March 2010
NEWSLETTER for March 2010 President’s Corner by Michael Current March 2010
March madness is upon us! Missile Command is back, again, this time as a free online game at www.atari.com. And, can you believe it, there may eventually be a Missile Command Hollywood movie?? Why not plug in your Missile Command cart and give it a go today? You know you want to! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday March 12, 2010.
$75.00 for the SPACE newsletter. A total yearly expenditure of about $500.00 give or take a few dollars. So I fugure we take in around $125.00 from dom sales yearly; another $150.00 in membership renewals and $200.00 on average for our SPACE auctions. So if my calculations are correct and I think they are, and if this year doesn't see any significant changes we should be really close to our current balance at this time next year. Of course any drop in membership, or fewer auctions because our supplies dry up can have a major impact on our SPACE bank account. So if we can all hang in there in these trying economic times, I see another stable year for SPACE, and we can only hope that by 2011 things will start to pick up. In any case we just have to keep the status quo for another year and we will be just fine. See you all in March.. **********************************************
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Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner For February 2010
The blahs of winter couldn't keep eight SPACE members from the February meeting. I think everyone is ready for spring. I read that forty-nine states had snow on the ground at one time in February, On the other hand Canada is craving for snow so that the Winter Olympics won't have to suspend some of the events. Go figure!! Not much happening in the Atari world right now which is pretty typical for this time of the year. Lance mentioned an Svideo hook-up for the Falcon may in the forseeable future, but other than that no new news. Our treasury isn't moving much either as we sold three dom's for nine dollars and paid out ten dollars for the monthly website expense. So our bank account changed by one dollar for the month ended February 28, 2010. We went from $696.30 to $695.30. I would like to point out that if we want to keep our bank balance steady we need to keep buying the dom and make sure to re-new those memberships when they are due. Our yearly expenses break down like this: $300.00 for the room rental, $130.00 for the web-site including the annual fee, and approx.
Secretary's Report By Steven Peck For February 2010
No minutes were submitted in time for this Newsletter.
******************************************** BBS Corner By Nolan Friedland For March 2010
If anyone has any comments, suggestions, ideas, or submissions for the BBS Corner column or the SPACE BBS web site, you may email them to me, Nolan Friedland, at the address shown on the back of this newsletter under the "CLUB OFFICIALS" section.
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From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 8:57 PM Subject: Atari's Missile Command, a potential Hollywood franchise Atari's Missile Command, a potential Hollywood franchise February 18, 2010 | 5:27 pm Can squiggly lines be the new movie stars? Not the ones on the face of an aging, plastic-surgeried celebrity, but those that threaten the the base cities in the vintage video game Missile Command. That's because Atari, which has been increasing its efforts to mine its video game library in Hollywood, has tapped Missile Command as a property ripe for a theatrical film. The company is in active discussions with studios to acquire the title for development, with Fox and Peter Chernin's new production company the likely venue at which the property will end up. The 1980 game was both of a product of and reflected Cold War anxieties. Players were asked to defend six cities from an onslaught of ballistic missiles (represented by the sort-of squiggly lines) with the help of antimissile weapons (represented by flashing cursors) fired from alongside said cities. Basically, you kept trying to line up shots to explode the squiggly lines and stop them from from coming, over and over again until it got so fast you could stop them no more. The game first appeared on the Atari 2600 -- cue nostalgic memories of the family rec room -- and was subsequently developed for other consoles and handheld platforms. Atari is also said to be developing a multiplayer remake of the game. There are traces of science-fiction elements to the game (the story is putatively set in another galaxy) as well as military overtones. And the film would likely be shot in 3D, tapping into the current vogue. But how a studio could turn Missile Command into a full-fledged action movie remains a question. Both the look and story behind Missile Command were, as they were with so many titles from the so-called golden age of video games, spare to say the least, though a manual did offer some detail: players were defending cities on Zardon from the invading armies of Krytol (aren't you glad we told you that?). Then again, while video games with rich back stories can be more cinematic, a spartan vintage game can offer its own appeal, if only because it can be molded by an enterprising screenwriter into just about anything.
