April 2026
•April 2026 Edition•
Not sure if I can make this little story relate to Atari at all, but I’ll try! My washing machine broke down the other day, in the middle of a load of laundry of course. The failure mode was relatively spectacular. The rinse cycle wouldn’t end, in that it wouldn’t stop pouring cold water into the drum. However, the draining of the drum had shut off as if the cycle was over. So the drum completely filled and overflowed, and cold water was everywhere. To my surprise, there was so much water that a fair amount was going down the utility room drain, even though I always joke that the drain is the highest point in the room. Well, that point was still true, I learned later that a significant amount of water also went down the walls, leading to a damp carpet down on the first floor. But back to the washer, how to make it stop drawing water and adding to the flood? Opening the top-load door didn’t work, neither did doing anything with the control panel. The water shut off behind the unit was too hard to reach, and those knobs would have been very hard to turn anyway. I could have run down to shut off my whole unit’s water, but unplugging the washer’s electrical power did the trick, whew! So, I purchased a washing machine for the first time ever. What an upgrade from a 45 year old Maytag! I never knew washers could do so much! And it’s so quiet! This is a major life upgrade, I had no idea what I was missing. How to relate my geeking out about a new washing machine to our Atari computers? Maybe they are both examples of appreciation for excellent engineering? I’ll go with that! I guess it remains to be seen if my new appliance will prove to be a good purchase for the long term, like our Ataris were. The Atari 800 was already out for three years when my old washing machine was made in 1982, how about that? Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, April 10, 2026.
The March SPACE meeting had four members present and Steve on Discord, and Glen’s son for six people total. Glen had DOMs for February and March for which we spent most of the meeting looking at, and boy were they excellent! You want to purchase both of these DOMs because you will find games on them you probably have never seen before. Not much to report on our treasury, but here are the details anyway. We started the month of March with a balance of $683.06, and we only added $6.00 for the month on the sale of two DOMs.
HELLO WORLD! Welcome back to the Secretary’s Report for the March 2026 meeting! Let’s get started with the Meeting Minutes and see what happened last month. MEETING BEGINS: The March 2026 SPACE Meeting commenced at 6:00 PM on Friday, March 13, 2026. There were five members present, myself joining the Meeting through Discord from my office at home. We did not have a traditional Meeting but instead previewed the DOM for March of 2026 and talked about things Atari-related, including Falcon 030 revival projects that are on the horizon.
That brings our bank balance to $689.06. I hope that, with some great DOMs that Glen has produced, our members will want to purchase them in the coming months. Also, most of our members will be coming due for their membership renewals, and our treasury should show a big improvement in time.
NOTE: Special thanks to Glen’s son for bring Glen to the meeting. I hope all is well with him and his father. Best wishes to you both!
Well, this is the month that sport lovers can’t wait for with all the high school tournaments and then the big one (March Madness), which is starting as I write this report.
DOM REPORT: We had a great DOM again from Glen. It had many interesting files including a game called Gemini (I believe that is the name, since I couldn’t see the screen well on Discord).
Both of my grandsons want to join in on the brackets this year, so I will be interested in watching the games with them and keeping track of the results. They wanted to make their picks this year without any help, so I let them do it! We shall see how good they do. Don’t forget our next meeting will be April 10th, and I hope to see you all there. In the meantime, enjoy the games. I certainly will! TABLE OF CONTENTS Page One: The President’s Corner SPACE Officers’ Reports Page Two: Atari Multi-Platform Game Review Pages Three and Four: SPACE Comics Section
TRIVIA TIME! ARTEMIS II MISSION TRIVIA:
MEMBERSHIP COUNT: At my recollection, there are nine paid-up members in SPACE.
It is a game where you have to match up blocks of the same color to score points and advance in the game, from my recollection anyway. We also had some cool music tracks and pictures as well. All the DOMs I have missed in 2026 will be reviewed when I physically return to the SPACE Meetings in the Atari 8-bit DOM Review. WEBSITE REPORT: There was no Website Report, but it is assumed that the SPACE website is functioning within normal parameters. OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business presented during the Meeting. NEW BUSINESS: There was talk of a Falcon030 project called Re-Falcon030. Basically, it is a rehash of the Atari Falcon030 computer. There was also talk about Wizztronics’ Falcon Re-imagined project as well, but I have no news of my own concerning the project from Wizztronics. As far as I know, they have a prototype board and it is being worked on. More can be found about this project on the Falcon030 NG channel on Discord.
