RedBeard

Hehehe. This topic is making me laugh. Out loud. ><>RedBeard /* just curious, what was this place? an old pizza joynt or something? and approximately where (without giving away too many details, if you don't want to)? (for example: Greece, one of the islands...)

BESIDES, Whaddya' got against McCarthy anyways? What did he ever do to you, huh? :-) Is this thing working? Hullo? Dangit! The joke ain't going to work if nobody can see the picture of Charlie McCarthy I'm trying to attach. ><>RedBeard /* I can't beleive I started a giant tangent from one little comment. Atari Still Rules. So there. */

I'm not trying to start a big argument here, either. I hope you understand that. I am stating some of my opinions and thoughts; same as you. That's why they invented both CHOCOLATE and VANILLA. Regarding Nuclear power, is has pros and cons. No question about that. (Yikes, talk about a debate I don't want to have...) It is an amazing bit of science, though, eh? [As for the human race, I, too get, shall we say "frustrated" with us. So I'm ALMOST with you on that point. :-) ] Racial bigotry & intolerance are disgusting and bad and did exist up through and into the 1950's. I agree with you on this, but I think a strong case can be made that this was the time when we finally began to turn that corner. McCarthy may have been the worst human being ever in all of human history (which, of course, he wasn't), but I'd argue that you don't declare an entire decade one giant, heaping, steaming pile of dog feces because of just one Joe McCarthy. (Was that a 'run-on' sentence? Awesome!) Anyhow, IN MY OPINION the communists really did want to destroy our system and really do deserve to be seen as traitors. To quote you about the Cold War, "Also, good things coming out of bad situation does NOT excuse anything. ... The ends don't justify the means." An Excellent Point, Friend. Touche'. And (almost done, honest) as for religious groups in government, I was driving at a larger point. Examples: Egyptian leaders "were" the Gods, late Roman history=The Roman Catholic Church, The Royal Brittish Family were the officials of The Church of England, etc. (unless I'm mistaken...that's just the way I think of it...) So, anyhow, the more direct point is this: Politics/Politicians come as both right and left. No big deal. The pendulum swings one way, then the other -- or -- a bird flies with two wings, not just one -- or -- yin and yang, pick your own favorite analogy. That's just the way I see those things. Finally, while you may hate that era, it's music, and whatever else. I happen to like some of it. The music and clothing and cars spring to mind. But, again, CHOCOLATE and VANILLA... ><>RedBeard /* I shan't post a post without trying to say something on topic, so, er... Yeah, and that Mario in that cartoon! He was skinny! That just ain't right! Oh, yeah and: ATARI RULES!!! There I said it! */

[soap_box] I figured I might need to further back up my earlier defense of the 1950's. Here goes. Note first, please, that I never said they were a trouble free, idyllic time of puppies, kittens and ice cream. I am not that blind. Second, I'm not sure that you know my race or age. That's part of the beauty of the 'net, no? ~The Cold War: a scary era in history, no doubt, but it isn't limited to the 50's and, thankfully, it never turned into a 'hot' war which would have been worse. Also, it did wonders for things we now take for granted like satellites, rockets, etc. ~The Korean War: millions of South Koreans are better off and are damn glad we were there. In point of fact, they, too, have become an Intellectual and Economic power, unlike North Korea. ~The THREAT of nuclear war helped keep us from having an ACTUAL nuclear war. Mutually Assured Destruction stinks, but it helped to keep us safe for all these years. Also, those who get electricity from nuclear power plants may appreciate the various nuclear technologies / theories / experiments from this time frame. ~The Rise of Communism: Communism rose from (approx.) the 20's up through Stalin's death in the 50's, but it did continue and grow, so you have a point there, BUT: ~Castro's Takeover of Cuba: the official takeover was, apparently in the late 50's, so it depends whether you count when he was an up-and-coming revolutionary or an actual leader which is more like the 60's. AND ALSO: ~McCarthyism: You may argue against his tactics, but but McCarthy was right: there were, in fact, communists and sympathizers in the media, there were communists and sympathizers in academia, there were communists and sympathizers in the movie industry and in labor unions, and in the government etc. ~Separate But Equal: is a legal decision from the 1800's and was OVERTURNED by Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. Again, I'm not arguing life was all butterflies and cool summer evening breezes. Just a fact. ~The Rise of Religious Groups and Their Influence: You can argue that religions are wrong. You can argue that religious people shouldn't be allowed to participate in any government anywhere at any time on any level. But you cannot seruiusly argue that it was only in the 50's that religious people became involved in government. This ignores history. AS DOES THIS: ~The 1950's Brought Us Overt Racism: Racism is alive and well throughout human history. The fact that we could all see it in moving pictures in a box in our living rooms does not mean that it was invented then. [/soap_box] ><>RedBeard /* NOW BACK ON TOPIC: If there is something that I DO LIKE about those old animations, and it's the lack of computer animation. I just like knowing that the art was done on cells, by hand. I'm not a fan of mixing hand drawn and computer animations. I guess there's something kind of Analog, kind of Record/Vinyl about hand drawn and photographed animation. */

