Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation Jamie Lendino Ziff Davis LLC New York, NY Ziff Davis LLC 28 East 28th Street 11th Floor New York, NY 10016 © 2017 Jamie Lendino All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from Jamie Lendino or the publisher Edited by Matthew Murray Cover design by James Jacobsen and Jose Ruiz Cover photo by Paul Maljak Printed and bound in the United States of America Second printing, April 2017 ISBN-13: 978-0692851272 ISBN-10: 0692851275 To the two most important and amazing people in my life: My wife Allison and daughter Siena Contents Introduction Atari 400/800 15 Using Your Atari Computer Atari Learns to Let Go 63 Tramiel Trauma 83 Sunset in Sunnyvale 109 Golden Age Gaming 113 Emulation 229 Collecting 239 Mods 253 10 Community 267 11 Atari Forever 275 Acknowledgements Index 281 279 41 Introduction My childhood circled around video games in general, but specifically, around one computer: the Atari 800 It’s impossible to overstate Atari’s impact on personal computers and especially gaming While Apple and a few other companies delivered personal computing for the first time, Atari was the first to bring arcade-like graphics and sound into the home This book serves as a celebration of Atari 8-bit computers and what made them special, with a heavy emphasis on gaming It’s a look back at how the computers, peripherals, and software worked, and why the games were so good In a world of always-on social media and ad-filled websites, where the idea of “just develop your own game” seems hopelessly complex, the simplicity and sophistication of a tightly coded “to the metal” Atari program is intoxicating—and you didn’t need to have dedicated artists with such a low pixel count Hopefully, reading this book will trigger some pleasant memories of your own Perhaps you had an Atari computer yourself and miss it Maybe you even still have or use an Atari computer today In the 1980s, Atari computers never really got their due Let’s see if we can finally fix that Who Cares About Old Computers, Anyway? Today’s obsession with retro computing is unmistakable—and it’s safe to say our memories are a little rose-tinted With fast multicore processors, phones, apps, cloud storage, social networks, and streaming media, it may seem surreal to wax lyrical about a particular over- 10 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation sized hunk of plastic, metal, and chips By today’s standards, any computer from the late 1970s had a tiny amount of unreliable storage and low-resolution graphics, and most of them took forever to load programs If you were “there,” though, you know full well why these computers were special If you weren’t, imagine the ability to control every last feature of the hardware, without layers of software abstraction on top, and in a way that rewards detailed study the more you work with it The graphics were simple and distinct, and in its beautiful minimalism the machine was both easy to program and difficult to master Early software sparked your imagination in a way even the most realistic high-definition graphics today can’t quite pull off Many enthusiasts I’ve talked to over the years feel the same way I was born in 1973 and was fully immersed in the home computer revolution as a kid I got my first Atari computer, a 400, when I was eight years old Until then, all of my entertainment options were too defined for me I’d play a board game, and the rules were the same