Curt Vendel

The important thing to look for on the original 5,000 that were made and this is directly from Brad Saville, the 7800 Production Line manager: they were built in the El Paso facility and their serial #'s should start as follows: EP(space)serial# Now, for an interesting tidbit... upon returning from El Paso, Brad had a meeting with the Tramiels (basically the Tramiels were conducting quick mini-interviews to decide who they would keep or let go) Brad went into the meeting prepared to give a quick overview of Atari's flagship console product and how well it would help the company. Well, a few moments into his presentation, the 7800 was pushed off of the desk onto the floor and Brad was told to take his "garbage" and leave, Atari was a computer company now and was not making video games... 3 days later Brad was fired. Move forward 6 months later. Brad is contacted by someone at Atari (he didn't remember the persons name) and was asked about his involvement as the Production Manager on the Atari 7800 project and if he knew where the Die Molds were to make new Atari 7800 cases.... well, he stated "for 40-50 hours paid work, he might be able to remember where they were" The infuriated Atari employeed told him that their lawyers would be in contact with him, and hung up the phone.... Brad never heard from Atari again. So, Atari used up all of the existing parts warehoused to make more 7800 Prosystems, then started making them with new manufactured parts and new cases that they had made from doing mold castings of the original 7800 cases... I will call Brad up sometime soon and ask him if he remembers just how many parts were made/ordered to make what quantity of 7800's total in 84' when he was running the production project just to get an idea of how many 7800's were made out of the original 84' parts order. Curt

Its just a motherboard, not a full system, in fact the motherboard will not fit into the 7800 case without a little work on the case since the ports are just a tiny bit off and the power supply connector is different from the production version. Here is a link to it: http://www.atari-history.com/videogames/atari3600.html Curt

Hey, its possible.... I bought them all in the same batch from O'Shea's a few years back, I bought 6 each of them when they were dirt cheap, so its possible that there could've been a bad batch, I'm just curious to see if anyone else has had Food Fight lock ups. Curt

I will let you in after July 4th, I'm carpeting the basement this month, so everything had to be moved and packed up yet again.... However I know I have one of the earliest Atari 7800's.... its a single sided Atari 7800 motherboard which is labeled Atari 3600 which was the original # designation of the "MARIA" project..... Curt

So it appears that the stockpile of existing spring loaded cart cases were used up and then replaced by the less costly versions.... I would guess that most likely you will only find spring loaded carts for the original 10 games finished in 1984 which most likely were already being assembled and readied.... However the interesting issue at hand is... I have about a 1/2 dozen 1984 Pole Position II labelled games including the one packed in an original 1984 box that I received in the summer of 1984.... yet they are NOT in a spring loaded game cart case, but the later (and lesser costly) version more popularly seen Hmmmmmmm Curt

I prefer the original Last Star Fighter game that was released as a pirate image out. Speaking of the game.... Has anyone else seen the Starship Enterprise zip past the sun when you are recharging in the Last Star Fighter version. I've gotten it to happen 3 times, but don't know what triggers it to happen or if its simply a random event. Curt

I've asked Gary Rubio this very same question as I noticed this as well, Robotron carts seem to be the only carts I've run across that were packaged in the spring loaded, more higher end carts with the edge connector enclosure which was a standard feature of Atari cartridges in the Warner Comm. Atari days. He didn't know and noone else seemed to have an answer to this interesting question... Curt

Actually, thought I'm not allowed to say who yet.... there is an Atari resaler who has been working for the last 8-9 months feverishly to have new 7800's made, he's getting very close to have new Maria chips and such made and contacts me from time to time with questions or with a status.... its been a very uphill battle but he's been extremely serious about getting this done, I hope he's able to do it. Curt

I have a few Food Fights and for some reason they lock up after a while randomly, I've tried them on an 84 and an 88, same thing..... anyone else have this problem??? Keith Swayer of GCC was the programmer of 7800 Food Fight.... I wonder if perhaps he may know of any issues or maybe he still has the original code. Curt

Hmmmmm DJS is on ALL of the MB's??????? Hmmmm, now I must crack open a few of my later units including 2 PAL's I have to see too.... It was my understanding that later rev's were not just minor mod's of the orig PCB layout, but hey.... we all learn something new each day.... Crossbow, don't feel bad cause your bringing new and important info to light.... this is why these forums are so great, we all get to put in info we learn about the hardware, software and history and in the end, everybody wins dude!!! Interesting......

