Mindfield

Jahfish: I would agree in cases like this, where the big company disputes ownership over a domain name because their newly formed division, formed after someone else purchased the domain they wanted for it, happens to bear the same name as the domain someone else registered. Personally I think Infogrames should just back off and register "atari-labs.com" ... there's nothing to stop them from doing that. Look at ATI. Someone already owns ati.com, and in fact if you were to go to ati.com that site's first page actually provides a link to the real ATI site. I'm sure ATI initially contested ownership over this name, but it probably didn't get far since you can't copyright an acronym. Anyway, the bottom line is that ATI had to back down and register atitech.com instead. This case is rather different than atarilabs.com since ati.com has nothing to do with Advanced Technologies Inc., nor does it use any of their logos, but the point is the same, and so is Lawrence's: he's prepared to fall back on the japanese meaning of the word "atari" and remove the Atari logo if it comes down to that. And that's a perfectly defensible position to take. Debro: Although the Infogrames' letter is a scan, I'll retype it here, followed by Lawrence's response (which is plain text): [begin Infogrames quote] Dear Mr. Wright: It has come to the attention of Atari Labs, a division of Infogrames Interactive, Inc., formerly Hasbro Interactive, Inc. ("Infogrames"), that you have reigstered the AtariLabs.com domain name and are operating a website from that address, which prominently features the Atari trademarks. In particular, we note and appreciate your statement on the "What's going on here?" page of the website that "The only people [you and the users of the website will] answer to are Hasbro's lawyers." Based on your statement, we assume that you are aware of the potential legal issues arising from your use of the AtariLabs.com domain name, including unfair competition and false designation of origin under the Lantham Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1125, trademark infringement and unfair competition under common law, trademark dilution under both federal and state statutes, and unlawful use of a domain name under the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Just as we hope that you will acknowledge our interested in protecting Atari Labs and its intellectual property, we would like to support your endeavour to operate a gaming site, provided that it is non-infringing. Accordingly, we propose that in consideration of your transfer of the AtariLabs.com domain name to Infogrames, we will grant you permission to use an Atari logo as specified by Infogrames on a royalty free basis for certain approved noncommercial purposes on GameSX.com, which we understand to be another gaming site that you currently operate. While we hope that we will reach an agreement on this matter, we hereby reserve all of Infogrames' rights under both law and equity. We look forward to your response. [End Infogames quote] And here's Lawrence's reply: [begin Lawrence Wright's quote] In response to this letter received June 25, 2001 from Senta L. Wong, legal counsel for Infogrames Interactive Inc., who owns Hasbro who owns Atari. This document is divided into two parts followed by a brief summary. The first part is an impassioned plea to Infogrames to let me keep the domain name which contains a site I've worked very hard on. The second part is the legal defense, the last defense of a coward (besides duty, I suppose). Part One: The Impassioned Plea To: Senta L. Wong Hey Mr. Wong, thanks for the kind letter. I appreciate greatly your willingness to send a letter that didn't threaten immediate legal repercussions if I paused even to scratch my nose en route to the phone to call Network Solutions and tearfully beg them to transfer the AtariLabs.com domain name to Infogrames ASAP. With all the crazy 'cybersquatting' and BigCorp heavy-handed perversions of justice making headlines the world over it's nice to talk to human beings about a situation that is, I hope, totally resolvable to our mutual satisfaction. I started the AtariLabs.com site for a number of reasons. Permit me a short history of the decision to register AtariLabs.com as my personal domain. When I was a kid, Atari was god. I remember fondly the debacle that was the 5200, the movie called Cloak and Dagger, the press release exclaiming Atari to be the second most recognized brand name on the planet, next to Chrysler. I felt the touch of the industry's greatest pioneer in everything I did. Margin doodles in my elementary and high school text- and note-books, feeble attempts at programming (including a very impressive Atari logo using only the characters available in 800xl Basic) and an endless stream of confrontations with people convinced I was less than they for I backed the wrong system. I bought into the Atari hype in a big way. My father owned and operated an Atari-centric store for many years in the small town of Fort St. John, BC. I have owned every single released Atari computer. I still use an Atari TT 030 workstation as my primary graphics processor - I even blew over a hundred dollars last month buying new software for it on eBay. I took very personally ever single Atari success and failure. I was devasted by every dumb-ass mistake they ever made. I thrilled with every single success they had. I owned one framed piece of Atari stock. Well, technically it was my dad's, but since it was more or less monetarily worthless he let me treasure it until some nameless member of my family 'lost' it in a move. I treasured every part of my life that Atari touched. I was there, I lived it, and when Atari fell from grace I took it hard. *******s - how could they do that to me? After crying the merits of Atari from the hilltops for so long, they still managed to screw it all up. And after all I had done for them! =) Jump forward a few years, to 1996. I opened my own game store in Kelowna, BC, called Game Station X. I created soon after a page referred to as GameSX.com, and because I had so much trouble locating technical information for video game consoles, I made it the internet's largest and most comprehensive collection of game console hardware modifications. The site is devoted entirely to hardware hacks, including video output diagrams, how-to guides for adding additional functionality, etc. It contains not a single page with instructions for defeating copy-protection, nor does it include links to pages that do. It does not have instructions for copying or "backing up" video games in any way, shape or form. Because the site was devoted strictly to hardware, and as a result of operating a video game store for over three years, I felt the need for a soap-box of sorts, from which to shout out my opinions, grievances and congratulations to other people as entranced by the game industry