July 2018
1982•THIRTY-SIXTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION•2018
Well, more than 11,000 backers have given today’s Atari about $3 million to support the launch of the new Atari VCS platform next year. Wow! It will be fascinating to see how this develops. I also just learned that there will be a new console bearing the Intellivision name, to be unveiled this October 1. Is it Atari vs. Intellivision all over again? A little hard to say, even less seems to be known so far about the Intellivision offering than about the new Atari VCS, so it’s unclear if they’re taking similar or divergent approaches. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, it’s July, so that means it’s the SPACE birthday party, complete with auction! Bring a dish to pass, you won’t want to miss this! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting and PARTY, Friday July 13, 2018.
The June SPACE meeting was a carbon copy of the May meeting in that the same five members were once again present. Another great time was had. Glen was able to show the whole 8-bit DOM before the formal meeting took place. Lance announced he has new games for the Atari 5200 which I was a little leary about until Lance indicated the system is still very popular. Evidently the 7800 is still in use also and Lance is planning to port games over to that system. Wow! Seems as Atari is alive and very well indeed! As for our treasury in June we start with a bank balance of $486.54 and we added $9.00 (three 8-bit DOMs) to make our ending balance $495.54. We will definitely surpass five hundred dollars after our upcoming SPACE birthday meeting and auction in July. Just a reminder for all those planning to attend the birthday bash next month. Please bring a dish for all to share. Tacos will be the main dish once again, Lance will probably bring his usual, and Glen most likely will provide the root beer floats. Anything else you can think of will be greatly appreciated. I will bring pop and water and all the table fixings so other food items like chips, cookies, and any other side dish is welcome.
Message from Captain Irata: “These colors don’t run! That is, except to the nearest Atari platform to play my favorite video games! Happy Fourth of July and SPACE Birthday, SPACE Cadets!” HOO-RAH!
It looks to be a meeting not to be missed as the auction has some great finds. There is hardware, some software, and very hard to find literature that a programmer would love to get their hands on!! So you don’t want to miss the July SPACE Birthday Party on the 13th of July. See you all there! –Table of Contents– Page One: The President’s Corner Treasurer’s Report Secretary’s Report Trivia Time! Page Two: Atari 8-bit DOM Review Atari Multi-Platform Software Review Page Three: Recent Atari News Final Thoughts Page Four: SPACE Comics Section
HELLO WORLD! Well, it is another month for another Secretary’s Report. I am not going to delay, so I’ll start. The SPACE meeting commenced on Friday, June 8, 2018, at 7: 35 PM that evening. First of all, I would like to say, again, stellar work on the Treasury, guys. We have come a long way here. I hope that it will continue to grow and bolster. We started off with introductions, the Veep’s idea of socializing (which works), Greg produced the Treasury results, which are great. Thanks, Greg, for being our Treasurer for so many years at SPACE. You rock, my friend! Greg may be late for the July meeting, but he will be there. He will, unfortunately, not be at the meeting in August. Take care, Greg, and have a good time until September. Thanks again! Membership Count The membership count stands at ten paid-up members. I am not sure of any memberships that are due, but encourage anyone, if they need to, to renew ASAP to support SPACE and get good information on the current Atari World situation. Old and New News As stated, Greg will not be here in August, but will be here in July and September. I wish him well while he is away. Also, for new news, ten video games created for the A8 computer line will be ported over to the A5200 gaming platform, from Video 61. I will keep you posted on this development, as I beta-test for Lance himself. I will tell you only what I can disclose from that situation. There is also the possibility of A7800 ports as well in the future. So, stay tuned, and I will tell what I can. We were also talking about the resiliency of older technology, especially older video game tech. I still have games that are forty years old that still work like yesterday. That says something! The meeting adjourned latr that night at approximately 8:00 PM that evening. With that, I close, in the words of the great artistic maestro, Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR! TRIVIA TIME! The 32-bit Atari Falcon030 computer was released in 1992. it could display 640x400 resolution, had 14 MB of stock RAM, and had a 68030 CPU and a DSP processor. In Loving Memory: Samuel Frederick “Ted’ Dabney, Atari Co-founder 1937-2018
DYCP Demo, the next file, is a text-scrolling demo and a Commodore conversion. It is only text, but it is clear and really shows what the Atari is capable of compared to other systems. It is OK, and I will give it high marks. Kudos.
