The Atari 2600 Game By Game Podcast

I was delighted when Jan Hermanns agreed to speak with me for the podcast about his terrific game Blinky Goes Up. We talk about programming the game, Jan's artwork and other hobbies, and also a tantalizingly half finished game that he has! I really enjoyed talking with him and I hope you will give the interview a listen and try Blinky Goes Up if you haven't already. Thanks for listening!   Jan Her...

It's a homebrew episode this week, featuring the absolutely wonderful Blinky Goes Up by Jan Hermanns. I'm sorry about the lack of homebrews lately, I was working on my list recently and I put more in to be covered in the coming months. I also interviewed Jan and had a great time talking with him, you can find that interview here when I post it, which should be soon. Next up is the autobiographical...

Hi everyone, today we are looking at an unfinished prototype by Apollo called Kyphus. It's not really playable, but there is some interesting stuff to go into. And I apologize for posting the wrong date for feedback on Facebook and Twitter, if you didn't get your feedback in for Kyphus because of that I'm sorry. Please do send it next time if you can. The next game is the homebrew Blinky Goes Up b...

Hi there! This week's game is the unreleased prototype for Xevious, by Atari. I think Tod Frye did a great job on this, it's a shame that it didn't come out at the time. Coming up next on the show is the prototype game Kyphus by Apollo. After I put it on the list however, I discovered that it's not really a playable game. But it does have a part number assigned to it, and you know the law around t...

Hi there, thanks once again for your patience (I thought I was done saying that, apparently I have more work to do). This week I am covering Lock 'n' Chase by M Network, which is a Pac-Man wannabe that doesn't quite get there for me. The prototype for Xevious by Atari is coming up next, and I'm going to try to stay on schedule despite this week's show being late. If you have any feedback for Xevio...

This week we go back to the 20th Century Fox catalog to take a look at Bank Heist. It's a simple looking game but a lot of fun to play! I hope you enjoy the episode. Next up will be Bump and Jump by M Network. If you have any feedback for Bump and Jump, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by end of the day September 20th to be included in the show. I hope you all are staying safe and...

In this episode I finally take a look at the Starpath game Party Mix, which may be one of the first collections of mini games in a video game. It is a rare 4 player paddle game at the late date of Fall 1983, but it has its usual Starpath polish. I hope you enjoy listening. Next up will be Bank Heist by 20th Century Fox, and hopefully it will be released in two weeks. If you have feedback for Bank...

Hi there, thanks for sticking with me through all of this, I hope you all are well. This episode is about the Imagic game Moonsweeper, by programmer extraordinaire, Bob Smith. If you haven't already checked the game out, I hope you will after listening. Next up will be Party Mix by Starpath. If you have any feedback for Party Mix, please get it to me by Sunday the 12th. Send it to 2600gamebygame@g...

Hello friends, this is a rare interview edition of the show, in which I talk to Steve Cartwright about his career. We talk about his time at Activision, Accolade, and Electronic Arts, as well as what he's doing now and even touch on some of his hobbies. It was an honor and a privilege to talk to Steve, and I thank him very much for speaking with me. I hope that you enjoy it and I thank you for lis...

Thanks so much for tuning into the show, this is a very special episode featuring Frostbite by the great Steve Cartwright. It also marks the release of a heretofore unknown work in progress prototype of Frostbite called Iceman, which you can find in the links below. Please listen to the episode for the whole 22 year journey of Iceman! Steve Cartwright was gracious enough to do a phone interview wi...

Hello there, I hope that you all are safe and sane during this weird and difficult time. Today's episode is about Pole Position, the Namco arcade game that was ported to various Atari systems by General Computer Corp. (GCC if you're nasty). Coming up next is the wonderful Frostbite, by Activision's Steve Cartwright. If you have any thoughts on Frostbite (and I know that you do), please send them t...

Hi there! I hope very much that you all are staying home when you can and staying safe. For the first time in a loooong time, I have a Bonus Track for you. In this episode I go through my concert ticket stubs that I saved (most of them from before my twenties), and talk about each show, if I remember anything about it. There's some fun stories in there that I hope you will like. Thanks to Sean and...

