Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective
CC BY-SA 4.0 A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.
Last feed update: Tuesday January 26th, 2021 03:06:34 PM
Ep. 25: Aug 1982: Rear Guard
Tuesday November 10th, 2020 04:13:02 AM Adding a new magazine to the coverage: Softline, a games-focused magazine published by the people responsible for Softalk. Also a review of Rear Guard, a game that’s appeared in full-page color ads for many months in magazines. Introduction AtariAge discussion on the term IRG Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Antic Antic Vol 1, #3 Compute! Compute #27
Atari Jaguar injection molded cases used for dental equipment Creative Computing Creative Computing Vol 8, #8
57 games by SSI for the Atari
Full page ad for Rear Guard on Pg 50
Full page ad for Crush, Crumble & Chomp
Khan Academy explanation of elastic collisions ... For 34 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 24: Jul 1982: Typo Attack
Tuesday October 20th, 2020 05:59:51 PM Just a regular ol’ episode talking about magazines, learning typing during the pandemic, and if we’ve finally seen the end of creepy William Shatner ads for the VIC-20. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines iCompute! Compute #26
Fred D’Ignazio interview on the ANTIC Podcast
Inverse ATASCII review of LJK’s Data Perfect Creative Computing Creative Computing Vol 8, #7 APX Catalog APX Summer 1982
Carol Shaw’s Calculator source code hardcopy
OCR text of calculator source
ANTIC, the Atari 8-bit podcast
Eaten by a Grue Byte
... For 18 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 23: Jun 1982: Quarxon
Sunday December 8th, 2019 08:01:42 PM Phase 2 begins with the usual magazine coverage and a review of Quarxon, a two-player shoot-each-other game with prominent use of Display List Interrupts. In the tech section, I use Omnivore to discover how these DLIs work. Introduction Stef Animal's Bandcamp page
Stef Animal's Pico-8 game: The Spooky House
Pico-8 virtual machine (a "fantasy video game console")
XLXE Podcast Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines ANTIC Antic Vol 1, #2 Atari Connection Atari Connection Vol 2, #2 Byte Byte Vol 7, #6
Full text of De Re Atari ... For 14 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 22: Special Episode: Phase 2
Thursday March 14th, 2019 07:10:51 PM Introducing Phase 2 of the Player/Missile extended podcastimatic universe. The magazine coverage will stay the same, but instead of a typical game review, I will focus on reverse engineering to discover interesting game programming techniques used by the authors of these classic games. I intend it to be a tutorial on the use of Omnivore, the desktop application I've designed that includes many reverse engineering tools, including a built-in emulator and debugger. Tech Section Omnivore, my 8-bit reverse engineering platform
Ep. 21: May 1982: Fujirun
Friday September 29th, 2017 07:54:00 PM The hiatus is over. With my new slimmed-down post-production, I now plan to get back to regular episodes. For this one, it's the usual magazine coverage and some talk about the retro-computing projects I've been doing in the last year. Introduction KansasFest! Richard Broadhurst's Programs Astroblaster
Carnival
Frogger
Phoenix
Emulated hardware arcade port of Circus Tech Section Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines ANALOG Analog #6
Antic Podcast Interview #214: Ron Hartman of K-Byte Software ... For 13 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 20: Apr 1982: Jumpman
Friday October 14th, 2016 09:30:13 PM The culmination of the first "season" of the Player/Missile podcast is a review of my favorite game and the announcement of the project undertaken by Kevin Savetz and myself to reverse engineer the game. We're sponsoring a level design contest, and there's still time to enter! Oh, and I'm taking a hiatus until I can collect the physical magazines. You can help out with your contributions! Introduction KansasFest!
Chris Torrence's Softalk Apple (video) Podcast
I'm a guest on Antic Episode 33!
Atari 8 bit ads
Intellivisionaries
Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984
Article and photo of Mark Reid winning the 1983 Atari Star Award Listener Written Programs Wade's windowing system in Action! MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet Tech Section Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor
AtariAge forum post announcing Omnivore
Jumpman Level Editor for C64 ... For 19 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 19: Mar 1982: Getaway!
