches on the way to add 3 lives.  However, as it stands all current RECHARGED titles are single life.  Keep this in mind if that's not your thing.  I personally like the challenge.
    GRAPHICS
    Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic. The simple rectangular ship, asteroids and enemy saucers are rendered in simple, yet effective art style that recalls the original arcade game's vector graphics.  However, this time screen has a star field background with nebula like gas that creates the feel of space.  Simple asteroids trail specs of space dust as they float along the screen.  There is a subtle grid pattern which overlays the background.  This warps and bends throughout the game. The color palette is limited and cycles to designate "waves."  Power-ups and explosive rocks and asteroids provide some modern pyrotechnics that look very cool. The future-retro aesthetic is carried through to the menus, which are all very clean and easy to navigate. Menus are fully animated.

    SOUND & MUSIC
    As with Centipede and Black Widow, music is one of the strongest points of ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED. For this game and all upcoming Recharged titles, Atari has wisely partnered with composer Megan McDuffee who is known for her work on the River City Girls series, among others. I cannot overstate how awesome the music is. Whether in-menu or in-game, it perfectly compliments the tone of ASTEROIDS. It may even be the best yet!
    In game, the shots, booms and explosions generally suit the theme of ASTEROIDS.  My favorite is the slight hum and muffle when your ship is enveloped in the spherical deflector.  Its a pretty cool effect!

    CREATURE COMFORTS
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played the other RECHARGED titles, these will be familiar to you. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game. Compare this to the PS4 version, which utilizes Sony’s trophy system and is linked to a user's profile. It would be nice to have a way to share your achievements.
    The game also includes a leaderboard feature. The leaderboard on the VCS version is currently local only. High scores are displayed in game for both Arcade and Challenge modes. Other versions of the game feature global and friend leaderboards. Apparently Atari is working on a friend and leaderboard feature for the VCS. In ASTEROIDS, there are placeholders for this feature.  Hopefully this is implemented soon as competing against others is one of the more fun aspects of classic arcade gaming.

    OVERALL
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is an excellent update to Atari's venerable classic. With the 10 exclusive challenges and multiple control options, the VCS version is an easy recommendation for fans of the original game.  The overall design of the game - both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay - honors its arcade inspiration.  Simply put, if you like Asteroids, you should enjoy ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED. 
    Have you played ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED on the VCS or on another platform? What do you think of the game? 

  23. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from RickR for a blog entry, 015 - Asteroids: Recharged - An Update that Rocks!   
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Atari)
    Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox
    Retail: $9.99
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is a modern take on Ed Logg's seminal 1979 arcade space shooter. Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, it includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic and more modern gaming elements like power-ups, leader boards, challenges, achievements and more.
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including: VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.
    Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!

    TAKE CONTROL
    Following the formula established by Centipede and Black Widow, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features two game-modes: ARCADE & CHALLENGES.  Both modes can be played in either single-player or couch co-op.  Arcade mode is the main game and is a pure high score chasing affair.  Of the games so far released in the series, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED perhaps feels the most true to its original arcade inspiration.  While there are graphical updates, power-ups and enhancements like exploding asteroids, the objective remains the same: destroy the asteroids and any flying saucers that you encounter. The simplicity is a mixed blessing.  Its sure to entice fans of the arcade classic but may be too simple for modern gamers to embrace. 
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features multiple asteroids from extra large to small. Some asteroids fragment while others explode, taking out adjacent asteroids.  As in the original game, you'll get further if you choose your targets strategically to limit the opportunities for collision.  There are three saucer types: a non-firing bubble-like saucer, a small and deadly accurate saucer, and a larger lumbering saucer that is slightly less accurate.  Players be wary when the small saucer appears.  They will almost always hit a stationary player ship on the first shot.  This means that it pays to move about in ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED.  No lurking exploit here!  The game also includes a small saucer embedded in an asteroid.  While embedded, the saucer is relatively harmless.  But once freed, it functions as a normal small saucer.  The bubble-like saucer is the source of power-ups in the game. 
    Speaking of power-ups, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED features some of the most inventive power-ups seen yet in the series.  Those familiar with the Recharged series will recognize slow down, rotating bullets, spread shot and others.  ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED adds a bullet bouncing deflector shield, screen clearing mega laser, and explosive shots that open mini black holes that sucks in all nearby asteroids and ships.  The black hole effect is by far my favorite in the game.  Due to wrap around nature of the play field, other power-ups like side shot can be employed to quickly clear out asteroids. 
    In terms of control, the VCS offers multiple controller options.  Where the original Asteroids arcade game employed an unusual 5-button control scheme to control ship rotation, thrust and hyperspace, the VCS version effectively maps these to both the Modern Controller of Classic Joystick.  Using the Modern Controller, rotation is controlled with the thumbstick, thrust is the right trigger, fire is "A" and hyperspace is the "Y".  The Classic Joystick provides some true retro flare by using built-in paddle function to rotate your craft.  Here the main button is fire, the bumper is thrust and the return button is used for hyperspace.  The rotary function is effective and accurate but the placement of hyperspace on the Classic Joystick makes it hard to hit in a pinch.  I wish Atari had used up for thrust and left the bumper for hyperspace.  Still, the Classic Controller is my preferred way to play the game.  The sense of thrust and inertia feels true to the original.  Unlike the original, hyperspace is much less likely to result in instant death and instead gives you a fighting chance.  Never once have I used it only to immediately explode.  I call this an improvement over the original.
    Challenges mode expands the game, providing a wide variety of task-based challenge levels. These serve to unlock achievements but also teach you how to use certain power-ups or improve your piloting skills.  As with Centipede and Black Widow, its worth noting that 10 of the challenge levels are exclusive to the VCS.  Other versions of the game have just 30 challenges.  The VCS challenges tend to be the most difficult and rewarding across the series. 
    Most challenges revolve around destroying a certain number of asteroids or surviving for a certain length of time.  Despite the similarities in tasks, developers Adamvision and Sneaky Box did a great job creating some very unique challenge levels using the limited enemy types available to them.  My favorite is the final (VCS exclusive) challenge "LA Traffic."  In this challenge, players must destroy a certain number of medium asteroids amidst multiple "lanes" of asteroids and cross traffic.  As someone who regularly rides a motorcycle on the 405, I can say that this challenge is aptly named!   While the Challenges mode adds some depth, on the whole they were much easier in ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED than in previous series entries.  More difficult challenges would be welcome.

