Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective

Player/Missile

A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.

  1. 04/29/2022

    Ep. 34: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 2: Q1 1983

    5200 coverage in magazines from January through March 1983. Plus a special bonus look at a NY Times article about Warner's stunning December 1982 earnings shortfall caused by Atari's massive financial loss. 1983 Q1 1983 First Quarter P.O.P. (Point Of Purchase) Support Jan 1983 Video Games Vol 1, #4 Jan 1983 ANALOG Computing #9 Jan 1983 Joystik Magazine Jan 1983 Electronic Games Vol 1, #11 Jan/Feb 1983 Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #5 Feb 1983 Video Games Vol 1, #5 Feb 1983 Creative Computing Vol 9, #2 Feb 1983 Electronic Games Mar 1983 ANALOG Computing #10 12/19/82 NY Times article “The Game Turns Serious at Atari” Mar 1983 Video Games Worm War 1 TV commercial Mar/Apr 1983 Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #6 Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 34 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 57m

  2. 03/31/2022

    Ep. 33: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 3

    Coverage of a few magazines I missed last time. Live plays of two games, tips to speed up disk drive I/O, and articles on how automation has changed TV and film production. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Softalk Softalk Vol 3, #4 Assembly Lines book Total Replay harddisk image Axlon RAMDISK 320k Passport auto-cracking tool Nibble Nibble Vol 3, #8 Nibble disk Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 33 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 30m

  3. 12/10/2021

    Ep. 32: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 2

    Coverage of Atari Connection, APX, Byte, C&VG, Micro, Softside, Page 6 & Atari I/O for Dec 1982. Another Chris Crawford article on game design, a review of Steve Wozniak’s US Festival, and will Forth become the official language of the podcast? Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Atari Connection Atari Connection Vol 2, #4 Mastering Rubik's Cube by Don Taylor Josh Malone’s USB CX-85 numeric keypad mod APX Catalog APX Catalog Winter 1982 Byte Byte Vol 7, #12 Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock Byte Magazine Atari articles only by Kay Savetz TRON soundtrack composer Wendy Carlos Women in Electronic Music Sisters with Transistors documentary film Computer & Video Games C&VG Issue #14 Micro 6502/6809 Journal Micro #55 SoftSide Softside #36 Starting Forth online edition Edsger W Dijkstra Dijkstra’s rant on languages History of Forth language Forth cross compiler History of Computing Podcast episode on Pascal Page 6 Page #1 History of Page 6 magazine Atari Input/Output Atari Input/Output #1 Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 32 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 57m

  4. 11/19/2021

    Ep. 31: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 1

    Coverage of Antic, Compute!, Creative Computing, Dec 1982. Chris Crawford on Legionnaire, first rumors of the IBM PCjr, and two articles predicting the future: Compute! does OK while Creative Computing gets a bunch of whammies. Also: Bullwinkle’s restaurant, sexism and mansplaining about whether educational software should ask kids their gender, and Bahrain doctors, video games & epilepsy. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Antic Antic Vol 1, #5 Stratos by Neil Larimer ANTIC Podcast interview with Linda Schreiber Legionnaire by Chris Crawford Compute! Compute #31 IBM PCjr HP 85 Computer Xanadu, the Home of the Future Monrobot desk computer Creative Computing Creative Computing Vol 8, #12 CIA World Factbook on Bahrain Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 31 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 49m