Hello, again, and welcome to another A8 DOM Review! I am going to review the July 2018 DOM and it will be short, but sweet. So, let’s get started. July 2018 DOM, Side A: QPA Test is a pic of a dinosaur, and it looks really good. TOTAL:
9/10
Tornado is a pinball game converted from the Apple II. I have always liked pinball simulations, and this does not disappoint. I think it might have been created using the Pinball Construction Kit. A lot of Atari pinball games were made this way. Despite that, it is a great pinball sim. The graphics vould be more attractive, but that is because of the Apple II color scheme. Aside from that, it shines like the sun. Kudos. Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound: TOTAL:
7 8 9 7 31/40
In the next file, the game Blok Copy, you match the numbered blocks, and it is in a way similar to Sudoku. I found it challenging and difficult, not to mention pleasing to watch with the graphics. You can move columns of blocks in four ways. Easy to understand and challenging to play, I wish more games were like this easy to understand. Great game to play and play is definitely encouraged! Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
9 9 10 9
TOTAL:
37/40
Lessons of Lead is an intro showing a pic of the sunrise set to music and a text ticker. The graphics are spot on and it was made from a photograph. It looks like a RastaConverter pic. But, it is a great conversion and it looks superb. Very colorful intro with great animation, I enjoyed it and it will score high. Good job. Graphics: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10
TOTAL:
30/30 (perfect score)
Start it With Rags is ragtime music-playing software, and it plays it well. Although short on graphics, it makes it up with music and animation. It is a solid and superb file. Great music from a bygone era that waxes nostalgic. It is a hoot! Graphics; Animation: Sound:
8 10 10
TOTAL:
28/30
NY-Disk 18 shows a pic of a woman in lingerie ushering in 2018. The cartoony graphics are excellent and, although somewhat racy, really stand out. I like the way this picture came out. It is greatlooking and cute. Another great picture. TOTAL:
9/10
Graphics: Animation:
8 10
TOTAL:
18/20
Historic Trucks, the final file on the DOM, is a slideshow with pics of historic European work trucks. It shines. A RastaConverter file, it is colorful and shows the photos quite realistically, actually. It is probably the bst looking file on the DOM. Graphics: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10
TOTAL:
30/30 (perfect score)
This concludes the A8 DOM Review. I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed posting it. Carpe Diem, folks, and Happy Birthday, SPACE Club! Thanks for reading! Atari Multi-Platform Software Review By Steven Peck Welcome back! I am back, this time with another Multi-Platform Software Review for the Atari systems. I hope that you enjoy this review, so let’s get started so you can. Here we go! Atari 2600: Zaxxon The Sega smash hit arcade classic comes to life on the venerated 2600 game system! It comes at you in a different perspective and in forward perspective. The rules in this game are just like the arcade version. You have to go through the space fortresses and destroy everything in your path, until you face the knavish robot, Zaxxon itself! Destroy Zaxxon and you move on to the next level. The forward perspective makes it more interesting, and the programmers try to make it 3D. Unfortunately, it falls short there. But, it makes up with interesting gameplay. It is a fun game besides, but then again this is the A2600, and it is primitive. No, I am not slamming the A2600, but it is still a popular system. Also, some games look great on the A2600 platform. There are recent attempts to enhance the Zaxxon game on the A2600, an dthey look great. So, the 2600 is a great system anyway. I will now score accordingly. Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound: TOTAL:
6 8 8 7 29/40
Atari 5200: Rescue on Fractalus In this classic Lucasfilm game, You pilot a spaceship over the planet Fractalus, as you try to rescue your comrades from the surface of the planet and the Jaggi alien forces. It looks great because the landscape changes all of the time and it uses fractal graphics. This allows for more realism. The gameplay is phenomenal as well. It is a well-engineered software title. Graphics: Ganmeplay: Animation: Sound: TOTAL:
9 9 8 9 35/40 Atari 8-bit: Zybex
In this title, you are attempting an escape from an intergalactic prison. You will fight aerial aliens that will try to stop you from escaping by killing you on the spot. It is a side-scrolling SHMUP. It is a good game and has quite colorful graphics. For an 8-bit game, it is actually pretty good. I like games like Vanguard, Defender and R-Type. It is action-packed and well done. Very fun game. Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound: TOTAL:
8 9 9 8 34/40 Atari 7800: Xevious
This is a conversion of the clasic Namco arcade game, and it shines. I have always loved Xevious, and it is a classic, let me tell you. It is easy to master, but difficult to play. Fight the enemy forces as you try to destroy the Andor Genesis mother ship. It captures the graphics and gameplay very well. The music is almost spot-on with the arcade version. This was one of my very first A7800 games in my collection, and I will always cherish it. Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
9 10 10 9
TOTAL:
38/40
Atari 16/32 Computer Line: Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters The Reptilons have enslaved the human population of the synthetic planetoid Planet X! They are forcing the humans to create a robot army to destroy Earth! You must rescure the humans, destroy the Reptilons, and rescue Prof. Sarah Bellum. I playe this in the arcades and, although I have never played the ST version of the game, it does look somewhat faithful to the arcade game. One peeve I have: the bosses look too small. The sprites are only a certain size. Other than that, it is spot-on. This is a spoof of the 1950s science fiction B-movies, and it is a funny game. It is also action-packed and fun to play. I love to watch it on YouTube. It does look fun, but difficult like the arcade. Kudos to Atari Games on delivering with a great game. Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
8 10 8 8
TOTAL:
34/40 Atari Lynx: Xenophobe
I normally do not like inexact conversions of arcade games. However, Xenophobe shines on the Lynx. The graphics are not only better, it plays better as well. You also have more characters to choose from. This is one of the better games for the Lynx. In this game, you have to clear bases and spaceships from aliens (known as Xenos). Try to clear the stages before they self-destruct. That is the premise. Easy to understand, but harder to play. This is an awesome game. Graphics; Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10 9
TOTAL:
39/40
Atari Jaguar: American Hero (Unfinished Demo) This game was never finished for the Atarri Jaguar, but it looks good. It is a GameFilm, an interactive
movie. So, the scenes are real full-motion video scenes. The footage is real-life in Cinepak video clips. So, it is supposed to be a cheesy B-movie.