    Couch co-op returns to ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED and greatly enhances the game in either Arcade or Challenges mode.  Where the main game is single life, co-op mode provides the opportunity to revive your fallen partner and extend game play.  With two capable players, this can mean radically higher scores and lengthier games than would be possible in the single player mode. 
    One criticism of the RECHARGED series has been the single life nature of the games.  Atari appears to be listening to the feedback and there are reportedly patches on the way to add 3 lives.  However, as it stands all current RECHARGED titles are single life.  Keep this in mind if that's not your thing.  I personally like the challenge.
    GRAPHICS
    Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic. The simple rectangular ship, asteroids and enemy saucers are rendered in simple, yet effective art style that recalls the original arcade game's vector graphics.  However, this time screen has a star field background with nebula like gas that creates the feel of space.  Simple asteroids trail specs of space dust as they float along the screen.  There is a subtle grid pattern which overlays the background.  This warps and bends throughout the game. The color palette is limited and cycles to designate "waves."  Power-ups and explosive rocks and asteroids provide some modern pyrotechnics that look very cool. The future-retro aesthetic is carried through to the menus, which are all very clean and easy to navigate. Menus are fully animated.

    SOUND & MUSIC
    As with Centipede and Black Widow, music is one of the strongest points of ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED. For this game and all upcoming Recharged titles, Atari has wisely partnered with composer Megan McDuffee who is known for her work on the River City Girls series, among others. I cannot overstate how awesome the music is. Whether in-menu or in-game, it perfectly compliments the tone of ASTEROIDS. It may even be the best yet!
    In game, the shots, booms and explosions generally suit the theme of ASTEROIDS.  My favorite is the slight hum and muffle when your ship is enveloped in the spherical deflector.  Its a pretty cool effect!

    CREATURE COMFORTS
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played the other RECHARGED titles, these will be familiar to you. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game. Compare this to the PS4 version, which utilizes Sony’s trophy system and is linked to a user's profile. It would be nice to have a way to share your achievements.
    The game also includes a leaderboard feature. The leaderboard on the VCS version is currently local only. High scores are displayed in game for both Arcade and Challenge modes. Other versions of the game feature global and friend leaderboards. Apparently Atari is working on a friend and leaderboard feature for the VCS. In ASTEROIDS, there are placeholders for this feature.  Hopefully this is implemented soon as competing against others is one of the more fun aspects of classic arcade gaming.

    OVERALL
    ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED is an excellent update to Atari's venerable classic. With the 10 exclusive challenges and multiple control options, the VCS version is an easy recommendation for fans of the original game.  The overall design of the game - both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay - honors its arcade inspiration.  Simply put, if you like Asteroids, you should enjoy ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED. 
    Have you played ASTEROIDS: RECHARGED on the VCS or on another platform? What do you think of the game? 

