Toyshop Trouble and Your Christmas Memories!

Merry Christmas everyone! Today's episode is about the homebrew game called Toyshop Trouble, and also your Christmas Atari 2600 memories! I was absolutely not expecting more submissions than last year's Christmas show, thank you so much! I love hearing your memories of the 2600 and the Christmas ones are terrific. The show will return on January 7th with Rabbit Transit and The Official Frogger by Starpath. Upcoming games will include Star Raiders by Atari; Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch by Bob Colbert; Sorcerer, Firefly, and Starfox by Mythicon; and Hangman and Roadrunner by Atari. Any feedback you have on these or any games I've already covered can be sent to 2600gamebygame@podcast.net. Thank you all so much for a wonderful year, and I wish you all Merry Every Holiday!

Buy Toyshop Trouble on Atari Age
Toyshop Trouble Easter Egg
Edladdin Controllers - Get 10% off your order with coupon code FERG
SNES Podcast
Arcade USA, with your host Willie!
Stop it.


You can still donate to the show page at Extra Life, until December 31st!
Proud member of the Throwback Network!
Proud member of the Retro Junkies Network!
Facebook page
Twitter page
Google + page
Blog page
Listen to the show on Stitcher!
Subscribe to the show on iTunes, and leave a review! Reviews are nice!

Bonus episode, Arcade Memories!

This episode was totally unplanned (you can tell by listening) and I lay the blame at the feet of No Quarter podcast. I just wanted to talk about arcade games for a bit, so here it is. I hope you can get some enjoyment out of it. Also, if you have Christmas memories or feedback for Toyshop Trouble, please get it to me by the 19th to be included in the show. You can send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks everybody, enjoy your week!

The SNES Podcast


You can still donate to the show page at Extra Life, until December 31st!
Proud member of the Throwback Network!
Proud member of the Retro Junkies Network!
Facebook page
Twitter page
Google + page
Blog page
Listen to the show on Stitcher!
Subscribe to the show on iTunes, and leave a review! Reviews are nice!

CX 2659, Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Today I am discussing in horribly long detail Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari. This is the result of 2 weeks of research and 3 hours of recording, probably the most I've put into a show so far. I really hope you enjoy it and don't get too bored. Once again, your feedback makes the show better and I thank you for that. No show next week due to cookies. The Christmas memories episode will come out the week of Christmas. Additionally I will be looking at the homebrew title Toyshop Trouble, which is really a great game. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy this right now, nor would it get here in time if I did. But I need to start covering Christmas games, so I should be able to get this one done in time. Please send me your Atari Christmas memories and any feedback for Toyshop Trouble by December 19th for it to be included in the show. You can send that to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you all so much for listening!

Links! Why'd it have to be Links?

How To Beat The Home Video Games - Raiders of the Lost Ark
ROTLA quick playthrough
Atari ROTLA commercial
Chris++ ROTLA walkthrough
1983 Joystik ROTLA walkthrough
2600 Connection ROTLA Easter eggs and bugs listing
The No Swear Gamer's ROTLA Review
NowGamer article on Howard Scott Warshaw
Jerome Domurat interview by Scott Stilphen
Jerome Domurat's business website 
Edladdin Controllers
Bill Kendrick's New Breed Software page

CA 281, Assault, & CA 282, Great Escape!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that sort of thing. Thank you for your patience waiting for a new episode, it will be much worse this month. :(  Speaking of new episodes, next week I will be looking at Raiders of the Lost Ark, by Atari. I am very glad that I made that its own show, I already have 12 pages of notes just on the manual and hint sheets! It will probably be a long show, so hopefully that will tide you over for awhile. GET IT, TIDINGS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry. After Raiders I most likely won't be doing anymore games until 2015, but that is tentative. Also, please send me your Christmas memories by December 19th so I can record the Christmas memories show that weekend. Please don't take me for one of those militant Christmas people, I just didn't get any Hanukkah or Kwanzaa memories last year. If you have some, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I hope to get another show's worth of Christmas stories, I think last year's was awesome. Thanks for listening everyone!

PS - By the way, today I discuss the games Assault and Great Escape by Bomb. Talk about your oversights!

Pertinent Links

Intarivisions on Facebook!
UK Bomb magazine ad
Video Color Yamin commercial
Greg's SNES Podcast
Atari Age thread about Bomb and Spectravideo
Assault longplay video (thank goodness)
Stalking the Retro podcast
Toys R Us Report
Retrogaming Roundup 81 (Activision panel starts at 61 minutes in)

AX-015, Chopper Command, & AX-016, Starmaster!

Eh up! Today I discuss Chopper Command and Starmaster, two Activision games that were formerly Atari games. Next week I will be taking off for Thanksgiving, but I will resume the following week with Assault and Great Escape by Bomb. Hopefully that's not prophetic. The following week will be Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari. After that I will play it by ear, but I will have a Listener Christmas Memories show the week of Christmas. So if you have any Christmas memories, or if you would like to comment on upcoming games or any games I've already covered (the Bomb episode might be a good episode for past game comments). Send it all to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you for listening, and I hope you all have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving! EAT HEAVY

Pertinent Links

Intarivisions Podcast!
Activision 1982 in-house video
Bob Whitehead interview by Scott Stilphen
Chopper Command patch
Chopper Command patch letter
How To Beat The Home Video Games: Chopper Command
The No Swear Gamer: Chopper Command
Alan Miller interview by Al Backiel
Starmaster main patch
Starmaster additional patches
Starmaster patch letter
Starmaster Promotional patch
Starmaster with awesome graphics!
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! Starmaster
How To Beat The Home Video Games: Starmaster

11005, Mega Force, &11006, Alien!

Hi everyone, this episode is about the 20th Century Fox games Mega Force and Alien, both based on their movies. Congratulations to Matthew Edwards for winning the Strudders' Score contest! Thanks to everyone for participating. Next week I'll be looking at Chopper Command and Starmaster by Activision, then I will be taking the week of Thanksgiving off. The first week of December I will be covering Assault and Great Escape by Bomb, then Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari. I would like to release another Christmas show on the 24th, but I will need more Christmas memories from you! The whole episode will be your feedback about anything associated with Christmas and the VCS/2600. I did one last year and it was very successful; the reason it is only feedback is because I am very busy in December with Christmas and my birthday, both at home and at work. So if you do have any feedback about any of these games, games I've already covered, or your Christmas memories, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!

Deeds, not Links

Bryan Cranston in Mega Force commercial! 
Paul Laughton interview on the ANTIC podcast
Doug Neubauer's Wiki
Doug Neubauer interview with James Hague
Doug Neubauer 1986 interview with Lee Pappas
Player/Missile Podcast Star Raiders episode
The No Swear Gamer's Math Gran Prix review
Willie's Arcade USA contest video! Win a Colecovision with 10 games!

CX 2658, Math Gran Prix, and CX 2661, Basic Math/Fun With Numbers!

Hi there Mathletes! This week we are looking at two math-based games for the VCS, Math Gran Prix and Basic Math (aka Fun With Numbers). I hear your rapturous applause, thank you so much. Next week will be Alien and Mega Force by 20th Century Fox, and don't forget Strudders' Score Contest! See here for more details. Afterwards I will be looking at Chopper Command and Starmaster by Activision; Assault and Great Escape by Bomb; Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari; Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch by Bob Colbert; Rabbit Transit and The Official Frogger by Starpath, and Hangman and Road Runner by Atari. If you have any feedback on any of these games or any of the games I've already covered, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!

Pythagorean Links

Alan Miller interview on 2600 Connection
Math Gran Prix YouTube review
Atari 1980 catalog
Sears Math manual
Beanie Baby Bash  by Jim Goebel
Michael Current's Atari Timeline
OTR Playlist on the Throwback Network
Jimmy G's podcast - The Side Project Live

IA 3400, Fire Fighter, and IA 3409, Aerial Ace/Sky Patrol!

