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What is the ultimate A8 game you have ever played?
Knimrod replied to oky2000's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Same for me. It startled the bejeepers out of me when the alien popped up and started banging on the window. Gave me quite an adrenaline rush that first time. I was always into flight simulations and this was about the best available at the time so I was attracted. Bonus for the gameplay! When I originally played it, it was called "Behind Jaggi Lines". Other than that, Jumpman was the hands down family favorite and I was a huge fan of the arcade game Berzerk so when it became available on the 8-bit, I was all over it. It was about as close to the arcade game as you could want with even the voice phrases; "Stop the humanoid! Stop the intruder!", "The humanoid must not escape!" and "Chicken! Fight like a robot!" (among others). Awesome! -
Well I purchased an Atari 800 computer with goodies.
Knimrod replied to ussexplorer's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Did anyone notice that the label on bottom of the 800 is for an "ATARI 400"? Not sure if that's unusual or not but it caught my eye. -
Best 5200 games (1982-87 only please) you owned in your opinion?
Knimrod replied to BIGHMW's topic in Atari 5200
I was really impressed with Defender and especially Berzerk which had the robot voice and played very much like the arcade version. -
Atari Games That Gave You Goosebumps!
Knimrod replied to AtariSociety's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Oh yeah. The first time, it was quite the adrenaline rush. Scared the heck outa me! -
I remember that! I think the pilot was Doug (?) from the Atari club CHAOS and I think he was from Mason. In that trip, we flew from Mason to Muskegon to pick you up and fly to Meigs CGX and back. I don't remember for sure but either at start of trip or end of trip, our pilot departed Muskegon without clearance and was subsequently chewed out by the controller over the radio. Oops.
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Unboxing & 1st Test Atari 800XL - video
Knimrod replied to AtariSociety's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
I love car threads... Older hi-tech muscle here.. 87 Buick Grand National, 3.8L Turbocharged. Running on an EFI system I designed. -
Anyone Have Documentation for a UPrint A64?
Knimrod replied to DavidMil's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
LOL.. I think I may still have the wire wrapped prototype around.. It's only been 35 years or so. -
This is not true and a despicable attempt to tarnish the reputation of a true Atari pioneer who still actively supports this hobby.. ?
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What fun stuff did you do with your rig?
Knimrod replied to Keatah's topic in Classic Computing Discussion
I still have that controller Claus. It performed perfectly at the Gala opening of the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose back around 1990 I think. Woz was a benefactor there and was in attendance wearing a white tuxedo with children's hand prints in all different colors. Very down to earth guy. We got a chance to talk and he was impressed with our homebuilt laser light show controller. He also signed your book "Hackers" by Stephen Levy at which point it then became my book....which I also still have. -
After I got my original ZX80 and started programming it, I bought a copy of "The 8080a Bugbook" by Peter R. Rony. A lot of mysteries about microcomputer design and programming were revealed to me... Excellent, comprehensive book.
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I loved the commentary on Star Raiders development. Until then, my PC exposure had been a Sinclair ZX-80 which I built and learned to program on. I was looking to move into something with more power and that's when I met Claus.. When Claus demonstrated Star Raiders for me, I was blown away. I had never seen anything like that before. That was definitely a major selling point for me.
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How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars BY BENJ EDWARDSLONG READ Forty years ago, Atari released its first personal computers: the Atari 400 and 800. They arrived in the fall of 1979 after a prerelease marketing campaign that had begun the previous January when the company unveiled the machines at what was then called the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Then as now, “Atari” was synonymous with “video game,” and the new machines packed more technological potential than any game console at the time, with custom graphics and sound chips, support for four joysticks or eight paddles, and the ability to play games on cartridge, cassette, or disk. At launch, one of the machines’ first games, Star Raiders, defined cutting-edge home entertainment. And yet Atari initially marketed the 800 and its lower-cost counterpart, the Atari 400, as “second-generation” PCs—productivity machines with enhanced graphics and sound capabilities over the 1977 holy trinity of personal computing: the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80. The company intended them to crunch home budget numbers just as often as they simulated space battles. Idiot-proof and rugged, Atari’s Home Computer System machines (I’ll call the platform “HCS” for short) represented a huge leap in consumer-friendly personal computing. Unlike many PCs of the time, the Atari machines exposed no bare electronics to the consumer. Unique keyed connectors meant that all of the machines’ ports, modules, and cartridges couldn’t be plugged into the wrong places or in the incorrect orientation. The 400 even featured a flat spillproof keyboard aimed at fending off snack-eating children. And due to restrictive FCC rules that precluded the open expansion slots on the Apple II, Atari designed a suite of intelligent plug-and-play peripherals linked together by a serial IO bus that presaged the ease of the much-later USB. More: https://www.fastcompany.com/90432140/how-atari-took-on-apple-in-the-1980s-home-pc-wars
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Don't forget the metabolic urine analyzer with MIDI output for playing music to metabolic profile... Cool stuff!
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Looking for experts on the ZX80/81
Knimrod replied to rkindig's topic in Classic Computing Discussion
Thanks Claus, I still have my ZX80 and ZX81. -
Computers & T-Shirts (Post your photos here)
Knimrod replied to Omega-TI's topic in Classic Computing Discussion
Probably my favorite period t-shirt was my Elephant Memory Systems shirt. This is around 1980 or so...