SPACE Newsletter

NEWSLETTER for November, 2004 President’s Corner by Michael Current November, 2004 Yes, it's election time again. Wait, you thought you just voted the other day? I mean, it's SPACE election time again! It's our Annual Meeting this month, time once again to elect a slate of club officers and secure volunteers for the non-elected club posts for another year. I believe all of our elected officers (including myself) have agreed to run for re-election again. I'm also quite sure that any of us would be more than willing to step aside to make room for others to get involved. Think about it! Anyway, it's very important that we have a good turnout for our Annual Meeting, so I hope to see you there this month. We also have an auction planned this month. As of last month the amount of stuff collected for auction was relatively small, but I plan on bringing in a little more to contribute, and anyone may do the same. I've picked up quite a bit of great Atari stuff through SPACE auctions over the years, so I always look forward to the next one! My delving into Atari history has continued, big time. Unfortunely I missed my deadline for this month's FAQ posting, so it'll be another two months before the world sees what I've been pulling together. Anyway, as far as the "corporate geneology" goes, I've traced Atari Games (the coinop maker) from Warner to Namco to independent to Time Warner to WMS to Midway (the most well-known lineage other than Atari Corp.); I've traced Atari Operations (an arcade operations business) from Atari Games to Namco; I've traced Atari Adventure (an earlier, _different_ arcade operations business) from Warner to Adventure Properties to Edison Brothers Stores to Namco; and I've traced the AtariTel VideoPhone to Mitsubishi Electric and their Luma Telecom U.S. subsidiary. I've done all this without using other people's web sites, but rather by documenting things myself using the types of more reputable research resources I was talking about last month. It's remarkable how incorrect much of what's on the web actually is. (I guess that's why we librarians like to think we still have some relevance!) More relevant to my 8-bit FAQ, I've also been filling in details of Atari 8-bit computers history. One of the most interesting things I found was a two-page ad for the 400/800 published in the January 1979 issue of Merchandising magazine. Remember, it was the January 1979 CES where Atari first introduced the 400/800. The ad was to encourage retailers to carry the computers when they'd be shipped later that year. This may well be the first printed ad for the 400/800 there ever

was. Some of the items pictured (400, 800, 410, 810, 820), especially the 410 recorders, look rather different from the released products. Graphic elements in the ad also don't match anything else that came from Atari later on. I'm trying to get a hold of a color copy of the ad (I found it on microfilm), so I can then get it up on the web. There's nothing like it on the web now. Nolan and I have been in contact about accessing the SPACE web site via mobile phone. This is a new concept for me, so I'm hoping he'll bring his phone this month so I can see what we're talking about! SPACE home page counter update: as of 10/30/04, 8:15am: 2,428 page views since June 7, 2003. Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your SPACE Annual Meeting, Friday November 12, 2004.

Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner For October, 2004

How could we have two of the best evenings we have seen this year appear on our SPACE meetings for September and October? Not only that we have had two consecutive weekends of the most beautiful weather you could possibly ask for. I think we are getting spoiled! Not only did we compete with the weather, but the Twins were playing the Yankees in game three of the playoffs with the series tied at one game apiece. Also the second presidential debate was being held on this particular Friday so it was really amazing that we had seven members show for the October meeting. I am glad we had a decent turnout because with the SPACE elections one month away, and an auction to be held next month it was important to be able to discuss these matters with half our membership in attendance. It seems that no members present wants the SPACE officers or other positions changed for next year. Nolan and myself have already indicated that we will serve our positions that we now hold for another year, and we hope that Michael will accept the nomination for President again for 2005. Don't forget that we can still take nominations next month if you weren't at the October meeting. Like I mentioned above, we will definitely have an auction at the November meeting even though we really don't have a lot of stuff right now. I would like to clear the storage room of all the auction material we have been holding the last few months, and I have a few things to add myself so even though

the auction will be short I am sure there will plenty of interest. Just to give you an idea of what I am bringing here is couple of items: An Epson 400 Stylus color inkjet printer with an extra ink cartridge, and an Okipage laser printer with three extra toner cartridges. We have some really nice 2600 related items donated by our President, and some 8-bit items donated by a former member. So let's see some support next month for our auction and also our election. Now for the SPACE bank information for October: Beginning balance for the month of October 1, 2004: 740.25 Receipts generated for the month of October: Membership renewals Dom's

