Atari Bytes

EPISODE 70 invites you to be a star and to get your RAID on! STAR RAIDERS is here! This 1982 Atari game was the first to utilize the space-age video touch pad peripheral. It was also the last. That may give you a clue how this game is going to go. Speaking of firsts doubling as lasts, listen to this episode closely for the first appearance of my wife - Mrs. Bytes - on the show. She was thrilled to do it...so thrilled that this will also probably be her last appearance. Yes, sir, this episode is one for the record books. Join us, won't you? My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Pinball Spring", "Reformat" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes show notes and links. It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show! Support the show on the Atari Bytes Patreon page. Cool shirts! Cool mugs! Cool stuff of other kinds! AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com

What's in a name? Exactly what you'd expect when the name is a title like the 1979 Atari game CANYON BOMBER. What's that about? Well, there's these canyons....and you bomb them. Truth in advertising! Find some sandbags to hide behind, then join us. It'll be a blast! Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Pinball Spring", "Take a Chance" and "Reformat". Atari Bytes show notes and more. It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - a show for all your Snoopy needs. Check out cool mugs, shirts and more at the AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com Support the show at our Patreon page here.

One day at the Atari Labs in the 1970s, they looked at Breakout and said, "Yeah, this is pretty good. But we can make it better. We have the technology. We can make the paddle smaller. The balls bouncier. The colors colorier. And we can make 'colorier' a word too. We're Atari and there is zero chance we'll implode in a video game crash just a few years hence." The result of this bravado was 1980(?)'s Atari game SUPER BREAKOUT. Is the game indeed super? Well, no. No, it's not. Spoilers hurt sometimes. But this episode definitely is SUPER. I'm wearing the cape and codpiece to prove it. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance" and "Pinball Spring." Atari Bytes show notes and more It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown - Hey! That's my other show! Cool shirts, mugs and more at the AB_Pod_Store on Zazzle.com! Consider supporting the show financially on our Patreon page.

We're back! After an unplanned week off at the exotic locale of my local hospital, ATARI BYTES is back. And we promise you, this episode is worth the wait! First, we talk about the 1982 Atari legend SWORDQUEST: EARTHWORLD, the first in a famously unfinished series of games and pack-in comics at the center of a contest that also went unfinished, courtesy of the video game crash.  Then, after the game stuff, you can hear my conversation with Chad Bowers and Chris Sims. (Thanks again, guys!) They are well-known comics writers on a lot of big things - Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, to name but a few - and are now writing an all-new SWORDQUEST - inspired comic series for Dynamite Entertainment. Preview issue Zero just dropped on May 3 at the sweet, low, retro price of twenty-five cents! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Pinball Spring", "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "The Curtain Rises".  Atari Bytes show notes, episodes, links and more. It's a Podcast,

On episode 66 of ATARI BYTES, we're gonna BREAK...OUT. Mighty mighty. Gonna let it all hang out... And by IT, we mean the 1978 Atari original BREAKOUT. It's a game about smashing bricks and...well, smashing more bricks. And providing the ying to our gaming yang, we also have a Lego correspondent in the studio giving a play-by-play of his assembly of a stack of Lego bricks into...well, you'll just have to listen to find out. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take  Chance". Atari Bytes show notes, links and more. It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Check out cool Atari Bytes stuff you can own at Zazzle.com Consider supporting the show financially at our Patreon page.

Join us for episode 65 featuring the debut of what we expect will become a recurring segment on the show: Conversation Bytes! Our guinea pig guest for this new interview segment is Scott Rhoades, fiction author and longtime writer of technical manuals - including manuals for games like BasketBrawl and Shanghai on the Atari 7800 and the Lynx during a stint with Atari in the 1980s and '90s. Thanks for chatting with me, Scott! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Pinball Spring", "Reformat" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes links, show notes and more can be found here! It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown show notes, episodes and more are here. Consider helping the show out financially on our Patreon here. Check out cool mugs, shirts and more in our Zazzle.com store AB_Pod_Store.