I apologize for the delay, I ran out of space on Libsyn. I will make sure it doesn't happen again.

Hello once again, today I talk about the Imagic games Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol (which went unreleased in the 80s). Also, Strudders is giving away copies of Alien and Mega Force in a contest on my show! You can check out the details at the link below. Next week I'll be looking at Basic Math (Fun With Numbers) and Math Gran Prix, both by Atari. The next episode will be on the aforementioned Alien and Mega Force by 20th Century Fox. Listen to the show for more details as to why there are not more games mentioned here. Your favorites are coming, don't worry. Thank you so much to everyone for all of your support for my Extra Life marathon, I made $500 for the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and almost made it the entire 24 hours. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent Links

Strudders Score Contest! Win Alien and Mega Force! The games, not the movies!
Sky Patrol on Atari Protos
Sky Patrol on 2600 Connection
Sky Patrol mockup box
Sky Patrol mockup cart label
Brad Stewart interview by Scott Stilphen
The No Swear Gamer - Fire Fighter video
Bill Grubb and Dennis Koble interview, Video Games magazine (scroll down, scans will open in new window)

DA 1003, Sssnake, and DA 1004, Airlock!

Hi there! To-day I discuss Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age, for all of 18 minutes. There just wasn't much to say about these games. Next week I'll be talking about Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol, both by Imagic. Upcoming games will include Math Grand Prix and Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari, Mega Force and Alien by 20th Century Fox; Star Raiders and Fun With Numbers (Basic Math) by Atari; Assault and Great Escape by Bomb; Chopper Command and Starmaster by Activision; and Hangman and Road Runner by Atari. If you have any feedback regarding these games or any others that I've covered already, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I will read it or play it on the show. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent LinkssS

Mindscape flexi disc on YouTube
Lock is Lit Podcast
2 Dudes and a NES Podcast
Greg's 2 Worthy Video Game Podcasts thread post
Please donate to the Extra Life gaming marathon!

CX 2657, Swordquest: FireWorld!

This week, the Swordquest saga continues with Swordquest: Fireworld. Two games left in the series, and only one was actually made. It will be coming up soon. Well, soon in the grand scheme of things. Next week I'll be talking about Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age. Upcoming games will include Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic; Math Grand Prix and Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari, Mega Force and Alien by 20th Century Fox; Star Raiders and Fun With Numbers (Basic Math) by Atari; Assault and Great Escape by Bomb; and Chopper Command and Starmaster by Activision. If you have any feedback regarding these games or any others that I've covered already, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I will read it or play it on the show. Thank you for listening!

Inflamed Links
Swordquest Archive of Adventure: FireWorld
FireWorld contest photos
Swordquest Revisited (overview of entire contest)
FireWorld comic uninked! (PDF file)
Kabbalah Tree of Life
Give this guy a medal.
FireWorld at Atari Protos
FireWorld walkthrough
FireWorld contest photos
Robert Ruiz FireWorld solution
Michael Rideout interview
Mark's Pepsi Invaders cart

PB 5300, Frogger, and PB 5310, Amidar!

Hiya kids! Today I wax moronic about Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers, and also get a little creative all up in here. Very little. Despite that, I hope you enjoy the episode. Next week, the Swordquest saga continues with game 2 in the series, Fireworld. Who will win the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery? Who indeed! In the coming weeks and months and YEARS I'll be covering Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age; Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic; Math Grand Prix and Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari, Mega Force and Alien by 20th Century Fox; Star Raiders and Fun With Numbers (Basic Math) by Atari; and Assault and Great Escape by Bomb. If you have any feedback regarding these games or any others that I've covered already, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I will read it or play it on the show. Thank you for listening!

Splooched Links

Ed English's company Elerts web site
Ed English's Plates USA web site
David Lamkins interview by Scott Stilphen at 2600 Connection
David Lamkins' web site
David Lamkins' Lisp programming language book
David Lamkins on SoundCloud
Information about Executive Games at Pong Story
Ed Temple video interview by Scott Stilphen
How to Beat the Home Video Games - Frogger
General Mills/Parker Brothers Merger: Playing by Different Rules by Ellen Wojahn
Frogger at KLOV
Amidar at KLOV
Fidelity Chess game example
The Tenkop Youtube channel
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! - Amidar
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! - Frogger

Win a Colecovision from Willie!

Nils' Killbots Retro Gaming Challenge video
Amidakaju description

Player/Missile Podcast Space Invaders Contest UPDATE

Hi there! Rob from Player/Missile Podcast is sponsoring a contest for my show; previously he was giving away a Kindle copy of Racing The Beam by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost, a great book about Atari 2600 programming that focuses on 6 classic 2600 games. NOW, the prize is an actual copy of the book, so it is now open to all. You don't need to be in the US or have an Amazon account. All you have to do is guess my and Rob's combined scores on Space Invaders without going over to win the book. Rob will be playing the 2600 version, and I am playing the Atari 800 computer version. Clever, right? Rob has a clue to his score in his Space Invaders episode, and I have included a clue here. I am extending the contest one day to October 7th at 11:59 EST (that's Eastern Standard Time). The closest guess to our combined scores without going over will win and will be announced on the Frogger/Amidar episode next week. I will have a new pinned post on the Facebook page and it will also be on other groups on Facebook, and you can also send your guesses to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Get your guesses in now, and thanks for listening to my and Rob's podcasts!

4325, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin; 4518, BurgerTime; and 4627, In Search of the Golden Skull!

Hi! Today I am talking about 3 M Network games, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin, BurgerTime, and In Search of the Golden Skull. The middle one was released, but the other two never were. Next week is Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers! Upcoming games include Swordquest: Fireworld by Atari; Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age; Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic; Math Grand Prix and Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari, and Mega Force and Alien by 20th Century Fox. If you have any feedback regarding these games or any others that I've covered already, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I will read it or play it on the show. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent Links

Player/Missile podcast
BurgerTime thread on Atari Age
BurgerTime thread 2 on Atari Age (picture of later release innards)
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! BurgerTime
BurgerTime on KLOV
BurgerTime on Intellivision Lives
Jerry Lawson interview
Channel F Files podcast - Talks with Jerry Lawson
In Search of the Golden Skull on Atari Protos
In Search of the Golden Skull on Intellivsion Lives
Treasure of Tarmin on Intellivision Lives
Treasure of Tarmin on Atari Protos
Intellivisionaries podcast Treasure of Tarmin episode
Holiday Special podcast
Greatest American Hero podcast
Telegames catalog
Strong Museum of Play Jerry Lawson papers (this is just a list, you have to go to the museum to look at them)
Videosoft Atari 2600 titles by Jerry Lawson, available at Good Deal Games (3D Ghost Attack, 3D Genesis, 3D Havoc, Atom Smasher, Depth Charge & S.A.C. Alert)

SoundX and Edtris 2600!

This time I talk about the first two homebrew games made for the Atari 2600, SoundX and Edtris 2600, both written by Ed Federmeyer. There are arguments that some other games are the first, but these were first after the 2600 ceased to be. SoundX is a sound utility program, and Edtris 2600 is a version of Tetris. Next week I'm looking at In Search of the Golden Skull, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin, and Burgertime by M Network. Only one of these games was actually released! Coming up I'll be yakking about Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers; Swordquest: Fireworld by Atari; Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age; Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic; Math Grand Prix and Raiders of the Lost Ark by Atari, and Mega Force and Alien by 20th Century Fox. If you have any feedback for any of these games or any of the games I've covered so far, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for listening everyone!

