dauber

Sorry for the delay with episode 18, but here it is! Some chitchat about Ken Siders' onomatopoeically renamed 7800 version of Gottlieb's Q*bert graces your podcast player for this last episode of meteorological summer! http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_018.mp3

I gotta say, the outtakes were a bit disappointing to me, with some exceptions. I think part of it is that during the sessions McCartney sat out bass-wise and later overdubbed bass after futzing around with bass lines. He was inspired by the bass lines on Pet Sounds and wanted to come up with some crazy bass lines. So hearing the sessions without bass just kind of...takes away a lot of oompph. BTW, as a die-hard Beatles fan, I'm about to commit a major act of sacrilege by expressing this view: The mono mix is terrible. Yes, that's right: it's pretty bad. It really hit home how bad it is when the 2009 reissues came out; I didn't really listen to the mono mix that much before then. But just hear me out. And I'm not meaning this to be an attack on anybody; rather, it's just an explanation of where my head is as a Beatles fan. Many -- including George Harrison himself -- have said that the mono mix of SPLHCB is the definitive mix. Pish-posh, I say. First of all, there's the logical reason: The Beatles were last seen as the band of moptops, playing to screaming girls at Candlestick Park, wearing matching suits, with the usual three-guitars-and-drums combo (and this is even after the release of Revolver). Then The Beatles suddenly drop out of the scene. John and Ringo head off to Spain while John films How I Won the War. George is off studying with Ravi Shankar. Paul does his own thing by scoring The Family Way. Rumors of a breakup were going around. But it turns out the band was not over: they simply went into a coccoon...and emerged as colorful butterflies with the Sgt. Pepper's costumes on their album cover and Carnaby Street mod wear in real life. They have released an album jammed with new sounds, complete with blends of western rock'n'roll music and orchestral sounds with a bit of eastern flavor with a lot of spirit. The construction of the album is revolutionary, with virtually no silence in the rills and (at least in England) the album so jam packed that they literally put sounds on the run-out portion of the groove at the end of side 2...and even something for the dogs with a 15khz tone! The album cover is elaborate and colorful and run through a filter to make it look like a painting. And for the first time ever (as far as I know), the back sleeve actually doubles as a lyrics sheet. So this huge, colorful, lush production is definitively listened to in glorious, colorful, lush....mono??? Okay, if the logical reasoning isn't a factor in the mono versus stereo debate, let's consider the realistic reason: the mono version is sloppy: The title track comes to a complete stop before "With A Little Help From My Friends" kicks in, making the transition kind of rough, while there's a smooth crossfade on the stereo version. It becomes apparent during "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" that the mono version is mastered at a slightly off speed, as most of the album drags a bit -- it plays back at a noticeably (but subtly) lower speed than the stereo. So is it the mono or stereo that's at the right speed? Easily the stereo, as it's mastered at concert pitch. "She's Leaving Home" plays back too fast. Yes, I know, the "official" word is that the mono version is the official speed, but the session outtakes prove that this is incorrect. "Good Morning, Good Morning" -- the transition into the title track's reprise is a mess. It sounds like someone started a tape too late or something; the transition is fixed in the stereo version. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" -- you can actually hear the tape start off awkwardly at a slow speed and quickly accelerate to the correct speed. Also, there are a couple of extra drum beats during the intro that throw off the 4/4 count in the measures. Those are just a few things I can think of (just woke up half an hour ago!). And interestingly, these are neither the first nor nor last times that Beatles mono mixes had errors that were corrected with stereo mixes. Off the top of my head I can think of "Matchbox" and "Don't Pass Me By." (And yeah, I know "Please Please Me" and "If I Fell" have the exact opposite issue.) Interestingly that people think that the version with sloppy mistakes would be the definitive version. Mind you, there are some cool things about the mono version. The most obvious bonus of the mono version is the flanging used during "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." THAT IS SO EFFING COOL. But it's not there on the stereo version. Why not? Because "flanging" was done by hand back then - the effect was done by playing back two identical recordings but by placing your finger on the flange (that is, the physical reel) holding the tape on one of them, making them ever so slightly out of sync and causing that phasing effect. That was done live during the mono mix, but those in charge of doing the mixes didn't want to go through that hassle again when they did the stereo mix. (Same reason why "Your Mother Should Know" has the same effect on mono but not stereo.) And during the chord-that-never-ends in "A Day In The Life," you can actually hear a chair squeak in the mono version but it's not audible (or at least *as audible*) in the stereo version -- that's the kind of mistake that makes for cool listening! And finally...the sound on the mono mix -- and MOST mono Beatles mixes, for that matter -- just isn't good. It's all lows and middles with very little highs. Every time I heard a Beatles mono mix I want to take the treble control and turn it up to 20. The new stereo mix is great. Giles Martin said he used the mono mix as a guideline for that, but I don't hear that at all. Sounds closer to the original 1967 stereo mix to me, except that "She's Leaving Home" plays back at the wrong speed. Tell ya what I'd really love: the individual tracks so we can make our own mixes....or just sit in awe of the individual pieces. I was hoping the DVD-A/Blu-Ray would be like that, but it's not mixed as six separate channels....so much overlap in all the channels that it's not really worth listening to the stand-alone channels.

