April Fools Exclusive: Atari Announces New Console
n a move seemingly out of left field, Atari announced they’ll be tossing their name into the proverbial hat we call the console war, confirming work on a new platform guaranteed to blow away the competition—the Atari 15600.
The Atari 15600 promises to offer more power than 12 PS3s, 36 Xbox 360s, or 156 Nintendo Wii consoles (the inspiration behind the number in the console’s snazzy name?).
Don’t believe me? Just check out these system specs. The thing’s a bloody beast:
* One 1TB hard drive
* One 80GB hard drive
* 16GB AF3-15600 DDR4 2666MHz RAM
* AF 15600 Dual Core Hyperion-DX Processor at 6.4 GHz
* Two custom NVidia GTXi732 Graphics Processors a 8GB each
* 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0
* Four USB 3.0 inputs
* Two SD card slots
What’s most intriguing about the new console is the lack of a disc drive. Instead, all games will be available strictly for download to the included 1TB hard drive. Atari’s hopes are to reduce costs to gamers by sending titles straight to the Atari Arcade—the pending name for Atari’s future online store.
As for the additional 80GB hard drive, Atari wishes to keep a separate drive for game save information allowing for faster load times and a better organization of data.
Atari even went as far as to unveil several launch titles. So far the list is looking pretty impressive, offering revamped classics such as Pong, Lunar Lander, Pac Man, and Joust. I wouldn’t be surprised if Atari goes back and redoes their entire library.
From: http://www.bingegamer.net/2009/bg-exclusive-atari-announces-new-con...
Old School: Talking Games With David Crane, Steve Cartwright
Pitfall. Megamania. A Boy and His Blob. Barnstorming. Outlaw. Oh, and a little company called Activision. If the names David Crane and Steve Cartwright don't immediately sound familiar, their accomplishments in the world of gaming speak volumes. Crane's pioneering work at Activision (a company he co-founded) led to some of the Atari 2600's most memorable titles, along with Cartwright's own incredible contributions. After they left Activision, the pair went in seperate directions. Crane helped create the advergame genre before co-founding Skyworks Technologies. Cartwright worked at a number of studios, including EA, before joining John Romero to work on an as-yet-unnounced project.
We caught up with the two at last week's GDC, and chatted about the past, present and future of gaming. It's hard not to be intimidated when meeting people who were so instrumental in making gaming what it is today, but Crane and Cartwright were gracious and hilarious. Read on for some insight on Activision's early days, as well as some advice for aspiring developers, the state of iPhone gaming and much more.
Full Article at http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200904/N09.0402.1446.25546.htm
2600 Connection March/April 2009
The March/April 2009 issue of 2600 Connection newsletter is now available. Features in this latest issue (#98) include:
* Eurocon 2008 – Show Report
* 100th Issue Prize Drawing
* Pac-Man Patterns – Strategy
* Just Like The Real Arcade Game – Pole Position, Pac-Man - Reviews
* Racing The Beam: The Atari VCS – Book Review
* Rare Ware – Magicard – Review
* Dodge ‘Em Patterns - Strategy
* Letters
* News & Notes
* Classified Ads
The 2600 Connection is a printed newsletter published bimonthly. To learn how to purchase this issue or buy a subscription, please visit the 2600 Connection website.
Link: http://2600connection.atari.org/
From: http://www.atariage.com/
Retrogaming Times Monthly #58
A new issue of the Retrogaming Times Monthly is available, which brings along a new format and redesigned website. You can find the following articles in the March 2009 (#58) issue:
* Falling Arcade Prices
* RTM Idiocy - Part 3
* Apple ][ Incider - Wheel of Fortune
* The Thrill Of Defeat - Games for the 2K Timex Sinclair 1000
* Old Wine New Bottles - The Activision Anthology
* National Center for the History of Electronic Games
* Videological Dig - Christmas 1975
You can find all these and more inside the Retrogaming Times Monthly, now running 138 months in a row!
