ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Latest Episodes:

ANTIC Interview 269 - Mark Odendahl, Rush Hour Jan 25, 2017

Show notes

Mark Odendahl, Rush Hour

Mark Odendahl was the creator of Rush Hour, a Frogger-like game that appeared in the winter 1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog, the final APX catalog. He also wrote one program for A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine: Number Editor appeared in the January 1989 issue.

This interview took place on January 24, 2017.

"So I sold one copy of the program, but not through Atari. I sold it directly to one guy in New Jersey."

Rush Hour at AtariMania

Winter 1983 APX catalog

ANTIC Episode 39 - I Need More Memory! Jan 23, 2017

Show notes

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Nir Dary talks about all the available memory upgrade options (You need more memory!), we discuss what we've been up to in the Atari world, give you all the Atari 8-bit news that's fit to print, and tell you about our "of-the-month" finds.

READY

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

Eaten By a Grue

What we've been up to

Vintage Computer Party in Indy - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260834-indianapolis-area-vintage-computer-club/?hl=%2Bindy#entry3668612
Ultimate 1MB - http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=67
"Art of Atari" book by Tim Lapetino - http://amzn.to/2hrX54h
"Atari Playground" by Fred D'Ignazio - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0810457709/?tag=ataripodcast-20
"Atari DOS 2.5 - 1050 Disk Drive Owner's Manual" - http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari%20DOS%202.5%20-%201050%20Disk%20Drive%20Owner's%20Manual.pdf
Kevin's 2016 In Review - http://atariaction.tumblr.com/post/155282564737/2016-in-review

Loyd Dorsett FBI FOIA Response

Mark Reid — Getaway! archives and development documents
Trinity and Seastalker: http://monsterfeet.com/grue/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/savetz

News

RECOIL 3.5.0 - View retro graphics formats: Atari, Amiga, Apple II, ZX81, more - http://www.techcentral.ie/recoil-3-5-0/
Mac GraphicConverter
Awesome new 3D printed case for the Atari Ultimate Cart
Dropcheck 1200XL Cartridge port extension
ATR8000 on eBay
The 8-bit High Score Club Season 14 - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260911-high-score-club-season-14/
Pro(c) Atari Magazine Issue #12 & Boxed Software - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260700-p-r-o-c-a-t-a-r-i-issue-12-available-now/#entry3670879
Pro(c) Magazine Website - http://www.proc-atari.de/
Fairlight game - http://atariteca.blogspot.com/2016/12/completan-port-de-fairlight-para.html
Buy a piece of Atari stock! - http://scripophily.net/atcorfampion.html
Joystick Breadboard Breakout - http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Joystick-Breadboard-Breakout-for-C64-VIC20-Atari-2600-VCS-Development/332087625644
Vintage is the New Old - http://www.vintageisthenewold.com/
Benj Edwards - "Baked at Atari" song - http://www.techsongs.com/index.php/2016/06/23/baked-at-atari/ https://soundcloud.com/benjedwards/baked-at-atari#t=0:00
Upcoming Shows:
- Atari Invasion - Feb. 18, 2017 - Marsveen, Holland - http://atari-invasion.nl/
- VCF East - March 31 through April 2, 2017 - Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
- VCF Southeast 4.0 - April 2 & 3, 2017, Roswell, GA - http://vcfse.org/
- Tandy Assembly - October 6-8 - Chillocothe, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ https://www.facebook.com/events/671911082972172/
- CoCoFest - April 22 & 23, 2017 - Lombard, IL - http://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/index.shtml
- KansasFest - July 18-23, 2017 - Kansas City, MO - http://www.kansasfest.org

New at Archive.org

Of-the-Month

JOY-2-PIC Joystick to Microchip PIC MCU ICSP Programmer at Ataribits - http://ataribits.weebly.com/joy2pic.html
Mathy van Nisselroy home page - http://www.mathyvannisselroy.nl/index.htm
AtariLand - http://atariland.org/ - Rick Matias

