Into The Vertical Blank

In our quest to discover the secrets of programming 8 and 16 bit computers this season, we caught up with Dan Kitchen, a true survivor of the 80's video game crash, still making games today. 

 In fact, he's on a quest to build and publish a brand new set of games for the Atari VCS  n the spirit of Activision, the company he and his brothers Garry and Steve once worked for and ran the east coast branch

We Catch Steve and Dan Talking about Dan’s new game and then start to dig into the History of the Kitchen Brothers

In part 2 we get into deeper topics including Gary Kitchen’s game Maker,which Dan ported to the Apple II and created all of the demo games for the Commodore 64 version. Its a piece of software that as an Atari 800 user we were very jealous of not having on our own machine. 

Http://www.dankitchen.com 

What was Atari's biggest mistake? To truly be inside The Vertical Blank is to ruminate on "what could have been." For Atari, there are many "what could have been" moments. What if they produced The Amiga computer? What if they released the NES? In this two-part season opener we delve into, what we believe, was the biggest mistake Atari ever made. Any mention of the games Pac-Man and E.T. for the Atari VCS elicit groans from Atari fans because they have heard the arguments before: they are "the worst ever", they "caused the crash". But what if those games were only a small part of much bigger and more fundamental mistake that Atari made in the 80's, that still has repercussions today?

Show Note Links

Atari Age Issue 1 - Pac Man Interview: https://www.atariage.com/magazines/magazine_page.php?MagazineID=1&CurrentPage=2

Atari Age Issue 1 - Word Find : https://www.atariage.com/magazines/magazine_page.php?MagazineID=1&CurrentPage=10

Atari Pac Man Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FHkMqHx5xM

Remember back in the 70's, after May sweeps, when   in the TV Guide it would say Happy Days had a (New) episode, but when you watched, it was just Fonzie, Ritchie and Laurie Beth reminiscing about what-not or whatever, as an excuse to play old clips and save money on production.  This is that, but oh so much worse.  Enjoy!
Includes:
- A new discussion with updates on past episodes
- Clips from all season 1 episodes
- An "emily" supercut
-A new "season 3" opening we are testing out

In this season 2 bonus episode, Steve makes a  visit to CES 2020 and looks in all corners for signs of retro games.  

Some photos here:
http://www.8bitrocket.com/2020/01/15/s218-bonus-2-porch-cjops-and-retro-games-sizzle-at-ces-2020/

This episode is a quick apology for mixing an episode of The Alarm podcast into the Into The Vertical Blank Feed.   This episode contains content that never made it into season 2 including book reviews for Galaga from Boss Fight Books and American Nerd, The Story Of My People, as well as a remote collecting excusrion and a lost intro for S2:E15.   Again, sorry about the mix-up. 

Republished Decamber 24th 2023

From 2019: The best @#$! Chrustmas Ever!

The Season 2 finale of Into The Vertical Blank. In this episode we pull out all the stops and explain exactly why Atari means so much to us. This honest, naked, all-cards-on-the-table, frank episode includes an Eponymous Story named "The Best #*@! Christmas Ever" that tells all. There is also discussion and a remix that incorporates the entirety of Season 2. This is probably not the final episode ever of Into The Vertical Blank, but if it was, we'd be satisfied that we achieved what we set out to do: exorcise the demons of our past and discover why we are here in the first place.

In this episode we dig into American Thanksgiving 1986 and discuss our transition from the Atari 800 to the Atari ST with the Atari 7800 squeezed in between.

Tony Longworth:
https://patreon.com/tonylongworth

Some of the music in this Episode was created using an 8bitweapon Loop Library:
https://8bitweapon.com/

The original Atari playfield From 8bitrocket.com
http://www.8bitrocket.com/2018/07/28/atari-play-field-atari-st-games-1-michtron/

All other audio content, production and engineering by Jeff and Steve Fulton

(c) 2019 8bitrocket Studios

We salute Asteroids 40th anniversary with a discussion of how things have changed since 1979, and with a rebroadcast of the story "Escape To The Asteroids Zone"

Into the vertical Blank: Generation Atari Season 2 Episode 13 : The Haunting of the Vertical Blank

See some photos of the actual ESP tests here:
http://www.8bitrocket.com/2019/10/20/s2e13-the-haunting-of-the-vertical-blank/

This time the guys discuss “scary” Atari games (mostly *not* scary all), some real-world experiences that beg the question “Was Jeff and Steve’s 520 Atari ST haunted?”, a story about a creepy pen and paper “game” that had a profound effect on the pair growing up, and finally, a look into the very scary world viral indie games circa 2007-2008.

Games Mentioned:

Atari 2600 Haunted House : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFEC0ZX_f70

Atari 2600 Demon Attack : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GwoSr12kxY

Atari 2600 Demons to Diamonds : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppQ7RNLE_v0

Atari 2600 Supercharger Escape from the Mind Master : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfw1GEMmlos

Atari 400/800/XE/XE Satans Hollow : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JppyKelUX4g

Atari 400/800/XL/XE Deadline :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HrVXBLXajo

Atari 400/800/XL/XE Suspect:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLlUsQQhz58

Satan’s Hollow (Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eChgXxuEYJY

Colecovision Mr. Do:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d37Hd2ZqXFQ

Atari ST Kult : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ealqGjO90h8

Atari ST Dungeon Master : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiEgnbqeU0k

Atari ST Phantasie II : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPlkbuPzkRM

Atari ST Hound of Shadow : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SPO7Q3IdF4&list=PLFl3jwQIfR79HDKr_LNVYS2rmurbimiK3

Atari ST Star Raiders : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdbaFHzfmvc

Atari 2600 Donkey Kong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzI1RBdK2_g

Pumpkinman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6_gOiWNQME

DragonQuest  1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZR5FzQCDgE

Phantasy Star 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H8ipEeE1f8

Final Fantasy 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ9m5DkWSVs

TV Shows Mentioned:

El Camino a Breaking Bad Story : https://www.netflix.com/title/81078819

Expedition Unknown: Afterlife: https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/expedition-unknown-search-for-the-afterlife/episodes 

Podcasts Mentioned:

Gimlet Startup : https://gimletmedia.com/shows/startup

Books Mentioned:

Arcade Perfect: https://www.amazon.com/Arcade-Perfect-Pac-Man-Coin-Op-Classics/dp/1079275541/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=arcade+perfect&qid=1571587622&sr=8-1

Nights In White Castle : https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Rushin/e/B001H6WDVA?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1571587706&sr=8-1

Music Mentioned:

The Who - The: Music Must Fade : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpKhGNaiS6c

The Who - Ball And Chain:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2IN8wYqQ6E

From  The Liturgy of 8bitrocket Pumpkin Man

Pumpkinman Mid-Mortem

http://www.8bitrocket.com/2007/12/11/pumpkin-man-mid-mortem/

New Grounds Pumpkinman Page

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/430593

8bitrocket Pumpkinman goes gold!

http://www.8bitrocket.com/2008/02/29/8bitrocket-pumpkinman-goes-gold/

8bitrocket 5 Year Anniversary : Throwing Up the Past and Top-10 Of Everything We could Think Of

http://www.8bitrocket.com/2011/12/15/8bitrocket-5-year-anniversary-throwing-up-the-past-and-top-10-of-everything-we-could-think-of/