PODCAST · history
Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective
by Player/Missile
A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.
Episodes
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Ep. 34: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 2: Q1 1983
5200 coverage in magazines from January through March 1983. Plus a special bonus look at a NY Times article about Warner's stunning December 1982 earnings shortfall caused by Atari's massive financial loss. 1983 Q1 1983 First Quarter P.O.P. (Point Of Purchase) Support Jan 1983 Video Games Vol 1…
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Ep. 33: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 3
Coverage of a few magazines I missed last time. Live plays of two games, tips to speed up disk drive I/O, and articles on how automation has changed TV and film production. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Softalk Softalk Vol 3, #4 Assembly Lines book Total Replay harddisk image Axlon RAMDISK 320k...
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Ep. 32: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 2
Coverage of Atari Connection, APX, Byte, C&VG, Micro, Softside, Page 6 & Atari I/O for Dec 1982. Another Chris Crawford article on game design, a review of Steve Wozniak’s US Festival, and will Forth become the official language of the podcast? Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Atari Connection…
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Ep. 31: Dec 1982: Magazines, Part 1
Coverage of Antic, Compute!, Creative Computing, Dec 1982. Chris Crawford on Legionnaire, first rumors of the IBM PCjr, and two articles predicting the future: Compute! does OK while Creative Computing gets a bunch of whammies. Also: Bullwinkle’s restaurant, sexism and mansplaining about whether...
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Ep. 30: 8-bit vs 5200 Part 1: 1982
In a special multi-part series comparing the 8-bit computers to the 5200 console, this first episode focuses on 1982. Scanning the regular magazines for mentions of the 5200, I also scour other magazines for both 8-bit and 5200 coverage. Only in this special series will you hear article summaries...
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Ep. 29: Nov 1982: Byte, CVG, CGW, Micro, Softline, Softside
Coverage of the remaining magazines for Nov 1982. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Byte Byte Vol 7, #11 Computer & Video Games C&VG Issue #13 Computer Gaming World CGW Vol 2, #6 AtariAge forum post on cheat codes Legionnaire gameplay video Micro 6502/6809 Journal Micro #54 Softline Softline #2.2…
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Ep. 28: Nov 1982: ANALOG, Compute!, Creative Computing
Format experiment: splitting magazine coverage across two episodes and separating game reviews to their own episodes. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines ANALOG ANALOG Computing #8 Inverse ATASCII S4E07: Money Manager Compute! Compute #30 Atari 1000 project info from Atari Museum Jeepers Creepers at...
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Ep. 27: Oct 1982: Worm War I
A friend gets his first game published in Computers & Video Games! 6 other magazines this episode, and I try to dissect my first kernel game, Worm War I. Or is it 1? It’s a super important distinction. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines Antic Antic Vol 1, #4 Compute! Compute #29 Paperclip by…
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Ep. 26: Sep 1982: Deluxe Invaders
Strap yourselves in for coverage of 11 magazine issues including a tiny bit on the large magazine Byte -- there’s an article on Star Raiders strategies that I can’t pass up. Game review is of Deluxe Invaders, which is a high quality Space Invaders clone. Oh, and there’s a discussion of a game...
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Ep. 25: Aug 1982: Rear Guard
Adding a new magazine to the coverage: Softline, a games-focused magazine published by the people responsible for Softalk. Also a review of Rear Guard, a game that’s appeared in full-page color ads for many months in magazines. Introduction AtariAge discussion on the term IRG Magazines Atari…
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Ep. 24: Jul 1982: Typo Attack
Just a regular ol’ episode talking about magazines, learning typing during the pandemic, and if we’ve finally seen the end of creepy William Shatner ads for the VIC-20. Magazines Atari 8-bit magazines iCompute! Compute #26 Fred D’Ignazio interview on the ANTIC Podcast Inverse ATASCII review of...