• Street Fighter™II Championship Edition • Super Street Fighter™II The New Challengers • Super Street Fighter™II Turbo
It was going to be not unlike Dragon’s Lair or Space Ace in game play. I cannot score the game play, but I can score everything elae.
Capcom’s Final Fight® Cabinet:
In the game, you would play a CIA agent who has to stop terrorists from releasing a chemical agent in Los Angeles. It is cheesy acting, and somewhat racy, as it would be an R-rated movie because of the mature scenes. Interesting, at best. The game video is also on YouTube, and shows what the game would have been like if completed. Graphics: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10
Total:
30/30 (perfect score)
So, that is it for the Review. I bid you farewell for now. I will see you at the Party and Auction in July. TTFN, folks, and be there! Recent Atari News Jump Back in Time on July 25 with Arcade1Up Tastemakers, LLC. Opens Pre-Orders For Fully Functional Arcade1Up Arcade Cabinets and Games NEW YORK, June 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ Tastemakers, LLC. is opening the doors to the past on July 25. Eager consumers will be able to place pre-orders for the first wave of affordable Arcade1Up smaller-scale arcade cabinets stocked with classic games like Atari®’s Centipede® and Asteroids®. Standing at just under 4 ft. tall, each Arcade1Up machine is loaded with different classic arcade games and comes with an immersive full-color, hiresolution display and authentic sounds.
• Final Fight® • 1944: The Loop Master® • Ghosts N’ Goblins® • Strider® Pre-orders for Arcade1Up can be placed in-store at GameStop locations and online at Walmart.com, BedBathandBeyond.com and GameStop.com. Arcade1Up will be hitting store shelves September 25, 2018. About Tastemakers. LLC: Founded in 2011, Tastemakers LLC. (formerly Wish Factory) is a growing global powerhouse with products available in more than 50 countries worldwide. Specializing in global product development, manufacturing sales, marketing and distribution, Tastemakers continues to shine as an industry leader with its unique and on-trend products. Popular brands include Kawaii Cubes, Hatchimals novelty plush, Rock & Roll figures, accessories and more, along with an exciting lineup of new brand and category announcements coming throughout 2018. Tastemakers’ electrifying line of toys and products continues to generate wishes worldwide. SOURCE Tastemakers, LLC
Final Thoughts Well, it was a wonderful time in June with the SPACE Club. There was a lot of talk about the Atari®VCS, Lance’s games coming soon for more than just the XL/XE, but something really caught my attention. It was about the comics. The reason why I put comics in there was to liven up the Newsletter. It looks like I have become a little carried away with the content not being Atarilike enough. You will see that, starting this issue, I will center more about video games in the comics. However, the characters will remain the same. They will just be more Atari and video game-centered. So, my apologies on that issue. Also, I have a request. If you want better ideas in the comics and have suggestions for me, please tell me about it. This is your Newsletter as well. I need ideas. I am only finite with these ideas of my own. You, as the club, can assist me with new ideas, if you wish. So, comments welcome. I felt that i needed to say that. Please, make up my mind. Thanks! Also, I might be late for the party in July because of a death in my family. The Celebration of Life will be from 5:00-9:00 PM on the very night of the Party. I will show up for the Party, however. But. I might be a little late. So, at least I have an important excuse. I am not thinking I will be late, but I will say this to err on the side of caution. Sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. OK, so with that I close. Please tell me your ideas, and I will see you at the next SPACE Meeting. Carpe Diem, folks! –Steve Peck Newsletter Editor
The cabinets feature the original arcade games’ control and button configurations, eliminating any guesswork about gameplay. Add-ons include a stool and riser, allowing for the creation of a full arcade experience that fits perfectly in a den, office or dorm, and enables hours of fun-filled gaming. “Arcade1Up will transport you back to an era of button-mashing, neon lights and hours of addictive gaming fun,” said Scott Bachrach, CEO of Tastemakers, LLC. “It is a unique experience and truly brings back retro gaming the way it was meant to be played!” 5 cabinets will be available this fall from Arcade1Up with 3 to 4 different games on each machine. The cabinets are priced at $399 each with the following games: Atari®’s Centipede® Cabinet: • Centipede® • Millipede® • Missile Command® • Crystal Castles®
The next SPACE Meeting will be on Friday, July 13, 2018, at 7:30 PM.
Atari®’s Asteroids® Cabinet: • Asteroids® • Tempest® • Major Havoc® • Lunar Lander® Midway’s Rampage Cabinet: • Rampage • Defender • Joust • Gauntlet Capcom’s Street Fighter II Championship Cabinet:
We hope to see you there! Thanks!
From Your Fellow Atarians at SPACE… Happy Independence Day & SPACE Birthday!