each time, and if I changed them, the basic structure still remained intact My imagination may have run wild when I was playing with Lego, but the bricks were always the same each time, and thanks to the laws of physics, they always worked the same way Beginning with the computer, suddenly I could make new games out of thin air, either by typing in programs from books or creating my own Every cartridge and disk made the computer something different than it had done a few minutes earlier It was as if you could make your own bricks, and make your own physics None of this sounds crazy now But consider how unprecedented video games, and the ability to play lots of them or program your own, were back then Remember that computers had already been around for several decades, but they used to take up entire rooms, or at least portions of rooms by the 1970s They used to cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars The members of the informal Homebrew Computer Club of the mid 1970s in Menlo Park, California had the right idea They were the first to see the creative potential in writing your own code, and running it on hardware on your desk, rather than having to line up at a university or work in a big company to use a mainframe system They worked to make computing more accessible to everyone Because of this, within a few years’ time, a kid like me could own and experience a real computer every single day, without having to share it with strangers 276 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation mother prepared for us I’d have a day and evening like this, and it would become permanently imprinted in my memory as a “fantastic day.” I lived and breathed these games, and if there was a day where I got solid hours of playtime in, and the game was fun to play, then chances are I still carry that memory right now Figure 11.1: An Atari 800, a pair of joysticks, and a boxed Space Invaders cartridge; I took this photo when I visited the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California in 2008 We'll never know what might have happened had Atari gotten its act together and continued to dominate the personal computer market in the 1980s, instead of so easily losing its footing and never quite regaining it But the quality of the core hardware design speaks for itself, and to this day some of the games have yet to be equaled in quality, despite being far surpassed in graphics and sound And thanks to this, we can all continue to enjoy talking about the hardware and playing games today I always wondered what would happen as I got older and no longer used Atari computers At the time, I couldn’t have envisioned the emulator scene, eBay, and the stunning growth of the Internet, where all of us can gather and talk about our favorite 8-bit machines It turns out that even after all this time, in many ways, I’m thrilled to know the sense of community is stronger now than it ever was before Atari Forever | 277 Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to Star Raiders I’ve just completed hyperwarp, and I see a couple of Zylon ships on the radar display Now I have a new sector to clear out—and a friendly starbase to defend for the Atarian Federation See you on the other side of the galaxy Acknowledgements Beginning with receiving my first Atari computer at age eight, over the next 35 years of my life many special people have created the conditions that led me to write this book Dan Costa understood my