as I was. I wanted to start another site with a bit of a community feel, a little reader interaction, and a forward looking mandate to discuss the state of the video game industry, past present and future. I wanted to have a name with some meaning to me personally, something with a little kick. I chose an entirely fictional name - Atari Labs - for two reasons: 1. Atari was the industry's pioneer. They rose higher than any other and crashed harder and faster than anyone imagined possible. They were the icon of games past, and at frequent intervals, an apparent harbinger of things to come. 2. Atari Labs sounded cool. The 'Labs' part inferred a more intellectual side of the pursuit of gaming happiness, a place that if it existed would be the equivalent of a mad scientist's lair, full of wonder and imagination, of knowledge arcane and mundane, overflowing with talented people, bubbling beakers of brightly coloured fluids, and games which would have propelled Atari to certain greatness had their management ever taken notice of what they had. Also, neither Hasbro nor Infogrames had announced any legitmate attempt at re-launching the Atari name, and I wasn't at all pleased to see it languish. Why not do what I could to resurrect it? Where was the harm in making the Atari name stand tall and proud once again? You know, excusing for a moment the fact that I wasn't the legal owner, nor did I have any legal right to make that decision. =) There was never an "Atari Labs" division of Atari Games Corp. or Atari Inc. as far as I was able to determine. There was "Atari Consumer Labs" which was responsible for prototyping and sending to media pre-release copies of early to mid-eighties Atari games. A google.com search for "Atari Labs" turns up only this site and several dozen other pages with the words "Atari" and "Labs" without them being adjacent to each other. From the gist of your letter, I'd have to assume that you are maintaining that there is an Atari Labs division of Infogrames (Who at the time of my domain registration had not quite or only just acquired Hasbro, who owned the Atari name). Neither I nor anyone I know have ever heard of Atari Labs as a legitimate business entity, so I'd have to assume that if they existed they were some sort of internal division unknown to the public and the name I chose was simply coincidence. Anyway, that's my story. I'm quite fond of the domain, and even if that's not enough to bring a tear to your cold, hard lawyer's eye, maybe the legal defense will mean something. As an aside, my site is now generating some considerable interest, and has been featured in the premiere issue of GameGo! Magazine Thanks for considering the above, and the below, Lawrence Wright, good faith holder of the AtariLabs.com domain name. Part Two: The Cowardly Legal Defense There are a few conditions that have to be met before I can be legally accused of "Cyber Squatting" and you fine folk at Infogrames can reasonable expect to win a case against me. Right off the bat, I'd like to point out that the word "Atari" is also a Japanese word that loosely translates into "bingo" or "winner" or similar, and in fact was printed inside a Pepsi Cola beverage label I purchased around the same time I made the decision to register AtariLabs.com, which I interpreted as a good omen. That said, I would offer as a token of my good faith, to remove all visual representations of the Atari logo, all references to Atari Inc. except as legally permitted in the instances of review or commentary or fair use, and to install a prominent disclaimer disavowing any connection between my site and Atari, as a division of Hasbro and/or Infogrames, as well as a link to the official Atari site(s). I'd rather not, as I'm quite fond of the Atari name (As I've shown above) and hope that I can use the name of this fictional Atari division in peaceful coexistance with Infogrames. Should the need arise, I'm prepared to fall back on the Japanese-language meaning of the word, and would sooner to that than give up the domain name itself. Now, the legal bits: You mention the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. part 1125. I'd like to bring up the specific parts of this Act that I believe apply to this case. parts of © Remedies for dilution of famous marks. which read: ©(4)The following shall not be actionable under this section: ©(4)(b) Noncommercial use of a mark. ©(4)© All forms of news reporting and news commentary. While I'm not entirely certain a news and commentary site which is TITLED after the mark in question qualifies, AtariLabs.com is without question and in every sense of the word Non Commercial. I sell no goods or services, nor do I charge any fees, nor do or have I announced any intention to do so. I pay for the hosting and traffic of this domain out of my own pocket, and it is freely available to all. parts of part (d) Cyberpiracy prevention. which read: (d)(1)(A) A person shall be liable in a civil action by the owner of a mark, including a personal name which is protected as a mark under this section, if, without regard to the goods or services of the parties, that person-- (d)(1)(A)(ii)(I) in the case of a mark that is distinctive at the time of registration of the domain name, is identical or confusingly similar to that mark; (As I mentioned above, there is no available public record of any division of Atari, Hasbro, Infogrames or any other past owner of the Atari name ever using "Atari Labs" as its operating title.) (d)(1)(A)(ii)(II) in the case of a famous mark that is famous at the time of registration of the domain name, is identical or confusingly similar to or dilutive of that mark; (again see above and the response to the previous part of this Act) Now since I've volunteered to remove the Atari logo and references to the Atari company currently owned by Infogrames and/or Hasbro, as well as happily link to the legitimate holders of this name and make clear my use of the name in a Japanese context (I do live in Japan, my wife is Japanese) I think I should be able to quietly slip under your legal radar. No harm, no foul, no hard feelings. The entirety of the remainder of the Lanham Act seems to deal exclusively with commercial mis-use of the mark in question. Note that I used the version of this Act available at Bitlaw.com. Thanks for taking the time to read this lowly document, and I hope that we can work out an agreeable compromise. I'm not offering this domain for sale to you or anyone else, I'm not profiting from it, and I think I qualify rather perfectly for the definition of "Fan Site" with legitimate claim to a fair use of the mark. If you insist, I'll remove your trademarked images, disavow all relationships, and make clear the alternative interpretation of the name. I look forward to hearing from you, Lawrence Wright Happy, fun-loving and good faith fair-using long-time Atari fan. [End Lawrence Wright's quote]

