SPACE Newsletter

•SPECIAL 2023 HOLIDAYS EDITION•

At last month’s Annual Meeting the current slate of officers was re-elected, and the volunteer positions remained filled as before as well. Thank you once again to everyone who continues to support SPACE by helping to run SPACE! As we all know, SPACE would not be here without our dedicated crew of volunteers! The new Atari 2600+ is out, along with a variety of other new products from today’s Atari, when was the last time there were so many new products available for your holiday shopping? What’s on your shopping list this year? I’m about a year behind, but I just downloaded “Atari 50” to my PC last night and started exploring a bit. It really is an amazing compilation. Once I found Tempest 2000 (Jaguar version, I believe) I got pulled into actually playing the game. It plays pretty well, though unsurprisingly not as well as my all-time favorite, the DOS version. But it wasn’t perfect. No music?? Essential to the game! And no bonus levels? Maybe I didn’t find all the options, I don’t know. But it was still fun. And it’s just one tiny corner of this massive product. If you haven’t bought Atari 50 The Anniversary Celebration yet, what are you waiting for? The SPACE Christmas party is this month, don’t miss it!! Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting and Christmas party: Friday, December 8, 2023.

Another very successful meeting for our November SPACE election meeting. Once again by unanimous vote all current board members and DOM/Membership member agreed to serve another year’s term. We all thank them for their dedication to the Club. Thanks to Tom and Roger for showing their new buys. It seems that every month they have something new to show. We had six members attending for the meeting and we all had a good time watching/playing the programs on Glen’s monthly DOM.

HELLO WORLD! Welcome back to the Secretary’s Report. Let’s get started with it. The last meeting official SPACE Meeting commenced on Friday, November 10, 2023, at 7:33 PM. Six members were present. We had a great DOM presentation by our venerable DOM Librarian, Glen K. There were a lot of great-looking files on the DOM, as always, with a SillyVenture demo and some cool games.There was also the annual SPACE Election. The results are shown later in the Report, in New Business. WEBSITE REPORT:

Now for the good part of this report! We started off the month with a bank balance of $1,394.45. With auction sales of $300.00 added to our regular DOM sales of $54.00 we ended the month of November with a new bank balance of $1,748.45. More auction item sales are coming. I will keep you posted at the next meeting in December.

According to Google Analytics, there was something not indexable in the website, but there seemed to be no problem with the site at that time. As of the November meeting, the ST DOM Librarian position has been discontinued completely.

Don’t forget that we have our Christmas party next month on December 8th. I will bring Jersey Mike’s subs, pop, table fixings and a dessert. Glen is bringing his root beer floats & Tom his spicy chips. Anyone else can bring whatever you can think of.

With two renewals of membership, being the two members from out-of-state, there are currently ten members with full dues paid. The two memberships were paid up after the meeting.

Please come to the SPACE Christmas next month on December 8th. Be sure to mark your calendar as this meeting will sneak up on you, as this is the earliest a SPACE meeting can take place in any month. I hope to see you all there!

There was talk of the recently released MyArcade GameStation Pro. Tom L. Brought one in to demonstrate the games loaded on it, including some games on SD card stored for demonstration purposes.

MEMBERSHIP COUNT:

OLD BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS: As of the time of the meeting, as Greg stated previously, $300.00 worth of SPACE Auction items had been sold on eBay. Decisions are still to be made on whether auction items will still be sold at auctions or on eBay in future meetings.

–TABLE OF CONTENTS– PAGE ONE: Message from Captain Irata: “Reincarnation exists. After all, it’s all relative to the amount of lives you have in your video games!” HOO-RAH!

The President’s Corner Treasurer’s Report Secretary’s Report PAGE TWO: PAGE THREE:

As for the SPACE Election, all Officers from last year will remain in their positions for 2024. The SPACE Christmas Party was also discussed and there was talk of party preparations. We decided we could have submarine sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s, I will bring chips and dip, Greg and his family will bring desserts and Glen will create some of his famous root beer floats. There was talk of Atari’s acquisition of Digital Eclipse. An interview with Atari, Inc. CEO Wade Rosen was discussed, and I guess he has been invited to come to see SPACE Meetings. It is unclear whether he will show up or not. This is still up in the air. At the end of the Meeting, Roger M. demonstrated his Side3 cartridge for the A8 computer. It is a handy device that can load software images from SD and I believe CompactFlash as well. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 PM. So, there you go. This has been yet another Secretary’s Report. With this, I close. I will be back with yet another Secretary’s Report for December, and I will be at the Christmas Party as well. Happy Holidays! In the words of the late, great Stan Lee... EXCELSIOR!

