Merry Christmas 2025

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been a busy season for me but I'm proud of myself for getting this out at all, I'm just glad it's not after Christmas. Thank you all so much for being here with me for another trying year, I am very glad you are here. Enjoy the rest of the season and I will see you very soon, I love each and every one of you, thank you!

Jason’s Retro Adventurers Podcast

Jason’s This Week In Retro Podcast

Eugenio's Christmas photos

Eugenio's Christmas photos 2

Tracks from the Free Music Archive under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Christmas Jazz by Denys Kyshchuk

On Christmas by AudioCoffee

Beautiful Soft Night by AudioCoffee

Christmas Jazz Instrumental/Christmas Mood by Alex-Productions

Lonely Christmas by snoozy beats

Cozy Christmas by Arthur Aravidi

Christmas Mood by the Sound of Freedom

Christmas Glow by BFC Music

Christmas Background by YuraSoop

Merry Christmas by Audiorezout

Christmas Celebration by TimTaj

Christmas Lights by TRG Banks

A Peaceful Winter by Scott Holmes Music

Brother Christmas by Lemon Yellow Hayes

Merry Christmas by YuraSoop

Christmas Atmosphere by YuraSoop

Sounds of Christmas by TimTaj

A Christmas Ball by TRG Banks

Silent Night by Scott Holmes Music

Gifts Of Love (HS23) by Beat Mekanik

Christmas Celebration (HS23) by Beat Mekanik

Winter Memories Medium Version by Lowtone Music

New Year Christmas Music by YuraSoop

The rest of the tracks are by artists who passed away this year, whom I am attempting to honor in my own way. Please don’t sue

5667 A106, Glacier Patrol!

Missed it by that much

Welcome everyone! Today we are looking at the game Glacier Patrol, which was made by VSS for Sunrise Software, but released later by Telegames. It was much more interesting than I thought, and there is much more feedback than I expected for this one. Thank you for that. Coming up next is the prototype Grover's Music Make by Atari. If you have any feedback, please send it to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by the time I get to Phoenix. As always I thank you for listening.

Glacier Patrol on Random Terrain

Ed Salvo interview by Scott Stilphen

VSS on Game Developer Research Institute

Glacier Patrol review and Telegames ad in Atarian magazine Sept/Oct 1989

Telegames website from 1999 on the Wayback Machine

Changing Atari VCS Graphics -- The Easy Way by Adam Trionfo

Adam's Tearjerker 2000 cartridge article

Hacking Pitfall! on the ATARI 2600 with the Debugger by 8Blit

7-008, Miner 2049er, & 07-011, Miner 2049er Vol. 2 by Tigervision!

What a lovely flock of gazebos

Hi there, welcome back my friends to the show that no longer comes out on time. In this episode I talk about two (count 'em) games by Tigervision, Miner 2049er and Miner 2049er Volume II. two sides of the same coin, if you will. there's lots of fun links to check out down yonder so have at it if you are so inclined. Next up is Glacier Patrol, made by Sunrise via VSS but distributed well after the fact by Telegames. I'm sure all of you spent hours playing this game in your youth,; if you'd like to tell me about it please send an email or audio to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by August 19th. Thank you very kindly, have a lovely day and I thank you for listening.

Miner 2049er on Random Terrain

Miner 2049er Vol. 2 on Random Terrain

Miner 2049er coverage in Electronic Games August 1983

Miner 2049er history on Big Five Software website (archived)

Miner 2049er on Atari Protos

Miner 2049er Vol. 2 on Atari Protos

Bill Hogue interview by ANTIC Podcast/Kevin Savetz

Miner 2049er Information Page by Nick Marentes (contains interviews)

Bill Hogue's Miner 2049er/Bounty Bob Emulator (It Works!)

Scott Ross' web site

Columbia House Video Game Club flyers on Digital Press

Miner 2049er Speed and Graphics ROM Hacks on AtariAge

VC2002, Squeeze Box!

