May 2026
•May 2026 Edition•
I just learned of a new book set to come out later this year, At the End of the Rainbow: The Identity Crisis of the Atari 8-Bit Computer, by Paweł Grabarczyk, who is an Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and the University of Lodz (Poland). The following is the official summary from the publisher, MIT Press: The shifting identity of the Atari 8-bit family, and how a single platform can provoke a universal debate about the purpose of computing.
This will be a very short report, as my asthma has taken all the energy from me this month. April/May have always been tough on my sinuses, but this year has been the worst ever!
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Atari became synonymous with arcade gaming, producing iconic games such as Pong and Asteroids. Yet the company’s ambitions extended beyond games and consoles. In 1979, Atari launched its first 8-bit computer—a platform initially designed as a console before its release into the market as a computer.
So, I brought my Commodore 1720 so we could hook everything up the old fashioned way. It all worked out, but I hope Tom feels better and can make the May meeting. Glen had another great DOM for the meeting and we sold four for the meeting. I want you all to buy the March DOM if you haven’t already done so because it has a couple of really cool games on it.
This ambiguous identity produced a curious marketing campaign that downplayed the computer’s main selling point as a gaming machine; within three years, Atari had switched tactics and repackaged the computer as a console. In At the End of the Rainbow, Paweł Grabarczyk examines how a device that had to shed its image as a “glorified console” later became a console accused of being a computer in disguise, resulting in its varied reception across the globe.
So, for our treasury we started the month with a bank balance of $689.06 and we took in $27.00 for the month of April on the sale of the four DOMs, plus a membership renewal for $15.00 thanks to Brian. So our ending balance for April is $716.06.
As the Atari 8-bit platform faded into obsolescence in the West, it found unexpected success in other parts of the world—Chile, Eastern Europe, and especially in Socialist Poland, where it led the digital revolution and kickstarted the domestic gaming industry.
Here is hoping we all feel better. The trees have all budded and the buds have mostly fallen so that will definitely help my sinuses and asthma, so I will see you on the 8th of May! –TABLE OF CONTENTS–
Grabarczyk traces these divergent trajectories across capitalist and socialist contexts and explores how the platform’s fate sparked a larger debate about the boundaries between console and computer, between playful and serious users— and about the very purpose of computing itself.
Page One:
My pre-order is in, how about you? Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting: Friday, May 8, 2026.
This last meeting in April was attended by only four members with Glen’s son also attending, and Brian made it also after a long hiatus. But we really missed Tom, who sets up the Atari on the large screen.
I hope most of you can make it to the May SPACE meeting on May 8th, the earliest date in any month it could fall on. Mark you calendar so the day doesn’t get by you.
The President’s Corner SPACE Officers’ Reports Page Two: Atari Multi-Platform Game Review Pages Three and Four: SPACE Comics Section
Detroit-born Charles A. Lindbergh, the famous aviator who made the first Trans-Atlantic airplane flight in 1927, lived in Little Falls, Minnesota, for a part of his life.
I apologize for this discrepancy.
Well, I don’t have much of a Secretary’s Report for the March meeting, as I was unable to stay on Discord for the SPACE meeting that evening. But, I do have a request. First off, I apologize for not telling everybody amongst the group that I was going to be on Discord for the meeting. From now on, when I am able to come to future SPACE meetings on Discord, I will announce it in advance when I put out the SPACE Newsletter for the month. This is my request. I was wondering if we could try to have a better experience on Discord. I had to leave the SPACE meeting from Discord early because no one was prepared for it. Now, I realize that not many people utilize Discord for the meetings, and I totally understand we had people who were ill or couldn’t make it to help in connecting online. But, I am saying this because I will need to use Discord for future meetings because of my unique situation. I suggest that we better prepare for online members, mainly myself, and improve the Discord experience. I request this because we have the Discord link and advertise it in the Newsletter. I suggest we improve it for future online members who cannot make it to meetings physically. Also, fuel prices are going up, so it may soon be impractical to utilize rides from other members to get to physical meetings. I also realize that this is difficult to plan because we may not totally be prepared for it. However, I hope that Discord as an online tool can be used more effectively. I love the idea of using Discord. It could really be a fun thing and an innovative means for distance communication. Also, I suggest the improvements because I still want to serve as Secretary, even if it has to be online. The good news is this doesn’t have any bearing on my producing the Newsletter every month. That isn’t a problem. I just want to improve our online experience with SPACE. Also, I have made great strides on my end. I just got a computer that is newer and much more advanced than my desktop computer at home, and my previous laptop. It should greatly improve the experience of our speaking to each other online, I hope (my fingers are crossed).
TRIVIA TIME!
NOTE: In Trivia Time last month, I made a mistake in my math. A person would weigh 25 pounds on the Moon if he weighed 150 pounds on Earth. I put 24.9 pounds for the weight.
HELLO WORLD!
So, all I suggest is to improve the online experience, and maybe we can discuss it more in depth in the near future. Like I said, I totally understand we have some issues, and I am not complaining. There are things that just need to be ironed out, and I think we can do that as a group. Message from Captain Irata: “A-T-A-R-I! Something to pass our free time by!” HOO-RAH!
This concludes the Secretary’s Report for now. I will be back with yet another Secretary’s Report in May. So, until then, TTFN! I hope to be online for SPACE on Friday, May 8, 2026. So see you soon, everybody! In the words of the late, great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
Atari Multi-Platform Game Review
By Steve Peck Hello, fellow SPACE Cadets! Welcome back to the Atari Multi-Platform Game Review! Today, we are going to review the game “Montezuma’s Revenge” for the Atari 2600. Let’s get started on reviewing this classic game. In the game, you play explorer and treasure hunter Panama Joe. You are exploring the ruins of the underground palace of Montezuma. Your quest is to find the fabled treasure room in the ruins. You must avoid the denizens and traps in this challenging gauntlet. You have to fight spiders, skulls, electrified forcefields, collapsing bridges and the like. To find the treasure room, you need a torch. But, it isn’t easy because you have difficult obstacles in your way to try to stop you. You can collect keys to open doors, knives to kill skulls and spiders and you can collect hammers to give you temporarily invincibility. Now, I said you need a torch. This is because you need light as you go farther down into the ruins. It gets too dark to see without that torch. All the while, you must avoid lava pits and fatal falls, should you fall too far from a certain altitude. To be frank, this game is really tough! The Atari 2600 version does a very good job at capturing the essence of more advanced versions of the game for the Atari 5200 and the Atari 8-bit computers. There are hacks of the game for the Atari 8bit that make the game much harder than it was originally, as seen in past SPACE DOMs. It is smaller in file size than the more advanced versions, but it is still very challenging. This game can frustrate the more seasoned gamers, to be sure. If you want a definite brain-teaser, try this game for the 2600 console. It’s a Lulu, but winnable! Happy treasure hunting! I will score this game now for everybody. SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Music/Sound FX:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40 (100% perfect score)
Well, that is all she wrote, readers! I will be back with yet another Multi-Platform Game Review for next month. Thanks for reading and Carpe Diem, fellow Atarians! See you later! SCREENSHOTS:
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM SPACE!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D.
Ferret Fracas
SPACE Meeting Friday, May 8, 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.