I've got 8 1984 7800's, one of which is a Clear Plastic Prototype. I got my first 7800 back in 84' when a friend who worked at Distributors International in Brklyn, NY at the time brought it over to my house as he was a manager working on the Atari account and was informed that Atari was no longer using its original Warner Comm. Atari distributor network so he brought me the original 1984 7800 with 3 carts and an original Atari 2600 system which would later be repackaged and called the Atari 2600jr. The 7800 has always been my favorite system of all of the consoles.

YOU TEASE!!!! I'm sure it'll be worth the wait (especially since I've already gotten a sneak peak) :wink: Curt www.atarimuseum.com

2nd Joystick, huh? Hey, you can never have enough joysticks :wink: Curt www.atarimuseum.com

:oops: Embarrasing isn't it? Oh well, I'll just have to send off a few hundred frivilous posts to jack up my rating.... Hey Albert.... hows about a little hookup for us "newbies" ??? Curt www.atarimuseum.com

About time Matt!!! Stop loitering around the message boards and get to work on that website... chop chop!!! Curt www.atarimuseum.com [/url]

Sorta looks like Megamania meets Food Fight :-) Very cool looking game, nice concept, great work.... Now Albert needs to run a Label contest so that the game will have a snazzy looking label to go with it Curt

quote: Originally posted by Game Rogue: Just one other thing... are protos and loaner carts the same thing? I listed several Activision games as protos, since the carts have one big dark red label with a white mailing tag that has typed info on what the cart is. Are those considered a protos? I just wanted to clear that up. Well... it all depends, you see most Lab Loaners are usually close to or finished version of the games. Proto's are more earlier versions of the games and not the same as the final finished versions, however because they are in label loaner labelled cases are are using eprom pcb's they are rarer then the final versions and their value is still higher. However if you had to rate value, versions of the games which are earlier and have markably noticable differences then the production versions are the rarest and most sought after and value. My friend and fellow AHS member Matt Reichert (who goes by Tempest) has become quite a proto afficiando and is making an extensive research site on proto's, lab loaners and production carts. An important factor to look at are the checksums of the eproms to see if there are subtle differences in the code vs. the final production units. Curt The Atari History Museum

quote: Originally posted by AtariDude: There was no 260ST. Atari created a demo model but then decided that it did not have adequate memory so instead it released the ST series with a 520ST. Huh? It was sold in Europe for a while, I have several of them and they did in fact exist. The 520ST series didn't hit Europe for a short while later and they were the STfm models which came in some pretty nice packaging with an assortment of various games on diskette. Curt