enthusiasm from the get-go, green-lit the project, and provided the support framework necessary to get it done Matthew Murray is a terrific editor who provided kind guidance and clear assistance throughout the process Jason Ashlock delivered sound advice on navigating the byzantine publishing industry Wendy Sheehan Donnell provided a steady voice and listened to me complain; I’ve learned so much from working with her over the years Carol Mangis kindly assisted with the production, release, and promotion Going back earlier in time, Sascha Segan has been there with me since the beginning, for first calling my Atari 800 BBS on January 1, 1985, and then becoming a lifelong friend David Friedlander called my BBS a few weeks earlier—I still remember it was December 1984, but I can’t recall the exact date anymore—and also became a lifelong friend Both were groomsmen at my wedding in 2013 Carlo Bonavita was my childhood and elementary school friend and the unspoken hero of this book, the one who played Atari 800 games with me the most often throughout I played games in person and became online friends with many others thanks in large part to the Atari 8-bit, including Warren Wein, Peter Volpe, Michael Keylan, Chris Lue-Shing, Brian Natoli, Frank Ventura, Ben Ventura, David Passantino, and my elementary school friend Howard Gelling, who sadly perished in the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 280 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation I would also like to thank my parents, without whom I would have never had the opportunity to immerse myself so fully in the world of Atari computers—or breathe air on this Earth, so there’s that, too Most important, my wife Allison has been wonderfully supportive throughout while I goofed off with old computer stuff strewn about the house, and served as an excellent (willing? maybe?) sounding board while I stomped about and spouted off about archaic computer trivia on a near-random basis Finally, I would also like to acknowledge some people I don’t know personally, but who unknowingly have contributed to this work (and are footnoted accordingly throughout when applicable), and to my enthusiasm for what are now known as vintage computers They include: Nolan Bushnell, Al Alcorn, Joe Decuir, Doug Neubauer, Matt Barton, Bill Loguidice, Kevin Savetz, Benj Edwards, Curt Vendel, Marty Goldberg, Chris Crawford, Michael Current, Steve Fulton, James Hague, Evan Amos, Nick Montfort, and Ian Bogost This is the “standing on the shoulders of giants” part, and I am forever grateful Index A A.E., 117, 118 A.N.A.L.O.G Computing, 33, 56, 57, 65, 97, 98, 110, 150, 174, 175, 269 ACE-80, 28, 72 Activision, 20, 97, 115, 131, 136, 148, 152, 153, 162, 166, 177, 193, 194 Adams, Scott, 115 Adventure International, 114, 200 Agent USA, 118 Alley Cat, 119, 120 Alpha Systems, 68 Altair 8800, 17, 18 Alternate Reality, 120, 121, 186, 219, 220, 230 Altirra, 232, 233 Anderson, John, 200 ANTIC, 19, 30, 31, 32, 100, 272 Antic: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast, 270 Antic: The Atari Resource, 26, 51, 57, 58, 60, 62, 65, 71, 72, 74, 96, 97, 110, 111, 129, 135, 142, 146, 153, 156, 173, 175, 189, 208, 209, 245, 267, 269 Apple II, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30, 32, 37, 57, 65, 72, 78, 114, 116, 117, 127, 143, 144, 145, 155, 166, 169, 172, 185, 216, 223 Aprom, 70 APX, 59, 125, 140, 141, 142, 147, 154, 155, 165, 206 Archon: The Light and the Dark, 122, 123, 