AX-017, Megamania, and AG-019, Sky Jinks!

Sorry for the lateness of this episode focusing on Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision. Also I apologize for not putting links to all of my podcast friends here that I mentioned in the episode. You know where they are. Next week I'll be looking at Smurf and Carnival (with the vaporware Cosmic Avenger thrown in). Upcoming games include RealSports Soccer & Volleyball by Atari; Super Cobra and Reactor by Parker Brothers; Tax Avoiders by American Video Game and Boing! by First Star; and RealSports Football and Atari Video Cube by Atari. If you have any thoughts on any of these games or any I've already covered, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday!

Pertinent Jinks

Atari 5200 Super Podcast! on Facebook
Warren Robinett at GDC article at Ars Technica
Retro Video Gamer interview with Steve Cartwright
Steve Cartwright interview by Tim Duarte
GDC presentation by Steve Cartwright and David Crane
Retrogaming with Racketboy podcast - Steve Cartwright interview
Megamania commercial featuring the Tubes
Megamania patch
...and the letter that accompanied the patch
Megamania store standee on eBay
How to Beat the Home Video Games - Megamania
The No Swear Gamer 125 - Megamania!
Scott Stilphen's interview with Bob Whitehead
The No Swear Gamer 121 - Sky Jinks
Sky Jinks patch
...and again, the accompanying letter

CX 2664, Brain Games, & CX 2665, Frog Pond!

Hi, it's me again. Today I am covering the final released Atari text/picture label game on the part list, Brain Games, and the unreleased prototype game Frog Pond. Please check out the episode to find out how to find the clues to Willie's Fergquest contest; once you get all the clues you have to make 4 of them into the phrase that pays. I have extended the contest until March 24th at 11:59 PM EST. If you've already sent in an entry, you can send another one. Next week I'll be covering the Activision games Megamania and Sky Jinks. After that it will be Cosmic Avenger, Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, and Carnival by Coleco; RealSports Soccer & Volleyball by Atari; Super Cobra and Reactor by Parker Brothers; Tax Avoiders by American Video Game and Boing! by First Star; and RealSports Football and Atari Video Cube by Atari. Episode 100 will feature a very special game, and I think it will probably be my longest episode to date. I don't want to say yet what it is, because I may start getting feedback now and then I will forget to put it in the show. I will give you ample time to send feedback, don't worry. If you have any thoughts on any of these games or any I've already covered, please send them to me at 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday!

Pertinent Links

Larry Kaplan interview by Scott Stilphen 
Swordquest comics on Atari Age
Cliff Spohn's Ahta Dee
2600 Connection Frog Pond article
Atari Touch Me on KLOV
Touch Me at the Handheld Museum
Cassidy Nolen's Frog Pond manual
Atari Age magazine Frog Pond announcement
Frog Pond at Atari Protos
Frog Pond thread on Atari Age (photo of Hozer Version)
The No Swear Gamer 118 - Brain Games!
Cassidy Nolen's Home Made Frog Pond CIB thread on Atari Age (with photos)
Silver label Frog Pond repro on eBay
1982 CES footage with Frog Pond demo on Atarimania
Pinball Wizard Arcade
Pinball Wizard Arcade on the Retroist

1003, Fast Food, & 1004, Ram It!

Hi, welcome back from my vacation! Today's games are Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys. Also, today is the final batch of clues for Willie's FergQuest contest, where he is giving away a Flashback 5. You have to figure out the 4 word phrase that pays and send it to me in an email by March 17 11:59 PM EST. In case of a tie I will use random.org to determine the winner. If I don't get any correct answers by the next show, I will give you a clue. Good luck!

Next week I'll be looking at Brain Games and the prototype game Frog Pond, both by Atari. Coming up I'll be talking about Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision; Cosmic Avenger, Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, and Carnival by Coleco; Realsports Volleyball and Realsports Soccer by Atari; and Super Cobra and Reactor by Parker Brothers. If you have any memories to share about these or any of the games I've already covered, please send them to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent Pickles

Telesys Fast Food commercial with some history, from director Rich Yacco's web site
The No Swear Gamer episode 114 - Fast Food
Waterworld comic book 
Edladdin Controllers
Our Brooklyn Bites podcast
The Log Book (with the Escape Pod podcast)
The SNES Podcast
Atari 7800 Game by Game podcast
Strudders' Score Compendium!

7-003, Threshold, & 7-004, River Patrol!

Hi there! This week I discuss two more of Tigervision's Atari 2600 cartridge output, Threshold and River Patrol. River Patrol is SUPER RARE L@@K. And they're not kidding. The next episode will be on March 4th and will be about Ram It and Fast Food by Telesys, and will also have the last installment of Willie's FergQuest contest! Upcoming games will include Brain Games and Frog Pond by Atari; Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision; Cosmic Avenger, Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, and Carnival by Coleco; Realsports Volleyball and Realsports Soccer by Atari; and Super Cobra and Reactor by Parker Brothers. If you have any memories to share about these or any of the games I've already covered, please send them to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thank you for listening!