Nir Dary Segment - Memory Upgrades

Memory upgrade tech info - http://home.arcor.de/walter.lojek/MyATARIHomepage/old_hp/MemUp/MemUp.HTM
Memory upgrades banking scheme - http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-kinds-of-extra-ram-and-ramdisks-can-be-installed_73.html
Software that support more than 64k ram - http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-programs-support-more-than-64k-ram_74.html
Best Electronics 256k Memory upgrade kit - http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/800xl.htm#Wizz
B&C ComputerVisions Memory upgrade - http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt
Lotharek Ultimate 1mb - http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=67
Ctirad 576XE external memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232856-ram320xe576-order-thread/?hl=%20ctirad and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8M3wbwAzlQ
Antonia 4MB memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/249405-new-4mb-ram-expansion/?hl=%20antonia and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkyXepEq4WI
How to install ATARI 400 Upgrade to 48k from 16k - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBqqfqjb-x8
1MB Simm ram expansion - http://satantronic.atari.sk/?str=xe_1mbram
Hiassoft 512k SRAM upgrade - http://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/#sram512k
Byte Magazine Article on 256k memory upgrade - http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=362652

ANTIC Interview 268 - Steve Gerber, VP of International New Product Development Jan 22, 2017

Show notes

Steve Gerber, VP of International New Product Development

Steve Gerber was head of the Atari Software Acquisition Program. In October 1981, Atari opened its first Regional Software Acquisition Center, managed by Steve, in a 4,000 square-foot location that also housed the Atari Program Exchange (APX). Later Steve was Atari's VP of International New Product Development, in charge of software development for non-US markets.

This interview took place on January 17, 2017.

Teaser quote: "I had these guys that were in a barn that was built in 1100-something that had set it up to be their "office" somewhere in northern England, in the middle of nowhere. They had come up with a ... baseball cap that you'd put on and you could move the cursor with your eyes."

ANTIC Interview 267 - Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software Jan 20, 2017

Show notes

Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software

Mark Pelczarski was the founder of Penguin Software — later renamed to Polarware. Penguin published many graphics programs and games for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and other platforms. The company's programs included Magic Paintbrush, Graphics Magician, Pie Man, Spy's Demise, The Spy Strikes Back, and Transylvania.

Mark was editor of Softside Magazine for a time, and an editor of the book The Creative Apple, published by Creative Computing.

This interview took place on January 10, 2017.

Teaser quote: "It was not a competitive industry, really ... There wasn't too much as far as trade secrets. It was like, 'Hey, I figured out how to do this.' There was a lot of exchange of ideas and collaboration between the companies."

The Digital Antiquarian on Penguin Software: http://www.filfre.net/2012/09/the-magnificent-penguin/

Wikipedia on Penguin Software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Software

Mark's web site: http://graphicsmagician.com/polarware/

Graphics Magician at AtariMania

Penguin Software games at AtariMania

Wikipedia on Mark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pelczarski

ANTIC interview with Doug Carlston

ANTIC Interview 266 - Sheldon Leemon: Instedit, Circuit Lab, Mapping the Commodore 64 Jan 18, 2017

Show notes

Sheldon Leemon: Instedit, Circuit Lab, Mapping the Commodore 64

Sheldon Leemon was the creator of Instedit, a character set editor; and Circuit Lab, an electronics learning program that he co-created with with Mark Davids. Both programs were published by Atari Program Exchange. He wrote for several computer magazines, including Softside — where he wrote many reviews, and a game called Outer Space Attack; Compute!, and Creative Computing. He also wrote several computer books, including Mapping the Commodore 64, Compute's AmigaDOS Reference Guide, and Inside Amiga Graphics.

This interview took place on January 9, 2017. In it, we discuss Arlan Levitan, Jerry White, and several other people that I've previously interviewed. There are links to those interviews, and Sheldon's programs and articles, in the show notes at AtariPodcast.com.

Teaser quotes:

"They're having so much fun that they don't want to take time to stop. Having a meal? It could take half an hour or an hour! You could be doing really cool stuff with that half an hour or an hour."

"We looked at people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as the really bad guys. ... He wants to charge money for something that everybody else is giving away for free."

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/PnaFEyaJm_E

Instedit in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog

Circuit Lab in the summer 1983 APX catalog

Outer Space Attack in SoftSide magazine

Some of Sheldon's articles in Compute! magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/index/index.php?author=Sheldon+Leemon

Some of Sheldon's articles in Creative Computing magazine: http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/index/index.php?author=Sheldon+Leemon

Arlan Levitan interview

Jerry White interview

ANTIC Interview 265 - Ronald Borta, Roklan Software Jan 16, 2017

Show notes

Ronald Borta, Roklan Software

Ronald Borta was co-founder of JACC, which made educational software under contract for Atari, where he programmed Atari States and Capitals and Atlas of Canada, and other software for the the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He moved to Roklan Software, the company that programmed hundreds of titles for the Atari computers and many other platforms of the time.