  24. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Justin for a blog entry, 014 - JETBOARD JOUST (GOTY 2021)   
    JETBOARD JOUST (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Freedom Games)
    Developer: BitBull
    Retail: $9.99
    Ever since Eugene Jarvis and Williams Electronics unleashed Defender on unsuspecting arcades in 1980, there have been countless sequels, send-ups, hacks and tributes to the game.  With a rare exception, these tend to fall short of the high-water mark set by the original. Jetboard Joust by indie developer BitBull is one such exception.  The game takes the foundational elements of Jarvis’ classic and adds branching pathways, an intriguing upgrade system and fun joust mechanic to create an excellent modern arcade game. I enjoy Jetboard Joust so thoroughly that I’m naming it my 2021 Game of the Year!
    Jetboard Joust is available on multiple platforms, including Atari VCS, Steam, Epic and the Nintendo Switch. 
    Let’s take a look at the Atari VCS version of the game!


     
    TAKE CONTROL
    In Jetboard Joust, you use the VCS Modern Controller (or third-part gamepad) to guide Super Jetboy through 5 multi-level worlds, protecting helpless citizens - heretofore known as "little dudes" - from the ravages of evil mutant invaders! If one of the little dudes is picked up by a mutant, you will need to zip across the screen to free it before its kidnapped and becomes a super charged mutant baddie that you'll need to destroy.  Essentially, destroy everything that moves.  As you destroy enemies, you'll pick up drops consisting of health, ammo and coins.  Its a tried and true premise to be sure.  And while this game will be instantly familiar to many, it adds enough style, humor and variety to keep it fresh.  These include a cool Joust attack, randomly generated level maps, a deep equipment upgrade system and more.
    The "Joust" in Jetboard Joust is a special attack that propels your jetboard through multiple enemies.  This is great to use to get out of a jam or clear a group of baddies. Lower level enemies will be obliterated and higher level enemies will take significant damage. Plus, you're temporarily invincible when the joust is employed.  Be warned, there are a limited number of jousts available.  These can be replenished by picking up drops.  You can also add to your joust capacity as you build your capabilities. 
    Jetboard Joust features a wide variety of weapons.  This includes your base weapon (a gun) and several special weapons that are picked up along the way.  These come in a wide variety from lightning, to a gravity hammer to a giant circular saw (the Shredder), and everything in between.  Some weapons are more effective than others on different enemies, so it makes sense to keep a variety in your arsenal.  Weapons can be upgraded or repaired throughout the game.  Keeping your weapons in good condition maintains their effectiveness and increases ammo drops. With a click of the trigger, you can switch between your primary gun and a special weapon.  You'll only be able to carry one special weapon at a time.  The other special weapons that you've collected will be scattered across the playfield.  If you want to switch special weapons mid-level, you'll need to find and pick-up another one.  Special weapons have limited ammo so you'll want to use them wisely.  Ammo can be replenished by picking up ammo drops. 

    Upgrading equipment is a crucial element to success in Jetboard Joust and there are multiple ways to accomplish this.  Players may opt to use the store in-between levels to upgrade their jetsuit, jetboard or weapons.  The cost of doing so can be high.  Fortunately, you can sell off weapons to raise precious coinage.  Alternatively, you can select a route that leads to weapons pick-ups, equipment upgrades, repair, and hidden treasure.  However, to access these upgrades you'll need to summon a guardian - as sort of end level boss.  Only upon defeating the guardian will you gain access to the special item on that level.  Summoning a guardian is completely optional and some are much harder than others.  You will not know exactly who is showing up until after the summoning.  Its a nice bit of risk vs. reward that breaks up the standard level clearing action. Choose your path wisely to outfit Super Jetboy with the equipment needed to take out the end of world bosses!

    Another reason to save coinage is to continue a game.  If you happen to die and have no emergency jetsuits, you'll be given the opportunity to purchase a continue using available treasure.  If you have enough, you can continue the game.  If not, it's game over! The costs of continues raises as you progress.  If you don't have enough money in the bank, you can restart the game with the teleports unlocked to choose where you start.  Picking up lost jetsuits from an earlier play through will allow you to recover some coin.  This helps make your loss in a previous run slightly less stinging.
     
    SOUND & VISION
    The graphics in Jetboard Joust are highly stylized.  The playfield is populated by colorful cities, exploding pixels, glitch-like background animations and a large variety of aliens.  The color palette changes from level to level.  Sometimes they look a bit muted, and other times they pop.  Everything is alien.  Some of the aliens recall sea creatures, others look robotic or insectoid.  I really enjoy seeing the different enemy types as the game progresses.  Animations are constant, chaotic and wonderful. Screenshake and pixel explosions abound and really add to the frenzied vibe of the game.  Sound is equally fitting.  The in-game music is catchy, if a bit repetitive.  The background noises and explosions are satisfying and include an audible alert for abducted little dudes, and an affected electro synth sound that recalls the noise Defender makes at the start of each level.  Overall the art style and audio are effective in defining Jetboard Joust and give the game a character all its own.