Pertinent Leaks

Astro Blaster at KLOV
River Patrol at KLOV
Warren Schwader interview by James Hague
Warren Schwader's Solitaire Network
Play "Jones in the Fast Lane" online
No Swear Gamer 105 - Threshold!
No Swear Gamer 106 - River Patrol!
River Patrol at Atari Protos
Atari Swordquest Fireworld comic book
OTR Playlist - The Great Gildersleeve
Intarivisions - Carnival!
Delta 80s Safety Video

CX 2662, Hangman, and CX 2663, Road Runner!

Hi everyone! This week I talk about the Atari games Hangman and Road Runner. Please mind the gap. Also, you'll get the first set of clues for FergQuest, where you can win an Atari Flashback 5 from Willie from Arcade USA and the Colecovisions podcast! Thanks Willie! Next week I will be discussing Threshold and River Patrol by Tigervision. Upcoming games include Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys; Brain Games and Frog Pond by Atari; Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision; Cosmic Avenger, Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, and Carnival by Coleco; and Realsports Volleyball and Realsports Soccer by Atari. You can send feedback on these or any of the games I've already discussed to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for listening!

Acme Links

Bob Polaro's web site
Alan Miller interview by Al Backiel
Bob Polaro interview by Al Backiel
Road Runner at Atari Protos
Road Runner at KLOV
Zerbinator land - 80-89 podcast
Action Figure Blues podcast
Toys R Us Report podcast
The SNES Podcast
Contact Greg (Soulblazer) if you'd like to help out with the SNES Podcast!
Inverse Atascii podcast
California Extreme July 18-19 2015
Edladdin Controllers

MA-1001, Sorcerer; MA-1002, Fire Fly; and MA-1003, Star Fox!

Hi there, thanks for your patience. This week's episode deals with the 'myths" of Mythicon! See what I did there? The games are Star Fox, Fire Fly, and Sorcerer, some of the worst reviewed games on the Atari 2600. UNTIL TODAY (spoilers). Next week I'll be discussing Hangman and Road Runner by Atari. Upcoming games include Threshold and River Patrol by Tigervision; Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys; Brain Games and Frog Pond by Atari; Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision; and Cosmic Avenger, Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, and Carnival by Coleco. You can send feedback on these or any of the games I've already discussed to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net. Thanks for listening!

Bruce de Graaf interview by Scott Stilphen
Bruce de Graaf's nature photography site
Thor Bradsher's website
Confessions of a Programming Geek by Thor Bradsher
Mythicon thread on Atari Age, with more info from Bruce de Graaf
eBay auction with paperwork from Mythicon store display
Now You're Playing With Podcast
Intarivisions on iTunes! Please leave a review!
OTR Playlist. Leave a review here too why doncha!
Bill Kendrick's Atari Party!
Incompetech Music by Kevin MacLeod

Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch by Bob Colbert!

Congratulations to Greg Miller, he is the winner of the Star Raiders contest! Thank you to everyone for entering!

This week I am looking at Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch, both made by Bob Colbert in the late 90s. Check the links below to see how to get these games. In the next episode I am talking about Sorcerer, Firefly, and Starfox by Mythicon; Hangman and Roadrunner by Atari; Threshold and River Patrol by Tigervision; Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys; Brain Games and Frog Pond by Atari, and Megamania and Sky Jinks by Activision. Any feedback you have on these or any games I've already covered can be sent to 2600gamebygame@podcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!

Pert-I-Nent Links

Making Okie Dokie - from Bob Colbert's archived website
Bob Colbert's archived home page (the links for the 2 games still work)
Download Sabotage WIP from Bob Colbert's archived web site
Bob Colbert interview by Michael Thomasson
Okie Dokie registry
Pictures of Stell-A-Sketch/Okie Dokie cassette on Atari Age
Okie Dokie at Hozer Video Games (scroll down)
Okie Dokie at Packrat Video Games
Okie Dokie at Atari Age
The No Swear Gamer Episode 92 - Okie Dokie!
Chris' book Classic Gaming Bookcast on Smashwords;
...on Barnes and Noble;
...on iTunes;
...and on Scribd
Direct download for the Christmas episode 85 (edited on Stitcher)


Mouses!

CX 2660, Star Raiders!

Well hello. Today's episode is about Star Raiders by Atari. Fun game, but I did find some other games in this style to be better (spoilers). You can win a Star Raiders cart with manual, touch pad controller, and overlay! Just send an email with "Star Raiders Contest" in the subject to 2600gamebygame@comcast.net, or check Facebook and Twitter for a pinned post regarding the contest. I will take entries until 11:59 PM EST January 20th. Next week will be Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch by homebrew programmer Bob Colbert. In the following weeks I will be profiling  orcerer, Firefly, and Starfox by Mythicon; Hangman and Roadrunner by Atari; Threshold and River Patrol by Tigervision; Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys; and Brain Games and Frog Pond by Atari. Any feedback you have on these or any games I've already covered can be sent to 2600gamebygame@podcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!
 