Whoop! Looks like AtariLabs.com is back online. Must have been network troubles after all... so much for the conspiracy theory. :-)

At the moment, regardless of Lawrence's usage of a trademarked logo and name, I think his site still falls under fair use guidelines. There is nothing derogatory about it, unless you construe the allowance of opinionated and occasionally vulgar dissertations to be posted on his discussion boards, which I don't, and his site is neither commercial, nor are there any advertisements (other than one pointing to his own GameSX webfront), so he is in no way profiting, directly or indirectly, from the usage of said trademarks. To me, that's fair use -- using a trademark for no other reason than that you like and appreciate the company and want to show your appreciation in some small way by dedicating a site to it -- or a site that relates to it in some fairly significant and relevant way. And so, I still maintain that Infogrames don't really have much of a case, since Lawrence's usage of the trademarks and domain name are in good faith.

Well, my theory, which admittedly is pure speculation based on a little development knowledge, is that the reason for the predictable results when frying (as opposed to completely random results that are impossible to reproduce twice) is that first, the power drain/spike during the frying process scrambles the 128 bytes of memory in a way that probably has something to do with the clock frequency. Consider how Intel chips generate random numbers; they use the system timer to seed the generator to create a pseudo-random number. But if you were to seed the generator at the exact same every time, the number generated would also be the same. There's probably something related this going on during frying, which would explain the often predictable results of frying. I think that if you could cycle the power at exactly the same interval, for exactly the same duration, you'd produce the exact same frying result every time. That's just my theory, though.