136 Archon II: Adept, 124 Artifacting, 117, 189, 220, 222, 235 Assembler, 51, 52, 70, 175, 206 Assembly language, 48, 51, 52, 130, 141 Asteroids, 15, 115, 124, 125, 139, 149, 177, 199, 229 Astra Systems, 66 Astra Systems 1620, 66 Astro Chase, 125, 126, 137 Atari 1020, 93 Atari 1025, 92, 93 Atari 1027, 93, 100, 101 Atari 1030, 93 Atari 1050, 68, 94, 98, 100, 101, 102, 232, 245, 247, 254, 257 Atari 1200XL, 95 Atari 130XE, 99, 100, 101, 103, 106, 110, 232, 242, 253, 254, 260, 265 Atari 1400XL, 95, 96, 98, 243 Atari 1450XLD, 96, 98, 243 Atari 1600XL, 96 Atari 400, 7, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 35, 40, 50, 56, 64, 73, 75, 117, 126, 161, 170, 172, 214, 232 Atari 410, 23, 36, 37, 55, 61, 85, 93, 102, 175, 232, 245, 247, 249 Atari 5200 SuperSystem, 27, 40, 87, 88, 89, 99, 104, 117, 118, 132, 142, 143, 146, 147, 160, 171, 174, 177, 184, 191, 196, 199, 206, 218, 223, 224, 232, 234, 235, 245 Atari 520ST, 13, 99 282 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation Atari 600XL, 74, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95, 97, 99, 100, 111, 242 Atari 65XE, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 110, 111, 242, 247, 260 Atari 65XEP, 99 Atari 800, 9, 11, 12, 19, 21, 27, 28, 29, 33, 37, 46, 64, 72, 73, 77, 85, 114, 115, 119, 120, 128, 153, 154, 169, 179, 191, 208, 210, 230, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 256, 263, 264, 268, 276, 279 Atari 800XE, 106, 110, 263 Atari 800XL, 74, 85, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95, 97, 99, 100, 101, 111, 232, 235, 242, 243, 244, 246, 247, 250, 260, 261, 265 Atari 810, 37, 38, 47, 61, 66, 68, 94, 98, 102, 236, 245, 247, 250, 255 Atari 820, 38 Atari 822, 38 Atari 825, 39, 40, 93 Atari 830, 39 Atari 835, 39 Atari 850, 39 Atari BASIC: Self-Teaching Guide, 22, 49, 50, 60 Atari Best Game Pack, 233 Atari Connection, The, 58, 59 Atari Corporation, 97, 98, 99, 105, 106, 169, 275 Atari Explorer, 99, 109, 110 Atari Inc., 63, 128, 275 Atari Jaguar, 126 Atari Peripheral Emulator, 257 Atari Program Exchange See APX Atari ST, 35, 70, 100, 122, 133, 152, 204, 230, 259, 261 Atari Starter Kits, 60 Atari Word Processor, 54 AtariAge, 74, 86, 91, 233, 258, 259, 260, 262 AtariAge.com, 233, 269 Atarimania, 110, 114, 136, 138, 145, 157, 162, 179, 227, 233, 268, 269 Atarimax, 232, 254, 256, 257, 258, 259, 264, 265 Atarimuseum, 16, 98, 269 AtariProtos.com, 171, 209, 269 AtariWriter, 46, 54, 69, 72, 81, 101, 102, 103 AtariWriter Plus, 101, 102, 103 ATASCII, 49, 78, 81 ATR8000, 71, 97 Attack of the Mutant Camels, 126 Automenu, 70 Axiom, 71, 183 Aztec, 127, 140, 180 B Ballblaster, 129 Ballblazer, 115, 128, 129, 149, 156, 173, 202, 268 Bandits, 46, 129, 130 Bartkowicz, Sebastian, 259 BASIC, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 32, 36, 39, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 70, 73, 74, 75, 80, 90, 100, 175, 231, 235, 255, 263 BASIC compiler, 20, 51 Basic XL, 70 BBS, 11, 40, 49, 66, 71, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 93, 184, 210, 218, 223, 224, 239, 267, 279 Beamrider, 131, 132 Berzerk, 132, 133, 208 Big Five Software, 178 Black Lamp, 133, 152 Blue Max, 134, 135 Bookkeeper, The, 62, 75 Boulder Dash, 135, 136, 249 Bounty Bob Strikes Back, 179 Bricklin, Dan, 18, 75 Bristles, 136, 137 Brøderbund Software, 71, 115, 117, 143, 172, 175, 177, 216, 224 Bruce Lee, 115, 137, 138, 227 Bunten, Dani, 115, 186, 187, 208 Bushnell, Nolan, 15, 63, 280 Byte, 56 C Carlston, Garry, 117 Candy, 19, 