Mindfield

Though this is a complete guess, given that the Atari executes cartrige code pretty well before anything else, my guess is that it might have been intended for future upgrades. For example, had it existed at the time, they could have made R-Time 8 a standard cartridge for the right slot (as opposed to a pass through, which would have reduced costs), and kept the left slot for regular cartridges. Or perhaps it could even have been used for a system expansion -- containing a patched OS designed to run out of the cartridge, plus maybe extra RAM or an upgraded CPU or something. It was an 8-bit slot, had direct access to the system, so I can see this being a possibility. Again, though, this is utter speculation based on what I could come up with for uses for that slot.

The thing is, they obviously caught the Splashdown and MX Rider ads in time to stick the Fuji in there rather unceremoniously at the top. That being the case, why didn't they take the extra 5 minutes a piece to replace the Infogrames armadillo with the Atari logo and name, and add the Atari trademark/copyright at the bottom? And believe me, that's all it would have taken. I've done typesetting and printing. The only reason I could see for the oversight is that the typesetters (assuming it wasn't done in-house) either didn't recieve additional artwork for these things, or simply forgot to do them. Or perhaps they took the wrong proofs out for line shots before sending them off to the printers. And I could only see this being the case if Infogrames had sent both ads out at the same time, as the oversight is consistent through both ads. That leads me to believe Infogrames didn't have the artwork for the Atari name and logo (apart from the Fuji) and didn't change the fine print to reflect it. As for the website -- well, honestly. How long does it take to change a website? That's even easier than making changes to a print proof. I have a feeling that they're just rushing it all and have completely overlooked such details in the process. We'll probably know more with the next ads we see from them.

Why do they replace the "A" with a Fuji in the lead line ("ACTION", "ATTACK") but the corporate logos at the bottom only list the ESRB rating, the PS2 logo, and the Infogrames armadillo. No Atari name to be found, not even in the copyright/trademark notices in the fine print at the bottom. [ 10-11-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

I thought they released Xenophobe? I do remember having it on a real 8-bit in disk form...

I have to admit, I liked the 8-bit version of E.T. Despite the rather odd looking graphics, it had a kind of unique charm. And yes, that voice that growled, "E.T. PHONE HOME! E.T. PHONE HOME!" was pretty hoarse sounding, but it was digitized speech (albeit what, 2-bit?), something that's exceedingly rare on the 8-bit, and therefore it was still pretty cool. The only other commercial game I remember offhand that had any speech was Whomper Stomper. "Welcome to Whomper Stomper!" "Level 1. Watch out for nails!" I actually didn't like the game. I just thought the speech was cool. :-)

Atarisoft also developed a few of those titles for the Sinclair Spectrum -- presumably to hit the Brits, since it seems like more people owned domestic machines (Speccy, Enterprise, BBC, etc.) than what to them would be foriegn (Atari, C=, etc) ones. They actually weren't bad for a Z80-based machine with tile-based display and piezo buzzer sound (on the Spectrum 48; I don't think there were Spectrum 128 versions)

Just as a side note, I'm in the process of updating my mirror of the CTH FTP site, so if anyone has problems with CTH's site, my mirror's always available.

Actually the failure rate is pretty low. You're more likely to lose the keyboard to wear and tear before anything else -- and I never lost an XE keyboard. I lost an 800XL keyboard once, but that was only because, in a fit of frustrated adolescent pique I smashed the keyboard with a fist. Hard. Needless to say, several keys died that day... oh, and the several occasions where I dumped Coca-Cola in the keyboard. Surprisingly, one of the two that happened to survived the incident. Of course, touch-typing on keys that had a tendancy to stick to one another wasn't all that useful... User stupidity aside, I never lost an 8-bit machine to wear and tear in the 6 years I owned 'em. Though the XE's are a little more cheaply made, they're all pretty well built like Sherman tanks. The only manufacturing flaw I ever came across was with my 600XL. For some reason, the power supplies had a tendancy to overheat and literally burn out. I went through four of those. I think that was a design flaw of the time... never had that with subsequent 8-bits I owned.