     
    CREATURE COMFORTS
    Jetboard Joust adds in-game achievements.  There are 12 pages in all, with a wide variety of achievements to attain. Achievements are somewhat rare on the VCS, so this is a welcome inclusion.  There is also an in-game high score entry system.  Both the achievements and the high score entry add to the replay value of the game.


     
    OVERALL
    Jetboard Joust takes a familiar formula and successfully layers on modern gaming elements, combined with a distinctive art style and frenetic action to create a superb arcade experience.  Importantly, it's SUPER FUN! If I had a place to insert quarters in my VCS, I would have spent well over the $9.99 cost of entry. Retro arcade fans and modern indie gamers alike will find a lot to enjoy.  Recommended on any platform!
    Have you tried Jetboard Joust on the VCS or another platform?  What do you think of the game?  What's your 2021 Game of The Year? Let us know in the comments below!

    P.S. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about the Atari VCS experience is that the relatively small library with its focus on curated indie games has led me to play titles I might have otherwise ignored.  These games are often lost in the noise on large platforms and ecosystems. Were it not for the VCS, I would have missed out entirely on this excellent title.  
     
     
     
     
  25. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from RickR for a blog entry, 013 - Black Widow: Recharged   
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Atari)
    Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox
    Retail: $9.99
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is a modern take on Atari's vector twin stick-shooter Black Widow (1982). Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, it includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic and more modern gaming elements like power-ups, leader boards, challenges, achievements and more. What sets BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED apart from the other Recharged titles is that this marks the first time that Atari has ever revisited this IP. There has never been a sequel to the 1982 arcade original and it's a bit of a "deep cut" choice for a reboot. This makes it possibly the most intriguing game coming from Atari and developers Adamvision and SneakyBox!
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including: VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.
    Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!

    TAKE CONTROL
    The most important element in any twin-stick shooter is the sticks. Fortunately, the VCS Modern Controller is more than up to the task. Using the dual thumbsticks, your spider dances effortlessly across the screen. Control with the Modern Controller is both accurate and responsive. The VCS version also adds support for the Classic Controller in two variations. Using a single Classic Controller, players use the joystick to move and the built-in rotary to pivot and shoot. Alternatively, you can use two - YES TWO - Classic Controllers simultaneously for true twin-stick action! Personally, I prefer the Modern Controller, but the added options for the Classic Controller are pretty cool. If only Atari produced a coupler to secure both sticks...
    There are two game-modes: ARCADE & CHALLENGES.  Both modes can be played in either single-player or couch co-op.  Arcade mode is the main game and is a pure high score chasing affair.  Challenges mode expands the game, providing 40 task-based challenge levels. These serve to unlock achievements but also teach you how to deal with various insects.  In Centipede: Recharged, the developers used various elements - rocks, bombs, mushrooms - to create visual and mechanical variety in its challenge levels.  By way of comparison, the design of BLACK WIDOW is considerably more limited. Challenges feel similar from one to the other despite differences in web barrier layouts and insects.  Further, the difficulty of some of the challenges is really amped up! This might put off some players. It's worth noting that 10 of the challenge levels are exclusive to the VCS.  Other versions of the game have just 30 challenges.  
    The gameplay has strong echoes of the original in that you still control the spider and fight off an endless onslaught of various insects moving across the web.  However, there are key differences.  Where the original used red and green sections of web to indicate barriers, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED randomly generates bright white sections which your spider cannot pass.  There are no longer waves to indicate progress.  Instead, the colors cycle on a timed basis to designate "waves." Different insects have different attributes.  One swarms in a circular pattern, one drops power-ups, one takes multiple shots and attacks when hit, one shoots projectiles, and another lays eggs that hatch into exploding bugs.  Most of the insects drop dollar-signed shaped "Grubsteaks" when eliminated.  In the original, these were a source of extra points.  Here, they also charge up a web shot that can be used to eliminate a large number of enemies all at once. It's one of the cooler power-ups in the game.  Other power-ups include 3-spread shot, side shot, 7-spread shot, fear, slow down, rapid fire, shield, and explosive shot.  These must be used strategically to maximize points and help to survive as long as possible.  Action is frenetic and there is a lot going on all at once.  However, the power-ups are generous and the game feels pretty balanced despite its fast pace. 

    Critically, you only have a single life. This game is tough.  You will see the "GAME OVER" screen a lot.  And seeing that screen means that you're starting over from zero.   Gamers that enjoy single life, high score challenges will enjoy this.  Gamers who want multiple lives and the ability to earn extras may not.  For me, I appreciate the design decision and have thoroughly enjoyed chasing my high score.  The game ramps up quickly, so it is never boring to start over again.  Deaths don't feel cheap.  I know immediately where I made a mistake when I die. This doesn't mean there aren't some controller throwing moments though! 

