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Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective
Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective episodes
- Ep. 34: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 2: Q1 1983
5200 coverage in magazines from January through March 1983. Plus a special bonus look at a NY Times article about Warner's stunning December 1982 earnings shortfall caused by Atari's massive financial loss.
1983- Q1 1983 First Quarter P.O.P. (Point Of Purchase) Support
- Jan 1983 Video Games Vol 1, #4
- Jan 1983 ANALOG Computing #9
- Jan 1983 Joystik Magazine
- Jan 1983 Electronic Games Vol 1, #11
- Jan/Feb 1983 Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #5
- Feb 1983 Video Games Vol 1, #5
- Feb 1983 Creative Computing Vol 9, #2
- Feb 1983 Electronic Games
- Mar 1983 ANALOG Computing #10
- 12/19/82 NY Times article “The Game Turns Serious at Atari”
- Mar 1983 Video Games
- Worm War 1 TV commercial
- Mar/Apr 1983 Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #6
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 34
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 58 min - Ep. 33: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 3
Coverage of a few magazines I missed last time. Live plays of two games, tips to speed up disk drive I/O, and articles on how automation has changed TV and film production.
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Softalk- Softalk Vol 3, #4
- Assembly Lines book
- Total Replay harddisk image
- Axlon RAMDISK 320k
- Passport auto-cracking tool
Nibble- Nibble Vol 3, #8
- Nibble disk
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 33
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 30 min - Ep. 32: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 2
Coverage of Atari Connection, APX, Byte, C&VG, Micro, Softside, Page 6 & Atari I/O for Dec 1982. Another Chris Crawford article on game design, a review of Steve Wozniak’s US Festival, and will Forth become the official language of the podcast?
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Atari Connection- Atari Connection Vol 2, #4
- Mastering Rubik's Cube by Don Taylor
- Josh Malone’s USB CX-85 numeric keypad mod
APX Catalog- APX Catalog Winter 1982
Byte- Byte Vol 7, #12
- Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
- Byte Magazine Atari articles only by Kay Savetz
- TRON soundtrack composer Wendy Carlos
- Women in Electronic Music
- Sisters with Transistors documentary film
Computer & Video Games- C&VG Issue #14
Micro 6502/6809 Journal- Micro #55
SoftSide- Softside #36
- Starting Forth online edition
- Edsger W Dijkstra
- Dijkstra’s rant on languages
- History of Forth language
- Forth cross compiler
- History of Computing Podcast episode on Pascal
Page 6- Page #1
- History of Page 6 magazine
Atari Input/Output- Atari Input/Output #1
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 32
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 58 min - Ep. 31: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 1
Coverage of Antic, Compute!, Creative Computing, Dec 1982. Chris Crawford on Legionnaire, first rumors of the IBM PCjr, and two articles predicting the future: Compute! does OK while Creative Computing gets a bunch of whammies. Also: Bullwinkle’s restaurant, sexism and mansplaining about whether educational software should ask kids their gender, and Bahrain doctors, video games & epilepsy.
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Antic- Antic Vol 1, #5
- Stratos by Neil Larimer
- ANTIC Podcast interview with Linda Schreiber
- Legionnaire by Chris Crawford
Compute!- Compute #31
- IBM PCjr
- HP 85 Computer
- Xanadu, the Home of the Future
- Monrobot desk computer
Creative Computing- Creative Computing Vol 8, #12
- CIA World Factbook on Bahrain
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 31
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 49 min - Ep. 30: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 1: 1982
In a special multi-part series comparing the 8-bit computers to the 5200 console, this first episode focuses on 1982. Scanning the regular magazines for mentions of the 5200, I also scour other magazines for both 8-bit and 5200 coverage. Only in this special series will you hear article summaries from these periodicals: Electronic Games, JoyStik, Video Games, Video Games Player and Atari Age Magazine.
Introduction- Atari 5200 Super Community Podcast
- The Atari 5200 Podcast
- Atari 3200 prototype
- Gremlins: last official release for the 5200
Technical References- Business is Fun by Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel
- Jan 1984 ANALOG Computing #15 article Transporting programs to the 5200
- Feb 1984 ANALOG Computing #16 update for 2-port 5200
Magazine Chronology- Jan 8, 1982: Atari Press Release Announcing the 5200
- Winter 1981/1982 Electronic Games
- Mar 1982 Electronic Games
- Command Line Heroes podcast about Jerry Lawson
- May 1982 Electronic Games
- May/Jun 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #1
- Jun 1982 Electronic Games
- Jul/Aug 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #2
- Aug 1982 Video Games Vol 1, #1
- Billy Mitchell & Perfect Pac-Man
- Historical overview of fake Pac-Man high scores & Billy Mitchell’s Fraud
- Background research for the above
- Sep 1982: Video Games Player
- Sept 1982: Joystik Magazine
- Sep/Oct 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #3
- Nov 1982 The Video Game Update Vol 1, #8
- Nov 1982 Joystik Magazine
- Nov 1982 Electronic Games
- Nov/Dec 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #4
- Creative Computing Vol 8, #12
- Dec 1982 Joystik Magazine
- Dec 1982 Video Games Vol 1, #3
- Dec 1982 Electronic Games
- Arcadia 2001 overview
- Late 1982 Atari P.O.P. (Point Of Purchase) and Advertising Support
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 30
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 51 min - Ep. 29: Nov 1982: Byte, CVG, CGW, Micro, Softline, Softside
Coverage of the remaining magazines for Nov 1982.