Thursday March 31st, 2016 09:30:00 PM Game review of Getaway! and interview with the author Mark Reid. The program won the Atari Star Award and the $25,000 prize in 1983. I also introduce Omnivore, the 8-bit binary editor that I've been working on during the hiatus. Kevin Savetz has a guest review of the APX Spring Catalog, and we add a new section to the podcast, the countdown to the Tramiel takeover. Introduction Omnivore, the Atari 8-bit Binary Editor
Player/Missile Blog
AtariAge forum post announcing Omnivore
AtariAge forum post with Wade's new Getaway! level
Dan Boris's Atari Disk Explorer
Atari Disk Explorer on github Feedback San Leandro Computer Club
SLCC home page
AtariAge forum post: 1200XL Owners Club (serial tracker)
Atari Party 2016! Saturday, Jul 30, 2016
Vintage Computer Festival West, Aug 6-7, 2016 Listener Written Programs Tom Raidna's Windows IDE & code builder for his TUI (Text User Interface) MAME Cabinet
... For 48 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 18: Feb 1982: Flight Simulators, Part 2b
Wednesday December 9th, 2015 06:34:58 PM Part 2b of the flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson, reviewing helicopter sims and the all-time classic F-15 Strike Eagle. Plus: an update on speeding up Star Raiders. Introduction Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Pictures from the AtariAge booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo
XEGS Cart-by-Cart Podcast
They Create Worlds Podcast
They Create Worlds Blog Feedback Interview with Dona Bailey, Centipede co-creator
Hidden Maze from Compute!'s First Book of Atari Games
Wikipedia article on maze generation
Bill Kendrick's maze generator web game
Bill Kendrick's printable mazes
Bill Kendrick's 10-line BASIC maze generator
San Leandro Computer Club
SLCC home page Listener Written Programs RetroChallenge in January! MAME Cabinet
... For 33 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 17: Jan 1982: Shamus
Monday October 19th, 2015 09:05:23 PM The universe of games really begins to expand in 1982. From here on out we'll have a huge selection of choices to talk about, and Shamus by Cathryn Mataga leads us off. Also, an interview with Michael Portuesi who is both a published author in Compute!'s books and a listener to the podcast. Introduction Ten Pence Arcade podcast
San Leandro Computer Club Feedback Interview with Dona Bailey, Centipede co-creator MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet Tech Section Python program to split ATR/XFD images
My half-finished game Air Defense
Source code to Air Defense
ATasm, a Mac/65 cross assembler
2015 ABBUC Software Contest Magazines
... For 16 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 16: Dec 1981: Flight Simulators, Part 2a
Tuesday September 1st, 2015 07:43:26 PM The first half of the military flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson. I've included a bonus tech section at the end discussing a clever display list technique used by the MicroProse sims. Guest reviews: Michael Glaser of the XEGS Cart-by-Cart podcast covers SoftSide and Kevin Savetz summarizes the APX Winter 1981 Catalog. Introduction Thanks to Wade from Inverse ATASCII for the ANALOGs & Flight Simulator II
AtariAge forum thread: 2 worthy video game podcasts
Internet History Podcast By Brian McCullough
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
XEGS Cart-by-Cart Podcast
ANTIC Podcast Feedback The History of 8-bit Computer Games in The USA #1 : CGW Nov/Dec 1981
Sprite Castle, the C64 game review podcast with Rob O'Hara
No Quarter episode 89: Arcade Draft #1
No Quarter episode 123: Arcade Draft #2 Listener Written Programs The Space Invaders TRS-80 'Bootleg' Project MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet ... For 35 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 15: Nov 1981: Reversi II
Friday July 31st, 2015 09:02:44 PM Two new magazines for the coverage: Computer Gaming World and my first magazine from the UK: Computer & Video Games, and two guest reviewers of magazines. An overview of KansasFest from the Atari point of view, and a review of the APX game Reversi II. Introduction California Extreme Arcade/Pinball show July 18 & 19 2015
CA Extreme twitter
Pictures from CA Extreme KansasFest KansasFest
More from Rebecca Heineman: Antic Interview #64
Steve Mayer: Antic Interview #65
Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Python
Ringtones from Atari 8-bit games
HackFest Podcasters Summit Retro Computing Roundtable Ep #105
Carrington Vanston from Retro Computing Roundtable
John Leake from RetroMacCast
John Linville from The CoCo Crew
Ken Gagne from Polygamer
... and also from Indiesider
Kevin Savetz from ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast
Michael Mulhurn from Retro Computing Roundtable
Mike Whalen from Electric Dreams BBS Podcast ... For 43 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 14: Special Episode: Game Draft #1
Thursday June 25th, 2015 07:22:41 PM Jack Nutting of the Retro Computing Roundtable, Victor Marland of Ten Pence Arcade, Wade Ripkowski of Inverse Atascii and Kevin Savetz of ANTIC join me for a 5 round draft of Atari 8-bit games. Participants Jack Nutting of Retro Computing Roundtable
Victor Marland of Ten Pence Arcade
Wade Ripkowski of Inverse Atascii
Kevin Savetz of ANTIC Jack's Picks Star Raiders
my Star Raiders speedup hack (in progress) M.U.L.E.