So if I got this right, Atari was split into home-machines-atari and coin-op-machines-atari. Then, years later, JTS 'merges' with home-machines-atari. After that JTS sells just enough to Hasbro for them to say "we're Atari" then they (Hasbro) sell just enough to Infogrames for them to claim "we're Atari". And somewhere along the way coin-op-atari is taken over by Midway. Is that pretty close? Anyway, lets pretend that you won the Super Duper Crazy Insane Lottery for more money than you'd ever thought possible. So (just after solving world hunger, of course) you decided to revive Atari with your Fully Immersive Three Dimensional More Than Just A Game Machine Home Entertainment System. Is there anything with the name "Atari" to purchase from Midway? Then you could claim legitimate succession? Or would you need to buy Infogrames? And does the answer change any opinion as to who really is Atari? Remember, people, we are talking about a corporation and a corporation is just a piece of legal paper, really, not a group of people. Isn't Coca-Cola still Coca-Cola no matter how many times the people (and even the recipe) have changed? I'm not trying to pick a fight, here. Lord knows, I'm pretty ignorant about this stuph. Just trying to prod the conversation a bit. I really enjoyed reading all these posts. ><>RedBeard /* I love this thread. There's a lot of information and opinion. I love reading about the history and characters of Atari. Does that make me a nerd? My daughter would say so. */

That is a strange coincidence. Are you sure that you didnt' go through a time warp or something? ><>RedBeard /* ...and if you did go through one would you know it? ...would you admit it to us? */

To make a long story really short: are "rained upon" Tandys (Model II, iirc) likely to work once they dry out? ><>RedBeard /* I'm so sorry I let it happen, but... */

Getting back to the original idea here, and trying honestly not to bicker now... I still have a special place in my heart for the TI99/4A computer. I can't figure out what kind of vegetable it would be, though. This might be a little too China and not enough Texas but: How about kumquat? Sounds funny. ><>RedBeard /* Does "Jell-O brand Pudding Pops" count as a vegetable? (Little Bill Cosby / TI joke...) */

I'm not trying to be rude or pick a fight here, but it sounds like someone should stick up for the 1950's. I will. It really was an amazing time in history. Just a couple quick ideas: 1) Allowing Germany to become the Economic and Intellectual powerhouse that it is today. ALSO) Allowing Japan to become the Economic and Intellectual powerhouse that it is today. C) The rise of modern family life (even with all it's faults); how would you really like to live without air conditioning, a family car, washing machine & dryer, radio & television in each household, etc? Seriously. I know that I wouldn't. I enjoy and appreciate these things and I don't feel guilty about it. The decade of the 1950s brought us such. And as for Fonzie, that's a '70s to '80s show. It 'jumped the shark' because Fonzie literally jumped the shark. That's the writers and producers making lousy storylines. That has nothing to do with the actual '50s. ><>RedBeard /* Now, I'm not arguing that Cartoons based on Video Games looking like 1950's Throwbacks is a good idea. You can decide that for yourself, obviously. But as a decade in history, it is tremendous and deserves it's own, special nostalgia. */