Homebrewed Links

Hozer Video Games web site (order the games here)
Inverse Atascii Podcast
Player/Missile Podcast
Player/Missile Podcast Space Invaders contest! Submit your guesses!
Channel F Files podcast
Colecovisions Podcast
Arcade USA on Youtube

CX 2656, Swordquest: Earthworld!

This week I am looking at Swordquest: Earthworld and the ill fated contest that this game started off for Atari (SPOILERS). Very interesting stuff, please make sure you check out the links for great photos and even more info. Next week I am discussing Edtris 2600 and Sound X, both homebrews by Ed Federmeyer. From what I have read, Edtris 2600 is considered the first Atari 2600 homebrew cart. Upcoming games include In Search of the Golden Skull, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin & Burgertime by M Network; Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers; Swordquest: Fireworld by Atari; Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age; and Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic. Got any feedback for these games, or any of the other games I've covered so far? Send it to me in text or mp3 form at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net.  

Don't forget, Rob from Player/Missile Podcast is very generously sponsoring a contest! He is giving away an e-book copy of Racing the Beam, by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost (it is an Amazon gift e-book, you need to be in the US and have an Amazon account, sorry about that). The next episode of his podcast is devoted to Space Invaders; both of us will be playing the game on the other's system, and you have to guess our combined scores (without going over) to win the book. You have until October 6th, and you can send your guesses to my email address above or post it to the pinned post on the Facebook page.

Thank you for listening everyone!                                              

Earthlinks

2600 Connection Earthworld Solution page
2600 Connection Swordquest Revisited article (Lots of links here)
John Michael Battaglia's web site
John Michael Battaglia interview by Scott Stilphen
Contestant James Schweitzer interview
Robert Ruiz's Earthworld solution
AVGN Swordquest Video
Swordquest: Earthworld at Atari Protos.com
Contest EPROM entry on Atarimania
Masquerade book
The Secret book Wiki (FASCINATING and still unsolved for the most part)

5001002, Death Trap, and 5002002, London Blitz!

Hi there. Thank you for your patience for this show, I had some issues that I talk about in the episode.

Today's episode talks a little about Avalon Hill and the first of their games on my show, Death Trap and London Blitz. Coming up next week is Swordquest: Earthworld by Atari. There's a lot of info on that game and the accompanying contest, so I thought each of those should get its own episode (except Airworld, which never came out). Coming up will be Edtris 2600 and SoundX by Ed Federmeyer; In Search of the Golden Skull, AD&D Treasure of Tarmin & Burgertime by M Network; Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers; Swordquest: Fireworld by Atari; Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age; and Fire Fighter and Sky Patrol by Imagic. If you have any feedback on any of these games or any of the games I've already covered, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I love hearing from you!

In the meantime, Rob from Player/Missile Podcast is very generously sponsoring a contest! He is giving away an e-book copy of Racing the Beam, by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost (it is an Amazon gift e-book, you need to be in the US and have an Amazon account, sorry about that). The next episode of his podcast is devoted to Space Invaders; both of us will be playing the game on the other's system, and you have to guess our combined scores (without going over) to win the book. I will give a cutoff date soon, but it will be sometime in early October. That will be fun!

Extra thanks this week to Avalon Hill CEO Jackson Dott, and Avalon Hill artist Jim Talbot for contributing to my show. Thank you for listening!

Links, Jolly What!

Rebecca Heineman interview by Scott Stilphen
Rebecca Heineman's web site
Jackson Dott's Realtor page
Jim Talbot's web site
Avalon Hill's current site (now owned by Hasbro/WOC)
Now You're Playing with Podcast
Player/Missile Podcast
Atari Age thread about new 4k Pac-Man rom (you can download the rom here)
London Blitz manual

AG 013, Barnstorming, and AG 014, Grand Prix!

Greetings programs! This week I'm looking at Barnstorming and Grand Prix, both by Activision. Next week I'll be discussing the Avalon Hill company and two of their games, Death Trap and London Blitz. Upcoming games include Swordquest: Earthworld by Atari; Edtris 2600 and Sound X by Ed Federmeyer; AD&D Treasure of Tarmin, Burgertime, and In Search of the Golden Skull by M Network; Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers; and Sssnake and Airlock by Data Age. If you have any stories about these games that you'd like to share, or about any of the games I've already covered, please send them to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. All get read or played on the show, and it is my favorite part of recording the podcast. Thanks for listening!

Prixotic Links

Barnstorming patch
Grand Prix patch
Grand Prix patch accompanying letter
Grand Prix medal (scroll down to bottom for large pic)
Willie's Grand Prix video! Awesome!
Willie's Barnstorming video
Steve Cartwright's web site
How To Beat the Home Video Games - Barnstorming
Super Action Pak Easter Egg
1984 Info World David Crane interview
James' Howard Scott Warshaw interview CGE 2005
James' HSW Once Upon Atari commercial

CX 2654, Haunted House, and CX 2655, Yar's Revenge!

Today I look at two of my favorites for the 2600, Haunted House and Yars' Revenge. There's a lot to talk about, and now that I've finished recording I forgot to mention the Kids Stuff records. Yars' Revenge had an LP and a book and 45, each having some exclusive content. Like Asteroids, the LP is online but I could not find the 45. Now that's 2 videos I have to make, maybe Willie! will give me some pointers. :) Next week it's Barnstorming and Grand Prix by Activision! Seems like it's been awhile for Activision on my little show here. After that, it will be Death Trap and London Blitz by Avalon Hill; Swordquest: Earthworld by Atari; Edtris 2600 and Sound X by Ed Federmeyer; AD&D Treasure of Tarmin and Burgertime by M Network (I may add another game here, as Tarmin was not released and remains unavailable), and Frogger and Amidar by Parker Brothers. If you have any feedback or memories you'd like to share for any of these games, or if you're getting caught up with my show and want to talk about a game I've already covered, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net, in written or audio format. I love hearing from you! Thank you all so much for listening!

Haunted Links

Haunted House Easter Eggs
How to Beat The Home Video Games: Yars' Revenge
Willie's awesome Haunted House Video
Willie's Yars' Revenge video (featuring Clutch Cargo as Yar)
Yars' Revenge Kid Stuff album
Mystery Mansion (Haunted House prototype)
Howard Scott Warshaw interview by Scott Stilphen
HSW Keynote at Electronicon, 1997, filmed by Scott Stilphen (this is part 1 of 5, the other parts will show on the right)
HSW on Matt Chat (part 1 of 2, see above)
HSW's Once Upon Atari site
HSW's personal site
HSW's books on Amazon
Original Steve Hendricks Haunted House artwork (scroll down)
Hiro Kimura's web site
Brian's Yars' Revenge review

1001, Custer's Revenge; 1002, Bachelor Party; and 1003, Beat'Em and Eat 'Em!

This week's episode is about the adult games released by Mystique, Custer's Revenge, Bachelor Party, and Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em. Controversial games all, please be advised that this episode has the explicit tag, so do not listen if you are offended by sex or if there are children anywhere near the mp3 player of choice. Next week will be much safer, it will be about Yar's Revenge and Haunted House, two of the better games that Atari made for their system. If you have any feedback about these two games, please send it along to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. It should be a fun show. Thank you for listening!

Palm Beach Post article
White Mountain Apache tribe resolution (PDF)
Porn and Pong book by Damon Brown
Ocala Star Banner article
NY Times article
People Magazine article
Info World magazine article
Canadian news segment
American Indian Community House
American Indian Movement

CX 2651, Blackjack, CX 2652, Casino, and CX 2653, Slot Machine!