Realm of Impossibility
Wizard of Wor
Dog Daze Deluxe Victor's Picks Alley Cat
Mr. Dig
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr. Kangaroo
Arkanoid Wade's Picks
... For 20 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 13: Oct 1981: Missile Command
Wednesday June 3rd, 2015 04:31:00 AM Summary of Bill Kendrick's Atari Party 2015 and review of the excellent port of Missile Command. In magazine coverage, I've added MICRO: The 6502/6809 Journal, and new contributor Michael Glaser takes over SoftSide Magazine. Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
Atari Party photos!
California Extreme Arcade/Pinball show July 18 & 19 2015 Feedback ANTIC Podcast Interview #40: Doug Carlston of Br0derdund Software
BBC Micro magazine: Acorn User
ANTIC Magazine preview of the ATR8000
Kevin Savetz's site with full text to 21 flight simulator books
Intellivisionaries Podcast
Pictures of some of the Atari 'silver box' kits
UER Podcast
CoCo Crew Podcast Listener Written Programs Bill Kendrick's Combat-like game & tutorial in Action
HSC12r8 Ramp Rage by TRBB (Jason Kendall) MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread) ... For 37 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 12: Sep 1981: Flight Simulators, Part 1
Monday May 4th, 2015 06:20:19 PM Flight simulator roundup where Chris Olson and I review 5 noteworthy civilian aircraft sims on the 8-bits (military sims will be the subject of part 2). Also added Byte to the magazine to the coverage due to the serializiaton of De Re Atari. Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
RetroPie Raspberry Pi game emulation distro
Stella, the 2600 emulator
Atari800 emulator
Atari podcast interviews thread
Interview with David Fox
Floppy Days Episode 36 with all the Atari 8-bit podcasters Listener Written Programs Sudoku Solver in 6502 assembly MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet Hacking Ms. Pac-Man Pac-Man Dossier
Don Hodges: the Pac-Man kill screen
Commented Ms. Pac-Man source
Ms. Pac-Man annotated hex dump ... For 31 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 11: Aug 1981: Interview with James Hague
Saturday April 11th, 2015 06:57:16 AM Interview episode with game developer James Hague who was published in ANALOG and Antic magazines, is the author of Halcyon Days & maintainer of the Giant List of Classic Video Game Programmers. Atari Party 2015 is just around the corner! Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
No Quarter is back with new co-host Rob O'Hara!
