January 2026
•SPECIAL NEW YEAR 2026 EDITION•
Happy Atari New Year! What new Atari goodies arrived at your place for the holidays this year? Last month I put forth a set of proposed Bylaws changes to account for the Discord server in place of a club BBS, among other tweaks. We were too busy partying to take up that business. Maybe this month? Since last month we heard from James Nagle, President of the (resurrected) COMPUTE! Publications, suggesting opportunities for collaboration between SPACE and the (new) Compute!’s Gazette. I shared that email with a number of us. What do you think? Another item worthy of discussion this month! Meanwhile I had a typical annoying time with new tech last night. I decided it would be worth seeing how the HDMI ARC connection would work between my new LG smart TV and my (now somewhat aging) Yamaha A/V receiver. That instead of a digital optical cable for audio from the TV to the AVR. I thought it was worth a try, because of the small problem I have encountered. While plugged in this TV is never quite off, in that it will still ping the AVR over HDMI intermittently, and in my case, this causes audio interference with whatever else I’m listening to through the AVR. Would using ARC solve the problem? I had to re-mount the TV (again) in order to get to the only eARC/HDMI port, otherwise the mount hardware was in the way. So that was a hassle right there, but I got everything back together, and lo and behold, yes HDMI/ ARC works as a two-way connection between the TV and AVR, my first time experiencing that. But then other issues started coming up. By default they want the AVR to automatically turn on or off when you power the TV on or off. Cool - if the AVR is a sound bar. Not good for my setup. And it was a real pain to get this behavior to stop, without losing sound altogether. But ok, eventually I got it (I hope). Ultimately, did this solve my issue with the TV interfering with my AVR audio out, even when the TV is supposedly off? No, it did not solve that problem. Best workaround I could find: Use the “always on” functionality of the TV, so when “off” it is less off than before (and also starts up quicker).
What a night for our SPACE Xmas party this year. I can’t remember any previous Xmas party with temperatures hovering around the below zero mark. Add to that strong winds, sending the windchills to negative 20’s below zero. But that didn’t stop five members attending and participating in a meal of Jersey Mike’s subs ,potato salad, and root beer floats for dessert. I guess you would say this year’s Xmas party will not be one to look back on! Thanks goes out to our members who contributed to the meal. There was certainly enough food to go around and some leftovers to send home for those who wanted some. As for our SPACE meeting it was very short of course as is always when we have a party. We did have receipts of $40.00 for the month which consisted of one membership renewal for $15.00, five 8-bit DOMs for $15.00 and a Wilder donation of $10.00. Of course, with the cost of the subs and other food items totaling $137.30 and the $40.00 in receipts, we ended up with a decrease in our balance by $97.20. Our final SPACE bank balance for 2025 is now $674.06. Not bad when we started the year with a balance of $584.03. Well, a lot to get done for Xmas which is only a little more than a week away. So I am going to say “have a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year! Hope the weather cooperates because we deserve that! See you all on January 9, 2026, for our next meeting in the new year. TRIVIA TIME! Perovskite is a mineral discovered in the 1800s in the Ural Mountains. They are named after famous mineralogist and nobleman Count Lev Alekseyevich von Perovsky (1792-1856). The word “perovskite” also describes crystalline materials of a crystal structure that are similar to the perovskite mineral and are used in various scientific applications.
Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Secretary’s Report for 2026! We did not have much for meeting minutes because all we did was have the Christmas Party and dinner. It was a great party and everybody had a good time. In mid-December, we Officers received an email message from COMPUTE’s Gazette magazine editor, James Nagle, who offered to have articles about SPACE for his magazine, because we are one of the last Atari user groups in North America. This will be taken under consideration and it will probably be discussed at the January 2026 SPACE Meeting. Aside from that, we had great food from Jersey Mike’s and Glen had his root beer floats with a twist. I provided some cans of 1919 Root Beer for the floats. I brought a 12-pack of the stuff with us when I was picked up for the meeting. It was a good gastronomical experience. As for the December 2025 DOM, there was a really cool game in it. It is a game of exploration where you must collect items in two different parallel dimensions to stop shadowy interdimensional aliens. It’s really big and requires 192K of RAM to run it on an A8 computer. There will be more about the DOM in the Atari 8-bit DOM Review in this Newsletter. It looks like a great DOM with all of the files in it, so be in for a treat! With that, I will close. I will have a more detailed Secretary’s Report for the January Meeting in the February Newsletter. Have a great year in 2026, fellow Atarians United, and thanks for reading! In the words of the late, great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page One:
With the TV in this “always on” off state, my AVR simply considers (via HDMI) the TV to be always on. So the AVR displays the HDMI light constantly instead of intermittently. But at least this means no audio interference when listening to the radio or other audio sources.
