InfoMan Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I've never heard of Hi-Res magazine even though I had subscriptions to both Analog and Antic. Weird idea to try to put both Atari people and Commodore people together in one magazine. That is like dog and cat people living together. The David Crane cover was scary. Family Computing and Compute! both put Atari together with all its competitors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Bob Brass and Peter D’Amato, Cauzin Softstrip http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-115-bob-brass-and-peter-damato-cauzin-softstrip If you read certain computer magazines from the early days of microcomputers — magazines like Byte, Family Computing, II Computing and InCider — you might see long, black-and-white strips of bar codes. Those are computer programs encoded for use with the Cauzin Softstrip reader. Introduced in 1985, the Cauzin Softstrip was a hardware peripheral that attached to your Apple //, Macintosh, or IBM computer (there was no Atari version.) It optically read the printed two-dimensional bar codes, which were published in those magazines and in books - allowing you to quickly input data - for instance, inputting programs without having to laboriously type them in. This interview is with two of the people at that company: Bob Brass was co-founder of Cauzin (along with Dr. Jack Goldman, who has passed away), and Peter D’Amato, who was Manager of OEM and VAR Support at Cauzin from 1984 through 1988. This interview took place on October 5, 2015. Teaser quote: “I remember being stumped. How are we going to get something with gears to move 1/100 of a degree? It just won’t happen because the slop in a gear would exceed that. ... I said, ‘That’s it. We’re going to have a spiral gear, and we’ll have the equivalent of a phonograph arm and it will track to a hundredth of a degree without a problem.’” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Tom Briscoe, APX Software Evaluator http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-116-tom-briscoe-apx-software-evaluator Tom Briscoe worked at Atari as an intern in the summer of 1981, where he evaluated the user-written software that had been submitted to Atari Program Exchange. This interview took place on September 26, 2015. Teaser quote: “Hangman was sort of the obvious game for people to submit, and if I recall the obvious business application was the personal finance and record keeping ... budget programs.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilove Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 A question that should have been asked - in the interview with Archer McLean. Do you still have a copy of your own version of Defender, that was written before Dropzone. Would you release this and it's source code? If it can be found, particularly the former - this would be a wonderful find. Because he would be particularly busy with his current projects - I don't think he would have the time to do anything for the A8 etc community. Harvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Landon Dyer, Donkey Kong and Super Pac Man http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-117-landon-dyer-donkey-kong-and-super-pac-man Landon Dyer started as a software engineer in the Atari home computer division in 1982, where he specialized in converting arcade games to the Atari 8-bits. There, he programmed the Atari 400/800 versions of Donkey Kong, and Super Pac Man — which was never officially released by Atari (but has been widely available for many years.) After the Tramiels bought Atari, he worked on the Atari ST, including BIOS boot code and the floppy disk driver. Landon’s blog, at DadHacker.com, has many interesting posts about his Atari days. This interview took place December 9, 2015. Teaser quotes: “In many ways, Atari marketing was completely divorced from the process of making games. They didn’t understand what programmers did, they didn’t understand what manufacturing cycles were.” “To get ROMs made inside of Atari you had to go through a mastering lab. So basically you’d hand a couple of guys disks. They would disappear into their lab, smoke some dope, and come out with ROMs. And often, keep the disks.” 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) I listened to the interview with Landon today ... GREAT interview as usual, Kevin. It amazes me how you guys can keep hitting the ball out of the park again and again with these interviews. Thank you for doing your part and then some to preserve the memory and legacy of this iconic company and its products. Edited January 16, 2016 by DrVenkman 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 How about James Hague, who wrote games for Antic and ANALOG, and later compiled The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers (http://www.dadgum.com/giantlist/)? Could be quite interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 How about James Hague, who wrote games for Antic and ANALOG, and later compiled The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers (http://www.dadgum.com/giantlist/)? Could be quite interesting... I've actually communicated with Mr. Hague. He helped with some contact information with the people that he's interviewed for his site. I didn't realize he had some Atari history. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Mike West, Pirate http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-118-mike-west-pirate Mike West was an east coast software pirate who went by the handle “Jolly Roger.” He was — and still is — friends with Gary Walton, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on October 9, 2015. Teaser quotes: “The whole thing was kind of bizarre. It’s like, on one side of their moth they would scream about piracy. On the other side of their mouth they would kind of — I don’t know, promote it in some way. It was very weird.” “Piracy did not kill Atari. Atari killed Atari.” 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Mike West, Pirate http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-118-mike-west-pirate Mike West was an east coast software pirate who went by the handle “Jolly Roger.” He was — and still is — friends with Gary Walton, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on October 9, 2015. Teaser quotes: “The whole thing was kind of bizarre. It’s like, on one side of their moth they would scream about piracy. On the other side of their mouth they would kind of — I don’t know, promote it in some way. It was very weird.” “Piracy did not kill Atari. Atari killed Atari.” Nice! I started listening to this on my morning walk, and it brought back lots of memories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playermissile Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) I've actually communicated with Mr. Hague. He helped with some contact information with the people that he's interviewed for his site. I didn't realize he had some Atari history. DOH! I interviewed him in Episode 11 of the Player/Missile podcast: http://playermissile.com/podcast/ep011.html We talked about all the games he got published in both ANALOG and Antic, and also discussed the Giant List of Classic Game Programmers that he maintains. Edited January 20, 2016 by playermissile 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Nice! I started listening to this on my morning walk, and it brought back lots of memories! Although, now that I'm finished, I'm a little disappointed he didn't actually do any cracking? That's what I had expected him to talk about. Did he just put his name in games that others had cracked? (Easy to do - I actually did it myself on a couple games just for fun.) Or was that actually someone else using the same handle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Andrew Soderberg, Atari Product Manager http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-119-andrew-soderberg-atari-product-manager Andrew Soderberg was a product manager at Atari from 1980 through August 1983. He oversaw projects including the XL line of computers, and De Re Atari. He was also production manager for several of Atari's TV commercials, one of which won a Clio award. He was a member of the team that build the first computer/laserdisc interactive kiosks for use in retail. In this interview we discuss Tandy Trower, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on November 18, 2015. Teaser quote: “So here I am, 21 years of age, in New York City, being put up in the junior suite of the Plaza, for a week. It’s all been downhill ever since!” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Sandy Dwiggins, AtariLab manuals http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-120-sandy-dwiggins-atarilab-manuals Sandy Dwiggins wrote the manuals for AtariLab - both the light and temperature modules - while she was an adjunct professor at Dickinson College, teaching Film Studies. She worked closely with Priscilla Laws, whom I previously interviewed. This interview took place on October 14, 2015. Teaser quote: “She [Priscilla Laws] found these two programmers who only came out at night and were barefoot all the time ... they didn’t take showers, they didn’t take baths, they didn’t do anything except sit in their nest.” Edited January 26, 2016 by Savetz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) “She [Priscilla Laws] found these two programmers who only came out at night and were barefoot all the time ... they didn’t take showers, they didn’t take baths, they didn’t do anything except sit in their nest.” Jeopardy: Who were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ?!? Edited January 26, 2016 by CharlieChaplin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Jeopardy: Who were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ?!? Two old pot smoking hippies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 This is a particularly fun interview. Arlan Levitan, writer http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-121-arlan-levitan-writer Arlan Levitan wrote for many computer magazines including Creative Computing and Compute!, where he wrote the Telecomputing Today and Levitations columns. He helped design the menu system and feature set of the AMIS bulletin board system, and hosted the first AMIS BBS at his house. He was heavily involved with MACE, the Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiast user group, and wrote the book The User's Guide to Atari 400, 800, 1200XL Computers, Software & Peripherals. This interview took place on December 10, 2015. Teaser quotes: "They [Atari] were either, depending on how you want to look at it, very generous or very foolish with their money." "It's not so much about the hardware, I think, as the people." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Thomas Newton, Basic/XA and Keypad Controller http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-122-thomas-newton-basicxa-and-keypad-controller Thomas Newton, published two programs with Atari Program Exchange: Keypad Controller, software for reading the keypad game controllers from BASIC; and BASIC/XA, a set of add-ons for Atari BASIC programmers. This interview took place December 11, 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I started to listen to these podcasts just recently (within the last 3-4 months), and find them to be quite enjoyable and ever so informative. But I have apparently only scratched the surface, since you guys can really churn these out at a remarkably rate. Might take me years to listen to all of them, assuming I live that long . But don't let that concern you Just curious, have you ever done an interview with Bob Woolley? - Michael 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 The latest interview is (Thomas Newton) is not downloading via RSS for some reason... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 The latest interview is (Thomas Newton) is not downloading via RSS for some reason... Thanks bbking67 but I just tried downloading via the RSS feed with no problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Okay I'll just download it manually... thanks for checking. My RSS doesn't like it for some strange reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Jerry White, Atari author and programmer http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-124-jerry-white-atari-author-and-programmer Jerry White was a prolific Atari software developer and writer. He published Player Piano, Bowler's Database, and other software for Atari Program Exchange. He wrote Poker S.A.M. and Chaterbee, two talking programs distributed by Don't Ask Software. He was co-author of the book The Atari User’s Encyclopedia, and wrote dozens of articles for Antic, A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing, Compute! and other magazines. He wrote two lessons in the Tricky Tutorial series, and was the founder of the Professional Atari Programmers Information Exchange (PAPIE). This interview took place on January 1, 2016. Teaser quotes: "Believe it or not, I think I got to like 30 things on the market at one time. I was really hellbelt on quantity rather than shoot-em-up games, because I didn't want to really spend my time trying to develop another game." "My income from the Atari stuff was more than I was making [at my day job.] So I retired from the job I was doing so I could develop software 24 hours a day, and yeah - I was an addict." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkindig Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 (edited) Steve Defrisco, H.E.R.O., Wing War http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-123-steve-defrisco-wing-war-hero This time, we talk to a former game developer for the Atari 8-bits, Mr. Steve DeFrisco. Steve worked for Imagic and Activision, working on porting such titles as H.E.R.O. (Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation) and Wing War as well as developing software for the Intellivision and Atari 2600. He also is the man doing the juggling in an Imagic video from 1983; link provided in the show notes. Teaser Quote “The next Spring, when my first game Tropical Trouble was done, was when Atari announced their big loss. So, I put kind of a kibosh on the whole being a millionaire before I was 20.” Links Steve in Imagic Video (he’s the one doing the juggling for a few seconds beginning about 1:17 in) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3x6Idp8oT0 Steve’s Web Site - http://www.stevedefrisco.com Edited January 31, 2016 by rkindig 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Tom Harker, ICD http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-125-tom Tom Harker was co-founder of ICD, a company that created many popular add-ons for the Atari 8-bit computers including P:R: Connection, U.S. Doubler, and SpartaDOS. Later, they created several upgrades for the Atari ST and Amiga computers, and the CatBox networking hardware for the Atari Jaguar. According to a 1987 article in Antic magazine, "Tom Harker started ICD in his basement in Rockford, Illinois, with Mike Gustafson, who then lived in Minneapolis. The company was incorporated in 1984, with Harker as president and Gustafson as vice president in charge of development." This interview took place on January 19, 2016. Teaser quote: “It started out, when we did the U.S. Doublers, I was assembling all of those myself and we were baking them in our oven. We potted them in epoxy so people wouldn’t copy it. ... I remember baking them to cure the epoxy in my oven. My wife loved it.” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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