Hi there, I hope that you are all safe and staying home if you can. I know in many cases that is more difficult, a lot of my friends have to work from home while home schooling their kids, which I imagine is a lot. We will get through this! One thing that may or may not help with that is Z-Tack by Bomb, the super rare ripoff of a PAL game called Base Attack. I was kind of surprised that I got so m...

Thank you all once again for your patience! Today's episode is about Robin Hood by Xonox. Xonox seems to be a company that people are split on, so tune in to see how it goes for Robin Hood. Next up is Z-Tack by Bomb. Please send me your feedback by March 29th to be included in the show. I will supply all the info about the game, you tell me your thoughts. Please. Stay safe out there everyone, I wi...

What, me worry? Not when I have M.A.D. from U.S.Games as this episode's game! Hoo boy. I hope you enjoy the episode. Next up is Robin Hood by Xonox. If you have any feedback for that game, please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by March 8th. Thanks so much for listening! M.A.D. on Random Terrain John Hall's website Interview with John Hall by Sean Fitzgerald  No Swear Gamer 426 - M.A.D....

This episode is all about the Irem arcade game Moon Patrol, ported by Atari via GCC. Thanks for your patience regarding the release of this episode. I had a bit of an emotional setback in January and I'm trying to fight my way out of it. M.A.D. by US Games will be the next game I'm covering, so if you have any feedback for the game please send it to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by end of day 23...

Welcome back to the show! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, now we're back to playing Atari 2600 games every two weeks until I screw something up. The first game of 2020 is the Activision Decathlon by the amazing David Crane. I hope you enjoy the show. Next up will be Moon Patrol by Atari, so if you have any feedback on that game, please send it to 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by the end of the day...

Happy Holidays to you all, thank you once again for your patience and for listening. Music from https://filmmusic.io "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) "Jingle Bells" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) "Wish Background" by Kevin M...

The last game I'm covering this year is Roc 'n Rope by Coleco, from the Konami arcade game. Thank you for a wonderful if stunted year, I really needed the break. I'm really loving doing the research again and I hope to get ahead a little bit in the month of December. I will be doing a Christmas show, if you have ANY Christmas memories you want to share with us, please send them to 2600gamebygame@g...

This episode's game is Mountain King by CBS Electronics. It contains bats, which should tell you everything you need to know. Next up is the last game of the year, Roc 'n' Rope by Coleco. Please get your feedback to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by end of day 1 December. I'm also planning another Christmas episode, if you have any Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa stories you would like to share (...

In this episode I cover the only plane flying simulator on the 2600 that I am aware of, Tomcat F-14. It certainly was an adventure! Up next is the CBS Electronics game Mountain King, so if you have thoughts on that game, send it to me at 2600gamebygame@gmail.com by November 17. My Extra Life half marathons are coming up this weekend on the 8th and 9th starting at 6 pm. Thanks to all who have donat...

Just a quick update to when I'm doing Extra Life for the folks who may have missed it on social media. I'll be doing it NEXT weekend, the 8th and 9th starting at 6 pm both nights. I hope to see you there, thanks so much! My Extra Life Donation page My YouTube page

Greetings fellow droids, in this episode we take a gander at Star Wars the Arcade Game by Parker Brothers, a port of the Atari vector arcade game. If you think that's confusing, wait until you hear THE REST OF THE STORY. It's a fun one! Coming up next is Tomcat F-14 Flight Simulator by Accolade, a late 80s release. I would especially like to know if you had this game when it originally came out. P...

Hello there, thanks for waiting for this episode that features Joust by Atari! It's one of my favorite arcade games and is done pretty well on the 2600 (spoilers), probably because it was in the capable hands of GCC. Next up is Star Wars The Arcade game by Parker Brothers, which has an extremely interesting provenance. If you'd like to contribute to that episode, please send your feedback to 2600g...

In this episode we look at the game Quest for Quintana Roo, which I mispronounced for most of the show. Thanks to Eugenio for correcting me. I loved the game and I hope you will too. Next up is a big game, Joust by Atari via Williams. If you have any thoughts on this game, please get them to me by end of day 5th October and I'll put it in the show. Remember, just tell me your thoughts on the game,...