Link: http://www.retrogamingtimes.com/
From: http://www.atariage.com/
Atari 7800 Jr. Pac-Man Prototype Released
Several weeks ago a new user to our forum (FrauBlucha) posted that he had discovered a box of Atari 7800 games in his attic. Among these games turned out to be an apparently unreleased Atari 7800 game, Jr. Pac-Man. FrauBlucha ultimately sent us this one-of-a-kind prototype and we dumped the binary and sent it to him. This morning FrauBlucha decided to share Jr. Pac-Man with the classic gaming community, and he posted the binary to thread he previously started. This unreleased prototype appears to be fairly complete and is quite playable, comparing favorably to the arcade. The main difference we've been able to discern is that the arcade intermissions are missing. Other than that it seems to be fairly far along and polished.
Link: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=140371&view=f...
From: http://www.atariage.com/
Longhorn Engineer’s Atari 2600 Video Mod
At the Midwest Gaming Classic Parker Dillman - otherwise known as the “Longhorn Engineer” - gave me a sample of his new Atari video mod. This is a small circuit board he sells that you solder to the TIA chip inside and Atari 2600 to get a great composite/S-video picture.
This board also “gives” you the Atari stereo mod which separates the Atari’s 2 voices of sound into the left and right speaker. You’ll have to cut a trace on the Atari board to accomplish this, but it’s easy. Parker even gives you 3 RCA plugs and the s-video port - what a guy! He’s also a great drinking buddy as we found out at MGC.
Link: http://www.longhornengineer.com/Videomods/Videomods
From: http://benheck.com/04-03-2009/longhorn-engineers-atari-2600-video-mod
Vintage Atari Box Art
Basic beauty of the Atari 2600’s approach to package design is something missing from games of today. Follow the link for a few amazing painted covers.
Link: http://jpmcgarrity.com/blog/index.php/2009/04/vintage-atari-box-art/
Atari 2600 through SSM 2044 VCFs
"Atari 2600 with SynthCart and Highly Liquid MIDI interface triggered from Ableton Live, playing SynthCart's preset beat loops, modular synth is gating the rhythm. Signal is split in two, one path is ringmodulated, both filters are also seperately modulated with Midi controllers and a Doepfer MCV4. What you hear is the first stage in my sound design process: To record audio into Ableton Live, after that everything gets sliced, chopped, warped, mangled and whatnot."
No, I don't know what any of that means, either.
Link: http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2009/04/atari-2600-through-ssm-2044...
Atari Masterpieces Vol. I For Ngage Classic
Get ready for some classic arcade action as the true old school of video games hits the N-Gage platform! With every single detail intact, these Atari classics will take you way back to the early days of video gaming. The retro graphics and the original gameplay are combined with the portability of the N-Gage, making these Atari favourites available to all gaming enthusiasts, young and old alike.
Volume one consists of eight Atari best-sellers from back in the day: Asteroids, Battlezone, Black Widow, Millipede, Missile Command, Red Baron, Lunar Lander and Super Breakout. The collection also includes four unlockable Atari 2600 games, and interesting interviews with Nolan Bushnell, one of the world’s early video game revolutionaries and the founder of Atari. The N-Gage Arena provides players with worldwide ranking, so you can upload your own high scores and check out who the best retro gamers are.
Link: http://symbian-toys.blogspot.com/2009/04/atari-masterpieces-vol-i-f...
Royksopp - Happy Up Here
Röyksopp's third and latest album is called "Junior" and was released on March 23rd, 2009 on Astralwerks. It follows the 2006 album "The Understanding" and 2001's greatest "Melody A.M."
The true pop/cross-over prize is Happy Up Here. A funky headtrip harkening back to the days of Eple, Happy melts over you like a warm drop of sunshine. The video is also something of a marvel; a futuristic, almost-touchable, world invaded by Atari space aliens defended by a retro-fitted taxi cab.
I'm serious. It's a freaky Space Invaders tribute. Got to see this one.
Link: http://www.internetdj.com/video.php?op=watch&mediaid=57790
From: http://www.internetdj.com/article.php?storyid=1091
