Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective

Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective

By Player/MissileLeisureVideo GamesHistory
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Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective episodes

  • Ep. 24: Jul 1982: Typo Attack
    Just a regular ol’ episode talking about magazines, learning typing during the pandemic, and if we’ve finally seen the end of creepy William Shatner ads for the VIC-20.
    Magazines
    • Atari 8-bit magazines
      • iCompute!
      • Compute #26
      • Fred D’Ignazio interview on the ANTIC Podcast
      • Inverse ATASCII review of LJK’s Data Perfect
        • Creative Computing
        • Creative Computing Vol 8, #7
          • APX Catalog
          • APX Summer 1982
          • Carol Shaw’s Calculator source code hardcopy
          • OCR text of calculator source
          • ANTIC, the Atari 8-bit podcast
          • Eaten by a Grue
            • Byte

            ... For 18 more links, see the show notes

            1 hr 15 min
          • Ep. 23: Jun 1982: Quarxon
            Phase 2 begins with the usual magazine coverage and a review of Quarxon, a two-player shoot-each-other game with prominent use of Display List Interrupts. In the tech section, I use Omnivore to discover how these DLIs work.
            Introduction
            • Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
            • Stef Animal's Pico-8 game: The Spooky House
            • Pico-8 virtual machine (a "fantasy video game console")
            • XLXE Podcast
              • Magazines
              • Atari 8-bit magazines
                • ANTIC
                • Antic Vol 1, #2
                  • Atari Connection
                  • Atari Connection Vol 2, #2
                    • Byte
                    • Byte Vol 7, #6
                    • Full text of De Re Atari

                      • ... For 14 more links, see the show notes

                      1 hr 48 min
                    • Ep. 22: Special Episode: Phase 2
                      Introducing Phase 2 of the Player/Missile extended podcastimatic universe. The magazine coverage will stay the same, but instead of a typical game review, I will focus on reverse engineering to discover interesting game programming techniques used by the authors of these classic games. I intend it to be a tutorial on the use of Omnivore, the desktop application I've designed that includes many reverse engineering tools, including a built-in emulator and debugger.
                      Tech Section
                      • Omnivore, my 8-bit reverse engineering platform
                        • 6 min
                      • Ep. 21: May 1982: Fujirun

                        The hiatus is over. With my new slimmed-down post-production, I now plan to get back to regular episodes. For this one, it's the usual magazine coverage and some talk about the retro-computing projects I've been doing in the last year.

                        Introduction
                        • KansasFest!
                          • Richard Broadhurst's Programs
                          • Astroblaster
                          • Carnival
                          • Frogger
                          • Phoenix
                          • Emulated hardware arcade port of Circus
                            • Tech Section
                            • Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor
                              • Magazines
                              • Atari 8-bit magazines
                                • ANALOG
                                • Analog #6
                                • Antic Podcast Interview #214: Ron Hartman of K-Byte Software

                                  • ... For 13 more links, see the show notes

                                  1 hr 30 min
                                • Ep. 20: Apr 1982: Jumpman

                                  The culmination of the first "season" of the Player/Missile podcast is a review of my favorite game and the announcement of the project undertaken by Kevin Savetz and myself to reverse engineer the game. We're sponsoring a level design contest, and there's still time to enter! Oh, and I'm taking a hiatus until I can collect the physical magazines. You can help out with your contributions!

                                  Introduction
                                  • KansasFest!
                                  • Chris Torrence's Softalk Apple (video) Podcast
                                  • I'm a guest on Antic Episode 33!
                                  • Atari 8 bit ads
                                  • Intellivisionaries
                                  • Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984
                                  • Article and photo of Mark Reid winning the 1983 Atari Star Award
                                    • Listener Written Programs
                                    • Wade's windowing system in Action!
                                      • MAME Cabinet
                                      • MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
                                      • More details on MAME cabinet
                                        • Tech Section
                                        • Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor
                                        • AtariAge forum post announcing Omnivore
                                        • Jumpman Level Editor for C64

                                          • ... For 19 more links, see the show notes

                                          1 hr 44 min
                                        • Ep. 19: Mar 1982: Getaway!
                                          Game review of Getaway! and interview with the author Mark Reid. The program won the Atari Star Award and the $25,000 prize in 1983. I also introduce Omnivore, the 8-bit binary editor that I've been working on during the hiatus. Kevin Savetz has a guest review of the APX Spring Catalog, and we add a new section to the podcast, the countdown to the Tramiel takeover.
                                          Introduction
                                          • Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor
                                          • Player/Missile Blog
                                          • AtariAge forum post announcing Omnivore
                                          • AtariAge forum post with Wade's new Getaway! level
                                          • Dan Boris's Atari Disk Explorer
                                          • Atari Disk Explorer on github
                                            • Feedback
                                            • San Leandro Computer Club
                                            • SLCC home page
                                            • AtariAge forum post: 1200XL Owners Club (serial tracker)
                                            • Atari Party 2016! Saturday, Jul 30, 2016
                                            • Vintage Computer Festival West, Aug 6-7, 2016
                                              • Listener Written Programs
                                              • Tom Raidna's Windows IDE & code builder for his TUI (Text User Interface)