You know...I've never, ever played game 1! I'll have to give this a try. (I never, ever disliked the 2600 version of Pac-Man, by the way, even when it first came out and despite knowing how different it was from the original.) I'll post video in case I roll the score...

EPISODE 60 HAS BEEN RELEASED. Despite our best efforts at putting out a quality Podcast, Jeff Lee, creative genius behind Q*Bert, managed to sit through an entire episode to talk to us about his games, books, artwork, and other hobbies. If there ever was an episode of a podcast, this certainly is one of them. http://www.fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode060.mp3

EPISODE 17 HAS BEEN RELEASED. Jeffrey Lee is a talented artist who is the brains behind Q*Bert. In preparation for the upcoming episode on b*nQ, this crossover episode with Pie Factory Podcast features a talk with Jeff about Q*Bert and other games and works featuring his creativity. NOTE: If you listen to Pie Factory Podcast, this episode is virtually identical to Pie Factory Podcast episode 60, also released this morning. However, The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast version also includes contest details, including an additional clue not mentioned before! http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_017.mp3

Two games. Two arcade games. You play 'em. You shoot stuff. And one of the games has a dangling preposition in the title. And this will be the final Pie Factory Podcast episode until the next one. Which will be 60. Followed by 61 and 68, with possible episodes in between. Mark your calendar as such. http://www.fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode059.mp3

Well, if nothing else, you can use the ROM on a multicart or emulator -- Bob flat-out said he posts the ROMs so people can play!

"They are like that"....huh???

My only complaint is that it takes a long time to finish (I've yet to get past level 2, FWIW) and there doesn't seem to be a way to pick up where you left off if you turn the console off...doesn't take advantage of the HSC to mark your spot, and as far as I can tell there's no password system. The warps (or at least the warp I found!) are helpful.

We're such mavericks here at the Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast: after promising one game per episode, we present you with two games. (You're welcome.) We might throw around that word "contest" now and then, by the by. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode016.mp3

Perfect timing, my friend.

EXTRA! EXTRA! PIE FACTORY PODCAST 58 RELEASED! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, "The Empire Strikes Back," adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna virtvic. Ut Jim ad minim Sean, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco ferg nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in "Paperboy" velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. http://www.fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode058.mp3

Hey, all...want to gather feedback for some upcoming episodes of The Atari 7800 Homebrew Podcast (you can find it on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or use this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homebrew78 ). For episode 16, which, if on time, will be released Saturday, July 29, will cover Brek Brixius' Shoot the UFO 2015 and Bob DeCrescenzo's Meteor Shower. If you want your feedback addressed in that episode, then have it to me by noon CDT on Wednesday, July 26. All feedback received after that will be addressed in a later episode. LISTEN FOR A CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT! Episode 17, if all goes according to plan, will be a special crossover episode with Pie Factory Podcast: an interview with Q*Bert creator Jeffrey Lee. QUESTIONS FOR JEFF ARE WELCOME before tomorrow at noon CDT! (July 18) Scheduled release: August 12. Episode 18, assuming it comes out on time, will be out will cover Ken Siders' b*nQ and will be released on Saturday, August 26. If you want your feedback addressed in that episode, then have it to me by noon CDT on Wednesday, August 23. All feedback received after that will be addressed in a later episode. Episode 19, assuming it comes out on time, will be out will cover Bob DeCrescenzo's Armor Attack and will be released on Saturday, September 9. If you want your feedback addressed in that episode, then have it to me by noon CDT on Wednesday, September 6. All feedback received after that will be addressed in a later episode.

Heh. No need for apologies; there's always next episode.

In episode 15, the topic is Rip Off. The trend of Bob DeCrescenzo vector graphics arcade conversions continues with an obscure Cinematronics shooter. http://homebrew78.fab4it.com/media/hbh_episode_015.mp3

Ooh...you'd better let Tempest know about that. He's the proto guru. atariprotos.com

So, uhhh....we're going to be talking to Jeff Lee, graphic artist who worked at Gottlieb and has illustrated books and other stuff. There's a chance you might have heard of a character he created. Little bouncy guy named Q*Bert? Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway...if you have any questions you want us to ask Jeff, please e-mail us said questions to piefactorypodcast @ fab4it . com

vectrex.hackermesh.org - Mateos 16-in-1 rewritable. You get the multicast and the burner. (The burner also works with the Mateos Lynx and Vectrex multicarts). You drag and drop a ROM file via USB. Really good investment.

