AEX

Announcement: There is only 6 weeks left to finish your entries for the Atari ST 20th Anniversary Demo Competition! Prizes from AtariAge, Atari Museum, Atari.Org, Atari Explorer and DHS. Celebrate the ST demo with your entry - music, pictures or an entire screen! For more details please click on the Competition logo at http://www.dhs.nu POWER WITHOUT THE PRICE!

I'd guess because the case design of the 800XL is boring. 914768[/snapback] Ahhh now, steady on ZylonBane! The XL line is a lovely piece of engineering, and back in the early 80's, was fairly futuristic looking. The sleek chrome buttons, cream and black casing made the Vic-64, I mean C64, look positively outdated in comparison. Karl

What a crock! Are we living in an age where unique = defective? "Hey, that car you just bought that rolls over/engine catches fire/brakes fail? It isn't defective, it's unique! So we'll charge you another $10000." I can't believe you had the stones to suggest that defective translates into collectible. Anyhow, I went to the local Super Wal-Mart (central Virginia today) and saw 4 Flashback 2.0 systems in the electronic toys section, but up on the top shelf, with no sticker on any of the shelving units. I got an employee to get all 4 down, then I went over to the electronics section, opened all 4 up, hooked each one to a tv, and saw the defects people had mentioned. A manager asked what I was doing, so I explained to him the defective run and how I won't buy any of this batch, waiting until the correctly functioning versions are available. 906240[/snapback] Hi Zwackery, Its your prerogative to buy or not buy from the inital batch of course, but this small batch is hardly "defective" as to spoil the overall enjoyment of the Flashback, and you can't compare the price of a car with a $30 piece of electronics... especially as this "defect" isn't going to kill you I'm surprised your allowed open 4 new units in the store, rant to a manager and walk out! What a crock! Karl

Hi Chris, Go to http://www.atari-explorer.com/jaguar/jaguar-duo.html for more information and images. Karl

Yes, its a strange one... If some of you guys (and gals) could have a look at your boxed 5200 controllers, can you check the © mark on the box so we can varify dates. Obviously there should be some '83/'84 © - but would like to know if anybody also has some '87's. If some 5200 expert could shed some light on this it would be great Thanks all. Karl

Hi all, Query about the 5200 Controller, and the printing on the box. Are there variations on the box of the 5200 Controller. The one I have shows © 1987, Atari Corporation. I am assuming then that either Atari Corp continued to manufacture these for a few more years (support?) for the 5200, or there were still unsold, unboxed units left after the sale in '84 and the packaging was updated (re-issued) with the new ATC copy. Any feedback appreciated. Karl

Guys, Are we sure its the Lynx cards and not the Lynx unit itself? Perhaps the Lynx end needs a slight clean, as some cards may not like dirty connections like some others and vice versa. Just a thought. Karl

Would love an Atari plate.... but in Ireland (like most of Europe (except UK)), you can't use personalised plates in any form or you will be breaking the law. They never said anything about plate frames or surrounds AFAIK? Karl

Ah, that's right. He shelved it at launch right after he took over, right? Still, he didn't want to pony up the cash to put the sound chip in for most of the carts, and he barely funded the whole operation as it was. Too bad. I bet we missed some great games that 'might have been' if more love had been shown the system. 837849[/snapback] That's one area he could have continued. GCC wanted to have a lower cost sound chip (GUMBY) for the carts to enhance the sound but it was killed when Jack shelved the system. Had it been inexpensive to produce (compared to POKEY), perhaps more games would have had enhanced sound than the two that were released. 838198[/snapback] Heck, if Jack and the new Atari were to keep that relationship with GCC going who knows what we would have seen from them! They were pushing out amazing arcade conversions like they were nothing! Nobody knew the system better than they did. I think we would have seen some great stuff... 838875[/snapback] While I agree the "what if" arguments that the 7800 could have been great, the simple matter is that the Tramiels were not "of the video game" market and were out to make Atari a computer oriented company. The "new" Atari had just enough cash to "get by" for the first 2 years while they established the ST line, and to a lesser extent the XE line while selling warehouses' full of Warner inventory. By the end of 1985 it was becoming clear that the memories of 1983/84 were beginning to fade and a new generation of kids wanted video games to play. It could have been the IBM NES that was launched - it didn't matter, but it was done at the right time and with a fresh attitude to the market. "If" the Tramiels had seen the 7800 as a clever cash cow in 1984 and plumped some money into the project, it could have been the NES of the time - but that wasn't the initial direction of the new Atari, and I guess they realised that a little too late. Although they wanted Atari to = Computers, they realised too late that Atari already = video games, and they lost that crown to Nintendo. In the back of their minds they knew they could have had it all I'm sure, but that was the way it went for Atari and although they "sort of" tried to regain the VG market, they didn't put any real effort into it until the Jaguar, and even then it just didn't go right. But the Jag is whole different story Karl