                                                • MAME Cabinet

                                                ... For 48 more links, see the show notes

                                                2 hr 27 min
                                              • Ep. 18: Feb 1982: Flight Simulators, Part 2b
                                                Part 2b of the flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson, reviewing helicopter sims and the all-time classic F-15 Strike Eagle. Plus: an update on speeding up Star Raiders.
                                                Introduction
                                                • Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
                                                • Pictures from the AtariAge booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo
                                                • XEGS Cart-by-Cart Podcast
                                                • They Create Worlds Podcast
                                                • They Create Worlds Blog
                                                  • Feedback
                                                  • Interview with Dona Bailey, Centipede co-creator
                                                  • Hidden Maze from Compute!'s First Book of Atari Games
                                                  • Wikipedia article on maze generation
                                                  • Bill Kendrick's maze generator web game
                                                  • Bill Kendrick's printable mazes
                                                  • Bill Kendrick's 10-line BASIC maze generator
                                                  • San Leandro Computer Club
                                                  • SLCC home page
                                                    • Listener Written Programs
                                                    • RetroChallenge in January!
                                                      • MAME Cabinet

                                                      ... For 33 more links, see the show notes

                                                      2 hr 13 min
                                                    • Ep. 17: Jan 1982: Shamus
                                                      The universe of games really begins to expand in 1982. From here on out we'll have a huge selection of choices to talk about, and Shamus by Cathryn Mataga leads us off. Also, an interview with Michael Portuesi who is both a published author in Compute!'s books and a listener to the podcast.
                                                      Introduction
                                                      • Ten Pence Arcade podcast
                                                      • San Leandro Computer Club
                                                        • Feedback
                                                        • Interview with Dona Bailey, Centipede co-creator
                                                          • MAME Cabinet
                                                          • MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
                                                          • More details on MAME cabinet
                                                            • Tech Section
                                                            • Python program to split ATR/XFD images
                                                            • My half-finished game Air Defense
                                                            • Source code to Air Defense
                                                            • ATasm, a Mac/65 cross assembler
                                                            • 2015 ABBUC Software Contest
                                                              • Magazines

                                                              ... For 16 more links, see the show notes

                                                              2 hr 18 min
                                                            • Ep. 16: Dec 1981: Flight Simulators, Part 2a
                                                              The first half of the military flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson. I've included a bonus tech section at the end discussing a clever display list technique used by the MicroProse sims. Guest reviews: Michael Glaser of the XEGS Cart-by-Cart podcast covers SoftSide and Kevin Savetz summarizes the APX Winter 1981 Catalog.
                                                              Introduction
                                                              • Thanks to Wade from Inverse ATASCII for the ANALOGs & Flight Simulator II
                                                              • AtariAge forum thread: 2 worthy video game podcasts
                                                              • Internet History Podcast By Brian McCullough
                                                              • Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
                                                              • XEGS Cart-by-Cart Podcast
                                                              • ANTIC Podcast
                                                                • Feedback
                                                                • The History of 8-bit Computer Games in The USA #1 : CGW Nov/Dec 1981
                                                                • Sprite Castle, the C64 game review podcast with Rob O'Hara
                                                                • No Quarter episode 89: Arcade Draft #1
                                                                • No Quarter episode 123: Arcade Draft #2
                                                                  • Listener Written Programs
                                                                  • The Space Invaders TRS-80 'Bootleg' Project
                                                                    • MAME Cabinet
                                                                    • MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
                                                                    • More details on MAME cabinet

                                                                      • ... For 35 more links, see the show notes

                                                                      2 hr 40 min
                                                                    • Ep. 15: Nov 1981: Reversi II
                                                                      Two new magazines for the coverage: Computer Gaming World and my first magazine from the UK: Computer & Video Games, and two guest reviewers of magazines. An overview of KansasFest from the Atari point of view, and a review of the APX game Reversi II.
                                                                      Introduction
                                                                      • California Extreme Arcade/Pinball show July 18 & 19 2015
                                                                      • CA Extreme twitter
                                                                      • Pictures from CA Extreme
                                                                        • KansasFest
                                                                        • KansasFest
                                                                        • More from Rebecca Heineman: Antic Interview #64
                                                                        • Steve Mayer: Antic Interview #65
                                                                        • Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Python
                                                                        • Ringtones from Atari 8-bit games
                                                                        • HackFest
                                                                          • Podcasters Summit
                                                                          • Retro Computing Roundtable Ep #105
                                                                          • Carrington Vanston from Retro Computing Roundtable
                                                                          • John Leake from RetroMacCast
                                                                          • John Linville from The CoCo Crew
                                                                          • Ken Gagne from Polygamer
                                                                          • ... and also from Indiesider
                                                                          • Kevin Savetz from ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast
                                                                          • Michael Mulhurn from Retro Computing Roundtable
                                                                          • Mike Whalen from Electric Dreams BBS Podcast

                                                                            • ... For 43 more links, see the show notes

                                                                            1 hr 51 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.