I find this thread quite interesting. Back in the day, I encountered several games that I could not play because they were PAL and I was running NTSC. Or, at least, that's what I was told. They were atricious on the monitor, not even 'almost playable', but UN-playable. Did I just get unlucky and find the ones that didn't work? Some of them were straight off cover disks; imported UK magazines like ST User or ST Format. I'm sure of it. Or am I missing something even more basic here? ><>RedBeard /* Oh, I used straight Atari hardware, no mods or anything. Mega STe 2 megs (no HD), SC1224 monitor, etc. I think the only Non-Atari things I had (have stored in the garage?) was an ICD hard drive and Epson printer. */

Thats a funny line. ><>RedBeard /* I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. */

Somewhere around here I still have an "Atari Business Machines" tee shirt. I think it has the rainbow style logo and "Atari Computers, Serious Business Machines" or something like that and a picture of a Mega ST. I'm pretty sure that I bought it from B&C Computervisions around 1990-ish. ><>RedBeard /* I don't wear Atari t-shirts, though, for fear of scaring little children. Er, what I mean is: If people saw me wearing an Atari shirt, they might get an icky feeling toward Atari... and that is precisely what I DON'T want. */

An Apple (of the vintage computing age we're discussing) isn't an apple because it's Iceberg Lettuce. Nevermind the distinction between fruit and vegetable, that's not what I'm driving at. The point is that they were everywhere, people used them and talked about them in a normal day. However they're plain and boring to look at on the outside. They're not nearly as full of nutrition (read 'coolness') on the inside as some of the lesser known lettuces like Romaine or Green. Boring and lame, but still manges to be everywhere. ><>RedBeard /* How's that for 'the exact sort of bickering' you were talking about? Yes, though I use macintoshes Monday through Friday, I still harbour a sour feeling about the Apple company and especially it's 8 bit computers. :-) Probably because they're still around and Atari isn't. Sour grapes or something... */ /* EDIT: I just realized that I was talking about 'apple' and used the word 'sour'. I made a joke and didn't realize it. That's Berry Punny! */

Uh oh. My mistake, I thought that IDE (meaning INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT) is what someone mentioned. I wasn't thinking about IDE as in hard disk protocol type of thing. Which is why I said someone could copy it onto a USB card. Anyways... I did not realize that USB needed any licensing or agreements. That is interesting. I knew MP3 was had copyright/license issues (hence OGG), but not USB. Still, it would be cool to have several CD sized games on one little doohickey. ><>RedBeard /* My apologies for inattention / ignorance. I plead 'human'. */

Real quick comment here (gotta run...) The USB hookup seems like a terrific idea. The price and ram memory on a common USB drive/card is great these days. I just got a 1GB drive for about $15 and I wasn't "shopping around", just needed one. I know that's not a full DVD worth (about 6GB?), but there are 4 Gig models. And the speed would be as fast or faster than an optical drive, no? ><>RedBeard /* Also, you could walk it over to your PC, download an IDE onto it, then walk back and program stuph, maybe? */

This already exists: an IPAQ running "Pocket Atari" 800 emulator. All of those things, plus datebook/scheduling and e-mail synch. and so on. Pocket Atari works pretty well, too. The screen is slightly squished & small and typing on it is SLOW (hunt and peck one key at a time with the stylus), but overall it is very fun... wonderful for those slow moments at work, I must say. (I finally finished Zork, for example.) ><>RedBeard /* As far as the 'new' machine goes, I'm sorry, but I just don't see people buying a full size tower case for an Atari 8 bit. (I could be wrong here, but: ) I'd bet that a laptop machine hacked from actual Atari hardware would outsell that other machine 3 to 1. */