Hello! Thanks for joining me in this episode all about Squeeze Box by U.S. Games. As I type this I am realizing that I made a huge mistake in the show, something I could have fixed if I looked at my own previous research. What a maroon! Hopefully I'll remember to correct it in the next episode. Which will be about Miner 2049er and Miner 2049er Vol. 2, both by Tigervision. I will also be talking about the Atari 8 bit game that spawned these two cartridges, as well as its creator, Bill Hogue, who I believe was 20 when he created the game. When I was 20 I was eating at White Castle three times a week. Oh well. If you have feedback for Miners 2049er, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by EOD May 27th. Hopefully I can keep this streak going! Thank you all for listening, I am so glad you are here.

Henry Will's web site on Archive.org

Interview with Todd Marshall by Scott Stilphen

Squeeze Box on Random Terrain

February 1983 issue of Video Game Update

Tigervision article by Rick Bentley, Kentucky New Era July 29 1983

Kandy Man Sales article by Michael Schrage, Washington Post June 7 1983

Carrere Video profile on Atari Gaming Headquarters

Teldec (Tigervision) catalog on Atarimania

Carrere/U.S. Games on Atarimania

No Swear Gamer's Squeeze Box video

CX 26105, Big Bird's Egg Catch!

Welcome back everyone, thanks so much for your patience. Today's episode is the long promised Big Bird's Egg Catch by Atari and CCW, the last such officially released collaboration between the two. I hope that you enjoy it and that it was worth the wait. The next episode will be on Squeeze Box by US Games. If you have any feedback you'd like to submit, please send it to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by May 13th. Please put the game title in the email subject, and if you send an audio submission, please put your name in the filename. Also, no need to summarize the game, that's what I'm here for! Thank you as always for listening, it means a lot to me.

Big Bird's Egg Catch on Random Terrain

BBEC on Atarimania

Nik Omarzu article on Digital Press

1983 Atari Showcase Video

Big Bird on Atari Protos

Big Bird prototypes on Atari Compendium

Video Game Update December 1983

AA May 2 1983 prototype thread by WickeyColumbus

AA June 1 1983 prototype thread by ieure

AA thread with CCW game joystick hacks

Merry Christmas 2024

Hello everyone, I want to thank you for your love and continued support over these last few difficult years for me. I'm feeling a bit more hopeful for the new year. I hope that you are all doing well and enjoying the holiday season so far. I hope this episode will help give you some extra (or any) Christmas spirit like it did for me. I love you all very much and I am so glad you are here. Merry Christmas!

The background music is from Mr Snooze on Youtube, and includes tracks from Kevin MacLeod, Audionautix, and Twin Musicom, among others. 

The vintage wrapping paper photo is from Atomic_Redhead

11013, Porky's!

I am not taking a shower with you

Welcome back to the show, glad to finally get this out, which is the episode about Porky's from 20th Century Fox. Did you know it's based on a movie? It's true! I do hope you enjoy the episode, and I always appreciate your continued patience with me. I think from now on I will give a feedback due date and let the episode fall where it falls. If I want to do something seems easier than if I need to do something, if that makes sense. I would love to get back to every 2 weeks, but that just isn't in the cards right now. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through all of this!

The next episode will be about Big Bird's Egg Catch from Atari, the final released Children's Television Workshop and Atari joint. But fear not, there's plenty of prototypes from this pairing to talk about. Stop groaning! If you would like to submit written or audio feedback, please send it to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by November 6, EOD. No need to summarize the game, that as always is my job, just tell me what you think of it or if you have a memory associated with it (now or then). Also, if you send an audio file, please put your name in the filename and the game title in the subject line. It makes it easier to find later on. Once again, I love you all and I thank you for listening.

Please donate to my Extra Life campaign here!

Atari 50 & Recharged Humble Bundle

Tarzan Prototype article by Kevin Bunch

Porky's on Random Terrain

Porky's on Atarimania

Porky's Easter Eggs on Atari Compendium

Randall Hyde's web site

Record World magazine, September 1981

LA Times article about Music Promoters and mob ties, March 1986

Porky's Entry in US Copyright Office

2nd Porky's Entry in USCO

Dunhill Electronics Entry on USCO

H & L Schwartz Inc., American Videogame Leasing Entry on USCO

AR-4400, Dragonstomper!

I am so sorry it's taking me so long to get episodes out. It seems like it's one step up, two steps back. I am trying to fix it. Despite that, the new episode featuring Dragonstomper by Starpath (formerly Arcadia) is now available. I hope you enjoy it. Coming up next will be Porky's by 20th Century Fox. I have some stuff coming up, so please get me your feedback by June 5th. You can send that to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com. Once again, I am grateful to all of you for sticking with me and being patient. I love you all and I am very lucky to have you!