    GRAPHICS
    Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic. The web, player sprite and enemies are rendered in a simple, yet effective art style that recalls the original arcade game.  The web itself has a subtle motion that emulates the movement of a real web.  The color pallette is limited and cycles every 60 seconds or so to designate "waves."  The overall aesthetic is carried through to the menus, which are all very clean and easy to navigate. Where Centipede:Recharged had static menus in the VCS version, this time they are fully animated, putting VCS BLACK WIDOW on par with the Switch, Playstation and XBOX ports. It's a welcome improvement and one that I hope is implemented in the rest of the series.
    I really like the graphic style that Atari has chosen for the series and its particularly effective in BLACK WIDOW.

    SOUND & MUSIC
    As with Centipede: Recharged, music is one of the strongest points of BLACK WIDOW. For this game and all upcoming Recharged titles, Atari has wisely partnered with composer Megan McDuffee who is known for her work on the River City Girls series, among others. I cannot overstate how awesome the music is. Whether in-menu or in-game, it perfectly compliments the tone of BLACK WIDOW. It may even be better here than in Centipede. 
    The in-game noises are a mixed bag. Some of the bugs - particularly the hornet - make an odd yelping sound when hit. There is a persistent buzzing from the various insects.  These may be distracting to some players.  Otherwise, the pops, shots and explosions generally suit the game. 
    CREATURE COMFORTS
    Like Centipede: Recharged, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played Centipede, these will be familiar. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game. Compare this to the PS4 version, which utilizes Sony’s trophy system and is linked to a user's profile. It would be nice to have a way to share your achievements.
    The game also includes a leaderboard feature. The leaderboard on the VCS version is currently local only. High scores are displayed in game for both Arcade and Challenge modes. Other versions of the game feature global and friend leaderboards. Apparently Atari is working on a friend and leaderboard feature for the VCS. Hopefully this is implemented soon as competing against others is one of the more fun aspects of classic arcade gaming.

    OVERALL
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is a solid update to a forgotten game from Atari's classic era. With the 10 exclusive challenges and multiple control options, the VCS version is an easy recommendation for fans of the original game or of twin-stick shooters in general.   It may be the strongest title yet in what's shaping up to be a stellar series! 
    Have you played BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED on the VCS or other platform? What do you think of the game? 
     
  26. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Justin for a blog entry, 013 - Black Widow: Recharged   
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED (VCS)
    Published 2021 (Atari)
    Developer: Adamvision Studios, Sneakybox
    Retail: $9.99
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is a modern take on Atari's vector twin stick-shooter Black Widow (1982). Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, it includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic and more modern gaming elements like power-ups, leader boards, challenges, achievements and more. What sets BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED apart from the other Recharged titles is that this marks the first time that Atari has ever revisited this IP. There has never been a sequel to the 1982 arcade original and it's a bit of a "deep cut" choice for a reboot. This makes it possibly the most intriguing game coming from Atari and developers Adamvision and SneakyBox!
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is available on multiple platforms, including: VCS, Switch, XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, PS4, PS5, Steam and Epic.
    Let’s take a quick look at the VCS version!

    TAKE CONTROL
    The most important element in any twin-stick shooter is the sticks. Fortunately, the VCS Modern Controller is more than up to the task. Using the dual thumbsticks, your spider dances effortlessly across the screen. Control with the Modern Controller is both accurate and responsive. The VCS version also adds support for the Classic Controller in two variations. Using a single Classic Controller, players use the joystick to move and the built-in rotary to pivot and shoot. Alternatively, you can use two - YES TWO - Classic Controllers simultaneously for true twin-stick action! Personally, I prefer the Modern Controller, but the added options for the Classic Controller are pretty cool. If only Atari produced a coupler to secure both sticks...
    There are two game-modes: ARCADE & CHALLENGES.  Both modes can be played in either single-player or couch co-op.  Arcade mode is the main game and is a pure high score chasing affair.  Challenges mode expands the game, providing 40 task-based challenge levels. These serve to unlock achievements but also teach you how to deal with various insects.  In Centipede: Recharged, the developers used various elements - rocks, bombs, mushrooms - to create visual and mechanical variety in its challenge levels.  By way of comparison, the design of BLACK WIDOW is considerably more limited. Challenges feel similar from one to the other despite differences in web barrier layouts and insects.  Further, the difficulty of some of the challenges is really amped up! This might put off some players. It's worth noting that 10 of the challenge levels are exclusive to the VCS.  Other versions of the game have just 30 challenges.  
    The gameplay has strong echoes of the original in that you still control the spider and fight off an endless onslaught of various insects moving across the web.  However, there are key differences.  Where the original used red and green sections of web to indicate barriers, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED randomly generates bright white sections which your spider cannot pass.  There are no longer waves to indicate progress.  Instead, the colors cycle on a timed basis to designate "waves." Different insects have different attributes.  One swarms in a circular pattern, one drops power-ups, one takes multiple shots and attacks when hit, one shoots projectiles, and another lays eggs that hatch into exploding bugs.  Most of the insects drop dollar-signed shaped "Grubsteaks" when eliminated.  In the original, these were a source of extra points.  Here, they also charge up a web shot that can be used to eliminate a large number of enemies all at once. It's one of the cooler power-ups in the game.  Other power-ups include 3-spread shot, side shot, 7-spread shot, fear, slow down, rapid fire, shield, and explosive shot.  These must be used strategically to maximize points and help to survive as long as possible.  Action is frenetic and there is a lot going on all at once.  However, the power-ups are generous and the game feels pretty balanced despite its fast pace. 