NOTE: To celebrate the recent launch of the Artemis II mission to fly around the Moon, I have some special trivia facts about it.
More news will probably be discussed about these projects in the near future. Stay tuned!
The Artemis II spacecraft used the same type of rocket engines that were used on the Space Shuttles to launch the four heroic astronauts in their recent historic mission into space to fly by the Moon.
MEETING ENDS: The March 2026 SPACE Meeting ended at 8:00 PM, commencing for a total of two hours and thirty minutes.
Gravity on the Moon is very weak, only 1/6 that of Earth’s. If a person weighs 150 pounds on Earth, that person would weigh only 24.9 pounds on the Moon due to the difference in gravity.
Message from Captain Irata: “In the Atari world where you can be anything, be victorious!” HOO-RAH!
Well, this conclude the Secretary’s Report. I will return with yet another Report next month. Until then, enjoy reading the SPACE Newsletter, and thanks! In the words of the late, great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
Atari Multi-Platform Game Review
By Steve Peck Hello, SPACE Gamers! Welcome back to the Atari Multi-Platform Game Review, this time for the month of April. We are going to review the classic game “Missile Command” for the Atari 2600 and the 8-bit computer. Prepare to be blown away (I couldn’t resist that joke)! In “Missile Command,” you have to protect the six cities in your territory from a barrage of nuclear missiles about to destroy your country and its population.
TOTAL SCORE: 35/40 (88%) Well, this concludes the Atari Multi-Platform Game Review. I will return with another edition of this Review next month. Until then, Carpe Diem fellow Atarians, and thanks for reading! See you soon! MISSILE COMMAND 2600 VERSION SCREENSHOT:
You have three missile silos to protect your cities, and they have limited supplies of anti-ballistic missiles, which can be targeted to destroy incoming nuclear warheads and (in the Atari 8-bit version) bombers and satellites.
Easter
You must defend your cities by shooting down these missiles. If your cities get destroyed, it’s game over. You can get extra cities built to replace your destroyed cities, and that depends on your score. If you reach the scores needed to rebuild cities, you will get them rebuilt. In the Atari 8-bit version of the game, you have to deal with bombers and with satellites that lob missiles at the cities. These bombers and satellites at not present in the Atari 2600 version, but you have to deal with smart bombs in both versions in higher levels of the game. Smart bombs are tricky critters. They can steer around explosions detonated from your anti-ballistic missiles upon impact in the sky. You have to time the explosions correctly to destroy smart bombs. You might have to score a direct hit to destroy them. They can be tough. One way to tell a smart bomb is they make a beeping sound. Missiles are silent and streak across the sky. Smart bombs don’t leave a smoke trail. Also, beware of missile with multiple warheads. They split off into different targets, making them harder to hit.
Happy
A8 VERSION SCREENSHOTS:
From SPACE!
Both the 2600 and A8 versions of the game are equally brutal and difficult to play. The graphics are better looking in the A8 version with more targets to deal with, but the 2600 version is no slouch in and of itself. Both versions are equally impressive in game play. I am sure some of us SPACE Cadets have this game. I have the versions for the 2600, 5200 and A8, in addition to the version on the Lynx bundled with Super Asteroids, called Super Missile Command. It is a fun but challenging game. There is a lot of action in it. Also, the AI in the smart bombs can be brutal because they don’t get destroyed easily, because as stated before they can avoid aerial explosions by steering around them and even backing up above them. Also, there is a finality in the game, there is no definitive ending to the game unless all your cities are destroyed, then it’s THE END! When the game ends, you are treated to the end screen that disintegrates in a barrage of explosions. It is supposed to be a message depicting the futility of global thermonuclear warfare. Because once it’s over, it’s over. So, there is an interesting premise here. Personally, I have always liked “Missile Command.” It really is a cool game and it has a message. So, this is definitely a piece of gaming history that has a lot of action and definitely strategy. Maybe you would like to play it for gaming memories sometime.
Have A Great Spring
I will score this game now. 2600 VERSION: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
7 10 9 8
TOTAL SCORE:
34/40 (85%)
A8 VERSION: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
8 10 9 8
Season!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D.
Ferret Fracas
SPACE Meeting Friday, April 10, 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.