Sak

I would take your bet anyday. All Apple has to do is to create an icade-like dock gizmo so one can slide an ipad to the Mac shell (for the screen) and use the docked keyboard and mouse altogether. They dont really need to reinvent anything internal, just a Mac shell in the icade form, an Ipad ready device that is. That alone would able to sell by thousands if no more. The nostalgia factor is strong among us (like the Force!) Imagine a Mac shell with keyboard and mouse, with a slider on top for the Ipad.. who wouldn't buy that?

You are absolutely right Bill, it all really comes down to the target group. With that thought in mind, do you think it would be possible for AT-Games to build something on demand? I mean in the sort of a preorder kind of thing. Say, AT-Games presents a plan of recreating (always in the Flashback style and not exact copies of vintage hardware) the Atari 800 XL model with some inbuilt games of the XL/5200 + Basic mode, with the potential of an SD card and of course keyboard. And lets say they announce the delivery of 1.000 of these all on pre-order status on forums (mostly), with a pricetag of 80-100$. All these are relative of course, I am just giving a model plan. Would they ever (AT-Games) accept such a task considering that if they wont hit the 1.000 unit mark of preorder, they could just scrap off the whole thing? Same question of course goes for the 7800 Flashback we all have been waiting for.

@ almightytodd : I see your point (and it's a good one) regarding the potential consumer side on this kind of project. My thought is on the lines of "Hey, there is so much retro thing going on recently so what more appropriate to bring back landmark icons of that era?". I can only dream an Atari 800 XL and a Commodore 64 Flashback with loaded games and fully working keyboard, plus a microsd port, composite av , a set of joysticks and fancy boxes. And about your dreams I am backing you up 100%! If nothing else, Apple seems to be able to pull off a Mac comeback, maybe with a bit of extra as an ipod dock-stereo disguise as well. Apple might be a wallet shark when it comes to value for money, but I am sure that if they decide to follow the retro hype with a landmark icon as the first Mac, people will still be camping outside their stores waiting in lines.

Those recent years we have seen hordes of Flashbacks in the Atari 2600 line, as well as the Intellivision, Sega Genesis and Colecovision, let alone the form of C64DTV joystick. Would it be feasible to see an incarnation of an Atari XL or a Commodore 64 computer in the Flashback trend? I mean with a real keyboard and all. Are there any plans at AT-Games for something like this in the 8bit computer line?

Excellent work Maxim! Now use a woodgrain texture layer for the pad, and silver fuji and letters and you are done!

I think the biggest letdown of the STE was the use of the ST's case. To most ST users back in the day, it seemed odd that a new and enhanced Atari ST lurked under the same familiar aging case. I never really envied the more capable STE because it looked the same with my ST except the tiny badge. It would be great to see the STE back then with a new case, that would define something different altogether as a new computer, maybe a bit more compact in the lines of the Amiga 600. Under the hood I would love it if it had two speakers (left/right) on the upper back case as well as a volume slider. Most TV's back then were not stereo (as well as the SC1224) so I think it would be a neat feature to provide stereo sound no matter what it was hooked up to.

@ ggn.. it is more of a wishful thinking rather than a calling to arms. It is a great game (watching it on video does not do it justice) and arguably the best christmas themed one (ok, christmas lemmings too!). @ ParanoidLittleMan.. Potsworth and Co is a great game, more complex and definitely more demanding. I guess we all have our personal favourites, so my wish still stands for an Atari St version of Santa's Xmas Caper.. the festive tune, the colors galore, simple but effective gameplay.. take my word and give it a go on winuae (or real Amiga if you have one) and I am sure you will be looking for it each December!

The vice versa scenario occured on Super Sprint, Joust and Gauntlet for the Atari ST being ported to the Amiga recently, so I guess there are people that love having versions on both machines and are capable of doing so. And granted, the ST porting to the Amiga is relatively easy because there is no tech boundary on the Amiga side, it can deliver anything from the ST (maybe compromised a bit speedwise on polygon games like Starglider, but you know what I mean). I am sure an ST version of Santa's Xmas Caper could be ported to the ST, with the necessary sacrifices. Maybe someone that deals with this kind of conversions can give us more details if this is feasible. The Stario Christmas is an ok game but a joke in comparison to SXC.

Hehe, true, but you know, the red caped chubby guy usually makes flights around the 25th date mark! Who knows what lurks in his bag! Seriously, it is usually (and apparently late as you correctly state!) this time of year that I get a bit of free time, and I manage to have a few hours available to plug in my ST and give it a go, and the usual question comes in mind "If only I had this version on my ST". I have the chance to play it on winuae, but ahhhhh... the real ST thing!

It is always sad to see christmas time coming around and yet, not having a great ST port of Amiga's best christmas game, the Santa's Xmas Caper. I was always wondering why the Atari ST version never came out for this catchy christmas themed game. We see all kinds of remakes and personally I would love to see this great game coming to the ST. Am I the only one having this wish? I want this in my ST screen, is that too much to ask Santa?

Gauntlet (if I remember correctly) uses all ports, both mouse and joystick. I used to have this game original and it featured two splitter joystick cables to offer four player support. I dont know if you are using a splitter that does not work correctly on the second (splitter side) port. Try using the mouse port as well, with the red wico and the genesis joypad.