    Critically, you only have a single life. This game is tough.  You will see the "GAME OVER" screen a lot.  And seeing that screen means that you're starting over from zero.   Gamers that enjoy single life, high score challenges will enjoy this.  Gamers who want multiple lives and the ability to earn extras may not.  For me, I appreciate the design decision and have thoroughly enjoyed chasing my high score.  The game ramps up quickly, so it is never boring to start over again.  Deaths don't feel cheap.  I know immediately where I made a mistake when I die. This doesn't mean there aren't some controller throwing moments though! 

    GRAPHICS
    Like all games in Atari's recent "Recharged" series, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED includes a neon vector-like graphic aesthetic. The web, player sprite and enemies are rendered in a simple, yet effective art style that recalls the original arcade game.  The web itself has a subtle motion that emulates the movement of a real web.  The color pallette is limited and cycles every 60 seconds or so to designate "waves."  The overall aesthetic is carried through to the menus, which are all very clean and easy to navigate. Where Centipede:Recharged had static menus in the VCS version, this time they are fully animated, putting VCS BLACK WIDOW on par with the Switch, Playstation and XBOX ports. It's a welcome improvement and one that I hope is implemented in the rest of the series.
    I really like the graphic style that Atari has chosen for the series and its particularly effective in BLACK WIDOW.

    SOUND & MUSIC
    As with Centipede: Recharged, music is one of the strongest points of BLACK WIDOW. For this game and all upcoming Recharged titles, Atari has wisely partnered with composer Megan McDuffee who is known for her work on the River City Girls series, among others. I cannot overstate how awesome the music is. Whether in-menu or in-game, it perfectly compliments the tone of BLACK WIDOW. It may even be better here than in Centipede. 
    The in-game noises are a mixed bag. Some of the bugs - particularly the hornet - make an odd yelping sound when hit. There is a persistent buzzing from the various insects.  These may be distracting to some players.  Otherwise, the pops, shots and explosions generally suit the game. 
    CREATURE COMFORTS
    Like Centipede: Recharged, BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED includes proper unlockable achievements which have become a staple of modern gaming. Some are progressive. Other achievements are awarded for completion of a single task. If you've played Centipede, these will be familiar. The inclusion of achievements is a welcome addition to the game, particularly on the VCS. However, as the VCS does not support trophies, the achievements are only viewable in-game. Compare this to the PS4 version, which utilizes Sony’s trophy system and is linked to a user's profile. It would be nice to have a way to share your achievements.
    The game also includes a leaderboard feature. The leaderboard on the VCS version is currently local only. High scores are displayed in game for both Arcade and Challenge modes. Other versions of the game feature global and friend leaderboards. Apparently Atari is working on a friend and leaderboard feature for the VCS. Hopefully this is implemented soon as competing against others is one of the more fun aspects of classic arcade gaming.

    OVERALL
    BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED is a solid update to a forgotten game from Atari's classic era. With the 10 exclusive challenges and multiple control options, the VCS version is an easy recommendation for fans of the original game or of twin-stick shooters in general.   It may be the strongest title yet in what's shaping up to be a stellar series! 
    Have you played BLACK WIDOW: RECHARGED on the VCS or other platform? What do you think of the game? 
     
  27. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Justin for a blog entry, 001 - Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales   
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales
    Published: 1994 by Atari
    Developed by Imagitec Design, Inc.
     
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales is a Jaguar exclusive installment in the Bubsy series, published by Atari under license from Accolade. For the uninitiated, Bubsy is a wisecracking bobcat that runs, glides and bounces his way through hazard laden levels. The game departs from the main Bubsy franchise, which pits Bubsy against yarn obsessed space aliens, and instead places our orange hero in various fairy tale settings like Alice In Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk. For his Jaguar outing, Bubsy retains his trademark early 90s attitude from the Genesis and SNES titles. Play mechanics and death animations are also largely unchanged from the first Bubsy game.
     
