Nadav Caine, Mathematic-Tac-Toe Nadav Caine published one program for the Atari computer: Mathematic-Tac-Toe. This educational program first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on March 17, 2017. Teaser quotes: "Look, my game's lousy. I'm embarrassed even to have a conversation about it." "All education is self-education. I don't think teachers put knowledge in your head." Mathematic-Tac-Toe at AtariMania Mathematic-Tac-Toe in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog ...
Mar 21, 2017•35 min
Bob Woolley, Atari 1200XL hardware hacker Bob Woolley has been upgrading and modifying Atari 8-bit computers — primarily the 1200XL — since it was released. His hardware products include video output improvements, keyboard repairs, built-in CompactFlash cards, a dual-ANTIC computer, and a parallel bus interface for the 1200XL. Bob was editor of Atari Classics magazine from approximately 1994-1997. He is still active in the San Leandro Computer Club and on the AtariAge forums. This interview took...
Mar 17, 2017•46 min
Joe Grande, Monkey Up A Tree Joe Grande published one program for the Atari computers: Monkey Up A Tree was published by Atari Program Exchange, and first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on March 14, 2017. Monkey Up A Tree in the winter 1982 APX catalog
Mar 15, 2017•12 min
David Lubar, Game Developer (PastFinder) Welcome to another interview episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit computer podcast. David Lubar was a prolific games software developer who worked for Sirius Software, Activision and Absolute and freelanced for several other companies, including Broderbund, Origin Systems, and Imagineering. He developed games for many different systems, including game consoles like the Atari 2600 and the NES and computer systems such as the Apple II, C64, and the Atari 400/80...
Mar 05, 2017•32 min
In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Bill Kendrick returns with a segment on the Lantronix and BBSing on your Atari, we cover lots of new hardware upgrades, Nir Dary talks about the RAM-Cart 1M, and we have our usual segments on what's new at Archive.org and what's happening in the Atari 8-bit world. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interv...
Feb 25, 2017•1 hr 44 min
Ed Kelly, Edladdin Hello, welcome to a special interview-only episode of Antic, the Atari 8-bit podcast. My name is Randy Kindig. This interview is with Ed Kelly of Edladdin. Edladdin produces a fantastic family of controllers for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Flashback, and classic 8-bit computers. I met Ed at VCF Southeast in 2016 and was so impressed by his controllers that I later bought one and am very happy with it. They are fully customizable and are very rugged. This is likely the la...
Feb 05, 2017•44 min
Mark Odendahl, Rush Hour Mark Odendahl was the creator of Rush Hour, a Frogger-like game that appeared in the winter 1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog, the final APX catalog. He also wrote one program for A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine: Number Editor appeared in the January 1989 issue. This interview took place on January 24, 2017. "So I sold one copy of the program, but not through Atari. I sold it directly to one guy in New Jersey." Rush Hour at AtariMania Winter 1983 APX catalog...
Jan 25, 2017•24 min
In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Nir Dary talks about all the available memory upgrade options (You need more memory!), we discuss what we've been up to in the Atari world, give you all the Atari 8-bit news that's fit to print, and tell you about our "of-the-month" finds. READY Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on A...
Jan 23, 2017•1 hr 19 min
Steve Gerber, VP of International New Product Development Steve Gerber was head of the Atari Software Acquisition Program. In October 1981, Atari opened its first Regional Software Acquisition Center, managed by Steve, in a 4,000 square-foot location that also housed the Atari Program Exchange (APX). Later Steve was Atari's VP of International New Product Development, in charge of software development for non-US markets. This interview took place on January 17, 2017. Teaser quote: "I had these g...
Jan 22, 2017•36 min
Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software Mark Pelczarski was the founder of Penguin Software — later renamed to Polarware. Penguin published many graphics programs and games for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and other platforms. The company's programs included Magic Paintbrush, Graphics Magician, Pie Man, Spy's Demise, The Spy Strikes Back, and Transylvania. Mark was editor of Softside Magazine for a time, and an editor of the book The Creative Apple, published by Creative Computing. This interview took place...
