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It's hilarious that this has Amico ruse has gone on so long, individual people watching it have specialized in different aspects of the scam, from the legal, business, trademark, financial, psychology, and gaming perspectives.

http://intellivisionaries.com/episode-46-atlantis/ In this episode we do a Deep Dive game review of Imagic’s Atlantis! There’s also an interview with programmer Patrick Ransil. In our new Author Interview (AI) segment, we interview Retro Gaming Round Up host and author “UK” Mike James about his book, Smoke & Mirrors. We also have a small tribute to James “Airshack” Shakel, who passed away earlier this year. And we have a cool listener audio submission from Kevin Braun. And there’s Feedback, as well as a new Retro Hobby Projects from Rick, this time about repairing a Sega Dreamcast. And, Paul announces that he’s stepping away from the show to pursue other interests, and Rick and Chris will continue on with a different format. Thanks for 10 years, folks!

You disgust me. That's no way to treat a Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer!

This guy makes some amazing TIA music. LOVE this track: He has a playlist of various stuff here:

Hello again, Digging this thread back up as I am happy to announce that "Tristam Island" will get a physical edition for the TI-99/4A! The gorgeous box is inspired by the design of Infocom's boxed, and in true Infocom tradition, will contain some feelies and goodies on top of the disk. You can pre-order on PolyPlay's website at the following link: https://www.polyplay.xyz/Tristam-Island-TI-99-4A_1 Thank you everyone for your support while making this game!

I reached out to the developer to play his game on ZPH, no response yet. - James

@The Car checked in enough of the #FujiNet Game Lobby that we can start kicking its tires. Shown here on #atari8bit playing poker with the ability to host a mixture of bot and human players. We want help to bring this to all #FujiNet Platforms!

As somebody who has no experience writing music or using trackers the 7800basic tracker has enabled me to make some pretty cool sounding things that I'm proud of. I'll happily post the source for any of them if somebody's interested. Spire of the Ancients - Title Theme (I could never get this quite how I wanted but that's my lack of musical experience) SotA Theme.mp3 Spire of the Ancients - Underground Theme SotA Underground.mp3 Spire of the Ancients - WIP Graveyard Theme SotA Graveyard Music Test.mp3 Spire of the Ancients - WIP Overground Theme SotA Music Test 1.mp3 Plink - Title Theme (Somewhat based on a mashup of Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween) Plink.mp3 Plumb Luck - Summer 3rd Movement Plumb Luck - Summer 3rd Movement.mp3 Plumb Luck - The Plumber's Apprentice The Plumber's Apprentice.mp3 Plumb Luck - In the Hall of the Mountain King PL Mountain King.mp3

Hi all! After a few small additional changes (Introduced a splash screen to fill up the remainder of the 8K ROM, added a special highlight to the high score on the title screen in case you earn at least $42) and more testing (no screen rolls found, no additional reports of bugs) I am marking my game as "complete". Please enjoy this game however you play your Atari 2600 games (emulators, PlusCart, harmony cart, Argon and however else!). Download links are in the first post. This version is also already available in the PlusStore for PlusCart users - thanks @Al_Nafuur for updating the ROM on there. As of this writing, the current high score on the PlusROM leaderboard is $43.66, and my personal best during development is $45.76. The "achievement" score I've assigned for this game is $42 (the answer to life, the universe and everything!) - a hypothetical high score patch would be earned at this point. How does one get such a score? You need to ride the edge of picking as many ripe berries as possible at each row without making too many mistakes. You are in for a very good run if you reach row 10 with 5-6 extra chances remaining. I've found having a high amount of extra chances in reserve gives me some peace of mind that a bad pick won't be my last. I find if I only have 1 or 2 extra chances left I am much more conservative in my picking, which will hurt your high score chances. In Oregon we are right in the heart of strawberry picking season (mid-May to early July), and with any luck it will be similar in your neck of the woods. Now is the time to enjoy some fresh berries, especially ones you get via U-Pick! Fortunately in real life you have much more time to pick berries than you do in my game.

I thought I recognized the name. @RushJet1 - are your ears burning? Anyway, TIA *can* sound great but if all people have ever heard are the bleeps, bloops and buzzes from <1980 Atari/Activision titles, they would never know. I’m glad there are talented people who don’t accept common wisdom and decide to create great stuff anyway.

That's Rushjet1, he did the music for two of my 2600 game - Dare Devil and Tyre Trax. Super talented musician. Skip along to just after 5 mins for Dare Devil.

Not necessarily. There is the relatively unused use-case of: the user can modify the bBasic kernels to better suit the game they're trying to make. And yes, that would require assembly language knowledge to do. --- And yes, I'm pushing on the bBasic side of the argument a bit. Mostly because I feel people are using it as a crutch in their arguments. "Low quality, must be bBasic" is very much played out at this point. "Low quality" comes from the developer, not the tool.