My first Atari experience was probably some very brief futzing with my brother's Touch Me. He was into those handheld LED games. He had a lot of the Mattel ones -- Auto Racing, Basketball, Football, Baseball.....and of course Atari Touch Me. He also had Comp IV. The first Atari experience to ever have an impact on me had to be at my uncle's house. He and my cousins introduced me to Space Invaders on the 2600. Played that for a while, and then my uncle took out Space Invaders and put in Super Breakout and showed that to me. I don't think I actually played Super Breakout that day, just watched him play. I don't remember for sure when it was, but it must have been 1981, because my next Space Invaders experience after that was playing the arcade game on President's Day weekend in 1982 at the game room in the Holiday Inn in Bradley, IL. I didn't know it was an arcade game until then. And I remember when K.C. Munchkin! was out on the Odyssey2, except I didn't know what console it was on. It piqued my interest because I knew it was a Pac-Man clone, and the thought of playing Pac-Man at home really blew my 7-year-old Pac-Maniac mind. I said out loud, "Ooh, I hope Uncle Phil gets that Munchkin game!" My brother said nope, it's an Odyssey2 game, not for Atari. Ahhhh, well. (My aunt did say they ordered it though!) I think the next time I played Atari was that summer, briefly at my next-door neighbor's house. Never liked those neighbors, but hey, when the opportunity to play Atari Pac-Man arose, I couldn't turn it down! It was my first time playing the 2600 Pac-Man, and as big a Pac-Man fan as I was (and still am), the huge differences didn't really put me off at all. I played that and a little bit of Freeway. I didn't care for Freeway; I saw it as a cheap Frogger rip-off (and only recently found out that both games were actually developed at roughly the same time, so one didn't necessarily influence the other.) Got my first Atari 2600 (four switch woodgrain) for Christmas in 1982. Hung on to it for about 24 years, when I got a 7800 and traded my 4-switch for a huge stack of MAME CDRs. Since then I've had three heavy sixers (I got an eBay lot that came with two heavy sixers and a junior -- and the item description did NOT mention the heavy sixers!), two juniors, a Vader (which I modded and gave away in a podcast contest), and currently in my possession are two Sears light sixers and two additional 7800s. I don't want to have too many consoles around, but I always loved the look of the Telegames sixers (I only want one -- the other came in a recent eBay lot I bid on); I decided to get a second 7800 when I realized what a pain it was to pack up my one 7800 when I went to Midwest Gaming Classic, so I wanted a backup. Well, the backup isn't friendly with 7800 carts (even without the plastic sleeve over the cartridge port it has a death grip on 7800 cartridges!), so I got another 7800 that I plan to mod and keep as my backup. About five years ago I bought a 5200 from a store in town for fifty bucks. I kept it a year or two; didn't like it. So I traded it with the aforementioned friend for his 600XL, which I then modded with 64k RAM so it's essentially an 800 XL. Haven't used it much though... And for Christmas my parents got me the Atari Flashback Portable. So yeah...in sum, my retro stuff consists of: - two Sears sixers (one of which I plan to keep) - three Atari 7800s (two of which I plan to keep, the third I'll probably sell off if I can get that cart port to be friendlier!) - an Atari 600XL - Atari Flashback Portable - GPD XD handheld, which I use not only for arcade, NES, SNES, and N64 emulation, but also for handheld 2600 gaming on the ROMs that don't work well on the FBP.

Really? Nothing about Rip Off?? (Then again, I don't think it's been a huge seller in the AA store...shame because it's a fun game.)

Time for episode 57! Believe it or not, this is not the first episode of Pie Factory Podcast to come out in July 2017. Except it is. And it's about two games this time. Just like almost all of the other episodes. You listen now. And you wish Steve Touhy of Touhyville a happy birthday. Now. http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode057.mp3

It's the first day of July. And you know what that means: well...nothing in particular -- except today! Yet another Bob DeCrescenzo arcade conversion. Yet another vector-style graphics game. Yet another Asteroids sequel. Yet another Saturday of fun-filled podcast listening! http://fab4it.com/homebrew78/media/hbh_episode_014.mp3

Well, more like the "what"... I'm trying to just find a list of games that the Blue Sky Rangers worked on. Search engines were no help. Does such a list exist?

BTW, sorry about the audio on this one. The way Jim and I usually do the podcast is we each record our own audio as we talk via Google Hangouts or Skype, and then the two resulting audio files are synched. Well, with Tim (our special guest) we had to do something different: Tim's computer didn't have enough power to record while Skyping, so what I did was record the Skype audio. Which meant that I was at the mercy of whatever was coming over the Internet. My audio was recording straight from my microphone, but Jim's and Tim's both came from the Skype feed.

Guess what...it's time for episode 56! That's right - episode 56, in which we talk about two Nintendo titles, is out! If we got any more specific, the theme would be too easy to guess! But we hope you enjoy this rollicking little kickoff to summer as your Pie Factory Podcast hosts are joined by a special guest to keep things a bit more under control. http://fab4it.com/piefactory/audio/PFP_Episode056.mp3