quote: Originally posted by Glenn Saunders: I did some searching online and here are the original release prices for the various 16-bit platforms: Atari 520ST - $799 (this isn't including any other peripherals, of course) Amiga 1000 - $1295 Mac Plus - $2600 IBM PC XT - $3285 Yeah, the ST was the cheapest, but other than having better graphics than the PC and the Mac (which didn't count for much at the time) there wasn't a lot of capability there. The original ST used single-sided 360K floppies and its OS was not as slick looking as the MAC nor did it have the multitasking of the Amiga. The ST didn't have a lot of expansion options vs. the PC or even Amigas (all of which had expansion slots of some sort). And while the Mac was getting 040s in them, Atari was still shipping 8mhz 68000s in their STs. (Unlike the 8-bit I don't think there was a hardware dependency on the internal CPU clock.) That lack of progress must have infuriated those who chose to follow the ST line and build up a new software library investment vs. staying put with the 8-bit. At the time I didn't see anything new that was exclusive to the ST that compelled me to switch at the time. If I had taken a closer look at the Amiga I would have saved my pennies, though. The Amiga was really a better design and left itself more open to 3rd party expansion than the ST, so that even when C= started to ignore the platform, 3rd parties delivered bigtime to keep the machines fast and vital. Each ST is much more of a closed system so to upgrade you pretty much have to buy a whole new box, ending up with the Falcon. Glenn, The Mac Plus in 86' wasn't it and came with 800K(720K formatted) floppies, and there was no expansion until 1988 with the Mac II design. Before that the original Mac (released just 1 year before the ST) was using 400K (360K formatted) disks and later the "Fat Mac" a 512K Mac still had 400K floppies. In 1990 the Mac IIx with 68030 came out and the years that followed showed Mac's with 040's. As for the ST's, the Mega ST line could've finally did something with the ST's in terms of Expansion, but the MegaBus was never brought external and only a few vendors developed for it. Also, its quite true, while coming out of the gate in 85' with a good start, instead of truly revolutionizing the design, the Tremials simple (and slowly) evolved it with simple bells and whistles tacted on it like built in floppies, RF modulators, more memory and so forth. It really wasn't until the TT030 and Falcon030 that the ST's actually took a leap forward instead of a crawl, too bad it took nearly 7 years to finally do something, too little too late. Curt

quote: Originally posted by Glenn Saunders: Do you guys think the Tramiels intentionally killed the Atari 8-bits? I think they did. The 130XE was two steps forward and one step back because it was so flimsy. You could practically wring it like a wet towel the case was so thin. Really sad compared to the Atari 400/800 tanks and the keyboards were all crap including the original metal spring ones. It seemed like most 8-bit development was undertaken only due to pressure from the userbase to DO SOMETHING. (The XEP-80, the XF-551, and AtariWriter+) They never really put any effort into extending the functionality of the machine compared to what Apple did with the IIGS or C= did with the 128 and GEOS. It survived almost entirely due to 3rd parties. It seemed like they wanted to drag 8-bit users kicking and screaming to the ST, despite the fact that the ST lost a sound voice, had no hardware sprites, and couldn't produce 16 shades ala GTIA. This just created a rift in the Atari faithful at a time when Atari needed to hold onto their existing userbase. You had the loyalists who stuck to the 8-bit and those who moved to the ST. What do you think? Glenn, The release of the 65XE and 130XE were done for one simple reason: To sell off excess inventory that the Tramiels were stuck with when they bought Atari. Their designs were based on the 800XLF design released in August 1984 and were cost cut to no end. In fact if it wasn't for extreme pressuring from several key Atari Computer User Groups, the XE line wouldn't have had the ECI interface at all. As for the XF551 that was actually in response to a lawsuit by Nintendo charging Atari with false advertising when its ads stated that its XEGS had the most games (while the vast majority were on diskettes and Atari no longer produced disk drives as the 1050 was canceled in 1984) The XEP80 was a kludge joystick monstrosity... Atari could've easily have made an ECI compatible interface but went with a unit that would plug into all Atari 8bits and of course would require the purchase of a disk drive to load the needed drivers! This and the SX212 were both from pressure by users demanding a fair share of support. Meanwhile Alan Reeve of Reevesoft had been developing an 8bit Graphics OS system (I worked with Alan quite a bit on beta testing and I created the icons in Rev 2.0 and higher for his Diamond GOS product)and he had a meeting with the Tramiels... I remember the phone call from Alan later that night and how disgusted he was with the Tramiels and their arrogance.... Here he developed a new OS that made the XE's look and act just like low-res ST's and even used an ST mouse and the Tramiels wanted no part of it.... why? Because it conflicted with the sales of their ST's Atari had many opportunities to bridge the gab between the XE users and ST's but choose to more alienate the older 8bitters in hopes that they would migrate to the ST computers eventually. The plan had a few major flaws, 1: 8bits are diehards and most did not want the ST's 2: These are Atari users and they hated the new owners from Commodore and their wanna-be Computers that had the Atari name slapped onto them. If the Tramiels had truly wanted to honestly support the 8bits, they would've released the Expansion Box, made an interface box to allow the use of the same 3.5" ST disk drives as the ST's, the expander would've allowed for Parallel/Serial cards and would've allowed the 8bit's to use the ST Parallel printers and Atari could've made a standard Modem without the extra r-verter hardware built in for SIO support. The Tramiels could've done a lot more, they choose to focus on their computers and leave all legacy Warner-days Atari owners and products off to the wayside to be ignored. Curt The Atari History Museum