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Byte- Byte Vol 7, #11
Computer & Video Games- C&VG Issue #13
Computer Gaming World- CGW Vol 2, #6
- AtariAge forum post on cheat codes
- Legionnaire gameplay video
Micro 6502/6809 Journal- Micro #54
Softline- Softline #2.2
- Kay Savetz interview with Jerry White
- Jerry White’s software
- Bill Williams Atari Sounds, part 3
SoftSide- Softside #35
Feedback- Dennis Debro’s Atari 2600 disassemblies
- Free ringtones from Stef Animal
- Stef Animal creates a track in one day
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 29
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 30 min - Ep. 28: Nov 1982: ANALOG, Compute!, Creative Computing
Format experiment: splitting magazine coverage across two episodes and separating game reviews to their own episodes.
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
ANALOG- ANALOG Computing #8
- Inverse ATASCII S4E07: Money Manager
Compute!- Compute #30
- Atari 1000 project info from Atari Museum
- Jeepers Creepers at Atarimania
- VisiCalc @ Inverse ATASCII
- Effectus, modern cross compiler for Action!
Creative Computing- Creative Computing Vol 8, #11
- Video Invaders book by Steve Bloom at the Internet Archive
Feedback- SortViz sorting algorithm visualization on the Atari
- Bill Kendrick tested plotting in GR.0 and it uses ATASCII values, not ANTIC
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 28
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
1 hr 14 min - Ep. 27: Oct 1982: Worm War I
A friend gets his first game published in Computers & Video Games! 6 other magazines this episode, and I try to dissect my first kernel game, Worm War I. Or is it 1? It’s a super important distinction.
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Antic- Antic Vol 1, #4
Compute!- Compute #29
- Paperclip by Batteries Included, reviewed by Wade on Inverse ATASCII
Creative Computing- Creative Computing Vol 8, #10
- Ted Nelson Mail Project
Byte- Byte Vol 7, #10
Computer & Video Games- C&VG Issue #12
- Wild Strawberries
Micro 6502/6809 Journal- Micro #53
SoftSide- Softside #34
Game Review: Worm War I- Worm War I at Atarimania
- Tom McWilliams sold his first game for $60,000
- Home page of David Lubar, author of the 2600 version
- Worm War 1 on Ferg’s Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast
- Sirius Software’s Atari titles at Atarimania
Feedback- Dog Daze Deluxe with 1 player mode
Production Notes- Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
- Episode page: Episode 27
- Twitter: @atari8bitgames
2 hr - Ep. 26: Sep 1982: Deluxe InvadersStrap yourselves in for coverage of 11 magazine issues including a tiny bit on the large magazine Byte -- there’s an article on Star Raiders strategies that I can’t pass up. Game review is of Deluxe Invaders, which is a high quality Space Invaders clone. Oh, and there’s a discussion of a game called Hazard Run and its ties to a bad TV show and a worse flag.Introduction
- Bally Astrocade website
- Bally Astrocade podcast: Bally Alley Astrocast
- Source of Bally Artillery game
- Demo of Bally Artillery game from last month’s Creative Computing
- Twitter review of Rear Guard by RetroAnalyst
- Retrogame Deconstruction Zone
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
ANALOG- ANALOG Computing #7
- Star Raiders on the 2600
Compute!- Compute #28
- Speed Reading comprehension
Creative Computing... For 36 more links, see the show notes
2 hr 35 min - Ep. 25: Aug 1982: Rear GuardAdding a new magazine to the coverage: Softline, a games-focused magazine published by the people responsible for Softalk. Also a review of Rear Guard, a game that’s appeared in full-page color ads for many months in magazines.Introduction
- AtariAge discussion on the term IRG
Magazines- Atari 8-bit magazines
Antic- Antic Vol 1, #3
Compute!- Compute #27
- Atari Jaguar injection molded cases used for dental equipment
Creative Computing- Creative Computing Vol 8, #8
- 57 games by SSI for the Atari
- Full page ad for Rear Guard on Pg 50
- Full page ad for Crush, Crumble & Chomp
- Khan Academy explanation of elastic collisions
... For 34 more links, see the show notes
2 hr 38 min
About Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective
From the publisher's feed
A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.