Roklan published a number of cartridges for the Atari computers, including Deluxe Invaders and Gorf. The company also produced Pac Man (published by Atari), Gyruss (published by Parker Brothers), Wizard of Wor (published by CBS), Mickey in the Great Outdoors (published by Disney), and myriad other game and educational titles. The company also created software for the Atari 2600 and 5200, Apple //, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, Texas Instruments 99/4A, ColecoVision, Intellivision, and other platforms.

He is known as the first person to have patented software.

This interview took place on December 9, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"$25,000 that I got from Atari doing Pac Man turned out to be the best investment I ever made."

"I only did video games that did not feature violence against people. Then I end up in weapons systems."

Roklan software at AtariMania

1994 interview with Ronald in Atari Explorer Online: http://cd.textfiles.com/crawlycrypt2/txtfiles/aeo/aeo_0314/aeo_0314.txt

Roklan listing at GDRI: http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Roklan

ANTIC interview with Fred Thorlin: https://archive.org/details/FredThorlinInterview

ANTIC Interview 264 - Paul Cubbage, Atari Program Exchange Jan 14, 2017

Show notes

Paul Cubbage, Atari Program Exchange

Paul Cubbage was Director of Atari Program Exchange. There, he was head of reviewing software submissions and publishing the APX catalog. He worked at Atari from April 1981 through January 1984.

This interview took place on October 3, 2016.

Teaser quotes:

"First catalog, we went around and found every last utility or piece of software that we could put out there, unashamedly."

"People used to complain about our royalty and I'd say 'Go to a flea market and sell [your software] off the back of your station wagon. The royalty is the royalty. I know it's not much."

Fred Thorlin interview: https://archive.org/details/FredThorlinInterview

John Palevich interview

Art Prag interview

Gray Chang interview: https://archive.org/details/Atari_Gray_Chang_Interview

ANTIC Interview 263 - Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software Jan 10, 2017

Show notes

Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software

Bill Stealey was co-founder of MicroProse Software, with Sid Meier. They started the company in 1982, and Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte in 1993. MicroProse specialized in flight simulation and war games — the company's games for the Atari 8-bit computers include F-15 Strike Eagle, Hellcat Ace, Kennedy Approach, Silent Service, Solo Flight, Spitfire Ace, Chopper Rescue, Crusade in Europe, and Floyd of the Jungle.

This interview took place on January 3, 2017.

Teaser quote: "He learned a new technique so he made a flight simulator out of it. And Solo Flight beat out Fight Simulator that year at Handleman."

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/VFDKbseZrlY

Bill on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZoomieWildBill

Wikipedia On Bill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Stealey

Wikipedia on MicroProse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroProse

MicroProse Software at AtariMania

The Digital Antiquarian on MicroProse

ANTIC Interview 262 - Dan Corona, Atari Engineering Manager Jan 08, 2017

Show notes

Dan Corona, Atari Engineering Manager

Dan Corona was Atari employee #9 — staring in 1972, where he remained until the Tramiel takeover in 1984. Dan was Engineering Manager, and worked in many divisions: coin-op, pinball, handheld games, and consumer.

This interview took place on November 29, 2016.

Teaser quote: "It pretty much killed the company. You know, you can't continue building the same thing over and over again and not create anything new."

ANTIC Interview 261 - Steve Ahlstrom: SynFile+ and PaperClip Jan 06, 2017

Show notes

Steve Ahlstrom: SynFile+ and PaperClip

Steve Ahlstrom was half of The 4th Works, with Dan Moore. Together they programmed SynFile+, which was published by Synapse; and PaperClip, published by Batteries Included. The team also created BackTalk, a telecommunications program; and Sherlock, a disk sector editor utility.

This interview took place on October 4, 2016.

Teaser quote: "What's weird is, every now and then -- and this is, what, 40 years later -- I still get a random e-mail asking me for support for Sherlock or for SynFile, which is kind of strange."

ANTIC interview with Ron Luks

ANTIC interview Gary Yost

Inverse ATASCII on SynFile+: https://inverseatascii.info/2014/12/16/s1e6-synapse-synfile/

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