This week's episode talks about Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine by Atari. I apologize for the delay, I am still trying to get over being sick. Thankfully, my dad should be getting out of the hospital on Friday, and again, I thank you all for your patience and your well wishes. It really does mean a lot to me. Next time, since I am a 12 year old boy at heart (as I mention in this episode and should be readily apparent), episode 69 will be about Custer's Revenge, Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em, and Bachelor Party. These are the three Mystique adult games that cause a lot of controversy and at least one lawsuit when they were originally released. I will have a warning at the beginning of the episode and it will also be labeled explicit in iTunes. I realize this will be offensive to some. I don't want to leave these games out because they are part of the game library, so if you are offended by this kind of material or if you listen with your kids, please skip this episode and come back for the Haunted House and Yar's Revenge episode right after this one. As always, if you have any feedback, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. I am thinking that episode 69 will probably not be out until the 13th; hopefully after that I can go back to once a week, because all of this stuff is driving me crazy. Thank you for listening everyone, see you next time!

Pertinent Links

Bob Whitehead interview by Scott Stilphen
Ryan's Atari 2600 site
Player/Missile podcast
Zerbinator Land

Summer Special - Favorite Childhood Toys OTHER Than the Atari 2600

Hi everybody, I feel a little guilty about not having an episode this week. This one is not about the 2600 though; rather, it's about the other toys I had and enjoyed as a kid. I don't necessarily think of the 2600 as a toy, but it was the last toy-like thing that I remember getting. I was 11 when I got it and was 8 months away from Middle School, which changed a lot of things for me. I was also a year from my first job as a paperboy, so I had cash in my pocket for the first time. I would either save up for an Atari cartridge or blow it at an arcade, I don't remember buying toys. Not until my 20s at least, which you'll hear about soon on the Retro Junkies Mini episode I did. I hope you like this episode, but I won't blame you for skipping it. Don't forget, next week we'll be taking a trip to the Atari Casino with Blackjack, uh, Casino, and Slot Machine. If you have any feedback you can send it to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks everyone, enjoy the week and I'll see you on the 23rd!

Pivot Pool
Video of Pivot Pool
Earthquake Tower record
Earthquake Tower (with action photo!)
PlaySkool Holiday Inn set
Lego Swiss Villa set
Video of Swiss Villa by a collector
Mego Batman figures
Mego Magnetic Batman figure commercial
Atari Touch Me on KLOV
Police ripoff Simon commercial
More weird Simon commercials
Electronic Quarterback Android app!
Electronic Quarterback at Handheld Museum
Electronic Quarterback hilarious commercial
World of 2-XL
Play 2-XL online! It's awesome!
1978 2-XL commercial

2459, Mouse Trap, and 2463, Lady Bug!

Hello dere. This week I'm profiling a Coleco game, Mouse Trap, and what was supposed to be a Coleco game, Lady Bug. Lady Bug is actually a home brew done by Champ Games/John Champeau, it was never released by Coleco back in the 80s despite being advertised and given a part number. See, vaporware has been around forever! I am spending a few days next week with my dad who is visiting from Arizona, so the show will resume on July 23rd with Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine by Atari. If you have any feedback for any of these games, or for any games I've already covered, I would love to read or play it on the show! Just send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Enjoy your Cow Appreciation Day and I'll see you on July 23rd. Thanks for listening!

Pertinent Links

Mouse Trap on KLOV
Lady Bug on KLOV
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! Mouse Trap
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! Lady Bug
How To Beat The Home Video Games - Mouse Trap
Interview with John Champeau by Scott Stilphen
Champ Games fan page
Interview with John Champeau from the Champ Games fan page
Order Lady Bug from the Atari Age store
Nathan Strum's CheepTech web site
Henry Will's PM Lessons Learned Podcast

CX 2649, Asteroids, and CX 2650, Berzerk!

This week's episode is about Asteroids and Berzerk, two great early arcade ports for the 2600. Big thanks once again to Willie Culver for sponsoring the contest for this episode, where he gave away an Atari Flashback 4! Willie is a great guy, make sure you watch him on Youtube at Arcade USA or listen to the Colecovisions podcast and the upcoming Channel F Files! As I say in the show, I should have split these games up to make it a little easier on me, but then the Swordquest games wouldn't have been on the same show, and that seems wrong. So it works out. I'm still editing, but I think this may be the longest episode yet. In the future I may do more single-game shows for games I think will garner a lot of feedback. Next week I'll be talking about Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau. I'm hoping my copy of Ladybug is here soon! In future episodes I'll be doing Blackjack, Casino, Slot Machine, Yar's Revenge and Haunted House by Atari; Grand Prix and Barnstorming by Activision; Death Trap and London Blitz by Avalon Hill; and Swordquest: Earthworld and Swordquest: Fireworld by Atari. Send your feedback in any shape or size to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you everyone for listening!

Pertinent Links

Asteroids on KLOV
Berzerk on KLOV
Photo of Atari Asteroids tournament machine
Willie's Asteroids video
Willie's Berzerk video
Willie's contest winner video! Thanks Willie!
How to Beat the Home Video Games: Berzerk
How to Beat the Home Video Games: Asteroids
Kid Stuff Asteroids Album

VC 1003, Word Zapper, and VC 1004, Commando Raid!

Hi there! This week I discuss Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games. Next week is a big one, Asteroids and Berzerk, both by Atari. Upcoming games include Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau, Blackjack, Casino, Slot Machine, Yar's Revenge and Haunted House by Atari; Grand Prix and Barnstorming by Activision; and Death Trap and London Blitz by Avalon Hill. If you have any feedback for any of these games or any of the games I've already covered, please send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Don't forget to guess Willie's combined score on Asteroids and Berzerk to win an Atari Flashback 4! Go to Arcade USA and watch the video, then leave your score there in the comments or on my Facebook page. Thanks for listening!

Pertinent Links

Henry Will IV's blog page
Amiga Power Play Arcade series on Atari Protos
Willie's Commando Raid video

SA-203, Cross Force, and SA-204, Tape Worm!

This is the second Spectravision show I've done, this time featuring the games Cross Force and Tape Worm. If you don't know Spectravision, try these games out, I think you will enjoy them. Next week on the show I'll be looking at Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games. Upcoming games include Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari; Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau, Blackjack, Casino, Slot Machine, Yar's Revenge and Haunted House by Atari; and Grand Prix and Barnstorming by Activision. If you have any feedback for these or any of the games I've covered so far, send it to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you so much for listening, see you next time!

Pertinent Links

Willie's Atari Flashback 4 contest video for episode 66
Willie's Cross Force video
Willie's Tape Worm video
How to Beat the Home Video Games: Tape Worm
Submarine Commander on Atari Protos site
Phenomenal Phil the No Swear Gamer on Youtube
Nibbler on KLOV

CX 2647, Submarine Commander, and CX 2648, Video Pinball!

This episode is about Submarine Commander (the last Sears exclusive on this show), and one of my childhood favorites, Video Pinball (both by Atari). Be sure to stick around to hear me ramble for quite some time about playing pinball as a kid. Next week I'll be talking about Cross Force and Tapeworm by Spectravision. Upcoming games include Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games; Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari; Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau, Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine by Atari; and Yar's Revenge and Haunted House, also by Atari. Send your feedback on these games or any game I've already covered to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net, and I'll read or play it on the show. Thanks for listening everyone, see you next week.

Pertinent Links

Matt Hubbard's This Day in Science Fiction blog
Marilyn Churchill's Mystic Heroine Adventures web site
Sea Wolf on KLOV
Sea Wolf II on KLOV
Video Pinball on KLOV
Atari Video Pinball console
Willie's Video Pinball video
Willie's Submarine Commander video
People Playing Atari - Video Pinball
Derp.

CM001, Magicard, and CM002, Video Life!

This week's episode is about the CommaVid carts Magicard and Video Life. It was a tough one, I really don't possess a basic understanding of programming (Magicard) or elementary science (Video Life), not to mention that I was off for three weeks and was out of the habit of my usual procrastination, which turned it into unusual procrastination. I hope that you will forgive me and enjoy the episode anyway, I did get some good feedback which as always saves the show. Next week I'll be talking about Submarine Commander and Video Pinball by Atari. Video Pinball is one of my favorites. Upcoming games include Cross Force and Tape Worm by Spectravision; Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games; Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari; Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau, and Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine by Atari. Any thoughts or memories that you have about any of these games or any of the games I've already covered can be sent to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for your patience and for listening!