Not really. Two of the four simplistic PD demos seem to work on it, but that's just about as far as that goes. Nevertheless it's nice to see one that's getting updated. JagBag seems to be languishing, and JagEm is nowhere to be found, so I'm glad something's being done for the cause of Jaguar emulation. :-)

Ranked in order of pure whim: 1. Tunnel Runner 2. Montezuma's Revenge 3. Keystone Kapers 4. Spike's Peak/Ghost Manor (they're both cool, and they're a set, so they both get in) 5. Star Raiders

My guess is that if indeed Infogrames has taken any action at all against Lawrence, it's concievable that if they didn't believe they had a case against Lawrence (or if Lawrence succeeded in convincing them that his legal argument held merit) then they may have sent a vaguely threatening letter to his domain registrar. Although this wouldn't get Infogrames the domain name (at least, not immediately) it would be enough of a scare tactic to force the registrar to suspend it until the matter had been resolved one way or the other. Companies don't like legal threats, founded or not; it's bad for business, and they'll err towards caution every time. If I were a lawyer (bite my tongue!) and knew the other person's legal argument held more water than mine, yet I still wanted to try and bend them to my will, that's the sort of thing I'd do. As far as that goes, if this scare tactic didn't work, I wouldn't be surprised to see Infogrames press a lawsuit. Even knowing they couldn't win, they'd bank on both Lawrence simply not being able to afford the legal fees (and Infogrames could afford to drag a case like that out), and on the hopes that he wasn't so sure of his own legal position as Lawrence might see Infogrames appear to be as a result of the suit. Both are probably true, and would probably result in Lawrence bowing out. It's sad to see such underhanded tactics employed by a company we may have otherwise come to respect. Sad, both for the devious, weasely nature of it, and because regardless of how far in the right Lawrence is, if Infogrames decided to press the issue, they'd win simply by default because Lawrence couldn't possibly hope to absorb the legal fees that would be involved in such a drawn out case no matter how righteous he felt about his side of it. When it comes to lawyers, it's not about right or wrong. It's he with the greatest sum of money who wins. Mind you this is a long speculative journey based on nothing more than a domain name not resolving; it could be nothing more than network troubles. Still, the timing is awfully suspicious...

Seems I can't connect to the URL -- the domain isn't resolving anymore. Perhaps Infogrames succeeded in strong-arming Lawrence into giving over the domain? I hope not... I see enough heavy-handed lawyering coming out of Nintendo, I'd be rather disappointed to see the new Atari practise the same tactics...

Yeah, the protection was defeated on pretty well all versions of the game. (Mind you the ST version wasn't cracked all that well, and there were a number of bad cracks that floated around, unplayable because you couldn't get a job, sleep at an inn, or slake your thirst or hunger at a tavern due to your being evil. Of course that didn't really matter much because every encounter resulted in immediate attacks and usually ended in death -- yours, since every smithy just threw you out, leaving you defenseless)

I'd agree that there is still some room in the portable gaming market -- but right now, the GBA has the rapt attention of all the portable gamers out there right now, and with good reason; it is admittedly a very good system, rather on par graphically with the SNES (if scaled down a little) but with more horsepower. Still, Nintendo being the only entry in the portable gaming market does leave some room for someone else, and despite Atari's relative failure with the Lynx (which let's be honest was a great system, but was prone to fragility) I think they'd be able to pull something off. I do know from working in the retail electronics biz that the major complaint of those who buy the GBA is the lack of a backlit display -- a sacrifice made for prologed battery life, but I think a decent backlit system with a 32-bit processor, good active matrix TFT display (maybe that nice 4" screen Ben's using for his latest VCSp?) and some heavy talent on board could stand a chance. While I think the idea of portable gaming on cell phone hybrids is a good idea and Atari is good to get on board early, I think that it would be a good inroad to a dedicated portable gaming device.

Thing is, the randomness of frying was what produced some interesting results, sometimes. Although there was randomness, the results were often predictable -- there were usually several messed up but semi-stable results that would still let you play or mess around with it. Messing up RAM by hand and searching for a random address to start at just won't have the same kinda results -- and you could only save 'em by doing a save state. I'd often thought of whether or not frying was emulatable. I sort of gathered the authentic style frying wasn't, but a simulation of it could be reproduced, I think.

That's pretty well the same with me. I carried that self-teaching paradigm into my later stages of learning, picking up Atari BASIC, then Turbo Basic, and then -- after years of pure confusion at how those amorphous three-letter expressions could possibly be understood followed by sheer epiphany and sudden understanding from following example -- 6502 assembler, which I learned to love for its subtle simplicity and its complex potential for powerful, compact routines. Even today I tend to educate myself in an ad-hoc manner, learning what I feel I need to know when I need to know it, and leaving the rest until it becomes necessary. I haven't learned to program on the PC these days -- with the exception of HTML, and a few spots of Javascript and VB. But it gets my by for my purposes, and in a way harkens back to the days when computers still mystified and entranced me. :-)