I hate to say it, but it sounds suspiciously like something is seriously buggered. If it makes an annoying sound and is accompanied by jumping, flickering video, then possibly ANTIC or the 6502 CPU are sort of fried. Another possibility might be the cartrige port, as the 8-bit checks that before trying to boot DOS and loading BASIC (if enabled). If it thinks something is there then it might try executing cartige code, which of course doesn't exist which would cause a crash. Check the cartrige port for dust or foriegn objects. I don't think this is an RF issue. If it was an RF issue, you'd either get serious static, or no video at all. However, the oxydization idea still holds; try reseating all socketed chips inside the 8-bit, then try again. If it doesn't help, then you may just have a bum XE.

All of the later Activision games (post-Bridge era) were superb, there's no argument there. Similarily, all the Imagic titles were quite visually appealing, too, and played just as well. But to stray from the well-beaten path, which have too many obviously good-looking games to mention, my vote would probably have to go to CBS's Tunnel Runner. Good use of display list interrupts for eye-popping colour, great 3D visuals and fantastic speed. Plus, the game was just damn addictive. It was one of their enhanced 14k games, and it showed. Probably CBS's best effort.

I'm fairly certain I have an ATR image of it on my FTP site. It's in two places: Directory of D:emuComputerAtariAtari 8-Bit (400, 800, XL, XE)ImagesMirror sCloser to HomeGamesATRX 07/01/1996 12:00 AM 23,485 Xlator.zip 1 File(s) 23,485 bytes And... Directory of D:emuComputerAtariAtari 8-Bit (400, 800, XL, XE)ImagesMirror sCloser to HomeUtilitiesOS 01/03/2000 06:25 AM 23,485 XLATOR.ZIP

quote: Originally posted by Albert: As for the keyboards, I've encountered at least two different types of keyboards on the 800XL, one that had pretty flat keys and another with more curved key tops. I remember preferring one over the other, but I don't remember what I had now. The first time I played with an XE keyboard I remember it feeling "mushy" as you described. I didn't mind the feel, I just wasn't crazy about the fact that you couldn't always tell if you actually hit the key hard enough, unless you had the volume turned up and the keyclicks turned on. I usually did have the volume and key click turned on. But I actually learned to touch-type on that ol' 8-bit, so I was usually fairly certain that I was hitting the keys. Of course, in my later 8-bit years, I usually preferred to have the key click turned off. (I seem to recall adding KEY OFF to my Sparta's autorun batch file) quote I was quite happy with the Mega's keyboard as well -- though coming straight off a 130XE it was an easy progression for me. (Actually I went from 130XE to 1040ST to Mega 4 -- but, generally speaking, same difference) My one gripe about those keyboards though was their life span. Being a touch typist, and having used the computer a great deal besides, I ended up ruining two keyboards because keys started flaking out on me. To make matters worse, there were several models of keyboard available, each with different internal connectors. As luck had it, I had one of the rarer models for which it was more difficult to find replacements -- and those replacements were usually expensive. To add insult to injury, during my stint as a columnist for Current Notes magazine, I was given a little box to review that allowed the ST to connect any PC keyboard. Unfortunately, my oddball keyboard's connection was different, so I couldn't hook it up to review it. :-P quote: I completely forgot about the placement of the joystick/mouse ports on the ST until you mentioned it. Those machines had so many built-in ports (even by today's standards!) I guess that was one of the few places they could actually squeeze those ports in. I seem to remember learning how to pull my ST over the edge of the desk to get at the joystick ports without having to lift the machine up. I could never do that because with my setup the way it was, my cords were almost stretched to capacity, so I wasn't able to pull it too far forward before something came lose. I still think they could have found a more convenient location. The 520ST had them on the side where the floppy in the F models normally went. Of course, being that the floppy went there in the F/FM models, that wasn't very possible, and the other side had the cart port. I'm sure they could have found room on the back though. It wasn't that crowded back there, even with power and reset buttons, MIDI in/out, RF (for M/FM models), monitor, ACSI, RS232 and Parallel ports there. Two 9 pin DIN ports could have squeezed in there I'm sure... The Mega was only slightly better 'cos the keyboard was detached and, obviously, lighter. I'm still not sure why they put one to either side of the keyboard though, instead of both next to each other. Space constraints, I imagine...