Pertinent Links

CommaVid Story on Digital Press
Irwin Gaines magazine article
John Bronstein's Atari 2600 reverse engineering contraption
Magicard manual (PDF)
Chess rematch with Rick from the Intellivisionaries
Willie's Flashback 4 contest video
Next Level Video Games in Blackwood, NJ
Magicard program binaries on Atari Age

003-01, Thunderground, and 004-01, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator!

This week I talk about two more of Sega's Atari 2600 games, Thunderground and Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator.  I found both of them to be fun to play. Next episode will not be out until June 4, I am taking a few weeks off. That will be MagiCard and Video Life by CommaVid. The MagiCard manual is horribly long and complicated, so the extra time will be nice. Upcoming games include Submarine Commander and Video Pinball by Atari; Cross Force and Tape Worm by Spectravision; Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games; Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari; and Mousetrap by Coleco and Ladybug by John Champeau. I'm including this homebrew (first one!) because it was slated to be released by Coleco but wasn't, and Champeau later released a great port of the game. So if you have any stories or memories of any of these games, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you everyone, have a great Memorial Day if you're in the US and I'll see you in June!


Highly Illogical Links

June 1983 Videogaming Illustrated Star Trek article
Star Trek at KLOV
Borderline at KLOV
Classic Console Gamernews
Now You're Playing With Podcast
The Intellivisionaries Podcast
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie - Star Trek
Pixa on the iTunes Store
Thunderground manual from 2600 Connection (.PDF)

CX 2646, Pac-Man!

This week is all about Pac-Man by Atari. Got a ton of feedback and audio submissions, so you are in for a treat! Next week I will be looking at Thunderground and Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator by Sega. I'll get to CommaVid eventually. Thank you everyone, hope you enjoy the show. Thanks for listening!

Pac-Links

Pac-Man on KLOV
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie: Pac-Man
Pac-Man schematic (for fun)
2600 Connection Pac-Man Easter Eggs (check here for bug videos)
Nukey Shay's Pac-Man 8K on Atari Age

AG 041, Title Match Pro Wrestling, and AG 042, Skateboardin'

This week I look at half of the Absolute Entertainment games, Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin.' Next week on the show I will be covering Pac-Man! A very polarizing game for sure. I already have quite a few emails for that show, I would love to hear what you think (and thought!) about this game. In the coming weeks I'll be doing MagiCard and Video Life by CommaVid; Submarine Commander and Video Pinball by Atari; Thunderground and Star Trek by Sega; Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari; Cross Force and Tapeworm by Spectravision, and Word Zapper and Commando Raid by US Games. I would love to hear your thoughts on these games or any of the games I've already covered; please send them in text or mp3 form to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent Links

Interview with Alex DeMeo on 2600 Connection
Skateboardin' map on Atarimania
Earl Green's post about the Alamagordo excavation

CX 2643, Codebreaker; CX 2644, Flag Capture, and CX 2645, Video Chess!

This week I stupidly cover 3 Atari games, Codebreaker, Flag Capture and Video Chess. Stupidly only because it was Easter and I was more busy than I've ever been. Sometimes 3 in a show is a necessary evil. Next week I'll be delving into Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin' by Absolute. Upcoming games include Pac-Man by Atari; Magicard and Video Life by CommaVid; Submarine Commander and Video Pinball by Atari; Thunderground and Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator by Sega; Asteroids and Berzerk by Atari (if that show isn't close to 90 minutes with feedback then I'm doing something wrong); and Cross Force and Tapeworm by Spectravision. If you have any stories or memories of any of these games that you would like to share, please send them to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. This of course is not a guarantee that I will read it on the correct show, as I am wont to overlook them sometimes. I just realized I forgot to read Jeff's email this week, I apologize to Jeff and I will read them on next week's show. I hate it when I do that. Thanks for listening everyone.

Pertinent Links

Venetian Blinds by Activision on Atari Protos site
Computer Chess by Atari on Atari Protos site
Win a free game on the Retro Junkies Forum!
Willie's Video for the Retro Junkies 5000 likes contest!
Intellivision vs. Atari VCS Chess!

PB 5080, Gyruss, and PB5110, James Bond 007!

This week's episode deals with Gyruss and James Bond 007 by Parker Brothers. Upcoming games include Codebreaker, Flag Capture & Video Chess by Atari; Skateboardin' and Title Match Pro Wrestling by Activision; Pac-Man by Atari; MagiCard and Video Life by CommaVid (tentatively); Submarine Commander and Video Pinball by Atari; and Thunderground and Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator by Sega. Send me your memories of these games or any games I've already covered to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you for listening everyone.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of fellow video game podcaster Kevin Cronin.

Pertinent Links

Gyruss on KLOV
Alternate James Bond 007 artwork on Atarimania (scroll to the bottom)
GoFundMe donation page for Kevin Cronin
Video Game Rescue podcast
James Bond movie intros, featuring the red swirly thing, which now looks like a gun barrel. I am a dope.
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie - Gyruss

AR 4102, Suicide Mission, & AR 4103, Killer Satellites!

Back to the wonderful Supercharger for two more of its games, Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites. I forgot to mention in the show that the Prototype version of Suicide Mission, Meteoroids, has a similar descending note scale like the arcade version of Asteroids. You can hear that in the sound clip I played in that section (it speeds up as there are fewer meteoroids onscreen). The released version only has 2 of these notes, and it sounds really weird. Next week on the show I'll be yakking about Gyruss and James Bond 007 by Parker Brothers. Upcoming games include Codebreaker, Flag Capture and Video Chess by Atari; Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin' by Absolute; Pac-Man by Atari; Magicard and Video Life by CommaVid, and Submarine Commander (Sears exclusive) and Video Pinball by Atari. You can send me your stories or memories of any of these game or any of the games I've already covered to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!

Pertinent Links

Intellivision vs. Atari II: Electric Boogaloo - Checkers!
Steve Hales interview in Halcyon Days by James Hague
Steve Hales' Igor Software Labs web site
Kevin Norman's Science Wiz web site
Suicide Mission at Atari Protos web site
Favorite Atari 2660 Games of Willie - Killer Satellites!
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie - Suicide Mission!

CX 2641, Surround, and CX 2642, Hunt 'n' Score (aka A Game Of Concentration)

This week's episode is a little dry, it features the Atari games Surround and Hunt 'n' Score (aka A Game Of Concentration). What this episode lacks in gameplay makes up in audio submissions! I wasn't expecting much feedback this week, but I did get some, which included audio from Shinto and Rob O'Hara. I really appreciate everyone that sends feedback, especially those who take the time to actually record it. I am trying to do that more myself for other podcasts, even though I think my voice sounds worse on other podcasts than it does on mine. Anyway, next week I'll be looking at the Starpath games ("tapes" would be an acceptable term for these, and only these) Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites. Upcoming games include James Bond 007 and Gyruss by Parker Brothers; Codebreaker, Flag Capture & Video Chess by Atari; Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin' by Absolute, Pac-Man by Atari, and Magicard and Video Life by CommaVid. You can send your feedback for these games or any game I've already covered to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Than you for listening everyone!

Pertinent Links

Al Backiel interview with Alan Miller (contains a picture of Larry Wagner's launch title list)
Dominos on KLOV
Blockade on KLOV
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of FocusRS - Surround
Hunt 'n' Score bitmaps from the manual

11003, Fast Eddie, and 11004, Deadly Duck!

