SPACE Newsletter

NEWSLETTER for July 2015

President’s Corner by Michael Current

It's time for our annual SPACE Birthday Party! Chicken tacos, root beer floats, and your dish to pass, all among your Atari friends at this month's SPACE meeting. Don't miss it!!! If you've wondered what came of the extensive collection of Dorsett Educational System tapes that were held by us at SPACE for so many years, that collection has now been digitized and the data restored, check this out: https://archive.org/details/@savetz?and[]=dorsett%20educational

More on the extensive, and amazing, preservation and recovery process involved, in this podcast: http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-57-thomas-cherryhomes

Besides shipping all those tapes across the country (a significant shipping charge!), my recent Atari work has included delving deep into the entire corporate history of JTS Corp., the company that Atari Corp. merged into in 1996. The story of JTS is fascinating in that it was a startup pulled together by quite a few famous industry veterans and famous venture capitalists. In fact, the entire brief life of JTS was obsessed with trying to raise enough capital to keep the company going and growing, before it finally flamed out late in 1998. The Atari merger, to JTS, was entirely about raising money. What's remarkable to me to realize now is, from the JTS perspective the Atari money was never expected to be a long term solution, it was just one of a series of onetime, stop-gap measures they kept coming up with. They were already on to the next money-raising efforts the moment the merger was completed. In fact, they had burned through most of the $25 million Atari "loaned"

them in Feb. 96 before the merger was completed four months later. I also learned that while legally Atari was merged into JTS, financially it was a purchase of JTS by Atari, which was valued at around $112 million. Hadn't encountered that figure before. I wonder what else Atari could have invested in or acquired for $112 million in 1996? I'd afraid that I will be one who will miss the party this year, as it seems I'll still be recovering from my recent foot surgery. Everything seems to be on track, it's just been a very slow slog of a process, as advertised. I'll see you again soon though! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting and birthday party, Friday July 10, 2015.

Treasurer's Report

Notes from the VP

by Greg Leitner

by Nolan Friedland

It sure would have been nice to have had more members present for the June SPACE meeting. As it was Nolan and I met early to go the TCF Bank to get him signed up for banking privileges as my backup. It took much longer than I anticipated and we didn't get back to the meeting until after 7:30. I had left Glen in before we took off to the bank and it was disheartening to see only Glen there when we returned. So, we didn't even sit down and hold a formal meeting, but at least we managed to get the banking done and that was one of my two goals for the evening. The other was the planning for the July SPACE Birthday Party in July and with just the three of us, we had to make the final decision for everyone. It wasn't too hard to figure the main course as it has been tacos for the last five years and so we decided once again for the chicken tacos. I will bring the pop and water along with the table settings and the ingredients for the tacos. Glen will be bringing his root beer floats again so that leaves the rest of the party fixings up to the rest of you. I hope it all turns out okay. Since I was the only one purchasing DOMs for June, we only took in $6.00. Since Glen didn't have the change, we decided to add the June receipts with the July receipts next month. The only expense we had was the normal $10.00 web-site fee to Nolan. So our bank balance is now $224.54 down the ten dollars. It is going to be hard to figure out how much food to bring since we haven't had very good showings at our past few meetings. With the cost of food, I am going to figure a little less than a normal party from the past, as I don't want to have a lot of leftovers. I am sure it will all work out. Please try to make the Birthday Party because we really need those DOM sales and membership renewals. See you all at the party.

Last Month At SPACE by Nolan Friedland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66ZFTmMTiqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawbAe5i_e8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bv6bzNqtY8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTT1m84AzcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RLvZtt93bs

ST DOM Report by Nolan Friedland

Greetings and welcome to another edition of the SPACE ST DOM. Enjoy!

Asteroidia is an arcade style game that involves little strategy but provides hours of fun. You are flying around in space trying to destroy all the asteroids that are heading toward your home planet. You will also have to contend with little alien thingies that want to destroy your ship! When you first run Asteroidia, let it cycle through all of its title sequence events – You will see the game point structure and credits! To rotate your ship, aim by moving the joystick left or right. To move your ship, press the joystick up. To fire at an asteroid or enemy, press the FIRE button. During play, P pauses the game and SPACE exits. If you get a high enough score to be placed in the high score table, you will need to enter up to a 10 character name. To move the pointer from letter to letter move the joystick left or right. To scroll from letter to letter move the joystick up or down. Once you have the name in place press the button to exit.

Berzerk represents another trip down to the classic arcade games of yesterday. The game is duplicated here pretty much down to the pixel, including the robotic voices. The graphics are like the original as well. This game is sure to bring back memories!     