    Graphics:
    Bubsy comes to life in bright, colorful and sharp 2D style on the Jaguar. While it is certainly not a generational leap from its 16-bit predecessors, Fractured Furry Tales looks great. The colors seem somewhat richer and deeper than in the earlier games, likely due to the Jaguar's enhanced color palette. Bubsy himself looks fantastic and the design of the enemy character sprites is fittingly whimsical.
     
    Sound:
    The sound effects and in-game music are good. In-game effects are typical platformer boings and pops. The music is competent and fits the levels. It's not memorable in the way that the very best platform music is but it does the job.
     
    Gameplay:
    In Fractured Furry Tales, Bubsy runs through each level - called chapters - killing enemies and collecting brightly colored orbs until reaching an exit. To get through each board, Bubsy uses three main moves: jump, glide and look. These are mostly intuitive and largely work as you'd expect. You kill enemies by jumping on them with the B button. Hopping from surface to surface is generally easy. Run, jump and hold A to glide across water and other hazards. Look seems like an odd "move" but trust me, it's needed.
     
    You start the game with nine lives and its not just because you're a bobcat. It's because you will die. A LOT. Bubsy limits you to one hit and it is unforgiving. Enemies can sometimes blend in with the scenery (I'm looking at you rattle snake) and/or are placed in such a way that they're easy to run into. Bubsy also tends to flop around a bit, making it easy to kill one enemy only to haphazardly bounce into another enemy, often just off screen. Because of this, it is necessary to take it slow and look before leaping. If you want to make it past Chapter One, you will find yourself stopping and holding the C button to check your surroundings before moving on. It really is the only way that I found to avoid frustratingly cheap deaths. Patience is rewarded.
     
    The level design in Bubsy is non-linear and the levels are not particularly intuitive. It was not always clear where I needed to go to advance in the game. The levels are also pretty huge! It's easy to get turned around. I guess that I prefer a little more direction in my platform games.
     
    Overall:
    Fractured Furry Tales is a great looking title with a lot of potential. The bright colors, fairy tale theme and whimsical characters work well. Unfortunately, the sprawling levels combine with the unforgiving one-hit death and poor enemy placement to make the game more frustrating than it needs to be. The challenge in Bubsy comes from design flaws, not from a need for precision and timing. Still, this is a game I dust off pretty regularly - at least a few times a year - just to see if I get any better. It's not a great game but, for me, it's oddly compelling. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment?
     
    Final verdict: If the occasional cheap death is not your thing, pass. However, if you like quirky, colorful platformers and don't mind dying, give Fractured Furry Tales a try.
     
    Thanks for reading and please share your Bubsy opinions in the comments!
     
    The next games is: Iron Soldier II (CD)
     

  28. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from Atari 5200 Guy for a blog entry, 001 - Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales   
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales
    Published: 1994 by Atari
    Developed by Imagitec Design, Inc.
     
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales is a Jaguar exclusive installment in the Bubsy series, published by Atari under license from Accolade. For the uninitiated, Bubsy is a wisecracking bobcat that runs, glides and bounces his way through hazard laden levels. The game departs from the main Bubsy franchise, which pits Bubsy against yarn obsessed space aliens, and instead places our orange hero in various fairy tale settings like Alice In Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk. For his Jaguar outing, Bubsy retains his trademark early 90s attitude from the Genesis and SNES titles. Play mechanics and death animations are also largely unchanged from the first Bubsy game.
     
    Graphics:
    Bubsy comes to life in bright, colorful and sharp 2D style on the Jaguar. While it is certainly not a generational leap from its 16-bit predecessors, Fractured Furry Tales looks great. The colors seem somewhat richer and deeper than in the earlier games, likely due to the Jaguar's enhanced color palette. Bubsy himself looks fantastic and the design of the enemy character sprites is fittingly whimsical.
     
    Sound:
    The sound effects and in-game music are good. In-game effects are typical platformer boings and pops. The music is competent and fits the levels. It's not memorable in the way that the very best platform music is but it does the job.
     
    Gameplay:
    In Fractured Furry Tales, Bubsy runs through each level - called chapters - killing enemies and collecting brightly colored orbs until reaching an exit. To get through each board, Bubsy uses three main moves: jump, glide and look. These are mostly intuitive and largely work as you'd expect. You kill enemies by jumping on them with the B button. Hopping from surface to surface is generally easy. Run, jump and hold A to glide across water and other hazards. Look seems like an odd "move" but trust me, it's needed.
     
    You start the game with nine lives and its not just because you're a bobcat. It's because you will die. A LOT. Bubsy limits you to one hit and it is unforgiving. Enemies can sometimes blend in with the scenery (I'm looking at you rattle snake) and/or are placed in such a way that they're easy to run into. Bubsy also tends to flop around a bit, making it easy to kill one enemy only to haphazardly bounce into another enemy, often just off screen. Because of this, it is necessary to take it slow and look before leaping. If you want to make it past Chapter One, you will find yourself stopping and holding the C button to check your surroundings before moving on. It really is the only way that I found to avoid frustratingly cheap deaths. Patience is rewarded.
     