WICO Joystick review Feedback Inverse ATASCII Podcast
Rescue on Fractalis writeup by Trevor Briscoe Listener Written Programs Paul Nurminen's BASIC games and demos
The Intellivisionaries Podcast Tech Section My Star Raiders fork
example 16 bit division routine
4am
Algernon crack documentation
Open Apple Podcast
6502.org
6502 reference ... For 27 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 10: Jul 1981: Interview with Chuck Bueche
Saturday March 21st, 2015 05:21:34 AM Interview episode with Chuck Bueche, tech section on Star Raiders and the Atari 8-bit executable format, guest magazine coverage of Softalk, and the Atari Party: Davis CA, May 2, 2015! Introduction The Atari 5200 Super Podcast
Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
KansasFest July 14-19 2015
California Extreme classic arcade games expo July 18-19 2015
AtariAge 8-bit High Score Club Season 12 Feedback Computer Gaming World MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet
Let's Hack Arcade Games Tech Section my fork of the Star Raiders disassembly
CC65
CC65 source
AtariAge userdevwebcl's example CC65 files
AtariAge forum thread: Star Raiders - was it ever fixed? ... For 28 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 9: Jun 1981: Interview with Michael Current
Tuesday March 3rd, 2015 08:12:22 PM Interview episode with Michael Current, maintainer of the Atari 8-bit FAQ and the Atari History Timeline; also covering the magazines from June 1981. Tech section on building Star Raiders, MAME cabinet update, and the Atari Party: Davis CA, May 2, 2015! Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
RetroLink DB9 Joystick to USB cables
My original linux driver
Improved linux driver
Raspberry Pi Model B
KansasFest July 14-19 2015
California Extreme classic arcade games expo
AtariAge 8-bit High Score Club Season 12 Feedback Experiment in Forced Nostalgia
Inverse ATASCII episode guide MAME Cabinet MAME cabinet progress (AtariAge forum thread)
More details on MAME cabinet
Cabaret cabinets in Tipperary, Ireland Tech Section Reverse engineering the classic 1979 game Star Raiders ... For 24 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 8: May 1981: Eastern Front (1941)
Saturday February 14th, 2015 10:43:22 PM Magazines from May 1981 and a review of Eastern Front (1941) by Chris Crawford, and the triumphant reinstatement of the tech section of the podcast because I've found a manageable topic. Also, info about the Atari Party 2015 which I will attend and give away a Raspberry Pi. Introduction Ringtones and notifications from Atari 8-bit games
Thread about building my MAME cabinet
Comparing the RPi to the Cray X-MP
Raspberry Pi 2 announcement
Raspberry Pi 2 specs
Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015
RetroLink DB9 Joystick to USB cables
My original linux driver
Improved linux driver
Raspberry Pi Model B
AtariAge 8-bit High Score Club
AtariAge forum thread: 2 worthy video game podcasts
S1500's Classic Console Gamernews Tech Section Reverse engineering the classic 1979 game Star Raiders
6502 math operations
Simple 8bit division routine
Software - Math - Integer Division ANALOG ANALOG #3, May/Jun 1981 ... For 29 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 7: Apr 1981: Gem Drop (Homebrew)
Friday January 9th, 2015 04:18:27 AM Magazine coverage for April 1981 but jump ahead in time to cover our first homebrew game, Gem Drop by Bill Kendrick. Bill also invented one of the first software-driven graphics modes, called Super IRG, and we have an interview with him to talk about it. Introduction Ferg's review of BASIC Programming
River Raid
Linear Feedback Shift Registers
Elite II: 100 billion solar systems on 2 floppy disks
Ten Pence Arcade podcast, Episode 25: Space Invaders Feedback Cross-platform Apple ][ emulator
You Don't Know Flack Ep. 155: Cassettes
KansasFest
Inverse ATASCII
Vintage Computer Festival Compute #11, Apr 1981 Sholes (QWERTY) vs Dvorak keyboard
Does the Dvorak keyboard increase typing speed?
VIC-20: First Look
The Mysterious and Unpredictable RND
The Atari Gazette
Unlease the Power of your Atari CPU
Weird Al's Word Crimes ... For 22 more links, see the show notes
Ep. 6: Mar 1981: Sabotage
Sunday November 23rd, 2014 03:57:53 PM In addition to the usual magazine coverage for March 1981, we look at the Apple ][ game Sabotage, converted to run on the Atari. I talk with Paul Hagstrom to get background knowledge on the Apple hardware, and get the inside story on the Sabotage conversion by the guy who did it, AtariAge user Shamus. Introduction Sound explained in De Re Atari, Chapter 7
cc65 started on the Atari 8-bits! Feedback Christmas Vacation sled scene ANALOG 400/800 Magazine #2, Mar/Apr 1981 Atari News
Atari word processor review at Inverse ATASCII
New Products
Using Note & Point
Type-in: Balance your Checkbook
Type-in: Player/Missile graphics
DMA timings
Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design, Chapter 6
ANTIC Techincal
Video timing diagram
Type-in: Cannon Duel
Listen: Music Composer Column
VCS update
Graphics clipping routine in BASIC by Tom Hudson
The Game Room by Tom Repstad ... For 32 more links, see the show notes
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