That is just too weird, my wife and I just got back from shopping and during the day we stopped in Borders as I wanted to pick up a copy of Star Wars: Clone Wars so that now that I've seen the movie I wanted to read the book to get a more indepth view of the storyline and while picking up the book I saw High Score and bought it too. Just had a brief moment to finger through it and its visually stunning to say the least, I haven't yet read any content, but I'd say its worth it for the photo's alone. Now I come onto the AA Site and here you guys have a news post about it, cool!!! :-) Curt The Atari History Museum

Hey, at long last Infogrames is having a 3rd party make an official Atari hardware product, its the same type of system as the Activision TV game, but its a start!!! JAKKS Pacific to Launch Atari TV Games MALIBU, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2002--JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (Nasdaq:JAKK) announced today that the Company's subsidiary Toymax International has entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with Infogrames Interactive, Inc. to develop and market the Atari® 10-In-1 TV Games, a plug and play 8-bit gaming system utilizing your television set. This second introduction to its TV Games category is expected to hit retail shelves third quarter 2002. "We are very pleased to have Atari® as the next extension to the TV Games category. The retro graphics and sounds that Atari first introduced decades ago are a perfect match for the platform," remarked Stephen Berman, President and COO, JAKKS Pacific. "The combination of 10 vintage video games and all of the hardware built right into the joystick controller make this a portable, affordable and perfect take-anywhere gadget." Atari® 10-In-1 TV Games features 10 classic games from Atari, one of the original creators of video games! It has a lightweight, compact, all-inclusive controller, which allows gamers to play video games anywhere there is a TV with ATV input jacks (standard on almost all sets manufactured within the past decade). Atari 10-In-1 TV Games includes "Centipede®," "Asteroids®," "Missile Command®," "Battlezone®," "Adventure," "Combat" and more, and is available in five colors: blue, red, green, yellow and black. Atari 10-In-1 TV Games is anticipated to retail for approximately $20. New York-based Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq:IFGM) is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company develops video games for all consoles (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft), PCs, and Macintosh systems. Infogrames' catalogue of more than 1,000 titles includes award-winning franchises such as "Civilization®," "Backyard Sports," "Deer Hunter®," "Driver," "RollerCoaster Tycoon®," "Test Drive®," and "Unreal®," and key licenses including Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes," Nickelodeon's "Blue's Clues®," "Dragon Ball Z®," "Mission Impossible®," "Terminator®," "Harley-Davidson®," "Major League Baseball®," and the "National Football League®," among many others. The Company's Humongous Entertainment and MacSoft labels are leaders in children's and Macintosh entertainment software, respectively. Infogrames, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) (Euronext 5257), a global publisher and distributor of video games for all platforms. In 2001, IESA acquired Infogrames Interactive, Inc. (formerly Hasbro Interactive), including its line of software based on well-known licenses such as "MONOPOLY," "Jeopardy®," "TONKA," and "Atari®," which are published and distributed in the U.S. by Infogrames, Inc. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at www.infogrames.com. JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (Nasdaq:JAKK) is a multi-brand company that designs and markets a broad range of toys and leisure products. The product categories include: Vehicles, Action Figures, Infant/Pre-School, Plush, Dolls, Water Toys, Sports Activity Toys, Arts & Crafts Activity Kits, Stationery, Writing Instruments and Performance Kites. The products are sold under various brand names including Flying Colors®, Road Champs®, Remco®, Child Guidance®, Pentech®, Toymax®, Funnoodle®, Laser Challenge and Go Fly a Kite®. The Company also participates in a joint venture with THQ Inc. that has exclusive worldwide rights to publish and market World Wrestling Federation® video games. For further information, visit www.jakkspacific.com. ©2002 Infogrames Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. All marks are the property of their respective owners. This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about JAKKS' business based, in part, on assumptions made by its management. These statements are not guarantees of JAKKS' future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including, but not limited to, those described above and the following: changes in demand for JAKKS' products, product mix, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing and difficulties encountered in the integration of acquired businesses. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date on which they are made, and JAKKS does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. CONTACT: JAKKS Pacific, Inc. Genna Goldberg, 310/455-6235 or Integrated Corporate Relations Darren Barker, 562/698-6771 SOURCE: JAKKS Pacific, Inc. Curt The Atari History Museum

