Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 3 minutes ago, zzip said: It's funny, I had EletraGlide on an A8/C64 Flippy disk, so I took it to a Commodore friend's house to play. Back then I would have sworn the C64 was better. I think it was a case of 'grass is greener' I was enamored with how the SID music had sounds I would never hear on my A8, but would ignore the superior colors and shading on A8. Now if I compare both side by side, the A8 version is clearly better That was one of the few Mastertronic games where that was the case. Usually the Atari 8-bit was the lazier version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 9 minutes ago, zzip said: Since this is a 3rd party creation, Atari didn't do the licensing, right? 3rd parties seem to license games we wish Atari would. I find it unlikely they went to the Battlezone rights holders, just like it's unlikely they went to EA for Seven Cities of Gold. Perhaps those two games will also have different names and modified title/load screens? That was the move with "Lee." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, Bill Loguidice said: I find it unlikely they went to the Battlezone rights holders, just like it's unlikely they went to EA for Seven Cities of Gold. Perhaps those two games will also have different names and modified title/load screens? That was the move with "Lee." Since they got both MULE and Seven Cities, I'm guessing they went to whomever has the rights to Ozark Softscape's titles these days. Since they have these two and no other EA titles, perhaps EA doesn't own them? Battlezone is a bigger surprise to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, zzip said: Since they got both MULE and Seven Cities, I'm guessing they went to whomever has the rights to Ozark Softscape's titles these days. Since they have these two and no other EA titles, perhaps EA doesn't own them? Battlezone is a bigger surprise to me. Great point. I can't believe I overlooked that. Clearly the rights must have reverted, so no need for EA to be involved. Now we just need to figure out the Battlezone thing. Obviously, it would be much easier to know if we had an official list to see if the Battlezone name was being used or not (and with an official list we might get the list of copyrights, etc.). Even so, Battlezone on the Atari 8-bit is pretty much the same as the arcade version, so I don't think that would necessarily work. And it certainly wouldn't be cost-effective to get the rights to Battlezone for this type of product. It's indeed a mystery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, Bill Loguidice said: Great point. I can't believe I overlooked that. Clearly the rights must have reverted, so no need for EA to be involved. Now we just need to figure out the Battlezone thing. Obviously, it would be much easier to know if we had an official list to see if the Battlezone name was being used or not (and with an official list we might get the list of copyrights, etc.). Even so, Battlezone on the Atari 8-bit is pretty much the same as the arcade version, so I don't think that would necessarily work. And it certainly wouldn't be cost-effective to get the rights to Battlezone for this type of product. It's indeed a mystery. Maybe one of the unknown games will be "Rescue On Fractalus" with the name changed to "Behind Jaggi Lines" to avoid the wrath of Lucasfilm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 48 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said: Yes, it is, which I find VERY interesting. EA doesn't license out classic content anymore, so perhaps the rights reverted to the developers or something. So we have: Airball Battlezone (how?!) Berzerk Boulderdash Capture the Flag Crystal Castles Elektra Glide Lee (aka, Bruce Lee) Millipede M.U.L.E. Star Raiders II The Seven Cities of Gold (how?!) Zorro (it's likely it might be named something else) Yoomp! There may also be Centipede in the middle left and something I can't quite place in the upper right. That would get us to 16. Missile Command is at the bottom of the screen, so there's another. Top right corner is Henry's House, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 We all have to buy The400-mini - to achieve The1450XLD-maxi 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 18 hours ago, ZylonBane said: I never knew so many people here had such dreadful taste. The original Atari 400 and 800 are fantastic, visually distinctive works of 70s-era humanist industrial design. The XL and XE designs are, by comparison, just cost-reduced boring boxes. Yeah, especially the 1400XL, 1450XLD, 1600XL and 1850XLD computers - heavily cost reduced. They reduced cost so much, that they even did not (regularly) produce them. And Beetle's 1500XL laptop thats such a boring box, which everyone would like to own. 