RECENT ATARI NEWS The Atari 2600+ – a modern day faithful recreation of the pioneering console that first appeared in 1980 – has officially released today. Units have started shipping to pre-order customers. Atari and Plaion also today revealed three new accessories: The CX78+ Gamepad (supporting two-button 7800 games) A standalone CX30+ Paddle Pack And an accessory extension cable. Additionally, coming early 2024 we will be bringing four additional 7800/2600 games to market. More details on retailer availability to come soon. For our retro enthusiasts looking to check if their collection is compatible with the Atari 2600+, following thorough testing we are happy to confirm a 99% compatibility rate with just under 600 games tested. An updated compatibility list can be found on Atari.com. The Atari 2600+ is launching with ten of the most recognized video games in Atari’s history, including Adventure® and Missile Command®, the Atari 2600+ has been created using modern technology to authentically replicate the original 4-switch Atari 2600 Video Game System. For those looking to relive the gameplay experiences of the ‘70s and ‘80s, included with the Atari 2600+ is the CX40+ Joystick Controller, recreated with the same size and layout as the original 2600 Joystick Controller for that added touch of nostalgia. Also available worldwide in stores today: The CX-30 Paddle Controller with 4-in-1 multi-game cartridge $39.99 (34.99€ / £29.99); a standalone CX-40 Joystick $24.99 (22.99€ / £19.99); Berzerk Enhanced Edition and Mr. Run and Jump for $29.99 (29.99€ / £24.99). Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Gets A Free Holiday Update 12.05.2023 Atari and developer Digital Eclipse today released a free content update for the critically acclaimed interactive anthology Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. The holiday update adds 12 new titles to the compilation, from officially released classics to player-powered homebrews, and even once-lost Atari prototypes! The full list of games added for the holiday update includes:

compilations, exploring the company’s rich history and showcasing history through dynamic player interaction. Created by the talented Digital Eclipse team, Atari 50 seamlessly emulates eight distinct Atari hardware platforms within a single package. Spanning five decades, the collection features a diverse library of published works, developer interviews, brand-new reimaginings, and hidden gems that vividly chronicle the evolution of gaming. With the promise of future expansions, Atari showcases its dedication to preserving the integrity of retro gaming history. More content updates are planned for 2024. The Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Holiday Update is available now for free via a downloadable content update. The base game is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Series X|S, PlayStation 4|5, and Windows PC via Steam and Epic Games Store for $39.99. FINAL THOUGHTS FOR THE YEAR By Steve Peck Well, it’s another year gone by now. 2023 is quickly becoming a distant memory. Lots of great stuff happened this year, with lots of tragedy worldwide. But, we have prevailed for another year. The SPACE Treasury is going strong and we crank out great DOMs. We seem like pretty healthy people in the Club, so that’s all good. I consdier it a blessing that we are doing so well as a Club. We are one of the oldest Atari user groups in th ecountry, if not the world. That says something, especially to me. We have been around since 1982. That’s over four decades! We have a lot of good to show fo rourselves. 2023 has been a great year for the Club. Let’s hope we can make 2024 better than 2023. I really enjoy going to the Club Meetings. They are fun and always informative. I also enjoy the demonstrations by Tom and Roger. It’s all good. Thnaks for a wonderful year. Sorry I stayed out of most of it because of the transportation issues. I hope that can stay resolved and I can continue to get to the Club every month. Again, it’s all good. Well, that’s all I can say for now. I will see you all at the SPACE Christmas Party and we will have a great time for sure. I will bring chips and dip and it will be fun. There will be good eating and great camaraderie! See you then. Thanks for reading!

Yesterday is History… Tomorrow is Mystery… Today is a Gift… That’s Why They Call It the PRESENT!

• Bowling (2600) • Circus Atari (2600) • Double Dunk (2600) • Maze Craze (2600) • Miniature Golf (2600) • MotoRodeo (2600) • Super Football (2600) • Aquaventure (2600 prototype) • Save Mary (2600 prototype) • Adventure II (2600 homebrew) • Return to Haunted House (2600 homebrew) • Warbirds (Lynx) Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration set itself apart as the new gold standard for video game

Thanks for Reading!

Yup! We need articles! If you wish to channel your inner F. Scott Fitzgerald and want to send in an article, please feel free to send them to the SPACE Newsletter Editor! Please try to send your articles within two weeks of the Club’s occurence every month. They then will be posted. The SPACE Newsletter Editor’s contact information is, of course, on the back of every SPACE Newsletter! Thanks for posting and for supporting your SPACE Club! We hope to see more articles soon!

WANTED! Ideas Suggested for Comics! Please feel free to email The Newsletter Editor! Email Address is on the Last Page of the Newsletter! Thanks!

Vice President: Brian Little E-Mail: demomantna@gmail.com

The next SPACE meeting and the annual SPACE Christmas Party will commence on Friday, December 8, 2023, at 7:30 PM, local time! We hope to see you there! Thanks for coming!

Another Message from Captain Irata: “That’s all she wrote, SPACE Cadets!” HOO-RAH!