There were to be seven titles, all told. Released: - The City (A8, C64, Apple II, PC, ST, Amiga) - The Dungeon (Same) Unreleased, but rumoured to have a beta at the time: - The Palace (third in the series) Unreleased, and not even started: - The Arena (Fourth) - The Wilderness (Fifth) - The Revelation (Sixth) - The Reckoning (Seventh) The entire series had, at the very least, been concieved of by Philip price -- he knew where everything was headed. Unfortunately the death of Datasoft squelched any hopes of seeing the series even begin to reach a climax. Last I heard (from Phil himself, no less) he does have the rights to the games, and does plan on excersizing them, but at present is pressed for time to do so as a result of his regular job. Here's some tidbits I thought I'd share about the game for anyone interested: There were some striking differences between the 8-bit and 16-bit/PC versions of The City; On the ST, Amiga and PC, streets and areas had names (on the 8-bitters they were merely "A street," "An Alcove," "A Cul-de-Sac," etc.) You were also able to join Guilds, get a job (and a watch by which to arrive on time), and be judged in degrees of good or evil by your actions (which determined your acceptance at public establishments, and the frequency and type of encounters that occurred) None of these variables were present in the 8-bit versions of the game. And here's a little trivia: One area of the game (known as Price Commons in the 16-bit versions of the game) when mapped out, spells "Philip Price." Another bit of trivia: If you tried to play a copied version of the game on the ST/Amiga/PC, your character would be generated pure evil with no hope of redemption. [ 07-14-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

Around $250 US -- with a small discount if you trade in an old 2600 that Ben can cannibalize for parts to make more VCSp units.

Hasbro Interactive = history; now under the management of Infogrames, who have now officially decided to chance their name to Atari for brand recognition. Currently, Atari have released the "Anniversary Edition" -- a package of classic arcade emulations -- and are striking a deal to make pay-per-download remakes of old arcade games for use on WAP-enabled cell phones. Beyond that, who knows? The new Atari are taking a few baby steps, and their direction is ultimately unclear, but at the very least they're doing something. It's not much of something, but they're probably still formulating plans and strategies...

I'd have to agree that the chances both of Atari making a new machine, and, if they should bother to do so, of the chances of it succeeding are as near to none as makes no odds. If a giant like Sega admits defeat in the face of Nintendo and Sony -- particularily when, until GT3 was released earlier this week, 99% of the PS2 games pretty well sucked -- then what of Atari's chances? Nintendo's Gamecube is currently slated for November 5th, with Microsoft's XBOX less than a week behind on the 10th. Add to that the already-growing pantheon of titles for the PS2 (despite most of them being exceptionally lacklustre), and you can see that the gaming market is pretty well nose-to-tail, with barely enough room to spit through the cracks. Atari would have to come up with something pretty spectacular, launch it with a veritable cornucopia of titles and third party support, release it before or at least shortly after GC and X, and market it at a price point below even the GC, in order to have a singular chance at success. Given the enormous costs and tremendous resources that would be required to pull off such a feat, I'd have to say that, at this time, it would fall on Infogrames' list of priorities just above "re-hire Sam Tramiel to run the new Atari," but below "New Atari Spokesman: GILBERT GOTTFRIED!"

I had a 600xl; it was the first 8-bit I ever owned. I didn't have any means of storage -- no tape or floppy drive, and I had no software whatsoever when I bought it. I had to satisfy myself with typing in the example programs in the back of the manual. That of course led inevitably to my curiosity piquing about what would happen if I changed certain values and such, which ultimately led to my learning to program -- and writing those programs down in a little booklet I made. It wasn't until some time that I borrowed a tape drive off of a friend who had a whack of 8-bit stuff, and then eventually upgraded to an 800xl with a 1050 drive and my first floppy game (Boulder Dash! :-)