Hukka Hukka

Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! - Star Raiders
The No Swear Gamer Episode 90 - Star Raiders
Player/Missile podcast episode 1 - Star Raiders
Carla Meninsky interview by Will Nicholes
Doug Neubauer's web site
10 most important video games article
Stalking the Retro Episode 69
Quset For The Golden Chalice - Homebrew Coleco version of Adventure!
Atarimax Colecovision Ultimate SD Cartridge
Star Raiders at Atariprotos.com
Blog post with photos about the Sears Video Arcade 2

Star Raiders Unboxing!

I am in the middle of research for this game. You may already know (spoilers) that Star Raiders was packaged with an Atari Force comic, #3 to be exact. I thought I had a copy of this loose, but I actually don't. I opened up the outer Star Raiders box (spoilers again) to get the one out of the game box. Lo and behold, the game box was still sealed shut.

I remember vividly trying to open these glued hang-tab boxes when I was a kid, and failing miserably. Judging by the boxed games I now own, lots of other folks failed as well. So I was actually smart about this, and I asked Sarah if we still had a hair dryer (neither of us use one). She said we did and she asked me what I needed it for. When I told her she suggested a heat gun that she uses for crafting with rubber stamps. She also reassured me that it wouldn't burn the box.

Since the glue that Atari used on these boxes is now akin to cement, I thought this would take a long time. I worked on the hang tab first, and after about two minutes it came up with no trouble.

Again, I was not stupid enough to put my finger in the molten glue (that's two in a row for me, pretty good), but it hardened back up pretty quick, and the strings that lingered after I opened it just broke off. This was actually going to work! I tackled the top flap next, and that took even less time, despite there being more glue (but still only in 2 spots like the hang tab). It probably got the residual heat from the tab too, helping it along.

After waiting for the glue to dry completely (three in a row! Something bad is going to happen), I took out my treasures that were packed up in late 1982. I pulled out the cart first, and the Touch Pad overlay was sticking out of the cartridge cover. I have no idea how it worked itself in there. As you can maybe see in the picture, the cart has a mild case of Actiplaque, even being cooped up in that box all this time. Maybe even because of it, I don't know. You also may recall me talking about the numbers stamped into the end labels of many of the picture label cartridges. It is widely accepted that these numbers denote the week and the year of manufacture. If that is correct, then this cart was manufactured right after Halloween in 1982. I remember buying this game for myself (not this copy, of course), but I don't remember when I bought it. I was working at this time but it may also have been from Christmas/birthday money. I wish I could remember.

There's also the manual (a revision 1, as far as I know there wasn't a revision 2 to fix the Krylon typo), a revision E 1982 catalog (Pac-Man is front and center inside the front cover), and the elusive Atari Force #3. That will be my lunch date tonight at work. And that's why I went to all this trouble, because I don't have a smart phone to look at the comic online. Half of this podcast is analog, as you can see from the notebook in the background. :)

So why did I not make a video of my unboxing? Well, I am not Phil or Willie, both of whom do a wonderful job (check out the links!). I have no idea how to edit video. I know I have a Youtube page, but I doubt I will use it unless I do Extra Life again this year. I have to start remembering to like videos though, especially the ones that Phil and Willie do for my show. Sorry guys.

Finally, even though I don't play video games as much as I collect them, I don't believe in having sealed games. Games are for playing, and I especially love opening these older games. I have a few more unopened 2600 games that I'll be getting to eventually...

AR 4104, Rabbit Transit, & AR 4105, The Official Frogger!

Happy New Year everyone, it is great to be back doing the podcast! This week I cover two Starpath cassette games, Rabbit Transit and the Official Frogger. In my opinion both of them are really fun. Next week I'll be talking about Star Raiders by Atari. In the upcoming weeks I will be discussing Okie Dokie and Stell-A-Sketch by Bob Colbert; Sorcerer, Firefly, and Starfox by Mythicon; Hangman and Roadrunner by Atari; Threshold and River Patrol by Tigervision; and Fast Food and Ram It by Telesys. Any feedback you have on these or any games I've already covered can be sent to 2600gamebygame@podcast.net. Thank you so much for listening!

Auld Links Syne

Frogger at KLOV

Stephen Landrum interview by James Hague

Stephen Landrum article by Sean Wheatley

Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! The Official Frogger

Favorite Atari 2600 Games of Willie! Rabbit Transit

Chris Dellorco's web site
Gary Pierazzi's web site

Coin-Op, by Dietmar Bertling (in German)
The No Swear Gamer on Youtube!
Intellivisionaries Q*Bert episode
The Retro League awards results