Whoops! Albert got there first Updated my sig for all! Karl

Hello Atari Fans and Users! Atari Explorer is back online after a while in the dark depths of... offline. Hope you all enjoy the updates. best, Karl

DOH!!!!!!! I'm an asshole as Dennis Leary once beautifully sung! I assume that means "website As Soon As Humanly Possible"... Clink... Penny (Cent) drops. Karl

Kepone, I understand, and agree its hard to let go - I'm just as nuts about how it all went belly up too! Carmel, with the greatest of respect to you... what the hell does "w/s ASAHP" mean!!! I'd be glad to include it on the site for you if I knew what that was Karl Tramiel...

Yes and No, All companies are out to make money, profits. Atari was seen as a vehicle to do just that without any doubt. I don't know what you mean by motives though. People have motives for lots of things in business, and cash is king amongst those. I hear what your saying in general though, and it comes down to simple math at the end of the day - The Jaguar failed to turn Atari around, Sam was passionate about the company and had a heart attack during a critical time - Jack stepped in, and took a look around. Common sense dictated that Atari wasn't going to survive in the video games business much longer, its computer division had been disbanded in 1992/93 and throwing the money that was left into other activities was a gamble Jack wasn't willing to take. I admit that the JTS option wasn't the most clever strategy (I was puzzled by it for a long time) - but I think it may have been the best offer on the table at the time. Perhaps Atari could have found investment, merged with another videogame company, or even... Well, thats hindsight for ya! Atari died a slow death in the end - and it deserved better, but whatever way it left the scene, it was going to be a sad day either way. Jack saw a way out and took it - if I was at the card table, I would have done the same thing, but possibly not with Mr. Tandon. Karl

Carmel, I wasn't attacking you - or anybody directly - I would never do that It was a general remark about the Tramiel era, as 99% of comments about that time of the companies life is usually belittled in some way or other - sometimes not in a bad way, and even jokingly - but I wanted to put that on record anyway. Karl

Guys, I've never understood all the "Tramiel" bashing that goes on when it comes to Atari Corp. Atari Inc. may have been a real casualty in 1984 if Warner hadn't unloaded it to Jack, and no other buyers seemed too interested at the time (Philips were the most likely to buy, and even they pulled out). Sure, things didn't always go smoothly for Atari Corp., and until about 1987, Atari was on its knees in terms of just surviving - but even Warner made a dogs dinner of the company, more so in terms of what it had, the jewel in the crown of entertainment companies. The Tramiels were about making money first and foremost, and that really is the bottom line for most companies - but underneath were talented people who also cared about Atari and its customers, even though economically they had a rough time, and perhaps in hindsight Atari Corp. didn't grasp the videogame market as hard as it should have. Its always my view that we were given another 12 years of Atari from 1984, and got some great products out of Sunnyvale again. Sure, it wasn't all good, but do you know any perfect companies? We could debate how Atari should have done things till the cows come home, but the facts are the Tramiels gave Atari a new lease of life and it may not have been to everyones taste, but I admire the family for taking the risk and making it happen where many others would have failed or not even tried. (And I liked the Atari range of calculators... :wink: ) Karl