Dragonstomper on Random Terrain

Stephen Landrum on Moby Games

Stephen Landrum: From Arcadia to Epyx by Sean Wheatley

Arcadia Promo Video

Arcadia Commercial featuring Andy Breyer

Dragonstomper Guide by Grimlick

No Swear Gamer complete Dragonstomper game #1 (kills dragon, spoilers)

No Swear Gamer Complete Dragonstomper game #2

Stella Gets A New Brain 2.0 on Internet Archive

Apologies to Liam Lynch

CX 26103, Alpha Beam with Ernie!

Hello, once again I apologize for the episode being late. Sarah came up with a new way for me to try doing the podcast that I think will be better, I talk about it in this episode. Which is all about Alpha Beam with Ernie, an Atari and Children's Computer Workshop joint. Thank you once again to Preston Stuart for answering a few questions that I had about this game. Coming up next will be Dragonstomper by Starpath, so if you have any thoughts about this game, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by February 13th. Thank you all for being such lovely and supportive friends, and extra special thanks to Sarah, truly without whom this podcast would have been done a long time ago. And as always, thank you for listening.

Alpha Beam on Random Terrain

Alpha Beam on Atari Protos

CCW game series announced in Atari Age magazine

1983 Atari Showcase video

Preston Stuart interview, Electronic Fun March 1983

Ernie on Muppet Wiki

Sesame Street episode 1, November 1969

Into The Vertical Blank tests Alpha Beam on a 2600+

Atari Age thread with Joystick conversions of SS/CCW games

My interview with Papa Pete and Jeff

PB 5590, Frogger II: Threedeep!

Happy New Year! Thank you so much for welcoming me back to the podcasting world so warmly, I am very grateful to all of you. The first game for 2024 is Frogger II - Threedeep! by Parker Brothers. What does this game have to do with a barn in Maine? oh, you are gonna find out, believe me. Next up on the show will be Alpha Beam with Ernie by Atari and CTW. If you have any feedback for this game, please send it to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by January 22nd, to be included in the show. Thank you for listening!

Frogger II on Random Terrain

Mark Lesser's web site

Interview with Mark Lesser by Scott Stilphen

Article on early handheld games by Glenn Derene

NHL '94 article by Eddie Makuch

Frogger II on Atari Protos

Gamma Attack disassembly by Dennis Debro

DOS and Don'ts Newsletter

Merry Christmas 2023!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy the episode, thank you for sending your Christmas related feedback to us. I wish you all health, happiness, and love this Christmas and all throughout the year. Thank you so much for your support, love, and understanding, and I thank you for listening.

GA 1003, Gamma Attack!

Hi. I know, it's been awhile. How have you been? Anyway, I hope you are amenable to a new episode of my podcast. It's all about the Gammation game Gamma Attack. Lots of interesting goings-on with this game, I hope you'll give it a chance and enjoy. I am taking submissions for the Christmas episode! I know it's kind of late, I'm sorry about that. In the episode the deadline for submissions is December 16. Right now Sarah is very sick and I have no idea when the actual episode is going to come out. Let's say the 20th is the deadline. If Sarah and I are able to record together or not, I'll do my best to get everyone in the show. Thanks so much everyone, I am grateful to you and your patience, and for sticking around. I love you.

Gammation web site on Wayback Machine from 2008

Gamma Attack discovery thread on Atari Age 

Gamma Attack eBay Auction article on Joystiq by Griffin McElroy

Gamma Attack eBay Auction article on MTV by Jason Cipriano

Gamma Attack overview on Racketboy

Gamma Attack $500,000 eBay Auction

Gamma Attack history video by Retro Game On

AB-035, Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns!

Happy New Year! If I can still say that when it's almost Groundhog Day. I hit a snag right out of the gate, which seems to be typical now. But, Pitfall II by Activision is finally available, and it's a doozy. The part about the game and its history etc. is twice as long as it usually is, I had a lot of fun researching this game. And of course, playing it. It's one of my favorites. I hope that you enjoy the episode. Coming up next is the super rare game Gamma Attack, by a tiny company called Gammation. Not as much history on this one, but what I've seen so far is very interesting. if you have any thoughts on this game, or even if you have a copy, I would love to hear about it. Please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by February 7th. Thanks so much for your patience, and thank you as always for listening.

