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Halt and Catch Fire TT or MSTE?


Xebec

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Just saw the first of last night's Halt and Catch Fire Episode... There was a scene of Cameron signing video game boxes at an Atari booth (Fall 1990 Comdex).

 

They had an Atari there -- at that time it *should* have been a TT030 but it's possible they screwed up and had a Mega STE there. The computer was a little too far away to see the plate - is there any other way to tell which it was? it did have the 'later' style keyboard with the short rectangles rather than the angular keys. (I have a MSTE but bought the older keyboard as I like the ST style slanted function keys..)

 

Anyone else catch the TT/MSTE ? :)

 

 

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Well, I watched seasons 1 and 2, but currently short with time, so put S03 on to do list :) Did not expect that they will Atarify it :-D

Surely there must be much more interesting details, Atari related than is it MSTE or TT (maybe they used just empty case :P ) .

Which episode is in question ?

 

Unfortunately the Atari bit was more of a teaser for people like us -- it was Episode 9 (second to last) that the TT030 appeared. The Atari booth was used for software . that's all i'll say :)

 

I did spot an ST in Season 1 in Gordon's garage; although it was once in the background and another time on a shelf not really getting much use. I haven't seen any Atari 8bits (although we've obviously seen large quantities of C64s..)..

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It looks to be a TT030, and they did screw up and used an older SC1224 or SM124 monitor on it ;)

 

 

 

Wow, very good catch on that scene there! It's ashame it was not powered on with at least a Green GEM in the background. Couldn't you in theory buy a TT without a monitor? The SC1224 was still certainly sold in 1990, although i guess they would be showing a bigger monitor at a show like comdex.

 

I'd guess the one in that scene was the color monitor as the mono monitor is way less reflective.

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I just want to get myself a copy of Space Bike IV. I hear it is way better than Space Bike III! ;)

Come on. Space bike III (Aka: Space Trike) was waaaaay better than Space Bike IV. I think by Space Bike IV they were getting a bit lazy and just seemed like any other driving game. ;-)

Were there actually any screenshots or demos of the game in the show? It would be funny to make a game for this.

Edited by Justin Payne
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Did anyone also notice that Paul Haslinger (ex-Tangerine Dream member) scored the series and title music?

 

Recall that Tangerine Dream were big Atari ST supporters to the point that they credited the ST in creating their albums in the late 80s-early 90s. A Google search will also reveal lots of pictures with an Atari ST,, including one with Jimmy Hotz and the Hotz MIDI Translator. I wonder if he had any influence on the product placement in the show.

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Did anyone also notice that Paul Haslinger (ex-Tangerine Dream member) scored the series and title music?

 

Recall that Tangerine Dream were big Atari ST supporters to the point that they credited the ST in creating their albums in the late 80s-early 90s. A Google search will also reveal lots of pictures with an Atari ST,, including one with Jimmy Hotz and the Hotz MIDI Translator. I wonder if he had any influence on the product placement in the show.

That's a great piece of Trivia :)

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I only watched the one episode, but the rest look quite interesting. Time to schedule some binge watching sessions. :P

 

Two more problems with this Atari placement:

1. ComDEx is Computer Dealers Exposition. It's a place where computer manufacturers show off their latest "serious" business products. In 1990, Atari would be showing off their desktop publishing systems, home office products, CAD programs, etc. We should be seeing Calamus, DynaCADD, Publishing Partner, etc.....just NOT GAMES! Atari would be showing Space Bike IV at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) instead since that is where Atari, Nintendo, Sega, etc show off their game consoles and newest video games. CES was for mass-merchandised electronics unlike personal computers which were still considered a specialized product in 1990.

 

2. I don't follow "famous" people much, but I don't remember video game programmers receiving the "rock star" treatment back then. I thought that was only a recent trend starting around 2000 or so. I remember back at Classic Gaming Expo in 2001 being the first time seeing people wanting an autograph from people like David Crane. I don't recall that even at World of Atari 1998. That would be even rarer at Comdex as I don't see people asking Dan Wilga (for example) for an autographed copy of Geneva/Neodesk. If something like this was at Comdex, it would likely have been a famous musician promoting their usage of an Atari ST in his music studio. For example, Atari could be showing off Cubase or the Hotz MIDI Translator software with Mick Fleetwood promoting it. They could have promoted a Comdex event in the show program along the lines of this: "Come see the Hotz MIDI Translator software that will revolutionize music making with special guest star Mick Fleetwood who will be signing autographs for the first 100 attendees" or something like that.

 

Anyway, it's cool to see some film makers placing Atari (mostly) correctly in 1980's era films. I get sick and tired of people thinking that the personal computer revolution only involved Apple, IBM and Microsoft. :?

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