In Defense of the Atari 1200XL
It is an “Edsel“? An “Avanti“? Or, is it something in-between? The Atari 1200XL has always had a sullied reputation with the Atari community; thought of as a crippled machine that was too expensive...
Category: Atari
My First Modem – The Atari 1030
Released in 1983, and designed to match the newly launched Atari 1200XL, the Atari 1030 modem was an interesting piece of hardware. The modem’s device-driver was burned into ROM, enabling it work with...
Gamechanger – Eastern Front (1941)
In 1981, Chris Crawford was riding high (little did he know that in just three years, he’d be looking for a job). Since joining Atari in 1979, he had become a full-fledged star programmer....
Gamechanger – Spy vs. Spy
Antonio Prohias was the most celebrated cartoonist in Cuba, winner of multiple awards, and especially known for his biting political cartoons. In 1959, Fidel Castro honored Prohias personally, but by 1960, Castro had himself...
Gamechanger – Ballblazer
In 1984, George Lucas expanded his empire, and the Lucasfilm Games brand launched by releasing two games. Rescue on Fractalus! was a first-person flight-rescue simulation, similar to Choplifter. It certainly was a fun game,...
This Old Game – NATO Commander
Before he became a universally-accaimmed game designer, Sid Meier was just a recent computer science graduate from the University of Michigan. All-be-it, one who could beat the crap out of an actual retired Air Force pilot, Bill...
Gamechanger – Star League Baseball
In 1983, a small software company in Santa Barbara, California, Gamestar, Inc., released a groundbreaking new baseball game – Star League Baseball. The game itself was still simple. Two teams, still no leagues or...
Gamechanger – M.U.L.E.
In 1983, Electronic Arts shipped a critically important game, and an extremely worthy Geekometry Gamechangers launch title. Although, at the time, no one knew how important it would become. Developed by Ozark Softscape and designed...