Jan 20, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Sheldon Leemon: Instedit, Circuit Lab, Mapping the Commodore 64 Sheldon Leemon was the creator of Instedit, a character set editor; and Circuit Lab, an electronics learning program that he co-created with with Mark Davids. Both programs were published by Atari Program Exchange. He wrote for several computer magazines, including Softside — where he wrote many reviews, and a game called Outer Space Attack; Compute!, and Creative Computing. He also wrote several computer books, including Mapping th...
Jan 18, 2017•2 hr 36 min
Ronald Borta, Roklan Software Ronald Borta was co-founder of JACC, which made educational software under contract for Atari, where he programmed Atari States and Capitals and Atlas of Canada, and other software for the the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He moved to Roklan Software, the company that programmed hundreds of titles for the Atari computers and many other platforms of the time. Roklan published a number of cartridges for the Atari computers, including Deluxe Invaders and Gorf. The compa...
Jan 16, 2017•56 min
Paul Cubbage, Atari Program Exchange Paul Cubbage was Director of Atari Program Exchange. There, he was head of reviewing software submissions and publishing the APX catalog. He worked at Atari from April 1981 through January 1984. This interview took place on October 3, 2016. Teaser quotes: "First catalog, we went around and found every last utility or piece of software that we could put out there, unashamedly." "People used to complain about our royalty and I'd say 'Go to a flea market and sel...
Jan 14, 2017•1 hr 46 min
Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software Bill Stealey was co-founder of MicroProse Software, with Sid Meier. They started the company in 1982, and Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte in 1993. MicroProse specialized in flight simulation and war games — the company's games for the Atari 8-bit computers include F-15 Strike Eagle, Hellcat Ace, Kennedy Approach, Silent Service, Solo Flight, Spitfire Ace, Chopper Rescue, Crusade in Europe, and Floyd of the Jungle. Thi...
Jan 10, 2017•43 min
Dan Corona, Atari Engineering Manager Dan Corona was Atari employee #9 — staring in 1972, where he remained until the Tramiel takeover in 1984. Dan was Engineering Manager, and worked in many divisions: coin-op, pinball, handheld games, and consumer. This interview took place on November 29, 2016. Teaser quote: "It pretty much killed the company. You know, you can't continue building the same thing over and over again and not create anything new."
Jan 08, 2017•55 min
Steve Ahlstrom: SynFile+ and PaperClip Steve Ahlstrom was half of The 4th Works, with Dan Moore. Together they programmed SynFile+, which was published by Synapse; and PaperClip, published by Batteries Included. The team also created BackTalk, a telecommunications program; and Sherlock, a disk sector editor utility. This interview took place on October 4, 2016. Teaser quote: "What's weird is, every now and then -- and this is, what, 40 years later -- I still get a random e-mail asking me for sup...
Jan 06, 2017•23 min
Ben Smith, Atari sales and service This interview is part of the set of interviews we've done where we talk to many of the people still out there providing hardware, software, and/or support for our favorite computer. This interview is with Ben Smith, of Bravo Sierra Computers. As you will hear during the interview, Ben has been in the business of selling, servicing and supporting Atari items for about 32 years as of the recording of this episode. I hope you find this interview interesting and l...
Jan 02, 2017•41 min
Wynn Smith, Mosaic Electronics Wynn Smith was co-founder of Mosaic Electronics, a company that produced memory upgrade cards for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, as well as the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. He started at Tektronix, where be wrote code for the OEM graphics division at the age of 17. After Mosaic, he worked on memory upgrades for Intel. This interview took place on December 27, 2016. "It became obvious to me that if you put the wrong boards in the wrong order, not only do they not work...
Dec 28, 2016•33 min
In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast... Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS What we've been up to Bard Ermentrout's disks Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler - Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler on Atari 8-Bit Kyroflux - http://www.kryoflux.com/ C64 microfiler + cross-compiled version Harry Stewart's pr...
Dec 20, 2016•1 hr 53 min
Bruce Frumker: APX Memory Match, Cleveland Museum of Natural History Bruce Frumker is author of Memory Match, a memory game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. It was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. As part of his job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Bruce created interactive, laser-disc based exhibits that used Atari 8-bit computers. He wrote an article about that project, "An Atari-based Interactive Laser Videodisc System", which appeared in the March ...