21, 24, 25 Capparell, Jim 111 Captain Beeble, 138, 139 Carnival, 80 Cartridges, 44 Cassettes, 36, 44, 45 Caverns of Khafka, 140 Caverns of Mars, 140, 141, 142, 155 Caverns of Mars II, 142 CBS Electronics, 183 Centronics, 39, 40 Index | 283 CES, 21, 26, 38, 39, 40, 55, 87, 89, 98, 99, 100, 102, 159, 267 Choplifter, 30, 143, 144, 158, 159 Christensen, Greg, 140, 141, 142 Class B, 22 Clowns and Balloons, 144, 162, 217 ColecoVision, 87, 131, 160, 184, 272 Colleen, 19, 21, 25, 237 Commodore 1702, 43, 80, 81, 245, 246 Commodore 64, 34, 40, 65, 72, 78, 84, 116, 122, 124, 138, 140, 148, 153, 159, 162, 163, 166, 172, 185, 189, 191, 218, 230, 263, 272 Commodore Amiga, 16, 35, 72, 101, 119, 133, 152, 204 Commodore PET 2001, 17, 18 Commodore VIC-20, 29, 40, 83, 84, 98, 272 Communicator, The, 61 comp.sys.atari.8bit, 79, 105, 269 CompuServe, 76, 78 Compute!, 23, 56, 65, 90, 215, 272 Computer Gaming World, 57, 176, 204, 223 Computer Software Services, 68, 69 Computer Space, 15 Conan, 145, 146, 227 Consumer Electronics Show See CES Crane, David, 20, 162, 193, 194 Crawford, Chris, 29, 30, 32, 34, 55, 56, 60, 63, 64, 65, 154, 155, 165, 166, 215, 271, 280 Creative Computing, 21, 56, 65, 126 Crystal Castles, 146, 147, 275 CTIA, 16, 19, 20, 30, 31, 33, 241, 272 Current, Michael, 13 CX22, 40, 143, 180 CX30, 40 CX40, 40, 72 CX75, 95 Cyan Engineering, 15, 16 D Dabney, Ted, 15 Dandy, 147 Datamost, 115, 127, 184, 185, 219, 227 Datasoft, 51, 74, 115, 120, 121, 122, 137, 144, 145, 163, 184, 227 De Re Atari, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 48, 65 Decathlon, 148 Decuir, Joe, 268 Defender, 101, 126, 143, 148, 149, 153, 154, 159, 171, 196, 228 DeMeo, Alex, 167 Dimension X, 149, 150, 151 Disk Operating System II, 53 Diskeeper, 70 Donkey Kong, 101, 149, 151, 177, 179, 184, 192 Donkey Kong Jr., 151, 184 DOS 2.0S, 37, 47, 94, 231, 235 DOS 2.5, 94, 103 DOS 3.0, 94 DOS.SYS, 46, 231 Dot matrix, 38, 39, 71, 81, 93, 102 double-density, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 96, 102 Dow Jones News/Retrieval Service, 76 Draconus, 152, 177, 227 Dreadnaught Factor, The, 152, 153 Dropzone, 153, 154 Dual Density, 94 DUP.SYS, 46, 231 E Eastern Front (1941), 154, 155 Educator, The, 61 Edwards, Benj, 269, 280 Edwards, Mike, 201 Eidolon, The, 155, 156 Electronic Arts, 115, 122, 124, 136, 186, 190, 201, 207 Enchanter, 114 Encounter!, 157, 158 Energy Czar, 56 Enhanced Density, 94, 103 Entertainer, The 60 Epson, 71, 245 Epyx, 115, 194 Ethernet, 261 Excalibur, 165, 271 ExtremeTech.com, 253, 262, 288 F Falstein, Noah, 173 Fanda, 162 Fast AMIS, 80 FCC, 21, 22 FoReM 26M, 80 FoReM XL, 70, 80, 218 284 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation Fort Apocalypse, 150, 158, 159 Fox, David, 174 Frogger, 116, 160 Full-View 80, 72, 162 Fulop, Rob, 210 FX-80, 71 FX-85, 71 G Galaxian, 117, 153, 160, 161, 164, 165 Gamestar, 212 Gates, Bill, 20, 271 Gemini 10X, 71 Gerard, Manny, 16, 19 Ghost Chaser, 162 Ghostbusters, 162, 163 Gilbert, Ron, 174 Gilbertson, Gary, 122, 185, 220 Goonies, The, 163, 227 Gorf, 164, 165 Gossip, 165, 166 Great American Cross-Country Road Race, The, 166, 167 Great Video Game Crash, 83, 89, 118, 165, 175, 209, 269 GTIA, 30, 31, 33, 99, 110, 174, 203, 242, 247, 260 Gyruss, 167, 168 H Happy Computers, 68 Happy enhancement, 253 Hardware collision detection, 32, 33 Harris, John, 119 Harris, Neil 105 Hayes Smartmodem, 76, 77, 80, 94, 245 Heckendorn, Ben, 253, 262, 264, 270 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The, 