Pitfall 2 on Random Terrain

Pitfall 2 on Atari Protos

David Crane interview by Scott Stilphen

DPC Chip patent

Explanation of DPC chip by David Crane on Atari Compendium

Atari Compendium article about "Super Chips," including the DPC chip

UK Activision Fun Club Newsletter Summer 1984 from Atari Compendium

Pitfall 2 patch

Pitfall 2 patch accompanying letter

Get MattBuc's repro Pitfall 2 patch here!

Pitfall! Masked Menace Mess

Pitfall! Raiders of the Lost Shark

Pitfall 2 The Lost Caverns on KLOV

Pitfall 2 Arcade playthrough by Old Classic Retrogaming 

Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition NES patch

Chris and Adam's Pitfall articles on Orphaned Games

Mean Santa by Tim Duarte and John K. Harvey!

Boy oh boy, it's been a rough year. This episode featuring Mean Santa by Tim Duarte and John K. Harvey almost didn't come out for Christmas. I am truly very sorry about how this year has gone, I need to change a lot of behaviors in the coming year. Regardless of what holiday (if any) you celebrate, I hope it is was a joyous and peaceful time. I am grateful to and for all of you and I do not deserve you. I will see you in 2023 where we will start the year with Pitfall II by Activision. Thank you for listening.

The Mean Santa Journey on Experienca Odyssey

ROM and Source Code for Free on Atari Age

2600 Connection Issue 100 thread

2600 Connection Mean Santa Sales Announcement on the Wayback Machine

Original YouTube video of game footage, posted August 10 2009

Tim Duarte's web page

John K. Harvey's web page via Wayback Machine

Order Mean Santa from Tim Duarte

Willie! plays Mean Santa on the Odyssey 2

Merry Christmas 2022!

It's been a bad year for me and podcasting, I'm sorry I haven't put that much out this year. I also have not been looking forward to Christmas, but today with the help of a friend, I got a boost of Christmas spirit! I'm going to try and extend it through next year the best I can. Thank you for sticking with me for so long. I love you all and I wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Thank you for listening 💗💚

ASC 1002, Gauntlet!

Welcome to the show! In this episode I will tell you what I know about Gauntlet by Answer Software. Other than how to play, it's not much; although I am very confident in telling you that this is NOT a port of the Atari arcade game Gauntlet. I can also tell you that despite what you read on the internet, the arcade Gauntlet was partially inspired by the 8 bit computer game Dandy, written by John Palevich. It was not inspired by Atari's console game Dark Chambers, which came out 3 years after Gauntlet. Dark Chambers was also inspired by Dandy. With that pedantry out of the way, I do hope you enjoy the episode. Coming up next is the last game for the year, Mean Santa, a homebrew game designed by Tim Duarte (founder of the 2600 Connection newsletter), and programmed by John K Harvey. The rom has been released for free, and you can get it here if you'd like to try it out. If you'd like to send feedback containing your thoughts on the game and not how to play it, which I cover every episode, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by November 28th. I will post an updated list of upcoming games to your right (if you're not on a phone) very soon. To all who celebrate American Thanksgiving, I wish you a safe and healthy-ish holiday. I am very thankful for all of you, and I thank you for listening.

You can donate to my Extra Life campaign until December 31st!

Gauntlet on Atari Age

Gauntlet on Random Terrain

Answer Software catalog on Atarimania

April 1983 Video Game Update newsletter on Atari Compendium

Al Backiel's writeup on the PGP-1 on Digital Press

Gauntlet thread on Atari Age

SA-210, Master Builder!

I am back this week to discuss a Spectravideo game, after 7 years! This game is called Master Builder, and I really hope you enjoy the episode. Coming up next will be Gauntlet by Answer Software. If you have thoughts on Gauntlet, you can send them to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com. Please just tell me your thoughts, I'll take care of the rest. The last game for the year is Mean Santa by John Harvey and Tim Duarte. If you have feedback for Mean Santa, I'll need it by November 28th. Finally, if you have any video game Christmas memories (it doesn't need to be Atari 2600, but please keep it to video games), I will be doing another Christmas show this year, provided I get enough submissions. Please get those to me by December 16th. Tune in to YouTube this weekend at 8 pm on November 4 and 5 to watch me play games badly for Extra Life. I don't know why you would want to watch that, but I'm glad you do.