45.00 12.00

Total revenue for October 2004

57.00

Expenses for the October meeting: BBS

20.00

Ending balance for the month of October 31, 2004:

777.25

We are building our treasury once again, and with the auction next month and no big expenditures until the bill for the third and fourth quarter room rental, we should be able to hit the $800 mark after the November meeting. We will need to plan our Xmas party also next month so as you can see we really have a lot of things to cover next month. It would be great if every SPACE member could make it next month; at least those who live in the close vicinity. Come and learn all the cool stuff Nolan has been working on concerning the BBS and our website. Find out how you can use you cell phone to connect. Buy the doms that Glen slaves away at each month and show that you want more than just a membership to say that you belong. Do this and we all win for many years to come. See you all next month.

Secretary's Report By Nolan Friedland For October, 2004

******************************************** A-T-A-R-I Answers-Tips-and Relevant-Information Paul V. Alhart 1989.1 I just thought you might want to know. In this column for Oct. 88 I expressed ANOTHER OPINION. I said that we didn't need any more NEW 8-bit software, but rather we needed access to the thousands of excellent programs that have ALREADY been written. It's nice to know that others share this opinion as evidenced by the January 89 issue of Antic. They are in the process of reviving the Antic Arcade which is similar to the old Atari APX. They hope to obtain the rights to some of the GREAT software that is no longer being produced by the original companies. The 8-bit Atari is NOT dead. Another encouraging and interesting bit of new showed up in the Nov. 88 Computer Shopper. A company called Data Que is marketing an 8/16-bit CPU upgrade for the 8-bit Atari. The TURBO 816 upgrade is a plug in board that replaces the 6502. It contains a 65C816 CPU, a new operating system that is said to be compatible with the 800/XL/XE operating systems, and all the required support chips. The full instruction set of the 6502 is supported as well as an instruction set for the 16-bit mode. In the 8-bit mode your present software should run the same as always, but switch to the 16-bit mode and you can now directly address 16 megabytes of RAM, number crunch at about 20 times your Atari's present speed, and more. Switching from 816-8 bit modes can be done from within a program as often as required to take advantage of 16-bit processing power and the built in 8-bit I/O routines, etc. Of course software will be needed to take advantage of all this power and Data Que working on this too. TURBO 816 retails for $99.95. For more information write to: Data Que 3306 Bank Avenue West P.O.Box 131 Ontario, Ohio 44862

********************************************** --Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 18:08:15 -0700 No Minutes Were Submitted.

BBS Corner By Nolan Friedland For November, 2004

Logitron has release their 3 great games under 'Abandonware Licence' ! Now you can download Sheer Agony, Aazohm Krypht, Operation Skuum and more for free at : http://logitron.atari.online.fr/liste.htm It's a french website but games are in English version.

Nothing Received This Month For The BBS Corner.

[This news item courtesy of Atari.org - http://www.atari.org/]