See the flag. Capture the flag. It's all in the name. Our subject this week is: FLAG CAPTURE, a flag-ship game (see what I did there?) for Atari, being one of the first eleven games released in 1978. You and an opponent race across the field of play, striving to be the first to "capture" the "flag" and which point...well, not much happens. Is this a pirate game? I don't know, but it sure feels like a pirate game. Jolly Roger and all that? Mostly, I just want an excuse to wear an eye patch and say "arr" a lot. As if anyone needs an excuse for that sexy and totally not annoying behavior. My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance." Atari Bytes episodes and show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Check out mugs and shirts and more at Zazzle.com Consider supporting the show financially at Patreon.com...Thanks in advance!

Ahh! Baseball! The smell of the grassy outfield and the dusty infield. Does Atari's 1978 appeal to the Louisville Slugger in all of us score a HOME RUN or is it the sporting equivalent of AMIDAR? (We're never going to forgive that game for wasting our time.) Head down to your digital ballpark and find out! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes show notes and episodes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Check out cool Atari Bytes mugs, shirts and more at Zazzle.com Consider supporting the show financially at Patreon.com

We're taking another spin through the time vortex and jumping out in the era of the Atari 7800 this week to play the 1986 iconic Atari game ROBOTRON 2084. If you're one of the few who hasn't heard of or played this legendary game, this might help: just imagine this is an even MORE dystopian version of the world set out in George Orwell's novel 1984. It's no surprise that Orwell might be interested in writing about robots. Orwell, famously, was a cyborg novelist.* *That might not be accurate.** **But how cool would that be???? My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Pinball Spring", "Take a Chance", and "Reformat". Atari Bytes show notes and episodes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Please consider supporting the show on our Patreon page! Also check out cool "Go play some old games" shirts and more at our Zazzle.com store, AB_Pod_Store

So, what do we get in Atari's 1978 adventure game SPACE WAR? There's space. There's war. Sort of. Tune in to find out just what we mean by that! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Find awesome "Go Play Some Old Games" shirts, mugs and more at our store on Zazzle.com Consider supporting the show financially on our Patreon page.

For all you haters who think video games rot the mushy brains of impressionable youth, the 1978 Atari game BRAIN GAMES is for you. It's like a console version of the classic handheld games Simon and Merlin without the portability. Or the bright colors. Or the fun. Doing its part to foster a generation of drug free, sex free, non-fun-having gamers, playing BRAIN GAMES is like being the 1980s teen our parents dreamed of all over again! Sorry for all the thoughtless Wargames: Dead Code spoilers this week! You've been warned. (Settle down, you've never heard of that movie before now either.) Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat", and "Pinball Spring". Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes store AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com Contribute financially at our Patreon Page.

I wear my sunglasses at night. This made it a bit difficult to play this week's game NIGHT DRIVER, the 1980 game from Atari. I pretty much crashed into everything, then just reset the game and pretty much acted as if nothing happened. It's kind of like what Congress does. Put on your sunglasses and hop into the driver's seat. Atari Bytes episodes and show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes Patreon page where you can help support the show. Pick up "Go Play Some Old Games" shirts and more at Zazzle.com AB_Pod_Store Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance".

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN... Seriously. Do it. Do it now. Okay, sit down, you look ridiculous. This week on the podcast, we have a 1983 Parker Bros. game about looting ancient Egyptian ruler King Tut's tomb. The game is called TUTANKHAM, and is apparently so good, you won't have time to put the last "en" on the name before you must rush off to play it. Do we agree? More importantly, what stories has the mysterious ancient tomb left to tell? Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "Pinball Spring". Atari Bytes show notes and episodes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes Patreon donation page The Atari Bytes store at Zazzle.com AB_Pod_Store - new t-shirts and mugs! The Nerdist Weird Al Yankovic interview The History of Digital Games by Andrew Williams

