February 2026
•February 2026 Edition•
A bit more complaining about modern tech this month. The other day I went to rip a couple recent CD purchases. Of course, I went to the little external optical drive that I got myself a while back for this purpose. Why did I pick that up when my desktop PC has a built in CD drive? Because the built-in drive was scratching up my CDs! So, this external drive with a different loading mechanism solved that problem. Only, it has had a harder and harder time actually recognizing discs. To the point that it doesn’t really want to read anything anymore. What to do? Pull out my older laptop PC! One that’s old enough to have a built-in CD drive. That worked just fine. Now, neither my laptop nor my desktop can run Windows 11, so it seems I’m due for at least one new computer this year. I was sort of thinking of consolidating to a single, laptop computer this time. Do they even make laptops with CD-ROM drives any more? Whenever I get serious about shopping I’ll find that out. Otherwise, I could just try again with another external drive - assuming those are still out there! Surely there’s still a market, even if they make em to last just a few years, that would be good enough for me. Someday I’d like to rip the rest of my CDs. Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, February 13, 2026.
I hope you received an email I forwarded letting you know that our dates for upcoming SPACE meetings have been verified. Sorry for any inconvenience you may have encountered last month. John did not know what happened because he indicated to me that the dates and the Midway room should have been on the docket correctly. Anyway, it was a very small meeting in January as only four of us attended. So we talked shop and reviewed another great DOM thanks to Glen. We didn’t even have a formal meeting so I just let the members know where our treasury stood. We started January 2026 with a bank balance of $674.06 and only added another $9.00 on the sale of three DOMs. Now our bank balance stands at $683.06. I will go over the details for December and January meetings in regard to our Treasury at the February SPACE meeting, so I hope you can make that meeting (weather permitting)! Otherwise there is plenty to keep busy with NFL playoffs, college football finals, NHL hockey and the Winter Olympics starting. Now that the Vikings, Packers and Chiefs have all been eliminated I don’t have a favorite to root for, so now I can just sit back and watch without caring which team wins the Super Bowl! At least it is better for my blood pressure. So, I am out of here until next month. Hope to see you all on February 13th.
HELLO WORLD! Welcome to the Secretary’s Report for the month of February 2026. I just wanted to apologize for my inability to get to the SPACE Meeting on January 9, 2026. Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. Due to circumstances beyond my control, and my priorities up here at home, I am temporarily unable to go physically to the Meetings every month. However, as Secretary of the Club, I still want meet with everybody during the Meetings virtually on Discord. Since we have a permanent Discord link for the group, I want to utilize it. As the Club’s Secretary, I still want to be an active part of SPACE, and for now this is the best way to do that. My heartfelt thanks to Glen for the transportation. I do duly appreciate it. I will keep everyone posted as to when I will be back physically for the SPACE Meetings in the future. Again, sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. I will continue to work on the SPACE Newsletters. That will not change. Besides, I enjoy working on the Newsletters with the current software I utilize. As for the Atari 8-bit DOM Reviews, I will have to work something out for that. In the meantime, I can still utilize the Multi-Platform Game Reviews, so that will take some precedence. With that I will close. Be well, my fellow Atarians, and keep the faith! In the words of the late, great Stan Lee. EXCELSIOR! (P.S. I got Greg’s letter about the room change. It has been noted in the back of this month’s Newsletter. Thanks for the information.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page One: The President’s Corner SPACE Officers’ Reports Page Two:
TRIVIA TIME! Under natural conditions, carbon buried in the earth under tons of sediment can turn into diamonds after over ten million years of pressure. Diamonds are the some of the world’s hardest substances.
Atari Multi-Platform Game Review
Message from Captain Irata: “Happy Valentine’s Day! Now, show some love to your Atari consoles!” HOO-RAH!
Atari Multi-Platform Game Review
By Steve Peck Welcome to the Atari Multi-Platform Game Review! Until I find a way to get more monthly DOMs for the A8 DOM Review, I am going to review games for the various Atari platforms and rate them. So, sit back and relax. You’re in for a treat! In this month’s Review, we are going to review the Atari 7800 classic game “Choplifter!”In the game, you must go behind enemy lines and rescue prisoners of war from the Bungeling Empire! You have a helicopter that is armed to the teeth and they have tanks, jets and air bombs. You have to blow open 16 POW bunkers and rescue up to a total of 64 POWs, sixteen maximum in each bunker. However, tanks and jets will be shooting at you and the prisoners. So, in addition to yourself, the POWs can be killed. So, this game makes you think and use strategy!
aiming at targets. It’s best to steady the helicopter to shoot downward when shooting at tanks, while it is better to shoot at an angle while fighting jets and air bombs. Always look around when you are in the air as you progress in the game. Jets can come out of nowhere and can bomb your helicopter when it is on the ground. All targets take only one shot to destroy. You can accidentally kill POWs with your helicopter and by shooting them. Tanks can only destroy you if you are close or onto the ground. It takes practice to discern exactly what to do to finish this game, and lots of it. Air bombs are subtle, meaning you should try to fly slowly so you can see them. If you fly too fast, you can see the bombs too late and crash into them. Jets usually appear around the time you liberate the second bunker and air bombs usually appear around the time you are about to liberate the third bunker. The best way to liberate your POW brothers-in-arms is to free them one bunker at a time. As soon as you have enough POWs go to your base and drop them off, Remember, you can get POWs killed in your helicopter if you get shot down with them still in your vehicle. Also, you can get bombed by jets and air bombs at your base. If you can go behind enemy lines, they can cross lines, too. So, be careful. Now, it’s time for the score for this game: SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
7 10 10 7
TOTAL SCORE:
34/40 (85%)
Well, this wraps up the Atari Multi-Platform Game Review for now. There will be more games that will be reviewed in future SPACE Newsletters. This is until I can find a way to get more DOMs to review, possibly by mail if necessary. So, Carpe diem, fellow Atarians, and thanks for reading! See you soon.
You start off with three lives and they are listed as Sorties. So, you can have a total of three missions to complete one game. There is no difficulty setting menu, unlike other games for the Atari 7800 game system. It’s one difficulty setting and it is quite difficult and takes practice. At first, you deal with tanks. But, as I stated previously, there are also enemy jets and floating bombs that you have to shoot at and avoid. The jets are very fast and accurate, plus they can be sneaky. Air bombs can come onto the screen slowly and never in the same place twice. So, one would have to be on his/her toes all of the time while playing this game. It’s a challenge! Gaming Tips: The altitude comes in play when you are aiming for targets on the ground. The closer you are to the ground, the farther down on the ground you can shoot while aiming for tanks, while if you are higher in the air you can shoot buildings holding POWs. You can rotate your helicopter in three directions; forward, facing the player, and backward. This can help in
SPACE Meeting and Christmas Party Friday, February 13, 2026, From 6:00 - 8:30 PM. DOM Demonstration Meeting Thanks for coming!
You will need to check in with security if you come to the building after 5:30 PM, We will meet in the Midway Room (Room 2310).The Meeting time is allocated from 6:00-8:30 PM, every second Friday of every month.