This week I look at Fast Eddie and Deadly Duck by 20th Century Fox, makers of fine films and video games. Next week it's back to the early days of Atari with Surround and Hunt 'n' Score, aka A Game of Concentration. Upcoming games include Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites by Starpath; James Bond 007 and Gyruss by Parker Brothers; Codebreaker, Flag Capture & Video Chess by Atari; Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin' by Absolute, and a big one, Pac-Man by Atari. That one should generate some discussion. Send me feedback, including your memories and opinions of these games and any of the games I've covered so far to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks everyone!

Pertinent Links

Interview with Mark Turmell, I Am Entertainment magazine
Deadly Duck manual cover (blecch)

CX 2639, Othello, & CX 2640, RealSports Baseball!

This week I talk about Othello and RealSports Baseball, the latter being the first silver label game that I'm discussing! Rick from the Intellivisionaries Podcast and I pitted our respective consoles against each other in Reversi/Othello, which you can watch on Youtube via the link below. Special thanks to Rick for suggesting this, and also for recording it and hosting it on the Intellivisionaries Youtube page! Next week I'll be talking about Fast Eddie and Deadly Duck by Sirius/20th Century Fox. Upcoming games include Surround and A Game of Concentration (AKA Hunt 'n' Score) by Atari; Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites by Starpath; James Bond 007 and Gyruss by Parker Brothers; Codebreaker, Flag Capture & Video Chess by Atari; and Title Match Pro Wrestling and Skateboardin' by Absolute. You can send your thoughts and memories of these games or any games I've already covered to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Your submissions are what make this show fun! Thank you everyone!

Pertinent Links

Atari 2600 vs. Intellivision: Reversi vs. Othello
LONG Ed Logg interview (PDF download)
Atari Protos RealSports baseball page 
Atari Museum page on the Atari 2600 Jr.
RealSports Baseball commercial with Billy Martin

AG-011, Stampede, and AX-012, Ice Hockey!

This week's episode is about two more Activision games, Stampede and Ice Hockey. These games are so simple that I think I spent much more time on the packaging then on the actual gameplay! Next week is two more Atari games, Othello and RealSports Baseball (I think it's the first Atari silver label cart in the podcast that wasn't a reissue). Coming up isFast Eddie and Deadly Duck by Sirius/20th Century Fox; Surround and A Game of Concentration (AKA Hunt 'n' Score) by Atari; Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites by Starpath; James Bond 007 and Gyruss by Parker Brothers; and Codebreaker, Flag Capture & Video Chess by Atari. If you have any stories or memories for these games or any games I've already covered, send your email or audio submission to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks everyone!

Pertinent Links

How To Beat The Home Video Games - Stampede
1982 Activision Corporate video
Ice Hockey commercial with the late great Phil Hartman
Retro Junkies forums
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of FocusRS - Stampede
Atari Age thread on Rally X by Ed Fries
Atari 2600 by Little Brother
Solar Wolf game on Python (corrected link)

4L-2486, Blueprint, and 4L-2487, Solar Fox!

Hi ho everyone! Episode 51 deals with Blueprint and Solar Fox by CBS Electronics, both really great games for the 2600 in my opinion. Next week I'll be looking at Stampede and Ice Hockey by Activision. In the coming weeks you can expect to hear about Othello and RealSports Baseball by Atari; Fast Eddie and Deadly Duck by 20th Century Fox/Sirius; Surround and A Game Of Concentration (aka Hunt 'n' Score) by Atari; and Suicide Mission and Killer Satellites by Starpath. If you have any stories or memories for these games or any of the games I've already covered, I want to hear from you! Send an email or an audio submission to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. You can also comment on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening everyone, have a great week!

Pertinent Links

In depth review of Solar Fox (all versions) on RF Generation
Solar Fox on KLOV
Blue Print on KLOV
Blueprint at Atariprotos.com 
Kickman at KLOV 
Favorite Atari 2600 Games of FocusRS - Blueprint! 
Solar Wolf, Solar Fox update for Python
Solar Fox commercial with maybe Jane Krakowski

Q & A with Atari 2600 programmer Dan Oliver

For episode 50, I got in touch with Dan Oliver to ask him about himself and the games he did for the 2600. He was very gracious and answered my questions in great detail, and has allowed me to print them here. The questions I asked were kind of a companion to an Atari Age thread where he gave a lot of information on his games, so I urge you to check that thread out as well. Thanks again to Dan Oliver for his games and for answering my questions!

Ferg: You mentioned you painted and sold oil paintings previous to programming. Can you elaborate on that? Were you ever approached or did you offer to do the art for the games you programmed? Are you still painting?

Dan Oliver: In high school we had a cool art teacher, Mr Ogen, that would let people just kind of hang out in the art department. We could get passes to get out of study hall and go to the art department. So a few of us would be there for 1/4 of the day. Mr Ogen talked a guy into buying one of my paintings, a landscape, for a new Browning graphic fly rod. Mr Ogen and I also liked to fish. The fishing rod was better than I even knew was possible. At that time, the 1970s, there was no internet, and few shows on TV. I only knew about things we'd see ar Big N (Kmart like store). So this opened my eyes to a couple of things. I could do something I liked and make a living at it. And also the value of something done well, like this fly rod. I still have it.

When I was hired at Apollo I was hired partly because of my art experience and they had said maybe I could help out with that. It didn't appear to me that they knew what "that" meant. But when I showed I could program a game, doing art for boxes or whatever went out the window. Just as well because doing boxes and such takes experience as well as ability I think.

I haven't painted since taking up programming. I went into the Army in 1976 in order to get the GI bill which would help pay for college. When it was time to go to college I had to pick a major so I opened the newspaper and scanned the help ads and counted the number of openings looking for people with a degree. There were more ads related to computers so that was for me. I had little idea what a computer was. I went to sign up at SUNY at Brockport and saw a counselor who also didn't know much about computers. Many of the want ads had mentioned languages so I told the counselor that I was very poor at spelling and language (later found out I a bit dyslexic) and I wondered if majoring in computer science would be a mistake. The counselor didn't know for sure but didn't think computer languages was like English. So I signed up. But I only did one semester at Brockport taking non-computer classes because I'd been waiting to get a security clearance for a job and that came thru. So I was off to Shemya, Alaska to work for a year, though I only stayed 6 months because the money wasn't as good as they'd indicated.

When I came back I looked for colleges that didn't require a foreign language class for a degree. Almost all did. I ended up in Austin, TX at a community college because it was too late to get into UT. But I checked out the UT campus and it was way too serious for me. It looked like they expected results. I was just looking for a piece of paper, a degree. I didn't have a lot of faith in our education system. It's great and all, but so antiquated in its methods. So I kept looking for another school and found North Texas State and moved to Denton TX and got to take my first computer course, Basic 101. They had just setup a computer lab with a bunch of Apple II, TRS 80s and TI 99s.

First assignment was like 3 or 4 steps. This was on the Apple II and at one point you drop out of Apple Basic and are in machine language land and have to type 3DOG to return to Apple Basic. Pretty simple, the instructions are all written out. So I type in 3DOG and an error message appears, of course that was before I knew what an error message was. So I'm like, "How could I mess this up?" I keep trying. After about 30 minutes I'm sweating bullets. Clearly I have no business trying to learn about computers. I'll never get a job and will live under a bridge. Finally I ask the kid next to me if he's figured it out. He looks at me, has more sweat on him than I do, and says, "I grew up in Nigeria and have never seen a keyboard before." I'm so screwed I think, but not as screwed as this guy. I knew schools graded on a curve so I figure I should keep at it. After maybe another 30 minutes a light goes on. Up at the top of the keyboard are keys with numbers and the zero does look like the letter O so I try that. Bingo. Later I figured out what the deal was. 3D0 is the starting address of Apple Basic and G meant "Go" or execute. This was a life lesson. One, schools don't teach, they throw you into deeper and deeper water and then give you a few hints on how to get out. But basically you're on your own. Two, logic and thinking out of the box. From then on I looked at computers as a puzzle where the answer was always very simple and most obvious solutions are overly complex and not answers at all. Learning rules and how things are "supposed" to be done is severely limiting and counter productive.

