ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Mike Potter: Protector II, Shadow World, Nautilus, Chicken Mike Potter ported several Apple II games to the Atari 8-bit computers for Crystalware, including Protector. He later developed five programs for Synapse Software: Protector, Protector II, Chicken, Nautilus and Shadow World — in a one year period, with the combined sales of 93,000 copies.   In this interview we discuss Steve Hales and Ihor...

Arthur Leyenberger, Atari columnist Arthur Leyenberger wrote the "Outpost: Atari" column in Creative Computing magazine, the End User column in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing, and the ST User column in ST-Log magazine. He was also editor of the Jersey Atari Computer Group newsletter. This interview took place on November 10, 2015.  Teaser quote: "If I think about one thing that really captures that era, i...

Jeff Bell, Atari coin-op Jeff Bell worked for Atari Games for 31 years. He stated in 1973 as a Pong inspector, then moved to the engineering department, specifying requirements for parts. He worked in IT and system administration, and did other jobs in his more than three decades with the company. He also ran the Itsy Bitsy Bulletin Board System. This interview took place on November 7, 2015. In i...

Stephen Lawrow, Mac/65 assembler Stephen Lawrow created the Mac/65 assembler, which was published by Optimized Systems Software. Stephen became an employee of OSS, where he also worked on the company’s enhanced BASIC products, BASIC XL and BASIC XE. This interview took place on November 1, 2015. In this interview we discuss Bill Wilkinson of OSS, whom I previously interviewed.  Teaser quotes: “I g...

Bob Stahl, Atari receiving inspection and software quality Bob Stahl worked in the Atari home computer division, where he was the senior technician in the receiving inspection department, doing first article inspection. (He explains what that means in the interview.) He then moved to software quality engineering, testing produced software to make sure it looked right and worked correctly. Later, h...

Clayton Walnum, A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing and ST-Log Clayton Walnum was writer and editor at A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing and ST-Log magazines. He started out as technical editor at A.N.A.L.O.G., and was eventually executive editor of both magazines. Clayton wrote the C-manship column - an ongoing tutorial on the C programming language - as well as many, many other articles. This interview took place on No...

Bob Polin, Blue Max Bob Polin was the programmer of Blue Max and Blue Max 2001 — both published by Synapse Software, and co-creator of Puzzle Panic with Ken Uston. He also wrote the game "Maxter Mind" which was published by Antic magazine. This interview took place on February 15, 2016. In it, we discuss Ihor Wolosenko, whom I previously interviewed. After we did this interview, Bob sent me the fl...

Steve Hales: Slime, Dimension X, Fort Apocalypse Steve Hales published several games with Synapse Software: Slime, Dimension X, Fort Apocalypse, and Mindwheel. His first job was reverse engineering the Atari 2600 to create the Starpath Supercharger. His game for that platform was Suicide Mission, an Asteroids clone. This interview took place on October 21, 2015. In it we discuss Ihor Wolosenko and...

Glenn Faden, Microsailing Glenn Faden published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Microsailing, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. Microsailing first appeared in the Spring 1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on January 27, 2016. Teaser quote: “I got a lot of interesting feedback. One of the comments that I got back from people was that it was too difficult.”

Surfer Bob, Warez Sysop "Surfer Bob", real first name Carlos, ran The Pipeline BBS, an Atari bulletin board system that offered warez for download -- pirated software. This interview took place on January 28, 2016. Teaser quote: "He didn't have anybody to back him up but he had a stun gun ... he had that in his pocket, and he walked up to Shlomo and grabbed him ... took out the stun gun and just,...

David Stoutemyer, The Soft Warehouse David Stoutemyer was co-founder of The Soft Warehouse, a company that specialized in mathematics software for several computer platforms. The company published three programs through Atari Program Exchange. Algicalc and Polycalc first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog for $22.95 each. Algicalc was described as a "valuable tool for students and teachers of...

David Crane, Pitfall! and Atari 400/800 OS David Crane started his programming career at Atari, making games for the Atari 2600. He also worked on the operating system for the Atari 800 computer, as well as the games Outlaw and Howitzer, which were sold through APX.  David left Atari in 1979 and co-founded Activision, along with Alan Miller, Jim Levy, Bob Whitehead, and Larry Kaplan. While at Acti...