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Ep. 23: Jun 1982: Quarxon
Phase 2 begins with the usual magazine coverage and a review of Quarxon, a two-player shoot-each-other game with prominent use of Display List Interrupts. In the tech section, I use Omnivore to discover how these DLIs work. Introduction Stef Animal's Bandcamp page Stef Animal's Pico-8 game: The...
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Ep. 22: Special Episode: Phase 2
Introducing Phase 2 of the Player/Missile extended podcastimatic universe. The magazine coverage will stay the same, but instead of a typical game review, I will focus on reverse engineering to discover interesting game programming techniques used by the authors of these classic games. I intend…
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Ep. 21: May 1982: Fujirun
The hiatus is over. With my new slimmed-down post-production, I now plan to get back to regular episodes. For this one, it's the usual magazine coverage and some talk about the retro-computing projects I've been doing in the last year. Introduction KansasFest! Richard Broadhurst's Programs...
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Ep. 20: Apr 1982: Jumpman
The culmination of the first "season" of the Player/Missile podcast is a review of my favorite game and the announcement of the project undertaken by Kevin Savetz and myself to reverse engineer the game. We're sponsoring a level design contest, and there's still time to enter! Oh, and I'm taking…
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Ep. 19: Mar 1982: Getaway!
Game review of Getaway! and interview with the author Mark Reid. The program won the Atari Star Award and the $25,000 prize in 1983. I also introduce Omnivore, the 8-bit binary editor that I've been working on during the hiatus. Kevin Savetz has a guest review of the APX Spring Catalog, and we…
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Ep. 18: Feb 1982: Flight Simulators, Part 2b
Part 2b of the flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson, reviewing helicopter sims and the all-time classic F-15 Strike Eagle. Plus: an update on speeding up Star Raiders. Introduction Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Pictures from the AtariAge booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo XEGS...
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Ep. 17: Jan 1982: Shamus
The universe of games really begins to expand in 1982. From here on out we'll have a huge selection of choices to talk about, and Shamus by Cathryn Mataga leads us off. Also, an interview with Michael Portuesi who is both a published author in Compute!'s books and a listener to the podcast....
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Ep. 16: Dec 1981: Flight Simulators, Part 2a
The first half of the military flight simulator roundup with Chris Olson. I've included a bonus tech section at the end discussing a clever display list technique used by the MicroProse sims. Guest reviews: Michael Glaser of the XEGS Cart-by-Cart podcast covers SoftSide and Kevin Savetz…
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Ep. 15: Nov 1981: Reversi II
Two new magazines for the coverage: Computer Gaming World and my first magazine from the UK: Computer & Video Games, and two guest reviewers of magazines. An overview of KansasFest from the Atari point of view, and a review of the APX game Reversi II. Introduction California Extreme…
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Ep. 14: Special Episode: Game Draft #1
Jack Nutting of the Retro Computing Roundtable, Victor Marland of Ten Pence Arcade, Wade Ripkowski of Inverse Atascii and Kevin Savetz of ANTIC join me for a 5 round draft of Atari 8-bit games. Participants Jack Nutting of Retro Computing Roundtable Victor Marland of Ten Pence Arcade Wade…
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Ep. 13: Oct 1981: Missile Command
Summary of Bill Kendrick's Atari Party 2015 and review of the excellent port of Missile Command. In magazine coverage, I've added MICRO: The 6502/6809 Journal, and new contributor Michael Glaser takes over SoftSide Magazine. Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015 Atari Party photos!...
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Ep. 12: Sep 1981: Flight Simulators, Part 1
Flight simulator roundup where Chris Olson and I review 5 noteworthy civilian aircraft sims on the 8-bits (military sims will be the subject of part 2). Also added Byte to the magazine to the coverage due to the serializiaton of De Re Atari. Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015...
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Ep. 11: Aug 1981: Interview with James Hague
Interview episode with game developer James Hague who was published in ANALOG and Antic magazines, is the author of Halcyon Days & maintainer of the Giant List of Classic Video Game Programmers. Atari Party 2015 is just around the corner! Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015 No...