Anyways, a few days later the TA is teaching us about the Apple II and he's explaining pixels. How we control a couple of dots of colors and how we can mix the colors to create other colors. This I understood from painting. I thought this was tremendous, that I could create anything. And that it had to be cheaper than buying paint and I didn't have to inhale turpentine fumes. I went out and spent $2200 on an Apple II and a few days later $500 for a floppy disk drive, pretty much all the money I had. I was obsessed. The next semester I took some mainframe type classes, punch cards. Fortan, JCL and Assembly on an IBM 360 system the size of city bus. To me the Assembly was easy to understand. Fortan and JCL were higher languages and had all this human crap getting in the way. Spend all your time worrying about syntax. Syntax has nothing to do with computers and everything to do with people trying to get other people to think the same way they do. Assembly takes a lot of that away and you're left to communicate with the computer however you want and the computer is happier too.

Back at home I was learning 6502 assembly on the Apple II and it was a lot like IBM 360. I considered the Apple II to be more powerful than the 360. Certainly easier to program because the 360 was punch card and you had to submit a job and wait for a result. The Apple was thousands of time faster turn around. The 360 I assume had floating point, disk space, more RAM, but for me fast turn around was everything. And pixels on the screen to me was the only point to a computer. Didn't care if a computer could compute Pi to some long list of digits.

So that was pretty much it for painting although I keep thinking I want to get back to it someday. But here's the rub. Painting and programming demand every minute of every day. May be this is true of anything you want to do well. It just isn't possible for me do both at the same time. I've met a few painters and programmers who were really fast, but I wasn't that lucky. I'm not a great painter but I will spend a few weeks on a painting to make something decent where someone else will spend an afternoon. Same with programming. It's judged on a curve.

F: In looking through the AA thread, you said that Apollo hired you away from college. Where were you going and what were you studying, and did you finish college? If so, what degree(s) did you get there?

DO: I never got a degree. When I was learning mainframe and PC at the same time it seemed to me this was a no brainer. But I wasn't sure because everyone, college and business, at that time only considered mainframes to be real computers. To me the iron was impressive but once you removed the steel panels and these huge circuit boards that didn't have much on them they looked a lot like an Apple II mother board. The mainframes I saw were 8 bit, so was the Apple. Assembly language was basically the same, better registers.

So I decided to get a part time job to see what was actually happening in the world. College campuses were in a fantasy land they created for themselves that had little to do with accomplishing anything. Colleges put up hoops for people to jump thru with almost no thought beyond trying to figure out what your professor wants to hear. Many people think the world is like that too, but I don't. Jumping thru hoops is easy and many people enjoy that. But behind the curtain, away from CEOs, boards, business news, investing, are people dreaming up and inventing the future. That's the fun stuff.

So I looked thru the want ads again for a part time job to see what was really going on. One interview was at TI for a guy writing a book. I would write programs that would generate charts to put into the book. There were no apps in those days. That would be pretty cool. But boy I never cared for TI. There was just something pocket calculator about them. There mission seemed to be to suck the fun out of everything. I interviewed at Apollo and that was pretty much the first I'd heard about video games. Back in the Army a roommate had assembled a Heathkit computer, cassette tape, and he had managed to get a white dot going horizontally back and forth to make Pong. He never got paddles up and I'm not sure he had a joystick. I didn't think anything of it at the time. The cassette tape was so tedious, I didn't see how you could ever do anything.

But Apollo was full time. One older guy at Apollo, a VP I think, was concerned about me dropping out. Inside my head I was like "Are you fucking kidding me? This video game stuff is so leading edge in computer science compared to the stone tools colleges were teaching it was jumping into the future." But I knew what he wanted to hear so I said "I can always go back to college" and kept "when monkeys fly out of my ass" to myself. Plus they were going to pay me as much as I expected to earn after I got out of college with a degree. And to me that was the only point to college, getting a degree to get a job. I was already well aware that they weren't teaching much in college that could actually be used. The few things that were useful you could learn much faster and cheaper on your own. I learned more about assembly language programming in a single weekend on the Apple II than an entire semester of IBM 360.

F: Do you remember any specific dates for your stint at Apollo? In the thread you said you were there for 2 months before moving on to Venturevision.

DO: I think I did try to recreate the timeline with help of Scott Stilphen but don't remember the final dates. I'm not sure if 2 months was right. I would have finished the semester so I assume I would have started in the spring of 1982. A week or two of screwing around, 4 weeks making Space Cavern and then some time screwing around after that. The Forbes or Fortune magazine article on video games came out just after I finished Space Cavern. I remember I went with Apollo to summer CES and left shortly after that. I think I was already talking to my VentureVision partners when I went to CES. So it could have been 3 or 4 months total, don't know.

F: You mentioned learning 6502 Assembly two weeks before starting Space Cavern. I am not a programmer of anything, so please forgive my ignorance, did you know other languages that made it easier for you to pick up Assembly?

I covered this above. I was taking some classes but to me I "learned" 6502 when I programmed a Gravitar knock off on the Apple II, but just a ship at bottom of screen that moved left and right and shot up, asteroids came down from the top. Nothing close to actual Gravitar. At least I think it was Gravitar inspired, could have been Asteroids. But my asteroids were wire framed, so I think Gravitar.

I knew some Apple Basic before 6502 and I was taking an IBM 360 assembly class which is basically the same as 6502 to me. But I wouldn't say anything made learning 6502 easier only because 6502 is so easy. I bought the book "Using 6502 Assembly Language: How Anyone Can Program the Apple II" and learned from that. I mean the syntax is easy. There can't be more than a a dozen or so instructions you use a lot and a few more you use sometimes and some you never use. There's just maybe 2 concepts people find tricky, the stack deal which is pretty easy and address indirection which is difficult to understand. But if you can hammer away until you get address indirection you're home free. Anyone can do it, just a question of how long you want to hammer away at it.

Learning the Apple II hardware takes more time. Then the real learning begins. Once you know a few details, how you put that altogether to create something useful takes forever. I'm still learning that.

Some people like crossword puzzles. They'll hammer away at trying to find a single word for hours, days. The furthest I've ever gotten in a crossword puzzle is reading the first clue. I don't get it. Meaning I don't understand the joy other people get from hammering away at solving that problem. I'm sure I, or anyone, could learn to do crossword puzzles and maybe even enjoy them. I think people who enjoy crossword puzzle saw the little tricks needed to solve clues fast. It's fun when you happen to see the trick right off. I don't know if it's luck or the way our brains are wired at a specific time when we see a problem. I saw the Healthkit computer and I didn't get it. When I learned about pixels I got it. Maybe I was just ready at that point. How I got to that point I have no clue.

F: As far as I can tell, all of your games are in stereo (There's a feature of the Stella emulator that allows you to play in mono or stereo. I am only assuming that the games are programmed in stereo because there have been some games that only have sounds coming out of one channel when stereo is chosen). Can you tell me anything about that? I was led to believe that only the first 9 games released for the 2600 were programmed in stereo, but it's been difficult finding a true mono game.

DO: I have no idea. Audio is not my favorite. Some of the sounds in Space Cavern I think just pointed to code and I sent that data to the audio hardware. I moved the pointer around until it sounded OK to me. Partly that saved space but mostly just because audio has never been very interesting to me. I like pixels. So if I programmed in stereo it would be only because there were 2 hardware registers available (I assume) and so I used them.

