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AtariAge New Releases and Demos at PRGE!


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The 2015 Portland Retro Gaming Expo is quickly approaching, and it's time for us to unveil the lineup of new homebrew games AtariAge will be releasing at the show! We have new games for the Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800, all of which you'll be able to try out in our booth before buying. We'll also have demos of several upcoming games for the 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar and Atari 8-bit computers. Over 25 game systems will be setup in our booth, so come on by to check out all the latest homebrew games!

 

 

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New Releases

 

Star Castle Arcade

 

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Star Castle is a 1980 vector arcade game by Cinematronics. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. Chris Walton and Thomas Jentzsch have created a fantastic port of Star Castle for the Atari 2600, one of two versions of Star Castle for the 2600 that were developed in parallel. Fans of the arcade game will not be disappointed in this rendition of Star Castle, as great care was taken to model this version as closely to the arcade as possible.

 

And, we've taken the same great care with the physical release of Star Castle Arcade. Star Castle Arcade features beautiful artwork created by Jordi Cabo, who won a label design contest for the game two years ago. Star Castle Arcade includes the game cartridge, an amazingly illustrated 16 page manual, professionally printed box, 10" x 14" poster, and a papercraft Star Castle arcade cabinet!

 

Star Castle Arcade maintains a high score table for all four game variations, and these scores are saved on the cartridge itself! The game also retains the last initials used to save a high score (so you don't have to keep entering them), and remembers your color settings (NTSC, PAL, or black and white).

 

Only a limited number of copies of Star Castle Arcade will be sold with the box and papercraft arcade cabinet.

 

Lady Bug Collector's Edition

 

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Back in 2006 we released John Champeau's excellent Atari 2600 port of the arcade game Lady Bug. During that time, it has been very well received and continues to be popular even amongst the many 2600 homebrew releases over the years. Lady Bug originally appeared in a Coleco catalog for the 2600 back in the day, but was never released, and it's not even known if work ever began on the game. We worked closely with John Champeau and graphic designer Nathan Strum to create a limited Coleco-themed release of Lady Bug, produced in the same style as Coleco's Atari 2600 releases.

 

Lady Bug Collector's Edition features the game in an off-white Coleco 2600 shell, Coleco-style label, box and manual, and we even reproduced the original catalog that Lady Bug appeared in. Each box and cartridge are individually numbered from 0 - 99 (using an old-school Dymo label embosser), and the game itself displays the number upon startup. Some minor visual tweaks were done to the game, such as an updated title screen and some color and graphics changes, but gameplay remains unchanged.

 

This version is limited to 100 copies, of which 50 (the even numbers 00 - 98) will be available at PRGE.

 

Wall Jump Ninja

 

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As a ninja, you already have many skills. But there are many more to learn. Today you will learn the legendary technique of the “wall jump”. Use it wisely, or face certain doom at the hands of the death beam. Wall Jump Ninja is a simple game to control--only the fire button is needed!

 

However, mastering that control will take some practice! Press fire to wall jump--holding down fire will allow you to jump higher. Avoid the spikes, and collect N-I-N-J-A to use your Ninja Dash. And watch out for the ever marching death beam!

 

Wall Jump Ninja harkens back to games in the classic Atari 2600 library--relatively easy to learn, but deceptively maddening to master! How many rooms can you conquer, and do you have time to play just one...more...game?

 

Wall Jump Ninja features artwork by Corey Kramer, and includes the game cartridge, box and manual.

 

Zippy the Porcupine

 

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Run around at high speed with Zippy the Porcupine through 16 different stages! Collect the rings and pop the enemies with your spin jump. Getting hurt by an enemy will cause you to lose all your rings, but you can get some of them back popping the same one. Find the bonuses as you move along, including the springboard at the top of the levels that will take you to a bonus ring collection stage. Collecting 100 rings will earn you an extra life. Finish a level by flipping the sign by running by it at the end of a stage.

 

Created by Chris Spry (whose first game was the popular Princess Rescue for the 2600), Zippy the Porcupine features 16 levels in 4 different zones, an overworld selection map, five Individual boss battles, gem collecting, and ending sequences. Zippy the Porcupine comes complete with a box, manual and 64K game cartridge. Only 100 boxed copies of Zippy the Porcupine have been produced, 50 of which we'll have available at PRGE! These will sell quickly, so don't hesitate if you'd like a boxed copy of the game!

 

Xari Arena

 

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Your time has come at last! The day you’ve been waiting for, the chance to earn your freedom!