Let me correct this more appropriately. 😉 I know I know ... but it's been a big hiatus. Couldn't help myself! 💋 Hope @Albert is not watching! 😃

Upside down label is fine - let's just hope the PCB isn't installed backwards this time.

Phil ain't there to spread the word. His job is more akin to stripping a carcass at this stage.

Considering everyone seems to think Phil says very little, and considering that those of us who post say a -lot-, I have to argue we've put in much more effort keeping the name alive than management has. However, I don't expect anyone here to be hired for a new PR team. #6

A few of us have dealt with the company that calls itself Atari. They do not treat those who create things for them, very well, at all. And some of us have also worked with PR departments and firms, and thus can see, and point out, when a company plays fast and loose with advertising and PR copy. It particularly makes my eye twitch. -Thom

We present to you this necro-bump to share my first thread that Atariage remembers me replying to. According to this thread January 28th of next year will be my 20th anniversary on Atariage. Fun! The above quoted was not my first reply, that is later in the thread, but I had fun with this part of the thread as you'll see in a second. I really have found memories of Jaguar Interactive II and AtariHQ as my earliest Atari Jaguar website when I first got a Jag. It was funny to click the link above which ACTUALLY STILL WORKS!... 😮 Ah that brought back memories from 2000. And then you click the link on THAT page and get a error 404. I am curious if the archive of the messages was ever made available as mentioned in the part I quoted above. Would be fun to read that.

The basketball game is absurd... I actually had a 4 point lead for a millisecond. Then Michael Jordan came out of nowhere and proceeded to steal and / or block every shot I took until he got back to a 4 point lead... 🙄

Another quick update: things are moving along nicely. I will make no promises, but we are on track for some small availability in about 30 days.

Following on from this post, test results and impressions of the CEM #0 are moving here Didn't really want to clutter up the main firmware thread with this end of things, and also wanted to be able to concentrate my findings into one location for easier reference and discussion / collaboration once the hardware starts making it out into the wild. FULL DISCLOSURE: @batari sent a pre-production CEM #0 to me at no cost to myself and with no obligation. In return, I volunteered to test any scenario that he (or anyone else, for that matter) may request that I can reasonably accommodate. My job here is not to be a cheerleader for the device, but rather to give a picture of where its capabilities sit as development progresses so that any issues that may be found can be resolved. A note regarding testing requests: if you are looking to have something tested that wasn't or was only partially-working in an earlier build, please include three things in your post: Explicitly state that you want a specific title tested. Describe what the behaviour is that you're seeing, with screenshots or photos if possible. Include the firmware version of the Concerto you're experiencing this on. I'm having to pack all of this in amongst a work schedule that doesn't have set days or hours and can change at the drop of a hat. While I'm happy to take on the testing, those three pieces of info will help immensely with figuring out my available time since there's not much that can be done without all of them. For reference, my test machine is an A3 serial number NTSC 7800 with a UAV, UAV mount board, internal Atarivox+, Synertek SALLY, and Traco 2-2450 DC-DC converter installed. The internal Atarivox+ can be switched off when necessary, and the Concerto involved has a POKEY installed. All testing can be assumed to be done with NTSC software unless indicated otherwise. The past couple of days have consisted of on-again, off-again testing. The main focus has been establishing a baseline of the CEM-capable firmware against the current standalone Concerto firmware (0.96 build 30723 at the time of writing). This has been done with a view towards determining if there have been any regressions or new incompatibilities, bugs, etc. introduced, and both the 2600 and 7800 sides are being looked at. All of the 7800 titles that I've tried (retail and homebrew alike) match expectations set under the current standalone firmware release. This doesn't mean that preexisting in-game bugs are necessarily squashed, but it does mean that the release appears to have not regressed and/or introduced new ones. This is a very good position to be in since it means that the CEM and Concerto are fundamentally playing nicely together and neither one is causing apparent problems for the other. POKEY-enabled titles seem to be doing what they should. @batari and I have discussed a couple that are receiving extra attention, but so far so good. Testing YM or HOKEY audio isn't something I'm presently able to do, so those will be on someone else to look at. The 2600 side is similar: software compatibility remains high. Quite honestly, there isn't much to say about it as it's been generally solid throughout the Concerto's lifespan. However, there is one now-working item that is good to see; more info on that in a post below. In the next couple of posts, I'll address two new features: High Score Cartridge support and the Return to Menu button.

Actual footage of CPUWiz at a recent press conference (probably):

Not possible, He's already so awesomesauce there is no room to improve.