  5. 10/20/2021

    Ep. 30: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 1: 1982

    In a special multi-part series comparing the 8-bit computers to the 5200 console, this first episode focuses on 1982. Scanning the regular magazines for mentions of the 5200, I also scour other magazines for both 8-bit and 5200 coverage. Only in this special series will you hear article summaries from these periodicals: Electronic Games, JoyStik, Video Games, Video Games Player and Atari Age Magazine. Introduction Atari 5200 Super Community Podcast The Atari 5200 Podcast Atari 3200 prototype Gremlins: last official release for the 5200 Technical References Business is Fun by Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel Jan 1984 ANALOG Computing #15 article Transporting programs to the 5200 Feb 1984 ANALOG Computing #16 update for 2-port 5200 Magazine Chronology Jan 8, 1982: Atari Press Release Announcing the 5200 Winter 1981/1982 Electronic Games Mar 1982 Electronic Games Command Line Heroes podcast about Jerry Lawson May 1982 Electronic Games May/Jun 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #1 Jun 1982 Electronic Games Jul/Aug 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #2 Aug 1982 Video Games Vol 1, #1 Billy Mitchell & Perfect Pac-Man Historical overview of fake Pac-Man high scores & Billy Mitchell’s Fraud Background research for the above Sep 1982: Video Games Player Sept 1982: Joystik Magazine Sep/Oct 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #3 Nov 1982 The Video Game Update Vol 1, #8 Nov 1982 Joystik Magazine Nov 1982 Electronic Games Nov/Dec 1982: Atari Age Magazine Vol 1, #4 Creative Computing Vol 8, #12 Dec 1982 Joystik Magazine Dec 1982 Video Games Vol 1, #3 Dec 1982 Electronic Games Arcadia 2001 overview Late 1982 Atari P.O.P. (Point Of Purchase) and Advertising Support Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 30 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 51m

  6. 06/02/2021

    Ep. 29: Nov 1982: Byte, CVG, CGW, Micro, Softline, Softside

    Coverage of the remaining magazines for Nov 1982. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Byte Byte Vol 7, #11 Computer & Video Games C&VG Issue #13 Computer Gaming World CGW Vol 2, #6 AtariAge forum post on cheat codes Legionnaire gameplay video Micro 6502/6809 Journal Micro #54 Softline Softline #2.2 Kay Savetz interview with Jerry White Jerry White’s software Bill Williams Atari Sounds, part 3 SoftSide Softside #35 Feedback Dennis Debro’s Atari 2600 disassemblies Free ringtones from Stef Animal Stef Animal creates a track in one day Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 29 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 29m

  7. 05/07/2021

    Ep. 28: Nov 1982: ANALOG, Compute!, Creative Computing

    Format experiment: splitting magazine coverage across two episodes and separating game reviews to their own episodes. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines ANALOG ANALOG Computing #8 Inverse ATASCII S4E07: Money Manager Compute! Compute #30 Atari 1000 project info from Atari Museum Jeepers Creepers at Atarimania VisiCalc @ Inverse ATASCII Effectus, modern cross compiler for Action! Creative Computing Creative Computing Vol 8, #11 Video Invaders book by Steve Bloom at the Internet Archive Feedback SortViz sorting algorithm visualization on the Atari Bill Kendrick tested plotting in GR.0 and it uses ATASCII values, not ANTIC Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 28 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 13m

  8. 04/17/2021

    Ep. 27: Oct 1982: Worm War I

    A friend gets his first game published in Computers & Video Games! 6 other magazines this episode, and I try to dissect my first kernel game, Worm War I. Or is it 1? It’s a super important distinction. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Antic Antic Vol 1, #4 Compute! Compute #29 Paperclip by Batteries Included, reviewed by Wade on Inverse ATASCII Creative Computing Creative Computing Vol 8, #10 Ted Nelson Mail Project Byte Byte Vol 7, #10 Computer & Video Games C&VG Issue #12 Wild Strawberries Micro 6502/6809 Journal Micro #53 SoftSide Softside #34 Game Review: Worm War I Worm War I at Atarimania Tom McWilliams sold his first game for $60,000 Home page of David Lubar, author of the 2600 version Worm War 1 on Ferg’s Atari 2600 Game by Game Podcast Sirius Software’s Atari titles at Atarimania Feedback Dog Daze Deluxe with 1 player mode Production Notes Music: Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Episode page: Episode 27 Twitter: @atari8bitgames

    1h 60m
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4.6
out of 5
20 Ratings

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A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.

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