Thank you as always for your kindness, and for listening.

Donate to my Extra Life campaign here!

Master Builder on Random Terrain

Columbia Video Game Club thread on Atari Age

Columbia Video Game Club magazines on Digital Press

Ace Moon Gaming channel plays Master Builder, very well

CX 26102, Cookie Monster Munch!

Long time no see! Today's episode is about the Atari and Children's Computer Workshop collaboration, Cookie Monster Munch. I loved Cookie Monster when I was a kid (I still do), and I also love cookies, but most cookies actually stay in my mouth, unlike some other monsters I could name. I hope that you enjoy the episode and that it was worth waiting for. Next up will be the very rare Master Builder by Spectravideo. Apparently my episodes covering Spectravideo games are also pretty rare. If you have feedback for Master Builder that does not include its history or how to play it, please send it along to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by October 31st. On November 4th and 5th, I will once again be participating in Extra Life, to benefit the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Hopefully I will have my streaming ability together by then. If you would like to donate to the kids, please see the link below. Thank you once again for your patience, and for listening.

Donate to my Extra Life campaign

Cookie Monster Munch on Atari Protos

Cookie Monster Munch on Random Terrain

Gary Stark's web site

Gary Stark's YouTube page

UPI article on CMM by Kenneth Clark, Feb 1983

Sharon Lerner on MuppetWiki

Joystick conversions of Cookie Monster Munch and Big Bird's Egg Catch by Omegamatrix

A-VCS-Tec Challenge!

I say this too much, but I thank you for being patient with me as I navigate through my lovely depression. This long overdue episode features the homebrew game AVCStec Challenge by Simon Quernhorst and Paul Slocum. It's based on the very difficult (to me) Aztec Challenge by Paul Norman, for the Commodore 64. I hope that you enjoy the episode. Next up is Cookie Monster Munch by Atari and the Children's Computer Workshop. Please send any feedback on this or any previous game to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by August 16th. Tell me your thoughts and/or memories of Cookie Monster Munch, I'll take care of the history and gameplay. Take care of yourselves and I thank you so much for listening.

Simon Quernhorst's web site

A-VCS-tec Challenge development page

Announcement thread on Atari Age

AA Title in Development page on Wayback Machine

AA Project of the Month thread

AA Late Development thread

Secret screen on Atari Age

Simon Quernhorst interview on Good Deal Games

Paul Slocum's web site

Tree Wave web site

And/Or Gallery web site

Buy the game on Packrat Video Games

Buy the game on Atari Age

Atari 50th: The Anniversary Celebration

Atari Mania (the game)

Yars Recharged

Limited Run Adventure and Missile Command (both sold out)

Atari 2600 Lego Set

New Howard Scott Warshaw interview by W. Amirul Adlan

5664, Frogs and Flies!

On this episode we take a look at the M Network game Frogs and Flies, which was based on the Intellivision game Frog Bog. We also cover programmer extraordinaire Dave Rolfe for the first time, and we even read one of his interesting essays. I hope you enjoy it! Coming up next is A-VCS-tec Challenge, by Simon Quernhorst with music by Paul Slocum. If you would like to try this game out, you can get the rom at Simon's web page. Please send me your feedback for A-VCS-tec Challenge by May 30th, to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com. Thanks so much for listening!

Van Mai story on Video Game History Foundation

Frogs and Flies on Random Terrain

Frogs and Flies on Blue Sky Rangers

Intellivision Frog Bog on Blue Sky Rangers 

Frogs by Gremlin on KLOV

Willie! plays Frogs on Arcade USA

Dave Rolfe's website on Wayback Machine

Dave Rolfe interview by Valter Prette

Dave Rolfe interview by Scott Stilphen

Dave Rolfe interview by Michael Thomasson

Star Fire on KLOV

Fire One! on KLOV

Kreepy Krawlers on KLOV

Star Fire 2 prototype on KLOV