11, 114 Hogue, Bill, 179 Homebrew Computer Club, 10 Home Manager, The, 61 I IDE Plus 2.0, 258 Image files, 231 Impersonator, The, 68 Impossible, The, 68 Incognito, The, 256 IMSAI, 17 Internet Archive, The, 268 Indus GT, 66, 67, 69, 70, 80, 91, 240, 245 Infocom, 53, 113, 114, 234 InfoWorld, 56, 104, 109, 117 J Jaeger, Robert, 181 Jawbreaker, 168, 169 Jessop, Jerry, 23 Jobs, Steve, 16, 18, 63, 217 Joust, 169, 170, 229 K Karateka, 172, 178 Kassar, Ray, 19, 97, 213 Keyboard input, 34 KoalaPad, 72, 95 Koronis Rift, 156, 173, 174, 178 Kraft, 72 L Lapentino, Tim, 54 Leslie, William G., 223 Letter-quality, 71, 93, 102 Livewire, 174, 175 Lode Runner, 175, 176 Lotharek, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 261, 264 Lucasfilm Games, 115, 128, 129, 155, 156, 173, 178, 202 M M.U.L.E., 22, 115, 136, 186, 187, 230 Magic Dump, 28 Mario Bros., 177 Master of the Lamps, 177, 178 Mayer, Steve, 15, 33 Mechner, Jordan, 172 Megacart, 258 MEM.SAV, 47 Memo Pad, 44, 86 Microbits Peripheral Products, 77 Microsoft Basic, 51 Midi-Mate, 261 Index | 285 Midway, 164 Miller, Alan, 20, 64 Milner, Ron, 15 Mindscape, 153 Miner 2049er, 178, 179 Miner, Jay, 33 Missile Command, 15, 40, 45, 60, 88, 104, 115, 149, 179, 180, 245 MITS, 17 Monkey Wrench, 28, 75 Montezuma’s Revenge, 146, 180, 181, 209 Moon Patrol, 130, 182, 183 MOS 6502, 18, 20, 29 MOS 6502B, 19, 30, 96 Mosaic, 73, 236 Mountain King, 183 MPP-1000C, 77 Mr Do!, 184 Mr Do’s Castle, 184 Mr Robot and His Robot Factory, 184, 185, 201 Ms Pac-Man, 88, 171, 186 Music Composer, 56, 101 MX-80, 71 N N.Y.C The Big Apple, 190 Necromancer, 119, 188 Neubauer, Doug, 17, 33, 213, 214, 280 Night Mission Pinball, 189 NUXX, 256 O Okidata, 71, 93 Omnitrend, 222 One-On-One, 190, 191 On-Line Systems, 168, 169 Origin Systems, 114, 220, 221 OSS Precision Software Tools, 70 Ozark Softscape, 186 P Pac-Man, 60, 88, 101, 115, 146, 149, 168, 169, 171, 186, 191, 218, 234, 272, 273 Palevich, John, 147 PaperClip, 74 Parker Brothers, 115, 125, 160, 167, 180, 181, 198, 215 PEEK, 50, 51 Percom Data, 65 Peters, Brian, 262 Pharaoh’s Curse, The, 192 Pill, The, 68 Pinball Construction Set, 189, 201 Pitfall II, 193 Pitstop II, 194 Player-missile graphics, 32, 50, 127, 142, 144, 178 POKEY, 17, 20, 30, 31, 33, 34, 56, 85, 104, 152, 163, 178, 183, 213, 226, 237, 259, 261, 262 Pole Position, 89, 195, 196, 273 Polin, Bob, 134 Portronic, 262 Price, Philip, 202, 219 Print Shop, The, 71, 75 Processor Technology, 17 Programmer, The, 60 Protector, 196, 197 Q Q*bert, 115, 198, 199 Qix, 198, 199 QMEG 4.0, 260 Quality Software, 204 Questar, 72 R Radio Shack, 16, 17, 29, 36, 37 Rainbow Walker, 199, 200 Rally Speedway, 200, 201 Rana Systems, 65, 66, 91, 240 Realm of Impossibility, 201, 202 Rescue on Fractalus!, 22, 128, 156, 173, 174, 202 Retro-Bit USB joystick, 231 Return of Heracles, The, 204 River Raid, 134 Robotron: 2084, 88, 126, 153, 205, 206, 245 Roklan Software, 164, 165 RS-232C, 40, 76, 77 Running Your Own Atari BBS, 80 286 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation S T S.A.M., 74, 95 Salmon Run, 119, 206 Savetz, Kevin, 96 Scholastic, 118 Scram, 56 SD card, 146, 245, 246, 254, 255, 258 SDrive, 256 Sears, 21, 23 Seven Cities of Gold, The, 207, 208 Shamus, 208, 209 Shepardson Microsystems, 20, 70 Shielding, 22, 27, 31 SIDE2, 258 Single-density, 37, 47, 67, 102, 103 Sinistar, 126, 209, 210 Sirius Software, 46, 125 SIO port, 22, 26, 39, 71, 93, 102, 256 SIO2Arduino, 257 SIO2PC, 231, 251, 254, 256, 257 SIO2SD, 