Press F1 to speed the game up. (Falcon only) Press F2 to slow the game down. (Falcon only) Press ESC to exit back to the title screen. Press ESC once again to exit back to the desktop. Press F10 to toggle 50/60 hertz. (ST/STe only)

Atari News by Michael Current

ATARI® AND DYNAMITE INK PUBLISHING DEAL AGREEMENT INCLUDES RETROSPECTIVE HARDCOVER AND COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS July 6, 2015, Mt. Laurel, NJ: Dynamite is very proud to announce a collaborative publishing agreement with Atari®, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment. The deal includes rights for a comprehensive retrospective hardcover book, collecting game production and concept artwork, photos, behind-the-scenes info, marketing art, other details on the company and its games, and interviews with key people involved in Atari's rich history. The deal also includes the right to create original comics and graphic novels in all sizes, as well as reprint existing comic material. "We are excited to be teaming up with Dynamite Entertainment to bring a modern twist to a classic series of comics and table top books that are rich with historic art," said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer, Atari, Inc. "Atari's roots in the comic book world and iconic art is a collector and video game enthusiast's dream. Our partnership is a fun way to expose our brand to a new generation and resonate with our long-time fans." Atari was originally founded in 1972 and was a pioneer in arcade games and home video game consoles. The company's products, such as Pong® and the Atari 2600 helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, and beyond. "Atari is a touchstone for so many people," says Dynamite Director of Business Development Rich Young. "Their games and game system exposed a lot of folks to video games for the first time…and frankly, got them hooked! I have fond memories of playing games on the 2600 with friends growing up, and am quite happy that we have a chance to work with Atari on this publishing program." In addition to the hardcover retrospective art book, Dynamite has plans to create new comics based on a

select list of Atari properties that help reimagine games with new story and art from some of today's best creators. The list includes Asteroids®, Centipede®, Crystal Castles®, Missile Command®, Tempest®, Yar's Revenge®, and more. Dynamite also plans to reprint existing comics material, such as the Atari Force comics that were originally published from 1982-1986 and featured well known and impressive talent such as Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Eduardo Barreto, and Mike Baron. Dynamite Entertainment's Atari art book, comic books, and graphic novels will be available to consumers through the comic book specialty market, and the graphic novel collection will be available at major bookstore chains, online booksellers, and independent bookstores courtesy of Diamond Book Distributors. Atari comics will also be available for purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital. Fans and retailers are encouraged to follow Dynamite Entertainment and Atari's official social media channel for the latest updates regarding creative teams and release dates.

Dynamite on Facebook: http://facebook.com/dynamitecomics Dynamite on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DynamiteComics For art and more information, please visit: http://dynamite.com ATARI on Facebook: ATARI on Twitter: ATARI Site:

https://www.facebook.com/atari https://twitter.com/atari https://www.atari.com/

About Dynamite Entertainment: Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more. Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. In addition to their criticallyacclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics

and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, Neil Gaiman, Andy Diggle, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, Gail Simone, Steve Niles, James Robinson, and a host of up-andcoming new talent. Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.

About Atari: Atari (www.atari.com) is an interactive entertainment production company. As an iconic brand that transcends generations and audiences, the company is globally recognized for its multi-platform, interactive entertainment and licensed products. Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including world-renowned brands like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Pong®, Test Drive®, and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari has offices in New York and Paris. © 2015 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc.

CLUB OFFICIALS

Michael Current

President: (608) 787-8548 michael@mcurrent.name

Vice President / Webmaster / Newsletter Editor (763) 689-3737 Nolan Friedland ilmarinen1976@hotmail.com

Steve Peck

Secretary: (651) 408-1096 artisan213574@gmail.com

DOM Librarian / Membership Chairman: (763) 786-4790 Glen Kirschenmann kirsch@netzero.net

Greg Leitner

Treasurer: (651) 455-6550 greglites@hotmail.com

Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE) meets on the second Friday of each month at 7:30 PM in the Falcon Heights Community Center at 2077 West Larpenteur Ave. Doors open at 7:00 PM.

S.P.A.C.E. c/o Gregory Leitner 3407 78th St E Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076-3037

DISCLAIMER Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI, Inc. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do however ask that credit be given to the authors and to SPACE. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI, Inc.

Visit our website at: http://spaceweb.us/ The SPACE BBS is currently offline. We apologize for this inconvenience and hope to have it back online in the near future.

Articles for Publication must be received by the Newsletter Editor two weeks prior to the Club’s next Scheduled meeting.