Just received word, Bruce at B&C Computervisions has lowered the prices of Demon's Gate to $29.95 and Demolition Man to only $14.95!!! Anyone who already purchased them is entitled to a refund of the difference or a credit towards a future purchase. I think Bruce is doing a great thing by lowering the prices, he's obviously listening to people's comments (whether constructive criticism or harsh words) As for the release of them, as Bruce had explained to me over the years, upon the purchase of containers of eproms and computers from Atari's labs, he was given consent from Atari (I never asked if its in written form) that he could release any content found on those eproms or workstations) so whether its legal or Atari even had the right to grant Bruce this right I can't say, but this is what has been explained to me. Bruce is a VERY busy guy, please please give him a little, actually a LOT of slack, his wife handles shipping & accounting, and Bruce does literally everything from finding parts, pieces and product, to repairs, to fielding dozens of phone calls and hundreds of emails daily (I know this for a fact from being at his place many times and having phone conversations with him, the phone's never stop ringing) and then trying to sort through things and to make his own effort to put things out, while not in the high grade efforts of Songbird, he is doing things the best he can. Why doesn't Bruce hire more people you might add, come'on... B&C is an Atari only dealer, a physical warehouse and business, not somebody selling stuff out of their basement on the side, business is minimal and therefor its just him and his wife trying to support the Atari community which they both have strong loyalty to. Bruce tries very hard and does mean well, again him slashing the prices is a sign of him listening and trying, so while I understand a lot of the comments, I thought it best that everyone knows a little bit more about the man before being too judgemental of his efforts. Curt

Glenn, Sure is... if you examine the photo and look at the name plate closely it looks like it even says 1450xld on it. Certainly looks like the ones I have (with the exception of the monitor ontop blended to look in the XL look) Curt The Atari History Museum

I too feel victim to Smoogic's auction as well, I did a Buy It Now for an Odyssey2 system with some games listed as "System Working and Tested with 8 games" Well, the system arrived with a damaged RF cable, no biggie as I could fix that, but no power pak, so I email the guy and let him know he forgot to ship the power pak, his response was that no power supply is included with the system and I can have one for only $13.95!!! I replied back that he listed it as a working system, not a system tested but no power supply included and that he should send me a power supply for free and I'd pay the shipping or for something more like $5.00 all together, he choose not to make any more replies back after that. I was in a bind, I needed a working O2 for the display stand for Phillyclassic, fortunately a true upstanding guy Ianiod finished a trade with me for a boxed 1200XL I'd sent him a long while back and he sent me a full Odyssey2 with tons of games plus a bunch of sealed Astrocade games too, Ianiod deserves a round of thanks for making the O2 display at Phillyclassic as good as it was! Curt