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Ep. 10: Jul 1981: Interview with Chuck Bueche
Interview episode with Chuck Bueche, tech section on Star Raiders and the Atari 8-bit executable format, guest magazine coverage of Softalk, and the Atari Party: Davis CA, May 2, 2015! Introduction The Atari 5200 Super Podcast Atari Party in Davis, CA, May 2, 2015 KansasFest July 14-19 2015...
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Ep. 9: Jun 1981: Interview with Michael Current
Interview episode with Michael Current, maintainer of the Atari 8-bit FAQ and the Atari History Timeline; also covering the magazines from June 1981. Tech section on building Star Raiders, MAME cabinet update, and the Atari Party: Davis CA, May 2, 2015! Introduction Atari Party in Davis, CA, May…
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Ep. 8: May 1981: Eastern Front (1941)
Magazines from May 1981 and a review of Eastern Front (1941) by Chris Crawford, and the triumphant reinstatement of the tech section of the podcast because I've found a manageable topic. Also, info about the Atari Party 2015 which I will attend and give away a Raspberry Pi. Introduction Ringtones...
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Ep. 7: Apr 1981: Gem Drop (Homebrew)
Magazine coverage for April 1981 but jump ahead in time to cover our first homebrew game, Gem Drop by Bill Kendrick. Bill also invented one of the first software-driven graphics modes, called Super IRG, and we have an interview with him to talk about it. Introduction Ferg's review of BASIC...
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Ep. 6: Mar 1981: Sabotage
In addition to the usual magazine coverage for March 1981, we look at the Apple ][ game Sabotage, converted to run on the Atari. I talk with Paul Hagstrom to get background knowledge on the Apple hardware, and get the inside story on the Sabotage conversion by the guy who did it, AtariAge user...
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Ep. 5: Feb 1981: Jawbreaker
This episode reviews the game Jawbreaker by John Harris and covers the February 1981 magazines Compute #9, Creative Computing Vol 7 #2, and introduces coverage of SoftSide Magazine. Anacronisticly included is coverage of my trip to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2014. Feedback Sound Finder…
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Ep. 4: Jan 1981: Caverns of Mars
Welcome to January, 1981! Finally going month-by-month, Episode 4 includes the first ANALOG issue, Compute #8 and Creative Computing Vol 7 #1 and a review the game Caverns of Mars published first by APX then by Atari itself. And in my first interview, I talk with with Mike DesChenes, the…
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Ep. 3: 1980, Part 2: Space Invaders
Finishing off 1980, Episode 3 includes coverage of the remaining 6 months of Creative Computing and Compute magazines, and a review of the game Space Invaders published by Atari. Introduction Martin Gardiner Corrections Digital Press Interview with Larry Kaplan 2600 Game by Game Podcast #3…
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Ep. 2: 1980, Part 1: Super Breakout
Welcome to 1980! Episode 2 includes coverage of the Creative Computing and Compute! magazines through the first half of 1980 and a review of the game Super Breakout by Atari. Introduction Racing the Beam Drawing kernels for the Atari 8-bits Check out Ferg's 2600 Game-by-Game podcast for the…
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Ep. 1: 1979: Star Raiders
Welcome to 1979! Episode 1 includes a brief summary of the technical specifications of the Atari 400 & 800 that were first released at the end of the year, discussion of Creative Computing issues starting from April and the very first Compute! magazine, and a review of a game original to the…
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Ep. 0: Introduction
In the inaugural episode of Player/Missile, I introduce myself, talk about my background with the Atari 8-bit systems, what the podcast will be about and what it won't be about, and describe the format of the subsequent episodes. Podcasts ANTIC, The Atari 8-bit Podcast with Randy Kindig, Kevin...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.
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Player/Missile
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Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective about?
A retrospective of the Atari 8-bit home computer systems, the magazines that covered them, and a somewhat chronological review of games as they arrived on the platform.
How often does Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective release new episodes?
Player/Missile - An Atari 8-bit Retrospective has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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