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--Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 21:28:06 -0700 Changes in RMT 1.17 ------------------- Menu Track: * Load and paste to actual track. * Save actual track as... * Clear all duplicated tracks, adjust song. (Note: This function is also included in Song - All size optimizations.) - New block effect/tool (menu Block - Effect/tools or Ctrl+F or toolbar button "FX") function: "Modify notes, instruments and volumes". - Function "Song - Prepare song line with unused empty tracks (Ctrl+P)" was changed to "Song - Insert new line with unused empty tracks (Ctrl+P)" and now it insert this new songline into actual song line positions, not to line below. - Function "Song - Prepare duplicated song line (Ctrl+O)" was changed to "Song - Insert copy or clone of song line(s) (Ctrl+O)" and now it shows new copy/clone dialog for setting of parameters for this very helpful function. - Menu Song: * Put new empty unused track to actual song position (Ctrl+N). - "File - Export as XEX Atari executable msx" there is possible to: * define 4+1 lines now. 5th line is showed instead of 4th line if Atari SHIFT key is pressed. * define color of rasterline meter. - "File - Export as SAP file" there is possible to define hexadecimal song line numbers for more SAP module subsongs. Initial values are prepared by automatic subsong-detection algorithm, but you can change it at pleasure. - Added "*.tm8" extension in Import TMC open file dialog. - New option in Config dialog (menu View - Configuration): * F1-F8 keyboard layout: - RMT original keyboard layout. - Layout 2: F1=track edit,F2=instrument edit,F3=info edit,F4=song edit F5=Play,F6=Play from start,Ctrl+F7=Play tracks,F7=Replay tracks,F8=Stop (This layout is for F5-F8 keys identical with some other renowned module tracker programs.) Accessories - Atari RMT player RMTPL104.XEX (new version 1.04) is in "player" directory. (There is short description in RMTPL104.TXT file.) New songs - Song "hexxagon.rmt" (Hexxagon music & sfx, raster/c.p.u., 2003) Song "basix.rmt" (Basix, by raster/c.p.u. 2004) Song "gemx.rmt" (Gem'x song, Atari version by raster/c.p.u. 2004) in "songs" directory. (SAP file "hexxagon.sap" with 6 subsongs is in "exports/sap" directory.) (SAP file "basix.sap" with 9 subsongs is in "exports/sap" directory.)

Bug fixes - Revision of keyboard control. NumLock mode is turned off all the time when tracker main window is active, so that key combinations Shift+NumBlockKeys are working as well as state of right Shift key can be correctly detected now. - Internal improvement of TMC import algorithm (better recognition of identical tracks arised from other tracks by song shift parameter). - If tracker window isn't active, MIDI events on channel 0 are ignored. - Other small corrections and bugfixes. Enjoy it! Greetings, raster/c.p.u. URL: http://www.infos.cz/raster/atari/rmt/rmt.htm [This news item courtesy of Atari.org - http://www.atari.org/]

********************************************** --Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 16:59:58 -0700 ACE MIDI V1.10 Released! Poly/Mono modes, portamento, improved support for accelerators – to name a few of the new features of ACE MIDI. ACE MIDI V1.10 is only available for registered users. Get a demo version of ACE MIDI from the productions page: http://newbeat.atari.org/main.php?page=productions -Best regards, Paul CAILLET http://music-atari.org/

********************************************** --Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:00:50 -0700 Anyone wanting to help with the MEGA DEMO project with have access to swap files with other members. The list is public so all who would like to join are welcome, You can ask the experts all you want and help others out also, swap source code etc. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mega_stos [This news item courtesy of Atari.org - http://www.atari.org/]

********************************************** --From: webmaster@klassische-videospiele.de (www.classicvideogames.com) --Date: 20 Oct 2004 17:16:55 -0700 I'm giving up business until end of 2004 and still have large qts. Of hardware and games. Please note : I cannot ship single games, because min. shipping is $35.

Payment is possible with paypal, checks , money orders or cash.

3.00 * Galaxian (ATARI) NTSC 3.00 * International Soccer (Telegames)

ATARI XL/XE games are NTSC.ATARI 2600 games mostly PAL when NTSC isn't mentioned. Contact : webmaster@klassische-videospiele.de or lord-chaos@t-online.de I can supply pictures (scans and photos) if you need them. All games new & boxed. Thimo Hardware : CX-30 Paddles , ATARI, new and boxed , $8 , ca. 20-30 available CX-50 Keyboard Controllers, new and boxed, $6 , ca. 100 available Telegames Joysticks , new and boxed, $5, ca. 100 available Footpedals, ca. 800 available, $1 each (heavy), S0.50 if you take them all. (They take a lot of space and I have to throw them away if nobody buys them). Sears Paddle/Joystick Controller, $3, ca. 100 available GAMES : (*) means 20+ copies available