We wondered why one reviewer declared that the best thing about Mythicon's 1983 game STAR FOX, the intended first in a series of games, was that Mythicon didn't make any more games in that series. Now we know. This space adventure(?) has something to do with recuing mysterious space-y energy crystals, which might just be Walter White's blue meth, for all we learn from the game, from some vague enemy race. Sound fun? No, really. Does it? Well, a bad day of Atari is still better than a good day at work. Right? And if work is bad too, maybe this good (?) episode will get you through it. My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance" and "Pinball Spring". Atari Bytes show notes and episodes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes Zazzle.com store AB_Pod_Store - now with new shirts and mugs! The Atari Bytes Patreon page - help support us financially!

We love us some Activision on the podcast, so doing the 1982 high-flying adventure CHOPPER COMMAND was a no-brainer. But is this helicopter game hella-good? Will the Sun God Helios be favored or displeased by all the heli-stuff that isn't him? So many questions. Also, we shoot things with lasers. Go find an air sick bag and join us! My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance", and "Pinball Spring". It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown Atari Bytes The Atari Bytes page on Zazzle.com for cool shirts and mugs and stuff The Atari Bytes Patreon page

Red rover, red rover... Bubblegum, bubblegum, in a dish... Olly olly oxen free... So, at some point in the early 1980s, someone had the idea to turn the perennial children's backyard pastime, good ol' hide and seek, into a two-dimensional, piexelated video game. SNEAK 'N PEEK, 1982, from U.S. Games Corporation, was the result. How'd that work out? About as well as you'd expect. But we played it anyway. Also, the junior podcaster, Henry, is along for the ride to help us through this nonsense as only he can. My thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Take a Chance", "Reformat" and "Pinball Spring". Atari Bytes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes store (AB_Pod_Store) at Zazzle.com The Atari Bytes Patreon page

This week on the podcast, we experience our own days of future past as we leap forward in time to the 7800 era of Atari to check out the 1987 classic DOUBLE DRAGON, a throwback '80's mullet and leg warmers classic. Also, lots of people get punched in the face. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Take a Chance" and "Pinball Spring". Thanks also to bensound.com for the use this week of his song "Funny Song". Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes store AB_Pod_Store at Zazzle.com The Atari Bytes Patreon Page

This week on the podcast, we hit the slopes for a little downhill fun...by which we mean sit in the ski lodge with a hot toddy. Or two. Activision's 1980 SKIING is our focus. We love us some Activision on the podcast. Does this game make all the gates in record time or is it just one big ugly series of moguls all the way down? Tune in to find out. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring", "Take a Chance", "Killers" and "Volatile Reaction". Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes store at Zazzle.com The Atari Bytes Patreon donation page

BEEP BEEP! This week, we take a bird seed break, which should give us just enough time to talk about the 1985 Atari game ROAD RUNNER before the coyote catches us.* *Kidding. You've seen Looney Tunes, right? No WAY is he going to catch us.** **Actually, I haven't gotten past level 2, so the coyote does catch us. A LOT. Discussion topic for the week: Is the Acme Corporation really just the 1940s version of Amazon? I'll expect your five-hundred word essay answers on my desk by Monday morning. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes show notes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes store at Zazzle.com Atari Bytes Patreon page

Well, 2017 has firmly affixed itself to our calendars, much like a parasite feeding on our very souls. So! Do we hide in a carton of ice cream and binge Netflix? Or do we embrace the adventure that life has in store? Well, we here at Atari Bytes have a compromise. If adventuring outside is too scary...just play this week's game -  Atari's 1980 legend ADVENTURE!* *You can still have the ice cream. Side note: the artwork on the cartridge is great. That just needed to be said. Thanks to Kevin McLeod at Incompetech.com for creative commons use of his songs "Reformat", "Pinball Spring" and "Take a Chance". Atari Bytes It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown The Atari Bytes Patreon page The Atari Bytes store at Zazzle.com