The ANTIC (video) chip could be a little on the buggered side, or possibly the pins on the chip have accumulated some oxydization. Does the screen ever change, or is it pretty well static? What happens when you turn it on while holding OPTION with no floppy drive attached? Any sound at all? If it's oxidization, then that can be pretty simple to fix: Pop open the machine, remove the RF shielding, locate the ANTIC chip, then remove it and replace it, then put the works back together again. (You can clean the pins with some isopropyl alcohol if you want, but usually just re-seating the chip does the trick)

I think I might have to go with Adventure. I know a lot of people might argue with me on this, but really... those weren't exactly cutting edge graphics, and it was only a 4k game, so one couldn't expect great visuals. Still... paraplegic dragons with holes in their belly, boxy castles, and you, the player, but a humble square. (What the heck do you carry those items with, anyway? Suction?) But for all of that I don't think anyone can argue that this is just one fun game. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what makes it fun; it's really quite simplistic, though that's part of its charm, and there's really not a lot to do. Still, I can't resist roaming around searching for that golden chalice... [ 10-06-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

I for one have been anxiously awaiting a Jag emulator since Hasbro released the Jaguar properties to the public domain, and subsequently all the ROMs started floating about. I'm impressed with RM's progress so far, and would love to see either him or someone else continue the work and get a good Jaguar emulator going. I'd love to play T2K or Iron Solder again... *sigh*

Nateo: Well, only the 400/800 machines had the pop-up cartrige door and the dual cartrige setup (one for BASIC). However, you might find that for the whole 8-bit Atari experience, you might be hampered for several reasons with these models. For starters, the 400/800 line only had the CTIA graphics chip, which meant only graphic modes 0-11. The XL/XE line later upgraded that to GTIA, which featured new extended graphics modes which became the most popular for creating games in. (Particularily mode 15) Second, for the 400 model, you only have 16k of RAM to work with, and a terrible membrane keyboard. The 800 had 48k and a full stroke keyboard, fortunately, but again, it's still less RAM than later models, which had 64k (800XL/65XE) or 128k (130XE) standard. Mind you, to their credit, the 400/800 machines were built like Sherman tanks. If you'll excuse the analogy, if they'd had those machines in the World Trade Center, they'd be the only things they'd be pulling out of the rubble intact. :-) Albert: Granted, the XLs had nicer feeling keyboards, but I actually got quite used to, and had even come to prefer the XE/ST style keyboard. Mushy it was, but at the same time it felt sort of sleek. Cushiony, if you will. :-) The positioning of the cartrige port was easier on the XLs, granted, but I found that if you had permanent cartriges inserted (SDX, R-Time The XE got them more neatly out of the way. I didn't have a problem with the positioning of the joystick ports, though. The STs take full credit for the world's most inconveniently located joystick/mouse ports. The Mega, though inconvenient, wasn't so bad 'cos the keyboard was light, but lifting an entire 520/1040 to swap joysticks was a royal pain. Jess: My 130XE arrived used. It was, however, a 320k machine, and was the machine used (and even autographed :-) by Red Sonja to run one of our city's most prolific and popular message-only BBSes at the time, The Reach BBS. (Hey, at the time, it was a high honor to have bought the machine that ran one of the best boards around. :-) That same machine went on to run my BBS. It was certainly stylish, and a good complement to the 65XE it replaced. Back then I don't think there was another machine in existence that looked quite so sleek. (Except maybe the jet-black and sexy-looking Enterprise, though that doesn't really count 'cos it was only sold in Europe, and it sorta flopped anyway) [ 10-01-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

The problem with the XEGS (and the 65XE for that matter) is the lack of a PBI (Parallel Bus Interface) slot. This means you can't connect things like an MIO to it. The 130XE features the PBI slot right next to the cartrige port. The 65XE and XEGS don't have this.