What makes this particularly odd, is that other than the video level being perhaps a tad bit low, they already had this solved in the original 800 so why didn't they just carry that design across? Cost really shouldn't have been a factor, especially concerning the missing chroma on the XLs, which simply needed a small additional (no added cost) trace added to the board and perhaps a one cent component or two. I know this has been pounded on to death, but it almost seems like the video circuit was the only place where Jr Engineers were allowed to leave their mark, and they certainly did

Crazy this thread is now over 20 years old. That is A LOT of hard work.

T:ME Salvo (7800) & Man Goes Down (2600) are two favs of mine:

That's exactly what's going on here, and in my view, it's a carny scam. Okay, so it's less nowhere near as egregious as $75 for a game that's been on every Flashback, and that ships with the board in backwards, $100 (!!!) for a speaker hat, but it's all of a piece. It's not "low quality = bB"; this literally looks like the standard bB kernel. If it's not; it's not. That's not really the relevant issue. This appears to be the work of a rank novice 2600 programmer. The reason I say that is because I'm a rank novice programmer, and even I can see that there are places where he's flickering the spikes and shouldn't have had to, not even on the standard bB kernel. There's a big difference between a rank novice putting a game like that up on the internet, or even in the AA store, and The Official Atari putting it out as a premium product. It may not be the current regime's fault that the company called Atari has engendered all the ill will it has, but nevertheless, that has happened. They seem, now, to think their money is to be made in leveraging their old catalog rather than all these cockamamie hotel schemes or whatever. Fine, and all well and good; for the most part, they've done a pretty good job of that in recent years. However, they're not to be trusted given all the ridiculousness that's taken place with them and still continues to take place. Again, the shoddy replica cartridges for a king's ransom. I'm not particularly impressed that Atari is bringing new games to the 2600. We don't need a Atari to bring new games to the 2600. Haven't for years. As far as I'm concerned, if they want to be welcomed into the "space", they're the ones with something to prove. Audacity, for all their foibles, delivered a game worth having on the 2600. I bought their first one, and I will almost certainly buy their next one if it ever happens. Atari could have gotten me on board with this if they'd gotten a known dev with 2600 chops to program their momentous return to the system or whatever. If they'd hired you to make a new 2600 game, I would probably buy that, even at $60. They didn't do that; they did this. I can't expect any more from them? Fine. They can't expect my money. They can't expect that, when the subject comes up on a discussion forum, that they're going to receive unanimous praise. I'm not a charity either, and even if I were, there are a whole lot of homebrew devs I'd patronize over Atari SA.

@CPUWIZ I know it's a slight necropost .. but only just got back here in the last few days after 2+ years hiatus. Sad about "the one who knocks!" Hope you are doing well boss and all the best. Eat lots of tacos!!!!! 👌

Basketball: 42-32 (win by 10)

Take a look at the HAYES Modem emylation in my code here: It has better "S" Register handling...

Pardon me for saying so, but this seems like an extremely small pool of testers. Wild guess...IE does not have an online bugtracker. #6

Actually, I agree that it's a low value. To be honest, the $5 price was chosen simply because it strikes me as being the most feasible low-end number for a ROM delivered as a download that isn't on sale, bundled at a lower price with something else, etc. $10 seems like a more realistic base. More: And that's the thing: the value proposition. Looking at Champ Games' store (the first example that came to mind), they have games available for download from $10 to $20. These are high-quality, well-regarded titles that in some cases are considered to be amongst the most impressive on the 2600. They're also far from the only ones releasing astounding software for the system, and at reasonable price points for what you receive. This is where Mr. Run and Jump falls short even at $10. Picking it up at that price, though, while I wouldn't feel like I'd overspent, I'd also be aware of the fact that I could've had Conquest of Mars for the same money - or, on the 7800 side (sort of), Rikki and Vikki on Steam. OK, those aren't the first 2600 release from Atari, SA since last Tuesday or whenever the previous one was before this, but I'm failing to see where the happiness in spending the extra $40-$50 for their title is. Maybe there are people out there who can find $50 of entertainment from plugging in and unplugging a cartridge from the system. I'm not one of them.

People are free to do whatever they want with their own money. But for some of us, $60 is not throw away money and we get tired of these obvious cash grabs. Similar stuff is seen in the Jag community. People seem so starved for any piece of plastic they will fork over money for literally anything, and be grateful for it. My problem isn't exactly with the game as I haven't played it. But there's no way in hell this thing is worth $60 and that is our contention.

