Ex-Activision Designers Launch Retro Game Publisher Audacity Games™

[CPUWIZ]

1 minute ago, jaybird3rd said:

Really?  It looked like a board photo cropped out of its background to me, judging from the perforations around some of the edges, and the black plastic shell visible through the holes.

 

You could be right, I would not send that out, like that.  I made that mistake over a decade ago, on a revision of SARA boards, PITA.

[jaybird3rd]

14 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said:

You could be right, I would not send that out, like that.  I made that mistake over a decade ago, on a revision of SARA boards, PITA.

Yes.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of a small batch of prototypes.  It looks just like one of my protos—and I'm sure yours, too—with the unbeveled card edge, the rough printing in the silkscreen layer, etc.

[+Andrew Davie]

2 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

Boy, the VIA's are pretty bad.

Haha yes, I struggle to reduce to as few as possible. This board is crazy!

 

[+batari]

2 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

Boy, the VIA's are pretty bad.

The vias aren't tented with soldermask either. No reason not to tent them these days.

[+Andrew Davie]

3 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

And where is the other side, with the ESP?   It'll be interesting to see how you configure your router.

 

I'm going to hazard a guess that you have an app on your phone where you enter your serial number.

When you get a high score, you use your phone to take a photo of the screen (using the app), and this gets sent to them -- and they verify it and enter the score in the database for you.  

THAT WAS A GUESS I'M NOT SAYING THEY ACTUALLY DO THIS.

I just don't see any pin holes on the board for an ESP, so it's unlikely to be included, IMHO.

[CPUWIZ]

17 minutes ago, Andrew Davie said:

When you get a high score, you use your phone to take a photo of the screen (using the app), and this gets sent to them -- and they verify it and enter the score in the database for you.

 

Fake new on the internet, in 3, 2, 1...

[+batari]

I’m guessing Bluetooth though it could be WiFi. There is clearly some sort of hardware unseen on the other side of the board. Possibly under where it says “Audacity Games.” There has to be a bank switching chip at the very least. The EPROM is practically useless without it. 

[+Andrew Davie]

29 minutes ago, batari said:

I’m guessing Bluetooth though it could be WiFi. There is clearly some sort of hardware unseen on the other side of the board. Possibly under where it says “Audacity Games.” There has to be a bank switching chip at the very least. The EPROM is practically useless without it. 

... but wouldn't you expect to see holes in the board for the pins of the chips? I don't see any.

 

[+Andrew Davie]

Reminds me of many years ago, when a guy came to the (video game) company I worked for and showed a C64 demo which did (frankly) amazing/impossible stuff. During the demo he gave, he accidentally loaded up a diagnostic version, so we got to see the timing bars on the screen. Couldn't for the life of me figure out how the demo could do what we saw with our own eyes... and so the boss paid this guy $5K (a LOT at that time) for the rights/source code.  Once we got the code, we realised that "accident" was actually "on purpose" and it was a deception. The timing bars were fake, and designed to throw us off track. The actual method was interesting, but ultimately useless to us - as it took about 99% of the CPU time to achieve, leaving nothing for any game logic/other stuff. So, I'm just saying it has been known that people release fake/deceptive stuff to throw the good folk off the scent. So saying, maybe this board has nothing to do with the actual final product(s) and supposed capability.

 

[+DrVenkman]

9 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

Prototype V1.1 even.

 

All kidding aside, of course it is just a render, popular these days.

 

 

"I Like breadboards and I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny."

On the other hand, it’s nice to have vias that can be used as actual test points and solder jumpers do while prototyping.  

[+DrVenkman]

2 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

... but wouldn't you expect to see holes in the board for the pins of the chips? I don't see any.

 

It’s probably all SMD stuff on the other side. 

 

6 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

I'm going to hazard a guess that you have an app on your phone where you enter your serial number.

When you get a high score, you use your phone to take a photo of the screen (using the app), and this gets sent to them -- and they verify it and enter the score in the database for you.  

THAT WAS A GUESS I'M NOT SAYING THEY ACTUALLY DO THIS.

I just don't see any pin holes on the board for an ESP, so it's unlikely to be included, IMHO.

Or more conveniently, they display a QR code on the screen. Snap a pic, it opens a webpage and registers your score. 

[fultonbot]

20 hours ago, fdr4prez said:

 

"connected mobile device" makes it sound like a Bluetooth connection to your phone to their app

I was thinking a cheap, internal NFC tag with a bit of Flash storage attached that can be read by mobile phone.

[fultonbot]

3 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

It’s probably all SMD stuff on the other side. 

 

Or more conveniently, they display a QR code on the screen. Snap a pic, it opens a webpage and registers your score. 

That could work too.  Easier and cheaper than NFC or BLE if the 2600 can manage to display a proper QR code that is (I'm sure it can). 

[marlowe221]

I'm a software guy, so I'm wondering if they plan on writing these games the old fashioned way or plan to use a more modern solution like batari basic. Shoot, you can even compile Java to Assembly if you want to, though sometimes the memory management gets a little wonky in the translation and you have to fix it manually.

[Jstick]

16 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

move over Champ Games and AtariAge you've got company!!!

Umm... I'll be pleased (and impressed) if these guys can compete with the quality and quantity of the Champ Games releases lately (or Darrell, Thomas, etc.).

 

Obviously I'm not saying they don't have the skills, being the OG devs, but the homebrew scene has advanced quite a bit since the '80s.

But who knows, maybe they've been toiling away for a while on some fancy new tech that will wow us all.