My personal reccomendation: System: Atari 130XE Floppy: Atari 1050 single-sided, Enhancd Density (130k) drive with US Doublers (for double density (180k) and blazing speed) or Atari XF551 double-sided, double-density (360k) drive. For a little background, Atari 1050 drives run at a standard speed of 19.2Kbps. With US Doublers installed, it speeds the drive up to 57.6Kbps -- 3 times the speed. The XF551 runs at 28.8Kbps standard. DOS: SpartaDOS (if you like CLIs) or MyDOS (if you like menu-based DOS). Personally I loved Sparta. It was kinda like the 8-Bit's version of MS-DOS, as it supported batch files and subdirectories. If you can find it, SpartaDOS-X is a great find. It's DOS on a pass-thru cartrige. But if you're still a menu-based DOS sort of guy, MyDOS is the next best thing. Both of these DOSes support double-density and ultraspeed drives. (Standard DOS 2.5 doesn't) Display: A standard NTSC television, preferably an older one. Monitors do provide a crisper display, but one of the 8-bit's more charming features was its ability to "artifact." Artifacting is a display anomaly that the 8-bit was reliably able to produce that allowed you to generate (fixed) colours in a high resolution (320x192) graphics mode (mode that is normally monochrome. By drawing vertical lines on either even or odd pixel boundaries (1, 3, 5, or 2, 4, 6, etc.) it was able to produce solid red and blue colours in NTSC, or red and green (or was that green and blue?) in PAL. By drawing two vertical lines right next to each other, you produced white. Numerous games, such as Amaurote (a personal favourite), Molecule Man, Chimera, D.R.O.L., Starquake (another favourite) and many others, used this anomaly to advantage to produce high resolution games that were also relatively colourful. The colours were unchangable except to alter luminance (you could change the white colour, too) so it limited the spectrum of colours, but the effect produced was still impressive. Using a monitor or other high resolution display would eliminate the artifacting effect as it was actually able to display the individual lines that ordinarily made up artifacted colour as white. Of course, the downside was that software that did 80 column text looked blurry on old televisions as it used a 4-byte wide font, which meant single-lines to make up the font, which meant the font artifacted like mad, making it difficult to read. So, if you want to use it for gaming, an old television comes highly reccommended. If you want to use it for applications, get a monitor. The 130XE allows you to connect an SC1224 monitor to it. I don't recall if the 800XL had the monitor port. Optional Accessories The R-Time 8 cartrige is great if you want your 8-bit to have an internal clock. Like SpartaDOS-X, it's a pass-thru cart, meaning you can plug another cartrige into the back of it. Of course, if you had SDX and R-Time 8, plugging a third cartrige would make for a bit of an awkward stack of carts plugged in, especially on an 800XL, where carts plug in on top of the machine. (The XE's cart port is in the rear) A joystick is also an essential item. The standard VCS joystick is good for purists, but I personally favour the Epyx 500XJ. Comfortable, responsive microswitches, a very nice stick overall. You could also get a mouse if you plan to use something like DiamondOS, but since GUI operating systems on the 8-bit never really took off, not much was ever made to use them, so they're more a frivolity than anything. If you plan to connect a printer or a standard RS232 modem, you'll need a P:R: Connection as it contains the ports you'll need. You can also get an MIO (256k or 1 megabyte) that has all the features of the P:R: connection as well as a hard disk port to allow you to connect any ACSI (Atari Computer System Interface) device, such as an SH204 20 megabyte hard drive (affectionately known as the "Shoebox") or Megafile 30/60 meg hard disk, an SLM804 laser printer, or, if you can find it and drivers for it (doubtful), the CDR504 CD-ROM. drive. The MIO also has on-board RAM you can use as a RAMdisk or printer buffer. Both the P:R: and MIO were manufactured by ICD; I don't know if they were remanufactured by anyone, though, or if you can still buy them commercially. Check Bravo Sierra Computers' website to see what they carry. [ 10-01-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