To be honest, I can't afford much of anything (we are still "in the process of moving"), but I may pick up an 8-bit cartridge (Popeye, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man or similar) or even an SNES cart (Super Mario World 2 or 3) if I find the right one at the right price. ><>RedBeard /* Mostly I just want to look around and see what is going on. I want to see some video games, collector's items and people's faces. I'd love to be able to spend money, but, hey, priorities: housing, groceries, et cetera... */

Nicely done, Stefan_L! Excellent. Did you know this game (play it sometimes) or just go searching around? It's like I always say sometimes, "another mystery solved." ><>RedBeard /* If I am allowed another small mystery: was Miner 49er ever an arcade style/coin op? I am almost positive I played it once in a little convenience store only to find out much later that it was a hit on 8-bit Ataris. I know it was some kind of platformer, up&down ladders, in a mine collecting the treasure type of game... */

Wonderful scans. Thanks. ><>RedBeard /* I smell some new desktops/wallpapers! */

I just had an experience with this. We went to the movies for the first time in many, many months. This particular theater happens to be the 'second run' type, so maybe the game room is also 'second run', I dunno. Anyway, there were two pins (movie tie-ins, iirc... not Midway or Williams), a Dance Dance Revolution, a couple win-the-prize- crane type machines, Bubble Bobble and several Sega arcade machines. The one machine that was noticeably broken, a sad, lonely shoot-em with light guns, whose entire video was squashed into a flickering horizontal stripe about 1/4 inch tall, an ATARI. ><>RedBeard /* I think it was called area 51. It was the only Atari game in the room. */

I'm tired of digging in the garage for a physical copy. I've tried poking around Umich FTP and some of the links from atari.st and others, but cannot find Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Apparently it was once on a disk number 190, but I don't know where that is... I Can't even find a decent screenshot. ><>RedBeard /* I was able to track down a "Sewer Doc" disk, so at least I have some documentation... oh, just in case: http:[slash][slash]pompeypirates[dot]final-memory[dot]org */

I think krupkaj put it best above. (It depends what you want to do...) Sounds like you made and excellent choice, though, a 4MB 1040 STe is a fine machine! ><>RedBeard /* The only game I remember not working on my Mega STe was (I forget the title) one where the intro animation ran fine, but then disk 2+, (the game) never worked. Something like Navy SEALS or Commandos or something... getting dropped off by zodiac boats... I guess I never thought that it was due to the STe, but it probably was. (Again, it's buried in the garage, so I can't find it right now.) UPDATE: I tracked it down, the game is called Aquanaut. I found a copy and played it in an emulator, works fine. The graphics and animations are quite good, I think. The gameplay, so-so. */

Hiya. When you say Mavis Beacon didn't work, can you describe what it does/doesn't do? Also, would it work properly in the emulators? If you could direct me to find a Mavis Beacon as a disk image, please would you? I understand if it's not PD/abandoned, then I may be out of luck, but if you can help me with that... ><>RedBeard /* BACK ON TOPIC: I own a 520st and a MegaSTE, so hardware-wise, I would be covered. I just need a falcon! OT again: Ialso have M.B. Teaches Typing for PC and Mac, but that old stuph is buried in the garage right now, so can't find it... oh well... */

I think that Miner 49er and sequel(s) would also be in the 'old, platformer" genre. Weren't they in stand-up / coin-op form as some point? I could swear I played one in a cabinet at this one convenience store... ><>RedBeard /* Also, I thought there was a third (maybe even fourth) in the Donkey Kong series. */

Hey, thanks, edwierd13! Wow that was fast, too! Now back to bretthorror's request...Hang in there, someone will remember. Have you asked any old friends who might remember? Maybe one of them will give *just* the piece of the puzzle to solve this mystery. ><>RedBeard /* Mobygames has Space Fury as only being released on Colecovision. That would be a real shame if nobody has played it since Colecovision. */