 

Anyway, this is great news and I'm pretty sure there is room for everyone here, without pushing anyone out of the way

 

 

[jaybird3rd]

Many of the programming approaches (or "tricks") that are still used in today's homebrew 2600 games were originally pioneered by the designers at places like Activision and Imagic, but remember, their games weren't primarily about the technical "tricks."  The "tricks" were necessary to be able to create the games they wanted to create, but the games themselves—and whether they were fun to play—were what was important.  (If that weren't the case, many of us wouldn't still be enjoying these games today.)

 

So to me, whatever "fancy new tech" Audacity Games might bring to the table is a secondary concern.  When the 2600 reached the end of its original run, there were still plenty of ideas for potentially fun games, along the same lines as the games that were done at Activision and later at Absolute Entertainment.  If the same people can bring more of those ideas to fruition now through Audacity Games, even if they were to pick up exactly where they left off and use only what they knew about 2600 game development at that time—which I'm sure they won't—I'm willing to bet that they'd still be great games.

 

And yes, there should still be plenty of room for everyone still making 2600 games; no need for anyone to "move over."  I'm sure that everyone involved in Audacity Games has already surveyed the field, and that they would not have decided to enter it at this particular time if they didn't think the market was big enough for them.

[fultonbot]

50 minutes ago, marlowe221 said:

I'm a software guy, so I'm wondering if they plan on writing these games the old fashioned way or plan to use a more modern solution like batari basic. Shoot, you can even compile Java to Assembly if you want to, though sometimes the memory management gets a little wonky in the translation and you have to fix it manually.

I know Dan said last year on our podcast that he was working directly in assembly.

[+5-11under]

16 minutes ago, jaybird3rd said:

I'm sure that everyone involved in Audacity Games has already surveyed the field, and that they would not have decided to enter it if they didn't think there was enough of a market for them.

Until the crash of '23.

/just kidding

[marlowe221]

14 minutes ago, fultonbot said:

I know Dan said last year on our podcast that he was working directly in assembly.

Thanks, that's very interesting.

 

Also, what's your podcast called? Sounds like I should be listening to it!

[Fadest]

11 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

I'm going to hazard a guess that you have an app on your phone where you enter your serial number.

When you get a high score, you use your phone to take a photo of the screen (using the app), and this gets sent to them -- and they verify it and enter the score in the database for you.  

THAT WAS A GUESS I'M NOT SAYING THEY ACTUALLY DO THIS.

I just don't see any pin holes on the board for an ESP, so it's unlikely to be included, IMHO.

A QR Code like would be a convenient solution. Could be a real QR code that send to an Internet link or a encrypted score that is read by an app and send to the server.

[Jstick]

51 minutes ago, jaybird3rd said:

So to me, whatever "fancy new tech" Audacity Games might bring to the table is a secondary concern.  When the 2600 reached the end of its original run, there were still plenty of ideas for potentially fun games, along the same lines as the games that were done at Activision and later at Absolute Entertainment.  If the same people can bring more of those ideas to fruition now through Audacity Games, even if they were to pick up exactly where they left off and use only what they knew about 2600 game development at that time—which I'm sure they won't—I'm willing to bet that they'd still be great games.

 

This is actually a great point. 

 

In the current homebrew scene a lot of the big titles are arcade ports, and one reason they are "wow" is because the tech has advanced to where it's amazing to see these things running on a 2600, with a close-to-arcade fidelity that original devs could only dream about (of course even these modern games don't write themselves, and still require talented developers).

 

But of course, the folks at Activision were the ones who really pushed past the "arcade port" mentality and created some really engaging and original game concepts for the time (Frostbite, Pressure Cooker, Keystone Capers, Enduro, H.E.R.O., River Raid are some of my favourite games).

 

So yes, if they can bring the same creativity and imagination to the table, and up the execution to take advantage of the current state of the tech, I'm sure they will be successful.  I guess the confounding factor is that these days indie & mobile games have kind of taken on the mantle for short, bite sized experiences; it will be interesting to see if Audacity can still bring something fresh to the scene.

[fultonbot]

1 hour ago, marlowe221 said:

Thanks, that's very interesting.

 

Also, what's your podcast called? Sounds like I should be listening to it!

It's called Into The Vertical Blank:Generation Atari.  We interviewed Dan last season (3) for over 2 episodes.

[+littaum]

23 minutes ago, Jstick said:

 

This is actually a great point. 

 

In the current homebrew scene a lot of the big titles are arcade ports, and one reason they are "wow" is because the tech has advanced to where it's amazing to see these things running on a 2600, with a close-to-arcade fidelity that original devs could only dream about (of course even these modern games don't write themselves, and still require talented developers).

 

But of course, the folks at Activision were the ones who really pushed past the "arcade port" mentality and created some really engaging and original game concepts for the time (Frostbite, Pressure Cooker, Keystone Capers, Enduro, H.E.R.O., River Raid are some of my favourite games).

 

So yes, if they can bring the same creativity and imagination to the table, and up the execution to take advantage of the current state of the tech, I'm sure they will be successful.  I guess the confounding factor is that these days indie & mobile games have kind of taken on the mantle for short, bite sized experiences; it will be interesting to see if Audacity can still bring something fresh to the scene.

 

If Audacity Games can produce games with quality on par with what Gold Rush looks like, I'm sure they'll do fine.

[+fdr4prez]

1 hour ago, Fadest said:

A QR Code like would be a convenient solution. Could be a real QR code that send to an Internet link or a encrypted score that is read by an app and send to the server.

A QR Code would be convenient, but the press release indicated "Every game connects to the internet through your connected mobile device for registering high scores"

 

So the "game connects to the internet through..." would be open to interpretation

 

 

[Crazy Climber]

17 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

(b) assuming you do dump it, that dump will be traceable back to a specific buyer. Smart.

I don't know if tracing the dumped cartridges original purchaser would do much good.

A) The cart is already dumped

B) all we would really do is "shame" them

C) Lots of people sell their games so there is no guarantee it was even them who did it