Well, you could say I had to ask for mine "from the back." I was 10 or 11, and it was at Consumers Distributing, which was mainly a store-front, as no products were on display. Instead you flipped through a lamenated catalog, found the item(s) you wanted, filled out a form with the catalog numbers on it, and handed it to the cashier, who then got someone to grab your stuff, after which you paid for it. At the time I'd bought a Coleco Gemini that had Donkey Kong as the pack-in cartrige, and it saw a lot of use -- both the console and Donkey Kong. :-) Aw, dang... now I gotta go play it. :-)

I used to own a Gemini. The combo stick/paddle idea was great, and the sticks themselves, functionally, were fairly responsive, if cheaply made. Ergonomically, they were comfortable to hold. To play, they were... painful. The sticks and paddles both have serrated edges, ostensibly for improved grip on the otherwise hard moulded-plastic. Unfortunately, hard, serrated, moulded-plastic also describes the plastic knives you get in those little polypropelene baggies at KFC with the fork, napkin and wet nap, and that's a little like what the joysticks begin feeling like after extended play: plastic knives. If they'd rubberized the grip, it would probably be a lot more comfortable, but as it stands, they're decent sticks if you're only planning on using them for short bursts of play.

You can grab it from my site. ftp://atari8:[email protected] It's all there.

Squish'em Sam was released in 1983 by Interphase/Sirius. It's a fun little game that's a little like Crazy Climber meets Whomper Stomper. Your job is to climb amongst the pipes, lifting your legs, positioning yourself over critters, then stomping them.

I've had the mouse bug and the keyboard bug happen to me _plenty_ of times. It's the left ALT button it thinks is pressed, for any who care. :-) Some of you may be happy to know that they fixed it in Windows XP. (Yes, it's a durn fine OS, and even more compatible than WinME. I can run all the great emus, DOS or not. :-)

There was also a copycart program on the Atari 8-bit, which would read the contents of an inserted cartrige and dump it to disk. That worked pretty well though; I don't think there was much that didn't work using that. Nevertheless, I think the whole issue will reach congress, who will likely consider the consequences and then send it back for revision. Frankly, the amendment is too broad of scope and narrow of vision. While its heart is in the right place with respect to protecting the financial interests of copyright holders, it encompasses too much in its nonspecific dialectic, it calls for vast, sweeping changes in consumer storage and transmission devices of all types, and the financial repercussions on the companies that make these devices would be doubly devastating, as they'd have to spend bundles on R&D implementing the changes, and the consumers who would then not buy their products -- even in the short term -- would sap their liquid assets faster than you can say Ivanna Trump. There's no way congress could in good conscience pass the amendment without sending it back for some serious reworking -- at the very least to more specifically define what devices it would encompass and how it is to be implemented.

The thing is, there tends to be a tacit code of honor amongst auctioneers and those bidding. Generally you expect the seller to conduct the auction fairly and ethically. EBay is, after all, not a proving grounds for an item's worth, not if that's all you're after. It's an auction. It's for selling things. If you want to find an item's worth, consult collectors, visit websites, post messages on message boards or newsgroups. Putting an item on the auction block costs the seller money, so it is expected that he or she will see it through, since they have something of a vested interest in doing so. The bidders are placing their faith in the seller that, when all is said and done, someone's going to be the highest bidder and that person will get the item in exchange for the bid price. Sniping and prematurely pulling the plug works against the seller, as people lose faith in him or her and simply won't bid on the auctions any longer. If this is this guy's fourth or fifth time killing the auction, it's little wonder that no one bid to his satisfaction. If legit bidders were sniped, then that also tells people that he's untrustworthy and is liable to sell outside the auction; for Pete's sake, if you're going to be that flaky, add a "But it now" option. At least that's honest sniping. Doing it the other way just makes people think he never really had the item to begin with, and messing with people's hopes at getting a rare or coveted item is just wrong. I understand the anger, and I agree with it. I avoid EBay like greasy salesmen with sweaty palms and halitosis, so I've never experienced it first hand, but it's not hard to place yourself in that situation.