Atari owned the patent on the original Joystick interface (DB9), Any manufacturer using this joystick interface had to pay Atari a royalty. With respect to the lawsuit and the resulting windfall for Atari from Sega, I would hazard a guess that if at all, the joystick interface royalties were only a tiny part of this lawsuit. I'm sure Sega would have paid for their use knowing it wasn't their technology! I think its possible to get transcripts of part or all (depending on the nature of the outcome/case type) of some court cases, though you must pay for them. Karl

Good topic, First, if anybody has a boxed copy of Deuteros from Activision (Circa 1991) for the ST, please get in touch! I think ST (or Amiga/PC) games don't command the prices of console games because they aren't seen in the same way as Carts, or more recently CD games for DC or early PS1 games - its a strange thing, and its not because they produced more ST games, the run rates would have been way smaller than any console produced title. Its a mindset thing, whereas many people collect ST games, the market just hasn't ever been as competitive as console game collecting. The ST titles I collect are more along the lines of my "favourite" titles, or titles long since sold or lost years ago which I want back! Titles such as the LucasArts, Infocom, Sierra etc will always command higher prices because of the genre they represent - and the cool packaging plays a part too. Karl

Micky, Thanks for the kind support. I was intending on releasing the "new look" AEX website in January, but as Curt has already mentioned, a few things have scuppered that plan. So, in the meantime, I will be uploading the original style AEX with just the new AHS content we have put together (and saving some stuff back for the new look AEX which I hope to have ready very soon!). Give me a couple of weeks to get things organised and it will be back online. I appreciate all the e-mails over the last few months, you know who you are. Thanks to Curt for the shoulder to cry on Karl

Steve, I agree that the ST Blitter could have been "more" than it was, and I think it was actually delayed and perhaps even a cost reduced (cut down) version of the already hyped co-pro that was so long in being released by Atari. But, at least it was released! And Steve, we know you are definately NOT an Amiga Fan Boy - A true Atarian through and through :wink: Karl

Steve!!! Sorry, you used the word "Feeble" and not "Pathetic", but they mean the same things sorta!!! :wink: Karl

Steve, You are correct about the SFX chip design (By Jez San), although I would say typical Bit-Block transfer algorithms reside in the chip, which are from work carried out by previous designers. Atari improved upon these original algorithms (as I am sure Jez did in the SFX) to design in hardware an operational CPU logic that could speed up on screen operations without burdening the CPU. This could speed up some graphical operations on the ST drastically if used correctly, and was one of the most talked about upgrades for the early ST range which was first introduced into the Mega series. I'm only here to defend the ST Blitter from being called "Pathetic", because I don't believe it is Karl

Hi Lost Monkey, Smoke would not usually discolour (or discolor!) plastic to that degree that it would not come out with some sort of cleaning product. AFAIK it only stains the surface, and cannot penetrate the plastic itself, unless it was smoked for a few months with a room of hams! That discolouration is most likely from sunlight, as the epoxy in the plastic actually changes as the chemicals react to the light - there is no way around this unless you respray - so, get a nice new blue led, fix your power button, and pick a nice new colour for your jag! BTW, what is that "Atari" logo'ed item the Jag is sitting on dude, looks nice! Karl

Never ever seen one in the "flesh"... But, I did see this http://www.atarigame.de/lightgun.htm Karl

Guys, AFAIK only new goods are taxed from the U.S. with a value over ~$30 (with respect to the EU). I know a package I received last year showed a $50 value, and I was asked to pay customs something like €29! I called the company handling the package and told them it was a product from 1982, and how the hell can they tax that! They had Irish Custom inspectors in their bonded warehouse that day and with my permission opened the package. They saw it was indeed old (1982!) and my tax was cancelled and the package released to me that day. I would be interested in knowing the exact EU tax regulations with respect to the U.S. (and in particular using eBay for Atari stuff!!!) if anybody knows here? Karl @ AEX