4.00 Jungle Hunt (ATARI) NTSC 5.00 Keystone Kapers (Activision) 2.00 * KF Superkicks (Telegames) 4.00 * Kung Fu Master (Activision) 4.00 Lock 'n' Chase (Telegames) 3.00 * Mission 3000 (Bit Corp.) 5.00 Moon Patrol (ATARI) NTSC 3.00 * My Golf (Salu) 5.00 Oscar's Trash Race (ATARI) Kids Controller req. 3.00 * Phantom Panzer (Bit Corp.) 2.00 * Pick 'n' Pile (UBI Soft) 2.00 * Quest for Quintana Roo (Telegames) mostly PAL 5.00 Rampage (Activision) 2.00 * RealSports Football (ATARI) NTSC 2.00 * Realsports Tennis (ATARI) PAL or NTSC 2.00 * RealSports Volleyball (ATARI) NTSC 6.00 River Raid 2 (HES, Activision) 3.00 * Schnecke gegen Eichhörnchen (Bit Corp.) 4.00 Sea Monster (Bit Corp.) 4.00 Sesam öffne dich (Bit Corp.) 5.00 Smurf (CBS) 4.00 Space Attack (Telegames) 2.00 * Super Breakout (ATARI) Paddles req4.00 * Telegames Joystick (Telegames) 4.00 Tennis (Activision) 4.00 * Title Match Pro Wrestling (Absolute) 4.00 * Tomcat - F14 Fighter (Absolute) 4.00 * Universal Chaos (Telegames) 3.00 * Weltraum Tunnel (Bit Corp.) 5.00 Winter Games (Epyx) 3.00 World Championship Baseball (Telegames)

ATARI 2600 : 5.00 Acid Drop (Salu) 5.00 Adventure on GX-12 (Telegames) 5.00 Alpha Beam with Ernie (ATARI) Kids Controller req. 4.00 Armour Ambush (Telegames) 2.00 * Astro Blast (Telegames) 2.00 * Big Bird's Egg Catch (ATARI) Kids Controller req 4.00 Bobby geht heim (Bit Corp.) 3.00 * Bogey Blaster (Telegames) 2.00 * Bump 'n' Jump (Telegames) 3.00 * Chess 5.00 Circus ATARI (ATARI) Paddles req. 5.00 Circus Paddles req. 5.00 Commando (Activision) 2.00 * Cookie Monster (ATARI) Kids Controller req. 4.00 Dancing Plates (Bit Corp.) 4.00 Deadly Discs (Telegames) 5.00 Decathlon (Activision) 5.00 Double Dragon (Activision) 4.00 E.T. (ATARI) NTSC 8.00 Fatal Run (ATARI) 3.00 Football (Telegames) 9.00 Forest (Sancho) 5.00 Frostbite (Activision)

2.00 * Mat Mania ATARI 7800 2.00 * Sentinel ATARI 7800 ATARI 800 XL/XE Carts : 3.00 * Archon 3.00 * Ballblazer 5.00 Crime Buster (Lightgun) 3.00 * Crossbow (Lightgun) 4.00 David´s Midnight Magic 4.00 * Desert Falcon 3.00 * Gato 3.00 * Hardball 3.00 * One on One 6.00 Rescue on Fractalus 3.00 * Star Raiders 2 3.00 * Thunderfox XL carts 5.00 Eastern Front 1941 3.00 * Final Legacy 4.00 Millipede 5.00 Moon Patrol 3.00 * Pole Position

5.00 RealSports Football 5.00 Robotron 2084 3.00 * Tennis XL Disk (48K) 3.00 * Mickey in the Great Outdoors

********************************************** --From: "Richard Gore" <richard@rgore.freeserve.co.uk> --Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 13:47:20 +0100 Dear all 8-bit users After many years of absence I finally found my way back onto these pages. I don't know if anybody remembers me but I did some commercial software retailing and a bit of programming some years back. I've dusted down and opened the boxes, here's what I have left; GAUNTLET DEEPER DUNGEONS DISK US/MINDSCAPE Version £5 - $10 SUPER PRINT LAB XE DISK (my own creation, graphics 8 design and print program) £5 - $10 SOLAR STAR DISK (commercial game from Microdaft) £3 $5 ARENA* (commercial software from Visionaire software) £5 - $10 BUBBLEZONE* (commercial software from Visionaire software) £5 - $10 MOUSEKATTACK £5 - $10 JAWBREAKER £5 - $10 GTRACKER and XL utilities disk (digi sound manipulation) £5 - $10 * also available as PC XFORMER and XL-it! games on PC disk, same price. If anybody is interested, prices include p&p / shipping by cheapest method. -Regards Richard Gore

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