I just might do that, once i get back on my feet and have a roof over my head, right now i been busy getting all my ids updated with new photos and such, been a long progress, still not finished on that, everything i do requires reviews and time, hopefully by the weekend i will at least have a bank account again, in the meantime been working on my resume, updating my linkedin page and got my little website going and got back my youtube, and got a twitter working and also a patreon and gofundme, hopefully by end of month i will have all my documents in order, and some funds and be able to rent a small place to live here in toronto, then i can sit back and relax a bit and see what to do next, and take all my things out of storage and get back to doing some real coding and design of cool new things for everyone.

The bottom part of the case came out great from the printer. The fit for the keyboard is perfect and very stable: There are a few minor issues for the control board's fit, that I'll fix in the model before I order from JLC, no new prototype necessary. Here's what the complete assembly prototype looks like: But of course, I know this is the shot you're waiting for:

Burgertime is a fun game…. On other systems. Well, I’ll give it a shot anyway! First score = 6,850 (I kept dying trying to use the pepper). I played one game of Basketball and tied.

Looks like Mr. Carpenter has come out of retirement... This game shows a lot of promise.

I am of the opinion that "controls" should be installed into the control surface...visible, and accessible, whenever possible...so long as they physically can be installed as such, and they do not interfere with the ergonomics of other/more important controls. In this case, there was enough room to install the switch on the control surface, without sacrificing any ergonomics when manipulating the joystick and the pushbuttons. Plus this way, I don't need to fumble feel around for it on the back side, and/or be forced to pick up and rotate the controller to be able to look at, and determine, what mode the switch is it...its clearly visible and quickly accessible from the player's position. Additionally, if I were to install it on a different face of the enclosure (side/back/front), I would need to come up with another mounting fixture for my CNC mill for this enclosure: ...as the one I already made, is only good for machining the control surface. Then if you wanted to use a slide switch of some type, you'd have to make sure you can get one that will switch 3 poles.

Very nice!! That means we can now afford the luxury of sync'ing / timing any left-cart application externally, through right-port's [Phi-2] or [RAStime], as needed, and without touching the 800's Mobo !! Kudos! 👍💪

Takes me a while to get going, but my score is up there on the leaderboard...

First run through! 64,000 blue crocodiles for me Skill lvl 1 No if you'll excuse me, this game is making me hungry for fruit! 🍓🥭🍌

Did you say fonts? I'm a big fan of some of the cooler fonts out there (goddamn Letraset had so many cool transfer sets), so much so that I bought this book - https://www.amazon.com/Arcade-Game-Typography-Pixel-Type/dp/0500021740 You would think that there couldn't be a book's worth of video game fonts, especially the blocky 8-bit ones, but no, there are quite a few.

But did you notice… the label is upside down?

Thanks all! I ended up going with SpartaDOS 3.3a and used the FMTDIR command. Then did a BOOT X33A.DOS. All is good now.

Thank you for helping with research. Much appreciated. Given your posting concerning the Euro branch, does this info fit? Intellivision Entertainment Europe GmbH And this: supposedly current status #6

heh. I think her point is that IE will have to convince uspto thoroughly as to why they submitted -no- domicile address. Now, as to why IE did this? A document at uspto suggests it might be to avoid unwanted communications, like erm...where is my refund? (evil grin) #6

There was a point, much earlier in all of this...(Not knowing what I know NOW), where I became disinterested in the Amico Saga and basically quit following along. I knew Tommy was full of it (for Me, it was one of those moments where someone asked a simple, honest question (don't remember which one) and TT responded with the usual craphash of Market Research, We have DATA, Family Friendly, Big Investor, You're talking to a brick wall of stupidity, I'm never going to answer but will talk down to you now morass of Tommyness...And, going forward, I couldn't help but tune him out), and I knew console-wise (assuming for the sake of argument that the thing was coming out) that this "wasn't for me"; The Controller, The Games, the Style of games, and even the Look of the thing all turned me off Entirely... So I missed key points the first time around... And while I'm not saying this (forthcoming blast from the past) absolves responsibility, (Especially of Mods in TT's back pocket, etc.), There was a post in the past that was pivotal in no longer allowing Tommy to be Tommy...Shutting him down with regards to treating AtariAge like his own personal playground. Because I didn't realize the significance of this the first time around...I'd like to leave this here for posterity. (Well Done Al!!)

My predictions: 1. (most likely) They settle privately in the next month, probably right before the deadline, in a way that we can't see how much $hit @Tommy Tallarico had to eat. Ideally, Intellivision Entertainment could divert some of the proceeds from their Astrosmash/Shark!Shark! sale to BBG so that they fulfill their obligations. 2. (pretty likely) More delays and excuses, as we have come to expect from Phil Adam and others. 3. (not at all likely) Drama! Foolishness! Memorably stupid statements like "they're literally gaming racists!" from the industry legend as he rides the bomb all the way down.