Bill Rice, HYSYS Bill Rice published one program in the Atari Program Exchange catalog: HYSYS, or Hydraulic Program. It was a tool that did calculations for sizing hydraulic systems and components. HYSYS first appeared winter 1982 APX catalog. This interview took place on January 27, 2016 Teaser quote: "So you can imagine with something like a hydraulic program, they're like 'No we've got our scie...

On this episode of ANTIC the atari 8-bit podcast: I cause a robot invasion in Portland, Bill Kendrick goes ultra-mega-retro gaming with Game ‘N Watch inspired games for the Atari, Randy wraps up the retrochallenge, and we still manage to keep the podcast under 3h 21m. Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at arch...

Jerry Falkenhan, Finance Software Jerry Falkenhan had three programs published by Atari Program Exchange: Family Cash Flow, Family Budget, and Family Vehicle Expense. Atari bought Family Cash Flow and Family Budget and packaged them as an Atari-branded product, Family Finances. This interview took place on January 26, 2016. Teaser quote: "I get my first royalty check. I'll never forget: $35,000. I...

Bill Louden, CompuServe and GEnie Bill Louden was part of the team that built CompuServe, the first consumer online service, where he was director of the computing, games, entertainment, e-mail, chat, and forum products. He went on to be the founder of the GEnie online service (General Electric Network for Information Exchange.) This interview took place October 15, 2015. Teaser quotes: "You know,...

Jerry Jewell, co-founder of Sirius Software Jerry Jewell was co-founder of Sirius Software. Sirius published many Atari titles including Alpha Shield, Capture the Flag, Fast Eddie, Gruds in Space, Sneakers, Wavy Navy, and Wayout. The company was probably best known in the Apple ][ world, but also published software for the Commodore and other platforms - more than 160 titles in all. This interview...

Bob Polaro Bob Polaro was an Atari employee from 1978 through 1984, where he wrote several programs for Atari Program Exchange — very early programs in the APX catalog: Lemonade, Mugwump, Preschool Games, Reversi, Space Trek, and Dice Poker.  He also wrote the States & Capitals and European Countries & Capitals educational programs for the Atari computers, both published by Atari.  He programmed s...

Dave Pratt, founder of Digital Vision (ComputerEyes) Dave Pratt was founder of Digital Vision, the company that made ComputerEyes for the Apple //, Commodore 64, and Atari 8-bit computers. ComputerEyes was a slow-scan video digitizer that plugged into the joystick port (on the Atari version). You'd connect a video camera or VCR into the ComputerEyes box, and software on your computer would create...

Thomas Hudson, Atari sales trainer Thomas Hudson was a trainer for Atari, where he taught computer store owners and others about the Atari 8-bit computer line, and attended trade shows to show off Atari's computer products. Later he became a product manager for three products: light pen, touch tablet, and mouse.  In this interview we discuss Andrew Soderberg, whom I previously interviewed. This in...

Roger Hector, Atari’s Advanced Products Group Roger Hector started at Atari back in 1976.  As a creative designer, he was originally hired by Pete Takaishi (Industrial Design Manager), before working in the Art Department, and then finally for Al Alcorn.  He managed Atari's Advanced Products Group and helped create the Cosmos system before leaving to co-found Videa with Howard Delman and Ed Rotber...

Bob C., Software Pirate Bob C. was an Atari software pirate in New York who went by the moniker The Missing Link. This interview took place on January 19, 2016. Teaser quotes: "It's all I wanted to do. I skipped going on vacation with my parents because I wouldn't be able to dial into these bulletin boards and see what was going on and leave messages to my friends. It just got, got like a drug." "...

Peter Langston, LucasArts Peter Langston was a founding employee at the game development company LucasArts, part of the team that created the Atari 8-bit games Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus. Peter composed Song Of The Grid, the memorable theme to Ballblazer. He also created the classic mainframe game Empire, and Oracle, the precursor to the Usenet Oracle (now called Internet Oracle.) Check hi...

Tom Harker, ICD 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 i...

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...