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) Elektra Glide was an English Software title, it was published by Mastertronic in the US but I doubt that Mastertronic would be the people it would be licensed from. English Software did some great titles, maybe that's a clue to some of the other built in games? Here's a thought, will the emulation auto change speed between PAL/NTSC titles or allow you to pick the speed? Will the 5200 emulation in the atari800 core be improved as it's pretty neglected just now. Edited January 12 by Mr Robot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Back to the 400 being the ugliest of the A8's, it's surprising that an English company would choose the most popular American machine over the most popular UK/European machine. I notice that Revive 800 is still being produced, you think maybe Retrogames sold/licensed the 800XL look to them so now they have to pick something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I won't be pre-ordering anything, but I'm highly likely to get a couple of the joysticks, especially if they are microswitched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: ...it's surprising that an English company would choose the most popular American machine over the most popular UK/European machine. Because Americans are wayyyyyyyyy moreeeeeeeee important. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 3 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: it's surprising that an English company would choose the most popular American machine I'm not sure the 400 is the most popular American machine, I think the 800XL was 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Just now, zzip said: I'm not sure the 400 is the most popular American machine, I think the 800XL was I agree... and I said as much in my earlier post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 48 minutes ago, davidcalgary29 said: Missile Command is at the bottom of the screen, so there's another. Top right corner is Henry's House, I believe. Airball Battlezone (how?!) Berzerk Boulderdash Capture the Flag Crystal Castles Elektra Glide Henry's House Lee (aka, Bruce Lee) Millipede Missile Command M.U.L.E. Star Raiders II The Seven Cities of Gold Yoomp! Ten to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 3 minutes ago, zzip said: I'm not sure the 400 is the most popular American machine, I think the 800XL was So they picked a machine that is liked and was popular in the USA (it hardly sold at all in Europe in comparison) over the machine that was the most popular everywhere... Maybe there is a reason why they couldn't use the 800xl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifthPlayer Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, scelbi8h said: I love the idea of this mini Atari 400. But why the yellowed case color? It's supposed to be light grey... Actually, light beige. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 There have already been a lot of reasons given for why the 400 could have been chosen. In the end, that's what they wanted to do; so, take it or leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, Mr Robot said: So they picked a machine that is liked and was popular in the USA (it hardly sold at all in Europe in comparison) over the machine that was the most popular everywhere... Maybe there is a reason why they couldn't use the 800xl It was probably nothing more than it being the first model, iconic/infamous keyboard, and as good of a choice as any. It's not like how it looks would sway sales notably one way or the other, particularly if a later design was used as the model. It's hard enough to get people to understand that no, the keyboard doesn't work, no, it doesn't take cartridges, no, it's actually really small, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 18 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: Will the 5200 emulation in the atari800 core be improved as it's pretty neglected just now. The atari800 libretro core is years neglected period... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowerDubs Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 7 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: Maybe there is a reason why they couldn't use the 800xl Patience... working their way up the timeline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said: It's hard enough to get people to understand that no, the keyboard doesn't work, no, it doesn't take cartridges, no, it's actually really small, etc. All people have to do is look at some reviews for the other minis they sell. It pretty much tells you what to expect. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, PowerDubs said: Patience... working their way up the timeline. I'll believe they will make a second version of this in an XL/XE model when they announce the TheC128 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 9 minutes ago, Mr Robot said: So they picked a machine that is liked and was popular in the USA (it hardly sold at all in Europe in comparison) over the machine that was the most popular everywhere... I think they picked the machine with the most unique design. I don't think it's the most well-liked, the 400 design seems to be either "love it or hate it", it's easily the most divisive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 minutes ago, MrFish said: All people have to do is look at some reviews for the other minis they sell. It pretty much tells you what to expect. How are you so not jaded? That's a BIG ask. Most people (in this case, the average Atari and/or retro enthusiast) make assumptions first and "research" later. It's especially bad on the various Facebook groups (including AtariAge). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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