    The level design in Bubsy is non-linear and the levels are not particularly intuitive. It was not always clear where I needed to go to advance in the game. The levels are also pretty huge! It's easy to get turned around. I guess that I prefer a little more direction in my platform games.
     
    Overall:
    Fractured Furry Tales is a great looking title with a lot of potential. The bright colors, fairy tale theme and whimsical characters work well. Unfortunately, the sprawling levels combine with the unforgiving one-hit death and poor enemy placement to make the game more frustrating than it needs to be. The challenge in Bubsy comes from design flaws, not from a need for precision and timing. Still, this is a game I dust off pretty regularly - at least a few times a year - just to see if I get any better. It's not a great game but, for me, it's oddly compelling. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment?
     
    Final verdict: If the occasional cheap death is not your thing, pass. However, if you like quirky, colorful platformers and don't mind dying, give Fractured Furry Tales a try.
     
    Thanks for reading and please share your Bubsy opinions in the comments!
     
    The next games is: Iron Soldier II (CD)
     

  29. Like
    Sabertooth got a reaction from The Professor for a blog entry, 001 - Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales   
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales
    Published: 1994 by Atari
    Developed by Imagitec Design, Inc.
     
    Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tales is a Jaguar exclusive installment in the Bubsy series, published by Atari under license from Accolade. For the uninitiated, Bubsy is a wisecracking bobcat that runs, glides and bounces his way through hazard laden levels. The game departs from the main Bubsy franchise, which pits Bubsy against yarn obsessed space aliens, and instead places our orange hero in various fairy tale settings like Alice In Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk. For his Jaguar outing, Bubsy retains his trademark early 90s attitude from the Genesis and SNES titles. Play mechanics and death animations are also largely unchanged from the first Bubsy game.
     
    Graphics:
    Bubsy comes to life in bright, colorful and sharp 2D style on the Jaguar. While it is certainly not a generational leap from its 16-bit predecessors, Fractured Furry Tales looks great. The colors seem somewhat richer and deeper than in the earlier games, likely due to the Jaguar's enhanced color palette. Bubsy himself looks fantastic and the design of the enemy character sprites is fittingly whimsical.
     
    Sound:
    The sound effects and in-game music are good. In-game effects are typical platformer boings and pops. The music is competent and fits the levels. It's not memorable in the way that the very best platform music is but it does the job.
     
    Gameplay:
    In Fractured Furry Tales, Bubsy runs through each level - called chapters - killing enemies and collecting brightly colored orbs until reaching an exit. To get through each board, Bubsy uses three main moves: jump, glide and look. These are mostly intuitive and largely work as you'd expect. You kill enemies by jumping on them with the B button. Hopping from surface to surface is generally easy. Run, jump and hold A to glide across water and other hazards. Look seems like an odd "move" but trust me, it's needed.
     
    You start the game with nine lives and its not just because you're a bobcat. It's because you will die. A LOT. Bubsy limits you to one hit and it is unforgiving. Enemies can sometimes blend in with the scenery (I'm looking at you rattle snake) and/or are placed in such a way that they're easy to run into. Bubsy also tends to flop around a bit, making it easy to kill one enemy only to haphazardly bounce into another enemy, often just off screen. Because of this, it is necessary to take it slow and look before leaping. If you want to make it past Chapter One, you will find yourself stopping and holding the C button to check your surroundings before moving on. It really is the only way that I found to avoid frustratingly cheap deaths. Patience is rewarded.
     
    The level design in Bubsy is non-linear and the levels are not particularly intuitive. It was not always clear where I needed to go to advance in the game. The levels are also pretty huge! It's easy to get turned around. I guess that I prefer a little more direction in my platform games.
     
    Overall:
    Fractured Furry Tales is a great looking title with a lot of potential. The bright colors, fairy tale theme and whimsical characters work well. Unfortunately, the sprawling levels combine with the unforgiving one-hit death and poor enemy placement to make the game more frustrating than it needs to be. The challenge in Bubsy comes from design flaws, not from a need for precision and timing. Still, this is a game I dust off pretty regularly - at least a few times a year - just to see if I get any better. It's not a great game but, for me, it's oddly compelling. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment?
     
    Final verdict: If the occasional cheap death is not your thing, pass. However, if you like quirky, colorful platformers and don't mind dying, give Fractured Furry Tales a try.
     
    Thanks for reading and please share your Bubsy opinions in the comments!
     
    The next games is: Iron Soldier II (CD)
     

×
×
  • Create New...