The President’s Corner SPACE Officers’ Reports
Remember how easy it was to hook up your Atari to an analog television over channel 2 or 3?
Atari 8-bit DOM Review
Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, January 9, 2026.
HELLO WORLD!
Page Two: Page Four:
Message from Captain Irata:
SPACE Comics Section
“Happy New Year, SPACE Cadets! I hope this year you have no regrets!” HOO-RAH!
There was a PAL problem with some of the demo, but it didn’t ruin the demo and it looks great. It’s a great example of how the A8 processes and display graphics. I really love this demo and it’s really nicely implemented. Very nice job! Let me score it now. SCORE:
Welcome back to the Atari 8-bit DOM Review! This time, we are reviewing the December 2025 DOM and the last DOM of 2025. We shall get started on it then. December 2025 DOM, Side One The first file on this DOM is called “Wake Up, HAL,” a 261-byte file by Krzysztof Rogowski. It shows a picture of the façade of the HAL computer from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The eye of HAL even turns red. It slowly renders on the screen to show HAL. It looks really good for the size of the file. I like the way it is presented on the computer screen. It has great detail and it shows. It’s accurate. It shows the capability of the A8 computer in a positive light.
It looks nice and pleasing, and the fluid animation looks really good. It reminds me of a lava lamp by the way it looks. Very nice rendering. I will score it now. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 8
TOTAL SCORE:
28/30 (93%)
Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
30/30 (100% perfect score)
The next file is a game called “QB’s Quest for Hires,” by P. Rosowski. It’s like the classic video game, “BC’s Quest for Tires,” but it’s not as interactive. You only use the fire button for jumping over holes. There isn’t much action in the game, and it’s very basic. It’s also in black-and-white. I think it has a PAL problem as well, because sometimes you can’t see the game screen when the game is playing. It looks to me like it is a WIP. It doesn’t seem complete. It could be so much more.
The next file is a demo created by Nils Feske, called “Uuuu.” It shows characters called Oof Heads and brilliant graphics. It’s weird, but fantastic-looking. Lots of detail and impressive graphics make this demo stand out. I have some highlights from the demo, but I had a small issue capturing the pictures for the Newsletter. The issue corrected itself, but I did not get everything. I got some of the best images though. Here they are.
For a 261-byte file, it actually looks quite pleasing. I like the graphics and it shows good quality. Let me score this file now for you.
It’s limited and basic, like I said. It could be better from my standpoint. I will score this game now.
TOTAL SCORE:
SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
The second file, also 261 bytes, is called “Hyperspace,” and it was created by Marek Oglodek. It shows a simulation of a starfield with animated stars streaking by like you are traveling at the speed of light or faster.
Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: TOTAL SCORE:
7 6 9 22/30 (73%)
The next file is an intro called “SillyVenture 2025,” by Christian Duesterhoeft. The theme of this intro is based on the Transformers and has the theme music in the intro, It has great graphics and music. The SillyVenture logo looks like a robot’s head, like the Autobots logo.
It looks interesting and the perspective is pretty good, too. It’s animated and you can hear the roar of a starship engine. It could be better, but it does look great for 261 bytes. The animation looks good, too. I will score this file now for you. SCORE: Graphics: Animation; Music/Sound FX:
8 9 8
It also has a text ticker that mirrors itself on the other side of the screen sometimes. You can see the logos for the Autobots and Decepticons in the ticker. It moves in realtime animation. It show a lot of work was put into it.
TOTAL SCORE:
25/30 (83%)
I will score this intro now.
The next file is yet another 261-byte file called ‘Dynamic of Desire,” by Kamil Trzaska, and it’s really cool. It shows a yellow gradient warping and in real time. It is against a black background and looks well-animated.
SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
9 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
29/30 (97%)
The next file is a music track based on the game “BattleToads,” for the NES console. It created by Mical Szpilowski. It is fast and almost sounds exactly like the Nintendo game’s in-game music. It sounds fast and has a lot of action in the music. It is a very good facsimile of the track used in the game. I will score the track now. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
The next file is a pic called “Alien Breakfast,” by K. Ziembik. It shows a green-skinned alien looking like it is eating off of a plate of its food. It has some nice detail to it and it looks interesting and quite cartoony. It’s pretty good. Well, the bike is looking like it’s going very fast. I like the animation in this file. It looks fast and fluid. I will score this file now. SCORE:
It looks weird, but it’s pretty well-rendered and has a funny premise to it. Nice rendering. Let me score it now. TOTAL SCORE
10/10 (100% prefect score)
The last file on Side One of this DOM us called “Chillout on the Hill,” a picture by an unknown artist. It shows a couple in a car looking over a hill showing a cityscape at night. This has a lot going on, and it’s interesting to look at. It is a nice rendering, nevertheless.
Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
7 10 7
TOTAL SCORE:
24/30 (80%)
The next file is called “Walk,” by Dmitry Krapivin. It is a 209-byte graphics file when shapes are drawn on the screen and the other side of the screen mirrors the other side being drawn in a symmetrical fashion. It reminds me of fractal renderings, but it isn’t fractal. The colors look nice and the drawing looks really cool. However, if you let the drawing continue indefinitely, it will fill the screen and never stop rendering. But, it is really cool to look at and it looks nice and pleasing as well.
This is a very nice rendering and a great job. I like it. I will score this file now. SCORE: Graphics: Animation: Music/Sound FX: TOTAL SCORE:
9 9 9 27/30 (90%)
The next file is a really nice game called “Shadows of Dimensions,” by Marek Pesout. You play a scientist who has to go in-between two parallel dimensions to gather items to stop shadowy inter-dimensional aliens from conquering your world. You have to search for items to develop weapons to stop them from invading your world. It’s like a role-playing game. It’s like a point-and-click adventure. You move a cursor with the joystick and when it is pointing to the area you want to go to, you press the fire button and you go into that direction. It has many rooms and the file needs more RAM than my 130XE computer has. I need 192K more RAM than I have. However, I played it at the Christmas Party, and in depth. It is a vast and challenging game to play. But I had lot of fun with it. It’s cool, immersive and challenging. Since I have no pictures of the game play, I will score this file now. SCORE:
This is a good rendering and must have been fun to program. It really looks nice. Good job. I will score this now. It looks like a lot of time was put into this rendering, as it looks like it was all rendered on the computer and not scanned in as a drawing on paper. Nice job. I will score it now for you. TOTAL SCORE:
9/10 (90%)
Now, let’s look at Side Two. It has some impressive looking files on that side as well! Side Two
SCORE: Graphics: Animation:
10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
20/20 (100% perfect score)
The next file is 256 bytes in size. It’s called “WaveStart,”and was created by Kristian Sergiejew. There are wave patterns and they change colors. There are also strobe effects with the lighting in the graphics at times. It looks really cool and it is aesthetically pleasing.
Graphics: Animation: Gameplay: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (100% perfect score)
The next file is called “Pixelated Heaven,” by emkay and SoDa7. It’s fast and peppy. It has a lot of tonal gradation. It’s a nice little tune and fun. I will score it now. TOTAL SCORE:
10/10 (100% perfect score)
The last file is called “Atari Black Magic Witch,” by an unknown artist. It shows a woman and the Fuji logo is shown over the cauldron and it says “Atari Black Magic.” I think it could look better, I think it’s supposed to be dark, though. It is interesting. I will score now.
The first file on Side Two is “Dirt Race,” a 134-byte file created by Jakub Debski. It shows a bicyclist riding a BMX bicycle on the dirt course. It’s animated and in real time. The animation looks fluid and, although it isn’t the most detailed graphics file I have seen, it isn’t bad. For 134 bytes, it does well. I understand it is a small file, but it looks alright for a small file. I like these tightly-coded demos. It must take a lot of thought and talent to create such detail in these small files. I admire the attempts in such ventures. It’s a challenge, I am sure. TOTAL SCORE:
8/10 (80%)
This concludes the A8 DOM Review. Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians, and see you later. Thanks for reading!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadvantures of A-Man and C.D.
Ferret Fracas!
SPACE Meeting and Christmas Party Friday, January 9, 2026, From 6:00 - 8:30 PM. DOM Demonstration Meeting Thanks for coming!