 

It’s been a rough road to salvation. Your home planet conquered. The survivors captured, imprisoned, and tortured. You’ve become nothing more than a slave without a name serving the imperial Xari High Lords, but all of that changes today. You have been chosen to represent your planet in the galactic arena, the perverse pleasure dome built for entertaining the galaxy’s masses. In accordance with the ancient traditions of the galaxy, the Galactic High Council has decreed that on the high feast of Shi’ru a planet will be given a chance at freedom. To earn this freedom, one citizen must fight his planet’s oppressors in the galactic arena.

 

The rules of the battle are simple. You will pilot the XA-01, one of the fastest ships in the galaxy, and take on the Xari horde. However, the High Council wants an entertaining fight, so the XA-01 has no weapons. Instead, it has been outfitted with the latest in trans-phase shield matrix technology, allowing it to absorb and reflect Xari pyro blasts. It’s a suicide mission with little hope of success, but that’s just the way you like it.

 

We're excited to release a new 5200 game at PRGE, Xari Arena! This is an original game for the 5200 that was developed by Atari programmer John Seghers, but never released, nor did it ever show up on any Atari product lists. The binary for Xari Arena has been available for some time, but Ken Van Mersbergen recently uncovered a newer version of the game with Trak-Ball support and other changes. We'll have an Atari 5200 setup with two 5200 Trak-Ball controllers for simultaneous. two-player cooperative play!

 

Xari Arena features beautiful artwork created by David Exton, and he's designed an Atari-style cartridge label, manual and box for this release. David's artwork has graced many homebrew games over the years, and we're always excited to work with him on a new project! The professionally-printed box for Xari Arena uses a special printing process to closely mimic the silver-style boxes Atari printed for their releases. You'll swear that Xari Arena was an original release when it sits next to 5200 games from Atari on your shelf!

 

Dungeon Stalker

 

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Programmers Steve Engelhardt (Atarius Maximus) and Mike Saarna (RevEng) have created a new homebrew for the Atari 2600 that pays homage to the Intellivision game Night Stalker. In Dungeon Stalker, you must fight for your survival in a deep dungeon, using your limited arrows to pick off monsters, and fighting the wizard who appears at the end of each level! And watch out, the wizard will teleport about the level at will to avoid your shots!

 

Dungeon Stalker features original artwork by David Exton. If you have anAtariVox, you're in for a real treat, as the game takes advantage of the unit's speech capabilities with over three dozen spoken phrases! The AtariVox is also used to save the high score table.

 

Dungeon Stalker includes the game cartridge, box, and eight-page manual. You can read the Dungeon Stalker Development Thread to learn more about the game.

 

Astro Fighter

 

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Astro Fighter is a two-dimensional, space shoot ‘em up arcade game released in 1980. The game of Astro Fighter consists of four waves and a refueling stage, which are then repeated with increasingly higher difficulty. Your task is to eliminate the four successive waves of different types of attacking craft, while avoiding being hit by missiles and bombs, and then refuel by shooting the ‘GS’ ship before repeating the process.

 

Homebrew master Robert DeCrescenzo has faithfully ported Astro Fighter to the Atari 7800. Robert has created many excellent arcade ports for the 7800, and Astro Fighter is no different. Astro Fighter includes a box, manual and game cartridge.

 

Brik

 

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Brik is a version of the classic brick breaking genre of games for your Atari console, featuring multiple unique levels, bonuses and enemies. The object of the game is to use the bat at the bottom of the screen to keep the ball in play as you knock out bricks to score points.

 

Using the joystick controller you can move the bat left or right. Pressing the fire button launches the ball towards the bricks. Move the bat left or right to keep the ball in play. If the ball passes the bat you will lose a life and the ball will be reset on the bat ready to start again. If you lose all four lives the game is over.

 

Each level is patrolled by an enemy. If the ball hits the enemy the enemy is destroyed, but the ball’s angle will change and speed will temporarily be increased. Destroying a brick sometimes reveals a bonus hidden underneath it, which will then fall towards the bottom of the screen. These bonuses can be collected by your bat.

 

Jump VCS

 

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Jump VCS is an endless runner style game for your Atari 2600 console, featuring multiple stages of increasing difficulty and collectible bonuses. Guide your player across the rooftops and ledges of the city whilst jumping over the gaps between buildings and avoiding obstacles.

 

When you start the game, your player will be dropped into the horizontally scrolling cityscape at stage 1 and will commence running. Whilst running, press the left joystick controller button to jump in order to cross the gaps between buildings or avoid obstacles.

 

You start the game with six lives indicated at the bottom of the screen. Once you have lost all of your lives, the game ends. Occasionally you will spot flashing bonuses as you progress through the stage. It is possible to move to the next stage early by collecting six of these bonuses. The number of bonuses collected is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

 

Titan Axe

 

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Drawing favors from the fallen Kronos, Oblivus has reached into the future to harness unseen monstrosities of metal and fire to release upon the innocent. Captured and woven into the heart of each mechanical demon is a magik faerie! Drawing their power from this eternal spark, these minions rend the land. Odin, who was secretly the victorious Zeus, challenges Oblivus by calling upon two offspring of the Aesir—they are Thurian and Walkuria! Choose one of these heroes to free the faeries and their queen and save the land from the darkness of Oblivus!

