Fres

Ok, that's about the funniest thing I've seen in quite a while... Amazing how careless people can be.

I remember reading an article or two about teleprompting with 8-bits back in the late 80s. Perhaps one of these: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v6n6/teleprompting.html http://www.atarimagazines.com/v8n7/Showbiz8bit.html

Anyone remember a game called XYST? I think it was for the 8-bit. However, I remember seeing it at about the time I was transitioning to the PC, so it's conceivable that I saw it there. I can't seem to find any info about it, so maybe it doesn't exist. Any ideas?

Ok, so now I have one of those Red Octane classic joysticks. It's pretty cool. From a casual glance, it really does look like an original Atari CX40. However, the button bigger, redder and rounded (like on a Gemstick, if you remember those). The stick works pretty well for $9.50 (including shipping). No drivers needed -- just recognized as "USB GAMEPAD." Unfortunately, the fire button registers as button 2 instead of button 1 (or button 1 instead of button 0, depending on your perspective). That was not a problem for MAME or Atari800Win. I didn't try it with a 2600 emulator yet. It feels very similar in your hands to an original -- right down to the rubber boot. The feel while operating it is a little stiff, and would take some getting used to. It also feels a little fragile compared to the real thing, but it may be my imagination. Its construction and design is so close in appearance to the original, that it leads me to wonder if the board inside could be transplanted into an original CX40 casing, in order to have an even MORE authentic feel. At any rate, it's a nice way to get a classic game controller on your PC without the use of awkward adapters.

You're probably right about the shipping cost, but when I went to "check out" after putting the joystick in my cart, there was a "what is this?" link in the shipping options box where it said "super shaver shipping" is $4.50, so I chose it. Then I entered my address and my total came out to $9.50. That about explains it!

Maybe I misread something, but it looks like shipping is $4.50 per shipment, which would keep the total under $10. Or, you could order 8 of them, and shipping is free.

DOS 3 was cool! Some great features (some poorly implemented), nice looking interface, but loads of compatibility problems, a hog. I wish they had done a better job with that one...

I have a Stelladaptor and I also have a PC Competitor. I use them both on a regular basis. I use the PC Competitor more than the Stelladaptor, but they work equally well. The PC Competitor, however, allows you to attach two sticks to one gameport (no USB support required). I use the Stelladaptor mostly just for paddle games. I wish an Atari 800 emulator supported it.

Bill Lange: Thanks for the file. Brings back some memories. I found out, though, that I didn't remember my states and capitals quite as well as I should have.

That'd be great if it's possible. It's really surprising to me that no one has this one available already. It wasn't especially uncommon, and I know I had it on floppy disk back when I had floppy disks.

Yeah, I remember playing that game. I knew my states and capitals better than anyone in my 5th (or 4th?) grade class thanks to my Atari 800. I have been looking for it too, but it seems to be hard to find. It was written in basic, and I remember having it copied to floppy as STATES.BAS, but I no longer have any of those old floppies. The tape version was cool because it had an audio track that played while the program was loading. Hopefully it'll turn up some day.

Bop 'n Wrestle had speech. When pinned, listen for "1, 2, ... 3 ..." Blew me away the first time I heard it.

Would a touch tablet work with a stelladaptor if the authors of Atari800winPLus added support for the stelladaptor? I was thinking that a touch tablet was read in the same way as the atari paddles. I don't have much use for the touch tablet any more, but it would bring back some memories.

Does anyone know if the Stelladaptor will work (in paddle mode) with Atari800winPLus?

That's cool! Thanks, kenfused...

There were a lot of 1/2 decent arcade conversions made for the a8. A multi-cart I'd be intersted in purchasing (as long as it didn't contain any typos) would be one that has all of the arcade conversions created for a8 including: pac-man donkey kong jungle hunt asteroids space invaders (and/or deluxe invaders) jr. pac-man super pac-man ms pac-man pooyan mr. do mr. do's castle gauntlet pole position robotron joust centipede (and/or 5200 version) mario bros (w/translator built in to fix sound, and/or xe version) crystal castles (and/or xe version) super cobra moon patrol (w/translator built in to fix sound) star wars frogger (with background music) defender dig dug galaxian millipede missile command berzerk stargate kangaroo (w/translator built in) ...and I'm sure there were others that don't immediately come to mind. That's be almost as cool as my mame cab. -OR- I guess a person could make his own cart using one of atarimax's flash carts, eh?

Does this thing still exist? I've never been able to find an image. I think it was sold as an Atari/C64 flip disk from Hi-Tech Expressions, but I could be wrong. As I recall, the animation was pretty good, but I haven't seen it in years. Any ideas?

Anyone know which version came with the PC game Montezuma's Return? It was advertised to include the original game as well as the 3D remake for PC.

I'm sure some of you have discussed this at some point, but I'm trying to clarify something for myself. Is "prelimiary monty 16k" a complete game? I've only completed the 1st level (for the last 20 years). I've never taken it any further. Also, the Montezuma's Revenge image with the title screen, the "dating game" music at the beginning, the lousy controls, and the ambient "bud dup bud dup" whilst playing -- is this a complete game? Which one is better for you? For me, Montezuma's Revenge is one of the best games ever for the 8-bit Atari, but what form did it take (if any) as a final release?

For what it's worth, the PC Competitor (www.pccompetitor.com) is very well made. It's a good design – long cable, well made, which I keep plugged into the game port (or USB adapter) at all times. I had considered trying to reroute the cable through the front of my case so I could just plug Atari joysticks directly into the computer, but the long cable is more convenient for my setup. Atari joystick cables are kinda short. By the way, I don't have any affiliation with PC Competitor. I just think it's a good product (if a bit expensive) that helps me relive my 8-bit days. (I sometimes use an xbox controller on my PC too – not sure what that’s helping me relive.)

What would REALLY be interesting to me is a way to hook up unmodified Atari paddles to a PC.

There already exists and adapter to run Atari joysticks on a PC (for emulators or anything else). Check www.pccompetitor.com. It lets you use two unmodified Atari 2600 (or 7800, SMS) joysticks/controllers through a gameport. I use it, however, with a USB adapter so I can plug the joysticks into the front of my case, or use them on my laptop. Absolutely perfect with Atari800winPLus on XP. Anyway, I'd be interested to see what Sunmark comes up with.

FA: For anyone who is interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=13718

I didn't know that pressing 3 or 4 on the keyboard did anything. I'll have to check that out. I do remember that game being loads of fun with two players. What a great idea this was in its day.

I wish more emulators were of the high quality of Atari800winPLus. It amazes me the attention to detail that was put into this emulator (the interface, options, etc.). I like emulators for LOTS of systems (Steem is also an excellent one), but I really think a lot of emulator authors could take a lesson from the authors of Atari800winPLus. If only there were a fullscreen mode that matched the aspect ratio of an 800XL better.