slapdash

Is the logo on the black boxes "Imagic", or "Activision"?

According to this, and this, Breakout was Bushnell's idea. Woz only created the actual game from that idea. I don't know the accuracy about who's idea the game was, but as to Jobs vs Wozniak, the story I've always heard is that Jobs was to be given $100 bonus for each chip that he could eliminate from the game's hardware design (i.e. it was already complete, in a sense), and that he foisted the challenge off on Woz who loved such challenges, but pocketed the bonus himself. Neither Jobs nor Woz had any affect on the GAMEPLAY design as far as I know.

Heh, thanks for remembering! That's just what my brothers & I called it, but I mentioned it in the 2600 in the early days and the term stuck.

Oh good, I'm not the only one then Actually it's probably due to the emulator I use, being PC Atari, as some screwy things happen with it from time to time and from ROM to ROM. Actually I HAVE the bleepin' game, but my tv's fried; argh! 'Cause the thing is, I follow the instructions to the letter, but I keep on ending up on a place where there's six little platforms, NOT four, and there's no way to jump to one on the left I dunno if it helps, but here's a different set of instructions for getting to the top I came up with in 1997:http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=65ih41%241rs%241%40news3.tufts.edu&output=gplain That sounds very much like the exact route my brother Dave & I found back in the old days, and which was printed in the very first 2600 Connection if I remember correctly. The map at the URL way above does show a vertical limit, but one that we always though MIGHT be possible to escape. We never, however, succeeded. I spoke with the designer, and he claimed that it WAS intentional, but couldn't remember anything else much in detail. It struck me that it was probably unfinished. Whether it was to be an easter egg, or a second quest, or who knows what, had been forgotten. Or a disassembly might allow us to find out if there's more map than that...

Yes, until the CD sells out, please don't make copies yet. $5 to: Randy Crihfield P.O. Box 1332 Pepperell, MA 01463 ...gets you a nice shiny CD with booklet and everything.

Or get the CD for $5 (shipped!) from: Randy Crihfield P.O. Box 1332 Pepperell, MA 01463 That way you get the whole games collection too.

Send $5 to: Randy Crihfield P.O. Box 1332 Pepperell, MA 01463 ...and he'll send you "Stella Gets A New Brain", a collection of the entire Starpath Supercharger game library on CD (not CDR, CD). I helped put this compilation together, and I guarantee that it's more than worth the $5 it sells for now. You shouldn't have any problems playing the games from any CD player through the jack the Supercharger provides, though, like the tape games, you may have to adjust the volume at times.

@Piero -- any luck finding that photo?

I responded on Paul's list, but I'll also ask here -- if you join and post to Paul's list, please CC in the original Stella. Also, Biglist provides the service gratis, which is good for the pocketbook, but also means restoring the server won't be a big priority. They're also going to be updating to the new software while they do it, which could take longer. Anyway, I hope we'll be back up and running soon, but I don't have an actual date.

Having seen the mockup, my best guess was that it was an XEGS-like version of the Atari ST, but that's a total guess.

Funny thing... I may have been the guy who gave Dave the idea! I met him at CES, back when they were allowing "ordinary people" in. I met him at the Jaguar display, and at some point I mentioned wishing Atari would remember their old games, and put them on a cartridge of something. At this point Dave said "it wouldn't have to be hardware", and began explaining how it (i.e. emulation) could be done in software. Then he got this really pensive look, but it wasn't until years later that I found out that he'd actually been working on it! I was SO disappointed that he didn't finish it though...

I would have asked the name. I would have asked the name. I would have asked the name. Even if it meant calling Julie later. Is there ANYONE else who can confirm this supposed release? I haven't seen anything other than Chris talking about it.

Since you're in the UK, you'll have to write first for the adjusted cost, but it's normally $5 shipped. Contact: Randy Crihfield P.O. Box 1332 Pepperell, MA 01463

Could someone post or email/PM me direct links for the paddle, Spiderman, Ms Pac-Man and pinball games? They've apparently coded their page in a way that isn't friendly to IE 5 on a Mac. :-(

I'm pretty sure that was one that was announced (by Sega? Universal?), but I don't have my DPCG handy right now. This is the second time I've seen you bring that up, but I haven't seen anyone else make that claim. Have I just been missing a thread, or do you know something you're not telling us, or are you just trying to start a rumor or provoke a reaction? Note that the cartridges supposedly came from El Paso TX. It's still a valid question, but at least that would answer why the dump isn't closer to CA.

Actually, have you read PS2 Extreme? Reviewer Mark Androvich (who's a genuine retrogamer) likes the way this game is shaping up, 3D or not. He says they've done a fine job at getting the gameplay right, and it feels a bit like some of the classics. Might be worth checking out.

I don't believe the "no-handle" cart was ever released, nor was the label in that ad, but there ARE label variations (at the very least, Arcadia vs Starpath). I'm not aware of any prototype versions either way having shown up either...

I tried that a few years back. No such luck. :-(

Sorry to dredge up an older post... I don't remember Tod saying that he held the program hostage. I think more it was him saying that any of the developers could jump ship for better pay, and he's the guy who just happened to have the big winner in his hands, royalty wise. The impression I got from Tod was that he developed the 4K version because that's all they were doing at Atari, but when Atari greenlighted 8K games -- and this was late into the development cycle of Pac-Man by the sound of it -- he wanted to redo the game in 8K, but Atari said no, probably because (1) a lot of work had already been done, and (2) they wanted to get Pac-Man out sooner, not later, because it was a hot game. If anyone knows different...

Randy still has the CD available, $5 shipped (US). Randy Crihfield P.O. Box 1332 Pepperell, MA 01463

Yikes! I'm going to blame the progression of age... I remember all that. Turns out I was thinking of RotLA, which, last I knew, it was decided that the "J" box doesn't exist, at least not as pictured in EG way back. Sorry about that!

Ahem. Not to minimize all the work Glenn did for the SGANB project, but actually, it was *I* that got the okay from Atari to include it, and talked Chris into letting us dump the game in the first place. FYI.

Can you only tell by the number in the sealed package? Yup. The number is only on the disc. Some of the earlier ones have a phrase as well. No, covers didn't change, but the insides did slightly, and the disc looks different IIRC.

It's Data Age. It's on my list, and the DPCG Rumor Mill list. Awesome find!

Beezer. I'd sure like to find the Intellivision version...