Most of the Infocom games made it, up to (but excluding) Zork Zero. The Atari ST and Amiga saw a few of the ones the 8-bit didn't get; Zork Zero, Beyond Zork, Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail Of It (hillarious game, by the way -- anyone have an image of this one? It's damn impossible to find!) and one or two others. The rest -- Return to Zork, Zork Nemesis, and so on -- only made it to PC (possibly Mac, too). I didn't much like these tho, as they became "interactive movies" and so lost their classic touch, becoming more common with the then-glut of such games (Myst, et al) Curiously, only the Amiga got the Infocom Collection 1 and 2; for some reason they never released that on the ST. Personally I liked Zork Zero; it was still purely text, but there were simplistic graphics in the form of a map that showed where you were and where you'd been. Plus, where else could you beat someone up with a shelailagh? :-) As for Douglas Adams -- yep. He was involved in several, starting, of course, with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He went on to write a few more, all, of course, rife with his wit and sense of humour. (Mind you, Planetfall and Stationfall, while funny, weren't quite as offbeat as one might be used to when reading Adams' stuff) I was morified to read of his death; he was a legend in his prime who had hardly begun to write in earnest. I was really looking forward to another Dirk Gently novel; I kept anxiously awaiting a third installment while he was working on Last Chance to See... he is sorely missed. <moment of silence> </moment of silence> Returning to the larger topic at hand, I did the same with AR -- adventuring well beyond the game's climax, mapping everything, discovering all the secrets, items, etc. It was just that kind of game where, even when you've seen the culmination of all your efforts bear fruit, you still want more. I remember anxiously awaiting The Palace, as that was to be next, and hearing of beta versions floating around (though I never came across such). Then I heard of Datasoft's folding and subsequent cancelling of the project and very nearly died of apoplexy. And as good as the Ultima games were, they couldn't hold a candle to AR, so were scant consolation. I always wanted to continue the series myself; I was even writing an ATASCII version of AR in MAC/65 to be played on Oasis bulletin boards (believe it or not -- and it worked! Clunky visuals of course, but the 3D was there!) I left the 8-bit scene before I got anything playable done though... *sigh* One of these days...

lol... that ad was kinda funny. The Golden Arches could work, but that text was pure lithography. :-)

Although not Atari-related, I was in the Value Village on Queen at the 410 in Brampton yesterday, and they had two Genesis systems (ohe original, one re-release, smaller version) and a Sega Master System, each for $4. I didn't pick them up since I'm not actually ready to begin any sort of classic console collection yet, but it was the first old console I'd seen in a while (other than an original Gameboy) No games there though... just those consoles and a bunch of ancient PCs. I might have actually picked one or both of them up if they had some carts...

Infocom games were great. I especially loved the ones Douglas Adams had a hand in. (Bureaucrasy, THHGTTG, Planetfall/Stationfall) They left you with no choice but to use your imagination, as there were no visual cues. As you said, it was like reading a good book, only except that you were able to take part in it. Ironically, several books were released based on several of the Infocom games; I bought both the Enchanter and Sorcerer books, though each was written by a different author. They weren't epic fantasy as you'd expect from the likes of say, Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind, but they were cute, in that Piers Anthony Xanth sort of way. However, The AR series were no less adept at telling a good story, even if it was mostly visual rather than mental. The plot was excellent, the gameplay was phenominal, and the story evolved in new and interesting ways as you played, which is just what a good book -- and a good RPG -- should do. Most RPGs try, but they tend to have tired, archetypical plots with predictable plot twists and action; there's little to fire the imagination and plenty to get bored of after the first time through. AR was good enough that, even when you've been through it, you want to go through it again and again -- also the mark of a good book. And it takes a skilled developer to create an engaging world that you want to revisit even after you've toured it extensively and repeatedly. It's a pity modern developers simply don't take heed -- or can't because of deadline destrictions.

It wasn't Mercenary. But just for posterity's sake, the wireframe 3D Mercenery: Escape from Targ and the Second City data disk were released on the 8-bit. The ST had Mercenary: Escape from Targ + The Second City in all its wireframe glory, Mercenary II: Damocles + Mission Disk, and Mercenary III, both in solid 3D polygon. Great games, those were.

It was a good article -- and the first I've seen that didn't cast retrogaming in an eccentric light. If anything it did more to suggest that retrogaming, especially with the grandaddy of all consoles, was gaining more of a mainstream following, being more popular in the classic gaming venue than Nintendo or Sega. I must commend them for that; they placed Atari right where they should be: as the forefathers and the preeminent champions of the video gaming era past and present.

Actually, http://www.atari.org has some stuff in their "Services/Toys" area... you can grab the Fuji in several 3D formats (most useable to PC being DXF and 3DS formats -- these are convertable with a program like 3D Exploration) as well as a few other bits and bobs. (If anyone wants this converted to a different 3D format, or just a really big Fuji JPG, let me know and I can do it quite easily; specify size and background colour) I also found a set of Atari fonts if anyone's interested. I had a hell of a time getting Windows to install them, though... perhaps I have too many fonts installed already. :-) [ 07-09-2001: Message edited by: Mindfield ]

There's also a wealth on my FTP site: ftp://atari8:[email protected]:2026