ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  In this first episode of 2018, we talk about the fact that ANTIC has been downloaded over ½ million times,  we get a surprise visit from Thomas Cherryhomes, who talks about PLATO for the Atari, we offer Atari 8-bit gift options for Valentine's Day, Nir Dary tells us about some things he's been exploring, plus all the Atari 8-bit news that...

Rawson Stovall, The Vid Kid newspaper column   As you no doubt gleaned from the clips of his appearances on CBS Morning News and The Tonight Show, Rawson Stovall was only a child when he started writing a syndicated newspaper column in which he reviewed computer games and home video games. The column, called Vid Kid, appeared in 20 newspapers around the United States. He was in fact the first nati...

Chris James, Thorn EMI   Chris James worked at Thorn EMI, where he was a programmer and later a project manager. Later he founded James Software, which specialized in game conversions to various computer platforms. His long list of Atari game credits includes Darts, Tank Commander, and several jigsaw puzzle games such as European Scene Jigsaw Puzzles and Hickory Dickory Dock.   He is also the husb...

Hanan Samara: Jumbo Jet Pilot and Jinn Genie   Hanan Samara was a programmer at Thorn EMI, where her work included programming the game Jumbo Jet Pilot. Later she founded Dalali Software, a company that specialized in converting games to various computer platforms. There she created the Atari computer game Jinn Genie.   This interview took place on November 13, 2017.   Her husband, Chris James, ca...

Geoffrey Card, kid game reviewer   In my interview with Orson Scott Card, he mentioned that his son, Geoffrey, helped him review Atari games — thoroughly playing games, then providing a sort of executive summary for his dad, who then wrote about the games for Compute! magazine. I thought it would be fun to get Geoffrey's perspective about that time.   This interview took place on January 19, 2018....

Orson Scott Card, Compute! Books   Orson Scott Card is a Hugo Award winning, best-selling science fiction author, perhaps best known for his 1985 novel, Ender's Game.    But we're not here to talk about that — because for about nine months, Orson Scott Card was an editor at Compute! Books, where we worked on several books about the Atari 8-bit and other computer platforms. His work appears in Comp...

Maurice Molyneaux, Atari animation guru   Maurice Molyneaux was a game artist, Atari graphics animator, and writer. He wrote articles for Video Games & Computer Entertainment Magazine and A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing Magazine, and wrote "The Animation Stand" column for ST-Log magazine.   He created many animations primarily using MovieMaker, an animation program for the Atari published by Reston Publish...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  In this 2017 year-end episode, we get a surprise visit from our international correspondent, Nir Dary, we hear about Kevin's dream find, and we unwrap our surprise Christmas gifts from Nir Dary.  Nir Dary tells us about his visit to SilliVenture. (It's a whole lot of Nir Dary!)  Plus all the Atari 8-bit news that we could find. Happy New...

Databar OSCAR   This is a story about the rise and fall of a compter peripheral and the company behind it. The company was Databar, and the product was called OSCAR, which was short for Optical SCAnning Reader.   In 1983, it wasn't easy to get inexpensive software for your home computer. Floppy disks were expensive. Modems were slow and expensive. You could get software in magazines — a variety of...

Robert Jaeger, Montezuma's Revenge   Robert Jaeger is best known in the Atari community as the programmer of the popular game Montezuma's Revenge, which was published by Parker Brothers in 1984. He also programmed Chomper, published by MMG Micro Software; and Pinhead, published by Robert's own company, Utopia Software.   This interview took place on December 2, 2017.   Digital Press interview with...

Tay Vaughan, Atari Connection and Antic magazines   Tay Vaughan used Atari computers in his school for maritime skills and as a marine surveyor. He was featured in that capacity in a 1983 Atari catalog "Atari Home Computers — The Next Generation." Next, he was hired by Atari and was an editor of The Atari Connection magazine, where he wrote the Bits & Pieces column. Later, Tay was senior editor at...

Linda Schreiber: T.H.E.S.I.S. Software and author   Linda Watson-Call is better known to Atari users as Linda Schreiber, which was her name at that time. Linda was the founder of T.H.E.S.I.S. Software, an educational software publisher for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computers. The company was best known for her game, Big Math Attack. She wrote several books about the Atari 8-bit computers: Atari...