Dec 02, 2016•34 min
Steve Panak, Game Reviewer Steve Panak was a prolific writer of Atari computer game reviews. He wrote the Panak Strikes! column in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine, and also wrote reviews for Antic magazine and ST-Log magazine. This interview took place on November 28, 2016. "Companies were just sending me games to review there at the end, so I was just getting buried in games."
Nov 29, 2016•21 min
Bev and Bryan Wilkinson, Optimized Systems Software Bev and Bryan Wilkinson were part of Optimized Systems Software, the company that brought DOS XL, Mac/65, Action!, BASIC XL, BASIC XE, and other products to Atari computer users. Bill Wilkinson was founder of OSS. Bev was his wife, and Bryan his son. I interviewed Bill in December, 2014, and he died in November 2015. As a small family-owned business, Bev and Bryan were involved with the day-to-day running of the company. This interview took pla...
Nov 26, 2016•40 min
Dale Lemke, Compu-Cable Systems Dale Lemke is founder of Compu-Cable Systems, a company that created the SpectraView and SpectraView II Graphic Generator Cartridge, information display systems for use by television stations and cable companies, which ran on Atari 8-bit computers. The company is still in business: today it is called Display Systems International, it specializes in character generators and television program listings. This interview took place October 18, 2016. "We had an Atari in...
Nov 23, 2016•38 min
Paul Berker: Adventure in Time and Birth of the Phoenix Paul Berker was a programmer for Phoenix Software, where he coded Birth of the Phoenix and Adventure In Time, which were both released for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers; and Queen of Phobos, which was released on the Apple II only. This interview took place on September 30, 2016. After the interview, Paul sent me several floppy disks with the Apple II and Atari source code for Birth of the Phoenix and Adventure In Time. "Got an adv...
Nov 19, 2016•51 min
Charles Clinton Charles Clinton was a contractor who worked on AtariLab, which was developed at Swarthmore College. This interview took place on August 14, 2016 at Vintage Computer Festival West XI. In it, we discuss Priscilla Laws, whom I previously interviewed. Priscilla Laws interview
Nov 12, 2016•13 min
Paula Polley, Copywriter Paula Polley started at Atari in 1982, where she worked as a copywriter. She wrote marketing for product boxes and wrote for Atari Connection magazine. This interview took place on August 14, 2016 at Vintage Computer Festival West XI.
Nov 10, 2016•12 min
Carl Moser and JR Hall, Eastern House Software Carl Moser and JR Hall were founders of Eastern House Software, the company that created several products for Atari 8-bit users, including Monkey Wrench and Monkey Wrench II, and the KISS word processor. They also created the MAE assembler/software development system, which was available for Commodore PET, Apple //, Atari 8-bit, and other computers. This interview took place on October 17, 2016. Teaser quote: (Carl) "JR and I would work — we was wor...
Nov 08, 2016•55 min
Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS What we've been up to 40 Great Flight Simulator Adventures - https://www.flightsimbooks.com/40gfsa/ Atari PILOT Source Code Nir Dary's "Modern Atari 8bit Computer" channel on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmzjD_biYJ5hQf-MoK9Ztcw Atari Macro Assembler...
Nov 05, 2016•1 hr 40 min
Rodnay Zaks, Founder of Sybex Books Rodnay Zaks was the founder of computer book publisher Sybex Books, and is author of many classic computer programming books, including 6502 Applications (1979), Programming the 6502, Advanced 6502 Programming, and 6502 Games. He also wrote or co-wrote Programming the Z80, Programming the 6809, Your First Apple II Program, Programming the Apple II in Assembly Language, and other books. This interview took place on October 14, 2016. Rodnay on Wikipedia: https:/...
Nov 03, 2016•58 min
Thom Graziano, CompuClub Thom Graziano was founder of CompuClub, an Atari mail-order company and retail store based in Massachusetts. The company began in 1983 and closed in 1986. CompuClub ran full-page advertisements in the Atari magazines with the headline "The Greatest Atari of All Time." For a $5 annual membership, you could become a CompuClub member, which got you a subscription to their newsletter and access to their catalog of Atari software at "at least 25% below retail." The company on...
Oct 31, 2016•20 min