 

Use stick-and-move tactics along with jump-and-magic to work your way through nine levels and up to 64 screens. Press Fire with directions to perform magic, special, and side attacks. Press and hold Fire to jump, and release it to perform a jump attack. Hold Fire at the Game Over Screen to continue your vgame. You must defeat Oblivus, who has forged a weapon for summoning Death, iteself...the Titan Axe!

 

Titan Axe is a new 32K homebrew for the Atari 2600, created by AtariAge user Papa. Titan Axe features artwork by John (Atariboy) Calcano, which adorns the game cartridge and twelve-page manual.

 

Galactopus

 

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Haverchuck was in the middle of another graveyard shift in the sub-sub-sub-sub-basement of the Alien Trespass Advance Reconnaissance Initiative monitoring the the long-range solar sonar when he heard the klaxon from the Thermo-Kwik™ alerting him that his baked potato was ready. He leapt to his feet not noticing his slightly defective self-tying bootlace had wrapped itself around his chair leg. He fell hard, hitting his head on the edge of the instrument panel and blacking out. At that moment a dim red light below the solar sonar illuminated, signalling the arrival of an alien intruder.

 

Now it’s up to you to take control of the PX-77 low-orbit fighter and confront the most feared cephalopod of the cosmos, the Galactopus! Grab your favorite Atari compatible joystick and get ready for action! Use the joystick to move your ship left and right across the bottom of the screen. Press the action button to fire a laser blast up the screen at Galactopus. Initially your laser isn’t powerful enough to kill Galactopus, only chip away pieces of the octonium armor. Collect the pieces to power up your blaster. Once you collect 8, you’ll be able to blow Galactopus out of the sky!

 

 

Game Demos

 

We'll have many game demos in our booth for the 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar, Atari 8-bit computers, and even the Intellivision. Below are a few of the many upcoming games you can try at the show.

 

Scramble

 

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Scramble is a classic arcade game in which the player controls a ship across a side-scrolling terrain, battling obstacles in the air, along the ground, all while avoiding crashing into the terrain and buildings. Your ship is armed with a forward-firing weapon and bombs, each of which is controlled with a unique button. The player must avoid colliding with the terrain and other enemies, while simultaneously maintaining the ship's limited fuel supply which diminishes over time. More fuel can be acquired by destroying fuel tanks in the game.

 

Homebrew author John Cheampeau (Lady Bug) has been working on an Atari 2600 version of Scramble, and you can play it for the first time at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Scramble for the 2600 is a remarkable port of the arcade game, and even features support for Sega Genesis controllers so you can fire and bomb separately. If you've ever played Scramble, you won't be disappointed!

 

The Stacks

 

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Your name is Wade Watts and you live in the Stacks, a sprawling vertical trailer park filled with dangerous enemies and obstacles. Your evil Aunt Alice has broken your OASIS console and scattered the pieces around the Stacks. You must find all six pieces and assemble them in your Hideout so that you can log in to the OASIS...

 

Your quest won’t be easy. It will take quick thinking and fast reflexes if you hope to escape the Stacks alive!

 

Based on the novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

 

Gizzle Wap

 

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Travel through the woods as the Gizzle Wap collecting cloud fruit and fighting off the Myrmica as you go. Watch your life bar. If your life reaches zero you will die. The Cloud fruit will attract Pegsi to the Zazzle Clearing. When you have collected enough fruit your score will turn green. Return to the Zazzle clearing and watch the Pegsi carry off the tree. Next you must search for the Invicta’s lair. Look for something out of place in the woods, a branch, a rock or something that will reveal their hiding place. Enter the lair and fight the Invicta. If you are successful in defeating the Invicta a new tree will grow and you move on to the next level. There are 8 trees and 8 Invicta that must be defeated.

 

T:ME Salvo

 

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The Time Traveler journeyed to the year 802,701 and discovered that humanity has split into two distinct species. Gentle humanoids called the Eloi are tended to as cattle by the other species - foul underground creatures called the Morlocks. The Time Traveler attempted to free the Eloi from the Morlocks. Wave after wave of the evil creatures and their deadly machines moved in to destroy him, but somehow he managed to fend them all off, banishing them to eternity.

 

Standing on the eerie quiet of the battlefield he wondered to himself. Now that the simple Eloi were free, what would become of them? Would they learn to become masters of their own fate, or would mankind’s feeble destiny fade away?