231, 232, 245, 246, 251, 254, 255, 256, 257, 265 Smith, Doug, 175 Skrasoft Systems, 262 Source, The, 78 Space Invaders, 32, 34, 115, 117, 139, 149, 160, 161, 164, 210, 211, 229, 273, 276 SpartaDOS, 69, 103, 256, 258, 259 Spy vs Spy, 115, 211 Star League Baseball, 212 Star Micronics, 71 Star Raiders, 22, 25, 34, 54, 60, 101, 116, 125, 149, 153, 213, 214, 215, 247, 260, 277 Star Wars: The Arcade Game, 215 Stealth, 216, 217 Stedek Software, 161 Stelladaptor, 230, 236 Stereo Phaser, 262 subLogic, 106 Suncom, 72 Super Breakout, 40, 217, 218 S-Video, 242, 260, 261 Synapse Software, 115, 119, 134, 149, 150, 157, 158, 188, 190, 192, 196, 197, 199, 200, 208, 209 System Reset, 25, 26, 255 Tail of Beta Lyrae, The 219 Taito, 117 Tandy, 17, 93 Telelink I, 61 Telelink II, 40, 61 Tempest, 126, 131, 174, 175, 199 Trak AT-D1, 67 Trak AT-D2, 67 Trak AT-D4, 67 Tramiel, Jack, 272 TRS-80, 17, 18, 19, 29, 30, 32, 37, 57, 72, 179 Tucker, Steven, 257 Turbo Freezer, 259 TV, 22, 24, 25, 32, 35, 41, 42, 43, 45, 61, 72, 168, 206, 224, 231, 246, 253, 260, 288 U Ultima III: Exodus, 220, 221, 222, 230, 235 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, 11, 12, 114, 220, 221, 222, 230 Universe, 222, 223 US Doubler, 68 Utopia Software, 180, 181 V Vanguard, 223, 224 VBXE, 260 VCS, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24, 25, 27, 37, 40, 43, 44, 53, 55, 58, 63, 83, 87, 88, 98, 115, 117, 125, 126, 132, 148, 149, 160, 166, 174, 180, 186, 189, 191, 192, 193, 210, 217, 223, 231, 262, 268, 272 Video Easel, 56 Vintagecomputing.com, 269 VisiCalc, 18, 72, 75 Volksmodem, 77 W Walling Co., 70 Warner Communications, 16, 19, 63, 98 Whistler’s Brother, 146, 224, 225 Whitehead, Bob, 20 Wico, 72, 250 Index | 287 Williams Electronics, 148, 169 Williams, Bill, 115, 119, 188, 206 Williams, Ken, 169 Woakes, Paul, 157 Wozniak, Steve, 16, 18, 217 Writing Your First Programs, 49 X XE Game System (XEGS), 27, 104, 105, 106, 110, 144, 177, 180, 191, 228, 232, 257, 260, 263, 264 XEP80, 103, 236 XF551, 102, 103, 245, 247 XM301, 99, 102 XL line See Atari by model number XL Prototypes, 95 Xmodem, 76 Y Ymodem, 76 Yocam, Dale, 60 Yoomp!, 225, 226 Z Zaxxon, 134 Zeppelin Games, 152, 227 Zombies, 201 Zork, 114, 273 Zorro, 227 Zybex, 177, 227, 228 About the Author Jamie Lendino is the Editor-in-Chief of ExtremeTech.com Previously, he managed the consumer electronics and mobile teams at PCMag.com He's written for the print, Web, and digital versions of PC Magazine for over 10 years, and has frequently covered the retro gaming community in both places He has also written for Popular Science, Electronic Musician, Consumer Reports, Sound and Vision, and CNET Jamie has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, CNBC, Fox News, Reuters TV, and dozens of terrestrial radio stations across the country He lives with his wife and daughter in Collingswood, New Jersey ... | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation 400’s, thanks to its design and cleaner layout Much has been said about the way Atari played a little fast and loose with manufacturing... networks, and streaming media, it may seem surreal to wax lyrical about a particular over- 10 | Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation sized hunk of plastic, metal, and chips By today’s... diagram of Atari 8-bit hardware Credit: De Re Atari, p 1-3 ANTIC was a full microprocessor, with its own instruction set, as well as a program (which Atari called the display list) and relevant data.31