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Albert

Member Since 23 Jan 2001
OFFLINE Last Active Yesterday, 10:03 PM

Topics I've Started

2017 Portland Retro Gaming Expo, October 20-22, 2017

Fri Sep 8, 2017 7:28 AM

prge_logo_2016.png

Join AtariAge at the 2017 Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE), taking place Friday, October 20th through Sunday, October 22rd at the Oregon Convention Center. The show opens at 3pm on Friday so you can enjoy the huge Retrocade an extra day! The Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE) is one of the largest classic gaming events in the country, bursting at the seams with video games and game-related activities all weekend long! Here's an incomplete list of what you'll find at the show:AtariAge will have a large booth at the show, where you'll be able to play new and upcoming homebrew games, as well as our large back catalog of games we've published over the years. We'll also have several new games available to purchase for the first time in Portland--watch for those announcements coming soon! 

As 2017 is the 40th anniversary of the Atari 2600, the PRGE organizers have announced a great lineup of panelscelebrating the Atari 2600's rich history. One of these panels is titled, "Old Consoles Never Die", discussing the creation of new games for the Atari 2600 and other classic systems. The panel will be moderated by "Art of the Atari" author Tim Lapetino, who will be joined by homebrew authors Darrell Spice, Jr. (Medieval Mayhem, Space Rocks, and Stay Frosty 2) and John W. Champeau of Champ Games (Lady Bug, Conquest of Mars, Scramble), Atari alumni Howard Scott Warshaw (Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial), and Albert Yarusso, owner of AtariAge.

Please visit the official Portland Retro Gaming Expo website to learn more about the show. We've also created a Portland Retro Gaming Expo Forum to discuss the event. If you're attending the show, please stop by our booth, say hello, and play some new games!

Now With More Power!

Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:45 PM

Greetings!
 
Earlier today I moved the database for AtariAge to a new server.  This means the web server and database server are now on separate machines, and they communicate with a fast, private connection.  The new database server has a ton of RAM and should be able to cache the entire forum database in memory.  The database also resides on a fast SSD drive, versus a spinning rust hard drive, so that also helps.  And the server is running a newer version of the database software that has improved threading support, which can take advantage of the server's 24 CPU cores. 
 
The primary goal is to eliminate long pauses and timeouts when loading pages on the forums.  I'd love to get some feedback from users about how responsive the forum is.  And if you see anything that's not behaving as it should be, please let me know!  
 
Another improvement is the elimination of downtime in the middle of the night (for those of us in North/South America), or at less opportune times for those overseas in Europe, Australia, and Asia.  We will now be able to do hot backups of the databases, so daily downtime is now a thing of the past. 
 
This change also paves the way for migration to a new version of the forum software this winter.  The software is more resource intensive, so the new database server will help reduce any impact the hungrier forum software may have otherwise had on the site.  I also plan to migrate the store to completely new software, and the new store is also more resource intensive in terms of database usage. 
 
I still have some changes to complete later today that will further speed up the forum database, but I wanted to shake out any problems before I perform the next steps.  This will result in brief periods of downtown, but not nearly as long as earlier today. 
 
Many thanks to everyone who's purchased a forum subscription.  These subscriptions help pay the server hosting fees, various software licenses (the forum alone is ~$300 a year), and other costs associated with running AtariAge.  And these costs just went up significantly with the addition of a new server dedicated to keeping the site fast and responsive.  
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! 
 
 ..Al

Zippy the Porcupine Binary Released!

Thu Aug 24, 2017 9:34 AM

Chris Spry and AtariAge are happy to make available the final version of the Zippy the Porcupine binaries.  You are free to use these binaries to enjoy the game via emulation, or by using flash carts such as the Harmony Cartridge.  Building and selling physical copies of Zippy the Porcupine without permission is not permitted.  
 
If you enjoy Zippy the Porcupine and wish to play the game on a real Atari 2600 (or compatible) system, you can help support the homebrew community by purchasing a copy of Zippy the Porcupine in physical form from the AtariAge Store: 
 
 
Watch for additional games from Chris Spry and AtariAge!  We should have an updated demo of Chris' upcoming Robot Zed at the upcoming Portland Retro Gaming Expo.  
 
Enjoy!
 
 ..Al

Need source of 8-bit cart shells

Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:29 PM

I need some Atari 8-bit cartridge shells for an upcoming project.  Does anyone know who's produced new shells and still has them available?  Preferably the shells would work with standard Atari-shaped PCBs. 

 

Thanks!

 

 ..Al


Bring your common 2600/5200/7800 games to the show!

Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:45 PM

If you're local to Portland or you're driving to the show and want to trade some common 2600, 5200, and/or 7800 games in for store credit, please bring them to the AtariAge booth!  I'll gladly take them off your hands, and it'll save us both having to deal with shipping.  Plus, I can examine the carts in advance and discard carts I can't use for homebrews.  

 

Thanks!

 

 ..Al


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