 

Deciding there was only one way to find out, The Traveler jumped into the seat of his machine and pulled a lever. Gears engaged and crystals spun as he jumped forward ten thousand years. Waves of disgust overwhelmed him as he stared at the scene. Several grey figures crouched over their frail humanoid prey, which lay still on the ground. The foul Morlocks had somehow returned.

 

In T:ME Salvo, you take control of the furious Time Traveler, in his futile effort to break the cycle. Rage against the Morlocks. Rage against time itself.

 

While there are many fantastic homebrew arcade ports on the 7800, there aren't as many original homebrews. T:ME Salvo breaks that trend with an excellent, original game by Mike Saarna! We plan on having this available in the AtariAge Store once complete.

 

Adventure II XE

 

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You've heard the stories from long ago. Stories of an adventurer, who braved dragons and dangerous mazes to return the Chalice from the forces of evil. At night, you've dreamt of such adventure. Often the dreams occur in the Ice Kingdom's abandoned, frozen landscapes to the north; other times, you find yourself hopelessly lost in the Green Kingdom's hedge mazes; sometimes the dreaming takes place in the frightening endless forests, which surround the Dark Kingdom.

 

And now, the Chalice is missing again. Your weapons and keys, gone from the safety of the Seashore Castle. Peasants cry out in fear with tales of fantastic and dangerous creatures roaming the countryside. Evil has once again stolen the Chalice and hidden it! Return this sacred Chalice to the safety of the Seashore Kingdom's Castle!

 

Nearly a decade ago we released Ron Lloyd's Adventure II for the Atari 5200, the much-anticipated, unofficial sequel to Atari's classic Atari 2600 Adventure. Adventure II is much larger and more detailed than the original, while still remaining faithful to the traits that made the classic Adventure memorable even after 25 years. Ron has recently been working on an Atari 8-bit computer port of the game, and we'll have the latest version of Adventure II XE available to play in our booth.

 

Atari 5200

 

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We'll be demoing several excellent recent and upcoming arcade translations for the Atari 5200, including Pac-Man Arcade, Zaxxon 32K, and Mr. Do! Pac-Man Arcade is a more authentic version of the arcade classic relative to Atari's pack-in Pac-Man cart. Zaxxon 32K is a much improved version of Sega's 16K release of Zaxxon for the 5200. And Mr. Do! is a conversion of the 8-bit version of the arcade game.

 

We'll also have Tempest, Sinistar and Castle Crisis available for play.

 

 

Atari Jaguar

 

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We'll have two Jaguar systems setup in our booth. One of them will be dedicated to running Gauntlet II, a port of the Atari ST version of the game by CyranoJ. Gauntlet II supports up to four players, and we'll have a Team Tap and four controllers connected to the Jaguar for just that! Our second Jaguar will be running a variety of original homebrews and Atari ST ports that you can try.

 

One upcoming homebrew to check out is Xevious, an original, authentic port of the popular arcade game distributed by Atari. This port has been written from scratch by AtariAge user Shamus, and will be available in cartridge form once complete.

 

 

Hardware

 

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In addition to a wide variety of games, we'll also have some interesting hardware for you to try out in our booth! For Atari 7800 fans, we'll have anAtari 7800 Expansion Module (XM) in our booth, complete with several XM-enhanced games (such as Donkey Kong XM, Bentley Bear Crystal Quest, Pac-Man Collection, and Beef Drop) Edladdin Controllers has supplied us with several arcade-quality 2600/7800 controllers and Seagull adapters that we'll have hooked up on several consoles. And, finally, we'll have several AtariVox+ Speech Synthesizers hooked up to Atari 2600 and 7800 games.

 

In Closing

 

If you're attending the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, please make sure to stop by our booth and say hello! We look forward to seeing many AtariAge members in Portland!

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Excellent, looks like I'll be getting up several of these new titles along with Marble Craze and a Boxed Stay Frosty 2 if you have them there!

 

Will you also be bringing some AtariVox+ for sale? I'd loved to pick one up while I'm there.

 

I will have some boxed Stay Frosty 2 carts, but no copies of Marble Craze. I hope to have some AtariVox+ available at the show. I received the last of the parts I need in order to build more, so my plan is to build ten for the show.

 

..Al

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I will have some boxed Stay Frosty 2 carts, but no copies of Marble Craze. I hope to have some AtariVox+ available at the show. I received the last of the parts I need in order to build more, so my plan is to build ten for the show.

 

..Al

 

Excellent, thanks so much Al!! Looking forward to the show next weekend!!

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Here are twi photos of an assembled papercraft Star Castle arcade cabinet. The uncut, unfolded version is included in every Star Castle Arcade box. Thanks to Nathan Strum who did the hard work of designing and testing this over several iterations. He also took these nice photos. :)

 

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..Al

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