Richard Taylor, Digital Devices Corporation   Richard Taylor was an employee of Digital Devices Corporation. DDC built a number of adapters for the Atari 8-bit computers — it's most well-known product was probably APE-FACE, an inexpensive ($90) device that connected the Atari's SIO port to standard parallel printers. The company's other products included UPRINT, a printing buffer; and the Ape-Link...

Dave Comstock, part 2   A couple of days after our interview, Dave Comstock (who worked at Atari on E.T. Phone Home, Superman III, and Clock & Dagger) e-mailed me saying he had remembered more stories from his Atari days. So we set up a second interview.    This interview took place on November 14, 2017.   "The project team was actually treated to a meal with Ray Kassar and some other executives i...

Dave Comstock: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, Cloak & Dagger   Dave Comstock worked at Atari from 1980 through 1984, first as a software and hardware tester, then as a programmer. Dave worked on three games for the Atari 8-bit computers: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, and Cloak and Dagger.   A video version of this interview is also available .   This interview took place on November 8, 2017.  ...

Sarah Haskell, Computerized Weaving   There's a column in the November 1983 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Jon Zonderman: "Home Business — Compute, Control, and Create. A weaver combines the traditional skills of her craft with a computer and reaps more than one reward."    The article is about Sarah Haskell, a weaver who used an Atari computer to design patterns for weaving, and also to c...

Randall Lockwood, Choose-A-Pooch   There's an article in the August 1984 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Bill Camarda — Behind The Screens: Family Dog . It's about Choose-A-Pooch, an Atari computer program created by Dr. Randall Lockwood, to help match people with the breed of dog that will work best in their living situation.   I interviewed Dr. Lockwood on November 10, 2017.   "Trying to...

Frank Schwartz and Richard Lewis, Virtusonics   Last last year, I received a batch of Atari disks. One of the disks was labeled Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler — a music demonstration disk from Virtusonics, a company I had never heard of.   Thanks to some old articles in Antic magazine, I learned a bit about the product and the company. In 1985, Nat Friedland first wrote about the Virtuoso software : "...

Paul Wehner, APX Saratoga   Paul Wehner created one program for the Atari 8-bit computer, Saratoga, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The American revolutionary war game first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the Entertainment category.   This interview took place on October 24, 2017.   Paul's game list at AtariMania   Saratoga in the fall 1983 APX c...

Alan Reeve, Reeve Software   Alan Reeve is the founder of Reeve Software, a company that stated in 1984, creating software for the Atari 8-bit computers. Reeve Software published a variety of applications including Diamond GOS, News Station and News Station Companion, Publishing Pro, The Business Manager, and Diamond Write. The company's games included Battle Tank, Bomber, Castle Attack, Space Hun...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  The artificial intelligence that acts as the hosts of the show laments the lack of Atari goodness this month.  Nir Dary avails us of his world travels, this time to the ABBUC meeting.  Plus all the Atari news we could find. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Ata...

Guy Ferrante, S&S Wholesalers and Star BBS   Guy Ferrante worked for S&S Wholesalers, a Miami Florida-based computer mail order company, where he was in charge of creating magazine advertisements and managing the warehouse. He also ran Star BBS, a bulletin board system based in South Florida, for 11 years.   This interview took place on August 25, 2017.   "There's merchandise all over the place. I...

Ben Heck - Internet Celebrity and Console Modder Benjamin J. Heckendorn (aka Ben Heck) is an American console modder and Internet celebrity. He is the star of element14's The Ben Heck Show, a popular online TV program.  It also turns out that he grew up with the Atari 8-bit line of computers and has built a couple of mods involving the Atari line. This interview took place on April 13, 2017. Book:...

Jim Schuyler, Founder of DesignWare   Jim Schuyler was Founder of DesignWare. Founded in 1980, Designware created educational software that was published by other companies — including SRA, Xerox, and Spinnaker — as well as software that it published under its own label. Designware's titles included Creature Creator, Grammar Examiner, Mission: Algebra, Spellicopter, and Trap-a-Zoid, among others....

Dan Pinal: Alternate Reality - The Dungeon, Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design   Dan Pinal contributed to the book Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design, with Jeff Stanton, a book published by Arrays in 1984. He was one of the programmers of Alternate Reality - The Dungeon, which was published by Datasoft in 1987. He also created the game Stargate Courier, published by COSMI; and worked on the...