There's been a gold rush of late on video games generally. Back in the summer, an auction erupted over another Atari property, Asteroids, which Universal and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura ended up winning. And plenty of contemporary games are on the path to the big screen, including the upcoming "Prince of Persia" and the still-in-development "Shadow of the Colossus." Avid'80s fans, or just casual browsers of Wikipedia, will know that Missile Command's cheeky "The End" screen was used in the final-credit scene of "Fast Times Ridgemont High." If Atari has its way, the game could go from a big screen pun to a full-fledged film. -- Steven Zeitchik Times staff writer Ben Fritz contributed to this report http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/02/missilecommand-movie-fox-hollywood-videogame.html ******************************************** From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 8:53 PM Subject: Atari Celebrates The 30th Anniversary of Missile Command Atari Celebrates The 30th Anniversary of Missile Command Original Phenomenon Updated with New Features and Freeto-Play Multiplayer Action for the Next Generation by RealTime Games Site OMGPOP NEW YORK, NY – February 25, 2010 – Atari Inc., one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, is bringing back a franchise that helped catapult the company into an international household name with the 30th anniversary edition of Missile Command®. The new version has been updated and reimagined by OMGPOP, operator of the omgpop.com website. Housed in a mini-site dedicated to the game, the remixed Missile Command captures the original iconic DNA of the 1980’s phenomenon, and adds compelling new dimensions and attitude – highlighted by the entirely online multiplayer gameplay, a first for the franchise. Missile Command is free to play and available at www.missilecommand.com, www.atari.com/missilecommand and www.omgpop.com/games/missilecommand. The year was 1980 and all across the planet people had the very real fear that one day the world’s super powers would finally use their nuclear arsenals. Missile Command was in many ways a reaction to those fears. The premise of the game was simple: the player must protect six cities from an ever increasing swarm of ballistic missiles. Control was taken care of by a fast and accurate trackball that was notorious for pinching the skin of players’ fingers. That didn’t seem to affect the public appeal of the game which became an immediate arcade smash hit and one of the biggest sellers of the Atari 2600 system.
Now Atari and OMGPOP have built upon that legacy with this exciting online version. With enhanced features such as powerups, new enemies, upgrades, and an entirely online multiplayer co-operative gameplay option, the new Missile Commandhas all the makings of a modern classic. “Missile Command is a pop culture phenomenon that millions upon millions of fans have enjoyed throughout the years,” says Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. “The new Missile Command maintains the appeal of the original while bringing it to today’s casual and social game players. It is an example of how Atari’s games portfolio is well positioned for today’s growing online games market.” “Working with Atari was terrific,” says OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter. “To be able to work on a classic that many of us grew up playing and add the social and multiplayer features was a great way to bring the game to the millions of teens on omgpop.com.” Missile Command on Atari.com boasts thrilling new gameplay such as: a.. Online Co-op Gameplay - play instantly with up to sevenplayers in real-time b.. Unlimited Levels - play with increasing challenge as you progress c.. Unique Difficulty Scaling - difficulty scales based on number of players and level progression into the game d.. Power-ups - all new power upgrades help players increase blast radius, missile speed, reload rates, missile supply and more e.. Enemies – take on massive waves of enemy missiles, aircrafts and bosses with varying speeds, health, behavior and characteristics f.. Award Systems - Medals awarded to top players in each round and a leader board support system to track players and friends with most medals Fans who visit www.missilecommand.com can immerse themselves in the game’s heritage by comparing the OMGPOP remix to the original 1980 release, also playable on the site. In addition, to celebrate the game’s place in gaming history, Atari has created a retrospective charting the evolution of the game from its coin-op origins with original cabinet images, box art, screenshots and trivia. There is also the opportunity to win a rare, refurbished original Missile Command coin-op cabinet from the 1980s. For more information and details on how to enter the sweepstakes please visit www.missilecommand.com. ********************************************
From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 9:22 AM Subject: New Software WASEO-Dictionary++ released. walktari Posted Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:52 PM New Software WASEO-Dictionary++ released.
Hallo ATARI users, I have released a new software application for the 8 bit. It's a English/German dictionary, called Dictionary++. Main features are a 300,000 words (150,000 each language) wordlist which can be searched within a few seconds. Dict++ comes on 16MB ATR Image.
I would like to thank GoodByteXL for tips, hints and extensive testing, CharlieChaplin for providing the ATARI stuff and the BASIC XL runtime and Stephen J. Carden for granting a site license of his powerful Real.DOS. The files can be downloaded at: http://www.atari-com...aseo/dictionary
I hope Dict++ will be useful for you! Greetings, Michael ******************************************** ******************************************** ******************************************** ********************************************