F: I am having a hard time understanding one aspect of Space Cavern, the manual is a bit vague. When you shoot an Electrosauri, it turns into something else and descends to the surface, but you can't shoot it. It doesn't seem related to when the Marsupods enter the screen. Do you remember why that was?

DO: I don't actually remember what a Electrosauri or Marsupods is. I assume Electrosaur is the thing that comes in from the sides? There's a kind of strange relationship between a game designer and player. My involvement is almost 100% before the game is released, before terms like Electrosauri and Marsupods are invented. There isn't any need for names. I would spend hours imagining these creatures, hours tweaking them, testing, tweaking. There's no reason for a name. Later, when the game is done, these names are created to help convey them quickly to others. But while they exist only in my private world no names are needed.

So there wouldn't be a specific reason for most game elements other than after tweaking something a few hundred times it becomes what it is. So the answer is almost always because I thought it played better. That sure doesn't mean that it actually is the best way, just what I could come up with in the constraints at the time.

F: How long were you at Venturevision? Were you a partner or the programmer? Were there any other programmers besides you and Robert Weatherby working on games?

DO: I was a founder along with Bob Hesler and his friend, can't remember his name. Robert was our only hire. I was at VentureVision pretty much the entire time. I left before it was officially closed but it was dead. I would say the entire period would have been 6-8 months with some overlap with my time at Apollo.

F: How long did Rescue Terra 1 take to program? Did you do Inner Space right away, and had RT1 been released yet when Inner Space was finished? How long did Inner Space take to program?

DO: I would say 4 weeks to make Rescue Terra I. These things are a little hard to say at what point you begin and end. So I'd say 4 weeks at the keyboard. Could have been a bit longer. I was imagining Innerspace as I was working on RTI. That's the way it goes. I'll do the explosion in a game and then near release see a way to make a better explosion. But I can't stop, rip out the current explosion and add the new. You'd never ship anything and not have the money to do anything.

I would say Innerspace was 6 weeks at the keyboard. It was started the day after we sent the final RTI to ROM production which took about 4-8 weeks. So Innerspace would have been basically done by the time RTI was sold to the public. Innerspace wasn't sent to ROM, no box was made at VentureVision.

F: From your description, it seems like you really didn't work for Imagic, as they were shutting down operations. Do you recall when you brought them Inner Space and how much later it was released?

DO: When VentureVision ran out of money I needed to eat so I looked in a few game magazine for game companies and started plotting them on the map. Turned out there was a group in southern CA and a group around San Jose. I figured I'd go out and visit as many as I could to see if I could find a job. Although the game crash had just started there were still a lot of companies who thought it wasn't going to be bad and game developers were still in demand.

So I went out and showed Innerspace as part of my portfolio. My partners at VV waited to keep trying to sell the RTI games so to divide up the company's assets I got Innerspace and they got RTI. So I was free to show Innerspace, I wasn't exactly looking to sell Innerspace but the owner of one game company, a pretty big company doing floppy disk games for computers, showed the game to Imagic. My only interaction with Imagic was to sign papers and pick up the check. By that time I was at Atari. When I walked thru an Imagic building it was a ghost town, just a couple of people left.

After signing the contract they gave me the check and I got up to leave. The guy stopped me and said, "Don't you want to know about how future royalties will be handled?" I said, "Not really," and left. Partly because I trusted them to do the right thing. I mean I sure wasn't going to hire a legal team so trust is really your only option. But also because I didn't see anyway Imagic would be around in a month or two. By this time I'd been in the game industry for about one year and personally seen 2 companies start and fail and observed a few others start and fail. I kind of thought I knew the signs.

F: Your LinkedIn site says you started at Atari in April of 1983. You worked on Final Legacy first, was that specifically for the 800 and later ported to the 5200?

DO: Yes, 800 was the target.

F: When did you start working on Telepathy? Did you work on anything else while at Atari?

DO: I started Telepathy after Final Legacy shipped. The exact time I don't know. I worked on a couple of tiny little game things. The next thing I worked on was the Atari ST but my stuff didn't make it into the OS. My next product was ST Writer. I did work as a contractor later to fix a few bugs in the final release of Desert Falcon for the 7800.

F: Did you put any easter eggs in your Atari games? There aren't any listed on the 2600 Easter Egg compendium, but maybe because they are well hidden? 

DO: Probably not. I was always under tight deadlines. For Space Cavern I burned an EPROM, tested it for 3 minutes and gave the code to production and they were making carts less than an hour later. The concept of taking time to add an Easter egg was not something I considered. Plus Easter eggs had already been done to death in my opinion. They were really cool when they weren't expected, but as they became expected to me they stopped being Easter eggs so their fun was gone.

F: You worked on a number of projects after Atari that contained video or video editing. I read that What's My Story was the first computer product that allowed video editing. Was video an interest of yours, and if so, how far back did that go?

DO: Yes, my computer interest is almost solely on pixels. To me it's the same as painting.

Digital Pictures was kickass in displaying video on computers. There's one feature I learned there that I still want to add to an app.

F: From looking at your website, it looks like you stopped doing games after What's My Story. Was this a conscious decision or did you just enjoy the video aspect more?

DO: Games were getting pretty large. It was changing from a single artist to larger teams. Shipping a game is a risky deal. Knocking out a 2600 game in a month wasn't a lot of risk. Spending 5 years on a game that may never see the light of was not as much fun. Non-entertainment apps are more straight forward. You can research whether there is a need for an app.

Also it was becoming clearer that starting a game company was getting harder. I was at AnyRiver Entertainment working on the worst possible games humanity could ever invent when I kind of saw this was not the industry I wanted to work in. It's pretty cool now to see small teams making a comeback.

F: Have you worked anywhere else besides the companies listed? Are you still working or are you retired now?

DO: Make Systems
GO
AnyRiver Entertainment
The Right Software Company
Lumina Systems
FutureTel
Minerva Systems
Sonic Solutions
Active Recognition
Waterbug Design

For the past 12 years I've been mainly working on new programming methods. Ways to create better applications faster. What I learned was that the way we developed 2600 games was the best way to create applications. It's unfortunate it took 12 years but sometimes that's what it takes apparently.

F: What do you like to do for fun now?

DO: I still program 12-16 hours a day pretty much every day. I've always considered it to be fun as long as I can pick my projects.

I enjoy many things but tend to become obsessed. I spent 3-4 years doing nothing but building water gardens and designing pond equipment. It was fun and learning is learning.

F: Do you have any opinion on the video games industry today?

DO: Cool to see smaller projects coming back. I was never into the first person movie-like deals. I saw my first fighting game, a Mortal Kombat type, at Atari in a lab and didn't think anyone would ever like such a game. I played a boxing game with friends about 10 years ago on probably a Play Station. Great looking graphics. But I didn't feel like I had much control. Once I figured out the Muhammad Ali avatar's upper cut beat most other moves I just whaled away on that move. No timing. Never interested in memorizing complex button combos. Never appealed to me.

I like shooters.

It's really cool to see there are still people interested in new 2600 games. I'm hoping to do games for them again when I have a project opening. They say the market is small but that's relative. Rescue Terra I sold maybe 30 copies. I might be able to sell 100 or 200 copies into the current market. That's cool to me. Money is important, it is needed in order to have the time to do these things well. But I think the current 2600 market is big enough to at least break even on a project. Meaning enough to buy food, electric, underwear.

And the Melody system is unbelievably cool. I'd love to take a crack at that.

So my plan is to release a new 2600 game that is a sequel to Innerspace on the VentureVision label which I own today. Don't know when or how likely, but that's what's stuck in my head. I have a lot of elements designed and laid out.

Dan put this at the end of his email and it made me laugh out loud:
All references to "back in the day" have been deleted.  :D

Please be sure to check out Dan's website, Waterbug Design. Thanks again to Dan Oliver!